Places to Go, Things to Do… Minnehaha Falls

Imagine the first above 60 degree-day of the year in Minnesota. We are coming out of an 8 month snow slump (yes, the months of October – May have graced us with snowfall) and everyone has been buried under 4ish feet of snow on any given day this winter. Now, consider how one might feel after such a lack of warm breeze and sunshine. Seriously in need of some vitamin D?  I think so. And to cure this deficiency – an outing.

All residents of the Twin Cities (seemingly so) flocked to one place on the first sunny, warm Saturday: Minnehaha Falls.

The Falls in all its early-spring glory!

A little ice hanging on for dear life.

Soon the browns will turn into pale greens! Patience is a virtue, especially here.

Located in the Longfellow neighborhood of Minneapolis, this gem of a {huge} park has something for everyone.  Bike trails, music pavilions, a dog park, a kids play area, and oh, a giant waterfall. As Minneapolis parks department says, “The 193-acre park features a 53-foot waterfall, limestone bluffs and river overlooks. The park contains oak, elm, silver maple, basswood, hackberry and cottonwood trees, as well as native and prairie woodland wild flowers.”

Of course, none of the flowers were out yet. That doesn’t stop Minnesotans, no sir. Tanktopped, sandaled, bare-legged city-dwellers flock here every summer to walk the trails and see the falls.

Rightfully so, as the waterfall is grandiose and impressive, as far as natural sightseeing within a city goes.  We spent the afternoon here with some friends, walking to the place where Minnehaha Creek meets the Mississippi. There we witnessed a rock-skipping competition. Love. Summertime fun.

Toes transforming into ice cubes.

Serious hiking. The backpack is full of Huckleberry necessities.

Do you notice the teeny tiny patches of green grass peeking out?? No amount of May snow can stop the summer from coming!

The creek meets the river.

Peek between the trees to see the love in the limestone. <3

Some little boys doing some climbing and/or admiring of artwork in the limestone. I love the color variance.

My guys. By the Mississippi.

Friends. Secretly, in between photos they were trying not to get hit with flying flat stones – there were some wild rock-skippers on the beach.

Huckleberry was the most popular pup on the trails. What would have taken normal people a half hour took us about an hour. He’s quite social p.s. Sorry if you’re blinded by our whiteness.

If wandering on woodland trails {only somewhat muddy from the thaw} is not your thing, or if you just want to sip a cold one and share some deep fried fish after trekking all afternoon, visit Sea Salt {facebook page}, a spectacular seafood restaurant in the park. They have fresh fish flown in daily from somewhere delicious. The line at Sea Salt is especially long on the first really warm day of the season. I’m told you can expect to wait anywhere from 30 minutes to over an hour, just to get to the counter to order. Worth. It.

Part of the menu. I’ve discovered I have a thing for chalkboard paint.

 

Waiting in line…Huck is tuckered out!

The wait staff was delighted to see our adorable pup, and consequently named our ticket “Huckleberry.”  I had the fish tacos (yum – cilantro-y) and my husband had the soft-shell crab sandwich. If you’ve never had softshell crab before, and you perhaps get squeamish at the thought of crawly critters in their animal form on your plate, don’t order it. Or do, and close your eyes as you crunch its tastiness. Both dishes were de-li-cious and relatively inexpensive.

My fish tacos.

Thank you spring sunshine, for some excellent lighting!

The soft-shell crab sammy. Dig in! Hah! Get it?

Love the Martins!! Since all tables were full on the patio, we asked an older couple to join their {mostly empty} table (they’re not pictured here). We had a blast chatting it up with them. Add to list: sit with people who have room at their table. Ask politely first. They might have something interesting to say

We will definitely be back when the trees are bedecked in leafy greens and the paths are less crowded {does that happen?}.  Nonetheless, the beauty of the falls and park, both natural, and Minnesotan (blindingly white limbs begging for a sunburn), melted the snow on my Minnesota heart, so that blossoms could begin to peek and sunshine could permeate every corner of our week.

 

 

p.s. I didn’t even try to rhyme that last line

 

Doggie Real-Talk

So, it’s been awhile. Five weeks, to be exact. Sorry bout it, but, ladies and gentlemen, having a puppy is hard. work. with a learning curve like Everest. Actually, maybe not quite so steep. But the energy required and the lifestyle change that a puppy brings is most definitely epic.

