2014 All-Star Game

Yesterday was an all-day All-Star extravaganza!

I decided in the morning that I wanted to see the Red Carpet Show at 1 p.m. and scrambled a little bit to get over to downtown Minneapolis in time. I had no idea what to expect from this event - besides a parade featuring many of the All-Star players - and when I got there, I realized I had drastically underestimated the crowds. I should have figured it out when my train was full of baseball fans so early in the day!

This was basically my first peek at Nicollet Mall:

I worked my way a few blocks up the street and found a spot to watch the parade. (My dad arrived shortly after that and stood closer to Target Field.) Most of the mascots from around Major League Baseball trotted around the red carpet to rally the crowd, and then the parade began. Every minute or two, a pickup truck or convertible would motor through with an All-Star player sitting in the back, often accompanied by his family (and sometimes his friends, too).

The parade was so neat. I was struck by how close in proximity the players were to the fans. The awestruck kids to my left caught all kinds of trinkets tossed by the athletes - and to my right, a guy was shouting good-natured, informed comments about each player's performance so far this season, and a bunch of the guys acknowledged him directly. The cars moved slowly enough to allow the players to actually look around and make eye contact with lots of the fans. The whole fan engagement experience was great. (And I loved seeing the players with their families, especially the tiny kids!)

Then my dad and I met up and strolled around Target Field...

...before going to an All-Star pre-game party in a parking lot next to the stadium.

We stayed there for about an hour and then met my brother at the train station, then decided to walk over to Fan Fest at the Minneapolis Convention Center about a mile away. The area around the stadium was filled with fans wearing all kinds of different teams' jerseys and hats (in addition to lots of Twins gear). This was the scene at Target Field - three hours before the first pitch:

Good news: those Peanuts statues I liked seeing in downtown St. Paul had indeed made their way over to Fan Fest.

The Fan Fest setting really called for two or four or six hours to properly take in all of the activities, exhibits and kiosks, but we only had half an hour to look around before we needed to head back to the stadium, so we just peeked at a few exhibits.

Then: back to Target Field for the game!  There's a green line painted on the sidewalk leading visitors from Fan Fest back to the stadium, just for this week:

In contrast to Monday's blustery weather and gray skies, last night was gorgeous: upper 60s and partly cloudy. I tested my panorama function on the cameraphone before the game got underway.

Here are the players lining up on the base lines for introductions (before an enormous flag was unrolled in the outfield). This was Yankees star Derek Jeter's final All-Star Game before he retires, and I won't soon forget the ovations during his introduction, his first at-bat and when he left the field.

(Josh worked on Monday night but joined us in the stands for yesterday's game just before the introductions!)

This is probably the right time to talk about our section of spectators. There was a large group higher up in our section, and I have no idea who they were or where they were from, because they cheered wildly for many different teams' representatives. During the pre-game events, a band on the field played the Canadian national anthem, and the group in our section sang along so beautifully that I thought the vocals were being piped through the speakers above us. (The rest of the audience nearby gave them a great cheer afterward.) They maintained the same high energy through the whole game, and they were funny and happy and loud, and I loved it.

After Idina Menzel sang "The Star Spangled Banner" (wonderfully) and the jets flew over Target Field, the game began. The American League "home team" got on the board first, with three runs in the first inning, but the National League answered with two runs of their own in the second. Target Field was ready for the spotlight, with a Minnesota state outline and "ASG" lettering in the outfield and All-Star logos on the base lines:

And, finally, we took a group photo! (Credit to my brother for the selfie.)

The game moved at a leisurely pace because of the breaks and substitutions and pitching changes, but it was amazing to see so many of today's baseball stars on the field at once. To end the game, the crowd got loud when Minnesota closer Glen Perkins trotted in from the bullpen to pitch the ninth. Much to the crowd's delight, it turned out that he'd be pitching to the other Twins All-Star player, catcher Kurt Suzuki. It gave the end of the game a wonderful hometown feel, and Perkins retired the three National League batters he faced with no trouble. The AL won, 5-3!

The final at-bat of the 2014 All-Star Game:

It was a sweet, fitting conclusion to a fantastic All-Star Game experience - and truly, a once-in-a-lifetime week.

Home Run Derby report

Oh, wow. I can't believe the All-Star Game is still to come! We had a wonderful evening at the Home Run Derby, rain delay and all.

