A year in St. Paul

September 30, 2014

I’ve lived in downtown St. Paul for over a year now.

Things in my second year look dramatically different – I have a boyfriend, a new dog, and a promotion at work – the Lowertown life is great.

: Mitchell at Hunan Garden on a Saturday night. They are drinking a Volcano Drink, which is mostly pineapple juice and rail vodka.

: The building that houses the Bedlam Theater and the CoCo Coworking Space. It’s right across the street from the Green Line station and is constantly vibrating with loud rock music from practicing bands.

: Immediately inside the Union Depot train station in Lowertown, Saint Paul.

: The mural in front of the abandoned Station 4 Club in Lowertown, St. Paul. It was a heavy metal club that closed around 2013.

: This is the only historic building of the Galtier Towers / Cray Plaza block. It’s gorgeous and appears to house mostly professional firms like law offices.

: The sign of the Bedlam Theater in Lowertown. It’s a bar/restaurant that hosts a different event almost every night.

I also discovered that there is an express bus that is actually quicker than driving to the office, so I rarely use my gas guzzler anymore.

I couldn’t have fathomed bus commuting to work even one year ago.

The faux-car-less life is amazing.

It is going to be even better during winter because 1) driving in the suburbs with snow is terrifying, and 2) the office campus is so huge that the walk to the front of the building can take 15 minutes, which is brutal in -20 degrees.

Plus, the bus pass is only $85 for 31 days. (Way cheaper than gas.)

I’m also able to buy new passes at the office, which is insanely convenient. I’m smitten.

The Scenery

Transportation aside, I love living on Mears Park, the Farmers’ Market, the restaurant options, the Cathedral, and all of the gorgeous architecture:

A shot of downtown St. Paul overlooking the ghetto Walgreens and Bruegger’s Bagels. It’s a beautiful area but usually crawling with creeps.

The Green Line station in front of the Union Depot in downtown St. Paul. It is in front of the Bedlam Theater and the CoCo Coworking Space.

The Fitzgerald Theater in downtown St. Paul. It’s run by Minnesota Public Radio and hosts shows like A Prairie Home Companion.

Winter is also more bearable in St. Paul.

Thankfully, I’m far more active in St. Paul during the winter than I used to live in Minneapolis, even without having to rely on a car.

Last time I was in Miami, it was February and miserably cold in Minnesota. I realized that I spent minimal time outside because being outside felt extremely weird.

The Galtier Towers and Mears Park in downtown St. Paul during winter.

The Saint Paul skyway system seems more comprehensive than the one across the river.

It’s also open until 2 a.m., which is highly convenient for wintertime bar hopping if you don’t piss off the cops.

We are in downtown St. Paul for at least another year, and then may try something else. But for now it’s a great life choice.

: The skyline of St. Paul, Minnesota. I’ve lived in the Lowertown Historic District for a year now, and I love it.

: The skyline of St. Paul, Minnesota from Harriet Island Park. Kellogg Square Apartments and First National Bank visible.

: The skyline of St. Paul, Minnesota. I’ve lived in the Lowertown Historic District for a year now, and I love it.

: The skyline of St. Paul, Minnesota from Harriet Island Park. Kellogg Square Apartments and First National Bank visible.

: The skyline of St. Paul, Minnesota from Harriet Island Park. Kellogg Square Apartments and First National Bank visible.

2014 Summer / Lowertown / pictures / Take Three

The First Bank Building

September 23, 2014

The First Bank skyscraper is one of those building that I wish was a condo.

It’s a few blocks from my house, and one of those buildings that has an inordinate presence on my Instagram account.

A picture of the neon sign atop the First National Bank Building in downtown St. Paul, Minnesota.

The First National Bank Building as seen from the Robert Street Bridge.

A picture of the First National Bank Building from Kellogg Boulevard.

2014 Summer / Life / pictures / Take Three

Boaters on the River

September 22, 2014

There are a tons of boaters on the Mississippi River this summer.

Boaters on the Mississippi River outside of downtown St. Paul.

A close up of boaters on the Mississippi River outside of downtown St. Paul.

I’d own a boat if I wasn’t so price sensitive and grossed out by non-chlorinated fresh water.

So I wouldn’t own a boat.

2014 Summer / Architecture / Minneapolis-St. Paul / pictures

The Mansions on the Hill

September 21, 2014

I’m a huge Bravo TV fan, especially of the Real Housewives franchise.

There’s an episode of the Real Housewives of New Jersey where Teresa Giudice moves into a new mansion styled after a French Chateau. I remember being appalled by how large and gaudy the mansion was.