That being said, we are all happy, healthy, and back in the swing of things!  We are both back to work/school (I only took four days off – most of which were after all-nighters of puppy cry) and find we appreciate our little guy more now that we have found a fantastic dog-sitter and leave the house from time to time

Without further ado, I present to you a list of lessons we have learned these past three weeks since becoming proud owners of this handsome guy:

 

New Puppy Advice from a Three-Week-Veteran Puppy Mom

1. After the first couple of nights of new-puppy parenthood, do not get up and let him out of the kennel if he whines at midnight, 1 am, 2 am, 3 am, or 4 am. Or any time in between those hours either. Yes your heart will break a little bit to hear him cry. But, buck up, he will learn to put himself back to sleep.

2. Buy good earplugs.

3. Take turns with your spouse. Appreciate them when they take the 5am take-the-dog-outside shift.

4. Beagles like liver treats, not chicken nor beef. And, use sparingly so he still wants to eat his own food. And, take away his water dish around 7-8 in the evening. Helps with midnight accidents.

5. Do not put towels in the bottom of the kennel because there {will} be accidents. You will do copious mini loads of laundry.

6. Leave the house for awhile and do normal things. Puppies are resilient and you will be all the more sane. Also, you can bring him every dog-friendly place you want. Budget extra time, as walking puppies {especially social ones, like ours} park their bottoms every 50 yards or so.  Sometimes it’s to say hello to strangers. Othertimes its for no apparent reason at all, other than they think the world revolves around them.

**Additionally, if your puppy is cute (have you ever met one that isn’t?!) you might consider charging for the petting sessions from strangers.  Pay off those student loans!

7. Use {this} heartbeat sound to help soothe a crying pup at night.

8. Empty waterbottles are GREAT and cheap chew toys.

9. However you train, focus on the positive moments and be consistent. Be a broken-record. A broken record that gets excited for going in the right place. And for sitting on command. And for lying down on command. And for going in his kennel… you get the idea.

10. Do not let him bite. Redirect with a waterbottle and/or nylabone and/or bullystick and/or elk antler. Yes! Antlers for chewing.  Apparently, the chewing/biting stops after the puppy teeth fall out. So I’ve heard, anyway…

11. Patience. oh my gosh. The patience. Elementary students on their craziest, spring-fevered, sugar-high days do not come close to the excitement and naughtiness contained in the body of a two month old puppy.

12.  Appreciate the snuggle times. Huckleberry curls up on my lap just before he konks out.  Love this feeling.

 

Here are some more lovable photos. Just in case you wanted to see how cute he is. We don’t charge for looking

About three hours into our 6+ hour-long trip home from Tyndall, SD. Another tip: get a blanket that smells like the momma dog/litter mates. A good comfort item goes a long way {until he has an accident on it on night two, anyway}.

The antler.

Belly rubs encouraged. Those ears are softer than velvet.

Not always sweet. This action shot makes me laugh every time. Oh, puppy teeth.

That’s one way to nap. Notice the laptop… playing the heartbeat!

Camera lens was foggy from just coming in from the freezing, snow-covered day.

Freezing, snow-covered pup.

He’s fresh from the tub here. Huck has had three {weekly} baths. Love the clean-puppy smell!

 

It’s good to be back. Happy Cinco de Mayo, and standby for some upcoming {Places to Go} posts. We’ve been busy, now that the Minnesota snow has finally stopped (one of my students said it best: April showers bring snow plowers)!! Here’s to a week whose temperature stays above 32 degrees!

xoxo

 

Puppies!

Ready for something adorable? Drumroll please…

Our Huckleberry at 3 weeks old!

We’re getting a beagle! Annnd We CAN’T WAIT!

We’ve named him Huckleberry McCann, still looking for a stately middle name.  Suggestions?  He is growing daily with his siblings in South Dakota at Lonesome Grove, and we are planning on road tripping to his breeder’s home and picking him up in two-three weeks.

