Job!

Ice cream cake from Dairy Queen means one thing: I got a job! I'll be working as a Clinical Communications Specialist at Medtronic within their Peripheral Vascular division. In particular, I'll be working with clinical trials about stents and angioplasty balloons.  Onward!

The color of November

It starts with berries, and ends with empty trees.

 

Articles Club!

These ladies are the best! I'm so glad I can join them virtually to chat every so often.

Sleepy puppy

My room at home, outfitted for the winter with a sleeping bag, is just the place puppy wants to sleep to keep warm.

Ten minutes later, doggy dreaming.

Twin Cities Music: The St. Paul Chamber Orchestra and the "Madwoman of Moldova"

 

On the program:

-Beethoven's violin concerto; classical music, to be sure, but updated with notes from Beethoven's original scores to be far more daring and improvisational.  It was a strange listen for those in the audience familiar with how the piece is traditionally played, but even then, her enthusiasm for the piece was unmistakable.

 

-Haydn's 49th symphony; predictable and lovely. 

-Michael Hersch's violin concerto; a piece that spanned every possible type of grief, from the angry to terrified to inconsolable...not a piece for the faint of heart.  The soloist was Patricia Kopatchinskaja, and I feel like she must have looked at her part and said "I am not scared of you."  Add that to her presence onstage, barefoot in a white dress with red blood-like streaks, and she looked straight out of "A Woman In White," ready to take that piece exactly where she wanted.

The Pioneer Press started their review of the performance with this:

"If you're fortunate enough to have a ticket to one of this weekend's sold-out St. Paul Chamber Orchestra concerts, prepare yourself for an encounter with the madwoman of Moldova. And I mean that in a good way. Violinist and SPCO artistic partner Patricia Kopatchinskaja has an audacious program in store that will probably push you out of your comfort zone and challenge one assumption after another."

That's about right. 

Twin Cities Eats: The Meritage

Fancy French with delicious cocktails.

Their squash soup, served in a beautiful pumpkin dish that turns out to be from Target (and regrettably not available for purchase any longer). Not shown: mussels and frites. Divine.

Sun puppy

Twin Cities Libations: Du Nord Craft Spirits

Apple Du Nord: a fantastic idea. Like calvados but better. Perfect for the winter months!

Twin Cities Eats: Cafe Latte

Best. Birthday. Cake. Ever. 

Red ivy

Twin Cities Eats: Brunch at the Buttered Tin

 

 

Biscuits and gravy with an egg and a side salad.  Pickled onions: seriously underutilized in salads.

Union Depot in downtown St. Paul.  Much quieter than other such rail stations around the country, but I'm hopeful things will continue to pick up.

Clouds