Pre-Derby: Josh was working last night, so our group was my dad, brother, brother's friend and me. I hopped on the train and met my dad at the stadium, and we walked over to get a table on the rooftop at Cowboy Jack's, across the street from Target Field. It was breezy and cool, but the sun was shining and we were happy to be outside. As soon as my brother and his friend arrived a few minutes later, it started raining and we had to scurry inside to wait out the rain. Then the sun came out again, a band started playing live music, and we got to enjoy dinner outside after all.

For the early part of the evening, the rain clouds continued to be erratic. Just as the Derby was scheduled to start, a delay was announced because of rain moving toward Target Field. Our seats, up high and down the third base line, were actually protected by an overhang on the top of the stadium, so we stayed dry, but a steady rain was falling. We kicked back and watched the rain delay video footage, which consisted of some of the franchise's greatest games as well as an early home run derby between Mickey Mantle and Harmon Killebrew. As you can see, the delay didn't dampen our spirits (though I was happy to have my fleece jacket).

After about an hour's delay, the Derby was underway, and wouldn't you know - a rainbow popped out!

The Derby: Giancarlo Stanton and Jose Bautista were the stars of the first round, although former Twin Justin Morneau got the biggest and most wonderful ovation in his return to Target Field (current Twin Brian Dozier got a great reception, too). Stanton in particular very nearly hit a ball out of the stadium - it was incredible to watch his home runs. Actually, it was amazing to see what all of the contenders could do when they were working with the pitcher instead of against the pitcher. You know the cheer you make when one player on your team hits a monster home run? We saw more than 70 home runs like that last night. My throat is sore from that cheer! Yoenis Céspedes from the Oakland Athletics won the whole thing eventually, the first time a competitor has won in back-to-back years since Ken Griffey, Jr.

Whenever I've watched the Home Run Derby on TV, I remember lots of commercial breaks. It turns out that in person, there are all kinds of things going on during the breaks: a mascot home run derby, mascot relay races, a high school Home Run Derby and more. Most of the All-Star Game players sit on the field and watch the competition, often with their kids, so there was some fun footage of the dads and kids goofing around, too. There was also a segment between innings that featured impeccably trained dogs sprinting across the outfield and leaping into the air to catch frisbees, which I loved!

Post-Derby: After the derby, Josh and I went to the All-Star Gala at the Mill City Museum. (Ballpark attire, though, not ball gowns.)

The party stretched out over the entire grounds, inside and outside the museum, and the structure was neat: all over the party, there were small plates served at food stations hosted by great Twin Cities restaurants. Despite being a chilly night, it was a beautiful venue for this kind of event. I love that the out-of-town attendees got to see the museum.

It was just a great night. Onward with today's All-Star Game festivities!

All-Star Game and other notes

I love this. After yesterday's post about plant nostalgia, my mom went into the photo albums and found this one of the three of us standing next to the vegetable garden:

Today's nostalgia is linked to the All-Star Game festivities in Minneapolis today and tomorrow. I loved the All-Star Game (along with every other baseball game) growing up, and if I could tell my childhood self that one day she'd get the chance to attend the All-Star Game in Minnesota with her dad and brother and husband, she would've been bouncing off the walls. I will have those experiences - listening to games on WCCO radio until I fell asleep, talking through the American League standings with my dad and grandpa - in my heart this week when I'm walking around the beautiful stadium and cheering for Justin Morneau in the Home Run Derby and watching this era's All-Stars on the field. I am so excited.

Five more notes to begin the week:

1) There is some incredibly unseasonable weather swooping into Minnesota today, during what is typically the warmest week of the year here. I read this morning that today's record low maximum temperature is 68, set back in 1884 - and today's predicted high is just 63!

Earlier this spring, I got what appeared to be red paint smudges across the back of my bought-in-September white fleece jacket. After sending it through the washer and dryer, not only was the stain still there, but I had unknowingly and dramatically reduced the chances of being able to remove it. I did not have high hopes, but with nothing to lose (and a warm jacket to gain if anything worked), I tried a couple of remedies this weekend. I think credit officially goes to a couple of OxiClean spot treatments and soaks (followed by a cycle in the washer) that lifted probably 95 percent of the stain out of the white fleece. I was very surprised and very relieved, and now I will be able to wear my cozy jacket to tonight's Home Run Derby. (And warmer temperatures and sunny skies are predicted for tomorrow's All-Star Game!)

2) I saw this flower patch on a walk this weekend and it made me laugh because it reminded me of a class picture from elementary school, the ones you'd take on the risers.



3) I harvested the first vegetables from the garden yesterday - just a handful of purple beans, but a harvest all the same.