Let me tell you, there is a LOT involved in getting ready for a puppy.  Dog owners, you know. Not only have we been getting copious amounts of doggie gear (more on that below), we have been reading up on training a puppy and welcoming him into our home as smoothly as possible.  Apparently there will be waking up in the middle of the night for the first few weeks!  We will be crate training him and lucky for us, we live in a dog-friendly condo.  That means doggie do-do bags and receptacles provided near the sidewalk!  Thanks to Cesar Millan’s How to Raise the Perfect Dog and our new vet down the street, we’re becoming informed on the how-tos, the definitely-dos, and the what-not-to-dos when it comes to bringing a puppy home.

Doggie swag has its own category on Amazon, Etsy, and every other online retailer.  Oh man, we have been reading reviews on products and ordering the best/ most natural/ sturdy/ cute products for our Huck. I can only imagine how much money we’ll spend on our own children (someday…)!!

His new collar {Planet Dog}, and his new leash {Mendota Slip Leads} are matchy blue.

Then, we ordered a customized name tag from {The Copper Poppy}.

Thanks Copper Poppy – we LOVE the id tag. They stamped our phone number on the back, too.

I know having a dog is more than an excuse to buy cute doggie things, but preparing for our new little arrival has been incredibly fun for both of us – it gives an opportunity for a study break and a grading-papers break, something to be excited about together.  We are completely looking forward to training, walking with him along the Mississippi River Trail, finding dog parks and dog-friendly restaurants (outdoor seating, naturally), and playing with our new pup.

The countdown is on!!

Other fun things we’ve bought in preparation:

~Nylabones for teething

~a Puppy kong and giant Peanut butter tubs from Sam’s Club – nice quiet chew toy!

~Bully Sticks. Gross (not saying what they’re made of… look them up if you’re curious), but since dogs train with scent first and then taste and sight, they’re a good snack to replace rawhide until he’s older.

~Grooming tools

~a Kennel Huck can grow into – there is an adjustable/removable center panel!

We have drunk the puppy Koolaid and are loving it.

Huckleberry’s Kennel and tub of doggie gear!

I’ll leave you with a study done at a Japanese University.  They studied the effects looking at cute things had on productivity:

“Kawaii (a Japanese word meaning “cute”) things are popular because they produce positive feelings… In this study, three experiments were conducted to examine the effects of viewing cute images on subsequent motor-skill task performance. 

…after seeing a pictures of baby animals (puppies and kittens), after seeing adult animals (dogs and cats) and after seeing pleasant foods (steak, sushi and pasta). Far and away, productivity was best in the first condition – you can see this in the chart below. This was true across both genders participating in the experiment.”

“The researchers have a few thoughts on why, exactly, this happens. What is it about baby animals that would lead to students having more exact movements? One idea is that it has to do with how we talk to puppies and kittens, generally in a slower voice. That behavioral tendency, they theorize ‘may transfer to subsequent task performance.’

Students may have also become more attuned to fine movements.

Caring for babies (nurturance) not only involves tender treatments but also requires careful attention to the targets’ physical and mental states as well as vigilance against possible threats to the targets. If viewing cute things makes the viewer more attentive, the performance of a non-motor perceptual task would also be improved.”

Huckleberry at two weeks

Huckleberry at three weeks. Check out his wrinkles!

Hudson, Huckleberry’s dad, as a puppy!

I would like to echo the findings of this survey.  Hopefully you’ll go accomplish something and be really productive when you finish reading.  I’ve also been told by a coworker that a local university brings puppies to campus during finals week to release students’ study anxiety/tension/stress. Talk about productivity. BRILLIANT!

Although, I have to admit that more often than not, we find ourselves spending evenings watching YouTube video after YouTube video of training, frolicking, sleeping, playing puppies. Not quite what I’d call productive. But fulfilling and heartwarming… most definitely.

Huckleberry updates to follow after our South Dakota road trip!!

xoxo

Places to Go, Things to Do… Blue Door Pub

The sun shining through someone’s beer glass and projecting a Saint Paddy’s Day rainbow onto our table as we decide which Blucys to tackle!

Everyone in Saint Paul is in love with the Blue Door Pub. Maybe this is a blanket assumption, but if they have a Saint Paul address, and if they’ve been here longer than a month, chances are they’ve elbowed their way into this corner pub. It’s quintessential.

