How to Make Rice

Sara Rice shared an Instagram photo with you

2011-06-06T23:11:00.001-05:00

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"Day 5 of #30daysofcreativity: Kitty cat tracing sketch"

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The Instagram Team

Sara Rice shared an Instagram photo with you

2011-06-04T00:12:00.001-05:00

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"Day 3 of #30daysofcreativity"

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Sara Rice shared an Instagram photo with you

2011-06-04T00:11:00.001-05:00

Hi there,

Sara Rice just shared an Instagram photo with you:

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"Day 2 of #30daysofcreativity"

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The Instagram Team

Sara Rice shared an Instagram photo with you

2011-06-01T12:29:00.001-05:00

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Sara Rice just shared an Instagram photo with you:

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"Day 1 of #30daysofcreativity"

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The Instagram Team

Sara Rice shared an Instagram photo with you

2011-06-01T10:41:00.001-05:00

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"Sunrise on the farm"
(taken at Caulpris Farm)

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The Instagram Team

Sara Rice shared an Instagram photo with you

2011-05-01T18:07:00.001-05:00

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"Happy birthday to me! Lemon curd-blueberry heavenly white cake"

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The Instagram Team

Sara Rice shared an Instagram photo with you

2011-04-30T12:30:00.001-05:00

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"God I'm such a sucker for my cats. Ben is all droopy. "

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The Instagram Team

Sara Rice shared an Instagram photo with you

2011-04-30T11:36:00.001-05:00

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"Murphy loves his daddy!"

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The Instagram Team

Birthday girl closes it out with strikes for the win!!!!!

2011-04-28T21:21:00.001-05:00

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Sara Rice shared an Instagram photo with you

2011-04-20T20:07:00.001-05:00

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"Freaking cutest cat ever"

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The Instagram Team

My love, looking all scruffy

2011-04-20T20:06:00.001-05:00

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Sara Rice shared an Instagram photo with you

2011-04-20T20:04:00.001-05:00

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"I have a bowl full of cat. "

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The Instagram Team

Proof in the form of a smiley face

2011-04-14T08:40:00.001-05:00

Cassandra at the American Red Cross took good care of me.

Mom and I gave blood!

2011-04-14T08:38:00.000-05:00

My first time donating!

Murphy says it should be spring!!!

2011-03-01T18:54:00.000-06:00

Fire pit!

2010-05-04T12:58:00.000-05:00

Eric's handiwork. Works great! :) (Also thanks to Adam for lending his
muscle to the project.)

Vegetable garden

2010-05-04T12:57:00.001-05:00

Raised beds raised and seeded! Thanks to KatieP and Adam!

Sister pie

2010-04-09T22:55:00.000-05:00

Like our smiley face?

My Dad

2010-02-01T16:20:00.003-06:00

I like to try to share good news -- or, at least put on a good show that things are looking positive. But a little over a week ago, I lost my dad. Within a matter of a few hours, my world hit a wall.

Saturday night, January 23rd, I went to bed, only to be woken up shortly after by a call from my mom saying dad had been taken to the hospital by ambulance because he was having trouble breathing -- they thought he was having a heart attack. She said not to come down, that she'd call only if something went wrong, and that I could plan on coming down in the morning. Troubled but tired, I went back to sleep. Not two hours later the charge nurse, Christine, was calling. She said my mom needed me and that I should get there as soon as possible. Twenty minutes later my mom looked up at me from the "Family Consult" room at Regions Hospital and simply said, "He didn't make it, Sara."

My mind immediately accepted it, I think, because I remember wondering why I was screaming and sobbing when something was so clearly stated and non-negotiable. But scream and sob, I did. And I fell to the floor, and snotted everywhere, and (yes, it's OK if you chuckle at this part) randomly decided that I needed to investigate, so I opened the door only to realize that there was nothing I could do, nobody I could talk to who could change it, and -- through tears streaming down my face -- I couldn't even navigate the maze-like hallways of the emergency wing.

So, we sat there. We sat and cried. We made the first necessary calls. I used the better part of a box of hospital-issue, sandpaper-like tissues. Eventually, I decided I should see my dad. I don't know what I expected, but I didn't like it. I don't mean to say it should have been a joyful or cathartic experience, but I genuinely did not want to be there the moment after we walked in the room. And all I could say was, "He built me a slide. My dad built me a slide." I hadn't thought about that in years, I don't know why that was both the first and only thing that came to mind. But it was. And I covered my eyes, and walked out, barely able to stand on my own. In fact, an hour or so later when we finally extracted ourselves from the shelter of the family room, it was me, not my mom, who had to be brought to the parking garage in a wheelchair.

In the days that followed, we had to meet with the funeral director, pick out a casket, decide on an outfit for Dad to be buried in (talk about bizarre), and select a grave. If you've never had to bury a loved one, let me tell you: the pricetag is nauseatingly high, as if to add insult to injury. I'm still honestly unsure how poor families without life insurance do it, since even basic cremation without any other funeral home offerings was a staggering $1,000+ outlay. Maybe there are state programs? Even then, you have to pay for death certificates, which was also unnervingly surprising. Sure, they take credit cards, but we couldn't even put it all on one -- and I bet most people couldn't either.

But I'm not trying to instigate funeral parlor reform. I'm just thinking out loud.

I must have made more than twenty calls to friends and family, but that was still a relatively short list. I couldn't come up with a good way to deliver the news. I suppose there really isn't a good way. "Hi, this is Sara, Bill's daughter. ...I've been better. My dad died Saturday night. ...No, we don't have details yet, but we'll put an obituary in the Pioneer Press when we do." Sigh.

