Skyway Wanderings

So sad that this turned out blurry. I'll have to go back and get another picture. A co-worker and i took a break from the action and did some wandering in the skyways. The first of many adventures i suspect. She wanted to see the Lumber Exchange building and so off we set. It allowed me some time to take more pictures of finer details of the building.

I think it great fun to go 'sploring with someone, particularly when they are just as interested in details as i am. We were completely fascinated by the wood doors in the building. The first picture above is a detail of the doorknob. Pretty cool and something you don't see as often. I'm surprised the knob wasn't worn smooth but it looks like the ridges have held up well over time.



The next thing that fascinated me about the door is the letter slot in it. I'll pause here for a minute and explain why the picture above looks the way it does. I have a toy camera app on my phone. I have been completely taken by it and i love how it transforms simple pictures into something even more interesting. The app has a few filters to choose from, or i can set it to random and it will select from the filters i have chosen for the random setting. As you can see, the above picture looks a bit greener than what the letter slot really is. Actually, now that i think about it, i used the app on the first pic. too.



The awesome thing about having someone with is that i have more courage to take pictures. For some reason i think i look less suspicious when i am with someone. I was very curious to see what lay beyond the letter slot in the door. So my co-worker held the letter slot open and i took a picture. Here's to peeking in!

p.s. i'll try to post more. i've lost my one hour in the a.m. to exercising again. The only hour i have in the day and i had to choose what to do, sit on the computer and get crap done, or take care of myself and get some much needed exercise. I chose the later for now. ;0)

Nice Day!

I actually took these pics. awhile ago. It was one of the first really nice days where it was sunny and no jacket was needed. It wasn't windy, it was just right. I'm sitting in front of the Mpls. library, right on the corner. Kitty-corner from where i'm sitting is my bus stop, just on the other side of Nicollet.



See? There i am. :)



This is an "up" shot of the library. It is just beautiful. I used to trek down here with a co-worker over lunch time. It was very relaxing to sit in there. I would sit on the third floor, by the windows facing 3rd st. I brought my diary and wrote in it. Not to mention the walk with a sane and reasonable person was a very much needed dose of "therapy". Basically, it was nice to have someone to talk to, and to forget about work for a bit (not that work is terrible, but you know what i mean).

I know, seems like a weird thing to write in a diary over lunch break, but it worked for me. The only problem was, it took 10 minutes to walk there and about 10 to walk back. Time was limited at the library.

If you haven't been to the library, i suggest you go. They have rooms with pianos in them. They have a room of moving bookshelves. They have great areas for sitting and reading or just relaxing (quietly). Their children's section is fun and inspiring. You should go! :) They have a gift shop and dunn brothers too.



Here is a shot of what i am sitting on. As i was sitting here, a guy came running behind me on the benches. You can barely see him at the top of the picture. He's in the white shirt. He's running on the cement "benches".



I'm looking to the left of me and here is the 3rd st. side of the library. Pretty nifty huh? Well, enjoy the weather my fellow Minnesotans. The outdoor stadium is beautiful, the smells are wonderful, the ballpark trash not-so-much wonderful, but the weather is something unarguable.

Macy's Flower Show Final

I liked this version of the mushroom better than the previous. I love seeing the little feet poking out from underneath. :) Who's under there??



I absolutely love this one. I wanted to somehow sneak this out of the show. A.) It's a little big B.) i think someone might notice me trouncing over beautiful flowers and trying unsuccessfully to pull this thing out of the ground. It's the minor details that prevent me from doing things.



At first when i saw this, i though, huh, that's cool. But then at second glance, i didn't realize this, but these planters are BALANCED on those tiny poles. I believe the planters themselves aren't probably heavy, but the plants and dirt must be. How in the world did they get those planters to balance? The bottoms aren't curved, so it's not like they are wrapped around the pole. The bottoms are flat! There are no bolts showing underneath indicating that they were bolted on. The poles are smooth. Was it liquid nails? If so, they did an excellent job of gluing as there are no signs of glue anywhere. So weird!

Today is the last day of the show. It's Sunday hours. Plain wisely if you were planning on seeing this. It not only looks pretty, it smells really good. It's not overwhelming at all.

Macy's Flower Show II

As promised, more pictures from the flower show. Hurry! It ends this Sunday the 11th! It smells wonderful up there. If you have allergies, take a pill, if you are allergic to smells, plug the nose. :)



I was talking with someone about this particular display. She said, it's things like this that make me want to actually climb up and try it out. It is very inviting isn't it?



These are little mushrooms with feet. Roses are poking out of them. I'm not so sure i'm crazy about this particular arrangement. These look more like noses....



This is my favorite! This little door. i wonder who lives in there? In talking with the same person mentioned above, she said, "see, this is something else i would want to explore. I want to climb right through that door to see what's on the other side." Very interesting perspective. I'm so busy looking at the details of the outside, i don't give a second thought about what's behind the door. Very interesting...

Here is the full shot of the scene with the little door. As you can see, the door is very tiny and would only allow a little elf through. Well, an elf that is about a foot high. Stay tuned for a few more pictures. After that.... i have gone absolutely nutso with a new app. the TOY camera... oh my. it IS as fun as it sounds.

