A Home Alone holiday!

So as if Thanksgiving and Black Friday weren't great enough with my siblings home and all reunited under my parents' roof, we had yet another major Schwegfam tradition on Saturday of last weekend! Every year, my mom organizes some kind of fantastic holiday outing for us on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. Last year we went to Irving Berlin's "White Christmas" at the Orpheum after a great dinner at J.D. Hoyt's; in 2013 it was Ike's brunch and "A Christmas Carol" at the Guthrie. It always feels like the official kickoff to the Christmas season, and I love few things more than getting dressed up and going out downtown with my family, which makes it even more special in my eyes. 

This year I was pretty much shit-my-pants-excited because our outing was to one of my all-time favorite places: Orchestra Hall! Anyone who has read here more than briefly knows way too much about my obsession with the amazing Minnesota Orchestra...I've been a regular attendee since their lockout ended (even though I'm usually on the WAY younger end of the audience's spectrum!). Their program for the weekend? A particularly unique and amazing combination performance and screening of "Home Alone!" COULD NOT WAIT. 

My mom, Em and I started our day with manicures and a little more shopping at 50th and France. I loved the sparkly decor on all the trees and every street corner. 

We parted ways, and I went home and got all cleaned up for our family Christmas card photo, which we'd decided to take on my building's roof. I haven't written much about it yet, but I decided to cut off literally half my hair before my Boston trip a few weeks ago, and I'm still figuring out the six-inches-shorter thing. Of course, being a patented basic bitch, when I finished applying makeup and taming my hair, I took and shamelessly Snapchatted a selfie. And then saved it to my camera roll. Because days when I look this nice are few and far between, okay?! 

Gotta say, the Christmas card photos turned out pretty flipping cute...stay tuned for a full reveal as soon as my mom gets them mailed!

Photo-taking done, we drank a little wine in my apartment and headed over to Butcher and the Boar for an unbelievably fantastic dinner. I've loved that place since my original Minneapolis roomie, Kathryn, and I were among the first to dine there after they opened across the street from my old apartment! This was Em and Jon's first trip, and I think we all had a blast. I'm afraid we were probably "those" people having way too much fun, talking way too loudly, and taking way too many pictures.

I drank their perfect Classic Manhattan, while Jonathan and my dad split a few bourbon flights. I'm not a huge bourbon/whiskey person, but for a really well-done Manhattan, I'll cave, and Butcher and the Boar's is amazing. 

Cute sibling photos: 

A mama-daughter keeper (that I'm totally framing):

Our "titans of the gene pool" parents: 

And our insane dinner. If you go, get the Stuffed Jalapenos, the Texas Long Rib, and the Brussels Sprouts!! Although everything was fantastic. You can't go wrong there, I swear. 

Orchestra Hall got WAY into the spirit of "Home Alone," which was super fun for me...I'd never seen it decked out or quite so silly for any of my other events! The amazing team there had gone all out to replicate some of Kevin's booby traps from the film. From broken-glass lights and ornaments...

...to giant (and smaller) spiders "crawling" around...

...and my personal favorite, a treehouse complete with a flying "Kevin" that concertgoers could launch themselves! It was so creative and entertaining, and set the tone for an insanely magical evening. 

So here's how this all works: The movie is shown above the stage, with the orchestra below. It's the entire movie...just without the score in the background, and the conductor literally watches the movie on a tiny screen at the rostrum, conducting and cuing the orchestra as the movie calls for it. IT WAS SO FREAKING AMAZING. I directed and conducted a middle-school band program in South Bend for two years in college, so I can appreciate on a very basic level how technically challenging conducting is in general...and I cannot imagine the difficulty or precision that this would take. 

Fortunately, Sarah Hicks, the Pops conductor for the Minnesota Orchestra, is a goddess and my 100% girl crush, and she effing killed it. In five-inch heels, no less, legitimately almost dancing while she conducted. The woman is a freaking virtuoso. I was so stunned and so completely blown away from the moment they played the Twentieth Century Fox intro music that I actually started crying. It took orchestral performance to an entirely new place for me...such a cool, unexpected fusion of pop culture and a traditional art form I love and appreciate so much. 

My mom took some video, which is a true must-watch: 

Isn't it unbelievable?! So much talent and skill. The concert also included the amazing Minnesota Boychoir to sing the traditional chorale parts of the score, and concluded with a totally festive and perfect rendition of "We Wish You A Merry Christmas." Loved literally every minute of it. 

