Cabin sky

Birches

The texture is just so incredible.  I could take photos of birch trees all day.

Cabin puppy

Mole hunting

One of my dad and my dog's favorite things to do is to get out the pitchfork and go mole hunting.  I guess we all have to have a hobby?

No doubt about it, she smells something.

Definitely.

Found one! 

Not shown: the using of the pitchfork.  *shudder*

Twin Cities Attractions: Lindstrom

Located just a short drive north of the Twin Cities, Lindstrom, or as it's officially known, Lindström.  It's a small town surrounded by lakes with an adorable tea kettle water tower, antique shops, and an incredible bakery.  Their motto is "America's Little Sweden," and it was settled in the late 1800s by Swedish immigrants.

Though I don't exactly know when that side of the family arrived, I do know that my paternal grandmother's family lived in the area in the 1920s.  Though my father is of Swedish descent on both sides, the traditions weren't part of our lives until my mother, brother, and I visited our relatives in Sweden that I became so interested in my heritage.  And truthfully, I know more about the family left in Sweden (great-great-great grandmother Albertina the musician with her umpteen children living next to the church in Vall) than I do about my paternal grandparents or the relatives I have here in Minnesota.  I have no idea how my grandparents met, where my grandmother grew up, her favorite subject in school.  But!  It was nice to be wandering around a nice quiet town on a fall day.  And eating donuts, of course.

Twin Cities Music: The Minnesota Orchestra plays Mahler!

My first concert back in Minnesota!  Mahler's Fourth Symphony, "Four Last Songs" by Strauss, and the second Brandenburg concerto.  What a wonderful evening.

The art of sending care packages

Things I love: getting packages in the mail. 

A lovely package from a girlfriend of mine from my time at MIT.

Things I also love: sending packages in the mail.  With many of my friends all over the country (and world), finding little things to squeeze together in a box is a favorite pastime.  I've been regularly sending packages for about ten years at this point, and I've become something of a package expert.  And I'm fairly certain my friends have figured this out about me, but I'm terrible at waiting until Christmas to send gifts, so I usually just operate on the "hey!  happy package day!" model and surprise folks when I have something for them and not otherwise.

Without further ado:

Tips for sending packages
-Glass is heavy and breakable; avoid if possible.  If unavoidable, wrap in bubble wrap, tape, and put in a large plastic bag and seal.
-Wrapping a box in brown paper, either from a grocery bag or from another package, gives you a clean place to write the address and another layer of protection from the elements.
-Remember, if you buy certain post office cardboard boxes, they have already chosen to send it priority, which can cost more.   For others, you can choose the postage.  Keep that in mind when reusing boxes as well, if you have a priority box and don't want it to go priority, you have to wrap it in something else.
-When you pack your box, close the flaps and shake.  You should hear nothing move.  If you do, you need more packaging, whether newspaper or tissue paper.
-Even if I am 99% sure I have the correct address, I usually reach out and ask to confirm, just in case. 

Now for the fun stuff...what do you put in packages?  I tend to think of both what a person would want as well as what would they want but never buy for themselves. 

Food
It's especially fun to do things from where you are, so going local can be really fun.  Here in Minnesota, there is actually a store full of Minnesota products you can buy, but you don't necessarily need that to succeed in finding the best of your local place.  A good place to start is searching "insert place here care package" to identify the local candy/thing that is only in the place you are.  In Minnesota, it's wild rice and Pearson's candy, but there's also a whole range of fruit-based products made here in the state. But then, there's also the option of buying something from a local purveyor.  Sure, you can buy chocolate turtles anywhere.  But chocolate turtles handmade at the St. Paul Candyland, now that's pretty wonderful. 

-jams
-fruit syrups
-honey
-maple syrup
-specialty vinegar or olive oil
-candy
-spice rubs
-salt or salt blends
-tea/coffee 
-homemade or specialty vanilla extract
-homemade brownie, cake, or pancake mix (there's lots of recipes for those online) and pack them in a plastic bag.  Sure, it's less twee than a canning jar, but canning jars are heavy.
-bitters
-marshmallow fluff or anything else in a plastic jar
-soup cups or meals (especially good for college students)
-cookies
-random sauces or spices (eg, pumpkin spice with a couple pumpkin spice recipes in the fall, or the right sauce you need for your new favorite at-home Thai recipe)
-dried fruit
-trail mix
-sprinkles
-granola
-unpopped popcorn
-cocoa for hot cocoa (plus marshmallows!)
-cereal (especially random themed ones)
-fruit snacks (gushers!)

