Babes in Bikeland: Hot Cheetos, greasy hugs, and the verge of death

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On Saturday, September 8, I raced for my second year in Babes in Bikeland, an alley cat race for women and trans bikers. This year I had a new bike to race with: a tiny road bike that has been deemed the #ponycorn. I also had a new racing buddy. Since my usual biking gals were unavailable, I rode with a friend of a friend, which ended up being super fun. She is pretty fast and I am not-so-fast so I had some moments of OMG I AM GOING TO DIE but I kept up as best I could. She was awesome about it, teaching me how to draft, waiting for me to catch up when she dropped me, and being relaxed about the whole race. Continue Reading

Pros and cons of the Minnesota State Fair

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I never visited the State Fair during my first couple years in Minnesota because I had no idea what a state fair even consisted of. When I was introduced to “the Great Minnesota Get-Together” by a college boyfriend who never missed it I, too, became a yearly fairgoer. Continue Reading

The four best things about working in downtown Minneapolis

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Have I told you I work downtown now? Well, I work downtown now! I started a new job in June and it brings me into downtown Minneapolis most of the time (with a trip across the border to a neighboring city once a week). I was so excited to leave my days of driving to the ‘burbs behind and start biking to work every day. I’ve been thinking about the pros of working downtown lately and have compiled a little list (because I love making lists). Continue Reading

Rx for the dog days: A lakeside escape

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Remember that time I went to Lutsen? Well, it was a weekend escape worth hashtagging, a weekend escape worth writing about, and also a weekend escape worth reunioning! Last weekend we had the Lutsen Reunion up at Pelican Lake (somewhere far too close to Fargo for me to know where it is but you can use Google Maps) at the cabin of Ms. @lahlo. We had the same crowd—give or take a few—as we had at Lutsen. We had close to as much booze and maybe even more food. Continue Reading

Minnesota vs. Montreal: How do the poutines stack up?

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I recently went to Montreal for the first time. It’s somewhere I’d wanted to go for awhile and I have some friends who had been a couple times already so we planned a little July trip. We rented an apartment and used the metro or the bike share (Bixi velo!) to get around. Before I left, people kept asking me what I was going to do while in Canada and I told them honestly: eat, drink, and shop. Continue Reading

How to survive a trip to the Mall of America

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Wednesday, June 27 arrived, and I’d agreed to an expedition to MAC cosmetics to do some makeup trials with a friend whose wedding is approaching. We headed out first to Eagan so I could get a laser shot into my armpits to fry the hair follicles and make my underarms hairless and beautiful…or something. It was round two, so the teeth gritting was slightly lessened and I had to hesitate when asked, “Is it still more painful than getting a tattoo?” before replying in the affirmative. Surprisingly, Eagan was the easy part of the evening. Continue Reading

Rock the Garden and the beauty of outdoor concerts

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For the past few years I’ve been volunteering for Rock the Garden at the Walker Art Center. The Walker and co-presenter The Current always sell out the garden and put together a fantastic event. However, every year I feel less than stoked about the event until I’m there, standing in the middle of the hipster mating ground with the smell of various types of smoke, the often-squishy grass/mud, and a lot of people in glow-in-the-dark Vita.mn sunglasses. At a certain point early in the day I always realize how much I love the event. I don’t even care who is playing. Of course, there are bands I like more than others, but I love listening to live music and I love doing it outdoors. Continue Reading