My brother and his family came to stay with us. We feel very blessed to have the house we do, since it's (surprisingly) big enough for us and all eight of them without sitting on top of each other. One of these days, we'll be able to get together as a family for a joyous occasion, and not another funeral. I particularly appreciate the pact we made: no more funerals in January; if one of us DOES die in January, we're holding the funeral in the Bahamas. Two January funerals in two years is more than enough for one family, even forgetting about the cold. Regardless, it was comforting to have them all so close, and it was certainly a pleasant kind of distracting.

We were tired. We are tired. We moved slower and slower as the days passed, I think. I know I did. The impending reality of Dad's funeral inched closer -- and I mean inched. It felt like a year from Saturday night to Thursday evening. The kids were taking it well enough, but Paula, my sister-in-law, pointed out that none of them had seen Dad yet, so... it really didn't feel real. The silent (and not-so-silent) sobs of my nieces and nephews upon our arrival at the funeral home proved that she was right. And our hearts broke all over again.

Dad loved lots of things, but his family was the most important thing to him. His wife, his kids, and his grandkids. For some, that would be obvious, but it shouldn't go without saying. Every week that we went without seeing his grandkids made him sad and guilty, he missed them so much. Eric and I live in town, and if two weeks passed without getting together, we'd hear about it -- not in a chastising way, just in a gentle reminder that we were loved and wanted. Mom's a little nutty, but regardless of how frustrated he might have been with her in a given situation, he stood by mom's side and defended her. He protected her and loved her, always trying to make things easier. And now he's gone. Our comforter, our cheerleader, our confidant, our counselor our chauffeur (wow, there are a lot of "c" words for Dad...), our repairman. Gone. And I don't know how to move on.

Ben, making herself at home. In my kitchen cabinets.

2009-11-21T13:49:00.001-06:00

Driving a Bobcat!

2009-11-20T12:21:00.001-06:00

The nice man at White Bear Rental heard me saying how much I wanted to
drive one and got one out for me to play with. Awesome! Now I just
need a project!

It's really going to be ours!

2009-11-19T14:42:00.001-06:00

Murphy learns to drink from the faucet like sister

2009-11-04T22:06:00.001-06:00

Happy Halloween!!

2009-10-27T22:03:00.001-05:00

Out with the old...

2009-10-25T23:15:00.000-05:00

As I cleaned out my cupboards, I found these seasoning packets that
I'm almost certain I bought at my first apartment. In college. In
2003. That means they've moved almost as much as I have. And now they
final move: to the landfill.

Out with the old...

2009-10-22T16:50:00.002-05:00

As in circa-Como-college-apt old. Which means these two packets of
seasoning have a) moved almost as many times as me, and b) have been
overlooked for the better part of FIVE YEARS. Five.

Murphy's packed and ready to go

2009-10-21T13:29:00.002-05:00

And the beat goes on, dadadoondadoon

2009-09-29T01:57:00.002-05:00

So besides drinking Spaten at Gasthaus's Oktoberfest, what have the Rices been up to? Good question.

Eric's band, The Cold Open, played two shows earlier this month, their second gig at The Fine Line (a Friday night, no less!), and Jew Years Eve at the Kitty Cat Klub in Dinkytown with some other local (semi-)Jewish-y bands under the guise of celebrating Rosh Hashanah. It rocked, as all good Jewish New Years ought to.

I started an internship with Tiger Oak Publications (publishers of Metro Magazine and Minnesota Bride), working on two of their community lifestyle publications -- Woodbury and Maple Grove! Although relatively unpaid, my two weeks there have already been a good experience, and I can tell I'm going to walk away with a boatload of published clips, so hopefully that counts for something when I'm done.

Not a week before the internship started, so did fall semester at the U. Yup, I'm back taking classes, this time through the Dislocated Workers Program. This fall, I'm taking Principles of Nutrition and an online intro to public health class. So far, so good. That wonderful old feeling of not having done enough for class is back... yaaayyyyyy... :\ I think I block it from my memory, otherwise I wouldn't get so giddy about going to school, I think. Regardless, I think I'm learning a lot. Hopefully I'll get to put it to use in the not-too-distant-future.

I'm still on the hunt for an "official" kind of job. As in the kind that pays. The kind most normal adults have. In the meantime, lots of fun opportunities have presented themselves. For example, two weekends ago I presented a cooking demonstration for Sukkot at the Minneapolis Farmers Market, kicking off their "Sunday Cooks" series. I'm also teaching an Israeli cooking class to a handful of 8th/9th graders at Mount Zion's Chai ("High") School.

We have another viable offer on our condo, although we know better than to *actually* get our hopes up. All the same, we're house hunting seriously now. Lots of stuff out there, but not much that's decent, fits our specifications, AND falls within our budget (in fact, there isn't much outside our budget that fits our specifications, so that's less of an issue).

AND, our first anniversary is approaching. I'm under the impression that Eric hasn't figured out a present for me, so feel free to send him your ideas, as I'm sure he could use a little inspiration :)

xoxo,
Sara

Mini-keg!!

2009-09-19T19:57:00.000-05:00

Beer me some polka!!

2009-09-19T19:56:00.000-05:00

Love is in the air. Or maybe that's just the smell of fried food in the morning...

2009-09-10T18:44:00.004-05:00

I seriously love our wedding photographer, Becca Dilley. She's funny, smart, can carry on a legitimate conversation with people she's met only a handful of times for extended periods of time, is a lover of beer and cheese alike (perhaps the Wisconsonite in her?), is a regular contributor to (and founding member of) one of my favorite websites/blogs, Heavy Table, and -- oh, yeah -- takes frickin' phenomenal photos. Particularly, of Eric and me at our own personal Mecca, the Minnesota State Fair. (I hope all of you enjoyed the state fair food at our wedding!)

