Sister Weekends Are the Best Kind of Weekend

This past week I got my younger sister all to myself for just under 48 hours. It was blissful! Abby has lived in AZ for the past 8-9 years but she has been back in the Midwest for 6 months while he husband trains at an Air Force base in Fargo, ND. Her and her husband make a couple of trips back each year but it's usually for a holiday and they maximize their time with the whole family. So I don't exactly get her to myself, besides when we sneak away for a run or something like that.

Phil had his post-wedding bachelor party so it was the perfect weekend for Abby to come and visit. Here's how we spent our time!

On Friday Night Abby got to our place around dinner time. She was running a half marathon in the morning, so I made her the white wine chicken pasta dish that I always make the night before a race plus a Greek salad. I was so excited to dig in that I forgot to take a picture! We chatted for a bit after dinner and then headed to bed as we had an early morning ahead of ourselves!

On Saturday morning we left the house around 6 am, grabbed Starbucks to fuel us for the day, and then I dropped her off at the race start. The race was in the West metro area, along Lake Minnetonka. Originally I was supposed to run this race with her, but my body had other plans this summer. So while she ran, I read at a local coffee shop.

My latest read has been a great one!

I caught her at the end of the race, though, about 1/4 of a mile before the finish! She looked great and ran such a strong race!

After the race, we met up for brunch with my college friend, Heidi. She's met Abby multiple times over the years so it was fun for her to see Abby while she was in town. I love that my sister has gotten to know some of my closest friends over the years! Brunch was delicious. The place we went to had gouda hashbrowns and they were seriously the best hashbrowns I've ever had!!

After the race, we went back to my house, showered, and did some prep work for the Indian dishes we'd be making in the evening. On Saturday afternoon we did a little bit of exploring. Our first stop was Minnehaha Falls, which is a place where I take most visitors. It's such a cool area - not something you'd expect in the city!

We needed to go to an Indian grocery store next and it happened to be walking distance from my favorite distillery, Tattersall Distilling. If you like cocktails and happen to be in Minneapolis, you have to check this place out! They make a bunch of liquors, like gin, vodka, and bourbon, on sight and they have delicious, creative drinks! They also have fun n/a options, which is what I went with that day (I had a tamarind, ginger, peach soda drink).

After that we headed back to our house and relaxed for about an hour. Then it was time to make our Indian feast! We picked 2 recipes out of a cook book I had received for our wedding - Chicken Tikka Masala and a coconut chile shrimp dish. The chicken Tikka Masala required us to make the Chicken Tandoori dish, so we actually made 3 recipes.

First up, we made the chicken tandoori. It's made with bone-in chicken thighs. We marinated the chicken for about 5 hours in a yogurt marinade.

Next up, you had to carefully take the bones out of the chicken thighs and then you browned the chicken thighs in melted butter (this is NOT a light recipe!).

Then it was time to make the sauce, which is made from a puree of serrano chiles, garlic, ginger, diced tomatoes, and a bunch of other spices.

After that, you added some whipping cream and garam masala, and the chicken went back in the sauce to simmer away.

Next up we made the coconut chile shrimp. This was a very easy dish to make and it came together very quickly. The recipe calls for fresh or frozen grated coconut, which we were able to find at the Indian grocery store. I was surprised that the dish did not taste like coconut - the grated coconut mostly gave it some texture.

I served both dishes with basmati rice.

Here's my delicious spread!

It was so fun to spend 2.5 hours in the kitchen with Abby. We both love to cook and we love Indian food so it was the perfect way to spend the evening. Plus we both agreed that the dishes we made - especially the Tikka Masala - were as good as what you would get in an Indian restaurant!

After dinner we watched (500) Days of Summer (we both love Zooey Deschanel and are obsessed with this movie) and headed to bed early again!

On Sunday morning we went over to my garden so Abby could help me gather some fresh produce. I sent her home with some tomatillos, green beans, a zucchini, and some cherry tomatoes. I brought home lots of zucchini and tomatillos!

