Road to Saint Paul (via Chicago and Madison): All the Rest

Downtown Columbus, Ohio

Searching for something different takes effort. We're hardwired to take the path of least resistance. Navigation tools and apps default to routes along the biggest, fastest highways that bypass towns, and rest stops are identical, appearing to have rolled off an assembly line and playing into our quest for the familiar.

The vanilla* sameness of it all bums me out. I live in the suburbs of DC and am constantly struggling to find the beauty in my beige surroundings. I harbor fantasies of living someplace where I won't be able to tell you how to get to the 4 Wal-Marts, 3 Targets, 10 Starbucks and 11 McDonalds that all reside within 5 miles of my apartment. Google it. It's real.

 Dogs from Dirty Frank's in Columbus, Chicago River as seen from my hotel room  

It's why I get a bit obsessive when planning to visit somewhere new. I'm the girl sitting on her couch at 10:30 at night googling "Chicago adaptive reuse hotel" and "Chicago historic hotel". I'll pour through Small Demons for ideas referenced in books and stalk local bloggers (thanks for being an inspiration, Allison!) for recommendations off the beaten path.


Downtown Chicago (top), Saint Paul

It paid off. I had a great time, got some fun snapshots and ate well (mostly). I didn't hit everything on my list because there actually was a lot of work accomplished, but I made the bits in between count. I also passed by SO much I need to go back and explore. Chicago, Madison, Saint Paul and Minneapolis each left me wanting more.


 The Bachelor Farmer in Minneapolis, MN. Good food, great atmosphere and cute, friendly guys. No cell phones allowed. ;-)

Eating/Drinking Highlights

Places to Sleep

Dirty Frank's XOCO Sweeney's Saloon Mickies Dairy Bar The Bachelor Farmer Dunn Bros Coffee Ruam Mit Thai

Club Quarters (reasonable!) Hotel Ruby Marie

*I feel bad for using a lovely word like vanilla in this way. I love vanilla smells, vanilla flavor...all the vanilla!

miles and sights and sounds and places

Road to Saint Paul: Ice Cream

I never set out to sample so much ice cream while on the road, but after stopping at Jeni's Splendid Ice Cream in Columbus, it was a delicious, slippery slope.


Half scoops of roasted strawberry and buttermilk, juniper and lemon curd, and whiskey and pecan.

Jeni's absolutely did not disappoint. My only complaint about Jeni's is that choosing among all of the amazing flavor combinations is nearly impossible. This is going to make avoiding this really expensive section of Whole Foods very difficult. Thanks for being delicious, Jeni.

You might decide to judge me less were my ice cream recommendations to end there; however, my road to St. Paul was littered with dairy. The appearance of Culver's on billboards and highway signs intrigued me. A timely tweet from @pinkisneat commanding me to try them out coincided with a sign proclaiming their flavor of the day as double salted caramel/pecan. Suddenly, I was executing driving moves that would make 007 jealous. No photos of this experience exist given that this was strictly a drive-in experience that required my only remaining hand. This custard was definitely tasty, but if you must limit your dairy consumption, my vote goes to Jeni's.

A couple of days later Sara took us to The Pearl in La Crosse, WI for an afternoon cone following lunch in a park along the Mississippi.


Maple pecan cone at The Pearl.

The final stop in this ice cream journey is Monty's Blue Plate Diner in Madison, WI. "On your way out of town, you must stop at Monty's and get a milkshake for the road." When a coworker takes time out of a conference call to deliver this directive (and when said coworker is known for her milkshake hunting skills), you look up Monty's and you go. The shake below is the Fat Elvis and was the recommendation of the adorable server who took my order.



So good but also a bit over the top (kind of like Elvis). My preservation mode was finally kicking in by this point in the trip, and I finally embraced eating/trying just enough and walking away.
 

Revamped living room!

I've got a couple of posts coming about my trip to Minnesota and Wisconsin, but currently, I'm still in recovery mode :-) In the meantime, I get to show you how I revamped my living room right before I left.

