Alex and I hit the trails this past Sunday. We headed down to Fort Snelling Park through Minnehaha. There was a lot of flooding down there-especially at Pike Island. A ranger-type guy came and told us all about the sand lines on the tree from the first spring flood a month or so back. You can see the line on the tree photos
We had a pretty good adventure. We even saw a Mama deer and a baby deer cross through the woods, and then wade through some water. The baby had to swim, which I had never seen before-a deer swimming. Anyhow, enjoy some nature. It was pretty mystical down there.
Hello again.
Today I just want to make note that it is one of my favorite lady rock-stars birthday's today. Stevie Nicks has been an idol of mine since I was about 10. I know I know-you may not have guessed that. But hot damn, she is so rad. She can sing, she has her own thing going on, and she was part of one of the most iconic sleep-with-each-other bands of the 70's.
I love fleetwood mac. I got the album rumors when I was in 7th grade and it really stuck with me.
A few years ago (probably closer to a lot of years ago) my Mom and I went to see Fleetwood Mac together in Milwaukee. It is still on the list of one of my favorite shows EVER. I mean, they were in their 60's and still kick ass. And Stevie was as mesmerizing as I thought she would be.
Hey friends. Happy Friday Junior!!! I'm so happy. I have tomorrow off of work, and i am THRILLED! While I look forward to sleeping in, I also have to get all my school stuff in order. I start my crap online classes on Tuesday and 2 weeks after that comes the real stuff. But Saint Paul College (the shit classes I need to take for my prereq for grad school) is kinda shitty. They don't tell you anything. I have no idea where to find my syllabus, or any information at all, really. But that is what tomorrow is for. In my experience, online classes are kinda a joke, anyways. What I really can't wait for is a little bit of happy time with one of my besties (Brit) who is coming up from Chicago to visit us this weekend. We plan on enjoying some Friday afternoon patio happy hour. Can't wait.
moving on to what I'd like to share with you today...
I've had the pleasure of getting to know a couple of brother's and their band (well, I don't actually know the band....just the brother's who front the band- Josh and Jared) Calamity and the Owl.
These guys play a lot of shows with Southside Hustles brother band (did you know that most of my band is in another band called The Union Suits? well, they are, and that band is Rad. More on them later.) Their style is super unique-that of gospel/shape-note-ish old timey goodness.
The majority of my experiences seeing them has been just Josh and Jared and now Zach. These boys really know how to harmonize. and when you throw in the fiddle, bass and awesome percussion (including chains....yeah, I know. RAD!) they are just an excellent group of musicians. And I love them.
And the best news? They are playing TONIGHT at the kitty cat klub so you should check them out!!!
(ps, all pictures were taken from their FB page....thanks guys!)
HEYO! So today we have our staff BBQ, which I am in charge of. Let me tell you that this is one of my favorite parts of my job. I get to organize an appreciate lunch for the staff I supervise, plus I get to grill and hang out outside for a bit. Super fun. Anyhow, with me leaving my job and all, this is the last DT appreciation lunch I am going to be involved in. It is bittersweet, really. 6 years is a long time to be at a job. Or at least for someone who is 27.
ANYHOW, let's move forward here. Today let's talk about #7 on the list A song that reminds you of an event. And again....which event to look at. I decided that I would pick a fun one (duh) that always makes me smile.
Back in 2004/2005, I was a Senior at the U. For NYE, my bestie, Andy, came to visit. We decided we would "party hop" with our friend, Justin. Andy and I were pretty excited for the event and had some great party favors on hand. However when we arrived at the first party, we were surrounded by people in fancy clothes, sipping wine, with no music playing. NO MUSIC?! WTF? we were both a little thrown, but still thought it could be okay. That's when some dude started talking to me about the stock exchange and where to put my money. HA, as if I had money. Anyhow, Andy and I quickly realized (and started feeling other things) that we needed to go.
Thank goodness my friends Hannibal and Roach showed up on their way to another party. They sort of saved us, and we left with them to go to a different kind of party. We arrived to a college looking duplex, with music blaring from the second floor and people all over. This was my kind of NYE. When we arrived, it was already 1130. After meeting the host, who's birthday it was (this was the first time I met miss Jen, soon to be wifey of my good friend Matty) we looked around and decided that THIS was the place to be.
Anyhow, when the actual new year was 30 seconds away, someone started the song Take Me Out by Franz Ferdinand somehow, when the songs breaks it down to go into the second half of the song, the beats of the music hit right on the 10 second count down. When the clock struck midnight, the song switched over and it was like the new years REALLY was starting. Champagne was being sprayed everywhere, everyone was jumping up and down and in general, things were getting crazy (in a beautiful way!)
Nowadays when I hear that song, I ALWAYS think about the NYE party. Please enjoy!
Now that spring is finally here, Ive been in a cooking mood-trying to come up with delicious spring recipes. Below are a few I've tried recently.
First off, our take on flautas. ground turkey, pinto beans and corn.
Stuff inside a wheat tortilla and roll up. Cover with salsa and cheese and bake.
Add a little homemade guac and chips, and we call it dinner.
Next up, chicken pesto pizza with caramelized onions, and feta.
I added mushrooms and raw onions on my side, too. And we had a handful of colby cheese left, so we threw it on there, too.
