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!

Marvelous Monday: Week 9

First, a question: My first visit to the American Swedish Institute over the weekend made me wonder what else I've been missing all this time. Do you have a Twin Cities museum recommendation for me? Please share.

On with the marvelous tidbits:

1) Natty's due date is this week, and I am thinking of my friends in D.C. as they get ready to finally meet their little one!

2) Over the weekend, I finished Liz Murray's powerful book Breaking Night: A Memoir of Forgiveness, Survival, and My Journey from Homeless to Harvard.

3) It's March now, and that means spring (sometime soon!).

4) Temperatures are finally heading in the right direction: to the 20s and even 30s for the foreseeable future. I have been in maintenance mode with my miles lately, just trying to consistently get outside when I can. I was hoping to do 8-10 miles on Sunday morning, and when I woke up, it was -10 with a windchill of -31, which is just not very conducive to the mileage I had planned. (I skipped that run, just to be clear.) I am excited to finally do more outside and put together my spring and summer race calendar.

5) This scene from over the weekend:

Back to museum for just a minute: What's your favorite museum ever? (I just tried to type out a few favorites and had so many feelings that I might have to write about this another time.) What's the best one in your town? What museum would you love to visit but haven't yet?

Hoping that your week is starting out well - all of you.

Marvelous Monday: Week 7

I'm still grinning from my weekend in Washington with my friends. Ellie and I traveled there to attend a baby shower honoring Nat and her husband and their soon-to-arrive baby!

I believe we talked nearly continuously for the hours that we were awake. It was so great to have a couple of days to catch up with these dear friends, who have been part of my life for more than a decade, and so special to be able to celebrate with the two wonderful soon-to-be parents in person. (A big thanks to Nat and her husband for hosting us!)

The week is already marvelous because of those friends. More marvelous tidbits:

1) This morning in Minnesota, winter kept on truckin' with four or five inches of fresh snow. I got out for a few miles this afternoon for the first time in a few days. In Washington, I got a preview of what 40 degrees feels like, and I am looking forward to that temperature this week in Minnesota.

2) On my run, I saw a little girl learning how to skate on a neighborhood ice rink, using a folding chair for balance.

3) Josh cleaned the house today and I cleaned my side of the closet out this evening. I am very excited.

4) We're celebrating my sister's birthday with the family later this week.

5) I had been pondering a good way to preserve our holiday cards (which are still up), and learned this weekend that for the last couple of years, Nat has been punching two holes in each card and then stringing them all together with ribbon to form a little book. I love this idea and hope to try it this week.

The Olympics are on TV in the background and there are cowbells ringing, and they are rallying tonight's blogging. Cowbells are sort of appropriate for Marvelous Monday.

Marvelous Monday: Week 35

It's Marvelous Monday!

1) The heat wave ended late last week, and yesterday and today were downright cool. We've been keeping the windows shut tight and the shades down because the conditions outside had been worse than what was happening inside our apartment. This morning, the windows were open, a cool breeze was circulating, and most importantly, fresh air was in our home.

2) I gave Wish a haircut yesterday. He has allowed that before, but the new development is that he actually let me trim the out-of-control fur between his toes, which he has been fussy about before. His little paws are so handsome now and I think he even likes it.

3) Speaking of that goofy dog, I got to have two leisurely, delightful walks with him around town today.

4) I also visited the garden today, and when I arrived, I saw the cherry tomato plant lit up with so many bright red tomatoes that it looked like it was decorated with strings of red Christmas lights. I must have picked six cups of cherry tomatoes, plus three big heirlooms. I thought the garden was starting to fade out for the summer, but it definitely proved me wrong.

5) We're getting married next week!!

I hope your week is starting out well, Reader.

Marvelous Monday: Week 16

Well, it's Monday evening and the snow is flying, and by the time it's done tomorrow morning, there will be three or six or eight or ten inches on the ground, depending on whose forecast you believe. But...

1) ...by the weekend it might be 70 degrees!

Four other marvelous tidbits:

2) Josh and I did major spring cleaning around the house yesterday. Our home is ready for spring.

3) In said spring cleaning, I unearthed an ancient digital clock/thermometer that has needed batteries for years. (Like, maybe upwards of 10 years.) Next to it in the random storage box? Two brand new AAA batteries. Voila! Now I can always know what the temperature is inside the home!!