It was essentially the engagement session that didn't happen because we were too busy. Moving. Across a country. And then getting married. Yeah -- that.

We had a ball. Check it out.

Can I have more funnel cake now, please?

My trip south of the border

2009-08-25T22:50:00.000-05:00

As in, Iowa. Not Mexico or elsewhere. Specifically, the Iowa state fair. My friend Jenn accompanied me to her old stomping grounds, Des Moines, Iowa, for their so-called legendary fair.

Our first find of the day: Dutch letters. This trip to the fair is brought to you by the letter "S"! How fortuitous! That's my letter! "S" for Sara! I've had better pastries, but it was pretty good, filled with almond paste and topped with sugar. I'm not going to argue with that.

There may have been a musical based on it, but I doubt it included huge cigarette stands or deep-fried funnel cake-dipped pineapple on a stick. We've come a long way since Rodgers and Hammerstein.

Maybe the hype was about the free hard boiled eggs on stick. All part of promoting Iowa agriculture! We also got to try Tyson's fajita steak strips (terrible and dry, but that wasn't surprising), sour cream dip, and definitely something pig-based, but I don't remember what. The ag building also held free samples of honeys and jams. Yum!

We missed the butter cow, even though we were in the right building. Other fun activities of note: a terrifying trip down the giant slide, hanging out in the (excessively warm) butterfly tent, taking the sky glider across half the park (and the park is really small...), buying a cookie cookbook from 1962 (!!!), and riding on a tilt-a-whirl-like ride in the midway.

After bingeing on fried food (mostly on a stick) all day, Jenn and I (slowly) made our way to Bonanza's big ol' salad bar and downed our weight in leafy greens and grapes. Uff da.

Baby Girl! There's a New Baby Girl in the Family!

2009-08-09T08:00:00.000-05:00

And I was so enamored of her that I only managed to get one shot of her over the course of a whole weekend. It's hard to take pictures when your arms are full!

And here's my brother and sister-in-law and their whole brood, after a day at the Madison Zoo.

XOXO Kierstyn,
Love, your Auntie Sara

Camping @ St. Croix State Park

2009-08-08T09:00:00.000-05:00

To those who doubted us: We successfully pitched a tent and survived a weekend at St. Croix State Park.

First came the preparation.

And that was just our non-perishable food. We're obviously not cut out for anything more intense than "car camping" at this juncture. Then, into the trunk went our spiffy new sleeping bags, the tent, air mattress with pump (we were really roughing it), the cooler full of deliciousness like hot dogs, bacon, and eggs, as well as all the other normal things you pack when you're going on a trip, like shirts, jeans, toothbrush, and sixteen books for 48 hours away.

Wait, what?

Nevermind.

As proof for those naysayers, I have photographic evidence of Eric camping. Above is him helping set up our tent. No more than ten minutes later we were admiring our handiwork, and then, reveling in our ability to do what 8-year-old boy scouts can do (I'm chuckling as I write this, I was so proud), we went and saw a nature talk about black bears. Apparently there are 30,000 of them in Minnesota. I did not know this. The wonders of park programming! (I'm not being snarky -- it was a nice program and I would definitely recommend going to whatever's offered while in our fine state parks!)

And here is our dinner the first night, cooked over the fire my husband so lovingly built for me to cook dinner upon. Grilled cheese, baked beans, and salad (not on the fire...).

Later we roasted s'mores. Yumtastic.

"Early to bed, early to rise" seems to more of the way things work than just an axiom. When the rain started around 9:30 or 10 on Friday night, we headed for refuge in our tent. Without light or much room to move, we decided just to go to sleep.

This is me at 8:00 a.m. making breakfast. Without an alarm or sunlight to wake me.

Look at those eggs cracked over my Hot Salty Love in a Pan, cooked over the fire my husband built.

After breakfast, we went for a hike, taking the (one, lone) trail from our campsite a couple miles down to the old CCC camp site. Apparently, Roosevelt created the CCC, Civilian Conservation Corps, to create jobs after WWI. The men that signed up learned marketable job skills like carpentry and masonry, in addition to having a job (a hot commodity in those days). What we got out of it was an incredible park system built from the trails they created, roads they paved, and campsites they cleared. Seems like money well spent to me.

A handsome little froggy on our hiking path.

I don't sit still very well, so after lunch and lazing around for awhile (reading 1/4 of one of those 16 books I brought), I got out my cake baking supplies. Yes, my cake baking supplies. While camping. Cast iron skillet+Jiffy cake mix+apples= a fire-good time. (Story on that coming soon!)

In the time it took to cook the cake, we also prepped and ate dinner. Saturday night's menu included what we're calling "biscuit dogs," which are essentially pigs in a blanket cooked on a skewer over flames (hot dogs wrapped in Pillsbury refrigerated dough); glazed carrots (heck yeah), leftover baked beans, and -- eventually -- apple cake tatin.

Look at that fire my husband built. Who knew?
Look at that tent my husband helped set up. Who knew?
Look at those carrots my husband ate. Who knew?
Look at Eric not shuddering at the thought of all the bugs we shared our tent with. Who knew?

Well. Now you know. And so do I.

Murphy <3 Cheetos

2009-08-07T16:28:00.003-05:00

And sleeping. In bags.

Notice the paw at the bottom of the picture, wrapped around the Cheetos bag.

The Cold Open @ Fine Line

2009-08-04T19:42:00.001-05:00

We don't ignore you on purpose

2009-07-28T17:31:00.005-05:00

It just happens sometimes.

