funny

After going through all of my posts from over the "years", i realized that i had a lot of; "the reason why i started this blog...". I also think it's funny that i have quite a few stories on the Lumber Exchange and the skyway itself. Clearly i don't check back on previous posts to see what i have written. enjoy my friends, and laugh with me.

The Hill

For Memorial weekend, my family caravaned to St. Louis to visit some friends with some friends. Make sense? Good! The trip was pretty fun and we managed to cram in quite a few activities while there. Our friends took us to an Italian restaurant located in a neighborhood called "The Hill". We had reservations for a party of 18 or so. Of those 18 there were 5 kids aged 4 and under. Yeah. Uh huh.

We walk into this restaurant located on the corner. I was a little apprehensive as the first floor was a bit cozy. The waitress actually took us to the downstairs or basement of the restaurant and seated us there. We took up two round tables. There was one other table with a family, otherwise the basement was ours.

We asked the waitress what the deal was behind "The Hill". Being from out-of-town we didn't know the history. In a nutshell, the Irish lived in the neighborhood. The Italians came along, liked the neighborhood and basically made it an Italian neighborhood. Now that is a poor interpretation of the story. To find out more, you really should go here to find out more. This place has some history as the settlement of this neighborhood began in 1830. Look out New York! St. Louis has it's own Italian neighborhood.

The waitress told us that in "The Hill" there ain't none of this mass-produced-pasta-noodle-stuff going on. Everything is made from scratch. That should have been my warning that dinner was going to take more than an hour. By the time we got our food, the kids were on the verge of tearing the place apart. I ate quickly (as a parent of a 2.5 year old, i don't taste food anymore) and was planning my next "move". My husband and i have gotten really good at just taking Olivia out for walks while waiting for food to arrive, and then texting the other to say, "food is here".

While we were waiting for the food to arrive, Jason had actually taken Olivia for a spin around the neighborhood. He said there was one house that had a fish pond in the front yard that they spent some time looking at. After i inhaled my food i decided it was a good time to take Olivia for a walk. She had drank all of her chocolate milk and ate none of her dinner, and i could tell she was going well beyond her "tired" limits.

The evening was warm, the streets were relatively quiet, and people were on their front porch chatting. The neighborhood reminded me a lot of what some NY neighborhoods look like, particularly in Queens, near Astoria? I just remember it was a lot like the old neighborhood my sister-in-law lived near.

The front yards are about 4'x4'. The houses are as narrow as a mobile home, and two mobile homes high. The houses have FAR more character than mobile homes but that's the best way i can describe them. They were also an arm's length apart from each other. So if i wanted to borrow a cup of sugar from my neighbor, all i had to do was take my broom handle and knock on their kitchen window.

I really enjoyed the opportunity to wander the neighborhood, and Olivia had a good time. We caught up with a lady who was walking her dog. The dog was very sweet and was all about Olivia. About half a block away, i saw a rather large cat sprawled out on the sidewalk. I thought for sure the dog would go ape over the cat. According to the lady walking the dog it was the neighborhood cat and the dog couldn't care less. The dog wanted Olivia. Pretty cute.

Don't let Olivia fool you. She's not sad and she's not tired. She's just catching her 50th wind of the evening. Really... if you haven't already, go here to read the far more interesting and accurate history about The Hill.

The Whole Reason...

...I wanted to start a blog was because of the State Theater. When i was pregnant with Olivia, i would take a walk break everyday in the afternoon. My loop started from City Center, through Block E, through Target Center, through Garage A, through the Pence building, by the Palomino Club, through Macy's, and back to City Center. The more i walked the loop, the more i started to discover that i had a unique perspective of buildings and of downtown in general.

Think of being behind the stage of a play looking at the set. The vast majority of people only see one side of a building, but thanks to the skyway level, i can tunnel through multiple buildings and see the "set". It's not really glamorous, but how often are you able to get a close-up view of a building other than the ground level? Not too often. Seeing the other side of signage is kind of interesting. It's like seeing a movie star without her makeup. Enough of the analogies, take a look and see what you think. :)

Farmer's Market - Nicollet Mall

It is that time of year again where local farmer's, bakers, nut vendors, and florists galour set up their tables and tents to sell their wares. The Farmer's Market on Nicollet Mall occurs every year after Mother's Day, on Thursdays until about September. These folks are out there rain or shine. Let me tell you, it's mostly rain these days. I actually lucked out and had a great day to go out and snap some pictures.

You'll notice that this pictures have a bit different hue/saturation/coloring in general. On my phone, i have a Toy Camera app. Most people have the Hipster app but I have the Toy Camera. What these apps do is basically apply "Photoshop" filters instantly to the pictures taken. The Toy Camera app combined with my on-the-fly shots that ended up being a little off-kilter.



Enough about the apps and back to the Farmer's Market. Of course there are tons of Farmer's Markets all over MN happening this summer (and there are some that go year round!). Typically Farmer's Markets set-up in parking lots, random fields, or in designated areas year after year. What I like about Nicollet Mall's market is, i can walk outside my building and take a nice break walking up and down the streets. Musicians are out, playing their music, and everyone else is out enjoying the day.



You might think, well, i can stop at the grocery store and get the same type of produce, but i beg to differ. Fresh herbs are sold at an insanely good deal. Did i mention they are fresh? Not in some plastic clamshell package hanging on a hook in the store... You actually have the option of planting these herbs in a nice pot, putting it on your kitchen window sill and having fresh herbs right at your finger tips.