4) These guys found their way into my cart at the grocery store and are cheering up the house right now:

5) Yeep. I nearly forgot. I have my first wedding dress try-on on Friday!

Your turn! What's nice about the start of your week? Is it spring where you are, or are you watching the snow fly?

An icy day

This morning, I walked to an errand with flurries around me, and it was a really nice idea until the return trip, when ice was falling from the sky and striking my face. I scurried home making the goofiest intermittent yelping noises.

Later in the day, all of that rain/snow/ice turned into this:

Yikes. Today was a stay inside if possible day. I made green chili, worked on a craft project, helped some frozen chocolate chip cookie dough into the oven, and kept going with My Life in France. It was a winteresque but enjoyable and cozy Sunday.

Incoming

Cold and wind, that is! Whoa!

I think if you've visited Miles and Laurel more than one time, ever, you know I revel in weather chatter. Today a wild front swooped across Minnesota, and it's ushering in some Arctic air. I will take you through the day:

9:30 a.m. On our walk with Wish, I'm warm in my down jacket.

10 a.m. I start my run, and temperatures were in the low 30s. I wear a lightweight shirt, a jacket, pants, a headband, and gloves that I sometimes removed. There's a light breeze, and I really couldn't ask for better January 19 running conditions.

I run 9.5 miles (as usual, my longest since the October marathon!) and am happily surprised at how good I felt at the end. When I finish the run, the breeze has picked up a little bit and I am glad to finish before the wind blows in from western Minnesota, where temperatures are already plummeting.

1 p.m. According to Josh's car's weather gauge, the temperature is 42.

4 p.m. Josh and I venture out to get groceries and my replacement telephone. The car's weather gauge reads 28 degrees. It's decidedly less pleasant. (But my phone is up and running!)

5 p.m. We exit the grocery store, and the winds have really picked up. Back in the car, we see the temperature has dropped seven degrees in the last hour.

5:15 p.m. Wish is dismayed at the unfavorable conditions on our walk. It's a short one. We play a wild game of fetch in the house instead.

He assembles all of his favorite toys in one place and pauses momentarily to appreciate his good work.

ISN'T THIS MORE FUN THAN QUILTING!?

A few minutes later, winds are gusting to 42 miles per hour. Yeep.

If you are in Minnesota, were you out and about as the weather changed today?

A pleasant tomorrow

Watch out, everyone!

Warning! Per my beloved Accuweather: It's going to be pleasant tomorrow!

Beware that little orange triangle!

Yes, that approximate weather pattern continues through the weekend, which means I am thrilled, thrilled about Sunday's forecast. (Just to be clear: that is not sarcasm, in case you were mistaking me for a runner who doesn't like to run in cool weather.)

Today I shopped: for dinner and snacks, for Gatorade, for nail polish, for the Gu gels I'll gobble during Sunday's race. I sense a closet reorganization looming on the horizon, so I had also planned to drop off all of my old running shoes that have been piling up at home. (There are different ways to reuse or recycle them, and some running shops are collection sites for old shoes.) I didn't realize how out-of-control the pile had gotten.

I think I've got two marathons represented in that pile, not counting this weekend's. Anyway, the store where I bought my gels no longer accepts old shoes, so the darn pile got lugged back home!

Tomorrow will be an easy jog before heading to my parents' house to deliver Wish for the evening (someone over there might have been referring to it as Grandparents Weekend for weeks) and then down to Mankato. Do you think there's any chance the Tennessee football team can stage a major upset against top-ranked Alabama on Saturday night for some pre-race excitement? Well, I do!

Also, I bought Wish a sheriff's costume and it went over fairly well, until he tried to eat the holster off his vest.

Happy weekend to you, Reader!

Week in Review

Besides everything I already gabbed about here, this was the week when...

...it was super, very hot, all over town. So hot that even the fountain drink machines were laboring!

...I tried a new recipe for blueberry corn muffins:

...Josh's dad arrived for his visit!

...I went for an early morning run and noticed some foreboding storm clouds that, thankfully, never caught up to me.

...Josh and his dad grilled dinner, while Wish and I lounged in the shadows.