Then we met up with my friend Courtney and her little guy Leo, who is almost 2, and walked to the Farmer's Market and then to my favorite brunch spot - Hola Arepa. This is another place that I tend to take visitors - plus almost the entire menu is GF so I have so many delicious options to choose from!  I had a pork arepa with fried yuca which is pretty much the only thing I get there since it's so delicious! Mmmmm.

After that, Abby hit the road and I spent the afternoon doing some "adulting". I fly to Chicago for a 2-day work trip this morning so it was nice to have the afternoon/evening to do laundry and get things done.

The week ahead is another busy and exciting week as Julia Child Night is on Saturday night! It's usually in October or November but we are having it early this year! And Abby and her husband are coming for it so you'll finally get to see what Julia Child Night is all about. We'll have 32 guests this year so it's bigger than ever!

What was the highlight of your weekend?

Do It Now - Taking in Live Perfomances

When you live in a city that you think you are always going to live in (or will live in for a long period of time), it's really easy to take things for granted.  I was the queen of doing that before I was relocated to Charlotte.  Minneapolis has a lot to offer but I wasn't always great about making the most of it as I thought there would always be time to do the things I wanted to do. But after living in Charlotte, I knew that when I moved back, I needed to have more of a "Do It Now" perspective as you just never know when life is going to throw a curve ball at you. 

I'm applying this "Do It Now" perspective to multiple areas of my life, but one area I'm applying it to lately is taking in live performances.  Luckily I live in a city that has lots of opportunities to choose from.  In fact, Minneapolis has the second most theater seats per capita - we are second only to New York! Here are some of the live performances I've taken in or will be taking in over the coming months!
 

Last month, a couple of friends from work and I snagged a Living Social deal for tickets to Mary Poppins at a local dinner theater.  I loved this movie so much as a child so it was very fun to see the live production version of it! Both of my co-workers enjoy going to live productions so I can see us doing something like this again!

Tonight, Phil and I are going to "An Evening with Neil deGrasse Tyson" at one of the theaters in downtown Minneapolis.  For those of who aren't familiar with him, NDT is the host of the popular show, Cosmos, which is a show about all things science.  NDT is an astrophysicist but he has a way of explaining complex things in a way that the average person can understand.  I bought the tickets to this show as part of Phil's Christmas present.  He loves NDT so I was really excited to surprise him with this gift.  We know 2 other couples that are going to the show so we'll all have dinner together before.  It should be a really fun night. 

In June, I'm going to an Ingrid Michaelson concert with 3 other friends.  Ingrid has been on my "bucket list" of artists I want to see live for many years so I am excited that I will finally get to see her in concert!  I own all of her albums and have been a fan for years so I am really excited to see her live!

Last, but not least, in June I am also going to see the musical production of Once with my friend Courtney.  We actually bought tickets for this the day they went on sale in November because I wanted to make sure we got great seats.  I loved the movie Once and I have heard great things about the live production!

I don't know that I'll take in as many live performances in the second half of the year as I will during the first half of the year, but I'm excited that I've got so much to look forward to in the coming months!

Do you like to go to live performances?  Is there something that your city/area of the country offers that you tend to take for granted?    

Falling Back in Love with Fall

I love this quote by Anne of Green Gables!

I've struggled to really embrace fall this year.  I usually love this time of year but this year I wasn't quite ready to let go of summer.  But over the course of the last two weekends, I started to fall back in love with fall.  I think I came to the realization that ready or not, fall is here so I might as well embrace it.  After all, it is a stunning time of year in the Midwest, and it can be a brief season so I might as well make the most of it!

I just have to look out my window to be reminded of how beautiful this time of year is.  I've said it before and I'll say it again - I feel so lucky to live where I do.

The last two Sundays, I've gone on long runs along the mighty Mississippi.  It's a beautiful area with paved running and biking trails lined by trees.

The trees in this residential area along the river seem particularly beautiful this year.