The James J. Hill House is one of the mansions that I routinely pass during my dog walks by the Cathedral of St. Paul. This Gilded Age mansion was built by railroad magnate James Hill and features 36,000 square feet of livable space.
I’m not sure why I consider Teresa Guidice’s mansion tacky but remain impressed by the mansions on Summit Avenue.

The James J. Hill House in Cathedral Hill neighborhood of St. Paul.

: A mansion on Summit Avenue in St. Paul, Minnesota. The neighborhood is near the Cathedral of St. Paul and known for its large historic homes.

: The Germanic-American Institute purchased the Summit Avenue Haus in 1965, and refurbished it to suit the needs of a Kulturhaus for social and cultural gatherings.

: Flowers and landscaping in front of a mansion on Summit Avenue in Saint Paul, Minnesota.

Perhaps the age of the mansions makes them respectable.

Not all of the mansions are old, or architecturally noteworthy. For example, there’s a fairly new mansion near the James J. Hill House which looks just like a medical office building.

This house has more in common with a medical office than a mansion.

The Summit Hill mansions are part of a fairly densely-packed community, which is probably why they don’t seem as tacky as the Guidice mansion (or Minnesota’s other BFE palaces).

I doubt that I’ll ever be able to afford a house on Summit Hill, and even if I could, I think a Horst condo is more my style.

2014 Summer / Architecture / art / Minneapolis-St. Paul / pictures / the details

The Cathedral of St. Paul

September 17, 2014

The Cathedral of Saint Paul is one of my favorite buildings in town.

I spent summers in Germany growing up, and I love having this building so close because it reminds me a lot of Trier.

I haven’t seen many other comparable cathedrals in the U.S. and the building commands my attention anytime that I venture to that side of downtown St. Paul.

An exterior view of the Cathedral of St. Paul, in Minnesota.

A long-stance view of the Cathedral of St. Paul, in Minnesota.

An exterior view of the Cathedral of St. Paul, in Minnesota.

Interior Shots

The interior of the church is on par with anything that I’ve seen in Germany. My mother recently visited and said that it was impressive as the Kölner Dom.

: An interior view of the Cathedral of St. Paul.

: An interior view of the Cathedral of St. Paul.

: An interior view of the Cathedral of St. Paul.

An exterior view of the Cathedral of St. Paul, in Minnesota.

Exterior Shots

The outside of the cathedral almost looks like a European church, minus the lack of dirt and acid rain stains.

: An exterior detail view of the Cathedral of St. Paul, in Minnesota. The cornerstone was laid on June 2, 1907 and the first liturgy was held on Palm Sunday, March 28, 1915. The exterior is made out of granite from Saint Cloud.

: An exterior detail view of the Cathedral of St. Paul, in Minnesota. The cornerstone was laid on June 2, 1907 and the first liturgy was held on Palm Sunday, March 28, 1915. The exterior is made out of granite from Saint Cloud.

: An exterior detail view of the Cathedral of St. Paul, in Minnesota. The cornerstone was laid on June 2, 1907 and the first liturgy was held on Palm Sunday, March 28, 1915. The exterior is made out of granite from Saint Cloud.

: An exterior detail view of the Cathedral of St. Paul, in Minnesota. The cornerstone was laid on June 2, 1907 and the first liturgy was held on Palm Sunday, March 28, 1915. The exterior is made out of granite from Saint Cloud.

: An exterior detail view of the Cathedral of St. Paul, in Minnesota. The cornerstone was laid on June 2, 1907 and the first liturgy was held on Palm Sunday, March 28, 1915. The exterior is made out of granite from Saint Cloud.

I’ve never been to the church for a service, but I enjoy It as a free museum (and dog walk restroom.)

2014 Summer / Minneapolis-St. Paul / pictures / the details

The St. Paul Civil War Monument

September 16, 2014

There’s a Civil War statue near the Cathedral of St. Paul.

I completely ignored the statue the first few times because I was too busy staring at the church, but one day I stopped to take pictures.

2014 Summer / Architecture / Lowertown / Lowertown Apartment / Minneapolis-St. Paul / pictures

Boom Times

September 8, 2014

There’s a housing boom going on in the Twin Cities.

Every time I venture into Uptown, I see another new vaguely-industrial loft building. There are also a few going up in St. Paul.

Generic condos outside of downtown St. Paul

Most of the stylized faux-factory developments look the same, and I don’t really understand the architectural style.

These buildings are trendy, but boring. Most of these developments will also look ridiculous in 10 years.

Do you know how we roll our eyes at those 80’s brick skyscrapers? That’s what’s going to happen with the fake factory loft buildings.

