Rapp Strategies Rundown – June
We’re moving!
June 28 was Rapp Strategies’ last day at our long-time location in Downtown Minneapolis! Starting in September, our new offices will be located at 1300 Godward Street NE, Suite 4500 in Minneapolis. We are thrilled to be growing our talented team and look forward to providing superior service from our new home!
When we weren’t packing up our offices, here’s what we did, read, watched and thought about this month.
Todd R.: Highlights of June: The amazing dunes and $1 tacos of Sand Valley, WI. Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals head-to-head with the final game of the College World Series. Homemade shrimp fried rice on the Blackstone griddle. Sha’Carri Richardson, Anna Hall, Noah Lyles and Yared Nuguse at the U.S. Track and Field Trials. Reruns of BBQ Pitmasters on Saturday mornings. Season 6 of The Shield (and that has nothing to do with Marvel). Jon Stewart on Monday nights. But best of all, Adley joined sister Ashton and cousin Koen on the family tree!
Rich: June provided some good opportunities to play golf despite the unusual number of rainy days. This included playing in the annual Edina Invitational with my friend and partner, Todd Rapp. The first two days produced good weather and good results with Todd and I leading our flight. However, we had to play the final five holes in a downpour which proved that neither one of us are “mudders.” We lost our flight by a small margin, dried out and went to dinner with Kari and Maggie.
June 1 found us mourning the death of Kari’s sister, Thia. She was a remarkable and loving friend and family member who had an amazing career at Estée Lauder where she established herself as a leader of the beauty industry. We will be traveling to New York for a Sept. 3 celebration of her life.
I also made a trip to Washington to celebrate the retirement of my friend, Wally Mlyniec, from the faculty at Georgetown Law School. We also celebrated the 50th Anniversary of the Georgetown Law School Juvenile Justice Clinic founded by Wally. Several of my group of Law School friends participated in the Clinic during our third year in Law School. It was a wonderful celebration providing the opportunity to connect with lots of friends.
June has been a great reminder of the importance of friends, family and fun interactions. Nothing is guaranteed. Live every day to its fullest.
Todd S.: The big event in June was a long-delayed trip (thanks for nothing, COVID) to Universal Studios Orlando, where my wife and I joined our two dudes in various rides involving Spider-man, Transformers and Harry Potter. Hagrid's Motorbike Adventure was the highlight as we returned to that ride three times, despite the longer lines. We also enjoyed our first Harry Potter Butterbeer, which is non-alcoholic, I promise. Most importantly, we avoided any catastrophic sunburns.
Meanwhile, we also managed to catch A Quiet Place: Day One. While I'm not much of a fan of prequels (Godfather: Part II is an exception, though not entirely a prequel), Quiet Place was entertaining with a combination of touching moments and suspenseful jolts.
Jodi: This month’s highlight was definitely our trip to New York City to visit our youngest and her husband. It’s long been a favorite city of mine and far too long since my last visit. Our days were spent exploring Chelsea, the Village, and Brooklyn and wandering around Central Park for hours. On a hot day, the Staten Island Ferry was a welcome break from walking, and it’s always nice to see Lady Liberty. We took in the Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion exhibit at The Met– fantastic! A bagel and a NY slice of pizza (or several) were must-haves as we also discovered great restaurants like Don Angie (highly recommend the lasagna rolls and Nonna’s Little Nip). The best part of the trip was spending time with our kids and experiencing the city through their daily lives. They are fully enjoying their time there, and Jim and I will make many return visits. The mosquitos continued to fight my deck and dock time at the lake, and I surrendered tending the wildflower garden to their mounting forces. The month ended with a belated birthday celebration for my sister at Mucci’s Italian and enjoying the most delicious passionfruit tart from Marc Hu Patisserie. Food is definitely my love language.
Sean: One third of the way through summer and I find myself torn: Is having too much fun worth it if it makes time fly by that much faster? Hard to believe we’re already into July. What a summer it’s been already. The most noteworthy item on the personal end was a trip out to “Green Hahrbah”, Massachusetts where we visited with Rosie’s family for a week spent on a warm beach with freezing cold water. I’m starting to understand the ice bath trend a bit more now.
