this is the end of summer in minneapolis.  my lovely friend gretchen came to visit from texas a few weeks ago.  we rented nice ride bikes, roadtripped to lake superior, frequented my new favorite treat shop (glam doll doughnuts!), saw some local bluegrass and went out for coffee a hundred times.  when they invent teleportation, i will have coffee dates with gretchen every day, all over the world.  

yesterday i finished my waitress gig downtown.  the staff poured a pitcher of water down my pants, gave me hugs and sent me off into the world.  it's movin' time.  the leaves are falling, and things are happening.    

i leave for new york in about an hour, to visit sister in her big beautiful city.  

we took home trashbags full of beets and my nana taught me all about pickling.
the next day i was the waitress with the strange purple-stained fingers.

enjoying dank oysters on the middle coast
sea salt eatery, minnehaha park, minneapolis

mumsey's birthday dinner at the bachelor farmer last weekend has us feeling pretty enthusiastic about the minnesotan nordic experience.  we ate seafood toasts and duck and swedish meatballs in a perfectly delightful converted warehouse space in the north loop.  this place, where farm to table cooking meets old-country scandinavian charm, is so quintessentially minneapolis.    

wanna get even more in touch with your stoic northern side?  minneapolis is a smorgasbord of scandinavian treasures.  tour the castle at the american swedish institute.  have a swedish coffee break at FIKA.  buy scandinavian gifts and interesting meat products at ingebretsen's.  or there's always IKEA, if you like a cheaper meatball.        

  
from our independence day, now almost a month ago:
shameless early-morning cocktails at barbette,
and the hidden beach on cedar lake

summer in the city in full swing.

i'm excited about biking and rollerblading on all the epic bike trails in minneapolis.  i'm excited about farmers markets.  i'm excited about lake swimming.  i'm excited about home cooking (after five summers of unsavory national park cafeteria food).  

i'm even excited about nannylife, though it's fairly beige and not that photogenic.  i'll bring my camera along one of these days...      

it turned into summer overnite, and minneapolis won me back immediately.

i'm leaving for montana in the morning, but only for the month of may.  after that i'm spending the whole summer in minnesota.  nannying.  and now that the sun is shining, that seems like a spectacular idea.  a whole summer riding bikes and chilling at the pool.

i'll be without internet or phone for the next few weeks.  see you in june!

this is springtime in minneapolis
a winter wonderland that i was not expecting.

plus the end of the exposed film.  oops.

i left my poor poor car dead on the street in cody.  mumsey came in shining armor and took me and all my worldy possessions to minneapolis.  i am on foot and bike these days, and my carbon footprint is spectacular.

i haven't snapped many pictures since i've been here.  it's a gray near-winter here in the midwest, and i've been relaxing and visiting and having small domestic adventures.

tomorrow i head to puerto rico for vacation!