BSE

Erin has labeled this the Best Summer Ever (BSE) and appears to be accomplishing this goal. In 1996, I spent the summer in "school" in Rome, and I've found it hard to surpass that BSE, but 2009 could be in the running for the Best Summer of the Decade (BSD). So far I've been enjoying every warm day and long night outside on my vintage mountain bike, around/on the City lakes, or on a patio, porch, or roof deck. I'm overwhelmed by the weekly overdose of greens from my New to Me CSA and have experimented with multiple versions of grilled fish salads. New to Me highlights from the first weeks of summer:

1. Tomas Sarceno: Lighter than Air - Bill and I happened to be at the Walker on the opening night of this interesting exhibition and saw this Bucky Fuller-esque ball floating in the air above the roof deck (photo at left).

2. Wednesday night sailing - totally New to Me, every Wednesday night is spent racing (in light wind as luck has had it so far) on Lake Harriet with the LHYC crowd. I love watching the sunlight fade out over the Western sky from the middle of the lake.

3. Famous Dave's, Linden Hills - new to this vegetarian, after 3 post-sailing Wednesday gatherings I think I've exhausted the options for creative bacon-free ordering. Perhaps the hot fudge brownie is made without pig parts. I do enjoy the porch-like atmosphere though.

4. Sushi Tango - for a really long time, this was my one remaining New to Me restaurant in Uptown. The new location (still within Calhoun Square) offers a roof deck but this particular night was rainy so endured the trying-too-hard interior decor to enjoy some very good food. Try the excellent green bean salad.

5. Moto-i roof deck - this New to Me roof deck is so great that it could make BSD all by itself if I could go here every week! Super urban with buildings all around and an awesome view of the downtown skyline without the scene of Stella's or Drink.

6. It's Greek to Me patio - searching for a seat outdoors at Lyn-Lake on a hot Friday night, we looked through the vines on the fence at the lovely patio and wondered why neither of us had ever tried it. I know, it doesn't seem like a viable dinner option, but the courtyard is so European: small tables, low lighting, a fountain at the center. Have a Summit on tap and the eggplant appetizer. I guarantee this place will also be essential to the BSD.

Next up, road trip to Chicago...

New Beginning

Every Friday I get an email from Sitemeter that tells me that I have loyal readers who are still checking my blog every week to see if the polar bear photo is finally gone. IT IS! Sorry about the hiatus. A billion things happened over the last 3 months and although I've been faithful to the New to Me project, I guess I needed a break from writing about it. In March I took a 10 day vacation to Madrid and Bilbao where I'd never been so every experience was New and so much fun! In April I tried out several new places near home, and in May I was off to my 2nd favorite American city, Portland, where I've been multiple times but has endless New to Me opportunities. Now it's Memorial Day weekend, the unofficial beginning of Minnesota summer, and I'm very hopeful that this will be a great summer filled with New. I just kicked it off by watching the Twins win over the Brewers 11-3 with Cuddyer hitting for the cycle so things are looking good so far! Since there is no way to catch up on everything from the last 3 months, I'll just list a few highlights from my trips:

Madrid and Bilbao

1. The best art museums in the world, I think only Paris and New York can compete:Guggenheim Bilbao, Prado, Thyssen-Bornemisza, Museo Sorolla, Reina Sofia.

2. Additional amazing art collections (and architecture) at the Foundations: Caja Madrid, CaixaForum Madrid.

3. Seeing Picasso's Guernica and the town of Gernika.

4. Excellent tapas and fish (major effort to avoid jamon) especially in Bilbao's Casco Viejo.

5. Sunny Sunday in Parque del Buen Retiro - loved McElheny's work in the Palacio de Cristal.

Portland, Oregon

1. Best New to Me restaurants: Belly Timber and Sel Gris.

2. Best New to Me bars: The Driftwood Room and Urban Farmer. 

3. Best New to Me shopping: Brooklyn Industries and Sloan Boutique.

4. Best New to Me coffeeshops: St. Honore and Dragonfly.

5. Best New to Me outdoor and quirky eating establishment: Grilled Cheese Grill.

And, of course, visiting my great friends Rachel, Kara, Ivona, Kate, and Claire was the best of all (see photo above).

