Tonight is everyone’s last night at Danebo. Tomorrow morning, all the ladies fly home and I move back to the ‘burbs. Thus, it is time to say goodbye. Minneapolis says goodbye with a sun shower and we say goodbye with jalapeño cheese curds and sangria.
August 1, 2014: 291 more ways to say goodbye to my home, in Minnesota and New Haven
Thai food day #2: another lunch with an old Vis friend, Brittany! One of the best things about this summer is that I have had the chance to catch up with a bunch of old high school classmates that I haven’t seen since graduation. Brittany is about to begin a semester abroad in London (ugh the FOMO) and spent last semester working in Disneyworld. Naturally, we spent a majority of the time gossiping about classmates, teachers, and our old school.
My Yale alumni mentor Hari, took me out to a wonderful dinner in St. Paul to again discuss the rough road to law school. As a big foodie and connoisseur of Chinese food (following a couple years spent there), she was determined to get me to try Szechuan food. We had dinner at Little Szechuan in St. Paul and it was AMAZING. The peppercorn in the chicken and fish dishes (seen below, all half eaten), definitely got my senses tingling, but all of the food was delicious. We tried some local Chinese beer and the sugar helped to cut the painful stinging and watery eyes. All in all, it was not nearly as spicy as I expected and I will definitely be going back! Can’t say the same for our conversation, which held the common refrain of “you’re not getting into law school,” although with much nicer words of course.
Heat button in the light rail station #onlyinMinnesota
July 31, 2014: 292 days of food and gossip (ok, lies. A lifetime of food and gossip)
Local/hipster coffee shops have four things in common:
1. Artsy theme with correspondingly memorable name, often revolving around the world/traveling, a play on the name for coffee (like java, cup of joe, etc.), and personified animals
2. Open, spacious decor with aggressive amounts of tables, all decorated in the theme
3. Aggressive hipsters with horned rim glasses sitting at said tables, having intellectual, socially relevant discussions
4. Excessive cost for EVERYTHING
The cranes building the new stadium in downtown
St. Anthony Falls
The ruins of the old Minneapolis factories along the River 
Nummy thai food dinner with mom and Char
The view from our favorite rooftop bar
Last night all the Ladiez of the Lakes are together in Minneapolis 😦
July 30, 2014: 293 more beautiful views of Minneapolis
Started my afternoon with lunch at Lotus, a Vietnamese restaurant a short ways from where I work downtown (it was delicious and had awesome service). I was meeting my friend Hannah–we went to high school together but haven’t seen much of each other since. It was really awesome to catch with someone who knew me (what feels like) so long ago. It was particularly interesting considering the dramatically different paths Hannah and I have chosen. Following graduation in May, Hannah will be entering a cloistered convent, taking her vows with a local Minneapolis order. While I respect Hannah’s choice and what she feels to be her calling, it is difficult for me understand how people voluntarily isolate themselves when they could also live a life of prayer as well as service to others. This is not a criticism of those who haven chosen to live a cloistered life of contemplation, but rather a remark on why we encourage people to serve only their own personal “calling” when they could be helping others in addition themselves. This applies to all industries, professions, and careers, in addition to religious life. I’m aware that this is also hypocritical and it’s unlikely that I’ll devote even part of my life to service. Yet I still hope that I will be able to do some meaning service, which is what we should all be striving for.
So instead of doing service or something slightly more normal for a twenty-something, I spent my Monday night watching my brother’s special needs kickball game. It appears that I may have started my soccer mom phase a little early…
July 28, 2014: 295 days until I’m the teacher at the parent-teacher conference
Morning visit with my adorable cousins at Aunt Terri’s!
Spent the day on a boating trip on Lake Minnetonka with all the Yale interns! It was a gorgeous day on a gorgeous lake. Minnetonka means “great water” in Dakota and the water and the surrounding land have long been held sacred by local tribes. Lake Minnetonka is also famous for a few industrial things, like Minnetonka Moccasins, Tonka Trucks, and Cargill, which is headquartered on the lake.
