Scared Panda |

February 21, 2012

Drifter by Day

Intelligentsia

Since entering the world of working freelance a week and a half ago, I’ve been trying to find my groove – do I work at home? Drift from coffee shop to coffee shop? Coming from a pretty locked down schedule, this new lifestyle has taken some getting used to – in a mostly good way. Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve been coffee shop hopping and have been pleasantly surprised to find plenty a really creative, welcoming entrepreneurial vibe in the city. It seems there are quite a few people in Minneapolis and St. Paul who, like me, don’t have a designated cubicle to sit in every single day. If you’re in the same boat as me – looking for a place to work or study during the day – here are a few places I really like:

Nina’s: This coffee shop/cafe is amazing for so many reasons. One, it’s on Selby Ave. in St. Paul – my old stomping grounds and still one of my favorite neighborhoods in the Twin Cities. 2. REALLY great food (rosemary egg salad sandwich!). 3. It’s always busy – but not in an annoying way. The locals, including Garrison Keillor, flock to this place to read, play cribbage, work or just enjoy a good cup of coffee.
Dunn Brothers: There’s a Dunn Brothers just a few blocks from my apartment and I really enjoy working there once in awhile. It’s a nice walk from my place with good views of the city, the coffee shop has lots of windows and they have a killer blueberry muffin.
Common Roots Cafe: I’m actually writing this post from Common Roots and can’t say enough about it – it’s a quick bus ride from Minneapolis, lots of local, healthy food, good music and a cool crowd. Also, I hear their baked goods are delicious. And, for those of you who like to mix work and pleasure, from 3-6 everyday they have a pretty great happy hour – $4 craft beers and $5 wine. Beware, they shut down the Internet during peak hours: 6-8 during the evening and 10 a.m. – 1 p.m. on the weekends.

Up next on my list to try out: The Minneapolis Public Library, Peace Coffee Shop and Aster Cafe. What are some of your favorite places to work, study or hang?

February 19, 2012

Where To Get Pączki In The Twin Cities

A pączek is a deep-fried piece of dough shaped into a flattened sphere and filled with confiture or other sweet filling. Pączki are usually covered with powdered sugar, icing or bits of dried orange zest. A small amount of grain alcohol (traditionally, Spiritus) is added to the dough before cooking; as it evaporates, it prevents the absorption of oil deep into the dough.

After reading Chicagoist’s list of the best places to get paczki in Chicago, we went on a mission to find them in Minneapolis. We dropped into Kramarczuk’s in northeast to see if they would have any on hand this week and, much to our delight, they do! But you gotta get there quick because they’ll only have them for a day and a half. These little Polish delights will only available tomorrow at 2 PM and all day Tuesday.

Kramarczuk’s and Dorothy Ann Bakery in Woodbury have them for sure, but the Internet says Sarah Jane’s Bakery in Northeast could possibly have them as well.

Are you getting paczki this week? Let us know if you found or know of any paczki joints in around town.

February 15, 2012

Our New Models

Move over Giselle, Scared Panda has got some new models. My good friend sent this picture over of her girls, Scarlett and Felicity, sporting a few of her Scared Panda tees. How flippin’ cute are they?

These shirts are women’s cuts, but we do have some adorable tees for kids. Check ‘em out.

February 13, 2012

Nostalgia

Our first week back in Minnesota has been pretty amazing – we’ve been getting reacquainted with some of our old favorites from five, ten years ago. Yesterday we went to a birthday party for my friend’s 5-year-old and it was at Skateville – a place from my childhood that has remained untouched since I last went there in the early 90s.

For those of you who haven’t had the privilege of going to Skateville, picture a 1970′s style roller skating rink, complete with a disco ball and a DJ who has been there since the 80s. For just $12.95 you can rent a pair of skates (I think they’ve been there since the 80s, too), skate all day AND have a hotdog, chips and pop for lunch. Try to say no to that.

I used to frequent Skateville when I was a kid – for field trips, birthday parties or just on rainy days and being there for the first time in 15 years brought back some memories. I love places that never change – it was exactly as I had remembered it as a kid and there’s something super comforting about that.

What places bring on a wave of nostalgia for you?

*Picture from Skateville

February 9, 2012

Taking on Minneapolis

After five days of traveling, we’re happily settling into our new apartment in Minneapolis. We’ve reacquainted ourselves with some of our old favorite bars, restaurants and coffee shops and have tried some new ones too. So far our favorite has been Club Jager. From the amazing beer, to the food, the people and the patio – this place is everything a bar should be. We can’t wait to get out and explore more this weekend. Where are your favorite places in the area? Send us your tips!

February 4, 2012

NYC to MSP: Day 2

After the travel adventures from yesterday, we started today out with an awesome continental breakfast at the Holiday Inn Express. Talk about living the life of luxury. I’m a fan for life.

I had this idea to pick up wine from local wineries on our trip and we found one not too far from our hotel. After driving our rig through the windy roads of the Pennsylvania countryside, we arrived at Bee Kind Winery at 10 a.m. After a quick wine tasting (Clint did not partake), we left with six bottles of Bone Dry Red Wine and some delicious beef jerky. If you ever find yourself in Clearfield, PA definitely make the trip out here.

On our way out, a woman said to Clint, “I see a giant moving truck with a panda head and a case of wine. I’m trying to figure out what’s going on.” Clint responded (with a honey stick in his mouth), “you’re never going to figure this one out.” I’m pretty sure he freaked her out.

