all that's past is prologue...

 Our Christmas tree this year is very elegant and pretty (it better be, trees this year cost a fortune!) As opposed to last year, which was very wide! In 2022 we actually remembered to put the top on (it's still gotta be around here somewhere): Pandemic tree that no one saw but us: All the way back to baby's first Christmas tree: ------ I keep on forgetting to mention in these posts that we will again be hosting "All Is Calm" this year — our Christmas Day tradition. Stop by any time between 1 and 5pm on Christmas Day for the most casual of open houses. We'll be hanging out reading, chatting with anyone who shows up, maybe working on a puzzle of playing games, we'll have some cocktails and leftovers and the like. Bring something to share if you like — or don't — it's the most anti-hype holiday event you'll be invited to this year!

Much as I have enjoyed the mild fall, up until last week I was beginning to lose hope that we would have a whole Christmas. So the forecast this week cheered me up, and it was right! As of two minutes ago: I mean, it will be a real PITA to shovel out four houses, especially with Patrick still hit hard by covid. But it sure makes everything look a lot more magical. It sure makes me miss this guy though. Christmas won't be the same without him:

Because of *all this* (waves arms around frantically), I was unable to get any coats in to my friend Lara's annual drive for the Odd Couple. But I did have one coat to donate, and donating to coat drives and toy drives is an important part of Christmas activities to me. So this morning, after I dropped off Beatrix for her chemistry exam, I finally made it into Cold Front for their coat drive. The coat drive goes until they close for their winter break on 12/22, so you still have time (they said they would probably collect again after they return on 1/17 as well, because "it will still be winter.") But if you go now you'll get $1 off any menu item, so I treated myself to one of the best eggnog lattes I have ever had (I also recommend the "Flannel.") --- Also, in an update to yesterday, making cookies (which Beatrix brought to school today) made me realize how dirty our oven was, so I devoted some time to cleaning it last night. I always forget to take "b...

What do you do when you are buried with work, your daughter is in finals, your husband has covid, and you are in no way ready for the holiday? You fake it 'til you make it! So here I bring you my first countdown to Christmas post — the cookies I made because we are low on chocolate desserts for Christmas Eve (plus Patrick's teapot of throat coat tea). There's a huge bowl of dough still in the fridge I have to bake and the oven badly needs cleaning, but here we are!

It's about this time every year that I freak out about Christmas. The tree is up but not decorated, nothing is wrapped (and there's plenty left to buy), there are not enough cookies, Beatrix is rolling into final exams, I'm sick (in what seems to be an unwelcome new holiday tradition), and it all seems like a ton of pressure. If you search "Christmas" on my blog, you'll find a lot of similar posts. Friends have advice - "Just pick one or two things that matter." "Trim back the decorations." "No one care about the cookie tray." I love that they care enough to say these things. But here's the thing. For my mom, Christmas was The Thing. She loved it; she loved decorating, going to holiday events, baking cookies, making lefse (ok maybe not so much), shopping, crafting, Toys for Tots, Christmas lights tours, luminary, cheesy Christmas specials, Dayton's 8th floor, poinsettias, holiday cocktails, parties, caroling (though she co...

 (uhh, yeah, it's been a minute since I've gotten a build post up...) Yesterday was really warm. So, after I had done some errands like getting the dog's nails trimmed, and going to the glasses store and getting some Christmas shopping done, I took a hot minute to get some outdoor ornaments up. I had gotten these bulbs on the free page on FB. I always want *something* on the porch. but full-blown garland is too much and there's no place to plug in lights (and solar lights look pathetic in the winter). I like how cute and delicate they look. Maybe if I get really motivated before Christmas I'll make ice luminaria. I also got the garage window boxes done. I do a different theme every year, and this year was inspired by the NOLA Thanksgiving parade. My friend Kristen dropped by some spare green or it never would have happened, after spending $100 for our tree (yikes!) Then I went off and hosted an event at circus for the holiday show and then to Beatrix's Pops Conc...

We've been doing New Orleans Thanksgivings for  a few years now. Enough so that we know our route and timing, have our traditions, do some new things, but most of all see friends and family. 2024, because it's a b*tch, had other plans. Yes, 6 hours before we were to leave, I tested on a whim and because I felt a little off and... We had a sleepless night and came *this close* to leaving me at home for a week with no food and no car. But then by morning my fever was gone and I was not too symptomatic, so we all masked up, opened the windows a crack, and drove down with me sleeping in the back seat (so glad for the new car and the heated back seats!) I mean it kind of sucked, and I missed a lot of our fun traditions on the way down. But by the time we got there I felt better, and by Tuesday I was more or less fine, though with some residual exhaustion that still lingers. But we still got to tour Tulane. And have great cocktails. (Nightbloom was half a block down the street from u...