New Winter

If you know me at all, you know that I refuse to complain about the long Minnesota winter until March. Now I'm starting to get annoyed by the dirty snow, gray sky, and single digit weather report for Wednesday. But this gray Sunday morning I met up with my friend LaDan who said, "Isn't this a beautiful day?" and I attempted to agree. As usual, I've been enjoying my time by not thinking about the weather and just doing New to Me things. I have several for the last 2 weeks:

1. "Little Rock, 1957" was Chris' suggestion for an interesting historical musical. I would definitely go back to another show by the Youth Performance Company. Watching the youth perform those hard roles was very impressive.

2. Yamuna Body Rolling - Jonna convinced me to sign up for this new age community ed class. Not sure I've completely bought in after two sessions of working out my sore muscles (am also training for a 10 mile race) but will try again tomorrow.

3. Spyhouse - the new 2404 Hennepin Ave location is a decent place to spend a few hours when you have 2 days to read an entire book club book ("The Worst Hard Time" by Timothy Egan: recommended).

4. Agri - finally made it to this neighborhood restaurant. Ryan indulged my mac n' cheese obsession by sharing their gluten-free version. Not impressed. The beet salad was a little better but still off.

5. Nick and Eddie - my new favorite! Sit in the bar for great atmosphere, good food, reasonable prices. Beer selection could be better so went with wine for a change.

6. Trotter's Cafe - yes, I crossed the border to meet Mike for breakfast. Similar to my uptown favorite, Common Roots, with a better bakery and free coffee re-fills. 

7. Muddy Waters - finally made it to this place that I've been driving past for years. Hip atmosphere with loud (but within my taste) music and a nice brie sandwich on baguette. Glad I was wearing black.

8. My Restaurant Week choice this year was Fire Lake - another new favorite. Brad and I both had excellent (and huge) meals paired with a nice Minnesotan beer selection. The almond crusted trout was unbelievably good as was the oatmeal stout bundt cake with ice cream! May go down as the meal of the year.

9. Seconds Before played a good set at a New to Me venue in Northeast: Club Underground. Who knew that was there? Will return soon to try those fries. 

10. Another place I've driven past for years but never been inside until now is the American Swedish Institute. LaDan and Rex were up for checking it out so we toured the fancy Turnblad Mansion. The house was very ornate and lovely, but it was actually too crowded for comfort. On a Sunday. Huh.

11. Finally, I really enjoyed seeing films at two festivals this weekend: Women with Vision 2009: Dimensions at the Walker for Agnes Varda's endearing "The Beaches of Agnes" and the Minneapolis Jewish Film Festival at Sabes for an interesting documentary, "At Home in Utopia".

Only 2 more weeks til spring...

 

Police Ride-Along

One of the coolest parts of my Leadership Twin Cities class is the requirement to do a ride-along with a police officer. I just got back from spending a snowy Friday night in a Minneapolis Police Department squad car with a female officer of the First Precinct (downtown). I had high expectations for the experience, and it actually turns out that not that much happens on an average winter weekend night. Totally New to Me, I have never been in a squad or really ever talked to a police officer so I learned a lot. Events of my ride-along:

1. Drive to Bobby & Steve's Autoworld to pick up food for officer at Precinct desk.

2. Hang out at Precinct desk and watch downtown video cameras while officers eat.

3. Investigate stolen car incident at video store.

4. Give parking ticket to woman returning to car parked illegally in Cedar Riverside area.

5. Observe intersection by Bedlam to unsuccessfully try to catch people driving through stop sign.

6. Investigate argument at Riverside tower.

7. Pick up tip on possible illegal gun sales from source at Riverside tower.

8. Give parking ticket to woman returning to car parked illegally in Cedar Riverside area.

9. Investigate possible domestic violence case at Fairview Riverside ER.

What I learned:

1.  Not a lot happens in downtown Minneapolis on an average Friday night before bar close.

2. A lot of gas is wasted by leaving squads running all of the time.

3. A lot of people do dumb things such as leaving their car running with doors unlocked at the video store.

4. A lot of motor vehicle tickets are given because nothing else is happening.

5. Cops think that security guards are not cool.

6. Cops wear a lot of heavy gear and guns.

7. Unless something is really important, response is not quick.

8. A woman who cannot speak English or even spell in Somali probably will not be able to leave an abusive husband.

9. It is easy to have a negative perspective on humanity/society when all you see is bad stuff.

Mes Amis

Over the last couple of weeks I've been reminded again and again of how many great friends I have in my life. I feel so grateful to all of you for always being there for me when I need you. Here is a brief list of recent New to Me activities avec mes amis:

1. 112 Eatery - Bookclub had an excellent meal to celebrate our 10 year anniversary (to the day)! We were all sad that Renee was too sick to make it but vowed to do it again in less than a decade. I could have had an entire meal of the sea scallop appetizer and cauliflower fritter side dish. I knew the menu was not very veggie friendly but was still disappointed at my limited options. Very good (if salty) food at reasonable prices. Felt at home in the Warehouse District exposed-brick urban atmosphere.

