Saturdates

On the agenda for this beautiful sunny Saturday were a few things:

  • Garage sale
  • Library
  • Surdyk’s (the best liquor/ cheese/ gourmet shop in town, in my opinion)
  • Thai food date

At the garage sale I picked up this beauty for $2.37 (I haggled below the $4 original price with my pathetic change I was carrying)

cribbage!

Next up: our haul from the liquor store and the library item I’m most excited about:

can't wait to check this book out!
Bell's Two Hearted (not pictured) and New Belgium Blue Paddle Pilsner

Now I’m kicking back with some peanut M&Ms, some laundry, and some of the magazines I picked up at the library until we head out for our date tonight.

What are your plans for this lovely Saturday? Do you play cribbage? What is the best restaurant you’ve been to lately or the best garage sale score?

Meri

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Mad for Madrid (part 1)

A friend and coworker of mine just got back from a tour through Spain and France. As soon as I got over the hurdle of my raging jealousy, I started to reminisce about my semester studying in Madrid. Since it’s Travelin’ Thursday today, I thought I’d post about the city. Since it’s Meri-Goes-Round, you oughtta know by know that that means a LIST!

Meri is Mad for Madrid (a few of my can’t miss favorites of the city)

  1. Retiro Park(aka El Parque del Buen Retiro). This massive urban park sits at the edge of the cultural center of the city. It is over 350 acres and has gardens, a lake with rowboats, and this awesome crystal palace. Though a friend and I had a surreal and “memorable” experience with a flasher in this very park, I remember it fondly nonetheless for my many positive experiences studying, watching street performers, lazing in the sun, and going for walks.

    Crystal Palace in Retiro Park
  2. El Rastro. This is a flee market extraordinaire and cultural experience wrapped in one. Art, jewelry, clothing, antiques, and unique wares from hundreds of vendors converge in central Madrid each Sunday (and other assigned days on occasion). My all time favorite pair of earrings was purchased at the Rastro for a mere 2 Euro.
  3. El Corte Ingles. Department store. Grocery Store. Furniture. Clothing. Gourmet goods, meats, and liquors. Think Harrods but with tons of duplicates around the city (and country). I can’t put my finger on why I love this landmark so very much, but I miss it all of the time. Runners Up: Zara, Mango
  4. Nightlife. Nobody, nobody, nobody loves a good time more than the Spanish. Between discos and irish pubs, underground flamenco shows or “los heavy” music, clubs open all night and chocolaterias open even later… Madrid never sleeps. Never did I feel more like myself than in this city for night owls. Dining at 10:30, tapas after that, and heading out for the night at midnight… I don’t regret a single sleepless night spent in Madrid.
  5. Flamenco. The music… the passion… the rhythms and costumes. I love absolutely everything about this art; from the syncopations of the guitar to the flirtations and nuances of the dance itself.

    flamenco!

I can’t overwhelm you (and myself) with all of my favorites in one sitting, and so I’ll follow up with more on a Travelin’ Thursday in the near future! Stay tuned!

Have you ever been to Madrid? What was your favorite part? What are some of your beloved parts of your own city that you share with visitors?

Meri

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Public Transit Enemy

Our city is in the middle of a project to construct/expand our light rail system to extend the routes to go from downtown St. Paul to downtown Minneapolis. In the spirit of the planet’s well-being and the best interest of public transit, I signed up man-go-round and I to complete a “walkability” survey for the transit commission to be able to troubleshoot potential problems in the light rail corridor’s surrounding areas (i.e. unsafe intersections, sidewalks that aren’t kept up, sidewalks lacking ramps, unsafe or not well lit areas). We took off on a walk this evening in order to capture the “hazards” in the area. Here are the hazards we came across:

Public enemy number 1:

White Castle debris. Urrghbarf.

Public enemy number 2:

overgrown/ "weird" patchwork sidewalks

and the worst of them all… Public enemy number 3:

get OUT of my eyes cottonwood, get OUT OUT OUT!

In all seriousness and allergy complaints aside, I’m extremely psyched for the completion of the light rail. I’ve gone through periods of my life commuting by car, times commuting by underground train, short periods of bike commute, and over three years now of walking commutes. I am a firm believer in using public transit when possible. However, when the system isn’t well run, no one wants to use it, and therefore they don’t have the funding they need to make it great, which just continues the hideous cycle. Some of the best train systems I’ve seen are the London and Madrid underground systems. Chicago and San Francisco have decent under/above ground trains state side. Other parts of the world I’ve been less than impressed (have I shared my story of when I was in a bus accident in the south of Spain? or the time we tried to make Manhattan’s subway system actually be convenient instead of a pain in the ass? And don’t even get me started on Minneapolis’ bus system or Los Angeles’ crappy buses).

In my perfect world, every single urban area would be outfitted with bullet trains to all surrounding communities and there would be well greened walkways and skyway systems to make all urban areas immensely walkable. Until that day comes, I will continue to support public transit in any way I can.

How do you feel about using trains/ buses/ subways or commuting by foot or bicycle? Do you use the system in your city regularly? Do you tend to be more adventurous with public transit when you are traveling?

