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!

December

Doing new things in December turns out to be the biggest challenge of my project so far. For many including me, December is mostly about traditions. On the first Saturday, I get to pick up my free Christmas tree from my generous realtor, Tim Hyde. Then I spend the next week hastily preparing for my annual Holiday Open House, now in its 10th year of tradition. It's great to see friends, some that I only get to see on this one occasion a year, and afterwards pile all of the toys that everyone brings around the tree (see photo) to donate to Toys for Tots. Other December traditions include attempting to out-do Angie's creativity in sugar cookie decorating at my mom's, complaining about said mother's comments about my life in her annual Christmas letter, watching the British Television Advertising Awards with TAB, attending the candlelight service at my mom's church on Christmas Eve, and overall eating too much.

In addition, here is a brief list of New to Me things from December that may or may not become new traditions:

1. Eating greasy Chinese food from David Fong's. Hopefully leaving my cell phone there will not be a tradition.

2. Schmoozing with teachers at Blake's Holiday Party at MIA. My guess is that even Blake will not be able to afford the extravagance of another party like this.

3. Learning about comic art at The Minnesota Museum of American Art. Unfortunately, this museum is closing (probably did not help that this is the first time I've ever been there) so will not become a tradition.

4. Eating excellent Nepali food at Everest on Grand. Put this on my list of reasons to drive to St. Paul! Definitely a new tradition.

5. Eating decent Indonesian food at BALi. TAB loves this place so I'm sure I'll be back. The location, atmosphere, prices, and spices are great.

6. Bill and I were glad that we braved the coldest night of the year to listen to the Lyra Baroque Orchestra's Holidays with the Sopranos concert. Very beautiful music in a perfect venue. Would like to check them out again.

7. Making veggie stock, lentil soup, and apple dumplings on the winter solstice. Hopefully a new tradition.

8. Christmas shopping without going to the mall: online and local stores only this year. Definitely a new tradition.

Happy NEW YEAR, everyone!

New Year

Happy Birthday to me (and several other friends & family members)! A New Year started for me last Saturday. Although I was not ready to turn 36, I did have a great day and really fun party at Herkimer & moto-i with about 30 of my closest friends. Since I have been too busy doing new things, I still haven't blogged about New to Most moto-i which I've declared my favorite bar and been to 3 times since it recently opened. I love the location, atmosphere, drinks. The food could and hopefully will improve over time. How cool that sake is being made at Lake & Lyndale.

I think I'll leave the New Year resolutions for January 1st and only resolve right now to keep up the New to Me project. Over the past month of not blogging, I've at least kept a list of New that I'll post here. Every time I'm trying to pick a place to go, it is difficult to decide if I want to take the opportunity to add to my New project and risk a bad experience or choose somewhere that I know I like. Questioning my choices is exactly the point of the project of course, so I'm going to keep with it in this New Year.

1. AFH MN's first design/build installation: Twin Cities Homeless Locker Project

2. Cannot believe I've never been here but no need to go back: Country Bar

3. Worth checking out: India at MIA

4. Kinda crowded: The Mad Ripple at Grumpy's NE

5. Kinda creepy Halloween open studio night at Casket Arts

6. The excellent Jolie Holland at Cedar

7. Surprisingly good exhibition: Tetsumi Kudo at Walker

8. Yum! New dining hall at Grinnell

9. Grateful to Mary for telling me about Pieta Brown at M-Shop

10. Good thing I was there to carry a few trophies: LHYC banquet

11. Election celebration and Lucinda Williams at 1st Ave

12. Good happy hour if a bit too bright: Pagoda

13. Band was really good, smoke was too much: XYZ Affair 

14. MN Opera: The Abduction from the Seraglio

15. Go see the whittled ladder at MAEP at MIA

16. So dark: 007

17. So cold: Raku at Hemingway's studio

18. Will be back again to Los Andes restaurant

19. Worth the free admission (really, very funny): Brave New Workshop

20. Blake school play: Much Ado About Nothing

New President! Yes we can and did.

November 4th, 2008, Election Day: I think I can say it was the best day of the last 8 years. For well over a year, every time I've opened the refrigerator, I've looked at a postcard from Obama's campaign with a photo of Barack announcing his campaign in Springfield, IL and these words to live by: "In the face of impossible odds, people who love their country can change it".

I first learned of Barack Obama from my friend Mala who often spoke about her incredible Constitutional Law professor at the University of Chicago. Later came his 2004 Democratic National Convention Keynote Address "The Audacity of Hope" and suddenly everyone was talking about the man who would someday lead our country. Then I read his two books and was so interested in the stories of his family and commitment to community organizing in "Dreams from My Father" and his values and view of America in "The Audacity of Hope". If you haven't yet read his memoir, I was going to suggest buying it right now but see that it is sold out everywhere!

I am not an Obama supporter because I agree with all of his political positions. Throughout the campaign, my ultra-liberalism has come out many times as I've been frustrated by what I consider to be his moderate positions especially on the environment and gay marriage. But his message of HOPE is what I need to pull out of the FEAR message of the past 8 years. Since the Wellstones were killed in the plane crash, I have barely listened to the news for fear of the next horrible act of the current administration. Obama gives me hope that every day will now be better, that the world's perception of the U.S. can be positive again, that racial stereotypes will change.