As if the night could have gotten better, or as if Orchestra Hall's team could have knocked it further out of the park, the entire audience left the theater to this: 

On first glance, I thought it was fake snow. Nope. It was feathers, as in this scene: 

PERFECT, I TELL YOU. Thanks for making my holiday season, Minnesota Orchestra. Sarah Hicks, you are my idol. And Kevin McCallister...keep the change, ya filthy animal. 

Oscars 2015!

I love watching awards shows...mostly for the red carpet (dirty little secret). My mom, Emily and I have way too much fun dissecting who looks great, who missed the mark, and who bugs us in a group text. This year's Oscars didn't disappoint in that department!

Usually we keep the pre-show turned to E!, but it seemed that the downpour in LA caused major red carpet delays and kept E! from their usual shenanigans. It may officially cement my status as shamefully shallow, but I really missed the Mani Cam and 360 Glam Cam, not to mention Ryan Seacrest's interviews. I did, however, love the coverage and discussion of the #AskHerMore campaign, pushing the red carpet to focus less on what the beautiful female nominees are wearing, and more on their achievements, thoughts, and experiences. This article summed it up particularly incisively. 

That said, because I am obsessed with the fashion, here were my red carpet winners: 

1. Lupita Nyongo. 

Oh my god, that stunning pearl dress. Could you even imagine being draped in 6,000 pearls? She kept the rest of her look simple with luminous makeup and just blew me away. 

2. Rosamund Pike. 

Talk about patrician elegance. That dress is smoldering, which works perfectly with her cool classic-English beauty. 

3. Marion Cotillard. 

I thought that her dress was beautiful from the front, but the super-unique back is so wonderfully whimsical and her that it took it to an entirely different level. 

And my least favorites: 

1. Scarlett Johansson. 

What the heck is with her weird poison ivy necklace? Ditch that and the look would have gone to a "meh" rather than a "yuck" for me. 

2. Chrissy Teigen. 

Everyone on E! was gushing about how gorgeous she is, but I hate the light hair color and I think she just looks way grossly overdone, especially next to so many effortless beauties. 

3. Reese Witherspoon. 

I can forgive her limp, weird hair (it was pouring...), but I can't get over wasting a Best Actress nomination year on that totally blah, conservative waste of a dress. 

As for the show itself: The opening number absolutely blew my mind. It's crazy what technology and talent can do, and I think Neil Patrick Harris showcased the Academy's tech and his talent perfectly. Throwing in a little Anna Kendrick didn't hurt one bit, either. The musical performances were all spot-on too! I loved Adam Levine's rendition from "Begin Again," The Lonely Island doing "Everything Is Awesome" was great, and of course Lady Gaga was noteworthy as usual...I didn't realize she had such a gorgeous voice and loved her "Sound of Music" tribute! 

The "In Memoriam" was so sad and wonderful this year. Seeing luminaries like Ed Hermann, Maya Angelou and Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Richard Attenborough, Lauren Bacall, and of course Robin Williams was incredibly moving, and the way Meryl Streep grew visibly emotional discussing their legacies was so heartfelt and eloquent. Jennifer Hudson's gorgeous tribute too...I thought it was so well-done this year. 

And the movies? The only one I actually saw was "American Sniper," which is way off my norm. I loved J.K. Simmons's heartfelt Best Supporting Actor speech, exhorting America to call our moms, but was terribly annoyed by Patricia Arquette name-dropping random social issues every 2 seconds. I think part of the reason I was so annoyed is that her hair looked like mine does after the gym...Patricia, it's the Oscars, try harder!! I'm thrilled for Eddie Redmayne and Julianne Moore, both of whom I love, and I look forward to seeing Birdman before next year's Oscars...

All said, a wonderful Academy Awards! Next year, I'm going to try to see all the nominees...it's so much more fun when you know what's going on!

Weekend Update

January ended and February began with subzero temperatures, a lot of wind, and a remarkably fun, relaxing weekend for me! 

On Friday, I ditched out of work ridiculously early, which turned out to be totally lucky because I had debit card fraud. Cue total panicked freakout when my card wouldn't work at the parking ramp pay machine...two hours, an irrational amount of stress, and a sweet and helpful banker at Wells Fargo later, all sorted out, and the jerk who tried to book a B&B in Liverpool on my dime should get a life. Thankfully, I had great plans with Claire to look forward to! 

