a guide to minneapolis // part 1 : things to DO

hey everybody!
today, over on the healthy living summit website, there is a 'blip' about me & the bike session i will be leading in a few weeks. hop over to see! 

like i mentioned last week, the healthy living summit is coming HERE {minneapolis} in less than THREE WEEKS!
i am super excited. i really do love this city!
i know that a lot of folks are coming from out of state & many {most?} have never been here before.
so, i will be putting together a few 'tour guides' of all the awesome things we have to offer.

todays post : things to DO 

1) check out a twins game at target field
target field is one of the newest {and raddest} ball fields in the country. the views are amazing. the food is pretty good. and the tickets are affordable {the home run porch is my favorite place to sit!}
if you are looking to catch a game, the schedule is here. {also, post on the HLS facebook page to find someone that wants to go with}
bonus : the field is downtown, so you can walk, take the light rail or ride a nice ride bike!

2) visit a farmers market
we have some of the best markets in the country {are you seeing a theme?!}
on thursdays and saturdays there is a market on nicollet mall {a half block from the hotel}
saturday morning, you can head to the mill city farmers market, which is right on the river! you can walk the stone arch bridge and get amazing views of the city!
also on saturday morning is the minneapolis farmers market {this one is huge, but in my personal opinion, mill city is the one to go to!}

if you want to venture away from downtown, there are tons of farmers markets on saturday and sunday {fulton, linden hills, kingfield, midtown}{if you want to know more, let me know!}

3) drink some beer
small, local breweries are popping up EVERYWHERE in minneapolis. most do {free} tours on saturdays. and lots have food trucks, live music and open tap rooms on thursdays and fridays.
go here for a huge list // map

4) go to the library
the central library downtown is BEAUTIFUL! and massive. you are free to go in and walk around. they also offer tours!

5) rent a bike // canoe // paddleboat and tour the chain of lakes
minnesota is known as 'the land of 10,000 lakes.' people now think its actually closer to 15,000! right here, in minneapolis we have a bunch of lakes & trails that allow you to be right next to them.

we have a 50-mile trail system called 'the chain of lakes.' there are walking & biking trails. most of them also allow you to rent boats by the hour. you can stand up paddle board, canoe, kayak ; you name it. being on or near the water is a great way to see the city!

6) take your picture next to mary tyler moore
did you know that the MTM show was based here in minneapolis? there is a statue of her in her iconic pose {throwing her hat, of course!} and its right on nicollet mall! here is the address.

7) see a midnight movie at the uptown theatre
the uptown theatre is in the uptown neighborhood of minneapolis. its near lake calhoun & there is tons to do. shopping, bars, places to eat, ect. my favorite part of uptown is the theatre! its newly renovated and beautiful! they show indie movies and always have a saturday midnight showing. more info here.

8) hang out at the walker & see the cherry
the spoon & the cherry is a landmark in minneapolis. bonus : its in the sculpture garden at the walker art center. both the museum and the gift shop are a must-see. the spoon shares its space with 30+ other sculptures, so be sure to look around. its a nice walk from the hotel. {you can always rent a bike ;)}
here

9) smile with charlie brown & snoopy
did you know that charles schultz was from here? there are HUNDREDS of amazing peanuts sculptures around the city. you can try your luck & find some on your own, or check out this guide.

10) go bowling at brits
brits pup is right downtown & offers $5 lawn bowling every saturday and sunday. its first come, first serve & a bunch of fun. info here.

tell us : have you been here before? 
if you are coming to HLS, what is on your must-see list?
and if you live here, what do visitors NEED to check out?

this is what a 500 mile bike ride looks like : part 1

hey everybody!

since i took about 150 pictures from our bike ride, i thought i would share them over the next couple of weeks.

i have gotten a bunch of questions about RAGBRAI, so, lets answer them!!

[have something you want to know about training // biking // the actual ride // distance? leave it in the comments & ill answer it in a few days!]

1) what IS RAGBRAI? what does it stand for?

RAGBRAI is an annual bike ride across iowa. this year was its 40th year. each year, it starts on the western part of the state & ends on the eastern side ; it is always roughly 450-500 miles.

