Duly Noted

I've been reading the biography of Virginia Woolf written by her nephew, Quentin Bell. I highly highly recommend it to those fond of Ms. Woolf, or to those who simply enjoy reading about the lives of artists and writers as I do. Whenever I pick up the lovingly detailed story, I am immediately swept away into 1910's, 1920's...The friendly Thursday night gatherings of the Bloomsbury group stir within me yearnings for stimulating conversations about literature, art, and music...complete with cigarettes, pipe smoke, and apartifs...and a gramophone! A time long past? Alas. Several other books take my imagination to this same vivid place...A Movable Feast, and more recently, The February House. I get on these kicks...Hemingway, Gertrude Stein, Fitzgerald...and then Carson McCullers, W.H. Auden, Gyspy Rose Lee! (She wrote a murder mystery novel about Burlesque dancers!). Oh remarkable. Will our culture maintain these pivotal groups of writerly conversation and revolution...

I wish we all lived closer...

Holy hooligans, it's been a while! Winter has settled in here in the Twin Cities. The sky today is perfectly white, the trees are naked but for the pines and a few stubborn maples, and the ground is brown and frozen. Get out of the city, you might mistake yourself for living in the tundra. To survive Minnesota winters requires one to mindfully nurture a special resilience and odd admiration for the bitter cold. It's a skill that I work on every year. What keeps me smiling through the winters? Mostly small things... 1. My favorite coats: big pockets, high collars, horn buttons, elegant embroidery. It sounds trite, but lovely clothes can brighten my day! A nice coat is well worth the dollar. 2. Getting outside: I try to spend at least thirty minutes outside each day. A walk with Rachel, walking to the bus stop, going running (if it's above 20 degrees), walking on my lunch break at work. Once you get moving...the cold is a little more bearable. 3. Planning dinners...

Holy hooligans, it's been a while! Winter has settled in here in the Twin Cities. The sky today is perfectly white, the trees are naked but for the pines and a few stubborn maples, and the ground is brown and frozen. Get out of the city, you might mistake yourself for living in the tundra. To survive Minnesota winters requires one to mindfully nurture a special resilience and odd admiration for the bitter cold. It's a skill that I work on every year. What keeps me smiling through the winters? Mostly small things... 1. My favorite coats: big pockets, high collars, horn buttons, elegant embroidery. It sounds trite, but lovely clothes can brighten my day! A nice coat is well worth the dollar. 2. Getting outside: I try to spend at least thirty minutes outside each day. A walk with Rachel, walking to the bus stop, going running (if it's above 20 degrees), walking on my lunch break at work. Once you get moving...the cold is a little more bearable. 3. Planning dinners...

Every so often, I have one of those runs that I will never forget. Last Sunday, I had the great fortune of participating in the Twin Cities Marathon. Approaching the race, I decided to run only half of it (13.1 miles) due to some dizzy spells earlier in the sumemr and a crazy grad school schedule. I trained with this goal in mind. Days before the race, the wheels in my mind started turning, "Maybe I can finish the whole thing...I feel good, healthy, strong...we'll see..." The night before the race, my mom took Mike and I out to dinner at my favorite pizza place, Punch Pizza. I had a vegetarian pizza with eggplant and sun-dried tomatoes. We shared a carafe of good merlot between the three of us. I wasn't worried about drinking a glass of wine or two before the race...I thought it might actually help me get some sleep! I woke up around 5:45am the following morning. I needed to eat breakfast at least two hours before start time. I polished off a raisin walnut ...

I getting all amped up for the half on Sunday. This week I cut back my mileage severely. Though I feel good, I just want to get out there! I've always felt this way; I hated HATE that count down before the gun goes off. Still, I'm thrilled to run through my city (ah, my city, that feels so right). I simply cannot imagine a more perfect route: downtown, the chain of lakes, minnehaha creek parkway, lake nokomis...I end there, and the rest of the marathoners will keep trudging on. In the back of my mind I sometimes wonder if I'll want to keep going after thirteen miles. I told Mike to make sure I stop...I don't know if a firm grip at mile 13 will be necessary or not. We'll see on Sunday. In the meantime, we've been making some stellar meals. As Mike pointed out, "We finally learned how to cook together." I don't know if I would exaggerate finally like its been decades...but, I do agree with him that we've vastly improved since our init...

I getting all amped up for the half on Sunday. This week I cut back my mileage severely. Though I feel good, I just want to get out there! I've always felt this way; I hated HATE that count down before the gun goes off. Still, I'm thrilled to run through my city (ah, my city, that feels so right). I simply cannot imagine a more perfect route: downtown, the chain of lakes, minnehaha creek parkway, lake nokomis...I end there, and the rest of the marathoners will keep trudging on. In the back of my mind I sometimes wonder if I'll want to keep going after thirteen miles. I told Mike to make sure I stop...I don't know if a firm grip at mile 13 will be necessary or not. We'll see on Sunday. In the meantime, we've been making some stellar meals. As Mike pointed out, "We finally learned how to cook together." I don't know if I would exaggerate finally like its been decades...but, I do agree with him that we've vastly improved since our init...

