round here

At work and at home, the high-stress level continues apace. On a daily basis, I’ve been anxious, angry, depressed, and overwhelmed—not myself (happy, organized, invested). I fear that the boys have suffered as a result but I hope to ameliorate their pain with lots of fun-sized chocolate bars. October has been an extraordinarily long, busy month. But some nice things happened, including turning 40 without incident. Here are the highlights:

~awesome birthday trip to San Francisco and Napa Valley

~a long-overdue visit from my brother Jeff (we last saw him four years ago)
Jeff and our younger brother Nik spent the night with us before driving to South Dakota for the pheasant opener. In a wonderful coincidence, they arrived on Simon’s birthday so we were able to have a little celebration with homemade pizzas and chocolate cupcakes that my mother made. Simon and Winston had a blast palling around with their uncles. Because their visit was way too brief, we all vowed to head south this coming winter and pick up where we left off. Uncle Jeff, a former golf pro who lives in the greater Phoenix area, would like to put golf clubs in the boys’ hands. Simon and Winston would be so lucky—I can’t think of better teacher.

~Simon turned eight
He deserves his own post celebrating the occasion, and I hope to give him one soon. We’re having a party for him on Saturday, hoping to keep it low key with just a few friends and a cake and (possibly) an outing to see The Bee Movie.

~I hosted a quiet cocktail party with a few friends
We ate polpetti (tiny meatballs), great cheese (a creamy, stinky taleggio-style cheese from Virginia and a goat-milk tomme), warm spicy-sweet cashews, and a tasty slab of country pate with vinegary-tart cornichons. And, we drank a ton of wine, including a 1999 Karl Lawrence cab and a 2004 Domaine Lafond lirac.

~We hired reinforcements
At the office, that is, we hired another editor to replace one who left almost three months ago. I hope we can quickly get her up to speed so that she may help us dig out from under (how many cliches can I use in one sentence? would you know that I'm a writer/editor?). She (Ginny) starts on November 7.

Since I am generally optimistic, I feel it's safe to safe that things will get better soon!

my next car

Just as soon as my little family can abandon booster seats, which in Minnesota is practically any day now, I want to buy another hybrid (we already own a Prius and hubby is getting close to 50 mpg). There is something really appealing about this aerodynamic car, such as the minimal nature of the "shell" and the cool cockpit feel of the interior. Plus, I'd park it wherever I could find a scrap of sidewalk, like drivers do in France and San Francisco.

Learn more about the VentureOne.

happy friday

The most stressful workweek of the year is coming to an end. Even though I have many more tall piles around me that need to be tackled, I'd just like a break.

Join me as I celebrate Friday with a dose of goodness from 1982.

wiki wednesday

It's time for Wiki Wednesday!

1. Go to wikipedia.
2. Click on "random article" on the left-hand sidebar.
3. Post it.

Here's a movie for the to watch list. Walter Matthau, Susan Sarandon, Jack Lemmon—what's not to like?

The Front Page is a 1974 comedy-drama film directed by Billy Wilder and starring Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau as a reporter and editor at a 1920s Chicago newspaper. The film is the third adaptation of the 1928 Broadway comedy play by Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur. Other feature films based on the play are The Front Page (1931), His Girl Friday (1940) and Switching Channels (1988).

Contents [hide] 1 Plot 2 Cast 3 See also 4 External links

[edit] Plot

It is the night a convicted murderer, Earl Williams, is to be hanged, and reporters in the press room of Chicago's Criminal Courts Building, overlooking the gallows behind the Cook County Jail, are getting ready to witness the event. Hildy Johnson, a star reporter for the Examiner, shows up late, and then only to say good-bye to his colleagues. He is going to leave to get married to his girlfriend, Peggy Grant, and to get a more respectable job. His editor, Walter Burns, doesn't want to see Hildy leave the paper, so he schemes ways to use the situation to his advantage and keep Hildy on.

[edit] Cast

• Jack Lemmon as Hildebrand "Hildy" Johnson
• Walter Matthau as Walter Burns
• Susan Sarandon as Peggy Grant
• Vincent Gardenia as "Honest Pete" Hartman
• David Wayne as Roy Bensinger of the Tribune
• Allen Garfield as Kruger
• Austin Pendleton as Earl Williams
• Carol Burnett as Molly Malloy
• Charles Durning as Murphy
• Herb Edelman as Schwartz
• Martin Gabel as Dr. Max J. Eggelhofer
• Harold Gould as The Mayor/Herbie/Green Hornet
• John Furlong as Duffy
• Jon Korkes as Rudy Keppler

checking in

Work has been a tad overwhelming since I returned from vacation two weeks ago. It’s been impossible to blog or read blogs. I hope that this will change after I ship my issue to the printer on Thursday or Friday. In the meantime, here’s a wrap on my birthday trip to Northern California.