The particular “loft” building in the picture is called West Side Flats. It’s on the opposite side of the river from downtown St. Paul, and despite having a few Hour Cars, it must be terribly isolated in the winter.

West Side Flats is a few hundred dollars cheaper per month than the core Lowertown buildings, but it’s far enough away from everything that it doesn’t make sense to live there unless you live at the US Bank or Comcast buildings on that side of the river.

The Rayette is a new condo building going up in St. Paul.

There’s also a new apartment building coming to Lowertown.

The building is called the Rayette Lofts, and it’s in a former parking garage right across the street from the downtown St. Paul Farmer’s Market.

The Rayette’s leasing office is near my building and the leasing company is extremely aggressive (much to the annoyance of my building management.)

The rival building kept putting sandwich boards in front of our building until our management started stealing them.

I went to see the Rayette show unit out of curiosity. The charming sales agent couldn’t make the mock apartment less underwhelming. The unit was smaller than my current apartment and far more expensive. (One bedrooms top $2,000k/month)

The Rayette show unit also didn’t have the same specs as the real building (flooring, windows, ceiling height, cabinets) so only information that I got from the staged unit that the Rayette is another spendy, generic luxury building.

I don’t know whether downtown St. Paul really has the demand to support all of the new apartment units.

The prices for rentals in Lowertown are beginning to rival Uptown and the Warehouse District, and we have a dramatically smaller social/bar scene.

Another problem is that the condos in downtown St. Paul are relatively cheap, so people who have the means to spend $2,000 on rent will either buy (or rent) a condo instead of opting for the spendy building next door.

But who knows, perhaps I’m wrong about people’s tolerance for high rents in fake factories.

2014 Summer / Architecture / Minneapolis-St. Paul / pictures

Blair Arcade

September 7, 2014

Blair Arcade is one of the first buildings that I ever stumbled upon in St. Paul.

It houses a variety of businesses, including an Aveda Salon, a bookstore, and Nina’s Coffee Café.

Blair Arcade also has a gorgeous atrium with a basement fountain.

The hallway of Blair Arcade in St. Paul

The atrium of Blair Arcade in St. Paul

A lamp closeup in the atrium of Blair Arcade in St. Paul

There was a couple arguing in atrium when I took these pictures, hence why I don’t have any fountain pictures. I’m not a full pap yet.

The Growing Giant

September 5, 2014

Watching Hugo grow during the past few months was fascinating.

Hugo went from an awkward puppy that excitedly pees on our neighbors’ legs to an awkward young dog that eats our socks. This is progress.

Hugo, a Labrador and Greyhound (?) mix.

One of the ongoing problems we have is preventing Hugo from jumping to greet people and other dogs.

This is particularly challenging because many people go out of their way to greet Hugo, and almost all of them think the jumping thing is adorable.

Hugo, a Labrador and Greyhound (?) mix.

To complicate matters, I typically juggle my dog leashes with a coffee cup or cellphone in one hand, which isn’t ideal for control. What usually happens is that end up spilling coffee all over myself while attempting to keep Hugo off of an overexcited Lowertown tourist.

Hugo, a Labrador and Greyhound (?) mix.

Guessing Hugo’s Mix

The adoption papers from the Animal Humane Society listed Hugo as a Labrador mix, but didn’t really specify what the mix was.

Initially, everyone assumed that the brindle color must be a pitbull indication, but we suspect that Hugo is actually a Lab and Greyhound mix.

He’s developing an increasingly narrow frame and looks very similar to the brindle greyhounds living on our floor. So that could be it, right?

Hugo, a Labrador and Greyhound (?) mix.

We’ll likely have a better idea of what Hugo is after he’s fully grown. For now, we’ll leave the paternity speculation to Maury.

: Hugo sleeping while we watch TV.

: Hugo taking a nap in the middle of the day.

: Hugo, a Labrador and Greyhound (?) mix.

2014 Summer / Lowertown / Minneapolis-St. Paul / pictures

Mears Park

September 4, 2014

I’ve lived on Mears Park for two years now.

The park is the heart of the Lowertown District and is lined with condos, apartments, and restaurants.

: Mears Park in Lowertown, St. Paul.

: Mears Park at the corner of 5th Street and Jackson.

: Mears Park at 6th Street and Wabasha.

When it’s not snowing, Mears Park constantly hosts events like music festivals, weddings, food trucks, movies, and concerts.

The event schedule brings life to the neighborhood, but also makes street parking and dog walking a chore for locals.