RAGBRAI stands for the Resgister's [thats the name of the Des Moines newspaper] Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa

2) how far was the ride? how many days? how long were you actually riding? and did you actually do the entire thing?

the full distance of the ride was 471 miles. we camped in the first overnight town on saturday the 21st & started the ride on sunday. the ride was sunday, monday, tuesday, wednesday, thursday, friday & saturday.

the lightest day was friday & it was 42 miles. the three middle days [tuesday, wednesday & thursday] were 83, 77 & 85 miles. all the other days were in between [65-75 miles].

we left the campground each morning between 615am & 7am and got to our end towns around 4pm. each day, there were 6-9 'pass-through' towns ; which were tiny iowa towns that pulled out all the stops. they had food, music, shady trees & entertainment. we took full advantage of the towns & rode  s-l-o-w!

blake and i did the first SIX days. the last day was 70 miles & due to time constraints, we didnt ride. we rode back with a large group of bikers & they threatened to leave folks behind if they didnt finish on time ; we were both feel super drained [emotionally & physically], so we did not get on the bike on the last day. BUT we rode 400+ miles & i dont feel bad at all!!

3) what was the weather like? the wind? storms?

the weather was ridiculous. the first FIVE days, it was 102-104* every day! [the temp of the pavement was 115-125*] and it was SUPER hilly & we had 10-20mph headwinds 85% of the entire ride. you are biking through rural iowa. it is all hills & open [corn & bean] fields ; nothing to shield the wind.

on the 3rd night, there was a pretty scary storm that filled up hundreds of tents with water & dropped hail on some folks. we were safe in the tent & other than a little minor leaking, our tent did just fine.

4) what did you do all day? night? 

these small 'pass-through' towns go through TONS of trouble to make their town a great experience. at any given time, there are 10,000-20,000 riders on the road, so these towns rely heavily on riders to bring their town money [most towns want money for city repairs, a new pool, restoration, ect]. there are tons of food options, music, local historical sites & more to do during the day while you are riding.

and once you get to the overnight town, there is always a shuttle bus to take you downtown. there are pools, events & lots of live music. this year, the counting crows played a free show for all riders & three dog night played a different night.

blake & i were both so stinkin' pooped each night, that we were both in bed before 10pm!

5) be honest, how hard was it?

oh man, it was hard. i had a small breakdown [with tears!] at least once a day for the first 5 days. i have never done anything so mentally challenging before in all my life. my body felt great until the fifth day, but the wind & hills really messed with my brain. i questioned my ability & character quite a bit. without a doubt, it was the hardest thing i have ever done as an adult. i am the type of person that can so easily get lost inside my own head & really break myself down. if i ever did anything like this again, i would definitely bring along music.

what else do you want to know?

see you on sunday!

travelpantz in europe : a hidden gem in hungary! :

Budapest, Hungary: A Hidden Gem

Hello, friends of Diana!
My name is Jennifer and I write a little travel blog of sorts called Jenni Austria Germany. 
I've spent a good part of the past three years living and traveling abroad, mostly in Austria and Germany [bet you didn't see that coming, did you?].
As a result of these experiences, I've developed many opinions [maybe a little too many], one of which is: don't prematurely judge a city by its reputation or lack thereof.
For me, some cities [London, for instance] truly live up to their name, whereas others [Rome, ugh] leave something [or many things] to be desired.

Indeed, most tourists, when planning their European excursions, focus on the more popular hotspots: London, Paris, Rome. Now, I have some great memories in Paris, and London is one of my favorite cities, but I consider Budapest to be a surprisingly delightful city and find myself wondering why more tourists don't flock to Hungary's capital.

One reason why I love Budapest?
It's very, very, very inexpensive. According to the current exchange rate, a single U.S. dollar buys 233 Forints (the Hungarian currency). I once bought a jacket in Budapest for less than $2.00. A friend of mine, Chris, once withdrew the equivalent to $50 from an ATM in Budapest and had to go out of his way to spend it all before the weekend was over. He resorted to buying food and drinks for everyone, lest he have some leftover Forints, useless outside of Hungary's borders.