Fun
-spray painted plastic animals and/or ceramic things
-coloring books
-crayons
-stickers
-anything Lisa Fran
-fancy napkins
-magazines or books (can be anything; maybe an old copy of Sweet Valley High, a vintage cookbook, the newest Vogue..)
-stamps/ink
-party decorations (lanterns, bunting, birthday candles)

Beauty products
(be careful, though, some people really don't like scented things)
-lotion
-perfume sampler
-nail polish  (note: do NOT send nail polish remover in the mail, it's flammable)
-eyes hadow
-makeup brushes
-cute compact
-beard oil (ha!  I've never seen a dude with a beard use this, but it makes me smile)

Housewares
-candles  (be careful, though, some people really don't like scented things)
-recipes
-cups/mugs/dishes (have to be very carefully packed; thrift stores are my favorite place for this) 
-stationary
-pens
-fun post-its


Clothing
-scarves or ties (thrift stores are a great source for this, especially if someone is into vintage)
-hats
-funny socks
-handkerchiefs

Jewelry
-costume jewelry
-relating to something they love or do (eg, I gave a fossilized coral necklace to a friend that studied corals, or you could give a friend that loves roses a rose pin or cameo)

Places to find things
I tend to keep my eyes open all the time for potential options, and keep a banker's box in my closet filled with all sorts of options to help me fill out packages if I've found one really exceptional thing that I'd like to send.

-World Market (seriously, they're great!  They have such fun candy from around the globe and little sample sizes of things)
-Garage sales/estate sales
-Thrift stores (you never know what you'll find here, whether it's a goofy book or the ugliest ceramic animal you've ever seen or the perfect thing that someone has been looking for)
-Dollar stores
-Target  (especially the front aisle and clearance sections)
-ethnic grocery stores
-farmer's markets
-supermarket
-Boutique-y type stores
-bookstores

Not into sending your own packages?  The internet is great, here are some places to start:

For all of your hipsterish food needs: Mouth.com
Tea:  David's Tea, Teavana, Jane Austen Teas
Beauty: Sephora, Lush
Goofy little things:  CB2

Odds and Ends Again + Twin Cities Eats: Lisu's Thai Taste

A new find: Odds and Ends Again!  It's like the best parts of an estate sale, all in one building...and for prices that are reasonable.

Bonus?  It's close to my new favorite Roseville restaurant: Lisu's Thai Taste.  It's in a poorly labeled strip mall, but the food is great, and the Thai tea is wondrous, especially on a chilly day.  I recommend getting an extra portion of curry to take home, it makes for a splendid dinner.

The job search!

Job searching has meant many things: innumerable emails, almost too many informational interviews to count (I'm at 62), a spreadsheet with quite the color-coding system, and the fretting that comes with the territory about Whens and Whats and Whos and How Soons of the whole process.

However, an incredibly exciting part of job searching has been my time working as a consultant for Life Science Alley (newly-rebranded as Medical Alley).  I was on the team that helped research and refine their Tissue and Biologics Sector Landscape (as well as bits and bobs with other sector landscapes).  These are documents that put together a concise picture of regenerative medicine in Minnesota using infographics and company spotlights, and include a directory at the back.

So---very exciting news: it was finally released!  Check it out here. Absolutely a labor of love!

As a part of my consultancy, I joined a group of local folks to discuss the state of regenerative medicine here in Minnesota.  We met in the board room at Carlson School of Management - so swanky! 

(Not seen on the left is the monstrosity of a stadium being built in Minneapolis.  It looks like it is eating downtown.)

Girls in Aviation Day

The river from Holman Field, the St. Paul airport. 

Used mostly for smaller private planes for local industry, it's a small field with one added bonus: an old Fedx plane that has been re-purposed into a classroom called The Learning Jet. 

Always read the plaque!

Local organizations partnered together for a "Girls in Aviation" Day, featuring flights in 2- and 4-seater planes, booths hosted by local aerospace organizations, and famous women pilots.

In the pilot's seat of the Learning Jet.

Look at that view!

Me and Betty Strohfus, a WASP pilot from Minnesota that is one of my particular friends since I met her as a young girl at an aerospace museum.  She is quite a firecracker!