My mom and I were planning to go to the Minnesota Orchestra's Shakespeare Winterfest together, but she had to go have a blast in Ohio for my little bro's fraternity moms' weekend. Claire was a champ and joined me for dinner, drinks and music despite being in the thick of a public accounting busy season! We started the evening with wine at my apartment, then headed to Masa for to-die-for tacos and the most delicious margarita I've had in a long time (and a mojito for Claire!). 

The performance was "Star-Crossed Lovers" themed, and featured Tchaikovsky and Prokofiev's versions of "Romeo and Juliet" bookending the Symphonic Dances from "West Side Story." I loved it--the Tchaikovsky is one of my all-time favorites with the iconic love theme and stirring strings, and the Prokofiev was a shocking surprise. It was Claire's first orchestra and it was so much fun to get to go with a girlfriend! We also ran into one of my other Notre Dame favorites, Pat, at intermission...it was so nice to catch up a bit!

Saturday started off with a quiet, productive morning, then I headed to the 'burbs to meet up with my Papa Bear! We tooled around home, ran some errands, and decided to go brewery hopping...one of my favorite new weekend activities! First stop: the giant, stunning new Surly Taproom near Dinkytown: 

Dad sampled Surly Hell and Surly Cynic, while I went a bit more out there with the Surly Cacao Bender, an espresso-hopped stout. 

After a lot of people-watching and marveling at the beautiful (jam-packed) facility, we went a bit more cozy and swung by Indeed. 

Here, I tried out the "Derailed Series Peloton Saison," which was mildly sour with a tart, almost spicy finish. Padre kept things a bit more basic with the Winter Ale on nitro...he shared a taste with me, and it was super reminiscent of the delicious, fresh-as-can-be Guinness at the Dublin factory. All tapped out (pun SO intended), we headed home for a great night of homemade bolognese, a few games of pool, and a viewing of "The Marathon Man." 

We woke up on Sunday with a hankering for brunch and a few inches of snow on the ground, so we kept things local and tried out the breakfast offerings at the Burnsville location of Lucky 13's Pub. Their Bloody Mary was fantastic...

...as was the "Breakfast Juicy Lucy Eggs Benedict." Um, yes. Picture, if you will, a cheese-stuffed sausage patty on an English muffin, topped with more cheese, a perfectly fried egg, and Hollandaise, and then add a side of cheesy hash browns. And that's breakfast. I would've popped had I tried to clean my plate.

Fully in a food coma, we returned home, marathoned "Property Brothers" and made fun of everyone on the show, watched a ton of Super Bowl pre game festivities, and played more pool. I headed back toward the Cities right after halftime, and caught the tail end from my apartment...what a great finish to a game that was way more interesting than last year's rout! 

Call me an old lady, but I had such a great time hanging out and relaxing. Keeping things low-key was the perfect way to end my least favorite month...especially because February is already shaping up to be full of amazing plans and festivities!

On my radar

Just a quick little snippet of what I'm reading, watching and listening to lately: 

Books: My dear friend Mike is a bibliophile of epic proportion. He loaned me "Landslide," by Jonathan Darman: a look-back at the 1,000 days following John F. Kennedy's assassination and how Lyndon Johnson and Ronald Reagan's political careers in that time shaped the face of liberalism, the American Dream, and politics for years to come. I'm about halfway through and it's fantastic. 

Movies: Anxiously anticipating the Valentine's Day release everyone SHOULD be talking about...no, I'm not talking "Fifty Shades of Grey," though I'll likely see it at some point. I'm counting down to the film adaptation of Jason Robert Brown's "The Last Five Years," based on the musical of the same name and starring Anna Kendrick. I can't wait to see how they take the musical and re-work it for the big screen!

Television: "Downton Abbey" and "The Bachelor" are back and both living up to expectations..."Downton" for just about everything, and "The Bachelor" for the eye candy and healthy helping of bat-shit crazy. I'm already getting ready to be a hermit for an entire weekend starting 2/27, when Season 3 of "House of Cards" hits Netflix...cannot wait to get a little Francis and Claire Underwood back in my life. 

News: I, like the rest of the country, can't tear myself away from coverage of the attack on Charlie Hebdo. The intersection of religious extremism, free speech, France's changing demography and the West's outrage and uncertainty has me riveted. I'll save my personal thoughts for a later date and post when I have more time, but I so hope anyone reading this has taken the time to think about the issue or read some of the great commentary out there. 