Since moving here, we’ve been at least four times.  We bring friends and family when they visit. We go to celebrate the end of 1st trimester at Chiropractic school and St. Patrick’s Day!

What is it that charms everyone in the city to cram into the cozy pub, wait sometimes up to an hour (no reservations here!), enjoy their local tap brews, and scorch their tongues on the melty cheese oozing out of the blucys (Blue Door juicy lucys)? Besides the magic and sunshine as seen in the rainbow-beer photo above, I believe it’s the burgers.

The flavor combinations are beyond unique, with delicious and fresh ingredients, and a burger of the month (March is the “Erin Go Blucy,” a blucy reuben of sorts.  My favorite B.O.M. was the Lumberjack – a burger stuffed with smoked gouda and bacon, then topped with maple syrup!).  Burgers are made to order, and their simplicity and originality keep customers coming back to the BDP for more! Plus, burgers are reasonably priced, for those of us on a budget!

If the decadence of the stuffed burgers isn’t enough, anyone who knows anything orders cajun tater tots on the side.

Latin Kisses.

The last time we went, we ordered “Latin Kisses” as an appetizer, “Jalapenos stuffed with cream cheese wrapped in glorious bacon and dusted with our own Karma.”  They come with a dipping sauce. As if they needed it!

A close up of my Luau Blucy – stuffed with fresh mozzarella and canadian bacon, then topped with two pineapple rings and some sweet chili lime sauce. And the tots. Always with tots. You can get deep fried green beans, fries, or regular tots too. Oh, the possibilities!

Ready for it!

Every time I say “mozzarella,” it comes out like Giada would say it, “Mozz-ah-lell-ah!”

The legendary Jiffy Burger. With bacon and peanut butter and some other surprises.

The BDP has gotten so wildly popular (yes, Guy Fieri has graced its booths) that they’ve opened a new location in Longfellow across the river. We’ve yet to venture to the Mini Apple to see the new establishment, which is rumored to be twice the size and just as busy!

Enjoy some more photos:

Notice the blue door.
What’s in a name? The owners translated the building’s former occupant’s name, Porta Azul (a Puerto Rican Restaurant), to The Blue Door Pub. Creative, huh!

After some hot food and cold beer, some seriously satisfied customers.

What’s on tap? Also, Guy Fieri’s stamp of approval/awesomeness.

Celebrating!

Reasons to be in love with the BDP:

1. You can write on chalkboard walls if you’re seated in a booth.

2. There is a Blucy Challenge Club. We have a key-ring punch card that our server punches for us each time we try one of their ten blucy burgers. We’re filling our punch card up quickly, approaching the prize of a t-shirt and a free eleventh blucy!

3. Happy hour taps are $2!

4. See #3 and celebrate again.

5. It’s next to three or four antique shops, which are next to a zillion houses in Merriam Park. Neighborhoody at its best.

6. They have sweet swag {here}.

7. In the summer, you can eat outside at cafe tables. We’ll be bringing our new puppy there most definitely.

8. The staff, bartenders, and servers are hilarious and hospitable. Plus, the owner/chef/cooks know their burgers. Check out co-owner Jeremy Woerner being interviewed {here} by City Pages.

Enough talk. As I’m on spring break here in MN and not some sunny locale on a beach, I plan on heading to the BDP at least once to indulge in a supremely delicious Blucy. Bring on the free t-shirt!

The Blue Door Pub website is {here}.

Their Facebook page is {here}.

Vote for the BDP in City Pages’ Best Of 2013 {here}.

HoneyButterSwirl Bread

Sometimes there is nothing like homemade bread to warm up a perpetual winter. Another snowfall? And another?

I took the most recent cozy-infused snowy day (I should be used to it by now, having lived here in the upper midwest my entire life) and did what any baker-who-is-tired-of-winter would do: baked fresh bread. The house smelled heavenly for two days.

I’ve venturing my baking endeavors into the world of yeast-bread and kneading. There is nothing like a therapeutic eight-minute kneading session to get your winter blues and kinks worked out. And then the counter point to the knead is the waiting, waiting, waiting while the dough rises. And then rises again after a punch down and knead sesh. Next time I fully intend to try and actually wait the entire designated rising time. I was much too excited to get the honeybundle in the oven.

