Some of the best experiences I have had in the recent past. Highly recommended! And you can — a nd should — do them too! 1. Saw Whimsy at Circus Juventas . I actually loathe Willie Wonka, but this mash-up was one of the best shows I've seen CJ do, and I've seen them all. Technically the show is closed, but you could attend their Gala on September 19 and see it, and I would strongly recommend it.…
Is a big birthday, if not a milestone one. Especially when your kid is leaving for college in two weeks and everything is changing. So you work all day as usual, but your husband makes you a bagel for breakfast and you use your birthday coupon from Vina for lunch. You pick Animales for dinner, even though you are a vegetarian, because you have heard great things and because the always-amazing Adam…
Patrick often clips my posts, so I think it's only fair that I do the same for him. https://www.patrickrhone.net/finishing-our-routine/ (photo credit: Heather O'Connell Erickson)
On Sunday, Beatrix will walk out of the arena at Circus Juventas for the last time, and that thought has me up early this morning. It's not like I did not know it before, but it's hitting especially hard. I started working with Circus Juventas in 2005, before Patrick and I were even married, before Beatrix was even a concept. I was brought in on a special project to reconcile a backlog of credit…
Tonight, we were headed over to a dinner party at our friends' place after hanging at a circus pool party. But they had to reschedule at the last minute, so we pulled a place off our "to check out" list and headed to Milly's Wine Bar . It could not have been better! We both got the tastings where you get two half-glasses of wine and need to tell which was which. I got the "Dirty Dancing" (likely…
I seem to find myself with something in my eye a lot lately. But then, so does Patrick. https://www.patrickrhone.net/living-a-lifetime/
This afternoon we all went to see the Hadestown pro-shot. Those of you who know me well know that it might be my absolute favorite musical. I was an original stan for the concept album back in the early 2000s. In 2019, based on listing to the concept album one night, we decided to got to New York for spring break so we could see the show as it opened on Broadway; seeing Eva Noblezada, Reeves…
After a day filled with a lot of spreadsheets, I was happy to get some art in this afternoon! Tonight was a celebration of the nest steps for Springboard for the Arts , and the exciting new future coming up for them. Their amazing director, Laura Zabel, is headed off to be the Founding Director of the Creative Change Coalition , taking with her Jun-Li Wang and Sara Sawicki. I'm honestly not the…
I am pretty sure that this might be the moment that broke us as a state, after being so strong for so much. And knowing that, of course, people matter so much more than things — but that values might ,after more than people. Last week, my BFF's friend daughter K, who was a counselor at Widji, posted photos of the fires they evacuated from. More compellingly, though, she posted one called "And down…
Yesterday, we headed down to Northfield for a mini day-trip. I have to admit that, though I think that Sarah Lawrence is the perfect place for Beatrix, it would be really nice to have her down in Northfield! We did a little shopping (we loved The Boho Peacock !): Met a friend for dinner and drinks at Loon Liquors (we had not been since they relocated). Went to my cousin's son Edward's final…
Ximena got a Lawns to Legumes grant for the backyard at Ashland! The back bed by the garage had gotten slightly, but not extremely, better since last summer when we were painting it: Before By the end of last summer (and even some of that did not come back) So the other day Patrick and I headed over to OutBack Gardens and took advantage of their 30% off 30 or more plants sale: We realized we had…
I had some fantastic meetings today. I had a great, philosophical lunch with my friend Robert, and then met my friend Roddie for Cozy Hour at Cooks (more on that later). Roddie is one of those friends who can always inspire you to do more and be better. So, when we parted and I told her I had plants to get in the ground tonight, and she was impressed, I knew I had to live up to it. Just one more…
I'm feeling especially protective about theater in the Twin Cities right now. The arts — and yes, especially theater — is so important to our sense of place. It's not only vitally important that we stand in support, but it's also so fulfilling to us as humans to be able to have these experiences. And the big theaters, Penumbra with Joe Turner's Come and Gone and now the Guthrie with Come From Away…
