11 posts tagged “st. paul”
I’ll admit there are certain kinds of shopping that I enjoy. I love buying any items that have taken the place of toys in my life. So I will gladly head out to my adult equivalents of FAO Schwarz – tea stores, CD stores, outdoorsy stores, specialty running stores – any day of the week. I even enjoy grocery shopping at the right locations; food can be LOADS (and often pounds) of fun! I look forward to these trips like a little kid.
Other shopping, however, feels more like a dreaded trip to the dentist. You’ve got the glaring fluorescent lights. The insidious lite-rock music. The cold, sterile smells. That sense of being trapped in a timeless zone between annoyance and boredom. Yes, for me there is virtually NO difference between getting my teeth drilled and wandering aimlessly around a big, impersonal store or mall – except that there is not enough Novocain in the world to numb the pain of the latter.
So when the holiday season comes rolling around, I generally put off thinking about presents for a good, long while. I anticipate hours of horrible shopping, frantically trying to purchase all my Xmas gifts in as little time as possible. And then I think, “Ugh.” And then I take a nap.
But this year will be different.
This year, we are once again heading to St. Paul for some serious shopping fun. You may recall last December, Shane and I ran right into the middle of Grand Meander, a promotional event hosted by the avenue of the same name. This festive smorgasbord of free food, sales and (mostly) local commerce is happening again on Saturday, and we are planning to take better advantage this time around! We’ve mapped out our route and noted the hours for free goodies and musical performances. We’re working to compile our gift lists. I fully anticipate another successful, 8-hour venture of sheer, tasty awesomeness (and fewer lingering headaches).
After all, as the old adage goes, there’s nothing like complimentary hot cider and cookies to help the rampant consumerism go down.
Don’t you just love it when awesome things get awesomer? I do. Especially when they involve places I like to hang out.
You may recall (well, probably only if you = Shane) that one of my favorite tea-drinking spots, The Tea Garden, underwent major renovations over the winter to update and double the size of their space. The changes are a fantastic improvement, and we enjoy our visits there all the more now that we can actually find a place to, you know, SIT DOWN. (And admire creative work by local artists, like surfboard paintings. Which is probably the only practical use for surfboards in all of Minnesota.)
But something even better happened in mid-October, when my MOST favorite of all tea-drinking locales, TeaSource, took on a big reconstruction project of their own (St. Paul store). We visited them last Tuesday for sample day (five different cups of tea for a mere $3! are you not tingling all over with excitement?!) to check out the updated digs. The interior looks AMAZING – soothing green paint on the walls, soft paper lanterns hanging from the ceiling, vibrant and classy new furniture, fabulously displayed (and well-stocked) shelves. The atmosphere now perfectly compliments the quality of the delicious teas that they sell. I love it!
In fact, I only know one person who claims the redesign is a little “too comfortable”; someone who says the environment merely “promotes excessive purchasing” for tea lovers like myself. But I believe her name is My Wallet, and I advise you to not take her opinions too seriously.
I never do.
On Thursday night last week, Shane and I attended our TC 10-Miler clinic (as usual) to participate in a special training session: stairs. We met our little running group at the top of some long, steep steps off Summit Avenue and proceeded to run up (and walk down) them five times, switching between single-steps and double-steps for each repetition. With a total of around 500 stairs completed, it was one HELL of a killer workout.
On Friday, I awoke with some very angry, tight (and conspiring-against-me) calves and quads. However, we still went out to our state’s annual food-on-a-stick festival with my parents and brother – as planned – for an afternoon of family fun. That excursion added an additional 5-6 hours of walking to the exercise the day before. Needless to say, my legs were not happy.
Then came Saturday and the sad spectacle of me limping out of bed like an 82-year-old with a hangover. (Or at least how I imagine it would be mixing the old and the alcohol.) But again, we had plans in place that couldn’t be changed; our long run this week needed to happen on Saturday morning if it was going to happen at all. So we packed up our hurting bodies and headed out for a 9-mile run.
By mile 8, I was in so much pain, I was past the point of feeling it. Thus, I was confident I could complete the run without any problems...until a crack in the sidewalk tripped me up. I caught myself on the next step, and under normal circumstances, I would have recovered. However, the added weight of that loss-of-balance was just too much for my exhausted right leg to handle, and it collapsed beneath me. My body crashed down to the ground, with my knee and elbow taking the brunt of the concrete force rushing toward me.
As I rolled over onto my back and tested out the injuries in my various limbs, I felt pain accompanied by a strange sense of acceptance. With all the abuse my legs had taken over three days, I figured they were justified in fighting back. But as I lay there, bruised, scrapped and sore, I also couldn’t help thinking how weird it was to have just experienced the kicking of my own ass.