Music: Misterwives has released a new single, "Our Own House," in advance of their full album due this February...it's catchy and different in all the best ways. I'm also looping Nico and Vinz's "In Your Arms" and, of course, Mark Ronson/Bruno Mars's "Uptown Funk." SO catchy. More highbrow, you ask? I've got tickets to the Minnesota Orchestra's Shakespeare Winterfest and am eagerly awaiting their performances of works based on Henry V, Romeo and Juliet and A Winter's Tale. 

Summer Bucket Lizt.

In keeping with the list to end all lists, my 101 in 1001, I decided that this summer cannot be a total schlump just because I'm a suburban single instead of a coupled-up Minneapolitan. From Memorial Day to Labor Day, Minneapolis comes alive in the way that only a city used to seven months of ice and snow can, and I intend to take full advantage of that. Here are a few of the items on my summer bucket "Lizt." Who wants to join me in checking them off?

1. Basilica Block Party, July 11-12. The line-up looks awesome and I'm particularly excited for Caroline Smith. 

2. Firefly Music Festival, June 19-22. This technically isn't a Minnesota thing but I've had it on my calendar since my birthday and cannot wait, so there. 

3. St. Paul Saints game. I haven't been to one since I was really little and I've heard they're a blast!

4. Twins game. Again, haven't been to one since the summer after I graduated college--time to get back to Target Field. 

5. Uptown Art Fair, August 1-3. Like the Edina and Stone Arch Art Fairs, this is something of a family tradition and I live to browse the tents and booths for new discoveries. 

6. Edina Art Fair, June 6-8. And a de rigeur stop for cocktails on Salut's patio after, of course. 

7. Stone Arch Art Fair, June 14-15. And a de rigeur stop for vodka tonics with a whole lemon at Pracna, of course. 

8. St. Paul food trucks, Wednesday lunch: one of my favorite summer traditions. 

9. Happy hours on rooftops and patios: Crave, Cafeteria, Coup d'Etat, Hola Arepa, Salut, Union, and Solera to name a few. 

10. Outdoor movie: Either a triple feature that lasts all night at the Vali-Hi Drive-In, or maybe one of Solera's sangria-soaked affairs? 

11. Aquatennial Parade: a torchlit Minneapolis classic that I'm proud to say I've actually marched in (go high school band!). 

12. 4th of July, Aquatennial fireworks: I adore fireworks without restraint. The 4th of July is a no-brainer, but the true winner in the Twin Cities is for sure the Aquatennial display. You'll find me on the Stone Arch Bridge oohing and ahhing like a five-year old. 

13. Waterski: I grew up doing it and cannot wait to slalom again this summer!

14. Girlfriends' drunk day on the lake: Because nothing tops swimsuits, sipping a cocktail, and spending time with friends on the boat. 

15. Walk the Lakes: Calhoun, Harriet, and Lake of the Isles, that is. The real-estate eye candy just adds a whole new dimension to the nearly-10-miles of walking paths. 

16. Minnesota Zoo: I'll be skipping the barnyard exhibit because barn-smell makes me gag, and the uber-creepy Big Bugs summer special, but otherwise I can't wait to embrace my inner kid and go nuts over animals.  

17. Minnesota Landscape Arboretum: I'm feeling a gorgeous sunny day admiring flowers and maybe spending way too much time in the butterfly garden. 

18. Sea Salt Eatery/Minnehaha Falls: Hannah and I visited the Falls this winter when they were frozen solid, but I haven't been in the summer since probably high school. I've heard that Sea Salt has great seafood...sounds like a fun after-work stop for a hike and snack!

19. Brewery hopping: Kelsie and I have hit this one hard already! The Saturday of Memorial Day weekend we checked off Indeed, 612, and Sociable Ciderwerks, and recently also paid a visit to Dangerous Man. There are so many more to sample though! I'm particularly excited for the NE Brewers' Block Party. 

20. Roadtrip: Perhaps to Chicago to visit Laura? Or up north for a weekend at Kelsie's cabin? We'll see!

21. Minnesota State Fair: It's the Great Minnesota Get-Together, y'all. I can't wait for cheese curds and people-watching and things on a stick. 

22. Sculpture Garden mini-golf: I've never been mini-golfing, and it's #86 on the 101 in 1001 list. The Walker's contemporary-art-infused approach looks right up my alley!

23. Visit a farmers' market: For fresh flowers, or to check off #54?

24. DCI Minnesota: My inner band nerd is coming out full-force June 29th with fellow Band of the Fighting Irish alums! No shame.

25. Northern Spark, June 14: An all-night interactive art installation? Sign me up. This looks ridiculously cool. 

Here's to the best 90 days of the year!