4) Over the weekend, my brother and I drove up to my grandma's town to participate in the Pork Chop Trot for the third year in a row. (It's a tradition now!) Without any speedwork or training plans lately, I didn't have any time-related goals for this 5K race, but I was pretty happy with my effort and pacing (with the exception of a finishing kick that started a little too early due to me forgetting one curve on the course). As I've written in past recaps, this race is one of my favorites on the running calendar because of its proximity to my grandma's house (we visit after the race) and the total change in scenery. I toted my camera along in hopes of getting a photo of my favorite part of the course - a one-lane dirt path cut through cornfields - but was working pretty hard by that point and decided not to pause for a picture.

But my brother and I did pause for a picture after we'd finished the race! (I switch to flip flops within minutes of crossing a finish line.)

5) Thanks to my mom, I introduced some climbing beans into my garden plot this year, and I'm so glad.



I hope your week starts out well!

Lately

I promise I have been doing other things besides visiting the garden!

First: lots of Twins baseball last week for Josh and me. They were fun nights with friends and a fitting way to kick off July, which is All-Star month in Minnesota! I am so excited for next week's All-Star festivities. Also: after most of the All-Star selections were announced yesterday, I voted for Justin Morneau in the Final Vote because (besides the fact that he's having a great season) I would love to see him back at Target Field on Tuesday night.

On the Fourth of July, I began the day by volunteering with the Twin Cities in Motion committee at the organization's Red, White & Boom event. The finish line is just past the Stone Arch Bridge over the Mississippi River in Minneapolis, and the skyline was so pretty in the early morning light. (This is before the race, and the people walking toward me are heading to the start line. The finish line atmosphere is much more exciting!)

Later in the day, Josh grilled hamburgers and we ate dinner on the patio. We stayed home that evening with Wish, who is no fan of fireworks. (But we did see a great fireworks display at Target Field the previous night!)

On Saturday morning, I stopped by the farmer's market for some flowers and then swung by the garden for a visit:

Saturday also featured a walk around Lake of the Isles with my friend Katie and her baby boy and then my visit to Sara's garden. The day concluded with dinner and a round of mini-golf with Josh and two friends at the Walker Art Center's artist-designed mini-golf course! We meant to play golf and then go out to dinner, but with the mini-golf wait time at 90 minutes, we got on the list and then went to dinner first. (Thumbs up to Lago Tacos in Uptown!)

The mini-golf course was wonderfully creative and unique, with many of the holes accompanied by little twists and obstacles, and reading the instructions for each one felt not unlike a scavenger hunt. This was the first hole, with a curling motif very appropriate to Minnesota.

Thanks to a love of astronomy since childhood, one of my favorite stops was the constellation-themed hole, with Polaris as the destination:

And on Sunday, the Twin Cities hit 90 degrees for the first time this year (almost a month later than average) and Josh and I started refinishing a small cabinet I bought on Craigslist. I am okay with not seeing the putty knife for a little while, but I am happy those first steps are done! Onward with the week (and maybe sanding!).

Night at the ballpark

Now batting: the Peanuts crew

As a St. Paul runner, I've gotten accustomed to seeing Peanuts statues all over my running routes in the city in which Charles Schulz grew up. (I wrote about stumbling across one of my favorites back in March.) I love unique traditions like these that help tell a city's story, so I like these statues.

Yesterday I couldn't resist visiting 10 new Peanuts statues that arrived in St. Paul last month to celebrate the All-Star Game coming to Minnesota in July. (My household—Wish excluded—is very excited for this, and you'll likely be seeing more All-Star Game content from me in the coming weeks.) Major League Baseball has set up statues in past host cities with themes suited to each city (i.e. apples in New York City last year), and I have to guess that this year's theme was easy because 100 Peanuts statues are already installed around Minneapolis and St. Paul.

The plan was for the 10 new statues to stay in Rice Park for a couple of weeks before moving over to Minneapolis for the duration of the All-Star Game festivities. I heard about the statues when they were installed but didn't feel the urgency to visit them until this week, when the move was scheduled!

I ran over to Rice Park in downtown St. Paul and was delighted by what I saw—from "P. PATTY" on the back of Peppermint Patty's jersey to Snoopy's food dish to the Twins jerseys and All-Star Game-specific details.

It turns out that they moved over to Minneapolis later that day. My visit was just in time.

A rainy beginning

After two gorgeous weekend days, yesterday's skies dropped more than two inches of rain on the Twin Cities. (It wasn't the ideal day to, say, forget an umbrella.) But the rest of the week's forecast is wonderful, starting with nearly 80 degrees for tonight's softball game, which would be the warmest temperature since Sept. 30.

