Auntie B's Wax

A Sweet Goodnight

February 14, 2014 by Sara

You know my friend Ruthie? The girl half of the couple with whom Husby and I go out on Dive Nights? She holds a tradition of giving me chocolates for a Christmas gift. This year she gave me a very impressive-sized box of truffles.

Ruthie knows I love sweets. What she might not know is that I’m still working on that box of truffles. Oh, they’re almost gone, but I’ve been savoring them for nearly two months.

When I retire for the evening I usually like to read for a little bit. I’m still working on the Harry Potter series; I’ve finally reached the last one, The Deathly Hallows. The other night Husby and I were laying in bed reading our separate books. I surprised him by saying, “chocolate?” and offered him one of the Christmas truffles Ruthie gave me. You see, reading chocolates are darn near the best chocolates you can eat.

A tray of truffles (one of five!) given to me by Ruthie at Christmastime. Such a wonderful accompaniment on my evening journeys to Hogwarts.

Husby was gracious and only ate one of the truffles I offered him, but I could tell he wanted to make chocolate a regular part of his bedtime reading.

See that one in the middle? It’s caramel, my favorite.

Thank you, Ruthie, for a winter of indulgent nights with creamy chocolate. Thank you, JK Rowling, for whisking me away on the Hogwarts Express.

Winter evenings with a good book and some good chocolate…what could be better than that?

Posted in Everyday | Tagged bedtime, chocolate, Harry Potter, JK Rowling, reading, truffles | 6 Comments »

A Brief Escape

February 13, 2014 by Sara

You know how much I complain about the day job? How it takes up too much of my time and how much I wish my retirement would occur next week rather than twenty-one months from now? How the clientele gives me a bad feeling about our society in general and how the pissiness of the people I work with just drags me down?

You might feel the same way about your day job too. Sometimes it’s just a necessary evil we have to endure to be responsible adults. We have to pay bills, after all.

For those of us who are working strictly for a paycheck there has to be some kind of respite. Something to take us away from what pushes us into a circle of hell that affects the way we think and relate to our skewed vision of the world.

OK, I’m being a little dramatic. My point is, if we’re not completely happy, or at least content in our jobs, we have to find a way to escape, physically and mentally. That’s when I put on my walking shoes and hit the skyways of St. Paul.

Today you get to see a little of what I see when I go off in search of endorphins in the middle of my day.

Fun artwork in the First National Bank Building.

The defunct but still lit up Galtier Theater entrance.

A view from the skyway to another skyway.

I love this space. So clean, fresh, and unusually peaceful for being downtown.

See that building in the shadows? I want to buy it and make it into a single family dwelling…for myself.

That shiny blue monstrosity is where I spend my hours working the day job. It used to be a beautiful department store. Mom and Dad took us to that department store to see Santa when we were kids. Once in a while I’ll see a glimpse of an original element of the building and have flashbacks.

A place for corporate drones to have happy hour after working for the man. I’ve never seen it open for business during business hours. I have no idea what the name of this place is or what it’s like when it’s open.

One of my favorite buildings in downtown St. Paul. The Pioneer Building. It’s been turned into apartments and I would totally live there.

That gorgeous arched window of the Pioneer Building as seen from the inside.

My favorite doorway. It belongs to that building I want to buy and make into my own urban mansion.

It’s all about finding beauty and serenity wherever you can. It’s all about finding an inner life and living it for a few minutes here and there throughout the mundane work day. It’s all about making the best of a bad situation until you can go home and live a life you want to live twenty-four hours a day instead of six.

Do you love your job? If not, do you escape somehow throughout the day?

Posted in Everyday | Tagged day job, skyway, St Paul | 8 Comments »

Wordless Wednesday

February 12, 2014 by Sara

Posted in Wordless Wednesday | Tagged happy, shadows, wine | 3 Comments »

Doing A Different Thing To The Same Music

February 7, 2014 by Sara

Picture this: a young woman in her early twenties decked out in leather pants and thigh-high boots and only a camisole covering her upper body. Her long hair is brushed away from one side of her face and held fast with a sparkly barrette. The other side of her face is partly covered by the long mane of intentionally chaotic hair. She’s heading into a popular danceteria in Minneapolis to watch one of her favorite bands play live. The Suburbs. The dance floor will be packed with hot, sweaty bodies, hers included, slam dancing to Baby Heartbeat and Music for the Boys.

That young woman was me. Those were days that will remain in my mind as some of the most fun days of my life. But things are different now. I’m older, and slam dancing is not only unfashionable, but also dangerous for someone who may or may not have the brittle bones of a woman in her fifties. However, being a woman in my fifties doesn’t keep me from loving the music of my youth. I wear jeans and a sweater instead of leather pants and thigh-high boots. I have a neat little bob hairdo instead of a longer, wilder mane. But in my head and heart I’m still that slam-dancing girl. I remember what it was like to walk into the dark, smoky venue that was First Avenue. I remember the adrenaline and the thumping bass that became one with my own heartbeat.

My little DiscMan and über fancy speakers set up in Craftland

I got home early from work today and headed straight for Craftland. While listening to the music I slam-danced to thirty plus years ago to I deplasticized and flattened 144 bottle caps for future drink charms and magnets.