On Election Night, Erin, Sheila, and I went to Policy and a Pint (New to Us) at MPR to watch the returns on large screens with great food and Summit for only $10. A really fun time, i would definitely recommend trying another Citizens League event. The countdown to 10:00 when the west coast posted their returns was like New Year's! And then in a second, the left coast turned blue on the screen, and the 8 worst years of my lifetime were over. There was nothing to do but cry. We listened to McCain's speech on they way home, and I thought it was very good (except for the background boo-ing). I watched Obama's speech at home with just my kitties and friends by text, and cried with happiness through the whole thing (especially the part about the new puppy!). Change has come to America! 

As you may know, Angie and I have a Presidential Bookclub and are working our way through the biographies of all of the American Presidents. Currently we are bogged down in John Tyler but someday we'll get to the 44th! Along those lines, I was super excited to see this New to Me exhibition at the Weisman this week:Hindsight is Always 20/20. The text is fascinating, and I can't stop thinking about the giant TERROR from Bush's legacy. Check it out before January 4th. In 8 more years our new President's message will be added: HOPE.

Bad and Good New

Bad New: The big New to Me event of the past 2 weeks is learning that I am allergic to cats and dogs and this is causing me to have asthma. Since this was a complete surprise, I will never know if I've had these allergies my whole life or if they developed recently. So far I've learned that the most allergen-producing dogs and cats are males with black fur and dogs with double coats (such as German or Dutch Shepherds). Check, check, check. That pretty much sums up the animals I've been exposing myself to lately. So I've been struggling with the emotional consequences of not touching or sleeping in bed with my favorite animals and with finding the right combination of medications so that I can give my co-workers a break from these 6 weeks of coughing. I'll keep you posted. See left for cutest kitty ever: Chloe.

Good New: Emily and I had lots of fun on Saturday night trying three New to Us hotel bars in renovated classic Minneapolis buildings. At least the RNC was good for something. 

1. Restaurant Max at the Hotel Minneapolis. The only reason we even went here was because the website claims to have happy hour from 9-11 everyday. Apparently, this means everyday except Saturday. I suggest trying it on any other day because the atmosphere is nice (a little too bright) and the drinks (especially Gatsby's Daisy) are excellent. The decor has probably too much going on but the historic features like the white marble columns are lovely.

2. B.A.N.K. at the Westin Minneapolis. Sorry, Angie, I just couldn't wait to try the deviled eggs (awesome)! I can safely say that BANK's feature drink, the blueberry mojito (with fresh berries), is the best cocktail I've ever tasted. Sitting in the cozy lounge seats in the dimly lit former Farmers and Mechanics Bank three story space, you feel like a glamourous visitor to another time. 

3. Prohibition at the W Minneapolis - The Foshay. My mom always used to tell me about the Foshay being the tallest building in Minneapolis until the year I was born so it was fun to finally get to the top of this cool Art Deco tower. Walking into the lobby on a Saturday night, the place was packed and didn't seem much like the Minneapolis that I know with the lines to each bar! We immediately decided to check out Prohibition and save the Living Room on the first level for a weeknight. The views from the 27th floor bar are great and I liked the intimate feel of the library-like space. Unfortunately, it really was too crowded to hang out so we just looped around and will have to visit again soon. 

Overall, it was fun to be tourists in our hometown on a warm fall Saturday night! The preservation of these amazing landmark buildings of Minneapolis as spaces for the public to experience (if you have a bit of cash for one spendy drink in each place) is great to see. 

Atmosphere

This post is about New to Me restaurant atmosphere worth checking out, not the concert tickets that Tab and I failed to get before the second show sold out this week. Lately we have been too focused on social activism (see First Fundraiser and CANtastrophe) to keep on top of all upcoming social activities. 

Not to say we've given up all social planning; we gathered for a baby shower for Mark and Amy at (new to most) Barrio at 9th & Nicollet this week. The excellent atmosphere reminded me of Barcelona: long and narrow space, red walls, dark with tasteful lighting. We skipped the house specialty tequila shots and compadres this time, but Mark and I enjoyed the tasty cocktails (see photo of us with Old Cubans and Cassie) while the others had non-alcoholic drinks unlike any Shirley Temples I've ever seen. Let's just say we hope Amy's drink was N/A - the glass was rather fancy. None of the food is on a happy hour special, but I'd still recommend the small plate of mahi mahi tacos for $3.50. Another great feature is that you can reserve a table!

Last week I also enjoyed a New to Me restaurant, Obento-Ya, my favorite since discovering Nameste. Stylish and small, this place is a gem in a tiny commercial district on Como & 15th Ave. SE. Ryan and I enjoyed the sushi, robata (do not skip the Japanese pumpkin skewer), and katsu. I can't wait to go back for the vegetable bento. Prices are super reasonable and service is good. I wish I could go there right now, but the only drawback to my new favorite restaurant is that it closes at 9:00 and is not open Sunday. They do have happy hour M-S 5:00-7:00 so just one more reason to go back tomorrow.