More nice tidbits to begin the week:

1) Our household's weekend was full, starting on Friday night when I met my mom and brother for dinner at Anchor Fish and Chips. Then we visited Art-A-Whirl, another one of the Twin Cities' popular art crawl events. This one is in Northeast Minneapolis, and it features more than 500 artists in all kinds of studio spaces. One of those artists was my aunt, who was exhibiting her paintings in her first show ever. I was so proud to see her take this step.

One of her paintings already hangs in our home, and I was excited to see tiny versions of the same theme on display (complete with tiny easels) among her larger paintings. Right away, I wanted one for my workspace. I bought one and brought it to work this morning, and I love seeing it on my desk and thinking of the big painting, which was a special gift.

2) On Sunday morning, I volunteered at the Loppet Foundation's Salomon City Trail Loppet. I was at the finish area, which also was the race day packet pick-up spot, since most runners biked or drove to the finish line and then were transported up to the starting line in Robbinsdale. The finish area was at the Walker Art Center's Sculpture Garden, and my shift was early in the morning, so I got to see the iconic cherry and spoon in early morning light.

3) Later on Sunday, I practiced my panorama function during my first trip to Target Field this season. The Twins lost, but I had a great time with our group.

4) I stayed up late last night finishing The Fault in Our Stars. This joins Eleanor & Park as two of my favorite recent YA reads.

5) Today is my dear dad's birthday!

Here's my dad and me, way back, on a trip out on the Mississippi on my grandparents' boat.

And here's last year's birthday, with his traditional birthday lemon meringue pie. Our family is celebrating officially in a couple of weeks with our annual trip up north.

Happy birthday, Dad!

Marvelous midweek

A little snapshot from yesterday's six-miler under purple-gray clouds:

Onward with more marvelous tidbits:

1) Last week, a friend told me about using Zinio, a digital magazine program through the St. Paul Public Library and available in other metro systems. (More info here.) I loved exploring the free lending program, seeing some magazines I already really like and discovering new ones. (This month's Smithsonian Magazine, for example, had gorgeous pictures and a neat feature on small towns around the U.S.) I can browse the magazines on my phone and click a "text" option to read the articles in larger print. I think this is such a neat resource.

2) Josh was in Arizona over the weekend, and his flight was originally due in at 11:30 p.m. yesterday, but he changed flights and got in at 10:30 instead. (Marvelous indeed!)

3) Both Tennessee's men's and women's basketball teams are rolling into the Sweet 16! Orange Gerbera daisies are on the table this week to celebrate.

4) The Twins' home opener is less than two weeks away. It is still not feeling very springy here (with the fleeting exception of days like Friday) but the beginning of baseball season is a good sign. I've been listening to baseball podcasts to get up to speed on the spring training storylines.

5) I am looking forward to seeing the Matisse exhibit at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts with Sara tomorrow!

That's it! I hope your Wednesday is a good one. What's your favorite magazine? How's your bracket? And are you planning to catch some baseball games this spring?

Marvelous Monday: Week 40

How did it get to be the 40th week of 2013?

1) To follow up yesterday's post about the finish line: I think these photos from a Pioneer Press photographer explain, better than I ever could, about why I love a marathon finish line.

2) Lunch run today! The sky was a super-deep blue and the leaves were lovely.

3) Speaking of leaves: I'm in the preliminary steps of a craft project involving leaves. Yesterday after the marathon I had fun puttering with my collection, much to Wish's utter dismay:

4) Josh made sirloin, bacon and black bean chili yesterday, and the leftovers tonight were equally marvelous.

5) It's playoff baseball time and that will never fail to be marvelous to me.

What's marvelous about the start of your week, Reader? Please share!

The diaries

When I was sorting through boxes labeled "Rebecca - Nostalgia" over the weekend, I found nearly my entire collection of diaries. I kept lots of them as a kid, some years more actively than others, often addressing entries to myself for whatever reason ("Dear Becky" and "Your friend, Becky").

I got a kick out of this section of "Rebecca - Nostalgia." Some entries were very succinct. I have no idea what prompted this one, from December 1992, but I do agree that my mom is neat (in both ways).

That's "Dear Diary, Our family is old-fasioned. We have an excellent Christmas tree and Mom is neat. In both ways."