My old couch was a small Ikea number that, while a great size for a small apartment, wasn't conducive to multiple guests or afternoon naps. It also never really belonged in the home of a clumsy girl. It was more than 6 years old, and the stains it held were a virtual map of my life.

I've been on a casual hunt for a new couch for the last couple of years and in earnest for the last six months, and it's slim pickings out there, you guys. I think there are only 10-20 different couch styles in the entire world, and they seem to either be too ugly or too expensive. Anyway, I found myself in a bit of a fog from a cold and somehow wound up on Craigslist. I'd never considered a sectional sofa before, but something about this one tugged at me. Cut to a few emails and a couch visit* later and the couch was officially "on hold" for me. We picked it up on the 15th, and I can already tell it was the right choice. It's already had its first house guest sleep on it and has proven itself useful for supporting several lounging people and a few hours of conversation.

 

The same night I found the couch I also stumbled across an entertainment center in the freebie section. After emails and texts with a couple of people, I decided to pick it up. It didn't match my current furniture, but all it took was a few coats of paint to make it mine!



So there you have it...my revamped living room (and another excuse to reconfigure my art)!

*I was very skeptical of buying a used fabric couch. I sort of felt like I was also buying that person's history. Luckily, the couch is in great shape, and the family selling it had a clean house that didn't gross me out.

I'm having a love affair with this Midwestern sky,

Be back soon!

Road to Saint Paul, List #4: Photos I'd Like to Take

- fields of gold and green against a cloud-filled sky
- the inspirational church sign always m ssing a few let ers
- downtown main street
- the mighty Mississippi, the Chicago and other rivers
- the perfect antique mall along the side of the road with obscenely cheap prices
- a sick cup of coffee, gigantic ice cream cone and the perfect breakfast taco
- local street art, a charming backdrop and a sublime sunset

Road to Saint Paul, List #3: Sleeping Quarters

I think I'm dragging my feet the most on where to stay. I've got a couple of places nailed down, but the rest is still up in the air*. I'm always on the hunt for thrifty and unique, but that's not always easy. Here are a few places I've considered along the way.



I spent quite a bit of time looking for adapted reuse hotels in and around the Chicago area but didn't have any luck finding anything. It looks like I'll have to settle for the Gilded Age, if I want an historic hotel in Chicago.

*As of August 12.

Road to Saint Paul, List #2: Ear Candy

I'm torn between music, audiobook and podcasts. Tell no one I'm considering Taylor Swift.

Road to Saint Paul, List #1: Road Food

I'm back on the road this Friday and have spent stolen moments over the past week making lists and plotting routes on maps. I thought it would be fun to share some of my lists here this week. Let's get on to it!

When I was growing up, we took many a road trip, and it was all about the road food. It should come as no surprise then that one of the first lists I started plotting was local food along my route*. Well known watering holes, local food traditions, places recommended by local bloggers**. My research was unfettered by anything as traditional as Zagat. There are no guarantees I'll get to all of the places below, but I'm going to try to make a go of it.

-  Dirty Frank's Hot Dog Palace (Columbus, OH), I love a fancy hot dog (see earlier visits to Frank and Polock Johnny's). Heard of this potential gem via Allie Lehman's twitter stream.
-  Jeni's Splendid Ice Cream (Dublin, OH)
-  Frontera/XOCO (Chicago, IL), I love Mexican food. I heard Rick Bayless is the bomb. The end.
-  Edward's Drive-in (Indianapolis, IN), Breaded pork tenderloin sandwiches are supposedly an Indiana thing. Who knew?!
-  The Bachelor Farmer (Minneapolis, MN), Farm-to-table, modern Nordic cooking. I've already got a reservation for Saturday night ;-)

I'm in need of good coffee shop locations. Hint, hint.



*We'll get to that list later this week. I've done quite a bit of hemming and hawing over potential routes. 
**Stalker much?

When you're too busy for a summer manifesto

Thank you, Scarlet, for living by Moo Thru and telling me about its existence. Yum!

