MinneSo'Fast!

Fast as a speeding bullet! Quicker than a the speed of light!
Well maybe not that fast...but exciting! This past weekend was full of adventure. First stop....Canterbury Park for Extreme Race Day with the housemates. Get this: Camel Races. Ostrich Races. Zebra Races. All mixed in with horse races. Who would have thought you could actually race these animals! Check it out!

Heres the little area where you can 'preview' the horses before the race. The real professionals don't need to see the animals before the race though. They read stats and junk. Real confusing stuff if you ask me. 

You guys, this is a BBQ Sundae because why not? From the bottom: baked beans, cole slaw, pulled pork with BBQ sauce and a (tomato) cherry on top! Like I said because why not?

Onto the important stuff....EXOTIC ANIMAL RACES!

These guys raced in the "Camelbury Dash."

Thats...Rock N' Spit, It's Hump Day, Baby Got Back and Camelflage

Next up was the "Don't Lay and Egg Dash." Racing were birdies: Heisenbird (Ha! So current!), Ozzy Ostrich, Shake Ya Tail Feather, Little Flocker or Spaghetti Leg Steve 

Buh buh buh Bird Bird Bird, Bird is the Word. 

This might have been the most exciting race of the day! Featured in the "Zooming Zebras" race were Jailhouse Johnny, No Shades of Grey, Thicke Blurred Lines and Stripebiscuits. No Shades of Grey was a Zonkey! A zebra and donkey; if you watch my video down below, you'll definitely see the donkey come out of No Shades of Grey. 

Look at dem stripes!

I'm so dizzy!

We also saw a bunch of horse races. There was a "duck race" which featured jockey's who have never won a race before (a maiden race). There was also a race with 20 horses, the battle of turfs, 8 horses on the grass and 12 horses on the dirt. Check it out!

After the races, we scurried off to Highland Park, a little neighborhood where my housemates used to live in southwest St. Paul for Highland Fest! Celebrating their 31st year, Highland Fest featured venders selling homemade goodies like knitted wear, photography and garden sculptures. There were also my favorite things ever! CORN DOGS!

This is my blissfull-trying-not-to-look-like-I'm-taking-a-selfie-indulgant-yay-a-corndog-face!

Also...MINI DONUTS! I also had some fried cheese curds for the first time-YUM!

That's Brian and that's Rachel and that's my dumb face on the right, getting eaten by bugs while sitting on the grass. 

After we watched a few bands play, noshed on some mini donuts and saw kids spend their parents dollars on inflatable jumpy houses we had to make it home to the dogs. Brian took us on a quick detour up Summit Avenue. These houses were beautiful! Right on the Mississippi River, these big pseudo-plantation-colonial-manisons were breathtaking! Summit Avenue was named one of the "greatest streets" in America, whatever that means! Somewhere on Summit Ave is the Stuart House, one of the oldest houses in St. Paul! There's also a F. Scott Fitzgerald House and a Frank B. Kellogs house and a little further up the street is the Cathedral of St. Paul and Minnesota's Governors Residence. It was getting dark but we had to make a double pit stop at Hidden Falls. 

The view from Hidden Falls! It was so beautiful!

After all that excitment I had to take a rest day. So Sunday was dedicated to being a lazy lazy sloth which entails....massages, watching half of the first season of Scandal and this...

A lobster grilled cheese from Lakes Tavern and Grill. YUM! 

And a lot of puppy cuddling! (My favorite way to spend a Sunday)

Oh Cheyenne, you have stolen my heart.

There you have it! Super fast things and then super lazy things! And hey! There were food things in this one!

Stay tuned! Stay hungry!

-Taryn Julia

MinneSo'Much Water!

Check Check Check it out! I had a short day at work today so I decided to go on another adventure! Today I decided to go to the Milling District for lunch and some walking. Originally I was going to go to the Mill City Museum but then I didn't. Anyways...

I started out at lunch at Zen Box Izakaya. Yum! I had the Miso ramen, as soon as I saw that it had corn I was sold. The broth was yummy and creamy and full of flavor. I usually rate my ramen based on broth, noodle chewiness and finally how soft the yolk is in the egg! Here are my ratings respectively (out of 5): 3..2..and 5!! A WHOLE egg, with the creamy runny yolk. Overall, I'd give it a 3.7. 

Oh yeah! Poke! Yum!