Things have been eventful around here lately, and there's barely been a night in recent memory that we've been without plans of some kind.

During the week I volunteer at the Youth Farm & Market Project at the Lyndale location, not far from our place. I work in the kitchen, helping the head cook get everything started, then working with the kids to help finish the food and serve it. The kids are great, and they know so much about what they're eating -- what they like and don't like (mostly what they like -- which often is everything), what flavors taste like (homemade ranch dressing, anyone?), and what a dish is missing. It's terribly impressive. The kids are exhausting, but it's definitely worth it. I know I'm learning infinite patience from it all.

I'm also working to get dislocated worker benefits applied toward MCTC's baking certificate program starting this fall. There are more hoops to jump through than I care to enumerate, so hopefully it'll all come together and be worth it.

And Noazim (Mount Zion 20s/30s) programming continues to be an ever-present item on my to-do list -- in a good way! We seem to be gaining support from the leadership and clergy, and next week present a proposal for a 20s/30s-specific service to the worship committee. Not only that, but we have a full docket of on-going and holiday-specific events planned, including apple picking for Rosh Hoshana (I love apple picking!), and the planning and organization for it all is like a full-time job some days.

I'm taking a writing class at The Loft right now on freelance writing for newspapers and magazines. We're only four weeks in and I feel behind -- but maybe that's because I missed last week's class to run the Torchlight 5k :) And before that class is even done, I start Lighting Boot Camp at the Minneapolis Photography Center!

Eric's mostly been busy with work and the band, including preparing for a pretty important gig at The Fine Line -- which you should make sure to come to! Tuesday, August 4th @ 7:30 pm. If you work in downtown, just grab some dinner and come over after that! OR, if you live in the suburbs, notice how early it is -- you can get home, change, make the quick drive into the city, and still get home in time to watch the news and get to bed at a decent hour. Check out thecoldopen.com for links to all the details!

Up next (hopefully): Stories from our camping trip to the Black Hills in South Dakota!

Leo's Cookie Tower

2009-07-15T11:23:00.001-05:00

Mama (and Daddy?) Buettner was nice enough to buy a log of cookie dough for Leo and Eric and I to make while we were babysitting last night. Leo scooped the dough out of the packaging and onto the cookie sheets, then watched them rise through the oven door, telling us the whole time, "I'm gonna make a cookie TOWER!"

And he did. Quite proudly, in fact.

Counting Crows @ Basilica Block Party

2009-07-11T22:37:00.000-05:00

Tales from the 4th of July

2009-07-09T09:05:00.003-05:00

I'm not even going to explain. If you know my family (or if you are my family), that's probably explanation enough.

Hope everyone had a great holiday weekend!

The Cold Open @ DeMori's

2009-07-06T00:25:00.005-05:00

Chances are if you're reading this, you were at the show -- but just in case, here are a couple of shots from Eric's band, The Cold Open, playing at DeMori's in Oakdale over the weekend.

They played about an hour of entirely new (*awesome!*) original music, save for a couple of particularly crowd-pleasing covers.

Yep, that's my man -- the money shot of him with his wedding band. Heh heh heh.

Check out their music on MySpace, follow them on Facebook or Twitter, and see photos (or upload some of your own!) on Flickr.

Kelsy & Sara Day

2009-06-22T16:15:00.009-05:00

I'm not a parent. The rules about not having favorites don't apply to me. I can say with little to no hesitation that my niece/goddaughter Kelsy is my favorite of my brother's five (almost six!) kids.

That isn't to say I don't love the rest of them more than they can imagine, but Kelsy's always going to have a soft spot in my heart. She was assigned to me -- some smidgen of responsibility for her welfare placed upon my shoulders -- when I was twelve. That's younger than she is now, for those of you counting. Her mom and dad asked me to be her godmother and, while I only had a vague sense of what that actually meant, considering the days of that having any kind of official meaning are long gone, I decided it meant that she was supposed to be more important to me in some way than any other kid around.

The problem with that equation is that for the last 7+ years, my brother and his family have lived nowhere near us -- anywhere from a 4 1/2 hour car ride to a 4 1/2 plane ride (at minimum!). So the part about presence being more important than presents that Chris and Paula impressed upon me when asking me to be her godmother -- that wasn't much of an option once they moved, unfortunately, and the "ce" turned into a steady flow of the "ts" variety to compensate for my absence.

But not last week! No sirree! Chris had a last minute trip to the Twin Cities for a buying show and asked me if I wanted to spend a couple of days with my beautiful, nearly grown up niece. Of course I do!

We did all kinds of super fun stuff. The great part about hanging out with your 13-year-old niece is that you get to be a kid again. We meandered around Rice Park when the St. Paul Central Library wasn't open yet (drat!) and briefly walked through the Landmark Center.

We checked out the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden,

then walked Lake of the Isles. Yes, that's her poking a fish with my permission. I'm only slightly ashamed (of myself for letting her, and of her for wanting to, but since it's already dead, it seemed less egregious).

We had ice cream at Sebastian Joe's before lunch (!!!), and rounded out our midday eating with a turkey-bacon-croissant melt (with salad greens, I swear!) at French Meadow Bakery.

And all of this was before seeing "Up" in 3D, going shoe shopping @ DSW, and then to Borders to get Kels a new Manga novel.

I'm pretty much the best aunt ever. And way, super lucky.

The gaunlet has been thrown: the Rice family weight-loss challenge

2009-06-21T22:35:00.003-05:00

My birthweek festivities turned into a license to eat like a linebacker for a month. And one month turned into two. And three pounds to lose morphed into a full twelve (twelve). Since Eric is notorious for avoid all fruit and most vegetables (and could probably stand to lose more than five pounds), the situation seemed ripe for a plan.

