Punks and Hipsters Getting Along: Fisheye Edition

So far the no car rule has been working out pretty well. I did cheat and take the car to my yoga class. Since I was going alone I didn't want to have to bike back at night alone. Although it wasn't far away I probably would have been fine. 

We also found kayaks at the thrift store this week. As we were excited to use them we drove around to four different stores looking for life jackets only to end up empty handed. Other then that we both have been biking to work or to run errands. 

With having more time in the mornings I start my day off with some hot lemon water.

That sounds so boring. I'll enjoy my extra sleep.

We had made plans to meet up with my old roomates (and Scott's too), Stacey and Toeknee. We were meeting them for brunch so once Scott rolled out of bed we headed to their new home in south Minneapolis.

Of course that means biking past the urban prairie (some intentional, others undeveloped).

Then we took a turn towards and past downtown.

Whenever we bike through areas near where we once lived I start to miss the old neighborhoods. 

We arrived at Stacey and Toeknee's, which is good heave of a football form Lake St. It's also a rough neighborhood, but has much more street life and tons of Mexican and Central American restaurants.

The four of us then biked to one of their fav restaurants Modern Cafe. I had always wanted to go here so I'm glad they suggested it. 

The place was packed and they had more people waiting for a table than actual tables so we waited outside and caught up on each others lives.

After a relatively long wait we were seated. At least it was a nice fall day.

To get a seat faster we took the offer to sit outside. Everything on the menu looked awesome. It was hard to make a decision. I ended up with a black bean and polenta thing. 

Can't remember what I ate, but this place has damn good food.

One of the reasons we wanted to see them was to tour their newish house and see their new chickens. 

I don't think we'd seen them since the post-Wedding drinks at Gastof's, which was nearly a year ago.

They have 5 total, all too young for laying eggs at this point. I said we would start buying our eggs from them. 

I was amazed at what they could eat. Almost anything you can compost as well as weeds.

If I remember correctly this guys name is Dragonbreath. He's definitely the showboater of the crew.

They sleep in here at night and then they are let out every morning. 

I got a fisheye lens for one of my photography gigs (shooting Street View photos inside of businesses for Google). I probably won't use it much for our posts, but it seemed appropriate for the chicks. 

The white duded loved running back and forth into the coop.

Stacey gave them some leftovers from her breakfast.

Oh yea they also have three dogs and a cat. 

They had Callie back in the punk house days (well actually since I lived the Casblanca house in Dinkytown).

We caught up some more and discussed our break-ins at both our places.

Our favorite cat (and the reason we got Peanut) Hex showed up for awhile.

Good old six-toes.

We were still excited to try to find life jackets. Scott thought of Midwest Mountaineering on the West Bank. They actually had life jackets, but they were a little more than we were wanting to spend. 

Eventually we'll have a more steady income, but sometimes I can't fathom spending $150 on a life jacket.

We still had fun looking around at everything.

It's amazing all the junk people need for camping. Keep it simple stupid.

Then we headed back home. 

When we passed the Guthrie it was flooded with photographers and people getting portraits taken. I didn't get a good photo quick enough. 

Here's Brooke's favorite part of the ride, the 26th Avenue North hill. Another moment where she needs gears on her bike.

Scott's loving the fisheye lens. 

It was fun for the day, but it will be relegated to my professional work.

We then did some harvesting of our popcorn. 

We had to pick off each kernel. I kept getting the cobs that had bugs or worms on them. 

Despite his blank stare, Peanut seemed intrigued.

We ended up with a fairly good amount. 

I made split pea, kale and homemade sausage soup for dinner. I just wanted to point out one of my favorite ingredients  Better than Bouillon. It's pretty much stock, but cooked down to a thick paste. It's really good. I just don't have time or money to make homemade stocks most of the time.

With my yoga classes being over I wanted to keep practicing. I downloaded an app and tried it out while Scott made dinner. 

We still hadn't made the tomatillo salsa, so I prepped that after dinner.

You pretty much boil the tomatillos with jalapeños (or the hot pepper of your choice) and blend it after the veggies are softened with some salt.

Then Peanut and I snuggled. I didn't want to wake him to go to bed so I slept on the couch until he moved.