Here's that beautiful bowl of hot ramen soup that I decided to eat when it was 80 degrees outside. Excellent life choices

I was going to go to the Mill City Museum but I decided to walk around first. I made my way to see St. Anthony Falls. Holy Cow! In order to see the falls you have to walk over the Mississippi River by way of the Stone Arch Bridge. I mean check this out! 

As I was walking across the bridge I saw this big barge hauling gravel (I think) being pushed by a tug boat (ironic). 

And then on my way back I saw it in this thing:

If you can see, at the top of those doors theres the barge! They float into the little shoot and it fills up with water, so the barge floats up. Then I realized its going upstream! Duh. So after that....

Can you see it? The little grain pyramids are floating toward the left! And then...

There it goes, up the Mississippi River! By party  gravel barge! Safe travels!

Heres' the beautiful view from the opposite side of the Stone Arch Bridge. The Minneapolis downtown skyline is peeking from behind there! 

My Ice'y senses started kicking in and I just knew there was ice cream somewhere around, low and behold, Izzy's Ice Cream was right down the street. Izzy's is known for their "Izzy Scoop," a small, tiny, little sampler scoop! Brilliant! Of course I went with the Dizzy Izzy, a sampler of 5 different Izzy sized scoops: Graham Cracker, Oatmeal Stout, Snickers, Guava Sorbet and Passionfruit Sorbet. I. Loved. All. Of. Them. If I could, I'd go every day. I sat in Gold Medal Park to enjoy my little Izzy scoops. 

Passion fruit (yellow) Guava (pink) Oatmeal Stout-Graham Cracker-Snickers (L-R)

Heading back to Mill City Museum I walked past the Gunthrie Theater. The kind lady at the info desk looked so inviting that I had to walk in. When I was on the Stone Arch Bridge I saw that they had a little look out so I wanted to know if it was open to the public. The lovely lady at the desk told me that I just had to stop on the 4th floor on the endless bridge, then make my way up to the 9th floor for a view of the river and the city skyline. Sold!

Heres a peep from the 4th floor "Endless Bridge." The little jut out is a mirror, so it looks like you're floating in the sky! 

From the 9th floor of the Gunthrie Theater. All of the windows have a yellow tint to them. The lady at the front desk told me it was because otherwise it would be too bright! 

Good thing I'm not a'scared of heights! 

One last peep of the downtown skyline

By the time I had finished ogling at the skyline, it was already 4:00; cutting it too close to the Mill Museum's closing time of 5:00. So far, this really has been one of my favorite finds so I'm not too upset that I didn't make it to the museum this time around. This just gives me an excuse to come back again! 

Wowza, this was a long long post. Did you notice that the majority of my pictures were from an actual camera!? Yay for planning! What a wonderfully adventurous day!

Stay tuned! Stay hungry!

-Taryn Julia

P.S. If you're so inclined, heres a little quick slideshow I made from today. Theres some video clips from a collection I like to call "Taryn-Up-High," see if you can tell when!

MinneSo'Lost

Hi Everyone, I'd like to introduce you to my friend, Ganesha. 

Now you're probably like, uhhh Taryn why are you showing me this pot belly'd elephant sitting in a perfect lotus position? Well I'll tell you why...
(After a little research..) I've found that Ganesha is typically noted as being the elephant god; associated with being the god of wisdom and learning, the mover of obstacles. He is often regarded as the Lord of success and destroyer of evils, wealth, education and knowledge.

Yeah Taryn..so like what's the point?

After three full weeks of being in a brand new state, figuring out the roads, figuring out my projects (or lack there of) I still have no idea what I'm doing. I'm frustrated, scared, grumpy and tired. The projects I am working on deal with problems and analysis I have never dealt with before, ever. I am having the most difficult time remember that it is okay that I have no idea what I'm doing. I have to constantly remind myself that if I can muscle my way through this I'll be so much wiser after. If I can struggle through this, with a respectively positive outcome, I will such a beneficial skill set that will only allow me to accomplish more. I have to constantly remind myself that all forces are equal and opposite; whatever frustrations and struggles I have now, can only result in something positive. It's a tough idea to wrap my head around when all I want to do is show my team that I am not a dud and I actually have some inkling of what I'm doing.
I am one of the most awkward people I know but this internship pushed my boundaries of discomfort.   I'm not talking gas and stomach issues, I'm talking about physical frustration knowing that aside from menial data collecting, I have very little to contribute to these projects. I am for once, in a position where I am unable to take charge and just accomplish something (if anything); to me, that feels just the same as failing. I have yet to figure out if I have this problem because I am too timid to ask questions or if I'm just so lost that I just don't know what questions I should be asking.