The challenge: the first to lose five pounds and keep it off for a week wins!
The prize: the loser has to plan, shop for, and prepare dinner for both of us for a week.
Bonus: a reason and way to use all/as much as possible of our weekly CSA share.

Check in at Food if by Land, Food if by Sea to check out the foods we make to reach our goal!

Flowers and Humidity

2009-06-12T20:16:00.016-05:00

Two of my strongest memories are the smell of the old fern room of the Como Conservatory and the sight of the RC Cola machine at the entrance to the fern room. I remember my dad taking my brother and me -- it seems like it must have been a hundred times, but in actuality was maybe less than a handful. We'd walk the inside and make our way around the loop, stop at the RC Cola machine to get a can of our favorite soda, then open the doors to this magical, misty, musty room where the stone floor was just damp enough to make you question your step and the dank, humid air got caught in your throat just a little. I'd get some change from my dad and throw one coin after another into the moss-covered wishing pond that was fed by a trickle of water fed down the rocks.

They tore down the fern room a couple of years ago to add on a new visitor's center that serves as the gateway to the zoo grounds. That was in 2005. They've *almost* gotten the smell back. But, they probably won't ever have an RC Cola machine waiting for me again. It'll never be the same.

But that doesn't mean that it isn't a great, cheap way to spend a questionably cloudy Sunday. Clutching our suggested donations (Ooh! Paper money!), my friend Katie and I crossed the river and made our way to Como Park.

The Sunken Garden smelled intensely of orchids, and had the biggest lilies I've ever seen (but none of them seemed photo-worthy, apparently, so don't bother searching for a shot of them).

We made our way outside to the Japanese Gardens. The overcast sky made for some great photos.

Back inside, we found ourselves in the North Garden. It didn't hurt that the temperature difference coming in from the brisk air outside made our lenses foggy. I dig the ethereal quality it gave the few shots I was able to get.

The center area ("Palm Dome") looks a little worse for the wear, unfortunately.

We didn't venture into the zoo part of the grounds, but I'm so excited! The new polar bear habitat, Polar Bear Odyssey, is set to open in 2010! Poor bear(s) won't have to swim in heart-wrenching circles all day, everyday anymore.

The days fly by...

2009-06-04T10:39:00.003-05:00

To our friends and family who expect this to be updated somewhat regularly, I'm sorry. We've been busy with highly mundane things like working (Eric) and job hunting (me), which doesn't make for particularly engaging blog posts. So, to keep you updated in the most efficient way possible, here's a list of what we've done recently:

- Celebrated Jade's 21st birthday and her and Joe's engagement (in the same week!)
- Eric and the band are working on writing and recording new music so they can start booking gigs. Stay tuned for more on that in the next few weeks, we hope.
- I took a food photography class through Minneapolis Community Ed -- hopefully you've noticed a difference in some of my posts on FoodifbyLandFoodifbySea.
- Cleaned up an apartment owned by Urban Homeworks, an organization that works to provide affordable housing in the Twin Cities, with our friend Greta.
- Saw our friends Lynn and Sean get married at the very fun Wabasha Street Caves (Finally!!!)
- Traveled to Chicago for Eric's cousin Randy's high school graduation (the Portillo's hot dogs and Dunkin' Donuts were an added bonus, of course).
- Had a few showings of the condo, including one (absurdly low) offer. We're still crossing our fingers, but not holding our breath that we'll sell it soon. Tell your friends about it!

And probably the biggest update (but still not whole-blog-post worthy) is that, although I'm going to continue my formal job search, I've decided to focus my efforts on freelance writing and photography. If you need anything written or photographed, or know someone who does, let me know!

El Mariachi Birthday Pics (care of Arlene!)

2009-05-19T13:46:00.001-05:00

Lynnie & Sean got married!!!

2009-05-16T23:39:00.000-05:00

Mr and Mrs Sonnabend's first dance

Whiling away the hours, finding stuff to do

2009-05-14T17:30:00.002-05:00

I got snookered into doing something yesterday, and although I was caught off guard, I think it's going to be great. I'm going to teach two confirmation/Chai School classes at Mount Zion next year! Fall trimester I'll teach "Total Exposure: Jewish Ethics in an Online World" (or something like that), talking about things like not slandering your classmates on Facebook; and in Spring trimester I'll be teaching a Jewish baking class for 8th-12th graders! (Yeah -- I'm SUPER pumped about that one!)

The condo-selling/house hunt continues. We are now the only unit for sale in our building, as our neighbor's buyer was just approved, so hopefully that will help (somehow) and we can be in our new house by the end of summer! Cross your fingers everyone!

Check out my new food blog!

2009-05-10T21:08:00.003-05:00

Most of you are already aware of my love of all things food-y, so it should come as no surprise that I've started a food blog. It's called "Food if by Land, Food if by Sea." (http://foodifbylandfoodifbysea.blogspot.com/)
I'll try to keep my food musings, recipes, and restaurant reviews over there, and leave the exciting details of our everyday life here on How to Make Rice.

Check it out and let me know what you think!
-Sara

Race for Ronald 5k

2009-05-07T10:30:00.005-05:00

Last Saturday, May 2, Gayle, Michelle, Hartey (Lindsey), and I ran the SAFA Race for Ronald 5k at the University of Minnesota. The student group raised more than $3500 for the Ronald McDonald house, and more than 75 of us got to get a bright blue t-shirt and run through campus. Twice!