James could not have been more fun and was an absolute trooper through the travel, warm weather and the seemingly endless stream of family members waiting to hold him. Particularly special was the time he was able to spend with his great grandmother, the matriarch of a large family who, in her mid-80’s, still manages to teach yoga classes several days a week (including some sunrise sessions we got to enjoy on the beach during vacation). I’m getting old, but life is precious, and it was hard not to be overwhelmed with emotion thinking about all the love my son has in his life.
Gearing up for a fun 4th of July celebration, having been tapped to fill Joey Chestnut’s spot in the Nathan’s Hot Dog eating contest. Wish me luck!
Anna: This month was muddy… our neighborhood is in the depths of getting new water and sewer lines. On the bright side, the excavators and dump trucks have been a constant source of delight for Owen. I attended the Morgan Wallen concert at U.S. Bank Stadium with my brother – nothing like booking tickets the morning of the show! It was a great performance, and I still find myself humming “Sand in My Boots.” I’ve been captivated by the book In This Moment by Gabrielle Meyer, which masterfully blends time travel with historical fiction and romance. Ike and I also went on a date to the Mall of America, where we decided on a whim to ride some roller coasters. Life is so much fun when you’re married to your best friend.
Meredith: Birthday month is always fun in the Mitts Household with a birthday on June 25 and another on June 17th, but this month was full of fun for a few other reasons. We got a second kitten, Haru or Roo-Roo depending on the time of day. It was a slower transition to her getting along with our existing kitten, Hange, but in the last few days they have become playmates, dinner partners, athletically inclined terrors, and friends. Other highlights from this month include the meeting Cullen’s fiancé, Lauren, being the “murderer” at a murder mystery bachelorette, having a friend spend the weekend helping us with house projects in the kitchen and starting to put together a nursery, and getting a cute sonogram photo of baby “Oven” Mitts who should be joining the family this October.
Cullen: Despite half of my ultimate frisbee games getting rained out this month, I still managed to spend lots of time outside! I enjoyed a rejuvenating weekend with Lauren and several friends at the cabin to celebrate my birthday, which was filled with lots of lounging on the pontoon and fishing. We also hosted one of my good friends for a few days in Madison where we caught the season opener of Madison’s Concerts on the Square series.
My couple of pit stops in Minnesota were also packed with fun. I saw Noah Kahan at the Xcel Center which was a fantastic show, and found opportunities to catch up with friends and share amazing meals at Mizu and Churchill St. Also managed to finish Isaac’s Storm and Hit Man – both recommended. Cheers to summer!
Julia: One of my New Year’s resolutions was to go to more cultural events this summer, and I’m off to a good start! I caught the Keith Haring exhibition at the Walker, which I highly recommend, and got to see one of the first performances of Little Shop of Horrors at the Guthrie. This month was also filled with friends and family. I attended two weddings, rang in Father’s Day with a big brunch, and went to my friend’s karaoke bachelorette party, where I brought the house down singing Teenage Dirtbag by Wheatus and Desperado by the Eagles.
I’ve been reading a copy of Pride and Prejudice I found in a Little Free Library and watching Taskmaster, a British comedy panel game show that pits comedians against each other in outlandish tasks and puzzles.
Alida: I just got back from a fun trip to Fort Collins, CO. with Jacob. We stayed with his cousins and had an absolute blast playing tennis, exploring and enjoying good food, drinks and company—all with the Rockies in the backdrop. We also spent a day in Denver, where two of my closest friends from growing up now live. It was great to catch up with them and see them thriving. Other than that, I’ve been going for a lot of walks around Lake of the Isles and soaking in the summer weather as much as possible.
Madison: Although we haven't had the best weather this month with all the rain, that hasn't stopped me from training for my half marathon in September! A friend and I signed up for the City of Lakes Half Marathon a couple of months ago and we've really started to ramp up our training in the last few weeks. Runners' high is no joke - once you surpass those first few miles, it only gets easier from there!
Last fall, I was fostering a puppy named Charlie through the Bond Between. My parents ended up falling in love with him and decided to adopt him! This month, I was able to spend some quality time with Charlie, which was a treat since work and night classes keep me really busy. We took a trip to Petco for his nail trim, and although Charlie usually gets carsick, there was no puking this time!
Looking forward to the holiday weekend and many summer cabin trips to come!
