1 The sun doesn't need to come out tomorrow, it's already here. The production of "Annie" at Children's Theatre Company can stand next to any Broadway-produced road show -- from the singing and dancing to the sets and costumes. There's no Punjab (he was only in the first movie version, never in the stage script), but absolutely nothing else is missing from this grade-A effort directed with perfect pacing by Peter Rothstein. This one's just as much fun for parents as kids. www.childrenstheatre.org
2 Meg Wolitzer's novel "The Uncoupling" is a warm, wise, sexy nod to the importance of desire. As high school students in Stellar Plains, N.J., rehearse "Lysistrata" (Aristophanes' play about women waging a sex strike in order to end a war), the Jersey women and girls suddenly and mysteriously lose all interest in physical intimacy. Wolitzer's book is delicious and funny, exploring the devastation this wreaks on relationships, and the lengths to which men will ultimately go to regain their women.
3 Even though the menu at the hole-in-the-wall Mango Thai Restaurant on Selby Avenue in St. Paul is fairly extensive, there's no need to look beyond the appetizers, because that's where you'll find the pan-grilled tuna wasabi salad. Strips of tuna are mixed with fresh mangos and strawberries in a mountain of greens topped with coils of daikon (an Asian radish) and bathed with a ranch and wasabi dressing that has nose-clearing bite. www.mangothaimn.com.
5 Whether you're wearing an Easter bonnet or not, stroll through Como Park's Marjorie McNeely Conservatory's spring flower show. Check out the lovely lilies, the fragrant freesia and the delightful daffodils. And stop and smell the hyacinth. www.comozooconservatory.com.
4 Even if you're not crazy about websites based on cute photos of baby animals, www.zooborns.com is a colt of a different color. No puppies or kittens here, unless you count baby hyenas and cloud leopards. From Bactrian camels at the Minnesota Zoo to Australian tawny frogmouths, the site posts photos of newborn and very young animals from zoos around the world (you can search by type of creature or by zoo).