...despite partial cloud cover, the Fourth of July dawned at 84 degrees!

...I got to enjoy not one but two frozen coconut treats, thanks to El Burrito Mercado in St. Paul's District del Sol! (Now if only they were really the size of my head.)

...last but not least, we watched Wish master stairs!

What does your Week in Review include, Reader, and what are you looking forward to in the upcoming days?

Sky report

Five cloud photos!?  Is it too good to be true?

Yes, I was on the prowl this week. But to be fair, there was a lot to see:

This week was a whole hodgepodge of weather: hot, stormy, cool, and windy. I think this means that conditions are especially ripe for good clouds as each front blows through.  This weekend, the heat returns. I will be out and about - running, volunteering at an event and hopefully visiting a farmer's market - and rest assured, Reader, I will keep my eye on the skies for more.

Dare I say that summer clouds are my favorites?  No! I could never choose.

Rain report

It felt like it rained for days and days here this week. It was really only 24 hours or so, but man, it was serious rain. Some cities on the western side of the metro area got up to five inches of rain.

Last night the skies started to clear. It was very exciting.

This morning I rolled out of bed for my run and saw nothing but blue skies and a happy Friday sun. (Obviously totally different in appearance from a non-Friday sun, of course.)

Just for proof...in case you didn't believe me, I guess?

Besides a very green world, there was still some evidence of all of the rain that fell yesterday.  See the puddles next to the train tracks?

  

I'm sad to report that the wind and storms did a number on the peony scene around town.

But the wonderful, massive wild rose bush in my neighborhood fared just fine!

It was a peaceful, easy trip around town after a day off from running yesterday - the kind that leaves you refreshed and energized instead of sluggish and blugh. (I have those workouts, too. And yes, blugh is a valid adjective.)

And now it's the weekend! What are you up to?  I'm excited for plans with friends and family - but first is an experiment involving salted nut roll bars...and then probably finishing The Book Thief while eating said bars. Have a great weekend, Reader!

When it rains, it pours

I couldn't resist.

Post one picture of clouds, and I get on an uncontrollable cloud kick.

I think today was this spring's first daytime rollicking thunderstorm.  A big flash of yellow and red on the radar swept across the state and piled heavy rain on my city. I stayed inside for that part. I went outside to run an errand afterward, and I saw the most magnificent clouds as the storm rolled eastward.

The rain had puddled up everywhere and the grass and leaves were thick with green.

Tis the season for thunderstorms - they're in the forecast every day through the weekend - and I do love to watch that sky.

Marvelous Monday, 2012, Week 9

Nine weeks into 2012!  What's marvelous about today?

1. I finished reading What is the What over the weekend.  Reader, this one is going to stay with me for a long time.  It's about the Lost Boys of Sudan, and now I understand why it was chosen as this year's common reading at my alma mater.  I keep flipping back to reread dog-eared passages.   Some pages were so heartbreaking I could barely catch my breath, but at its heart, it's one person's experience, one person's story to tell.  What a book.
2. After a weekend hiatus, I'm back to yoga class tonight!
3. There is a good old fashioned winter storm getting whipped up and trekking up to Minnesota in the next day or two.  If this turns into actual snow accumulation, you'll hear more about this later in the week.  It's well established that I get real riled up over this kind of thing.  My snowshoes are ready to spring into action.
4. March starts this week!  I'm watching my 101 in 1,001 list and thinking of what items might be next on my list.
5. My sewing machine is coughing for attention!  Ideas for my next project are bouncing around in my head.  I'm excited to head to the fabric shop this week to get going.

Thanks for stopping by, Reader!  What are you looking forward to in March?  What's marvelous about today in your corner of the world?

Storm report

Yes, it snowed!

This would usually not be breaking news, but because it's such a rarity this winter, I will file a very official snow report for the Miles and Laurel archives.

I am soooo glad the snow held off until later in the evening, after my run with Molly was in the books.  We did a great (read: tough!) interval workout on the track: two sets of [800, 400, 200, 1200].  The wind was really working and it must have been pretty funny to watch us circle the track, alternating flying forward and nearly flying backward.