As May wound down, I started thinking about writing a summer manifesto like I saw popping up all over the web.The idea of putting a little thought into how I wanted to spend the summer appealed to my love of lists and desire to enjoy the season.


Unfortunately, my summers tend to be chaotic affairs driven by crazy work deadlines, and this summer has been no different. Already I've spoken at a conference, held innumerable "urgent" meetings, released a 40-page report, blah, blah, blah. Remember the leisurely drive I was going to take up to Amherst for a conference at the beginning of June? Leisurely turned into "just get there as fast as you can" because of meetings and obligations that piled up on either side. I haven't gone swimming or popped over to the beach (even for just a day). I've missed two concerts whose tickets I've had for months. Needless to say, I never got around to penning that summer manifesto.

Who cares?! Despite some added stress, summer moments are meant to be stolen, and I've become a champion at savoring those little pockets of time. Enjoying the perfect summer cone. Stealing away to a matinee with a friend when a meeting ends just early enough. The summer buzz of a birthday celebration. Small town charm and the summer outdoor concert.

I'm also going to give the leisurely road trip another shot in a couple of weeks. I've got another conference (this one in Saint Paul, MN) coming up and am planning some fun stops along the way. Ohio, I'm looking to you to serve me up an antique mall or two. I'm also digging around online to find a watering hole in Minnesota to escape to for a couple of hours. I want to be realistic about places to stop (I do need to get there) but still want all the suggestions you can throw at me.

Thoughts on fanfic, part I (aka Meanwhile, a review)

Part I: Given the ongoing debates I've had on this topic with friends and the fact that my opinions are starting to change ever so slightly, it makes more sense to break this topic up a bit.



If you know me at all, you know that I'm a fan of the low brow when it comes to movies but can get downright snooty about books. This doesn't mean I won't pick up an easy* read, but I am so much tougher when it comes to recommending a book and in discerning what I like and value. I'm not using this to explain away my thoughts on fanfic, but it does say a little bit about why I would be so obstinate on the topic. That said, I'm always open to being schooled (and that's pretty much what I got). Grab your book light and settle in for this back to school special.

I'm going to sound like a jerk, but I need to first tell you quickly why I've been so dismissive of fanfic. Honestly, I question the quality of anything self published. I've purchased a few self-pubbed titles over the last few years and have been burned. I know I shouldn't judge everything by the titles I've purchased, but it's left me with little more than respect for editors and a healthy dose of skepticism about the new self publishing craze**. I'm working on getting over it, but it's slow going.

My other issue with fanfic is the co-opting of characters that someone else has gone to the trouble to create. If I put the emotional and creative energy into breathing life into people/creatures/worlds, it makes me very uncomfortable angry that other people feel so entitled to take steal them for their own use. Trust me, I understand being cocky enough to think you can do it better. I'm just not sure I agree that you should***.

This does not keep my friend Ravena from trying to get me to see the light. She'll wax poetic about this author or that. We'll debate. It's a cycle. A couple of months ago I agreed to read a piece of fanfic if she'd agree to watch Outbreak (only one of my favorite movies and a genre she's generally resistant to). Not one to back out of an agreement, I managed to hold off on buying any new titles, instead opting to click the link to what felt like a back alley market for verboten publishing.

That back alley led to a site called Eric Iz Mine (yes, the iz is correct. sigh) and the world of True Blood fanfic. I took the plunge with Bored to Death, and I fought the story almost every step of the way. Most of you have never seen me read, but I'm not above rolling my eyes at the screen and snorting with derision. I wanted to hate this story and spent the first 16 chapters searching for things to get annoyed by (he uses the word brat too much...Eric would never say anything an unmanly as brat) and denying that I was entertained. Do you know what denying yourself looks like? It's that corner of your mouth that creeps upwards into a grin until you immediately force it back into the studied scowl. I finally said screw it halfway through chapter 17 and admitted to myself and the world that I was hooked. I was on the treadmill at the gym and refused to get off so that I could move on to weights because I needed to finish that chapter. I fucking hate the treadmill and am always looking for an excuse to stop, so you know this was serious.

