It’s New Blog Post Time!

Just kidding…

I’m finishing up my final week of my 2nd semester of grad school, cannot wait to be done! Look forward to a new post this weekend! Here’s a preview:

“He now sleeps the sleep that knows no waking on this earth…”

Tags

Civil War, Minnesota Historical Society, Minnesota History Center, The Blue Door Pub

A photo I took of the Minnesota History Center from the buildings upper level patio. It was a cold day so I was out their alone. But you can really see what a cool building it is.

Well as you may have already deduced, I grew up with a family that has always paid close attention to history. Although I didn’t develop a respect for this until I became an adult, I look back on it now with some affection. Often my parents will come to the Twin Cities and my Brother and I will accompany them to a museum exhibit, maybe at the Minnesota History Center or at the Science Museum. Weekend before last it was the Civil War exhibit at the Minnesota History Center.

Seriously, where is spring?!

For those of you who are local, or even just in the Midwest, you’re probably asking the same question. Six inches of snow in the middle of April? That’s crap. My dog Morgan and I spent sometime contemplating how crappy that is the other day:

Yeah, we’re both pretty upset.

Hope you all are looking forward to my post on Monday. My family and I went to the Minnesota Historical Society’s History Center in St. Paul last weekend to check out the Civil War exhibit. It was great and I’m looking forward to sharing it with you.

Other than that, I’ve been working diligently at finishing up my second semester of Graduate School. I’ll be done with this semester in May and then I’ll have a much needed break for the summer. I’ve also been posting photos of Minnesota from my own collection on the blog’s Facebook page – go check them out at www.facebook.com/fortheloveofmn and while you’re there – give the page a like!

Thanks for stopping by – check back on Monday for my post!

.:Claire:.

Where is Spring?

Morgan and I are ready!

Remnants of Minnesota’s 19th Century

Hay Lake School – Scandia, MN circa 1898

One of my courses this semester centers on the evolution of American Architecture. Because the school I’m attending (online) is based out of Boston sometimes I feel like there is a bit of an East Coast emphasis. When the discussion is about American Architecture prior to 1800 or even 1850 it seems only natural that the emphasis would be placed on the East Coast, after all development elsewhere in the country had just started at that point. So, you can imagine my worry when I realized that my first paper for this course was to be about a local (to me) building that was built in either the 18th or 19th centuries. Frankly, I’m not aware of any buildings in Minnesota from the 18th century. If you’re reading this and you know of one, please comment because I would love to check it out!

Check out Facebook!

Hey Everyone! I’ve been posting some of my favorite pictures that I’ve taken of my favorite State on Facebook and would love if you would give them a look!

Here’s a link to the album.

While you’re checking the album out don’t forget to give the page a “like” – I’ll keep you updated on new posts as well as other things Minnesota!

Historic Saint Paul and her seven hills! An ideal place.

Tags

Minnesota History, St. Paul, St. Paul Winter Carnival, Winter

Every winter St. Paul spends a couple weeks embracing Minnesota’s most dominant season, winter, aptly named the St. Paul Winter Carnival. A season that is synonymous with Minnesota, it can sometimes feel like winter lasts forever. Typically about this time of year I get sick of the bitter cold, the traffic jams after just a dusting of snow and this year in particular… shoveling. Last night I did a lot of what I like to call “angry shoveling” where while pushing the snow around I curse Mother Nature and mutter obscenities under my breath. After leaving work early on Wednesday to shovel and salt my sidewalk we received another inch of snow that required shoveling. Owning a home on my own and being solely responsible for the maintenance of the sidewalks and driveway has been a bit of a daunting task. Thankfully, we haven’t had as much snow this winter as I have experienced in the past. Now that I have said that we’ll get a two foot snow storm tomorrow.

Celebrating Super Bowl XLVII

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Morgan, Photography, St. Louis Park, St. Paul, Super Bowl, Winter Carnival

I had a very busy and fabulous weekend! Friday evening was spent at a happy hour with friends from work, Saturday afternoon spent with my Mom preparing my house for a Super Bowl party followed by an evening movie (Lincoln) with a good friend, Lindsay. And then drinks at the West End’s Figlios in St. Louis Park with another good friend, Britani (designer of my blog’s header photo). Sunday afternoon Britani and I went to Rice Park in St. Paul to check out the Winter Carnival’s ice sculptures. Then, of course, there was the Super Bowl Sunday night! Twelve of some of my favorite people piled themselves into my tiny living room and we watched the big game, ate some great food that my mom put together and friends brought (I had very little to do with the food), drank some beers and had some laughs. I took Monday off work in anticipation of being a little sluggish and having some post-party clean up. My Mom and I spent the afternoon doing a little shopping and then I finished my long weekend with homework and some much needed sleep. My dog was even exhausted after our busy weekend!

As my schedule seems to get exceedingly busier, I’ve decided to make a new deadline for this blog. You as my followers should expect a new researched post on the 15th of every month. I hope this helps you look forward to new posts and gives me more time to provide extra detail and “fun facts” in each post. I hoping that this summer, while I’m on break from school I can pick up the pace on my posts! Expect to hear from me from time to time in-between these post to keep you updated on what I’m doing and how I’m spending my time in the great state of Minnesota.

An afternoon spent dabblin’ in beers!

Tags

Beer Dabbler, St. Paul, Winter Carnival

 I spent yesterday afternoon with a few friends at the St. Paul Winter Carnival’s Beer Dabbler. It was a great time – albeit a bit cold! I was shocked by how many people attended! I went to the Beer Dabbler at the Highland Park Festival this past summer and it had to have been half the size in the way of attendance. That day was the complete opposite of yesterday, it was unbelievably hot – so much so that if you were in the sun for more than a couple minutes you’d be sweating. Yesterday’s high was 23 degrees, just taking my hand out of my mitten to write a text was too long for exposed skin. I thought that the event was going to be held a little closer to the ice sculptures at the Winter Carnival but it was a few blocks away. Hopefully I’ll get to go check those out before it is over next Sunday. I’ve started reading a little bit about the history of St. Paul’s Winter Carnival and it’s been incredibly interesting. I’m excited to share it with all of you!

My friends Katie and Elsa, and my cousin Scott and brother Erik

-.-Claire-.-

Peavey Plaza gets its place on the NRHP

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Historic Preservation, Landscape Architecture, Minneapolis, Peavey Plaza

Today Peavey Plaza was officially listed as a “Historic Place” on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). For those not familiar, Peavey Plaza is a urban “park plaza” located in Downtown Minneapolis. The Preservation Alliance of Minnesota (PAM) and The Cultural Landscape Foundation (TCLF) began efforts to get Peavey listed on the NRHP last Fall as an attempt to deter the City of Minneapolis from its plans to demolish it. While being listed on the NRHP doesn’t necessarily save Peavey from being demolished, it is a big step in the right direction. This is big news for Minnesota historic preservation, modernist preservation and historic landscapes. A special thanks goes to PAM and TCLF for the efforts to make this happen!