Macy's Flower Show

Every year, Macy's (fka Marshall Field's) holds shows in their 8th floor auditorium. Typically one show in the winter and one show in the spring. My mom got me hooked on going to these shows. Since i work one building away from Macy's i typically visit the shows during a break. It really works out because at that time there aren't a lot of people there. During the weekends is when things get insane.

Anywho, i was able to make it to the flower show this year and take pictures. I loved the poster designed for this years show (as seen above). It's amazing how much effort is put into building the show not only inside the auditorium, but also the effort outside. The poster designs are amazing. It gets a person excited about seeing the show.

After traveling the escalator through unknown lands, i reach the 8th floor and the entrance to the auditorium. There is a long hall that has images of the current theme of the show. I think there has to be at LEAST 8 million layers of paint on these walls. Typically the images are hand painted on to the walls. This year, wall decals were used instead. Great idea, but the edges were starting to curl a bit.

After walking down the long hall, a person is sitting on a stool, keeping track of how many people are entering the show. I should pause here for a moment. Did i mention that this was free? All 8th floor auditorium shows are FREE! It's a great thing to do with the kids during the weekday. Okay, back to the show.

Bachman's designed the entire show. What's really cool, is it's not just flowers arranged nicely, there are also pretty cool scenes built as well. I thought this bee hive was pretty nifty. The bees are huge! It's really cool how set designs are incorporated into the design of the floral arrangements. Well, i suppose it could go either way. Stay tuned for more pictures. Due to the amount that i took, the posts will be flying now. :)

Skyway or Myway

I cheated a little bit. These pictures were all taken with my camera. Sometimes i just need a little more "omph" when taking pics. Anywho...

When i first started working downtown, i never thought twice about walking through the skyways. It wasn't until my sister-in-law had her wedding down here, some time-ago, that i thought twice. I remember the day after the wedding we were shuffling people around, trying to get tuxes returned, and getting everyone into a car to meet up for breakfast at the Egg and I (i think that's how it was spelled etc.). As Jason and I were walking, I remember one person saying, I've never been in a skyway before. I felt bad because we were in a hurry but i wanted to give a tour of the skyways. The tour didn't happen.



It was from that day on that i started really looking around me. I think i spend most of my time walking to work with my head turned to the side while i'm walking straight ahead. I think of the skyway level as the sampler platter of Mpls. downtown buildings. It's a good way to see different characteristics of each building without looking like an intruder.



One of my favorite things about the skyways is looking down into a world that would normally be seen only by a bird. Most of the time i get away with peering into people's lives while cruising through the skyways. If were to stand still and look, it may be kind of weird.

Stay tuned for more pics. The Macy's flower show is on right now and it's my goal to get up there and take some pics. If you haven't been to the 8th floor auditorium, i suggest you go. It's not only an interesting show, but an interesting journey to get up there. :)



p.s. i know. i know. i know. duluth and st. paul have skyways. i've been through those too. you should plan a skyway trip. HAHA. just do it during the work week. during the weekend the skyways are dead and most shops are closed.

Urban Home

I have been taking my sweet time in posting (in case you haven't noticed). I'm excited for Spring and warm weather. All of those pictures taken in the winter were making me cold! :) Sadly, it still is cold in the mornings when i catch the bus. So annoying because i want to wear a lighter jacket because it's warmer when i get off work. I either freeze in the morning, or sweat to death on the ride home.

I have shown you a lot of things that i see on my way to and from work but i haven't shown you my urban home. The first picture you saw above shows my bus ride in. This photo was taken a month ago, so it's not quite as cold as it looks in that picture. I just love how the city steams. When it's cold out, i can see everything breathe. Cars, buildings, people, sewers... Some people call it pollution. I guess.

Once i hop off the bus/train, i walk a few blocks to my urban home. In the below picture, it was my lucky day. No one else was on the elevator, so i had an express trip to the 24th floor. The elevator i am in is one bank of three. I live on the 24th floor, which happens to be the last stop for this bank.

Notice there is a 13th floor button. Apparently some people out there still believe buildings downtown do not have a 13th floor button. Something about bad luck. The only caveat i have to this, it's probably not the actual 13th floor. I say this because there isn't a 15th floor button. Did you catch that in the picture above? We have a couple of sub basements as well, but those don't count as floors i guess.



Here i am at work. This is the window at the end of my aisle. The Graves 601 is right in front. Block E is just before it, Target Center roof is just behind it and Target Field is just after that. You can see the curve of the Field's roof. It is still early enough where it is dark out (although now with the time change, it's light in the mornings). Our lovely cubes are seen in the reflection behind me.



I love it when it is sunny out like this. Winter seems to provide those crisp, clear days. I'm not sure how else to describe it. Maybe you can tell by this picture. This is still in the morning. Probably around 10 am.

I will be losing this view this week as our floors are changing for remodeling. The Pres. wasn't impressed with our building's 70's cubes. It doesn't really impress vendors or execs. that visit. Works for me. I'm curious to know how much grossness is growing in the cube walls. We were hoping we would be able to see the season opener before the move, but that is not going to happen. When we move back to our floor, i'll be sitting on another side of the building... facing another building. Yippee...



Here is one last picture to the left of the above picture. The thing about the iPhone, it makes things look far away. All of these views outside the window are closer than appears. I say this because there have been mornings, where i can see into the hotel rooms. There are mornings where people leave their shades open, talk on the phone, while in their underwear. Let that be a lesson to you if you travel for work. Keep the blinds closed until you have more than undies on. You've been warned.