Maybe I'm more forgiving because I never read any of the books by Charlaine Harris. I really don't think that it's though. I was more than entertained. The writing was solid and the story was tight. Yes, I found things to be annoyed by, but I can do that with anything. More than that, the author behind Eric Iz Mine is creative. She took the story of Eric and Sookie to a place I never would have dreamed and spun the story off in a such a unique way that I was forced to follow. I couldn't leave the world created in Bored to Death without following it through to Meanwhile. Your eyes do not deceive you. I was in deep enough to read a second story.

While I still hold on to a healthy amount of my skepticism, I'll admit to being wrong on certain accounts. Now I will never be able to say that I haven't enjoyed a bit of fan fiction.



*Let's agree that we'll each define easy in our own way. 
**Fifteen pages do not a book make. Let's all just agree that you've written a brochure or pamphlet and move on. 
***I'm happy to continue arguing these points in the comments but know that I've debated these out with friends. I've get where the other side is coming from.

July, July...apple of my eye

July has been full of work, work and more work. Still, I managed to squeeze in some fun between the marathon sessions in front of my computer, in meetings and on the river.

We celebrated this guy's birthday...





Bid Terra a fond farewell with a Pinterest-themed potluck...





And found time to laugh away the stress...

List: Endorsed, Science Rocks Edition

- The Secret Life of Bees, Enthralling story in Smithsonian Magazine on bee behavior with descriptions of their enthusiastic dancing, aggressive head butting and overall decision-making.

- Dragonflies as a climate change indicator, I've recently been on the hunt for journal articles on dragonflies. Maybe it's just me, but dragonflies seem more prevalent in Northern Virginia this year. In addition to being more abundant, I've noticed greater diversity in pattern and color. I couldn't help but wonder if changes in the local dragonfly community could be linked to the incredibly hot summer we're having.

- Beautiful woodcut prints made from cross-sections of trees

- Sunscreen debate, I've seen so much conflicting information in the news lately about sunscreen and whether it's bad for you. Science can be so confusing.

How Twitter can make you a better person

Twitter is slowly helping me become a better person. Who knew this tool could become a beacon, the lighthouse standing strong on the Internet's shores warning me what not to do?

Do you complain continually about your children and how horrible your life is, only to flip the switch and wax poetic about your consumerist pursuits? Thank you. You help me to cherish my life and how genuinely happy that I am. You also convince me to cut back on my online complaining. I'd hate for people to think that I'm as unhappy as you appear.

Is every tweet out of your mouth a humblebrag? Thank you. You keep me grounded and my ego in check. You remind me that the flip side of complaining is sometimes talking about how great you are.

Have you ever tweeted more than once about how much your feet smell? Thank you. I appreciate the reminder that sometimes there should be limits to what we share, particularly if it's done without humor.

Do you make me laugh, share uplifting quotes and pass along articles that fuel my passion? Thank you. You give me something to shoot for and make me want to be better.

So, Twitter, thank you for all you show me. I'm still making plenty of these same mistakes myself, but it's fun to learn not to ;-)

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter...convenient liberal fantasy or fun romp?

I really, really liked Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. So fun and everything a good liberal like me could ask for. Lincoln wielding an axe with more finesse than a member your band's color guard totally did it for me, and the nods to history (and revisionist history...hello? vampires?) culled from Lincoln biographies and other texts kept me sated.

Should I point out that I couldn't help but think of the disservice we do ourselves by conveniently creating monsters to blame for the brutalities of the south and the Civil War? Or discuss how vampires are indeed an affective allegory* for the south? What about how blatant the character of Will Johnson fulfilled the role of Spike Lee's 'magical negro'?

I'd be lying if I said that all of the above didn't cross my mind while watching the movie. Sometimes I don't want to analyze a movie though. I don't want to think critically, picking it apart and thinking about why it might not be a shining example of cinema or messaging. Often, I just want to enjoy it, and you know what? I did. All I needed was some good ass-kicking fun with the bad guy getting his comeuppance, and this movie delivered.


