Sooki & Mimi
Tammy and I went to Sooki & Mimi for the first time and had their Prix Fixe Menu, titled “A Celebration Of Spring Flavors And Nixtamal.” The dining room was great with a nice warm feeling. The wait staff were top notch, and extremely informed on the menu and the preparations.
Aguachile Verde
This cold soup was a nice way to start the meal. I’m not a huge fan of cold soups, but this had a really good flavor combination and the green was visually striking.
Mackerel Gravlax Tostada
The tostada had a rich medley of flavors that kept me intrigued through the whole thing. No one thing stood out. It instead delivered this combination that was very satisfying.
Walleye Tacos
Delicious tacos. Neither Tammy or I are big fans of Tartar Sauce, but it didn’t detract from the delightful fish. Yum.
Kimchi Mandu
These were vegetarian and I’m not sure how the Kimchi was prepared but it was tasty and complex.
Hibiscus Rhubarb Bar
This was the perfect flavor combination to end the meal with!
We had an amazing day celebrating Tammy’s 50th Birthday! 5️⃣0️⃣ Cycling, Tennis, Patrick’s Bakery, Heather’s, 50 Balloons, Milk Bar Birthday Cake, Birthday Video, Custom Puzzle, Handcrafted Cards, and fun presents! 🎉🎂
Fifty Puzzle
Tammy enjoys doing puzzles. The kids and I have started a tradition of making her a custom Christmas puzzle each year. This year we decided to do one for her “big birthday” and we decided to take a completely new approach.
Here is the final version and I’ll share with you how we got here.
To make this we started with a hand drawn image that Mazie framed out and then her and Tyler filled in. This allowed them to work with pencil and paper and the clear borders for the initial idea. Puzzles are pretty close to 8.5x11 ratio, but not exactly. After scanning I do a stretch on the size to get it just right.
Now that we scanned the original pencil drawing, we needed to recreate the entire image in digital format. We loaded up Procreate and put the original scan on a layer and made it 50% transparent, and then used the iPad Pro with Apple Pencil to trace a copy of the image on a fresh layer above. This made a perfectly clean digital version, and allowed us to clean up the image a bit. There were detail areas that were too small to do with the pencil but by zooming into the canvas on the iPad Pro they were able to get it just right.
After the image was traced we created two layers for coloring. One layer was “under the lines” and is where most of the coloring was done. We had another “over the lines” layer for select sections. We also segmented off the backgrounds and the “50” numbers into their own layer.
One of the super cool features of Procreate is the ability to share a video fo the drawing being created. Here you can see the entire process unfolding, as well as the couple of versions we tried for the “50” colors before we landed on the rainbow. Our creative process took 3-4 weeks and here you get it in 9 minutes.
The project took a while but the finished product worked out great. Plus the kids got to learn how to create digital art and got really adept at working with multiple layers and understanding how to use them to create different effects. Mazie got into the various brushes as well.
The only mistake we made was mine. I forgot that I needed to create a margin on the edge for the printer. We didn’t factor that in, so the finished puzzle lost about 1/4" of the image on all sides. On the top we had sky so that was fine, but on the bottom we had this cool seascape and a lot of that got trimmed off. Next time I’ll remember to mark a “safe zone” there so nothing critical is in that area.
Tammy has a “big birthday” tomorrow and the kids and I have been busy for a few weeks getting things ready for it! We are all super excited to celebrate with her tomorrow! 🧁🎁🎉
Used the relatively low Ether gas prices today to register weeklything.eth on the Ethereum Name Service, including reverse. I already have thingelstad.eth and reverse. This still falls in the category of playing and learning. 🤔
I love how the Bike Vault Airbnb is completely themed around bicycles and even uses bikes as artwork. They have notes with each bike highlighting what is interesting about it. Includes Trek’s first mountain bike from 1983!
Trying to get one of my ICANN domain names, thingelstad.xyz, registered on Ethereum Name Service but stumped on DNSSEC error message from ENS, but DNSSEC tests out fine. 🤷♂️
Galloping Goose MTB Trail
I haven’t been mountain biking for over 10 years. My Specialized M4 StumpJumper has seen a lot of neglect over the last decade. But yesterday we all hit the Cuyuna Lakes MTB trails and had a blast on the single track!
We did the full Galloping Goose trail around Huntington Mine lake. The bike crew at Red Raven recommended it as a great route for a family with a lot of fun as well as easy access to regular trails if you need a break.
I hadn’t been on single track for several years, and it was the first time that Tammy or the kids had gone. They had an absolute blast! Mazie and Tyler were laughing and having a great time on the rolley trails.
We did a total of 12 miles with over half of that on single track. The weather and trail conditions were fabulous. This was the nicest trail I’ve been on. They have built up banks on a lot of the turns so you can hold a lot of speed going through them.
We’ll definitely be back again!
Cold day, but still on a vacation-y trip, so afternoon ice cream from Rave Creamworks!
This Cuyuna Lakes mural by Adam Turman right by Victual (go there) is fabulous.
Victual
We shopped for a bit in Victual in Crosby, MN this morning. The passion of the owners and the quality experience were great. If you are in the area a stop here is required. Many locally sourced products.
Chauvin Trial Concludes
Just under a year ago George Floyd was murdered in police custody under the knee of Derek Chauvin. Today our whole family gathered around as news of a verdict announcement in the murder trial was made just a day after jury deliberation started. We all watched history as a guilty verdict was announced on each of the three charges.
This isn’t the end, but is an important step as our community reckons with racism. I found myself on the verge of tears at the announcement, relieved of some anxiety and hopeful about our ability to learn, get better, and move forward.
I’ve went back to my thoughts on Floyd’s killing and I am so appreciative of the conversations and learning that has occurred. With that said, I’ve also gained a better appreciation for how much work there is to be done.
I think it is time that the city memorialize George Floyd Square, as a tribute to what will be an inflection point toward a better community for all Minnesotans.
I got my second shot of the Pfizer BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine this morning! 💉💉⏳
Many people I know have not felt well after the second dose so I’m feeling hypochondria a bit. Hoping for the best! 🤞
Crypto Allocation (April 2021)
I’ve been building out my approach to crypto. I shared my allocation in March and updated it this weekend.
Notes:
- I’ve been increasing Ethereum to get closer to Bitcoin.
- Bitcoin and Ethereum together are 80%.
- Increased the amount of Cardano as an additional Ethereum-like blockchain.
- Doubled Filecoin, which builds a permanence layer on IPFS.
- Added Curve DAO because of the focus on cost-efficient swapping between stablecoins.
- Added Enjin because of the focus on NFTs.
I’m sharing this as my own notes for any value they may have to others.
The information provided on this website does not constitute investment advice, financial advice, trading advice, or any other sort of advice and you should not treat any of the content as such. This website does not recommend that any cryptocurrency should be bought, sold, or held by you. Conduct your own due diligence and consult your financial advisor before making any investment decisions.
We hung The Frame by Samsung today and I am impressed with it. It is discrete. The picture quality is good. It is fun to have different art on it and with the press of a button you can watch a show.
Stopped by Five Watt Coffee for the first time since the pandemic and got an Iced Kingfield, my favorite fancy coffee drink. So good. Thank you Paul for the coffee!
We checked out Vivir for brunch this morning and were blown away. We got the Torta and the Chilaquiles Verde. Delicious. Will be back! 🤤
Had a great ride this morning on Matt Wilpers 75-minute Power Zone Endurance Ride. My first 75 minute ride so a PR by default. 815 kJ. Definitely started to gas out after 60 minutes. 🚴🏻 #FitByFifty