As far as sight-seeing goes, the Danube River which separates Buda from Pest (the two sub-cities that make up Budapest as a whole) is beautiful. Really, there are treasure troves to be discovered upon nearly every main street -- a Parliamant building here, a cozy little tea house there.

But the best part of Budapest [in my opinion] is...the baths.
The enormous thermal baths serve both medicinal and recreational purposes and lend themselves to Budapest's title of "the city of spas". While it is the older generation who mostly frequent these magical water wonderlands, you won't feel out of place as a young tourist. You'll have your choice of indoor and outdoor baths, but I prefer the outdoor. After paying an entry fee depending on the number of hours you plan to spend there, you'll change into your swimsuit, store your clothes in a locker and then enter the 'bathing' area. As the baths are modeled after those of ancient Greece, you'll feel as though you've gone back in time. And speaking of time -- it doesn't matter during what season you visit Budapest; the baths are heated. Winter, spring, summer, fall -- no worries, they'll be open. So set aside a day [or two] [[or three]] for the baths and soak your life away in the warm, calming waters. You won't be sorry. And if you are, I'll reimburse you the $3.00 it cost you to swim there.
___________________________________________________________________

i love it!
the post from chelsea about backpacking [on the cheap] through europe & this one from jenni makes me dream about going back to europe.
[i lived in germany for 5 months!]

stay connected with jenni!
twitter // blog [she has pages & pages of travel photos & stories from all over europe ; i love it!]

: lets go to europe : how to do it on the cheap :

hey everybody!
so, today is wednesday! we leave for iowa on FRIDAY! and the ride starts on saturday.
[oh my goodness]
i have a lot of great posts scheduled for my time away ; some are even from *other* really rad bloggers!
today, i have chelsea here to share her tips on traveling europe [for months] on a teeny, tiny budget!
_______________________________________________________________________________
Hi lovely readers of Diana's!
My name is Chelsea and I blog at Yours Truly. I am a 20-something Vancouverite currently living in Auckland, New Zealand with my cute Kiwi boyfriend, and I am a customer support rep by day and a blog designer by night!
How cool is it what Diana is off doing right now? I seriously wish I had her motivation and determination, she is pretty amazing.

Today I'm here to share some travel tips and experiences with you! 
Travel is one of my favorite things to talk about. So much in fact, that I often find myself being a little too pushy trying to encourage people to break out of their shells and get out into the big, beautiful world. It really is big and beautiful though, I promise.
Unfortunately, the thought of how much a trip costs can be very daunting and does make travel seem like an unrealistic opportunity to some.
Luckily, I am here today to tell you that my boyfriend and I travelled Europe for two and a half months for under $10,000 Canadian dollars. $10,000?!?!?!, you may be thinking. It does seem like a big number.
But split that in half and it's $5,000 for one person. That number is a lot smaller. And you could easily spend less than we did as well. This amount included our flights, transportation, food, accommodation, shopping and all things touristy.

The gorgeous canals that run all through the city {Amsterdam, the Netherlands} 

Tip #1: Find cheap flights 

Most people have no idea how to find well-priced flights on the internet. They give up after one search and call a travel agent to whom they end up paying hundreds, even thousands extra to. It's easy. 

Have your money ready to book with and look up flights on various websites every day until you find a price that sounds good! Sites like Skyscanner and Kayak can show you prices compiled from tons of other websites to help you find the cheapest price. You don't need to buy your flight the first time you search, give it a few days of searching, even a few weeks as prices are constantly rising and dropping. 

 

Swimming in the Mediterranean costs zero dollars! {Barcelona, Spain} 

Tip #2: Pack light 

You've probably heard this a thousand times, but I can't stress it enough. My boyfriend and I both brought 50-60L backpacks. DO NOT FILL THEM UP. I'm not kidding. You carry this bag on your back. It's heavy. It may not seem like it while you prance around your house with it on in excitement for your upcoming trip, but after a long flight or train ride when it's ridiculously hot out, you are going to hate that backpack more than anything. Packing light is one of my top tips for a good time while travelling. If you know you're going to hate carrying a backpack, then get a bag with wheels. It sounds stupid to go "backpacking" with a rolly-bag, but if the backpack is going to make you angry everytime you pick it up, then roll along my friend. I would bring a rolling bag on my next trip, personally.