Race results don't seem to have been posted yet (if they will be at all -- it'll just be order, not time), but here's Gayle and me sprinting the final stretch -- even if it doesn't look like it.

Here's Michelle and Hartey finishing -- considerably before Gayle and me ;)

Birthweek - Day 7: Rooftop Patio Birthday Party!

2009-05-03T21:52:00.005-05:00

Photos were a little light for the rooftop patio birthday party, but you'll get the gist. Friends. Beer. IRISH CAR BOMB CUPCAKES. Deb over at Smitten Kitchen is a genius.

Birthweek - Day 7: A morning at the zoo!

2009-05-03T21:17:00.008-05:00

Friday morning at Como Zoo with Zoe and the boys!
Pretty giraffe! (Wouldn't you love to have eyes as beautiful as those?)

Majestic daddy lion! (the shot of the mommy lion didn't turn out)

Leo making penny wishes for everyone (I love how he's got his feet positioned so he can be thatmuch higher and closer to the top part of the fountain!)
I hope his wish for me comes true. I also hope he wished that my condo would sell.

Zoe and Eli, Baby Bjorn-style

Super awesome exhibit-y thing in the kids play area -- Leo made it rain! How cool is that?!

We rounded out the morning with lunch at The Good Earth where I had the most phenomenal turkey meatloaf with all the (fabulous, better-than-Thanksgiving) fixings. Highly recommended!

Birthweek - Days 4: Figlio, a spark-tacular birthday event!

2009-05-03T21:00:00.000-05:00

After few days of large-group shindigs, Tuesday (Birthweek Day 4) held a welcome low-key celebration with Gayle and Eric at Figlio for dinner, mini-tini flight, and my beloved red velvet cupcake, sparkler and all!

(Darkest to lightest: Blackberry Mojito, Ruby Cosmo, Wildflower)
The Blackberry Mojito and Ruby Cosmo were crazy-stiff drinks and disappointed me accordingly, but the Wildflower, which I got in a panic of having to pick a third for my flight, turned out to be wonderful! I'd like to reference what was in it, but Figlio's website isn't up to date; I recall it being gin-based with elderberry liquer/vodka and grapefruit juice. Delightful!

Small baby field greens salad with cayenne pecans, gorgonzola and sun-dried cherries; dijon vinaigrette on the side
Such a surprisingly lovely salad! The blue (bleu) cheese wasn't too overwhelming like I usually think they are, the pecans were delicious but not overly spicy, and the cherries added just enough sweetness to balance the whole thing.

Gayle posing for happy birthday wishes

The bread is worth photographing. Foccacia may be a dime a dozen (especially at Parasol restaurants), but that doesn't mean it isn't satisfying. Or beautiful.

Me: Italian sausage pizza with wood roasted crimini mushrooms, mozzarella, and added goat cheese
Pretty much exactly what I wanted. A celebration isn't really complete for me without goat cheese (although cream cheese stands in fairly well), so I had it added to the already-yummy toppings set. This thing was so huge that I ate my fill on Tuesday, then Lisa AND I shared the leftovers for a full lunch the next day. Incredible.

Gayle: Cavatappi with grilled chicken breast, kalamatas, sun-dried tomatoes, feta, red onions, crushed red pepper, garlic and olive oil.
Her plate was clean by the end of the meal. I think that means she liked it :)

Eric: Old school spaghetti & meatballs with foot-long cheesy-garlic bread. Figlio's "Tender Prices" promotion is a sweet deal -- all this food for $10. Eric could have eaten for two or three meals if he was better about leftovers.

Red velvet cupcake with wonderful cream cheese frosting and a *sparkler*!!! Totally made my day!

Birthweek - Day 3: Bryant Lake Bowl-ing

2009-05-03T20:39:00.009-05:00

Happy birthday to me...
Happy birthday to me...
Happy birthday TO MEEEeEEEE...
Happy birthday to me!

How did I spend my quarter-century anniversary?
I went to lunch at Ike's Food & Cocktails with Eric, then took some photos of a few of my favorite Minneapolis landmarks.

(Foshay Tower, Marquette & 8th)

Walked home from downtown because I can.

My street, totally clean and empty!

(Rock sculpture @ Franklin & Pleasant)

And after an afternoon of rest, Cheap Date Night @ Bryant Lake Bowl!
Dinner of squash risotto with duck (fancy!):

Lisa, my "cheap date" for the night (thanks friend!):

And bowling!

My very happy birthday was brought to you in part by:
Husband:

BFF KatieP:

Luke, scorekeeper:

KatieJ, ham provider:

Suzanne (with me!):

And wine!

Birthweek - Day 2: Family BBQ!

2009-05-03T19:47:00.010-05:00

Some things to always remember:
1) There's something wonderful about mom making homemade cream cheese frosting for the homemade carrot cake she made you for your birthday (which was in addition to the homemade apple pie bars she also made you).

2) It's even better when she calls you a few days before your birthday to say "I was cleaning up to throw you a party and I just wanted to call to tell you I love you. That's all."

3) Having your Grandma unexpectedly show up at your birthday party is almost as good as the previous two good-things-to-remember. (I hope she forgives me for only taking this one silly shot.)

3) Tortilla chips make completely appropriate photo subjects when you've just gotten a Canon Rebel XSi for your birthday!

4) Dads make the best hamburgers. Even if I ate hot dogs.

All this adds up to one wonderful birthday with (most of) my family, including the in-laws, Michelle, Gary, Marni, and Doug (no Joe or Jade, or my far-flung brother and his family).

Birthweek - Day 1: El Mariachi!