This morning, three inches or so had piled up in my corner of town.  It was perfect late-winter snow: heavy and sticky.  If I would've had the day off, I would've gone hog-wild with snowman-making.  Heck, this was snowfort snow.  It was all I could do to not ask my neighbor if he wanted to have a snowball fight with me while I was brushing it off my car.  (I held back.) A snowman had already sprung up along my route to work this morning, which is pretty impressive considering the snow fell overnight.

It's warm again now, and the snow is puddling.  Along the sidewalks, it looks like this:

Does this make anyone else want Oreo ice cream?  No?  Just me?  Fine!

Happy Tuesday to you!

Fog's upside

Reader, so far the Very Exciting Plans to which I alluded in yesterday's post are on hold because of weather.  Surprise!  This morning, it was foggy again.

But the very enormous silver lining (or white lining, to be more specific) of fog is the potential for hoarfrost.  Hoarfrost, as I've discussed before at M&L, is one of my favorite things in the entire world.  Conditions have to be just right, so it only happens a few times per winter - and the trick is that it usually disappears by mid-morning.  The early bird gets the worm here, so to speak.

I headed out on a leisurely run - I'm racing a 5K tomorrow and today's only objective was to stretch out my legs - and made it literally 219 feet before I stopped and looked around in absolute wonder.  Here is the big picture of what I saw around St. Paul:

When I saw the hoarfrost back in Colorado, it was all in the context of this intense, bright sky, which created a brilliant mashup of dark branches and white hoarfrost against the blue.  I didn't get a chance to explore the hoarfrost on a smaller scale, because the big picture is what was so striking.

This morning, the sky was overcast until the very end of the run, so today it was all in the details.  I had a blast looking around the city.  It's, um, safe to say that I definitely wasn't in this run for pace.

Up close, it makes a branch look like cactus or barbed wire, doesn't it?  

This was a very good start to Saturday.

A blog about fog

In honor of Friday, here comes a mashup of two of my favorite kinds of posts: the "seen on my run" post and the "talk about weather" post.  Yes!

The past couple of days in Minnesota have been foggy and gray.  I have heard more than one comparison to London, which I cannot verify since I've not been there. When one's attitude is sunny, this weather is mysterious and romantic and cozy.  If one is not feeling quite as chipper, it can sure seem gloomy.

Okay, to give you an idea, here's a picture from yesterday's run:

It looks blurry, dark, out of focus, or generally weird, right?  It's funny - this actually resembles the first photos I took on my new phone.  I grumbled to Josh that the camera function wasn't as impressive as I'd expected, and he took a look and showed me that I had not removed the protective plastic over the lens.  Anyway, there were no camera or user malfunctions yesterday.  That's just what the river looked like at 5:00 last night!

As gloomy as that looked, as I approached the Lake Street bridge, I've never seen the bridge reflect off the water more clearly and evenly.

And as an added bonus that has nothing to do with fog at all, later in the trip I got to run by one of my favorite quirky sights in the Twin Cities: the shoe tree on the Washington bridge on the University of Minnesota campus.

As you can see, there are dozens and dozens of shoes hung neatly on this tree.  I have never looked down to see how many shoes are strewn along the riverbank.  The first time I saw it, on a run with my brother, I was so blown away I almost fell over.

On that note, Reader, I wish you a happy weekend!  I am possibly doing something very exciting (to me, anyway) tomorrow and will be back with a full report, if it pans out.

Marvelous Monday (Vol. 4)

Here at Miles and Laurel, Marvelous Monday is usually a merge between a true Marvelous Monday (noting five nice things about Monday) and a weekend recap of highlights still on my mind.  This weekend started with a chilly but great long run with Molly on Saturday morning, and after that was done, I let the rainy, icy, chilly weather keep me mostly inside for the rest of the weekend in a cozy sort of way.  Thus, some of my Marvelous Monday notes are riffs on that theme.

1) Josh will either laugh or roll his eyes when he sees this because I've been crowing about nonstop, but I will now shout to the world that I downloaded Hulu Plus for my new phone and have been back on a Parks and Recreation kick.  It makes me laugh just thinking about it.

2) Today I signed up for the next six weeks of boot camp class through work.  This may not be marvelous exactly, but I came to terms with the idea that I just need a little more of a forced nudge to do strength training.  It felt good to act on that realization instead of just mumbling to myself over and over that tomorrow would be a perfect day to finally going on strength work.