Mears is an uniquely urban park, with an interesting mix of professionals, bar hoppers, artists, and the homeless. We’ve met a lot of our neighbors at the park’s dog area, and run across several creepy characters.

More info

Music in Mears
City of St. Paul Park Website

2014 Summer / Life / Lowertown

The Farmers

August 21, 2014

Vegetables from the St. Paul Farmers' Market in Lowertown.

Summertime in Lowertown means that I have a standing weekend date with the St. Paul Farmers’ Market.
The optimal time to get there is between 9 and 10:30 a.m.

Before 9 a.m. most of the vendors don’t have their produce or price tags out yet. That’s a problem because the farmers’ market brings out my inner bargain hunter.

I actually turn into a 46-year-old sweatpants-wearing couponer named Blanche… and I need my deals!

That’s why I hate shopping before the farmers put their price cards out: I want to compare prices and I’m worried they’ll jack up the kale from $2 to $3 just because they see an eager buyer.

Blanche does not play that game.

After 11 a.m., the farmers’ market begins to resemble the Minnesota State Fair in the worst ways possible: The rows fill up with tourists, strollers, and kids who think navigating a crowd is a contact sport.

By 11:30 the marketplace is so packed that it resembles the opening scene of a horror movie about an airborne pathogen. The veggies also begin looking musty and bees start to gather around the flower venders.

No thank you, mam.

Vegetables from the St. Paul Farmers’ Market in Lowertown.

I’m also terrible at estimating how much food to buy.

The farmers’ market is really cheap, which makes it easy to overbuy.

I typically end of juicing at the end of the week just to get rid of unused vegetables. It’s less about health than avoiding my boyfriend’s side-eye as he watches me toss a rotten head of cabbage.

Running to Guizhou, Minnesota

I’m jogging near Eagan when I come across some fields being worked by elderly Asian farmers.

Asian Farmers in Eagan, Minnesota

The plots were small, and most of the farmers have manual tools. I feel like I ran to Guizhou, or that I’m coming down with some serious heat stroke.

Farmers in the exurbs of Saint Paul, Minnesota

It takes a second for me to realize that these must be the venders from the farmers’ market!
Although I go to the market every weekend, I’ve never thought about where the food is actually grown.
I was fascinated and amused – I go to the farmers’ market because it’s right next to my house, not out of some strong desire to buy local. I’m sure the food is a lot healthier than the imported alternatives though.

2014 Summer / Life / memories

Becoming an Adult

July 9, 2014

In college, the middle aged aunt of a classmate told me that she was an undercover 23-year-old.

She said:

“There’s never a magical day when you wake up and say, ‘Now I am adult.‘ Sure, you learn more things and have more experiences. Your body also ages and stops doing what you want it to. But I suspect most people stop growing emotionally around their mid-twenties, if they are lucky. I’m 23, actually.”

I turned 28 today.

I haven’t celebrated Official Adult Day, but I certainly don’t feel like a 23-year-old.

Last summer I was busy traveling and upgrading apartments. This summer I’m raising puppies, starting a business, and doubling down on my career. Those are enough adult-like activities for now.
Here are five things I’ve learned so far:

1. Make it easy for people to do what you want.

If you want a job, be overqualified. If you want a promotion, outperform your coworkers. If you want a date, be charming (or at least have a job.)

2. Giving up on a toxic relationship is not a sign of weakness.

Or, as Frank Chimero puts it: “Clearly labeling other people’s petty grievances as bullshit is a fast track to well-being and fewer complaints of your own.”

3. Prestige is usually an assumption about what other people think.

We all know that guy with the flashy car, expensive condo, impossible body, and amazing parties.

Everyone thinks he’s a jerk.

Also, the shirtless Instagrams/Snapchats are ridiculous, regardless of how great your abs are.

4. Good friends don’t need to be high maintenance.

I can go months without seeing my best friends, but we are still closer than the bar acquaintances I run into every week.

5. Figure out how you’re evaluated, and focus on that.

In law school, there were three paths to good grades:

Have no life, study just short of being suicidal.
Dumb luck and/or get a law review outline.
Figure out what matters to the professor, focus on that.

The people who did #3 had the best results with the least amount of stress.

Figuring out what actually matters to your boss also helps in the corporate world. (Doubling the target numbers is a great way to get promoted.)

The last two years of my twenties are all about possibilities.

I might enter middle management, get a LLM or MBA, move for a new company, or do a combination thereof.

Having options is nice, and maybe that’s what an adult is all about.

2014 Summer / Life / Lowertown / Minneapolis-St. Paul / pictures

St. Paul Under Water

July 7, 2014

Flooding in downtown Saint Paul, Minnesota.