So my birthday extravaganza was a grand old time. We ate breakfast at the Finnish Bistro, then went to Taylors Falls to visit the glacial potholes at Interstate State Park and play at the local waterpark. That evening, we went over to my parents’ place for a grill out and chill out (in the hot tub). Even with all the fun activities going on, though, the thing I will most remember about this birthday is hearing about someone else’s birthday.
Do you know what I’m talking about? Have you heard the exciting news?
Our friends are having a baby!
I know I use this space to vent a lot about parenting pet peeves and/or the procreation pressure that frustrates me these days, so let me be clear on my feelings here: it absolutely warms my heart to know that Shannon is pregnant. Because I believe she and Jon are two people who will raise extraordinary kids. They may not fully realize it yet, but I do (and I don’t think I’m alone). I trust that they will tend this child’s spirit well and help it grow to be beautiful, strong and open; it gives me so much hope in general to imagine the person this baby will someday become.
We look forward to meeting you, little one.
“Did you see that?”
”What?”
”That big tree leaf totally felt me up as we passed by.”
“You should have told it to keep its palms off you!”
This past Sunday, my Sauconys and I returned to the road for my first race since being diagnosed with runner’s knee. Shane and I participated with the rest of the running group in the Grand Old Day 5K, the same event that launched the running “careers” of our three previously-non-running friends in 2006.
The out-and-back course loops one section of Grand Avenue, and as I made my way down the initial stretch, Jon, Shannon and Carrie ran past me on their way back up the street. There was something symbolic about that portion of the run for me, watching my friends pass me by. I contemplated how far they have come – from learning to run a mile, then 5K, 10K, 10 miles, and finally 13.1. Their progress in a twelve-month period has been nothing short of amazing, and to each of them: I hope you take tremendous pride in what you accomplished this year! You guys are rock stars.
But as my feet reached the turn-around, I felt more relief than anything at finally coming full circle, back to the starting point we were at one year ago. With months behind me that are not quite as astonishing, I was – and am – eager to move on to the next chapter in my personal running saga.
So thank god running is the type of journey where the milestones hit or missed along the way don’t quite matter as much as the journey itself. Holding that knowledge in my heart helps me overcome the unexpected detours and feel overwhelmingly HAPPY about simply getting back on the road.
Shane and I went out to grab food at two different locations this weekend. Each experience was strange in its own way.
Saturday afternoon, we swung by the Tea Garden, a favorite beverage spot we had not visited in several months. The place was packed with folks, all lining up to order their delicious bubble tea coolers and/or shakes to balance out the effects of another crazy 80-degree day. We walked in and immediately found ourselves at the end of the line, so we grabbed a menu to peruse while waiting.
Now, the St. Paul Tea Garden is a tiny place. They’ve got a bar with about four barstools by the register, three tables crammed into the front portion of the store, and one table in back. So imagine my surprise when I finally looked up and noticed that the bar CONTINUED ON THROUGH THE WALL. The no-longer-existing wall, that is. If my life were a cartoon, this moment would have been marked by me blinking slowly followed by my eyes bugged out of my head. Sometime during this past winter (and with no warning for us), the store had TRIPLED in size, tearing out one wall to add on the entire space of the location next door.
It felt like we were witnessing the greatest magical act ever performed (thankfully, minus any annoying, Blainesque magicians). We walked around wide-eyed, sipping our sugary shakes and feeling giddy at the prospect of being able to actually sit somewhere in the store.
And then on Sunday, we headed out to Udupi Café for lunch. Upon arrival, our hostess asked, “Two?” We nodded and followed her to a booth. Two waiters appeared to fill our water glasses and set out our silverware. They both gestured to the buffet, and we proceeded to take several trips up to sample the spicy Indian cuisine (mmm). Different waiters stopped by our table to silently deliver bread and clear our used plates.
When we were finished, we headed up to the register to pay. The hostess rang up our bill and looked expectantly at Shane, who handed her our gift certificate (thanks, ShanShan!). Once the transaction was complete, he put a few dollars in the tip jar. The hostess said, “Thank you.” And then we left.
That whole story may not seem so abnormal, but it is the fewest total number of words (three, if you weren’t counting) I have ever exchanged with the staff of any restaurant. Even an in-and-out sandwich shop requires more interaction! Although, being an introvert, I can’t say it was a change for the worse.
Which begs the question: were we momentarily thrown into some alternate reality inside my own mind, where the tea shops are bigger and the wait staff less chatty?
If so, can I please transport back to that world in order to determine if the cupcakes are also more frostinged?
Last night, Shane, Amy (Shane’s sister) and I took the Tea Basics class at TeaSource in St. Paul, an experience I would describe as deliciously informative. We got a two-hour dose of tea facts, accompanied by twelve small samples of various kinds and blends of tea that TeaSource sells. Here is a bit of what we learned.