There was no yoga today, so our morning exercise was marching in the Saint Anthony Park parade (which is an institution!) with our mayor, Kaohly Her . It was a lot of fun, we ran out of candy, we got to see other politicians we admire (like Congresswoman Betty McCollum , Commissioner Garrison McMurtrey , and Representative Claire Oumou Verbeten ), and it reminded us of the importance of democracy.…
We don't skip yoga lightly, but today was the graduation party for K, who is the granddaughter of/lives with one of my oldest, dearest friends — and we were NOT going to miss it! K and K being the awesome women they are, there was a delicious coffee bar and donuts! But not going to yoga meant we did not get to see our friends M and B. Their son and his wife and their dog stayed at our other place…
Poor Patrick Rhone. He's not a fan of list posts, and really photo dump posts are just a variation thereof. But today is our twentieth anniversary, so I'm going down a bit of a rabbit hole. Of photos at the park that afternoon (because Sarah Whiting is the best). Dinner at Zander. A late night ceremony at Nautilus: A reception two days later at the Ritz (just after it had opened to the pubic): And…
Ok, to be fair, I am a huge fan of everything Skewed Visions does. But even among an exceptional body of work, this one stands out. The show only seats 30, and there are only a few performances and tickets left. If you see one thing in the Twin Cities this year, this should be it. Tickets and information here . I don't want to say too much about it because I want you to see it and then I want to…
We're in that liminal phase right now where Beatrix is both an adult and still a youth. She's old enough to get tickets for Phoebe Bridgers, in Brooklyn, when she's at school this fall, and to put together a group of her new classmates to go. She's young enough that she still needs my ninja ticketing moves (and "her" credit card that's tied to our account) to get them. She's old enough to remember…
I have a lot more to say about graduation, at Beatrix's seven years at Saint Paul Academy, later. But for now I'm going to stick with: It was super fun to catch a super-fun grad shot at Grand Hand before we went over (thanks, Rachael and Ara!) And also to stop by Randolph Heights: And to do homage to Beatrix's theater teacher Seves with a quick snack at Due: Before dropping her off. Graduation got…
Beatrix has spent her life attending shows that I've gotten comps to — so today, she was able to do the same and bring use to Penumbra, where she spent her senior project internship. For Beatrix, it was the first time she had seen a professional show from early production to opening weekend. For me, it had been years since I had seen an August Wilson show. For Patrick, it was a chance to get back…
This week, Beatrix turned in her poster about her senior project. There was a gathering of senior parents at City House, and the kids got the yearbooks (which was amazingly good this year) and had a signing party yesterday. We have eight days until graduation, and we are in the thick of it. So what was it that felled me this morning? The Friday school e-newsletter — the last one we'll ever get. I…
Friday night we had the soft open for the pool, and Saturday morning we headed up to open the Osakis family cabin. It was raining and misty as we made our traditional stop at Flour and Flower. The mist continues as we reached Osakis and started to curve around the lake, but honestly we thought that was perfect. We would take advantage of the weather to get a thorough cleaning of the cabin done,…
Yesterday was a big one for the old waterfall of tears. First, since it was Syttende Mai , Beatrix's Norwegian dance group The Peer Gynt Dancers performed at Mindekirken. She's been dancing with them since she was tiny (6? Maybe 7?), and yesterday was a clear demonstration of the dance and also leadership skills she has developed over the years. I held it together pretty much ok until they…
I am in love with this dog, Ziggy, an overweight Keeshond in McCook, Nebraska. I want him, a lot. Unfortunately, with graduation and all kinds of things coming up, cooler heads in my household are prevailing and we are not adopting him. But of you know someone looking for a young, charming dog, he's perfect! (lmk and I can connect you) I bring this up not to show how other members of my household…
Last night, we went out with our friends Brian and Liz. A few years ago, they introduced us to an amazing band called Bandits on the Run , who they got to know when their prodigy son H was in a show years ago (before he eschewed the theater world to become a science thought leader, I really mean it when I say he's a prodigy. But enough about H). They were in town, playing at the Fitz, opening for…