2009-05-03T19:40:00.003-05:00

Sadly, I don't have pictures from El Mariachi. We forgot my camera at home, and my friends only took a small handful anyway. The highlights from the first night of birthweek festivities? Tres leches cake (divine), the most delicious beans and rice I've ever had (This is not to say they are the world's greatest, just that I didn't know beans and rice could taste that good, and have never had others of this caliber. But they were fantastic and flavorful!), and an unexpected mariachi band playing Cielito Lindo (what luck!) thanks to Zoe and Dan!

Probably Not Allowed

2009-04-20T01:19:00.005-05:00

It is officially rooftop deck season! Earlier this weekend I put out the APB that, given the insanely gorgeous weather, enjoyment of the rooftop patio would commence immediately. And commence it did with bean bag toss (probably not allowed), beer (allowed, but probably against the wishes of some in my building), and lots of friends (also probably not allowed). I held down the post as the rule-enforcer (definitely allowed, unfortunately). No grill, however (probably -- no, definitely not allowed). Have you seen the view from our roof? Totally worth it. This summer is going to be Uptown living at its finest, folks.

What is allowed? Taking advantage of our time living in Uptown before we move (whenever that ends up being) -- in the past week and a half or so we've successfully

Walked Lake of the Isles. A couple of times.
Walked to Calhoun Square
Drank root beer @ Williams Pub and Peanut Bar
Enjoyed having a favorite dive bar a matter of feet (we're talking fewer than 3 blocks) from our place; see "A quality Friday night @ Red Dragon"
Discussed the finer points of bar bathroom design @ Drink Uptown
Eaten fresh rolls @ Tum Rup Thai
Had coffee and dessert @ French Meadow Cafe
Walked the 4 blocks to McDonald's for dinner *but* eaten it on the rooftop deck (because it's just that close)
Stopped by Hum's Liquor for a six-pack of Leinie's Summer Shandy (It's back! Summer may now begin!). Total roundtrip time: 14 minutes. No kidding.
Introduced an old colleague to Common Roots -- yet another fantastic restaurant within a 10 minute walk of chez Rice
Patronized my favorite local coffeeshop, Muddy Waters
Walked to the YWCA (doubles as a great warm-up)

And that's with temps only breaking the 60s/70s a handful of days. Imagine the gloriousness when it's regularly above 50. I'm psyched.

A quality Friday night @ the Red Dragon

2009-04-17T23:13:00.001-05:00

Cranberry raspberry tart + cream cheese wontons = I <3 Uptown

Pretty duck (loon?)

2009-04-14T16:08:00.001-05:00

Spring sprung at Lake of the Isles :)

2009-04-14T15:58:00.001-05:00

Charoset ice cream

2009-04-13T16:36:00.001-05:00

Passover seder plate!

2009-04-13T10:25:00.002-05:00

A pre-game empty stadium

2009-04-12T16:24:00.001-05:00

My family at the Twins vs. White Sox game Easter Sunday

2009-04-12T16:23:00.002-05:00

At the White Sox stadium (parking lot)

2009-04-12T16:20:00.001-05:00

Call holding the lamb that was born overnight. Baa baa black sheep...

2009-04-12T16:18:00.001-05:00

Quentin enjoying his yogurt in the barn (before he spilled it on the living room floor :) )

2009-04-12T16:14:00.001-05:00

Ducklings!

2009-04-12T16:08:00.001-05:00

Calli and me with adorable baby animals

2009-04-12T16:05:00.001-05:00

My nephew Spencer in the tree after getting down his Easter basket

2009-04-12T16:02:00.003-05:00

My new cuddly friend. I named him Thomas. He's Spencer's barn kitty, but I don't think he's gotten a permanent name from him yet ;)

2009-04-12T16:00:00.002-05:00

Gobble gobble gobble! You can't beat these feathers.

2009-04-12T15:56:00.001-05:00

Duckies and chickens. Quack! Cockadoodledo!

2009-04-12T15:54:00.002-05:00

I'll help!

2009-04-12T15:52:00.002-05:00

I got to help feed the baby calves. Hungry little guys!

Maybe they just need breakfast :)

2009-04-12T15:50:00.001-05:00

"We have wobbly baby knees!"

2009-04-12T15:49:00.002-05:00

Some of the pigs.

2009-04-12T15:47:00.002-05:00

There are a slew of piglets in the barn, but the pics didn't turn out.

Tiny day-old kids, not even named yet. Yay for springtime on the farm!

2009-04-12T15:44:00.002-05:00

One of the kids nursing. Again - so cute.

2009-04-12T15:43:00.001-05:00

Calli with one of the new kids born the day before.

2009-04-12T15:42:00.002-05:00

Eric with a baby bunny. So cute and soft! (the bunny, not Eric ;) )

2009-04-12T15:40:00.001-05:00

A donkey. I didn't get to ride him.

2009-04-12T15:36:00.001-05:00

The goats. (What sound does a goat make? Bleat?)

2009-04-12T15:34:00.004-05:00

Sir Loin, the cow

2009-04-12T15:34:00.003-05:00

Bear, the dog

2009-04-12T15:33:00.002-05:00

He has four other dog buddies, but I only got pics of one of them.

Pika, the dog

2009-04-12T15:32:00.002-05:00

Welcome to Caulpris Farm! Moo!

2009-04-12T15:29:00.002-05:00

Victor rocking it karaoke-style at the Otter

2009-04-10T22:15:00.002-05:00

"When I Come Around" never sounded so awesome. Thanks for giving us a
reason to go out! ;)

Sara with the Buettner Boys!

2009-03-29T09:07:00.002-05:00

I got 'em all, even a kitty!

The Buettner boys!