The weather was amazing, bright blue skies and warm. I’ve posted my photos, which pretty much capture how pretty Napa is in October.

Food was one of the driving forces for choosing Northern California as our destination. Chez Panisse and The French Laundry, whose reputations are deserved, offered incredible multi-course meals we’ll not soon forget. Equally memorable, though, were other restaurants where we took meals.


John and I also stood in line for at least a half hour to order burgers at Taylor’s Refresher, a roadside institution for nearly sixty years. The burgers were solidly good and the sweet potato fries were stupendous. Besides, milkshakes and sodas, the beverage menu offers beer and wine, including the half bottle of Karl Lawrence cab for half the price we paid the night before at the French Laundry. Only in Napa.

Rounding out our meals, we ditched our reservations at Zuni Café and Piperade to eat sushi at an incredibly hip Japanese restaurant with a technobeat, Ozumo. We sat at the sushi bar and were served an amuse—a first when out for sushi—of a tuna “salad” on cucumber wafers. To start, we ordered hanabi (slices of hamachi and avocado with a warm ginger-jalapeno ponzu sauce. We ate the following nigiri—maguro, mushi ebi (tiger prawn), hamachi (as always), sake, kampachi (amber jack), and kaki (kumamoto oyster). We had rolls—yokozuna (grilled unagi, crab, tobiko, avocado and asparagus), spicy scallop (scallop, kaiware, cucumber).


For play, we drove. A lot. Our rental Sebring convertible was fun and we took advantage of top-down weather to see as much of the countryside as we could. We also took a hike in Robert Louis Stevenson State Park, which encompasses Mount St. Helena where RLS lived in an abandoned miner’s cabin in 1880 and wrote vignettes about Napa Valley. The two-mile hike took us to the monument marking the site where the cabin stood and from where we had great views.


Back in San Francisco, we had a nice stroll through Chinatown and brunch at a random restaurant in North Beach, which was gearing up for the culminating day of a weekend-long Columbus Day celebration. At the intersection of these two diverse neighborhoods, sits one of the country’s most famous bookstores, City Lights. We browsed. I could have purchased piles of books. Then we lifted a pint and spent an hour reading next door at Vesuvio. John and I had the entire second floor to ourselves—just us and the ghosts of Kerouac, Ginsberg, Ferlinghetti, Burroughs, and every other member of the Beat Generation.

I can’t wait for our next trip to No Cal!

ETA: photos

wiki wednesday

It's time for Wiki Wednesday:

1. Go to wikipedia.
2. Click on "random article" on the left-hand sidebar.
3. Post it!

Oooh, I got a good one today!

Pressure Drop is the name of a song by Toots & the Maytals. The first cover showed up by Robert Palmer on his second-solo album aptly titled “Pressure Drop.” The song was next covered by The Clash, and can be found on their B-Sides compilation album Super Black Market Clash.[1]

The Clash version is probably most well known and has recently been used in a Nissan TV commercial.

weekend report: October 13 and 14

Saturday
I’ve "somehow" [I think we all know how this has happened ;)] fallen desperately behind at work. I have an an issue that ships to the printer next week and I haven’t started the editorial yet. With each new issue planning session, I vow that this will not happen, and yet, here I am, dragging my ass into the office on a Saturday. Winston accompanied me in exchange for unfettered access to internet games.

First we rewarded ourselves with a trip to the St. Paul Farmers Market. The main weekend market is just a few blocks from my office so we moseyed over to see what sort of things were available on the second weekend of October. I was surprised to see that the market was hopping and that vendors had plenty of produce yet. We bought tomatoes, fresh sage, leeks, red onions, a beautiful head of cauliflower (which later this week will join ham and cheddar cheese in a casserole—I know, I can’t wait to see how this new recipe turns out), vivid-orange sweet carrots, and pinkie-sized fingerling potatoes. We visited with the Big Woods Bison lady and purchased a log of bison cotto salami and a few bison salami sticks. And, because Winston insisted, we picked up a bag of kettle corn, of which we made short work .