I can't remember the last time I saw two concerts in two nights! Last night, we *finally* got to the Palace for a concert, seeing The The touring for their new album. We seemed to join everyone else our age in the Twin Cities who feel in love with the band during our formative teen years, including Patrick's close friend Dawn and her boyfriend Harry, who we met for dinner at St. Dinette before the show. The concert was great, some of the most fun I have had in a long time. The first half was pretty much a straight run of the new album, then an intermission and the band's older hits (and I mean "they lightly" — The The is and always has been Matt Johnson plus the people he surrounds himself, knowing better than most that when you surround yourself with brilliant people you look even better).  It made for a great night, starting with poetry and ending with nostalgia. Matt Johnson is a genius and no one can convince me otherwise.  Also I clearly formed brilliant mus...

I wax rhapsodic about the Marathon every year. But I always do love it — and have since I was a teen cheering on my teacher Fitz , one of the first people I knew to run it. And since I have lived in my current neighborhood, the McLaughlins have had a marathon party; first Judy and now her son David and his family. (The McLaughlins are stellar people, we were there last week for a debate watching party). Today we walked down and were able to cheer for friends running the 10-mile, saw the first wheelchairs come by as we were talking to our friend Sylvia, and made it to the McLaughlin's in plenty of time to see the first runners.  Plus some of the end of the 10-milers: We visited with friends and ate great food. We got to hang out with Senator Klobuchar as she high-fived runners, much like the late great Paul Wellstone did at that same location for many years. We got to appreciate the Pride Festival the JJ Hill house had going in the front yard (yay Gibson for making that happen!) And...

Though I like to refer to it as the "bummer summer," I have to admit that this summer was bookended by a couple of really great porch concerts! Last night, we attended "Smoke House Stage," which my friend Jake Endres hosts weekly all summer (but on Friday nights, so we usually can't go). The season closing concert was a tribute to Tom Waits. It was a fantastic night for it; the food was great; we got to see lots of friends. SO much fun! The weather stands in high contrast to the Call Me Spinster concert we kicked off the summer at, in the pouring rain. But another fantastic experience. Let's hear it for porch concerts and those who host them!

I chose "build" as my word of the year for a few different reasons. There was "build" in the physical level of the houses — but also building myself and my career, and I have posted on less of that. But this week I attended my first statewide preservation conference  in Red Wing and it was great! I was lucky enough to go because Colin and I presented a piece on the renovation of 2441 Arts  that I tongue-in-cheek called "I Once Bought an Office Chair There" (no matter how much we talk about it being a Clarence Johnston furniture warehouse, etc., all people know it as is as the SOS Office Furniture building.) It was the first time we had presented on the project and its historic preservation + sustainability work. The session went really well and I guess I now have two presentations in my quiver (I had kind of forgotten about a piece I had done for a Goucher online forum a few years ago about greater diversity in preservation.) Johnston also designed the Oak...

We both drive older cars (because we buy used cars for cash and drive them for a long time), and Patrick's Volvo is in the shop for two weeks while they order parts and fix an issue that sprung up. This follows a time when my Audi was in the shop for two weeks after what should have been a day-long issue, but they kept on forgetting things (yes, I am looking for a new car repair place). My shop had loaners, but Patrick's (a tiny, awesome place that specializes in Volvos) does not. So we are juggling schedules and needs and let me tell you, it's a PITA. If we always only had one car, Beatrix would probably have to take the city bus to school, which would entail either a walk and 3 buses or a walk, 2 buses, and another walk. She would need to leave the house by 6:00am, and let me tell you, her morning routine is long enough that means she would be up before 5:00. When she's up until midnight studying, I want her to get all the sleep she can. It also means she would have t...

Heh! Patrick praises my stockpiling ways ! (Just as I am in the middle of cleaning a ton of stuff out).

So the other thing that our unfortunate guest this summer did that she should not have was to put a bunch of things that should not go into the dishwasher...into the dishwasher. This led me to a massive cleaning of the cabinet that our dishes are stored in. A take-no-prisoners adventure that tossed out a ton of items (including the Aas Beer glasses I got from a liquor distributor before we were married) and all the chipped dishware.  Of course, I had to get a set of gorgeous highball glasses from the free board today to replace the 16 faded pint glasses I had tossed, but that's normal, right? We got new shelf liner and Patrick got it set up while I was in a zoom meeting tonight. The new glasses are in the top middle. Please admire them to prove I was right. There was enough liner left over to redo the super-greasy cabinet by the stove. That also involved some major de-accession, including a bottle of paprika oil I believe I bought in Slovakia in 1991. I even packed away my beloved ...

In the spirit of "Fun Fall" yesterday was pretty much a day off. We were back on the mat at yoga, went to the Picnic Operetta's FAUST with the Chelimskys at Alexis Bailly Vineyards (and also got a hug from Nan), and hung out more with the Chelimskys that night. It was much needed. Today was harder work because we had to move back to the other house, which meant loading up lots of stuff (how did all that get over there?), plus dogs and cats and such, while running a few errands since there was no food or anything at Ashland. The kitchen is in disarray because we cleaned out a couple of cabinets, including the dish cabinet, and are waiting for new shelf paper to be delivered. There's a lot more space in there when you throw away things you don't use... On that same theory, we also cleaned out the china cabinet. We packed up some of the crystal we don't use but don't really want to get rid of, which left more display space. This summer Patrick had gotten me s...