I'm enjoying my fourth day off work this month due to cold. Let me just emphasize that Wisconsin doesn't close down for anything in the winter. And they've closed down *four times* in a month. Winter 2014 is not messing around. It's so intense they've nicknamed it the "polar vortex." I fought off the cooped-up-blues today with a little trip to Lake Michigan to do what else? - take some pictures. I forgot my real camera at home, so I made due with my little android camera, and I'm so glad I did. I found rocks covered in ice and snow, and I found steam rising off the lake. Gorgeous - and so Icelandy. It helped following my thriving in winter advice for myself: to get outside in winter, even if it feels completely illogical. How are you handling the cold?
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If you're like many people I know, you probably rarely visit some of the top attractions in your city unless you have visitors from out of town. The same is true for me in Milwaukee. When the New York Times came out with their most recent 36 hours in Milwaukee guide, Paul and his coworkers decided to turn it into a challenge of sorts. They would follow the guide with a little tweaking and get to know their city better (and I would come along because it sounded awesome). The 36 hours concept is simple: most people have about 36 hours in a city if they're visiting just for the weekend. So each guide helps you prioritize your time so that you see the best of what the city has to offer in the time you have there. We did the 36 hours in Milwaukee challenge over the MLK weekend, and I'll be sharing the highlights here in two parts. Get ready for some Milwaukee amazingness!! F R I D A Y N I G H T 6:00 Milwaukee Art Museum: While I was eating pizza, the rest of the crew started the weekend at a Museum After Dark event. Once a month, the Art Museum has an evening event tailored to the younger, hipper crowd. This month's theme was salsa, so apparently there was lots of salsa dancing and lots of salsas to try with some fish tacos to go with them. Next month's theme is Cocktails and Crafts which sounds amazing! (These pictures are from past visits to the museum. It is one of my favorite places to go, and seeing the front entrance, the Chihuly sculptures, and the Georgia O'Keefe paintings never fails to lift my mood.) 7:30 Bryant's Cocktail Lounge (not pictured): While I was watching roller derby, the rest of the crew continued on to one of the most fun bars in Milwaukee (or so I'm told). The NYT says this about the bar: After-dinner cocktails await in the historic Mitchell Street neighborhood at Bryant’s Cocktail Lounge, a dim, lushly upholstered time capsule of a bar inside a nondescript two-story house. On a recent evening the soundtrack was Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin playing over a vintage McIntosh stereo system. 9:00 Blue Jacket (Third Coast Cuisine): This is where I joined in! The Third Coast refers to the Great Lakes region, America's coastal area that borders lakes instead of oceans like the first two coast regions. Blue Jacket serves Third Coast cuisine with flare in a seasonal menu that sources local ingredients. I noticed their menu included very simple items, most of which were known by their main ingredient (fish, brussel sprouts, soup, etc). Since I had already enjoyed pizza and derby, I ordered a Summer Mule (a summer version of the Moscow Mule that sounded tasty) and some ice cream. The rest of the group caught me up on the previous two stops, and we made a plan of action for Saturday. The day would include Mitchell Park Domes, Usinger's, Mader's, Clock Shadow Creamery, Purple Door Ice Cream, Anodyne Coffee, Zaffiro's, and would finish with a drink at Wolski's. S A T U R D A Y M O R N I N G 10:00 Mitchell Park Domes: These domes offer Milwaukee residents a horticultural respite from bad weather and a beautiful place to visit in nice weather. Each dome houses a different environment, and the main dome has exhibits that change seasonally. During the winter, the Domes house a farmer's market on Saturday mornings (which meant free admission!) and a really neat train exhibit in the main dome. I was in love. Luckily the main dome also had a coffee station, so all the 36 hours participants could gear up for our busy day. After taking some photos and buying some produce, we took stock of our day. Because Mitchell Domes took less time than anticipated, we pushed lunch back and decided to check out Usinger's and the Wisconsin Cheese Mart first. Flexibility is really the name of the game when completing a 36 hours challenge (it also helps to have someone who actually knows the city to help you plan your weekend as they will have a better idea of how to get in free or at reduced cost to the sites - this really helped us when we were making our schedule since it wasn't as affordable to do it in the way the NYT set it out). Usinger's, Wisconsin Cheese Mart, and Mader's are all located on Old World Third street, just north of Milwaukee's downtown area. The street is home to some of the German-iest bars and restaurants in the city. Across the street is Pere Marquette Park which hosts concerts, political speakers (I saw Bill Clinton there last year), Christmas lights, and other events throughout the year. I've also seen a few river tours leave from the park - it's tough to see in this photo, but the river is just behind the park. 11:00 Usinger's Fine Sausage: walking into Usinger's feels like walking right into Germany. The walls are painted with murals of "sausage gnomes" enjoying the process of making sausage (not quite as creepy as it sounds), and all the writing on the murals is done in German. Even this mostly-Vegetarian enjoyed a trip here for the smells and history. NYT says this about Usinger's: Usinger’s is Milwaukee’s oldest, greatest temple of sausage. You can buy the 133-year-old, family-owned company’s smoothly textured bratwurst and piquant beef summer sausage all over town, but nothing beats a visit to the downtown store, with its hand-painted elf-themed murals and knowledgeable, no-nonsense veteran clerks. When we had our fill of sausage, we walked down the block to the Wisconsin Cheese Mart. We were two thirds of our way through the Wisconsin trifecta of sausage, cheese, and beer. 11:15: Wisconsin Cheese Mart: Not included on the most recent list, the 36 hours sticker in the window tipped me off that the Wisconsin Cheese Mart had been included on the 2008 list. So we must have somehow knew that we were supposed to go here even though the 2013 guide didn't include it. Cow butt! The Cheese Mart, founded in 1938, sells hundreds of varieties of cheeses, and the staff will be able to point you in the right direction to find something to fit your taste. There's always samples out, and we even managed to find a few tasty cheese on sale! I've been to a happy hour here before and was really impressed with the food menu and the selection of beers on tap. Definitely worth adding to a trip to Old World Third! Ready to book your ticket to Milwaukee yet? It might be cold if you decide to come now, but as you can see, it didn't stop us! In Milwaukee you just have to bundle up and go for it, otherwise you wouldn't do anything for about six months. *If you checked out the original NYT article, you'll notice that we've taken some liberties with the schedule. I like to think we stuck to the heart of the challenge if not the exact timeline. After tomorrow's post, you'll also see that we cut three locations and added others in their place. We decided against a brewery tour in lieu of naps since we were tired and had all done tours multiple times. We cut the bookstore (much to my chagrin) and a burger shop, but added the cheese mart, a coffee store, and another burger shop in their places. Again, flexibility was key :) Check back tomorrow for part two of 36 hours in Milwaukee!