I recently rediscovered a running path that I hadn't ran in over 2 years which takes you closer to the Mississippi River.  The fall colors are stunning. I can't wait to run this path with my friend Lori when she visits this coming weekend!

The sun was shining and the reflection off the water was beautiful.

The path I ran features a bridge that runs parallel to the shore of the river.  I love the juxtaposition of the great outdoors and urban life in this photo; it's a peaceful wooded area but you can see the Minneapolis skyline in the distance.
   

This running path is probably 5 miles from the center of the city but it feels like a different world. The 2 pictures show how the fall colors have begun to peak over the last week as they were taken in the same area!

This past Saturday, I also had the chance to go for a nice long bike ride with my friend Courtney. We covered about 24 miles and saw lots of beautiful fall colors along the way. 

Biking is so much more fun with a buddy!

After fighting the transition into a new season for awhile, now my mind is saying:  "OK fall, I'm ready for you."

Have you greeted fall with open arms or have you struggled to embrace the change of seasons? 

Why I Love Minneapolis

It's winter and it's uncharacteristically cold all over the place, even here in Charlotte, but especially in Minneapolis where the temps have been as cold as -25 degrees, and even colder when you factor in the windchill.  Which means that I frequently get comments like "how could you possibly like living there?" But the fact of the matter is that I do love Minneapolis and I do miss living there, bitterly cold temperatures and all. 

If weather was a huge priority, I probably wouldn't love Minneapolis since we have long, cold winters, lots of gray days, and a short summer season.  For instance, today the high is -11...  But despite all of that, I still love Minneapolis.  So much so that I could probably be an ambassador for the city.  So if you are like my coworkers and wonder why on earth I love Minneapolis, here are some of the reasons!

- Minneapolis is a healthy city.  This was proven by the Today show last week as they did a feature on the healthiest, wealthiest and wisest cities in the U.S., and Minneapolis-St. Paul was chosen as the healthiest city in the U.S.  We have the most parks per square mile out of all the major U.S. cities and we have the 2nd highest number of bicyclists per capita. I love all of the rivers and lakes and the miles upon miles of running/biking paths.  I was so spoiled when I lived in Minneapolis as I could walk out my door and run on a paved running path along the Mississippi River, and that running path linked up to several other running paths that led to lakes and other parkways.  Minneapolis definitely makes it easy to be active (well, when the weather doesn't make that impossible!).

- Minneapolis has lots of bodies of water.  So it turns out that the cities I love most all have something in common - they all have a river running through them or are located on a large body of water.  My condo was located on the Mississippi, but besides this body of water, Minneapolis also has many lakes.  I prefer cities that are located on or near bodies of water because it makes it easier to be active since bodies of water tend to have running/biking paths by them. And they just make for a more picturesque place to live.  Need proof?  See the photos I took this fall...

- Minneapolis has a vibrant downtown.  Even though Minneapolis is small compared to other large cities in the U.S., it still has a vibrant downtown.  There are lots of dining and shopping options downtown, and it caters to people who both work and live downtown as we have groceries stores and a Target.  Large retail stores, such as Banana Republic, Barnes & Noble, and Macy's all have a presence.  When I lived in Minneapolis, I rarely went to a mall because pretty much everything I needed was walking distance from where I worked and lived (including my doctor and dentist).  Lastly, there is a plethora of coffee shops - nearly one on every block in the central part of downtown, and even on the outskirts of downtown where I lived, I had access to 2 different coffee shops in a one block radius.

- Minneapolis has great happy hour specials.  I am a frugal person so I love a good happy hour deal.  Luckily Minneapolis has lots of affordable restaurants with great happy hour specials.  From $3 glasses of wine to $5 margaritas to $3 tacos to $5 sushi rolls, there were a lot inexpensive options at places with a fun vibe. Outside of happy hour, Minneapolis has some great dining options with high quality food that comes with a reasonable price tag.