The only picture of me from the lake ended up being a screenshotted snapchat… See that red mark on my forehead? That’s where I stabbed myself with my nail this morning.
Silly outsiders didn’t know they were supposed to wear swimsuits on the lake
View from Solera (again)
Meghan and I spent the evening watching Casablanca on the Solera rooftop, complete with twinkling lights, sangria, and chocolate frozen bananas. I forgot how amazing Casablanca is and everything else was perfect, even the weather cooperated.
July 27, 2014: 296 perfect summertime moments today
Bicycle parade l in Loring Park, complete with costumes, decorated vehicles, and a giant polar bear full of pedaling people (it even has a moving tail) #onlyinMinnesota
Corn pancakes topped with ricotta cheese and butter, with a side of cheesy hashrowns at the Loring Kitchen and Bar #onlyinMinnesota
Family get-together celebrating a visit from my Texas cousins Scott and Wendy and their gorgeous daughters! #onlyinMinnesota
Me and Aubs being silly–or me being silly and her clearly judging me
My adorable God-children!
Feeding the fishies bread off the dock #onlyinMinnesota
Started an alphabet book with the girls. They pick out pictures, the name of the image beginning with a certain letter, and mom and I cut it out and glue it on to the letter page. My wonderful Aunt Di used to make these books for us when I was a kid and now it is time for my girls!
July 26, 2014: 297 days of living that Minnesota life #onlyinMinnesota
I’m having serious Vietnam withdrawals these days, so I decided to take my mom and brothers out for Vietnamese food in Highland Village in St. Paul! It only made things worse–now all I can think about is eating good Vietnamese food…
Charlie trying (and loving) Lychee juice
“I want a haircut–like a man”
Best spring rolls I’ve had in the Cities. I’m determined to try and make these on my own…
Mom and I trying the local pho! It was actually really good! Not quite the same as Vietnam but the best substitute I’ve had in the States.
An iced Vietnamese coffee–maybe what I miss most about daily life in Saigon
My first ever Lynx game! I’ve never seen a Minnesota sports team with a fuller stadium and a more enthusiastic crowd… The music was even better than at other games
Night out downtown! The rooftop at Solera is by far our favorite
July 25, 2014: 298 days to enjoy the best of a city (aka food)
And the girls are back! Last night was girls night with Annie and Maggie! We drank wine, made s’mores, and caught up on the last semester–including all the recent gossip regarding our high school friends.
Traditional Thursday night out with the other Yalies!
July 24, 2014: 299 days until the Three Musketeers of Visitation High School are back together again
No jury today woo! Because of this brief reprieve, I was able to make an early morning trip to St. Cloud prison to visit a transitions class and take a tour of the facility. St. Cloud is a level 4 facility (equal to maximum security) and handles all of the intake for the state, which means that they have fewer long-term inmates than the other two level 4s and the rest of the state prisons. This also means that they handle a significant number of 180 days or fewer inmates and their transitions back into society.
Unlike many of the other prisons I’ve visited around the state, St. Cloud literally looks like a stereotypical prison (think Shawshank). Originally built in 1898, MCF-St. Cloud has retained many of the original structures, including doors complete with metal bars and giant keyholes. The facility is surrounded by the second-longest granite wall in the world (second to the Great Wall of China). The granite was mined on site by inmates and much of the facility was built by the inmates using that granite.
Bike trip to Mendota Heights to visit Annie!
July 23, 2014: 300 more days to be a prisoner of collegiate institutions (ha, not really)
The amazing Bulldogs on the Lakes program brought all of the Yale interns to a show at the Guthrie tonight! The show was Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike–it was a hilarious play and well-acted, although a little slow for my taste.
Naturally, the show was preceded by happy hour
Ladies on the Lakes
St. Anthony Falls, the only natural falls in the Mississippi River
July 22, 2014: 301 days left of free Yale perks
365 Images: A Year in the Life 