never gets old

you know that feeling, around the holidays, when everyone is finishing finals and ready to take off for wherever their home is. leave the city, leave the semester behind, settle in and slow down for a while. yeah, that feeling. it never really gets old. in school, not in school you can still feel it, no? 

so get out and feel it. go on a long run, ditch the backpack, run like crazy away from school and forget about that final. because it's over.  maybe go to yoga, and do abs to this song.

| tegan & sara- closer | 

depth over distance

| source: dream a little dream of me |

i don't think i have ever been a depths kind of runner. i am always for distance. surface-y. i have to have my garmin, know my pace, go longer, go harder than plan or it wouldn't count. but then there are runs like this...

| source: a very wild and free depth runner at heart | 

the runs where you don't have to right gear, or the perfect food enough time before, you leave the garmin at home, you run naked, no music. they're depth runs. not surface runs.

surface runs get me into trouble. surface runs get me too attached to results. looking back i think i may have had some depth runs. maybe we have different connections to depth, to distance at different times. our relationships to each are always changing....

but right now depth is challenge. and challenge is getting outside comfort zones. and that means getting off the pavement and on the trail. with my garmin at home.

note: i was having this conversation as i was walking in the across the stone arch bridge last night in the snow dream world. i was walking to get a kombucha across the bridge on st.anthony main. i think i am discovering some new-found cabin fever city style.

learn to unlearn

for those who believe in god, most of the big questions are answered. but for those of us who can't readily accept the god formula, the big answers don't remain stone-written. we adjust to the new conditions and discoveries. we are pliable. love need not be a command nor faith a dictum. i am my own god. we are here to unlearn the teachings of the church, state and our educational system. we are here to drink beer. we are here to kill war. we are here to laugh at the odds and live our lives to well that death will tremble to take us 

| charles bukowski | 

we adjust if we let ourselves. we are pliable if we stop sticking to rigid ideas of what is. beyond unlearning the teachings that we see in our every day, i think the hardest part is unlearning the teachings we create within. unlearn our habits, our methodologies, our philosophies, or standards that really aren't serving us anymore. unlearn what isn't working. unlearn the crazy, unlearn the hurt. 

and then we can laugh at the odds. we can challenge the people that tell us no. we can live our lives so well...

so it goes.

because life happens. ultimatums are put out there. big life choices apparently have to be made. 

so you just embrace this song on repeat and consider it a sign from the universe that kombucha went on crazy sale at whole foods. that's right lovers- case of kombucha for $21.60. you have time. get to whole foods before this magic vanishes and we return to $3.69 kombucha tomorrow. i'm hoping my case lasts me 'till wednesday. optimistic? yes. 

| bon iver i can't make you love me | 

beyond bon iver and kombucha, something big is going on that will make this week not suck. my bestie/partner-in-crime/mom/best maker of pb-nana toast/trilogy queen/ life teacher has her first week teaching. middle school science kids in northeast prepare to get your world rocked. miss anne is going to change the world in the best ways. 

keep it small.

this saturday. keep it small, keep it local. do the small business saturday thing. this whole concept was learned into me at a young age and is one of those things that makes more sense to me than say, being able to tell time on a clock with roman numerals. but it just makes sense, right? shop the stores in your hood, shop the stores where they know you by name (and kombucha flavor). shop the stores that give back, enrich and sustain your community.

i could go on forever about my love for the small guy so here are a list of my go-to's. and clearly a last minute realization but after you small business your saturday away come home and watch this movie by the fire. ultimate underdog local biz. 

and, i would love to hear some of your favorite small businesses. share away. 

| spruce mn |
recently have fallen in love with this place. the instigator of this love fest  was the fact that they create beautiful simple bouquets and put them in beautifully simple vases. because seriously, who wants a flower arrangement is those ugly, tacky over-the-top typical vases that floral studios use. yeah, you know what i am talking about? spruce is the studio doing something different, and doing it well. girl's gotta appreciate a nod to simple taste done right. 
ps. how fun would it be to take one of their holiday classes 

| midwest mountaineering |
i literally have never left this place empty handed. and whenever my sister is in town she always makes sure she gets a midwest run before her flight home. second floor will blow your mind. and the workers know their stuff. which is so refreshing and at a place like this, super interesting. 

| hunt & gather | 
a new gem that i have recently been exploring. and a gem that you could explore again and again and find new nooks and crannies every time. this past visit,  sarah scored the coolest bright yellow window shutter that was all worn and patina'ed in all the right places. we hung it over her couch the long way for a cool wall installation peace.they just have so much cool reclaimed stuff. AND a room full of succulents. loot heaven. 

| patina white | 
whenever i am home and get to go to this studio i am blown away and every time i drive down the gravel driveway i think to myself that beth is like the emersonmade of minnesota. she does some unreal stuff. with loads of lake life style. too good. 

| rock paper scissors | 
my favorite paper store of all time. i feel like i have talked about it before. but man, it's killer. 

| home |

the sense of place that brought me to appreciate and love the small.

how do you know?

frances hodgson burnett | overheard at giant steps

like seriously.

how do you know

which one are we supposed to believe...

soundtrack to my morning.

| la blogotheque. take away show. lump sum. | 

this was my waking up song. aka i am driving at 5am and get to places and don't even realize how i got there. enter bon iver soothing my morning bones to come to awaken. 

| same love | 

this was my jam out, fully awake, get riled song that i played at that moment that you are almost to the place you are getting to. and you have to have just the right song for your last moments in the car to get you ready for whatever you are about to arrive to. yeah, that's this song.

| anything could happen | 

this was that song that when it comes in a yoga class you have to look up from your downdog with a huge smile on your face because you are loving on this jam and it just came on in sun b. day maker. 

| my life would suck without you | 

took me a while to remember what song this was, because it was that song that we burnt our arms out to. push-ups, triceps, biceps, madonna arms. rinse and repeat. rinse and repeat. my arms and shoulders were screaming at me that i think i blocked out the song for a bit. but it came back to me. my life would suck without fusion yoga and gitte. 

| drop it low | 

i feel like songs like this do better with no explanation. no judging necessary, you will re-fall in love with it. trust me. it was most enjoyed today on our drive to run the trails at lebanon hills. talk about a hidden gem. this place is pure magic.