Back on the road – we’re driving through the gorgeous hills, looking at the bluffs and rivers and we see a sign for Punxsutawney. With one glance we decide we have to check out Gobblers Knob – better late than never, right? We find ourselves navigating our truck through windy hills for the second time that day for about a half hour and as we enter the town of Punxsutawney we’re greeted by about 317 statues of groundhogs. They’re EVERYWHERE. In every color imaginable. It’s awesome. We arrive at Gobblers Knob and take so many amazing pictures:

We make it to Cleveland, drove around downtown, got lost and made our way to the awesome neighborhood of Tremont (this is where the house from A Christmas Story is located). We stopped at a coffee shop to recharge (ourselves and our phones), visited some of the local shops and picked up some cupcakes from Cookies & Cakes.

We had dinner at Lolita – a restaurant I discovered while watching The Best Thing I Ever Ate and had a really great, much-needed, healthy dinner. It was one of the best meals we had in a while and after two days on the road we were ready for some seriously good food. The next time you’re in Cleveland go there.

We spent the night outside of Cleveland so we could have a shorter drive to Chicago the next day, so we took off for Freemont, OH and stayed in a dumpy Comfort Inn (that’s what we get for not staying at a Holiday Inn Express). Tomorrow –we’re off to Chicago to spend the night with our friends. We’re going to check out a Mexican sandwich place we’ve been wanting to try and then heading to Lincoln Square to listen to our friend’s band, The Congregation, play at Martyrs. We’ll be going to sleep extra early tonight.

February 2, 2012

NYC To MSP — Day 1

The day started in typical fashion – the alarm went off, we hit snooze for about 45 minutes and finally got up. Everything about the morning – picking up the truck, finding a parking spot, packing up the rest of our stuff was pretty uneventful. Our movers showed up on time and had the truck JAM packed in just under three hours. We couldn’t believe our luck.

Then, in typical New York fashion, we went to pull out of the parking spot and couldn’t drive forward on our narrow one-way street because the Laundromat across the street had a visit from seven fire trucks and a semi. Needless to say, we couldn’t get through.

Since there was no room to turn around we had to drive backwards down the street to get out. With the help of three guys we moved the cones blocking the street (the entire block was closed because of the Laundromat) and maneuvered onto 1^st Avenue. It was one of those NYC experiences that make you feel so good - like all of the starts are aligned – and it made us a little sad to be leaving.

Fast forward five minutes, we’re driving through SoHo on our way out of the city and just as we realized we were driving in a bus lane – with everyone else – a cop pulled us over and gave us a ticket. Awesome. But. appropriate That’s how our time in NYC has been – we’ll have an amazing NYC-experience and most often it’s followed by a kick in the butt from the city. A reminder not to get too comfortable, I think.

We pulled out, thanking NYC for robbing our bank accounts one last time and headed into Jersey then on to Pennsylvania. So, that’s day one of the trip. Check back tomorrow for some more pics as we are on our way into Cleveland in the morning.

January 18, 2012

Why We’re Here: Twin Cities

For those of you who live in MN, our reasons for moving probably don’t require any explanation. For those of you who haven’t spent much time here, this video explains it pretty well.

Why We’re Here: Twin Cities from Seven and Sixty Productions on Vimeo.

With all the possibilities around the world, what is the “it” that keeps people here in the Twin Cities? We suspected the answer to the question “Why We’re Here” was both simple and incredibly nuanced — worthy of art. We took our camera to the streets of Minneapolis and St. Paul to find people willing to talk, unscripted, on film. The result is our collective love poem to the Twin Cities.

Why We’re Here: Twin Cities is a six-minute film that explores what unites us, and unites us here, in the Twin Cities. Filmed on location the spring and summer of 2010 in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, the film features an original score by John Munson of the New Standards, the Twilight Hours, Semisonic and Trip Shakespeare, camerawork by Adam Olson and editing by Sam Heyn.

Visit sevenandsixty.com to post your response and tell us, with all the possibilities that exist in the world, why you’re living where you do.

Produced in association with the Minnesota Culture Club. Visit them at mncultureclub.com.

January 9, 2012

Fourth Quarter Growing Home Donation

I’m both happy and sad to announce that we made our final donation to Growing Home today. This was the biggest donation that we’ve ever given to them and we want give a big thank you to everyone who bought a tee last year. It’s because of you guys that we were able to help Growing Home provide job training and access to healthy food to those in need.

Looking forward to a great 2012.

January 4, 2012

On the Road Again

We’ve been fortunate to have had the opportunity to live in two amazing cities – Chicago and New York. Our time in these cities has been invaluable and we’ve made countless cherished memories and friends. Over the past year or so, we’ve been feeling more and more drawn to a life that allows us to spend more time with family and plant deeper roots in a community.

You may have seen it coming, with our newest line of tees and our 2012 nonprofit partner, but in case you didn’t we’re very excited to fill everyone in on our big plans. On February 1, we’re packing up our tiny apartment in the East Village and making the trek back to Minneapolis.

Once there we’ll set up shop in our new apartment in the Warehouse District in Minneapolis and start planting our feet in the community. We’re excited to get involved with our new nonprofit partner, Minnesota Computers for Schools, and will be sharing exciting updates on that front shortly! Also, stay tuned as we begin to announce the availability of our shirts at some of the city’s best boutiques, like this one.

We’ll be documenting the trip by sharing our playlists, favorite books on tape, pictures and some video so be sure to check the blog, Facebook and Twitter pages once in awhile From Feb. 1 – 5. Have music or book suggestions? Want to place a bets on whether we’ll get stuck in snow around the Great Lakes? Let us know in the comment section below!