This was actually my first crack at a mostly-original recipe (Though I think it’s quite lovely how all recipes are someone else’s with a one-two-punch of your own style). We have a family homemade bread recipe that was adapted from a church cookbook.  I took that recipe and combined it with this delightful treasure of a dinner roll recipe I found at {High Heels and Grills}.

I combined the two, healthified the grains involved, and added another twist: Honey butter rolled into a swirl and brushed, glaze style, on top of the loaf. Add homemade honey butter to any recipe and I. AM. IN.  This bread has yeast! and honey. and butter. It is {theoretically} made healthier by a tablespoon of flax seed mixed in.

Image Courtesy of SPAR.co.uk

Also, this bread makes the best toast. I un-do the aforementioned health factor when I spread a little butter and honey atop a slice right out of the toaster.

Oh yes. I believe the entire loaf lasted two days. Max. Maybe not even as long as the condo smelled like freshly baked bread! HoneyButterSwirlBread for breakfast, midday snack, packed in my lunch. Maybe one or two evening snacks {shh}.  Doesn’t take long to make short work of something this tasty, trust me.

It barely made it onto the cooling rack before I sliced into it!

 

Here we go:

 

Aly McCann’s HoneyButterSwirl Bread
Ingredients: 

• 1-1/2 cups hot water {as hot as you can get it out of the tap.}
• 1 Tbsp. active dry yeast
• 2 Tbsp. sugar
• 2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
• 1 tsp. salt
• 3 cups bread flour
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 2 Tbsp ground flax seed
• 3/8 cup (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, melted
• 1 Tbsp. honey (mixed in bread) plus 3 Tbsp. honey for butter mixture. I might have added more because I LOVE honey.
• 3/4 tsp. salt

Directions:

*Note: I mixed the dough in my stand mixture with my dough hook and it was the easiest thing ever. Hand mixing should work well too with a wooden spoon.

*Note II: Enlist a husband to do dishes after you finish. There are several bowls needed.

1. Spray a large bowl with cooking spray; set aside.
2. In a small bowl, mix together water, yeast, and sugar; let stand until frothy, about 5 minutes. It actually bubbles on the top! WOW!
3. In a large bowl (NOT the aforementioned bowl, a different one hehe), combine the oil, salt, 1 Tbsp. of honey, 2 cups of bread flour, and the water-sugar-yeast mixture until well combined.
4. Stir in the remaining bread flour, wheat flour, 1/2 cup at a time, and flax seed until the dough has pulled away from the sides of the bowl and is no longer sticky.
5. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until elastic, about 8 minutes. I workout!!
6. Place the dough in the greased bowl and cover with a damp cloth; let rise in a warm place until doubled in size. Be patient and actually wait.
7. After doubled, punch down dough, bye-bye aggression, and lay on floured surface.
8. Preheat oven to 375°F.
9. Roll dough out until about 20 inches by 8-9 inches. again, ish. the width that your pan is long, if that makes sense. You want a rectangle that when rolled up will fit in your loaf pan.
10. In a small bowl, combine butter, honey, and salt.
11. Brush dough with half-ish of the butter mixture.
12. Roll the dough back toward you so that you have a log that will fit in the loaf pan.
13. Place the loaf-log into a greased loaf pan (I think mine is 8×4).
14. Brush with the remaining butter mixture.
15. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown.
16. Serve warm.

My favorite part is when the loaf is right out of the oven and it has a caramelized glaze all over it. Mmm-mm good. Almost donut like. And healthy (healthy is a loosely-used term here)!

Enjoy and here’s to baking away the winter blahs!

xoxo

Aly

Espresso Love

Mr. and Mrs. Aly

Some days a small thing makes my big city feel cozy small.  One Saturday last month we were headed to the gym and stopped for a little coffee-caffeine on the way, thanks to the generosity of one of my students during Christmastime.  My husband always does iced (my barista experience taught him to appreciate good lattes) and I always do hot.