Meri

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Yogi Mer

Today at work I was chatting with my yogi-extraordinnaire co-worker, and (fresh from a weekend yoga conference) she was describing the concept of kosha. I don’t feel comfortable describing the idea with my limited knowledge on this blog, but I will link to a reputable source and provide a visual for the general gist of it.

source

So, the way I see it, the way for us to allow the best possible vibes into that inner circle is to try to have some influence over the outer circles (our physical self, our atmosphere, our sensory perceptions). So if we are to be intentional about our environment in the hopes of “letting in the sunshine” and keeping out the negative nancys, what do we need to do?

I figured I’d give some examples of how I try to control my environment to have little bits of bliss in every day life. I’m going to be less than creative and go with our western “five senses” here to give it some order.

Meri’s Merry Meditations:

Taste: I can really bliss out over the morning’s first cup of warm, spicy Good Earth Original Tea. I believe there are few things in life more delicious than  slightly melted M&Ms or Reese’s Pieces (in oatmeal or warm cookies). I don’t like a day to go by where I can’t enjoy some crunchy sweet peppers or cucumbers. I adore kicking back with a cold, crisp lager. Call me a five year old, but I could eat orange, lemon, or lime Jell-o for days. And I know its not very zen or healthy of me, but damn if I don’t indulge my Diet Coke habit almost daily.

Smell: Ahhh, the smell of lilacs in the springtime.. divine…Fresh bread in the oven at a bakery or in my very own home (that would be credit to man-go-round, I can’t bake), The smell of fresh basil plucked off the branch. (M&M) cookies baking in the oven, Aveda hair products, and chlorine (awful, I know, but I just love it and it reminds me of summer at the pool).

Sound: My momma’s voice, salsa music, when everything outside is quiet and then all of a sudden you hear a single bird calling, Colin Firth’s (or other posh British type) voice, a favorite song when it comes on the radio all of a sudden.

Sight: Watching dance choreography, pretty much every single sunrise or sunset, photos of favorite summers, vacations, nights out with friends, or people I love. 

 Touch: Ask any single person I know well, and they will tell you I can never get enough hugs. I also adore the feeling of being freshly showered and in clean PJs so very very much that I sing a little song every night after I emerge from the bathroom clean and clear and (sort of) under control. I adore knit/ jersey sheets, having my head or back lightly scratched, feet and calf rubs, and although I can barely remember it these days, unfortunately, the momentum of a vigorous kickboxing or aerobic dance session. I feel compelled to add here that although I’m also not practicing any yoga these days (I know I can do it post-surgery last fall but I’m a pansy and haven’t been able to do it without panicking yet), I do hold a special spot in my heart for a perfect and rhythmic sun salutation or simple vinyasa to get me focused and get my blood flowing.

What do you do to control your environment or bring your favorite things into each day? Do you think these things make a difference for our overall peace and happiness? Are any of my favorite things your favorite things too?

Sincerely, Yogi-Mer

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In Living Color

Hey guys, and Happy Saturday!

This weekend is going even faster than last week went, somehow. I’m right in the whirlwind of a flurry of fun and relaxing weekend activities, but I thought it would be fun to inject some color into the blogworld with some of my favorite recent pins.

Enjoy!

Source: justtryagain.tumblr.com via Meredith on Pinterest

What are you up to this weekend? What is the most beautiful thing you’ve seen today?

Meri

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A Tale of Two Bridges

For today’s Travelin’ Thursday post, I want to take you on a journey with me. A journey through my memory, through my mind, through San Francisco. A journey from one incredible bridge to another.

Let me give you a frame of reference: The city is San Francisco, California. The month is November, and the year is 2009. Follow along as I recount our path across the city!

1) Waking up in our posh (borrowed) high rise digs near the ferry building, we gaze at the sun rising over one very famous San Francisco bridge. We head out, covered in layers of clothing and backpacks full of gear, and man-go-round and I grab some quick eats from the 2) Thursday Ferry Building Farmer’s Market to fuel our journey. For we have BIG PLANS for the day…

After some snacks from the market and some 3) Blue Bottle Coffee, we strolled off along the 4) embarcadero, headed west (more or less) towards another very famous bridge. Okay, you guessed it, we’re walking to the Golden Gate Bridge.

Along the way we stop by 5) TCHO chocolate (for some divine samples and to purchase gifts for friends and family), and by 6) Fisherman’s Wharf to smell the stinky seals and to get some caffeine. I picked up a trolley car Christmas ornament for my parents who used to live in the city in the ’70s.

Soon we ended up in the 7) Presidio. We’re so close we can barely taste it, and we’ve been gazing at the bridge’s majesty for a few miles now. We scan the homes nearby in the Marina district for a landmark that my parents described to us, but never find it. We stop along the beach and watch people enjoying the sunny and warm fall day.

After taking some “Christmas Card” style photos and some video of the journey, we pack our stuff back up and continue on our journey. Though we still have miles to travel, we are determined! We wander around the base of the bridge, trying to figure out how to get up to the top as pedestrians. When we’re nearly to the bridge, we look for the military base that my dad was stationed on across the bridge and down below.