At last! A real dinner with wine, place mats, and my favorite dinner partner returned home from weeks of late night sound design rehearsals! Sharing meals with loved ones improves food satisfaction immensely. Further, the best meals are made by four hands or more; a belief I've held since my days at Slide Ranch, or as far back as the Macalester veggie coop. Here's our Saturday night menu: crusty brown bread with olive oil, fresh mozzarella, & heirloom tomatoes whole wheat spaghetti with smoked prosciutto, fire-roasted red pepper, peas, & fresh basil a glass or two of Chianti chocolate macaroons A trick we tried with the red-pepper: On a gas stove, turn over the iron burner so that it rests on top of the flame. Place half of a red pepper directly on the burner. Let it rest there until the ends have become burnt. When it looks pretty charred, remove from the burner and wrap in paper towel. After the pepper cools a bit, rub the paper towel against the pepper to rem...

I love to cook on a sunny yet cool Saturday afternoon. Especially after a long run and a hot shower. If the conditions are right, the food reflects that. I am trying to develop perspective though, so that dreary-messy-bad-day food tastes good too. I need to work on that. Here's a pizza I made last weekend with heirloom tomatoes, olives, mushrooms, and mozzarella. I do believe I haven't cooked (well, cooked significantly) since. I blame the weather. The sun finally came out this morning after a rainy, sleepy weekend. Ray Ray and I went for an early morning jog. She was so happy...just pulled me along. Now she's fast asleep, and I can truly appreciate being a dog owner.

After an unproductive, lazy Friday, I woke up decidedly early this morning. With Ray Ray by my side and the sun shining, I headed to the midtown farmer's market. In the middle of buying some colorful heirlooms from a farmer friend, market authorities informed me that barking Ray Ray must be removed from the premises. I was disgruntled; a couple heirlooms scattered as Rachel knocked off my sunglasses. As I rearranged my bags, I was approached a second time. This time, the authorities didn't have the opportunity to mutter much. "I'm leaving!" I said. "Don't worry!" I was a bad mother. I looked longingly at the bread stand; the bakers' actually had some good looking loaves left! Usually, the bread baskets are empty by the time I arrive. As banished Ray Ray and I exited the market, a nice iron gate caught my eye. I'll tie her up! Brilliant! Defiant, I marched back into the market and bought my bread! Home, I toasted the "kitch...

Wednesday afternoon I made a pot of split pea soup. Boy, it was delicious. There is nothing better than homemade soup, crusty bread (though I long for a decent bread shop as you well know), cheese, and apple slices. I could eat this three times a day, all fall long. I may regret these words as soup is one staple my grad student budget can afford. Coming to think of it, I remember one miserable experience involving too much asparagus porridge. If you haven't experienced the affects of mass asparagus consumption, ask me or my fellow farmer friend about it. Oh dear. Still, I will appreciate mugs of homemade soup for as long as I can. Pair 'em with thick wool socks, MPR, and a cuddly dog to lap up your bowl's remains...perfect.

The film depicts Barcelona for Americans to the tee. Please note the array of olives and wine. Oh, the Mediterranean! I feel this scene must have been filmed at Los Cuatro Gatos (Els Quatre Gats), a bar once frequented by Hemingway and friends.

At about seven pm on summer nights, a panoramic sunset appears as you drive across the marshall bridge into minneapolis. It is right about then that I yearn for a local artisan bakery on Lake Street. The closest place to get a decent dinner loaf is a grocery store. Rustica is far away. There isn't a Great Harvest in miles. And Breadsmith is just stale. Please, won't someone open a lovely bakery? Here are my dream bakeries (coincidentally, both are in san francisco). For further inspiration, ask me about my days at Wauwatosa's La Boulangerie. Arizmendi! A cooperative bakery that also makes a pizza du jour. This is a chain bakery but the long wood tables, the croissants, and the quiche always hit the spot and imagine myself in France.

I have about 10 days to enjoy summer thoroughly. The plan: 1. Friday-Sunday at old friend's lake house in Wisconsin. 2. Monday: Minnesota State Fair with friends. Free outdoor concert! 3. Tuesday-Thursday: Mike & i visit mom in Wauwatosa and family in Illinois. 4. Friday: Leave for Cleveland with mom and Lucy. 5. Monday, labor day: fly home to Minneap. 6. Tuesday: Start Fall semester! Yes, I have a schedule, but i'm pleased about that. What else? Well, running. Dinner at Beans & Barley. Terre andre with mom and mike. Water skiing and white wine. Visit yellow jacket and replenish 70's prep supply. must stop hipsters.

preppy 70's. always right. This film is filled with details I adore- bonne mamam jam, delpy's father, her ugly black glasses. I am passionate about the raincloud necklace. The home in this film is my dream house. I love all the the wood!

when i was living at slide ranch, i walked to this zen center on sundays. the walk itself was so peaceful. the gardens of green gulch are completely happy.

this photograph and the correlating article in nytimes reminds me of the streets around where i live...the seward...with wild flower gardens, half built additions, and babies in tow.

this blog is a journal of what i consider beauty filled

I can't wait to host big parties here... In the meantime, I must befriend the current owner . He seems pretty cool.

Newsboy meets coquette. Also, read her little profile in NYtimes.

Find me at the MIA .