Not only that, but you get live music while you shop.

For those who complain about bringing fruit to work, how it's messy, it over ripens in your lunch bag while you are sitting on the bus for 45 minutes, the apple rolls out of your bag across the floor... have no fear, you can always count on fresh fruit at the Farmer's Market. Often times these folks are setting up and selling as early as 7:30 am. It could even be earlier, but that just happens to be the time that i get to work.

I can guarantee you that the local bakers are out there selling scones, muffins, and fresh bread first thing in the morning. A lot of people stop and buy a scone before heading into the land of skyways and buildings. Really not a bad deal if you think about it.

I look forward to sunny Thursdays. I head outside. Take in the hustle and bustle of shoppers. Street musicians playing amazing music even though it looks like they just rolled out of the local homeless shelter. On a side note, i love having my husband with when there are street musicians around. He knows music instruments (particularly saxophones). The majority of street musicians look like they don't have a dime to their name, but if you knew about instruments, it would make you wonder if maybe it's just a disguise and they are really a professional musician... Of course i'm probably wrong. But. You never know! :)

Livvy and the Trees

My husband had an idea of taking Livvy someplace new to wear her out before bedtime. Normally we go on walks around the neighborhood and we'll let her walk. For 2.5 years old, i think she walks pretty far. At least a mile without wanting to get back into the stroller.

Anywho, in Maple Grove there is a tiny little arboretum smooshed between a county road and residential area. It's basically a park path with various trees labeled with what type they are. My husband grew up learning the different types of trees and he could tell what one was by the leaf and the bark. He thought maybe Livvy would get a kick out of looking at all of the trees.

As you can see in the picture above, Miss O. dug the trees. She insisted on wearing her "dress", which is a Barbie Princess nightgown. I wasn't going to argue with her. If she were a teenager i would strongly advise against wearing it, but she's 2.5 and she'll only live that age once. So why not? I could care less.



Livvy loved trekking from tree to tree. She didn't really understand what we were looking at but she ooed and awed at all of the right moments. She was very patient and not bored at all. Often she would say, "what's that? what's that daddy? Daddy? Daddy! What's that?" She's such a turkey.



It always amazes me at what liv will find. She spots the minutest things, picks them up and just wonders them to death. Here she spotted an acorn cap. Something i don't think she's seen before. She's used to seeing the whirly birds from the trees in our area. According to daycare, liv has to have a whirly bird in her hand at all times.



Olivia has a strong curiosity for dandelions too. Particularly when they've gone to seed. She tries to blow the seeds off the stem. Doesn't really work and most of the time i'm afraid she's going to inhale the seeds instead of blowing them off the stem. In this picture she was contemplating everything in the grass. Not only were there dandelions, but there were clovers too! weeeeee! what fun. :o)

As we made our way back to the car there was the typical park sign that usually has a message basically stating, "don't trash the place okay?" I thought this message was worthy of taking a picture. This message resonated the most with me. We all know what manners we should have in a park, but often times we forget the purpose of a park.

Russian Tea House II

That my friends is a deconstructed cabbage roll. Looks gross but tastes oh so good! This is one of the many authentic dishes you'll find at the Russian Tea House. You've already seen pictures of what the place looks like inside, now you get to see what they serve! Trust me, i'm not very adventurous when it comes to food, but this stuff is good!

This is a picture of goodness. This is a Piroshki. Alton Brown learned to make while visiting for his tv show. He wanted to share the recipe (of course with permission) but found out that it required a lot of steps. This isn't mass produced stuff people. This is handmade stuff, made everyday. Which explains why the Tea House is open from 11-3 during the week (except Mondays and the weekends).

When Jason and i walked into the Tea House, we saw a tray of these lovely chocolate chip, poppy seed rolls. Sounds odd, but is SOOOOO good. The size of the roll was just about the size of jason's head. No lie!

After eating all of the goodness we deposit our tray and garbage.

We head down the stairs, back into the complicated world.

To find out where the heck this place is (and for other reviews), click here. Skip "school" and go. To find out who the heck Alton Brown is and this "Feasting on Asphalt" business, click here. Unfortunately they don't show the episode involving MN.

Russian Tea House I

Howdy strangers. Sorry. It's been awhile! My mornings have become increasingly busy and i have completely fallen behind on a few things. This little blog for one! Good gravy right? Well i'm back kids. I have quite a bit to tell you about too! For starters, i finally got my hubby to drag me to the Russian Tea House! What's that you say? In Minnesota? Why of course! See my above terrible picture of the sign for the place.



The Russian Tea House is an actual house. No lie. I walk into the front door and this is what i see. A counter and a HUGE floor mixer in the back. We order our food at this counter. Everything is served in to-go containers but you can choose to sit and eat here...



...you just have to walk up these stairs! :) See? Told'ya. Real house.



Just as we get to the top of the stairs, i look to my right, and i see the first signs of seating. Just your regular, typical old banister that you would find in any house.



Voila! We sit and here is the view of the seating area. A bunch of miscellaneous furniture. To the left, in the back, is the door to the bathroom. What kind of bathroom would you find in a house? Well, one with a toilet, porceleain sink and tub of course! My only regret, that i didn't take a picture of the bathroom. I didn't want to look like a weenie in front of the people eating there. I can hear it now..."hey, what's that crazy girl doing? has she never seen a bathroom before?"

While i'm very fascinated by this place, the food is even more amazing! No lie! Alton Brown even visited this place for one of his feasting on asphalt shows.