I tried the new spicy vanilla latte. And he, his usual iced caramel macchiato (oh Starbucks. Only you could take something simple like coffee and complicate it like nobody’s business. That doesn’t mean I don’t love a good grande (or, if we’re feeling adventurous, venti – I always feel a little silly uttering the word twenty in Italian. in America.) skim, caramel, full caff, no whip, half-flavor-syrup anything.

Just wanted to share the moment where this particular Barista made my day. Instead of naming us by our drink of choice, she penned my latte with an “Aly.” My husband’s, per his suggestion, a humble “Mr. Aly.” Hehe. In the world of busy, overcaffeinated cityfolk, this touch of personality made my day.

Places to Go, Things to See… Pizzeria Lola

Over the weekend my parents visited us in our new home.  (I still call it new though we’ve been here for seven months!)  We shopped in Edina and got some adorable wine charms {here} and plenty of apartment inspiration at West Elm and Crate and Barrel. Our weekend was jam packed with incredible family dinners, name-that-tune sitting by the fireplace, shopping, and birthday parties. Yes, two nights in a row of cake and ice cream.

My parents and I keep in pretty close touch with phone chats, but it there is nothing that beats actual face time (hehe) through morning coffee, homemade breakfasts, a day  of shopping, and lunch at the best pizzeria in West Minneapolis. (Even Minnesota Monthly Magazine thinks so. They made the cover. See article {here}.

Pizzeria Lola first crossed my radar when I watched an episode of Diners Drive-ins and Dives. Any place endorsed by Guy Fieri is always fine by me. Psst. We have a secret checklist that is DDD based.

Guy Fieri Ate Here!

Image Courtesy of A Good Appetite Blog

First off, the place is named after the owner’s dog. Adorable. It is located in a super neighborhoody corner of Southwest Minneapolis, nearly in Edina. Meet Lola.

The decor is eclectic asian cutesy cozy vintage. The plates are vintage and they use birch logs to heat the wood-fire artisan pizza oven. Which heats the whole place. I can imagine their winter heating bills are relatively inexpensive.  They have local beers on tap and a photo booth in back! What! Yes. One wall welcomes patrons to clip their photobooth pics, becoming part of the Lola family. Annd, the place smells like pizza. Sold.

Notice the aluminum can (tomato cans?) light fixtures. Green.

Image Courtesy of Vimeo

Image Courtesy of MinnesotaMonthly.com

Oh, and their pizza is off da hook. Hello Flavortown (had to use a Guy quote)! Take a look at the menu:

We ordered the Iowan (La Quercia prosciutto, ricotta, mozzarella, garlic confit, and arugula) and the meatball special (House-made meatballs, mozzarella, provolone, ricotta, house red sauce, finished with parsley & oregano). Oh my. We eat pizza in our family. And if I can proclaim myself a pizza expert (ahem) this is some of the best. EVER! The crust is a two day process (you go, Chef Ann Kim) and the wood fire heats the cheese on a 550 degree stone surface (closer to 800 in the top of the HUGE oven). These heavenly bubbles and perfectly creamy melted cheese compliment the unique topping selections. Don’t get me started on the flavor combinations that dance an italian salsa-meringue-tango-polka-hiphop dance (Attend a family wedding and you’ll see firsthand this dance combination.) in your mouth. They also do desserts, but we had to save room for birthday cake later that night. Next time, for sure.

Feast your eyes on some of our pizza. Drooling on your keyboard/ipad is allowed.

Pizza Love

More Pizza Love

The hints of Korean influence adds a certain je ne sais quoi to this quirky, delicious, delightful gem.

Is that Godzilla? Yes siree.

A little matchbox souvenir

I’m a sucker for beautiful chalkboard art! And French at a pizzeria with Asian flair. I melt.

Just out for a walk around the block and ‘oh, hello best pizza ever.’

Highly recommended! Check out Pizzeria Lola here: {website} {facebook}

 

Places to Go, Things to Do… Claddagh Coffee

So, we discovered a treasure yesterday.  A little ways up West Seventh Street, close to downtown, lies the Connemara Stone of coffee shops (anytime I find an Irish anything – not terribly hard to find in this city, mind you – I just gush). It’s the perfect combination of charming, old world with exposed brick walls, and funky, with unique Irish-themed lattes and coffee-shoppy music. All married beautifully with fantastic service and hospitality.