Minnesota just got out of the wettest June in history, and downtown Saint Paul bore the brunt of it.

Shepard Road completely flooded near my apartment. Raspberry Island was close to disappearing too.

: Flooded Raspberry Island in Downtown St. Paul, Minnesota

: Flooding in downtown Saint Paul, Minnesota.

: Flooding in downtown Saint Paul, Minnesota.

: Flooding in downtown Saint Paul, Minnesota.

: Flooded Raspberry Island in Downtown St. Paul, Minnesota

: Flooding in downtown Saint Paul, Minnesota.

The flooding was quite the tourist attraction.

Wabasha and Robert Street bridges were covered with photographers and onlookers.

The pictures livened up my dull Instagram account, but downtown St. Paul is situated on a bluff, so the only things that actually got flooded by were a bunch of parks, surface lots, and the street by the river.

I’m glad that our tsunami season is over.

I had the horrible experience of being stuck in one of the storms during a dog walk – Gunter and I were halfway across the High Bridge when we saw a huge wall of rain rush down the river valley. We ran to a wooded area for cover, but eventually got so soaked that we had to start walking home.

I haven’t been soaked to my underbritches since leaving Miami, and I don’t miss that gross feeling at all.

2014 Summer / Lowertown / Lowertown Apartment / Minneapolis-St. Paul / pictures / Take Three / the details

The Lowertown Depot Building

June 23, 2014

Although St. Paul’s Lowertown neighborhood is rapidly developing, there is one building left behind.

It’s the Lowertown Depot and located at the foot of the Bruce Vento Nature Sanctuary.

: Abandoned Lowertown Depot Building

: Abandoned Lowertown Depot Building

: Abandoned Lowertown Depot Building

According to Dan Turner’s SubStreet blog, the building was renamed Lowertown Depot to as part of a failed residential development project.

Apparently the Lowertown Depot wasn’t a depot at all, but the old Standard Oil Branch Warehouse. The name was just a marketing gimmick for condo developers.

I’m surprised that they haven’t attempted to redevelop the area – it’s a massive undeveloped chunk of land right by downtown.

The Lowertown Depot reminds me a lot of Miami’s Midtown neighborhood. Midtown was just a huge chunk of undeveloped railroad tracks when I was in high school. Developers decided to play Sim City and turned it into a huge residential and commercial complex.

Midtown Miami

It will be interesting to see how much the Lowertown area will change in the next few years. We just got the Amtrak and light rail service, and apparently a stadium is coming soon.

This neighborhood has become increasingly trendy (and expensive) which will likely force many of us to make a buying vs. moving decision next summer.
Rising rents almost drove us back to Minneapolis this summer.
In fact, we had a deposit down on an apartment, but we were rejected because my prior landlord didn’t respond to their reference requests. The guy who took my unit is a little freaked out because he’ll likely run into the same problem.

Exhaustion from the apartment search caused us to sign on for another year in Lowertown, but I suspect future rent hikes will soon turn this area into another Uptown or Warehouse District.

We’ll see.

2014 Summer / blog theory / Life / pictures

Rethinking blogging

June 16, 2014

A few weeks ago, I was deep into a game of Lush bingo when my friend Geoff mentioned that we made Jakey Emmert’s blog.

Jakey is a local celebrity, best known for his standup comedy. Through his blog, Jakey has basically become Minneapolis’s gay Carrie Bradshaw. (Seriously – the posts are hilarious.)
I remember feeling amused and a bit jealous while reading Jakey’s blog.
Geoff and I agreed that there was no way that we could write about dating, work, and bar creatures without major repercussions.

As a comedian with a retail job, it seemed like Jakey was free to write about the ridiculous experiences that most of us go through but can’t speak publicly about.

I used to believe that the best bloggers were in special situations that made it “safe” to write. (Remember when Heather Armstrong got fired?)
I realized today that this notion is crap.

This blog is worth maintaining solely for the digital scrapbooking factor.

I love, (and am sometimes horrified by) my ability to read what I wrote 10 years ago.

That’s amazing, but only possible by sticking to it.

I’m also jumping on Frank Chimero’s “Homesteading” bandwagon. Frank noted that the web has become a completely siloed place where we abandon our blogs in favor of places like Instagram or Tumblr. (Many of my old blogs were akin to Instagram posts.)
Although I’ll still post to Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc. I’m going to step up my blogging game.
Blogs are still the best way to generate thoughtful in-depth content, and blogs like this will likely outlive the social network of the moment.

So hi.

I’m back.