tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-67657576368167162982012-02-16T04:23:00.342-08:00Steffaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07846938554671807149noreply@blogger.comBlogger51125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6765757636816716298.post-76247439172887982142010-02-26T15:49:00.001-08:002010-02-26T15:49:45.094-08:002010-02-26T15:49:45.094-08:00

http://exploringthemillcity.wordpress.com

Steffaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07846938554671807149noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6765757636816716298.post-58859718456332724162010-02-21T19:42:00.000-08:002010-02-22T20:20:28.750-08:002010-02-22T20:20:28.750-08:00

Always trust the body! It does not lie! The Arboretum maps apparently give distance on only the trails that are specifically labeled with that name, ignoring all the distance you have to cover on other trails before you get to the main trail you're traversing, so with Matt's handy GPS training watch, we were able to map last weekend's route on Sunday. You can play with all the Garmin

Steffaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07846938554671807149noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6765757636816716298.post-82073259542746412182010-02-14T15:56:00.000-08:002010-02-14T16:44:10.871-08:002010-02-14T16:44:10.871-08:00

Matt and I have been trying to make it out to the Arboretum for several weeks to check out their XC ski trails. Today was the day, conveniently giving us some time together without Optimus. We arrived before Saul and Noel, and used the opportunity to explore the Orchard exhibit in the Great Hall. It was amazing, and I took a lot of pictures. I wish I could share the fragrant flowers with you as

Steffaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07846938554671807149noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6765757636816716298.post-21032930466724771742010-02-14T15:52:00.000-08:002010-02-14T16:48:42.328-08:002010-02-14T16:48:42.328-08:00

Optimus had his last day of lessons today. The school went to Wild Mountain for the day. The little guy competed on a Giant Slalom course, and did pretty well. The hoar frost on the way there was amazing, and on this tree in particular I couldn't stop admiring it.I was enamored of their snow making machines. So sturdy looking, yet delicate at the same time.

Steffaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07846938554671807149noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6765757636816716298.post-119265191109864402010-02-08T17:17:00.000-08:002010-02-08T19:27:55.842-08:002010-02-08T19:27:55.842-08:00

You can be a citizen scientist this coming weekend. Information about the Great Backyard Bird Count is here.

Steffaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07846938554671807149noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6765757636816716298.post-86354541589312411592010-02-04T17:19:00.000-08:002010-02-08T18:55:04.480-08:002010-02-08T18:55:04.480-08:00

When the boy and I left for work this morning we were amazed to see that the falling snow wasn't flakes. We both assumed that when it's snowing, it's snowing snowflakes. This snow looked like tiny spears of snow, similar in shape to the frost we saw on the trees during the days of heavy fog a few weeks ago. Upon further Google assisted research I learned that the snow we were seeing was

Steffaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07846938554671807149noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6765757636816716298.post-10195692299373350242010-02-01T22:13:00.000-08:002010-02-08T18:27:09.076-08:002010-02-08T18:27:09.076-08:00

Finally got my skates out on the ice on Monday. It was snowing and the roads were crappy so I didn't want to take Optimus to Kung Fu when his ride canceled. The rink is plowed on the west side of Lake Nokomis, by the beach with all the playground equipment. The rink inside the boards near the big flood lights was being used for Community Hockey League, but the other 12 that had been plowed and

Steffaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07846938554671807149noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6765757636816716298.post-53820691417788504142010-01-31T21:27:00.000-08:002010-02-08T18:40:05.444-08:002010-02-08T18:40:05.444-08:00

We've been cross country skiing on the lake at night. The past few nights have been spectacular for this endeavor with the full moon lighting our way. . . or the light pollution reflecting off the cloud cover, as the case may be. Matt's borrowed a XC ski set-up from a work friend, and I took my skis out of their long multi-winter storage (see Mom, I told you I'd use them for a long time! : )

Steffaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07846938554671807149noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6765757636816716298.post-72988918215275506232010-01-24T14:15:00.000-08:002010-01-24T14:57:17.218-08:002010-01-24T14:57:17.218-08:00

Pearl Park Ice RinkThe weather the past few days hasn't really been typical for Minnesota in January. I finally got myself a pair of ice skates so I could go skating with the boys this weekend. Unfortunately, the past few days have been nothing but rain, so the rinks were flooded-- thwarting our plan for family fun. As much as I hope it freezes up so I can skate, I know that also means icy

Steffaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07846938554671807149noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6765757636816716298.post-4991142005004167322010-01-16T14:38:00.000-08:002010-01-24T14:54:54.241-08:002010-01-24T14:54:54.241-08:00

I'm taking classes on the St. Paul campus to learn more about horticulture for my new volunteer role as a U of M Hennepin County Master Gardener. The class lasts for four weeks. . .48 hours of intensely condensed course material to give us somewhere to start from before we start educating the general population. I went for a little adventure scouting out the closest restrooms and wandered into

Steffaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07846938554671807149noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6765757636816716298.post-41474487990262773522010-01-06T21:01:00.000-08:002010-01-24T15:20:24.441-08:002010-01-24T15:20:24.441-08:00

We received a gift membership to the Science Museum for Christmas this year, so we decided it would be a nice end of vacation family outing to go there and see the Titanic exhibit and play for a bit in the other exhibits. Just outside the Titanic line, they've redone the exhibits on the floor, replacing an infectious disease exhibit with some more hands on tools. Opti thought this bike generator

Steffaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07846938554671807149noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6765757636816716298.post-30353128467664914612010-01-06T18:54:00.000-08:002010-01-24T14:57:36.390-08:002010-01-24T14:57:36.390-08:00

I know, I know, winter break is supposed to be a "break" for kids, but the little guy just loves to learn stuff(ok and I do too)!My sister was visiting from Tampa so I took a few days off from work to hang out with her, Matt and the boy. Matt went snowboarding Monday, so we figured it might be a good day to check out the Minnesota History Center, since Christi had never been there and Optimus was

Steffaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07846938554671807149noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6765757636816716298.post-47827081061108619632009-12-12T14:42:00.000-08:002009-12-19T10:24:32.058-08:002009-12-19T10:24:32.058-08:00

We went to the Minneapolis Central Library for the Friend's Seasonal Book Sale the first day of the $2 a paper sack week. Our intent was to stock Matt's youngest sister's first grade classroom on the Iron Range. She'd been buying books once a month or so, but this is a much more efficent way to accomplish the same purpose at a significantly less cumbersome cost. $11 bought her kids 186 new to

Steffaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07846938554671807149noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6765757636816716298.post-79153953976709335962009-12-11T17:45:00.000-08:002009-12-11T18:03:01.992-08:002009-12-11T18:03:01.992-08:00

Spent my lunch hour perusing the new show, Vital Culture, at Gallery 13; the gallery that's taken over two spaces in the building behind US Bancorp Center. They used to house a hairdresser and box store and now they're filled with Buddha trees and Barbie pin ups--a huge improvement in my opinion. The husband-wife team that runs it always talks to me like an old friend when I stop in, artfully

Steffaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07846938554671807149noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6765757636816716298.post-10735614867859291502009-12-07T18:34:00.001-08:002009-12-07T18:51:24.455-08:002009-12-07T18:51:24.455-08:00

Project Feederwatch started in November, and with it the Musich Family Citizen Science Project for the winter. I originally heard about the program on MPR, in June, asked the boy about it and signed us up, knowing we would be in our new house, and hoping that we'd be able to sit on the couch together and enjoy the peace of watching birds and keeping our hands busy with some needle arts. This

Steffaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07846938554671807149noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6765757636816716298.post-27356657747478896232009-12-06T19:28:00.001-08:002009-12-07T19:19:25.322-08:002009-12-07T19:19:25.322-08:00

My childhood friend Jane joined me this Sunday to try our hand at making Jam and Jelly--two of the recipes from the canning class I took through the MN Horticultural Society on Tuesday. I started the process before she arrived, so we could get both the Pomegranate Jelly and the Ginger Apple Fig Jam done before the end of the day. Figs are surly little buggers to process, I can see why you don't

Steffaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07846938554671807149noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6765757636816716298.post-32351399351225367442009-12-02T17:41:00.000-08:002009-12-02T17:52:38.677-08:002009-12-02T17:52:38.677-08:00