We made it! As we walked across 8 ) the bridge together, admiring it’s majesty from up close, the sun slowly began to set and a chill came into the air. We slowly wandered back across the bridge to the park and made our way back into the city. As we emerged back into the streets of the 9) Marina, darkness set upon the city and we treated ourselves to a cab ride back towards “home.” Our next pit stop was some much needed whiskey at a 10) divey bar in North Beach. We danced to some blues music and reminisced about the day’s journey as we made some plans for dinner. At this point we were so tired from walking all day that we decided to grab some groceries from the 11) Safeway across from our borrowed condo and relax on 12) the balcony overlooking the bay with a bottle of wine.

The next day held another adventure across town- to the Mission Dolores, or Golden Gate Park, or to Coit Tower. Wherever we went, we’ll never forget the journey of the Two Bridges.

 

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Everybody else is doing it…

Source: visualnews.com via Meredith on Pinterest

I found this infographic on Pinterest a couple of days ago. As it says in the fine print, the top 10 were chosen by amount of books printed and sold. It’s not perfect obviously, but I also am pretty sure its fairly accurate just from common sense. I can check off The Bible (more or less), Harry Potter 1-7, The Da Vinci Code, The Diary of Anne Frank, and 1/4 of Gone with the Wind (yes, I gave up; I admit I found it boring). I own the Alchemist but have never gotten around to it, and I don’t think I’ll be reading Twilight any time soon. Furthermore, I have no idea what Think and Grow Rich is- is that a self help book or something? Thus, my list is really just The Alchemist, Lord of the Rings, and the Quotations from Chairman Mao.

It also got me thinking, though, about whether we read/ watch/ experience media “just” because it is very famous and everyone else has read it. A friend of mine always says that when things start to get really overly present in the world she starts to resist wanting to jump on the bandwagon. I am the opposite, I admit- the minute people start talking about something I want IN on the water cooler gossip!

Here are a few of the “trends” I’ve glommed onto in the past couple of months: Pinterest (yessss!!!), The Hunger Games (book), Girls, The Bachelor, maxi dresses, the “long bob” (which is now actually a short bob… its addicting…), Mad Men (again, at last!) Breaking Bad, Portlandia, Water for Elephants (book and movie), The Help (book), New Girl, etc…

Do you jump on the bandwagon when everybody is talking about something or do you resist it in the search for something more one-of-a-kind? What are some popular things you are glad you got into?

Meri

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Girls Will Be Girls (Until they are Women)

After tiring of hearing all of the buzz and promos surrounding HBO’s new show Girls, (“it’s the new Sex and the City for 20-somethings” as an example), I harrassed man-go-round until he downloaded the first three episodes for me. After a shaky start, I quickly got hooked to the series. Whether I’ve been hooked by the show itself or the hoopla surrounding it (i.e. knowing what the Jezebel posts are talking about…) is hard to say. But  in all fairness to our first “Female Manhattan” sitcom, I thought I’d do a little Venn Diagram with the bamboo to compare the two shows.

Returning Champion: Thirty-something Carrie and Company on SATC:

 

Tonight’s Challenger: Hannah and the Gang on Girls:

Source: esquire.com via Meredith on Pinterest

 

So what’s the verdict?

So far, I continue to have a special place in my heart for SATC despite my new infatuation with Girls. I think I can keep both in my TV arsenal for now. In fact, of all of the crappy copycat shows I’ve tried to stomach via netflix (Cashmere Mafia, Lipstick Jungle), this is by far the most palatable. I’m also looking forward to the CW’s “Carrie Diaries” at this point, though. For me, I can never get enough girly TV!

Have you watched Girls yet? Are you a fan of Sex and the City? Do you watch more than one show with a similar theme/ style (i.e. lots of reality TV or lots of medical dramas)?

Meri

 

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Do you C what I C?

I’ve been absent for a few days, attending a funeral out of town and trying to beat off this hideous virus I’m carrying (which also seems to be plaguing man-go-round and my Dad at this point).

Yesterday I made it out of the house long enough to buy some fresh produce, in hopes that the vitamins and nutrients would help me in the battle of the cold. As I was chomping down some delicious strawberries this morning, a thought bubble started slowly growing in my congested head:

“hmmm… I’m pretty sure strawberries are high in vitamin C, but I wonder what else has the highest vitamin levels?”

And presto, an afternoon activity was born that would keep me in the house and on the couch for rest without going stir crazy with cabin fever- I thought I’d use this website to make a spreadsheet of fruits and veggies and their respective vitamin and mineral levels. And if I’m going to do this work, I might as well share it with you all, right? So here are the rules:

  • Each serving size based on 1 cup of chopped/ diced fruit or vegetable (unless *, in which case it was 100 grams)
  • Any numbers in the charts are % of Daily Value needed. I only included levels above 9/10 %
  • For each category (fruit/ veg) I picked a gold, silver, bronze award for Vitamin C as well as highlighted some overall superstars across categories.

So there you have it! Are any of these news to you? How did your favorite fruits or veggies score?

I’m off to check more of these off my list (so far today I’ve had strawberries, red pepper, and cabbage… I see broccoli in my future…)

Meri

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