So why Ganesha? If I were to ever have a spirit, god, otherworldly idol looking over me, I would hope it were this guy (or girl, you know- ya-ya feminism and stuff). Finishing my third week of internshiping and still as lost as when I first started, I'm going to need a lot of help ushering in wisdom, knowledge, education and success into the later half of my summer session here. I will gladly let an elephant idol scare and trample away all the evil and obstacles he can. So, Ganesha, help me lotus position my way to some kind of clarity within the next few days, please.

Apologies for the sappy-pre-quarter-life crisis ramble here. I"ll try to find some food related things soon; till then..
Stay tuned! Stay hungry!
-Taryn Julia

MinneSo'Cultured!

Greetings! Guess where I went today? The MIA! (Not to be confused with the CIA) The Minneapolis Institute of Art museum is adjacent to the campus about 6 blocks from downtown.  I was a lucky duck today and got off of work early so I scooted into the city for lunch and culture!
My first stop: Lunch.
The Copper Hen on Nicollete Ave in Minneapolis was delightful, for a lack of better words. Sitting at a big cherry wood table (to myself 'cause I'm a brat) I was surrounded by exposed wooden beams, high vaulted ceilings, chalkboard menus and adorable thistles in little white milk jars. Adorable! I had the Sherwood Forest; smoked Wild Acres turkey, brie, tart apple slices, caramelized onions and aioli, on wheat bread with a side of smashed potato fries. The sandwich was delicious but the smashed fries?! I don't even know how to describe how yummy they were! Everything was chased with homemade lemonade...served in a little mason jar because why not!?


Just around the corner was the MIA. Situation on a full blocks worth of area, I was greeted by huge Corinthian pillars that lead to a marble entry way...and a naked statue. The first floor housed art from Asia, Pacific Islands, Africa, Ancient Art, Early Americas and Modern/Contemporary art (which I always enjoy). By the time I got to the second floor I was so tired but I had to keep going!

Asian Thing....

Another asian thing...

More asian things...

Large ethnic minority in asian things.. (Hmong outwear actually, which was really interesting to see. Each village has a particular cloth, print or type of attire specific to just them. Their individuality also ranges to their hair style, jewelry and baby carriers)

Japanese asian things...

Tiny figure of asian things.. (Theres actually a ram on his hat! My zodiac animal!)

Asian things to rest your head on (aka a pillow...no fluffy down feathers here!)

The second floor featured more Modern and Contemporary art, Europe from 1200-1600 and Europe and Americas from 1600-1900. There was a lovely exhibit featuring photography as well. I'm pretty sure I went to every room...pretty sure. I have a billion more pictures but....my phone doesn't want to share them yet. Sorry bout it!

 Woo so modern!

These are tiny little figurines from Japan. It said that they're used as charms that help keep sashes and belts on. These things were TINY! 

These things were so detailed, you could see the Monkey picking something out of the guys ear!

Shameless kimono selfie #SKS!

"Natural" 

They had this section praising Swedish architecture and design. I'm pretty sure they just bought things from Ikea in Bloomington.

"Swedish Modern Design"

More "Swedish Modern Design"

Some cute "Swedish Modern Design"

Though this looks small, it was probably twice my height!

Guess who this is!

I really enjoy the composition of the smooshy lines..

I actually really liked this one

G. Dub looking all regal and stuff

This was in a "period-style room." Real authentic artifacts, I'm sure.

Livin it up in the "Versailles" room...Shameless Versailles Selfie! #SVS

Oh, I really liked the depth and dimension of this lady sitting somewhere...

I just thought this was the funniest painting ever and really hoped the artist didn't use a live model, cause that pose is fierce!

(Heres some actual knowledge) Back in the day Cream of Wheat enlisted really good artists to paint their ads, to make them more relatable to their customers. (I might have made that up)

Oh. You fancy huh

This is a terrible picture, but this is the old, OLD Otis elevator that I accidentally took to the basement level. And then an old museum worker lady was like "uh, what are you doing down here" to which I responded with a quick "oh! I must have not hit the button fast enough" Awk...Ward!

Do you even lift bro?

Sorry this isn't all about food! One day we'll get back to the food things...but till then!
Stay tuned! Stay hungry!
-Taryn Julia