*Alright, grammarians, did I use this one correctly?

Do something. Do better.

Some of my favorites in my Twitter stream were abuzz this week tweeting and retweeting about the winner of this year's library interior design competition*, the main branch of the McAllen, Texas library. The buzz was about more than just a cool, modern library--setting aside shock at any community willing to put money into public libraries--and had more to do with the fact that this library moved into an abandoned Wal-Mart and exemplified solid adaptive reuse.

While I'm stoked to hear of any abandoned building gaining a new life and get a particular thrill to know someone is trying to make right of Wal-Mart's waste, I think we need to use this story to push for even more.

How so?

We need to continue to reward and tell the story of local governments like McAllen who make smart decisions to reuse space. However, they need to be pushed harder. Is anyone asking where Wal-Mart went? I can guarantee you that they didn't just close up shop. My guess is that they wanted to remodel and start afresh, leaving behind their huge, abandoned footprint and clearing and erecting a newer, bigger model in a nearby location.

I know this because they did the same thing in my hometown just a few short years ago. I grew up in a two-Wal-Mart town in West Texas. Go ahead, say it. Classy, right? Once the newer Super Wal-Mart went in across town, it was only a matter of time before they upgraded the "old" Wal-Mart. So, instead of just revamping what they already had, they left their mess and built an even bigger store on adjacent lot.

 

I was livid! It's been at least 3 or 4 years, and I'm still burned up about it.

Who is issuing these permits and letting them get away with this? San Angelo can never be accused of embracing smart growth, but people in these towns need to start thinking beyond short-term dollars and more about long-term sustainability.

So, bravo to McAllen for reusing the old Wal-Mart building, but I want our cities to stop allowing corporations like Wal-Mart to wield so much power over local government. Don't issue permits when they want to jump ship to a new location. Enforce strict zoning laws. Something.




San Angelo was lucky enough to have the county government step up and reuse the old Wal-Mart building for new county offices. It won't win any awards, but it was the right thing to do.

*Some wicked cool entries, btw. You should check them out!
**Pictures by my mom. :-)

Remixing and reinventing

Now that we've been hitting the gym hard once again [have I not mentioned the 3-month slow down and 3-week sabbatical I took?] I find myself searching for ways to step it up. Don't get me wrong, I love all the reading I get done on the treadmill, but I can only go so fast while reading. Really, I blame this minor burst of motivation on a combination of the U.S. swimming trials playing on the gym TVs and a podcast episode on running mixes that I happened to catch yesterday.

The sad fact is that only 15% of the gym's music gets you hyped (and that's if you can even hear it). Enter my new workout playlist! No more will I rely on stale Lifetime videos and the rhythmic beat of people who actually manage to run in order to entertain myself.

1. Church by T-Pain
2. Wrestlers (sticky, dirty) by Hot Chip
3. Candy Shop by 50 Cent
4. Odyssey by Woolfy
5. Bounce by Timbaland Ft. Dr. Dre, Justin Timberlake and Missy Elliott
6. Drop It Like It's Hot by Snoop
7. The Garden by Mirah
8. Golddigger by Kanye West/Jamie Foxx
9. Tightrope by Janelle Monae
10. Dog Days are Over by Florence and the Machines

Do you know what I discovered? The damn playlist worked. It provided a near perfect narrative arc and (varied) tempo for the treadmill. T-Pain and the scenes from Step Up 2 running through my head immediately got me high. By the time I got to Bounce, I was disgustingly sweaty [which is the point, right?] and, indeed, bouncing. Have you ever listened to the lyrics to Bounce? I guess I hadn't. I've always been more of a beat girl myself and was a little surprised. Luckily, Missy enters near the end, schooling the boys with her filthy mouth and giving me a little boost.