 

Reenacting photos seen on Copenhagen postcards is also free! {Copenhagen, Denmark} 

Tip #3: Hostel! 

I'm sure you've seen or heard of the movie Hostel. Hostels are not like that. You're not going to get murdered/tortured/other-scary-things-here by staying in a hostel. They're actually the best place to meet other travellers and hear about things that are cheap/free/awesome to do in the city you're staying in. They're also VERY cheap accommodation. Hostel World and Hostel Bookers are the best two sites to find hostels in the city you'll be staying in. Some hostels even include breakfasts/dinners or have pools, just look up the details on each hostel. If you hate the idea of sleeping with strangers in the room, most hostels offer private rooms for a little higher price but still far cheaper than any hotel room.

 

Hiking up to a massive Jesus statue and enjoying a beautiful sunset.....priceless. {San Sebastian, Spain}  

Tip #4: Having fun doesn't need to be expensive

Lots of travellers/tourists have this idea in their head that they need to pay the 20 something Euros to go to the top of the Eiffel tower, or that they HAVE to get a ride in a gondola in Venice. When you are actually there, you realize this is so unnecessary to enjoy yourself and experience the city. Yes, it would have been great to go to the top of the Eiffel tower, but it looked pretty cool from the bottom too. We spent that money on doing a night time cruise through the River Seine instead, and I don't regret that choice one bit! You don't NEED to do every tourist thing there is {and in Europe, they know how to suck you in, there are tons of "must-do" things around}. You can wander the city, meet locals, visit free museums, hang out with other travellers you've met, take free walking tours often offered by hostels. 

You will still have just as much fun, and you can save that money for something you really were wanting to do.

Who needs a gondola ride in Venice when you can go in the middle of the plaza and feed pigeons off your body? Okay...maybe too far this time? {Venice, Italy} 

Tip #5: Bring a sleeping bag 

A lot of travel sites told me not to pack a sleeping bag when I went to Europe. My boyfriend and I decided to anyways, and bought a light sleeping bag that rolled up very tiny and took up very little room in our backpacks. 

Sometimes, the hostel is cold and you want that extra warmth. 

Sometimes, you're staying with someone you know in the country and need some bedding. 

Sometimes, you find someone on Couch Surfing to stay with. 

Sometimes, all of the hostels are booked up because of some conference going on in the area so you have to rent a room off crashpadder at midnight only to show up to a very sleepy old woman's house and you need a sleeping bag to snuggle into {this happened to us}. 

Or those long overnight train rides that would be ridiculously uncomfortable and/or cold had you not brought your sleeping bag with you. You never know when you're gonna need it. 

 

It cost us 30 euro each to buy lunch and spend the entire day at this amazing park. It seems quite expensive, but remember this is an entire day's activity, food and transport. Money well spent. {Plitvice Lakes, Croatia} 

Hopefully these tips have been a tiny bit helpful for some of you planning a trip. I have a billion more opinions on how to travel Europe, so if you have any more questions definitely feel free to email me at yours.truly.chellie@gmail.com and I would love to answer them for you to the best of my knowledge! 

If you are curious, my boyfriend and I visited the following countries in one and a half months: Denmark, Spain, France, Belgium, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Germany, Italy, Monaco and the Netherlands. 

I'd be happy to give suggestions on what to do or where to go, to the best of my knowledge, in any of these countries!

blog // facebook 

___________________________________________________________________________

fun, right?

tell us : what countries have YOU traveled to?

