Minneapolis

Candyland


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Numerous people have mentioned Candyland in conversation over the past couple months, and I had no idea what they were talking about. Two weeks ago, I finally stumbled upon it and found it was only two blocks from my office on a street I rarely travel on.

There are no Gumdrop Mountains, Gramma Nutt or Queen Frostine, but there’s a delightful spread of sweets and salty snacks. I went for a box of popcorn, which was delicious. I’m convinced freshly popped popcorn will raise your spirits on any day.

September 2nd, 2012|Minneapolis|Comments Off on Candyland
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The Day I Graduated from Yale


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Downtown living has been fun this past year and so was having a commute that rivaled a walk to the farm. After a couple layup attempts this spring and early summer, I finally landed a slam dunk  in my house search in mid June.

Today, movers packed and delivered my furniture to the new house, so it will be my first night sleeping under a roof with which I’m (hopefully) building equity. (If nothing else, it will at least someday fit my future piano…which is how I bought my SUV (it fits a keyboard & case), which is my new commute.)

A year ago, I attended a Cubs game with my Chicago friends on the last night before my moving company packed for Minneapolis. In a coincidentally similar fashion, I went to a Twins game tonight with a Minneapolis friend who is from Chicago, on the evening of my big move, and I’ll remember today as…the Day I Graduated from Yale. 😉

August 29th, 2012|Minneapolis|Comments Off on The Day I Graduated from Yale
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Mural


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I tried to get a pretty-in-pink photo today of a pedal pub party of pink bachelorettes. After seeing the party and parking my car, I was trailing the pedal pub for about 10 blocks and by the time I got close enough to ask them to smile, they disembarked for Kieran’s Irish Pub. In fact, the only “girls” I got close enough to photograph was a group of drag queens on a smoke break. That’s life. And no photo.

On the way back to my apartment, I saw this mural on the Downtown Journal building which features eight Minnesotans, among them Kirby Puckett, Amy Klobuchar, Judy Garland and Garrison Keillor. It was created last fall by graffiti artist JAWSH.

 

August 28th, 2012|Minneapolis|Comments Off on Mural
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Woman’s Club of Minneapolis


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The Woman’s Club of Minneapolis sits along Loring Park and is a social club with a civic purpose and charitable goals. Today, I stood outside looking in, but in 2004, I saw Rockapella in the inside theater. Back then, you could say it was a Zombie Jamboree.

August 20th, 2012|Minneapolis|Comments Off on Woman’s Club of Minneapolis
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Sweet Home Minnesota


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It’s official: today I’ve become a homeowner. After nearly a year since I’ve returned to Minnesota, I now have a single family house, minus the family. This spring and early summer, I toured 26 homes and researched several hundred more online to combine findings from real estate listings, similar recently sold homes, Google Maps’ streetviews and aerial views, school districts, city parks, county tax records, potential commutes, neighborhoods, and gut feeling.

Another search criteria was a home that could fit a 7’6″ grand piano. Mind you, I don’t even own a grand piano…yet.

This 1986 Plymouth, Minnesota home has 4 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms and was sold by the original homeowners, who obviously took great pride in it. It’s immaculately clean, has a large backyard with a perfect patio, and the best part is that no improvements are really needed. There are a few enhancements on my list to contemporize the house such as light fixtures, drapes and window curtains and of course, new paint.

The walls are currently in every color of the visible spectrum from beige and burnt red to daffodil yellow, bright orange to celery green, aqua green to gold and royal purple. So, you fill not find those photos here today!

When I moved back to Minnesota last August, coincidentally or not, I’d picked the apartment floor plan “Plymouth.” Who could have known that ultimately I’d be living in Plymouth next!? Even with my downtown living this past year, most of my friends have preferred doing things in the suburbs or elsewhere in the city that required driving, so suburban living in the Twin Cities is not the same social pariah situation as Elmhurst, Illinois was to the city of Chicago.

I can’t wait to get working in my new kitchen (and for the return of my Weber grill!) and entertain friends with my latest food experiments (here, here, and here.)

I will most definitely miss my amazing, four-block commute to work and being next door to adventures in Loring Park (here, here and here and poutine), though I’ll be closer to my church and some relatives, and I’m ready for my next adventure.

My roots and childhood memories will always belong to a special hometown in South Dakota, but today, I feel at home in Minnesota.

August 13th, 2012|Minneapolis, People|4 Comments
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Commute

Commute Loring Park
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Someday soon, I’ll miss this short, tree-lined commute walking to and from the office.