And a little Caesar to start out....yum.
Lastly, something fresh and light.
Pitas, hummus (pine nut...) cucumber, carrots, onion, lettuce, couscous, fries (cuz A needs a little potato in life) and blackberries and raspberries and banana.
Oh yeah, and veggie meatballs. Man, I love this spread. I love any build your own type bar.
What are some of your favorite springtime recipes??
Hey all. Sorry for the long delay. Not only was the weekend CRAZY with It's a Date, My Band (southside Hustle) also had a show. Sunday I decided to ride out to Hopkins with Al and watch his little bro play some little league. This was super fun until the ride home when the wind really picked up and so did my cold. By the time I got home, my throat hurt so much and I had a pretty good fever, so I pretty much went straight to bed. But I couldn't stay home from work on Monday, so I had to go in for part of the day. Tuesday was my grad school orientation, which was exciting and awesome and I can't wait to get back to school! Then on Wednesday I had tons of catch up to do, and of course (with my luck) my work computer crashed yesterday. So it has been a crazy week, but I'm here to talk about #6 on the music list....
#6: Song that reminds you of a place. I think part of my answer for this comes with the season.
Around this time of year is when life gets exciting for a high school student, or it was for me when I was in high school. It was almost summer, and cruising around in friends cars on sunny afternoons was the fun thing to do (for my pretty straight-edged group of friends....the worst we did was smoke cigs and think we were badass). There was one mix tape that my friend Megan made that was amazing. It had all kinds of good cuts-from local radness (willy porter) to classic ROCK (zeppelin) and of course, a little hip hop. The track that stands out is "notorius Thugs" by bone thugs and biggie. I would play this song 2-3 times in a row, (remember, this was back in the day of rewinding, not just pushing the back button.) And still when I hear it, I am thrown back to the streets of Wauwatosa in either the pumpkin, swordfish, jeepie or my sundance.
Just last night, while taking the doggies on a longer walk, I brought up to A that I miss being a kid. Don't get me wrong, I love where I am at in life-about to start school, leave the job I've had for 6 years, move to a different neighborhood, and in general, mix it up A LOT. But sometimes I miss the easy days of being young. whether it was being 7 and playing in my clubhouse, or being 16 and hitting the round-about, mump-alump jump, or gilles, I miss those innocent days. Back when my biggest concern was whose house we wanted to hang out at that night, things felt so serious. Of course they did...I was 16, but looking back makes me smile and a little sad all at the same time.
Ok, enough childhood happiness, on to some Bone Thug's n harmony
TGIF!!!!!!!!!!!!! So glad we made it! And what a weekend to look forward to. Let me just start by telling you that it is already time for the second installment of the best pop-up vintage shop EVER! That's right, folks.....It's a Date is already this weekend!
What is It's a Date ,you ask? Well, it's a weekend of vintage happiness! My lady(Salvaged Strawberry) and our dear friends/ her biz partners two birds spend months scouring the greater Midwest in search of AWESOME vintage goodness, like skirts, dresses, blouses, shoes, jewelry, purses, etc.
They take all of these great finds, rack 'em up at a space, jam some great tunes, help style and basically sell AFFORDABLE (seriously, under 20 bucks!) goods to those who love vintage but don't always have the time to spend a whole day digging on their own.
These ladies are great (and I don't just say that because we are friends/ it's my girlfriend!) Really, they have awesome stuff.
COME ON DOWN to 42ndst and 28th ave in South Minnie(Ballroom Wedding and Dance!?) (by Angry Catfish, baker's wife, buster's and such) on Saturday 9-5 and Sunday 10-4!!!
Happy Friday Junior!!! It's raining here in the Minnie, but it isn't too bad. All the rain has really brought a lot of green to our otherwise grey state.
Anyhow, Today we look at #5 on the song list. Today's song is a song that reminds you of someone. Again....lots to pick from.
Tons of songs remind me of different people, but today I decided to go with an old college classic.
My college bestie and I did most things together. by most, I mean all. We often times talked about what a montage of our relationship would look like (drinking beers, riding bikes, skipping class, "exploring" the trails and woods by the river, and the ever famous burn cruise. After much discussion, we decided that the ultimate best song to be playing during our montage would be Happy Together by The Turtles.
First of all, I love this song. Secondly, I can picture us drunk sing/dancing to it in our old living room. lastly, it really would make a good montage song....just picture it
Enjoy! (isn't this video pretty ridiculous? bromance....)
After a long day of drinking high life and eating turkey dogs, Al and I took a late night bike ride on Saturday.
It was pretty much rad. We finished a few beers, and got on our bikes around 11 or so. We took minnehaha down to the roundabout, and hooked a right. We road minnehaha parkway until it meets up with the grand rounds by Lake Nokomis.
We took that trail towards lake Harriet and stopped on a little bridge to have a beer.
The trails were empty, which made it a super fun ride. We stopped briefly at lake Harriet, and continued on through uptown and back on the greenway.
All in all, we had a pretty good time. It took us just over an hour, including our beer and piss stops.
I really love night riding and I don't get to do it much. So when the chance comes up, I try to take advantage. If ever you want to night ride, or ride at all, hit me up.