[i have been to canada & 9 different countries in europe!]

fisher price, paint by numbers & paper dolls : my huge vintage auction score! :

happy thursday!

a couple weeks ago, blake and i took a weekend trip to the town i grew up in [you can see my town-tour here]. on the second day, the three of us [my dad, blake & i] headed to an auction. we planned on just swinging by & checking stuff out, but stayed for about 7 hours!!

both my grandpa & dad LOVE going to auctions ; i have grown up with garage sales, auctions & estate sales. my style is very much a reflection of theirs. i enjoy older, vintage pieces with a story & bright colors.

so, blake & i grabbed a number & my dad grabbed his.

we bought TWO boxes full of vintage games [&some farm signs ;)]

also in the 'games' box, was a paper doll from 1982. she [and her clothes] are in great condition.

two horse paint-by-numbers! i am in the process of painting these, now! they are super fun.

the paint & the original brush were still in the box.

two more kids projects [new in the box] from the late 70s.

this was my favorite score. 

did you have a desk like this when you were a kid?

i had one at my grandmas!

the top piece [with the pictures] opens up & you can store the magnets, chalk & the eraser.

the chalk board is also magnetic. 

inside of the chalkboard, there are 50 name // label cards.

the best part about this box? there were THREE of these school desks inside! all of them are in great shape.

if YOU are interested in buy one of the desks, let me know ;)

i am linking up with liz for thrift score thursday.

what is YOUR favorite thrift // auction // garage sale find lately?

: photos of chicago :

hi!
so, i have been sitting at my computer for hours doing behind-the-scenes work!
oh my goodness! i need some chocolate and a nice run around the lake!


here are a few of my favorite photos from our time in chicago : 

so let me tell you ; we camped an hour out from the city + a conference all day + a 7.5 hour car ride [one way!] = not a lot of time to sightsee.
[and no, we didnt go to a sox game]
[sad] [but, we will be back ;)]

: on our way to chicago! :

happy weekend, everybody!
right now, i am sitting at the 20sb [twenty-something bloggers!] summit in chicago.

i am hoping to share a bunch of great new blogs [and bloggers!], good meals, fun tips, ect by the end of the weekend.

here are a few photos i took yesterday on our drive down to chicago.

 veg gummies!

 cool beans coffee in madison

 i have SEVEN pen pals letters to finish up and get out the door!

waiting for the train at 630am

after the summit, blake and i are going to head to navy pier to eat mini-donuts on the ferris wheel to cross off of this list. [#85]
[ps : i also did #51  last night ; pics soon!]


one more thing [until i come back] : looking for a great place to advertise your blog in september?!?
EMAIL ME!
[take.a.picture[at]live[dot]com


i have a few big changes happening to the blog. new product. new readers. giveaways. a few really great product reviews.
AND as a sponsor, you get a few fun perks [the sponsor page is getting a face-lift right now!]
first time sponsors are FREE. there will also be three new sizes ; woo hoo!

have a great day!

: guess what i won?!?! :

oh my goodness!
this is exciting.

do you know doni?

i love her blog.
right now, she lives in portland, but use to live in minneapolis.
[i use to live in portland, and i now i live in minneapolis ;) ]
[annnd, if you head here to read her goals, you will see, they are super similar to mine!]

anyways, this weekend, doni hosted a giveaway on her blog to win a ticket to this blogging conference.
20 SOMETHING BLOGGERS CONFERENCE!
[wheeeee!]
and guess who won?!?!

this girl!

woo hoo!

the conference is in chicago in a few weeks!
[chicago is 7 hours from here]

we also have *free* tickets to see the white sox play.
[did you know that since i am a twins fan, that i am not allowed to like the white sox ;) ]

have you won anything cool lately?

: my weekend in photos! : kansas city edition :

you know we took a trip this weekend, right?
we went down to see the kc royals play the tampa bay rays.
[one of my 101 things in 1001 days is to see 8+ ball parks]
[so far, i have seen seattle, minneapolis, baltimore and kansas city]
[not bad for one year...]

here are a bunch of my favorite photos from the weekend :

 iowa rest stop.

earthworks. super cool kids place.

[blake use to work here..]

 bluebird bistro

hallmark factory/tour.

the roasterie ; factory tour.

crayola store!

chips chocolate factory.

[we love free tours!]

 royals game!

it was 105 degrees alll day.

we didnt know it, but it was ladies night. i got TONS of free stuff!

free water, chocolate fondue, more food, and that sweet hat i am wearing!

lots of photos!
thanks for following along!