3) We rented "Midnight in Paris" and watched it last night.  I kind of want to make Sunday movie nights a more regular occurrence!  It was a fun and festive way to end the weekend, especially because we were both utterly charmed by the movie.  It makes me want to listen to Cole Porter now, too.

4) Winter birthdays!  There are a ton in my family - more on this in the coming weeks - and among my friends.  I sounded the first birthday alarm over the weekend, but warm, happy birthday wishes go out to Nat (whose day was yesterday) and Dawn (whose is tomorrow)!

5) This morning I was attacking hacking demolishing scraping my windshield and a sheet of ice that was larger than an 8x11 piece of paper flew off.  It was pretty cool.

You Joan, pho and the theater

The snooze button is such a ferocious friend.  But today I didn't feel too bad about it.  (Oh!  If you are considering moving to this fine state - and you know who you are - I give the green light to skip the rest of this post.)

The background: I got home very late last night from my fabulous cultural event (tackling #67, friends!) with Sara. Earlier this month, she had come across two tickets to Cat on a Hot Tin Roof at the Guthrie.  Part of my 101 in 1,001, as you can see on the list, is taking advantage of all of the rich theater, art and cultural events that the Twin Cities offers.  I am not well-versed in the theater scene at all, so I figured I had homework to do.  I read Cat on a Hot Tin Roof last week for the first time.  It was so much fun - and more seriously, so much more meaningful - to have read the script and the playwright's directions before seeing the play unfold in person.  There was dialogue I couldn't wait to see acted out and parts I interpreted differently when I saw them in person.  I thought the whole thing was fabulous.

I got home really late!  I set the alarm clock warily (and wearily, ha ha) for 6 a.m. in hopes of getting an easy run in before work, since I had other commitments at lunch and in the evening.  

But when the alarm sounded, I grabbed my shiny new phone and noticed that in addition to telling time, the main screen also included a large temperature reading.  This is two hours later, but it looked exactly like this.

I've run in that kind of temperature before.  I contend that it's possible to do it without being dangerous, assuming you have a huge facemask with only your eyes peeking out.  But is it fun?  You know, at 6 a.m. this morning, I begged to differ.  Snooze!

And later in the morning, when I went to work, I knew I had made the right choice.  This has been a pretty mild Minnesota winter, and I had forgotten what that sort of temperature with a breeze feels like on one's face.  I got into the car and noticed that the temperature had soared all the way to -9.

As an aside, this car provides song titles. Sort of.  It's correct maybe half of the time.  Sometimes it mashes together the song and artist, other times it's a completely random word.  I like to imagine that there was actually a song playing called "YOU JOAN."  It sort of sounds like an insult.  "You Joan!"

Then I went out to lunch and tried pho for the first time!  Yahoo!

An extra 40 degrees

Minnesota weather is so kooky, and I love it.  

To be honest, it's a minor miracle that Miles and Laurel isn't stuffed full of endless posts about the weather.  When I was a kid, after a snowfall, I used to walk around my yard and measure the accumulation with a ruler or yardstick and then calculate the average and write it down.  In the summers, I would record the temperature daily at 2 p.m. and report my findings to the local CBS affiliate.  This station would run citizen weather reports during the 6 p.m. newscast, and I would religiously watch to see if my name and temperature recording was on TV.  (Sometimes it was!) While I have let those charming routines slide, I am still endlessly fascinated by this stuff and could really talk about it all day, given the chance.

Last year at this time, there was nearly two feet of snow on the ground.  I will also remind you of what garments were required to run outside in Minnesota last week at this time:

I think I'm even squinting to shield my eyes from the elements. 

Yesterday?  Nearly 40 degrees.

I think the last time I ran in anything less than full tights in December was last year, in California.

Today brings more of the same - plus some rain, which knocked out all of my city's snowcover last night - and I will gleefully head outside again for a run, possibly even wearing shorts this time. It makes my workout bag so much easier to pack in the morning, and so much lighter to carry!  This is all very strange and feels more like March than December, but even though I am eager to get my snowshoes out this winter, I'll take it.  It's all part of the charms of weather in this fine state.