Later, we went to an early evening “surprise” 40th birthday party. I use the term surprise quite loosely as there was no hiding and/or jumping out yelling surprise, which is fine, it was just all sort of understated. The party was held at the birthday boy's sister-in-law's house so he was pleasantly surprised when friends began arriving . The invitation promised “family dinner,” which never materialized. Love these friends, but lord help them. Renee (the wife) bought frozen party food—egg rolls, meatballs, and more—from Sam’s Club and reheated them. The beer was good, however.

Sunday
John and I took the boys to Bread and Chocolate for pastries. I so wish I had a picture of Simon reading the comics. Some people are born to read the newspaper, and he’s one of them. Even though he's only almost-eight, it’s not hard to picture him wearing a bathrobe and slippers, sipping a steaming mug of Costa Rican and puffing on a pipe. It was a relaxing morning. I loved basking in the glow of My Guys.

After breakfast, we made a trip to Target for kid clothes as neither boys has jeans or shirts that fit. I’m not sure how that happened, either, since we had this foolproof method of hand-me-downs from Simon to Winston. Somehow the system is broken (one is grown, the other isn't or something), and they both need clothes at the exact same moment. We dropped a small fortune—which is possible at Target even when you're only buying what you need, damn Target—and returned home to watch football, fold laundry, and cook. The braised pheasant and polenta, with brussels sprouts on the side, was pretty delicious. I look forward to tackling another pheasant recipe soon. I already have at least four birds in the freezer and hunters in the family (brother Jeff alights later this week for the SoDak pheasant opener, which is a very big deal in my family). Must. Make. Room. For. More.

best. birthday.ever: day one

Thursday, October 4

My parents, who took care of the boys while we were away, arrived around noon so that we could have lunch together. Following a splendid meal of Punch wood-fire pizzas and a glass of chianti, our server delivered my tiramisu with a candle. The entire restaurant sang “Happy Birthday” to me, which was pretty touching.

After lunch, my parents gave us a ride to the airport for the Sun Country three o’clock to San Francisco. Once on aboard, I had the luxury of a three-hour flight where I could read uninterrupted and nearly finished the breezy mystery I’ve been carrying around for a few weeks.

Eventually, we landed and picked up our very heavy, but very attractive, duffle, then made our way to the rental-car counter. Since we were hoping for a top-down adventure, I rented a convertible. We were meant to drive a PT Cruiser. I had one on hold with a confirmation number, but when we arrived at the rental counter, we were offered a Sebring. Never mind, it’s still a convertible.

After a quick stop at our hotel to change clothes, we boogied to Berkeley for dinner at Chez Panisse. Finding the restaurant wasn’t easy. The building is located on a bustling commercial street and there is no obvious sign identifying the place. Even though I knew this, we still drove by restaurant a number of times before we parked and walked a few blocks.

It has long been a dream to eat at this seminal restaurant, and sharing a meal with my handsome husband on a special birthday was ideal. We ate in the main-floor restaurant where a four-course prix fixe meal is served nightly (there is also an upstairs café featuring an a la carte menu). A confluence of elements—walls clad in dark-wood paneling, brass wall sconces and ceiling lamps with Arts and Crafts styling, hand-tinted woodcuts of fruits and vegetables, and intimate seating arrangements—all make for an elegant and comfortable dining room.

The kitchen sent out a bowl of olives with fresh thyme. For some reason, Chez Panisse olives tasted better than almost any other olives I ever eaten. We nibbled on these and sipped $18 a glass champagne, toasting the best birthday ever (so far). That evening’s menu was both a farewell to summer and a preview of the wonderful fall produce trickling into California markets. Soon, the first course arrived—a composed salmon salad with perfectly sweet, tiny cherry tomatoes, tender-crisp baby fennel, and more. Next, mushroom soup. Then, the main course of spit-roasted pork loin with a dab of fig chutney—the tiny hole left by the spit was encrusted with rosemary—and a side of corn, which was my favorite item of the entire meal. I could have eaten three courses of the corn. Dessert was an apple-quince tart with burnt-honey ice cream providing an interesting counterpoint to the sweet fruit. We drank a local wine, which is to say a wine from Napa or Sonoma.

It was all simply amazing. Local, seasonal, fresh—the restaurant’s mission is accomplished.

back from Cali

Wow, what I wouldn’t give to be back on vacation. Handsome husband and I have been home now for four days, but my head, heart, and stomach are still in Northern California. The week has been a blur of deadlines, faces (I’m interviewing candidates for an entry-level editor’s position), and other obligations. I’m just getting caught up on mail, email, phone calls, and blog reading, so soon the highlights from a long, wonderful weekend will follow.

happy birthday—to me!