2009-03-28T18:54:00.001-05:00

These are easily the happiest little kids, which makes them ridiculously cute (evidence: see the photo :) )

Out like a lion? Or is this lamb?

2009-03-28T11:53:00.003-05:00

Either way, March is on its way out! That means it's almost my birthday! Mark your calendars, people! April 27th!

The last month has brought lots of goings-on. We did a lot of work on our condo to get it looking better suited for selling, including hanging crown molding, repainting many walls, removing tons of stuff, and generally touching up the place. Eric's been putting in a lot of time at the office on a big case, and even got to argue in court for the first time last week! I've been networking with some really interesting, cool people, most of whom work at General Mills (or, "the Cereal Factory," as I like to call it) doing fun things like editing cookbooks and trying new recipes in the Betty Crocker Kitchens.

I still have not found work, but I'm looking and applying, hoping to find something sooner than later. In the meantime I'm making myself useful at the synagogue -- last week I gave a presentation at our synagogue's monthly event, "L'Chaim Mount Zion," where congregants present on topics they're knowledgeable in. I presented "Are you Friends with Facebook," an overview of Facebook (and Twitter and LinkedIn) for the uninitiated. It was quite well attended with around 16 people in my audience (apparently the goal is around 12 per session, so this was above and beyond :P ) I've also been trying to reconnect with old contacts and colleagues, and have been scheduling lots of coffee and lunch dates.

Katie and I signed up for the "Meltdown" competition -- a challenge to put in time at the gym, convert fat to muscle, and track what you eat, all in trying to get healthier/fitter -- at the YWCA back in January. We've spent the better part of the last six weeks living at the gym, trying to get in our seven hours a week of workout time so we could get full points. I'm a little burnt out now, but I've had some decent results (official results will be taken tomorrow, 3/29). Cross your fingers for us -- 1st prize is $150!

That's all for now folks -- it's time for me to get my weekend started! Hope you enjoyed the photos and video I uploaded last night from Luke's gig at Dunn Bros!

Suzie & Luke Dekarske

2009-03-27T21:16:00.002-05:00

Rocking Dunn Bros

Eric and Luke. Apparently Time Doesn't Go On

2009-03-27T20:52:00.002-05:00

At least not when it's your family in the audience, begging you to play your old songs ;)

Killin' the Blues

2009-03-27T20:28:00.001-05:00

With Suzie Dekarske and Luke Dekarske

Rock and roll!

2009-03-27T20:15:00.002-05:00

Luke @ Dunn Bros!

2009-03-25T21:07:00.001-05:00

Happy 21st birthday Joe!

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Back in the (blogging) saddle

2009-03-13T00:02:00.005-05:00

So something like, oh, three months and 12 days ago I made some New Year's resolutions. The #1 was to post to the blog more often. Although I seem to have figured out how to use the cell-phone-picture-emailed-directly-to-blog feature pretty handily, the updates have been lacking real substance. Sorry.

Here's how some of those resolutions are going:

We have not sold the condo, nor have we bought a house. *But* we have spent the past three weeks renovating the condo in an attempt to make it dazzle. Cross your fingers for us.
Corollary to previous: I've been doing a pretty good job refraining from shopping, which is kind to our downpayment account. Living at the gym helps that a lot, I've found.
We were on a really good roll of making dinners at home until the renovations started. We'll see if we can get back into it. A three-week hiatus isn't terrible.
We're not doing a great job of attending services more, but I'm definitely involved at the synagogue, leading Noazim (the 20s/30s group), participating in a leadership development group, and doing some communications/social media consulting/advising for Sisterhood and potentially other groups at the synagogue. This also falls under my resolution to volunteer regularly, to some extent.
See siblings and parents more: I don't know -- you tell me. I think we're doing OK -- not better or more, but not worse or less than before either.
See family more -- not just our parents and siblings. We're doing terribly at this, but I did suggest we have a family reunion since cousin Courtney and baby sprouts are US-bound! That counts for something, right?
I have not completed, much less signed up for a triathlon, indoor or otherwise. I have, however, been at the gym like I am. I just want to find someone who will do it with me. Any takers?
And the one that probably should be at the top of the list, not the bottom: finding a job. This resolution is going terribly. I can name a list of reasons why I haven't found a job, but in any other economy they wouldn't fly, so I'm not going to try to pretend like it's OK to use them now. I really need to step up on this one. If anyone has any thoughts on what I could do, people I should talk to, or places to apply to, please let me know!

Eric and Luke are getting a band back together, and are writing, recording, and practicing music pretty regularly now. They've even set up shop in Jim's basement until we buy a house with a space of their own. I'm pretty excited for them, but hopefully you can hear them and be excited too. We'll keep you posted :)

In other news, the kitties are good, though clearly building a resentment towards me for putting them on a diet. (The vet made me!! Poor Murphy...) Three friends have gotten engaged in the past 3 months (Congrats to Nica, Ali, and Katie!!!), and one will get married this May (FINALLY Lynn and Sean!). My eldest niece and nephew just turned 13 and 15 respectively, and I can't get over it for some reason. Basically, life is flying by and I don't know how to slow it down to a pace that can be taken in with any kind of appreciation. But I'm working on it :)

Every blog post needs a picture, right? Voila: me holding little Eli Bits! (He's kind of nap-y. Hence the serious head tilt :) )

Eric the Handyman

2009-03-12T20:07:00.002-05:00

My hot home-improving husband :-)

Murphy likes when I make the bed

2009-03-02T16:38:00.001-06:00

So much that he is actually between the mattresses this time, not just the sheets. Funny guy.

2009-02-28T17:13:00.001-06:00