Ending with Florence singing Dog Days was nothing short of inspired. I was winding down my time on that bloody machine, and I just wanted to clap and shout it out just like her. The dog days really were just about over. In fact, I really want someone to invent treadmill dancing classes (Ok Go was on to something). I wanted to bust some moves during my walk, and if I wasn't certain I would fall, I totally would have drop-drop-dropped it like it's hot with Snoop.

Karaoke treadmill dancing?! Brilliant!

Girl behind the mask

I'm the kind of girl who...

• becomes anxious at the sight of a bug and has to pull on her big girl pants to kill it
• has to put on her magical blinders to ignore the aforementioned bugs when traipsing around outside for work
• (oddly enough) considers skirts and flip flops appropriate field attire for said traipsing
• can't seem to stop wearing clothes until they disintegrate
• keeps a messy car but a clean house
• doesn't think she'll ever truly love cooking because it just takes too much darned time
• has developed a desire for workshop space and a saw over the past couple of months
• decides she wants a new exotic pet every time she sees one in a movie
• saw Magic Mike and now wants a tiny pet pig (after Juno it was a rabbit)
• favorite song came out in 1993

Goodbye, June!

I'm not looking to rush the year but, boy, am I glad June is over! I knew going in that it was going to be crazy busy at work...the kind of craziness that bleeds over into the weekend despite my best efforts.

Luckily, I got to give June the proper sendoff on Friday by gathering with a few of the folks who shared in my hectic schedule. When you hang out in Annapolis, the people feel compelled to give you seafood. This was my first seafood boil (and first time trying snow crab and mussels), so the evening was dubbed the education of Serena. We won't talk about the fact that a 5-year old was better at eating crab than I was ;-)

Grow, baby, grow!

week 12, a photo by Serena McClain on Flickr.

I may not any energy this month for after-work blogging, but my tomato plants aren't having any problems channeling their energy. Week 12!

Late night craft chronicles, day 3

When I spotted a link to this DIY, I knew I had to try it. I was really drawn to the aesthetic, and I'm always on the lookout for reuses for paper bags*.

*I have a bad habit of using my reusable bags for other things. *cough* gym bag *cough*

Late night craft chronicles, day 2

I actually planned for this crafting binge with a trip to Michaels on Sunday. A few wooden beads, suede cording and paint that was already hanging out at my place and I was good to go. I can't really complain about this project keeping me up because it took all of 10 minutes (including drying time) and was perfect for this lazy crafter.

Late night craft chronicles, day 1

(aka, things I do when I don't want to go to bed)

things I do when I don't want to go to bed, a photo by Serena McClain on Flickr.

I seem to have tapped into some weird creative energy this week. Too bad it only seems to hit around 10:30 PM. Inspired by reading Elsie's post late Sunday night.

It seemed like the perfect use for the paint markers I got for Christmas last year and the CB2 plates that are on their last leg!

Weekending continues

view from my couch    .    blankets I chose not to put away    .    reading and tv-watching







Recuperation was the order of the day this weekend. I spent a lot of time chilling on the couch, shaking off the research-doing, presentation-giving, meeting-running, car-driving week.

Road tripping to Northampton, Massachusetts

Do you see that winding road? On Monday, I'll be traveling that blue line from the DC 'burbs to Northampton, Mass on my way to a conference at University of Massachusetts Amherst.

Monday also happens to be my 11-year anniversary at work. Whoa! To commemorate the event, I've planned a few detours to some local rivers and restoration projects we've completed over the past decade, and because I have the best coworkers, I've also got a small list of places to get the best cup of local coffee, the cutest, old-fashioned ice shop, and an assortment of other things like that.

Have any recommendations for me? Shoot them my way! You can also follow the journey on Twitter (@notmiranda) and Instagram (@serenasue).

Adventures in Gardening: week 9

I get such a kick out of seeing how fast these grow! Over the past week or so, the largest tomato baby developed a couple of flowers. Puberty? I finally took the leap and repotted it, giving it more room to grow. If fairs well, I'll do the same for the other two. According to my reading, I can expect tomatoes in July or August.





It's so empowering to grow something from seeds. I feel like a balcony farmer!