Every year I lovingly look forward to my neighborhood’s garage sale. I’m very firm on my routine: I get up early. I go on foot. I buy breakfast from some kid selling food, but it has to be real food, not just Costco stuff. I walk fast. I am very efficient and business-like. One year […]
Archives for 2012
How to set up a family recycling center
May 4, 2012 by
I remember a long time ago at some college party someone asked the group to answer: “what progressive cause don’t you care about?” (This may have been what passed for a drinking game in my crowd. Good progressive-activist, triple-majoring, newspaper-editing students, we.) That was easy: the environment. I just couldn’t get my back up over […]
Urban vegetable gardening: Waiting to Plant
May 2, 2012 by
It is so, so hard to wait. In St. Paul, Minnesota, the last-frost date is May 15, and that’s how long you’re supposed to wait to plant your garden. Generally, I’ve taken this to mean Mother’s Day, and my mama’s day fun usually begins with a trip to the greenhouse and ends with me covered […]
How to do a Minnesota cabin weekend right
April 30, 2012 by
Raucous weekends with your college buddies, family get-togethers, quiet weekends with another couple—there is nothing better than a good cabin weekend. To the unfamiliar it sounds a bit strange: load up your car and drive 2-4 hours on Friday evening. Spend the weekend in the middle of nowhere in a cabin with limited amenities. Haul […]
How to sew easy quilted fabric cards
April 25, 2012 by
I’m not much of a sewist. As mentioned before, I’m most comfortable with straight lines and no patterns. But I do have a sewing machine and I love fabric. So when I stumbled on this tutorial by Dana at MADE for how to sew fabric cards using little bits of cute fabric, I was all […]
The Minneapolis park you’ve never heard of — Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden
April 21, 2012 by
It’s hard to believe, but one of my favorite Minneapolis parks actually bans running. No tiny shorts here. No huffing puffing runners thundering behind you, no sweaty elbows pushing you aside. Also: no bikers, with their startling cries of “On your left!” And even though I love them: no dogs, either. Instead, the place is […]
Urban Vegetable Gardening: Plant, ready, plan . . .
April 20, 2012 by
So much for plans. A few weeks ago I posted that I had grand plans for vegetable gardening this year. I had researched container and small-space gardening and pinned a bunch of cool-looking ideas. I meant to research what the perfect (probably heirloom) varietals of beans or peas or kale that would look awesome among […]
I can relate: Tiger Mothers and Les Bebes
April 17, 2012 by
When I go on vacation I typically read one or more books per day. I ignore my family and stay up all night and just consume them — some literature, some Oprah picks, some beach fluff — but always all fiction. It’s really out of hand. So this year I decided to actually interact with […]