- The Minneapolis-St. Paul metro area has a lot of large, well-respected companies.  From a career standpoint, the MSP metro area is home to a lot of large corporations such as Target, Medtronic, Best Buy, General Mills, and 3M.  As a result, there are a lot of great career options.  Minneapolis has fewer financial companies so it's not the easiest place for me to find a job, per se, but there are some large financial companies with headquarters there such as Ameriprise, US Bank, and Piper Jaffray. 

- I have family and friends in the Minneapolis area.  I'm saving the best for last in this list.  All of the above-mentioned reasons are great reasons to love Minneapolis but this last one is what has my heart pining to live in Minneapolis.  I have a brother, sister-in-law and 2 nephews, an aunt & uncle, and cousins in the metro area, my parents' lake home is 3 hours away, and some of my very best friends live in the Minneapolis area.  I never have trouble filling my week nights or weekends with social plans since I have such a large network of family and friends in Minneapolis.  With the exception of Chicago, I don't think I can replicate what I have in terms of a network anywhere else in the U.S.

So there you have it.  5 reasons, among many other reasons, that I truly love Minneapolis and miss it so much.  What I love about Minneapolis reflects the core things I value - proximity to friends and family, career opportunities, and an urban lifestyle.  And it explains why Charlotte is such a poor fit as the only thing on this list that Charlotte has is career opportunities.  I recognize that what I value differs from what others value, which is why we all love living in different areas of the country and world. 

Why do YOU love where you live?

Why I Love Minneapolis - v1

Happy Monday!  I hope you enjoyed your weekend!  We had another weekend of unseasonably high (and wonderful) temps.  It will cool down a bit this week, but it's still nicer than our usual March (last year we had a blizzard this week), so I will not complain one bit!  Plus the cooler temps will cool down my hot box of a condo (they haven't switched our system from heating to cooling yet).

As I mentioned in my post last week, this spring has been challenging for me.  There is a lot of things I could focus on that tend to bring me down instead of lift me up.  That said, I fully recognize that happiness is a choice.  There are some tough things I can focus on (like the 36-40% pass rate for the CFA), or I can try to de-emphasize (is that a word?) those aspects and instead focus on the good things in my life.  Like the fact that I live in a city that I truly love and adore.

I sometimes lose sight of the fact that I am blessed to live where I live - so I am borrowing a post series that Kelly started, titled the "I Love Boston" project, and have decided to do a series of posts about why I love Minneapolis.  I figure it will force me to focus on the positive - and probably try some new things! And maybe it will make you want to come and visit! :)

I love Minneapolis because it is a wonderful city for running.

For my inaugural post, I thought I'd start with something that has been on my mind even more lately now that my running club season has started:  running.  Minneapolis is a wonderful city to run in!  You don't have to take my world for it, though, as Forbes magazine chose it as one of the "10 Best Cities for Runners"!  We have miles upon miles of running trails, an active running community, and runner-friendly weather.  Yes, it gets cold and snowy in the winter, but if you have the will to run, you can make winter running work.

I thought I'd share some photos of the areas that I love to run, all taken by Amber on her trip to visit me last summer!

Amber is standing on an area of a running path that is about 1.5 miles from my condo.  I run this loop a couple of times a week - it's so peaceful running next to the Mississippi River, and I love running back towards the Minneapolis skyline!

That first bridge in this photo is called the Stone Arch Bridge.  It's a pedestrian bridge located right by my condo.  Most of the runs in my neighborhood start and end by this bridge.

Lastly, this is the running path by my favorite lake, Lake Harriet.  I prefer to run by water as I find it so calming. so I have logged countless miles running around this lake when training for the various marathons and half-marathons I've done.

Finding a running club (with no kilt-wearing runners) has also made me appreciate the Minneapolis running community!

On Saturday our club had a water stop by the famous bunny statue, so some of us stopped to snap a quick picture!

For me, it is so important for a city to be running-friendly.  If I ever had to move, I would definitely take that into consideration as through my travels I have definitely come to find that some cities are more runner-friendly than others (like Chicago!  One of the best cities for runners in my opinion!)

What is one thing you love about the city you live in?  Is your city runner-friendly?