Today I am 40. I've had a year to prepare for the occasion, and I must say that I am both excited with the prospects of a new year and terrified. Quite frankly, I don't have many gray hairs or crows' feet. I have an awesome husband and two amazing sons. There is a nice roof over my head. I have all the friends I need. And, I have a fun, creative job, which sustains me. I have few complaints!

I do have a few resolutions or wishes for the coming year, which I may post next week. Later today, John and I are flying to San Francisco where we'll spend four days dining, imbibing, strolling, reading, and generally basking in the glow of each other's company. Dinner tonight is at the legendary Chez Panisse in Berkeley. I feel like a kid on her birthday!

Back Monday...

110 pounds of soul excitement

Run, don’t walk, to your local music store today and pick up Sharon Jones’ new album, 100 Days, 100 Nights.

While you’re at it, check out Daptone Records. This label’s website should give you a taste for their retro, yet fresh, takes on serious funk and soul. Daptone’s stable of recording artists is pretty selective. In addition to Sharon Jones, I can vouch for the awesomeness of The Sugarman Three and the Budos Band—each of which have killer brass and percussion. Plus, you can buy a lot of the music on vinyl—LPs and 12” singles. I hear turntables are making a comeback.

I’m secretly counting the days until November 16 when Binky Griptite introduces the hardest working woman in showbiz at First Ave.

Until then, here’s a dose of the funky and dynamic sister:

weekend report: September 28 and 29

The Shepards just wallowed in a lazy weekend. Most weekends we’re overbooked with kid stuff and parent stuff, so every once in a while we put Nothing on the calendar. Nada, no plans. Well, Soccer was on the calendar because it’s always on the calendar. But, this Saturday, we gave Simon and Winston a pass so that we could spend some good family-time together.*

This is how quality our “together” time was: I watched Saturday morning cartoons with the boys, and I discovered that Ben 10 isn’t half bad. After cartoons, Winston helped me make Bittman’s crazy-easy waffles. Then, we all headed out to run errands for important things such as Pokemon booster packs at Uncle Sven’s Comic Shoppe and bike parts at Grand Performance.

Later, we headed out again. This time, John hopped on his bike and pulled Winston on his Piccolo.** Win was clad in performance gear (kid-size cycling jersey and padded shorts), shouting “Tour de France.” They earned their ice-cream stop at Izzy’s (hot brown sugar). Then, they further shamed the sluggos who chose to burn fossil fuel rather than conspicuous calories by pedaling over to Micawbers in St. Anthony Village where we visited our friends Karen and Tom. We also bought some cool books: Adventures in the Rockies by Isabella Bird (part of Penguin's exceptionally cool Great Journeys series) and 2007 Best American Travel Essays for me and a remaindered copy of Four Colors Suffice: How the Map Problem Was Solved (by Robin Wilson) for John.

On Sunday, John and I took the boys to Keys Cafe on Raymond, the flagship of a small local chain. It hasn’t changed a lick since we were last there—oh, ten years ago, when we used to regularly brunch with the Cohen-Murphys. Winston was really crabby because we had to wait for a table, which is exactly why we stopped coming here for brunch. That and the restaurant is always crowded. The food’s not great. The portions are enormous and you roll out the door feeling as if you never want to eat again, but it’s fun.

I spent much of the afternoon washing and drying—but not folding—all of the laundry. My favorite part of the day was the time I spent in the kitchen. Since the weather is turning cold and the weekend was rainy, I turned to fall favorites, such as chicken pot pie. I made the very old-school filling (bacon, onion, carrots, celery, corn, thyme, and chicken napped by a sherry-enriched sauce). Tomorrow I’ll heat the filling on the stove as I’m making the biscuit topping, then bake it for Monday dinner. I also made an apple crisp, thus putting a small dent in the 14 pounds of Sweet 16s we picked at the apple orchard last weekend.

I wish for more weekends like this.

*Okay, true confession: we gave the boys a pass on soccer so their mom and dad could sleep in until 8 a.m. Yes, John and I are totally selfish this way. But well-rested parents make better parents. It’s a universal truth you’ll find most parents won’t admit. And, since we tend to go to bed at an ungodly late hour (typically, two a.m. on Friday and Saturday nights), you’ve got to find your sleep somewhere.

**Even though John drives a (red) Prius and milks 50 mpg out of it, he still wants to save the world by riding his bike everywhere. It only took him about 10 minutes longer on bike to get where I did by car, and I think he made a fine point. Let’s park our cars.