Claddagh Coffee Shop! Go! Visit! Caffeinate!  Wear your claddagh ring and get a discount. Not joking.

The Claddagh symbol graces many corners of the shop!

The idea behind a claddagh symbol often found on irish jewelry (two hands holding a crowned heart) is a balance of love, friendship, and loyalty.  What beautiful principles to base your business on!  Owner Mary Hogan-Bard served us with a smile. Her coffee shop has only been open for about a year and a half, selling lattes, sandwiches, bakery and desserts.  The place was pretty full when we got there on Monday for some midday caffeine.

As per usual, I had the world’s most difficult time choosing between the myriad of specialty lattes. You try to decide. Dirty Seamus, Nutty Mick, The Claddagh, and the Black and Tan all tempted me. Check out the menu here and here. I finally decided on a “Sister Mary Claddagh” latte (blood orange extract, chocolate, and espresso) and my husband ordered a “Drop-Kick Murphy” (an iced latte sweetened with Coca-Cola!).

Just when the winter blahs threaten with their windchilly icicles, a cozy new hangout/meetup spot/ taste of cozy home warmed our hearts and gave us the chutzpah to face another snowy day. We’re most definitely going back. Enjoy some of the photos!

Empty cups… a good sign!

Artwork near the entrance blesses patrons with Irish flavor.

Sister Mary Claddagh herself.

There’s a coke in here. Slightly sweet, definitely caffeinated!

Cool Celtic Artwork

Steamy mugs ready for some shots.

We got some studying and paper-grading done too. Yay!

Love the hand-painted chalkboard menus and Irish flair EVERYwhere.

Two floors of charm!

Good to the last drop. Two claddagh thumbs up!

Check out their website here.

I Work Out! (Staying Motivated When it’s FREEZING Outside)

Happy Saturday! We just had a lovely day running errands and hitting the gym. It can be hard to stay motivated when below freezing temps happen for four months in a row. We’re members at Planet Fitness of Bloomington – I really recommend signing up… only 10 dollars a month for the budget savvy athletes out there.

Today, some extra motivation came from my new Athleta leggings. I always think working out can be so much more fun if  1. you’re wearing spandex and  2. you’re wearing something sparkly. My sparkly came in the form of a blue glitter headband.

This goes to show you can sing and workout at the same time. Impressive.

Also, let’s not underestimate the power of a good playlist.

Inspired by Lululemon’s recent blog post about top-secret workout playlists, I thought I’d share what gets me through a workout.  Hehe. I have a few playlists I cycle through on my ipod.  It is important to change it up, so you don’t get bored with the same songs in the same order. So, of course, I shuffle (and sometimes then get way excited when a great song pops up. Sometimes I even dance in between sets. Always there is singing. Everybody else has their earbuds in, so they can’t hear, right?).

Courtesy of Pinterest

Here goes. Aly’s Workout Essential Playlist Titles:

1. Run Fast Girlie (for intense cardio days. Intense means more than 10 minutes. I used to do long distance/marathon training and running, but now I’m more into a ‘let’s stay healthy and fit into my jeans and boost my endorphins and feel great about being me’ mentality).

2. I Pick Things Up and Put Them Down (yes, it’s called that. Inspired by a Planet Fitness commercial)

3. Angry Workout (I really am not an angry person and most of the songs on this list are girly as ever, but the angry workout playlist really gets me energized for lifting any weight over 10 pounds. Especially since I’ve been doing some circuit training with my husband that has included bench pressing (twenty pounds PLUS the bar… hold your applause till the end of the post, please).

4. One of two podcasts: First, Joy the Baker podcast (I know it’s not a playlist, but it makes me laugh so hard and makes the gym experience more enjoyable. Check JtB out on itunes! Second, Wait Wait, Don’t Tell Me podcast from Chicago’s NPR. Hilarious way to keep up to speed with the weekly news. Check WW out on itunes!

I do not claim to be any sort of musical connoisseur (my brother might faint when he reads the list that follows), nor might this be the most conventional workout list, but without further ado, some of my favorite songs from the above playlists that frequently grace my earbuds:

Lumineers – Ho Hey (I may or may not scare my treadmill neighbors when I shout, “ho!” and “hey!”)