I took a canning class through the MN Horticultural Society last night, taught by Ana Micka of the Fresh Girl's Guide to Easy Canning, and it was fabulous! I've canned tomatoes before, but she opened my eyes to so many more opportunities! I had expected to be sweating over a pot of boiling water for an hour and a half, so the pleasantly comfortable conference room and PowerPoint presentation

Steffaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07846938554671807149noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6765757636816716298.post-66117368787508201892009-11-21T14:54:00.000-08:002009-11-21T15:40:12.469-08:002009-11-21T15:40:12.469-08:00

This morning was lovely. The sun was shining, I survived moonlight bowling at the Park Tavern without a hangover or any bowling ball blisters, and we were scheduled to tour the Summit Brewery with 8 of our fermented beverage loving friends.The tours happen Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Saturdays must be scheduled in advance, so this has been on the docket for quite some time. We lobbied for

Steffaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07846938554671807149noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6765757636816716298.post-84521816378365045472009-10-08T20:26:00.000-07:002009-10-16T20:40:56.930-07:002009-10-16T20:40:56.930-07:00

I spent my lunch break at Westminster Presbyterian Church today listening to Nicholas Kristoff talk about the theme of the book he and his wife wrote about empowering women. You can listen to it here. Yes I was one of the 98% of people that raised their hands thinking there were more women in the world than men (true in the developed world, not true of the developing world--or the entire world

Steffaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07846938554671807149noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6765757636816716298.post-33075525519033733692009-09-26T20:42:00.000-07:002009-12-02T17:41:04.901-08:002009-12-02T17:41:04.901-08:00

Our friends, Saul and Noel, recruited us to crush and press apples this year with a promise of 10 gallons of cider for fermenting. I don't think we really understood how much work the process involved.* We showed up around 9 (thinking we were early) and discovered a lot had already been done and hadn't seemed to have made that much of a dent in the bags of apples chilling on the back porch, so

Steffaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07846938554671807149noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6765757636816716298.post-88506441302577022092009-09-17T22:03:00.001-07:002009-09-17T22:09:04.650-07:002009-09-17T22:09:04.650-07:00

Stopped by United Noodle tonight for some dinner ingredients and scored Teramisu Pocky and some Crunky biscuts for my ill husband. What do you give a man that is feeling Crunk? You guessed it!

Steffaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07846938554671807149noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6765757636816716298.post-86581205677452108372009-09-12T12:24:00.000-07:002009-09-21T20:05:22.132-07:002009-09-21T20:05:22.132-07:00

The boy and I walked over to the Monarch Festival this morning to check out the festivities, and hopefully tag a butterfly en route to Mexico. On this glorious Saturday the boy and I partook in our first "event" in the new neighborhood. (Yes, yes, we've gotten doughnuts at Mel-O-Glaze, and it was an event for the taste buds for sure!)The Butterfly Festival was held in the grassy glade between

Steffaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07846938554671807149noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6765757636816716298.post-13170997260014604902009-08-25T20:28:00.001-07:002009-09-17T21:57:11.134-07:002009-09-17T21:57:11.134-07:00

For a while there I didn't think the Times was going to post my submission, but it's out there now. Yay! I hope it helps bring more attention and support for the important work that Amy is doing!

Steffaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07846938554671807149noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6765757636816716298.post-66514429964301727072009-08-14T12:09:00.000-07:002009-09-17T21:56:44.982-07:002009-09-17T21:56:44.982-07:00

The husband and I went on a date this week. A real date, as childless people. No babysitter to get home to, no grandparents to relieve in the morning, just us and our "plan."We would meet, we would park in the Mill district, we would view art, wander parks and then sit down to dine in a new to us restaurant after which we would drive home and walk, in the dark, around the lake. If you know us,

Steffaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07846938554671807149noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6765757636816716298.post-38516756519359808332009-08-04T17:30:00.000-07:002009-08-05T09:53:10.782-07:002009-08-05T09:53:10.782-07:00

I love the Current. I just had to throw that out there. They are involved in the planning and execution of two great events that I’ve attended now—Rock the Cradle (for kids and their adults) and Music and Movies in the Park. The park being, Loring Park, which straddles the divide between Downtown and Uptown. My sweet Plum Wine and Sushi Delivery Bike. ; )Unfortunately the evening was marred

Steffaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07846938554671807149noreply@blogger.com0