2. Roat Osha - Uptown's newest restaurant was disappointing. With the same owners as Tum Rup Thai, I did not like the atmosphere as much (TV's and not as intimate). Am still working on appreciating Thai food and did like my dish with pineapple but was not impressed by the prices, service, or anything besides the free and convenient parking. 

3. Health issues day at Leadership Twin Cities allowed me to tour both HCMC and Courage Center, two interesting health care facilities that I had not previously had reason to learn about. Not as thought-provoking was the post-session happy hour at suburban Doolittle's. I have such a hard time saying anything nice about the suburbs.

4. A free gift card led me to Gabe's "Roadhouse" for a decent fish fry the other night. What is a roadhouse anyway? Pretty much felt like I crossed the border to Wisconsin for a few hours. Not necessarily a bad thing.

5. I've been looking forward to the opening of Live Forever: Elizabeth Peyton at the Walker and the exhibition did not disappoint. The small size of the work was a surprise, but the quality of the paint and the themes of youth and beauty were seductive and so easy to like. Curator Laura Hoptman's lecture, 'End of the Century', was very interesting especially in her explanation of the "arriere-garde". Speaking of influential women, see also this interesting article on the women running Chicago's Museum of Contemporary Art and the Walker Art Center.

6. For a quintessentially Minnesotan art experience, the Art Shanty Project on Medicine Lake cannot be beat. My favorite shanty was the paper tube structure with origami. Eating buttery baked potatoes in the Art Car Taxi stand was another highlight. And the polar bear sliding around on ice was awesome.

New Year

Three weeks into 2009, my commitment to New things is going strong, but my commitment to Mad About New is waning, as you may have noticed. I probably should have made a New Year's resolution to blog, but my only resolution is to become a better Scrabble player, and I am happy to report that I have already achieved that goal. Since the resolution did not include any specifics on "better", it turned out to be pretty easy. I have a Page-A-Day Scrabble calendar as a constant reminder of the goal, am learning the lingo through reading 'Word Freak', know most of the 101 2-letter words, and am earning 300+ points in most games. I am also realizing that it would be pretty easy to become obsessed with this project.

Meanwhile, I've enjoyed several new art experiences and even discovered that St. Paul can be a nice day trip or Friday night date! New to Me, January 1-25:

1. Text/Messages: my texting friends Rachel and Em and I checked out an interesting new show at the Walker on our day off

2. MacPhail Center for Music: spent 1/2 a day there for Leadership Twin Cities - perhaps I should take up the bass?

3. Minnesota Shubert Center: LTC tour of the Hennepin Center for the Arts and relocated Shubert Theater - reminds me once again of the amazing arts scene in MN

4. MIA's new show of drawings from the Weisberg Collection: coldest night in 5 years and the museum was packed - worth a trip to check out this amazing collection by little-known artists

5. St. Paul Chamber Orchestra: inspired by LTC and $10 ticket special, Bill and I experienced the SPCO featuring the London Sinfonietta playing a mind-opening piece of unusual classical(?) music: Heiner Goebbels' Songs of Wars I Have Seen

6. Nomad World Pub - another place I've been meaning to go for years - enjoyed Surly Smoke and Jones Street Station

7. St. Paul day trip - Em and I ventured across the river to many new places: Cooqi gluten-free bakery (fudge-like brownies - yum), Lula (well-organized vintage wear), Everyday People Clothing Exchange (new location), Bead Monkey (now must make this necklace), Ten Thousand Villages (a gift shop making a difference), My Sister's Closet (found perfect vintage fur hat), and Picky Girl (love the name and great small selection).

I also made it to a few New to Me restaurants: 

1. Tiger Sushi - new location at 28th & Lyndale has great food and good atmosphere (despite a tv on the wall)

2. The Liffey - blueberry stilton was certainly New to Me

3. Pizza Luce in St. Paul - have now been to all locations

4. Pop! - cute but not awesome for the vegetarian

5.Hell's Kitchen - fun for group breakfast with out-of-town guest Jen

And, finally, the best part of the New Year was this week's inauguration ceremony for our New President Barack Hussein Obama. Watching on tv in the lobby at work and then celebrating with my bookclub that night, I have new hope for the future!