Rihanna – You da One

Dave Barnes – Carry Me Through

Mat Kearney – Hey Mama (I have a special playlist for all things Mat Kearney as well)

Taylor Swift – Ours (Who doesn’t like a little T Swizz?)

La Roux – In for the Kill and Bulletproof (these are as techno as I get)

Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros – Home is Wherever I’m With You

Almost hate to admit the next one. Train – Hey, Soul Sister

Journey – Any Way You Want It

Ole Blue Eyes (Frank Sinatra) – You Make Me Feel So Young

Justin Bieber – As Long As You Love Me (acoustic version, of course)

Nickel Creek – The Fox (I know all the words)

Black Eyed Peas – Pump It (I used to clean our dorm room to the Black Eyed Peas in college, dance-with-the-vacuum style)

Foo Fighters – My Hero (totally inspirational)

Other motivating factors include thinking about the burger from Blue Door I’ll eat when we go out later, and most importantly, my handsome husband, who inspires me to be healthy and active.

One of my favorite workout shirts. Thanks, Dad

So, here’s to mall-walking, yoga-ing, skiing, cycling, shuffling your ipod as you dance in your apartment-ing, shoveling your driveway, or whatever keeps you fit as a fiddle in these chilly months!

Birthday Cake(s)!

Last week was my birthday!  I love how when you’re little everyone asks you if you “feel older” on your birthday. I never did, but I felt like I should probably tell said adults I did.  To seem grownup and all.

This year, as another birthday came and went, I felt exactly the same on the 23rd as I did on the 25th.  Maybe a little wiser. I only feel older the day after a good workout. However, something that was different, though, was that this was the first birthday ever I hadn’t been at Mom and Dad’s to celebrate with my parents/family.

Birthdays growing up were something of a festive affair.  There was a hand-sewn banner, our favorite meal (mine was usually something that had summery, hard to find ingredients or required charcoal grilling – Thanks, Mom and Dad – as I was getting tired of wintry dishes by the end of January!), our choice of cake (as a sweet young darling I always chose boxed confetti cake with homemade pink buttercream frosting and eventually grew into the ever-so-decadent-and-time-consuming-but-worth-every-minute flourless chocolate torte with ganache).

This year, I had a regular school day (my students sang and wished me many “mooooooore” happy birthdays).  My husband picked me up from work (thank you below zero Minnesota winter weather for the birthday gift of an extremely flat tire as well as Sinclair Auto for the birthday gift of two new tires for my Honda – is it still a gift if you have to pay for them?). Lo and behold. The best birthday was about to begin!

On the front passenger seat was a beautiful bouquet of pink and white daisies! Next to the flowers I saw something that literally made me squeak/squeal/giggle. Without further ado, the piece(s) de resistance…

Four pieces of Cafe Latte cake. Four.

WHAT?! I felt loved.

If you’ve not been to Cafe Latte, go today. We’ve been fans of their cake even before we moved here… They are on Grand Ave., and have a beautiful selection of cakes, espresso drinks, salads, soups, specialty pizzas, and sandwiches. It’s a great place to meet a friend for lunch or order a cake for someone’s birthday (yes!) but be prepared to wait in line, especially if you go on the weekend!

Back to the cakes. My so sweet husband knows the way to my heart: chocolate. Here’s the breakdown:

1. flourless chocolate cake with about an inch of chocolate ganache blanketing and fudge-ifying.

2. chocolate layered cake with pink buttercream frosting!

3. tres leche cake (layered, moist, and just the right combination of vanilla bean flavor without being excessively sweet, garnished with raspberries)

and 4. Cafe Latte’s “famous” turtle layer cake.

Commence the drooling…

Seriously, there is an inch of ganache.

We shared only two of the decadent slices of heaven on my birthday, though all four did get a candle and I naturally made a wish, fear not. The evening was nightcapped with a sweet facetime conversation with my parents and sister, during which my parents sang and played a piano duet that happens to be a birthday staple in our family.

This rates among the best of birthdays… I had family and love and four times the sweetness oozing out of every part of the day. Luckiest. Girl. Ever.

xoxo