Later in my teen years I felt self-conscious about keeping a diary because of those inevitable times when you read back and cringe about something goofy you wrote. Apparently I decided to take matters into my own hands in 1991, when I was seven, and edit earlier entries. Don't do this!! Note the snarky "in 1991, I get up at 7:00" asterisk:

That's "I get up at 6:00 AM or sometimes I almots miss the bus that's when I get up at 15 to 8:00!!" I appreciate the double exclamation point and the alarm that it suggests about waking up at 15 to 8:00.

The diaries covered some regular "day in the life" moments:

I like the "California Raisins" and "Garfield's Christmas" shout-outs.

And finally, I remember my dad helping with this poem:

Then there are the volumes from a few years later, complete with fake locks and crammed full of writing, into which I haven't even delved yet. That's a project for another day.

Marvelous Monday: Week 39

It's Monday, and it's a gorgeous day in this corner of the world: sunny, deep blue sky, and temperatures in the 70s. The leaves are starting to change color, and you know that thrills me.

Five more marvelous tidbits:

1) I ran this morning for the first time in nearly three weeks! Items of note: pink cirrus clouds, somewhere two and three miles covered, a lengthy stop to examine some marvelous maple leaves. It was a wonderful way to start Monday.

2) I spent some time at my parents' house on Saturday, and along with old copies of my high school newspapers, yearbooks, sports memorabilia, cards, photos and a letter jacket, I also retrieved Wish's All-Time Favorite Toy, which we'd left there on a previous visit. It's this gnarly, beat-up old toy football that has long since lost its squeak, and when I showed it to him later in the day, I thought he was going to explode with happiness.

On Sunday, I found him in the living room, not expecting to play, just sitting like this:

3) It's Twin Cities Marathon Week! This is one of my favorite weeks of the year. The course looks beautiful, and so does the forecast! I'll be volunteering with my committee near the finish line. I know several friends (and readers - hello!) are running the marathon or 10 Mile. If this means you, please give me an approximate time range, and I will cheer and shout for you! I am so proud of the runners already, especially the ones who are tackling a distance for the first time.

4) Tonight Josh and I are watching the play-in game between the Rays and the Rangers that determines which team will go to the playoffs. Like many Minnesotans, I'd guess, I have a soft spot in my heart for Game 163s that harkens back to the Twins' own Game 163 in 2009 against the Tigers that lasted 12 innings and was totally epic. I was on a work trip to Colorado and wasn't able to watch the game in real time, but my phone was going crazy with texts and I fielded several questions at my work event about the game. (Josh was at the stadium, so I guess we balance out.)

5) And to pair with tonight's baseball game: tonight's dinner is sweet corn and bacon skillet mac and cheese. It's basically bacon, corn, pasta and cheese topped with tomatoes. This Iowa Girl Eats knows what she's doing.

In a potentially unprecedented way, this Marvelous Monday covers a number of things I love: running, leaves, clouds, Wish, my family, Twin Cities Marathon, baseball, cooking and food. Whoa.

How's your week starting out, Reader? What is your best guess for peak fall color in the Twin Cities? Will you spectating and cheering this weekend (or running yourself)? Favorite fall recipes? Do share! The butternut squash is arriving in this week's CSA!

April in retrospect

Today is the last day of April! What happened around here this month?

Wish tried on his first baseball jersey:

Josh and I went to Opening Day at Target Field. I have long been a staunch advocate for fun player facts, ever since I saw them in Seattle a few years ago. If Opening Day was any indication, I'm about to learn more about my favorite team:

Then, a few days after that, I went to Washington, D.C. to visit Nathalia and Mike. I never did a proper recap of the trip beyond the Cherry Blossom 10 Mile Run, but we had a great weekend - and got to visit lots of blooming trees around town, cherry blossoms and otherwise:

We saw the White House, too, which is not big news for them but was for me:

We went on a ranger-led run around the tidal basin, home to lots and lots of cherry trees, and learned all about their history. The ranger is the silhouette in the tree bark. She was awesome.

Nat cooked beautiful food, including an apple pie.

I missed Wishy but became fast friends with Nat and Mike's pup.

It snowed...and snowed...and snowed.

Wish dismantled what must be his fourth football, his favorite toy. When he got his paw fur trimmed, he was presented with a new one. HAPPY DAYS.

Then he figured out a new way to keep it safe that I haven't seen before this month. WOE!

I made blueberry jam on the stove. Well, to be completely honest, I made a batch of blueberry syrup first and then tried it again and actually made jam. (It kind of looks like lava in this picture but it's jam, I swear.)

And finally - surprise! - Wish got a tie. (You probably don't know this since I've been keeping it hush-hush around the blog, yeah?) I like this photo because he looks kind of gigantic.

Tomorrow: hello, May!