All tea comes from the Camellia Sinensis plant (pictured at right). It is cultivated and pruned at various tea estates, the majority of them overseas (Japan, China, Taiwan, India, Sri Lanka). Then the leaves are plucked - mostly by women, as they have smaller hands to better perform this delicate job – with particular leaves (e.g. bud, first leaf, third leaf, etc.) set aside for specific tea types. The plant itself is left to re-grow and may survive for many decades, even centuries!
The plucked leaves are set out to dry on trays or screens until they lose 50-80% of their moisture and are limp enough to roll. The rolling can either be done by hand or by machine; the goal is to twist the leaves in order to rupture the cells. Then the leaves are left out for oxidization on a large trough, in a warm, humid room. During this time, they dry almost completely and absorb extra oxygen (and sometimes particular desired scents, like jasmine) from the atmosphere.
The length of oxidization depends on the kind of tea being made. Tea is divided into five categories: white, green, oolong, black and puerh. White tea leaves are oxidized the least, green and oolong tea leaves fall in the middle, while black tea leaves are oxidized the longest (puerh is a bit different, as it is deliberately aged for a number of years following oxidization).
When this step of the process is complete, the leaves are fired using gentle heat, killing the enzymes and thus stabilizing the plant. Then they are sorted, graded and packaged – sometimes blended, too, by adding other kinds of tea leaves or natural flavoring (e.g. berries, flowers, herbs, etc.).
We also discussed the seven factors in making great tea. You need to start with high-quality tea (i.e. loose-leaf tea) and good water (ideally, filtered at home vs. distilled or bottled). Pay attention to the amount of tea you use, as well as the water temperature – these will vary depending on the kind of tea you are drinking, as well as the “fluffiness” of the mixture (you’ll need to account for the extra air in each scoop). Steep the tea for the specified amount of time, in an infuser that has enough room for the tea to properly expand, and promptly remove the leaves when the time is up. Finally, sip (or even slurp) the tea so your whole mouth has a chance to marvel at all the wonderful, subtle flavors. Mmm.
All in all, I took a lot away from this short session. My respect and love for tea continues to grow the more I learn about it. And how great is it to enjoy a beverage that has a LIMITLESS capacity to reinvent itself, with variations occurring from the start of the process (what influences the actual plant) to the very end (recipes for blends)?
Yes, I have seen my future, and it sure looks tasty.
On Sunday, Shane and I went to see “Race: Are We So Different?”, a current display at the Science Museum of Minnesota. Its appearance here in the Twin Cities marks the official premiere of this exhibit, and it will probably become more well-known in the years to come. Various locations across the country have booked “Race” through 2012.
The overwhelming message, as you might guess, is that we are not so different. The variations that make us LOOK dissimilar (skin color, yes, but also things like eye color, height, etc.) are less than *one percent* of our entire genetic make-up. In fact, if I remember correctly, human beings have the *least* amount of genetic variation in all of the animal kingdom. How fitting, then, that I walked away from this exhibit having caught the "common" cold!
And yet, despite our similarities, race still holds tremendous power over us, particularly in the U.S. To understand that we created this concept, that we divided our species into these arbitrary color categories and assigned stereotypes to each (nearly all of which, as the presentation carefully points out, have no scientific basis), stereotypes that continue to cause social disparity today – it’s a truly disheartening statement about humanity as a whole. Because it means the more powerful among us CHOSE this path. At one time, the possibility existed that our collective history could have been written without the idea of race at all.
But the past can’t be undone; race, at this point, can’t simply be “uncreated”. The question now is how we move forward. What are the options for improving our situation? For instance, as the exhibit asks, do we change the U.S. Census? Do we create an expanded list of racial groups people can check off? Or do we allow folks to write in their own term to describe their race? What are the costs to eliminating this part of the census entirely?
These are just a tiny fraction of the questions that were circling our heads as we left the exhibit this weekend. I’m curious to know if any of you have an opinion on them one way or another.
At the risk of sounding like a stereotypical female, I must say...
I LOVE MY NEW SHOES!!!
Do you see them? Are they not fabulous, wonderful, terrific, and NEW?
Yes, in another bout of Grand Avenue-related awesomeness, Shane and I bought running shoes last night *and* stopped in (for the second time in as many days) to eat Chicken Salsa Chili at Café Latte. Damn, that chili tastes delicious – especially with all the cheddar cheese, sour cream and tortilla chip fixings.
So, in one night, we managed to score multiple reasons to ramp up the mileage: new footwear and the two consecutive nights of Chicken Salsa Chili. Can we get more awesome than that? I think not, my friends.
Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go collect my product placement check from Saucony.