August 13th, 2012|Minneapolis|2 Comments
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The Spots


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Tonight was the first ever corporate choir sing-off at Minneapolis’ summer Music & Movies in the Parks at Lake Harriet. You see, I’m one of 30+ members in the Target choir, The Spots. We were joined by choirs from General Mills, Wells Fargo and Ameriprise in a program titled “Sing United,” in which we each sang 4-5 numbers as individual choirs and joined together for four choral pieces. In other words, it was on like Regionals in Glee.

I’m fortunate Target offers many networking groups and encourages team members to be themselves and focus on all aspects of well-being. Or as they say during orientation, “Be You. Be Target.” The Spots is one of those networks, and our summer season began in late February. We’ve been learning the music and the choreography to nine songs at our twice a week, lunch-hour rehearsals and our all-day boot camp in June. Yep, we’re that dedicated to creating quality music. It’s a lot of time invested, but it’s a lot of fun, a lot of laughter and many new friendships. The Spots mostly perform for internal meetings, though we usually have a few public performances.

At Lake Harriet, the energy was palpable with grins ear-to-ear, the acoustics were sharp, and a summer breeze swept in from the lake. The Spots’ tight harmonies wove through the electric night air, fortified by measures in unison, and our arms and feet moved with the beat. We sang a little Motown (Up the Ladder to the Roof), some Bollywood (Jai Ho from Slumdog Millionaire), some Swahili (Baba Yetu), Taio Cruz’s fist-pumping Dynamite, and the Beatles (With a Little Help from My Friends). It was one of my favorite musical moments in recent memory.

And if there had been a Glee-esque panel of judges, I’m certain my friends and I would be heading to Nationals.


August 12th, 2012|Minneapolis, Music, People|Comments Off on The Spots
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Bullseye Bus


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This fall, Target is donating $5 million to schools as part of its “Give With Target” program. The giving campaign will provide $2.5 million in grants to in-need schools, and up to $2.5 million in Target GiftCards to local schools that receive votes on the Target Facebook page. Vote for your K-12 school.

Disney Channel star Bridgit Mendler will hop on the Bullseye Bus for surprise visits to four schools across the country in August.

The bus parked in front of the downtown Minneapolis store on Friday, and I got to step inside. And bonus, I saw my college friend Danielle and learned she did the graphic design work for the project!


Give With Target

August 5th, 2012|Minneapolis|Comments Off on Bullseye Bus
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A Farmers’ Market


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I love farmers’ markets. In every city and country I’ve traveled to, outdoor markets are not only great for local produce and good deals, but they show off a bit of the local flavor and people, too. From La Boqueria in Barcelona to las ferias in Santiago; to the back alley market in Wuxi, China (near Shanghai) which included live animals and live fish (but not for long); to fresh fruit from Pier 39 in San Francisco; the outdoor market in Fairbanks, Alaska with giant vegetables, and the farm stands in your local town, the colorful fresh fruit and vegetables flirt for your pocketbook.

As a kid, I remember selling sweet corn for a couple summers at the farmer’s market in Akron, Iowa. My sister, brother and I would wade into the cornfield and load our arms full with stacks of sweet corn, undeterred by the beating sun or itchy pollen. We’d unload them in bushel baskets in our wheelbarrow cart, not stopping until we had several hundred ears. At $2 a dozen, we offered a pretty good deal.

The Curry’s have almost always planted bicolor sweet corn, but in the early 90’s it was more of a rarity than a regular feature at markets or even grocery stores, for that matter. People would ask for our “candy corn.” Sweet corn is not a core part of our family business, but is planted for our family, employees, friends and neighbors. There was always an overabundance of corn, and the farmers’ market allowed my siblings and I to pool together some extra vacation cash. We can’t possibly have earned that much money, but to this day, it remains a rich memory.

Garlic


August 2nd, 2012|Minneapolis, Nature, St. Paul|Comments Off on A Farmers’ Market
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Buskers


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When I leave the office each day, I never quite know what kind of gypsy show I’m gonna find on Nicollet Avenue. I say that in the most endearing sense possible. I dropped an Abe Lincoln before snapping some shots, as this group went to town jamming on their (improvised) instruments. I talked with these buskers between songs and learned their band name is “Hateful Bread and the Corn Babies.” Hmm…no more questions.

Video of “Hateful Bread and the Corn Babies” performing on Brady Street in Milwaukee.

August 2nd, 2012|Minneapolis, Music|Comments Off on Buskers
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