While in Portland we stopped by the tasting room at Steven Smith Teamaker. The creator of both Stash and Tazo tea companies, Steve Smith now creates teas under his name sake company in Portland, and tea lovers (like me!) can stop by to taste and shop for teas. The tea shop was full of pretty tea pots, holiday decorations, hipsters, and plenty of tea available for purchase. I love the Steven Smith tea packaging. Green teas get green boxes, black get grey, and herbal get organge. I thought I was so clever when I figured that all out of my own. Each tea has an assigned number, some assigned because of a special meaning and others assigned at random. We decided to do a tea flight - and this former-beer-lover was very excited to have a different kind of flight to try out. We did one black tea flight and one herbal/green tea flight. Our very kind tea-rista (what do you call a tea waiter?) brought over our teas with instructions on how to use our slurping spoons and advised us to try the teas in order from lightest to darkest (the same as you do with beers!). The slurping spoon. To be used just like so...? The black tea flight. I loved reading that each cup of brewed tea came with loose tea and an explanation card. The whole setup! The water is for cleaning off your spoon and the cookies for cleansing your pallet. Becca approves! Note: after we had each slurped a lot of tea from our spoons, we realized we would be there all night if we didn't just start chugging. So I got myself some cream and sugar for all my light teas and drank myself some tea. YUM. After we finished our samples, I bought several packs of loose leaf teas and some iced tea for my dad (which I think he enjoyed - I loved it). I added this to my baby collection of Smith tea my favorite sister-in-law had already given. I used all the self control I had to wait until I was back in Milwaukee to try them out. They tasted pretty nice in my new Anthropologie mug. I don't know if I've ever felt so fancy. Gorgeous and delicious. My favorite combination.
Are you a tea drinker? Do you have a favorite mug? Mine is my new "M" mug. The gold kind of makes me feel special. The holidays were a crazy, amazing time for me and Paul. We like to fit visits to both of our families in if possible, and we were fortunate enough to be able to spend time in St. Louis and Portland (OR) during the past couple of weeks. During our trip to Portland, we took a day trip to the Oregon coast and shot these pictures. I'm thinking of framing them or putting together a small coffee table book because I love them so much. Our holiday travels are usually bittersweet for me. While I love seeing family and friends, visiting St. Louis and Portland bring up the lingering question about which part of the country Paul and I will choose to settle down in. We're both happy in the city we've made our home as a married couple, but we're feeling more and more that we'd like to be closer to family as we get older. Currently we're both vying for our hometowns, and we've gone through all kinds of crazy ideas about how to make a bicoastal living arrangement work (no luck on making any of them a reality yet). While we wait for teleportation to be invented, we try to focus on being lucky enough to even have two places that we want to be so badly. We're loved bi-coast-ally! And I'm totally not complaining that the Oregon coast is the place I visit my inlaws. Not at all. In an effort to not let this big question cloud our happiness now, one of my New Year's resolutions is to just be present. To enjoy my life exactly as it is right now. I've had varying success with it over the past week, but having it as a goal feels like a good first step. And watching the sunset over the ocean sure helped push all worries out of my mind. Which gives me an idea - these pictures could be my go to reminder to be right here, right now.
What helps you be in the now when you're trying to be patient with an unresolved issue? Ah Richmond - my new favorite unassuming-surprisingly-awesome city. I had never thought much about Richmond, probably because I never think much about Virginia. But I'm glad our friends thought about the city and moved there. Paul and I had such a nice weekend visiting them and exploring their city. It was the kind of visit where everything just falls into place so easily (aside from that whole getting stuck in the city for an extra night thing) - I think it's a testament to how well we connect with our friends; they're the kind of people we enjoy being with no matter what we're doing. While in Richmond we... checked out the Hollywood costume exhibit at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts... admired the fine bending skills of Richmond's sign models... enjoyed some local craft cider... brought our friends' dog Gibson with us to the First Friday art walk... got photo-bombed... went on a tacky lights driving tour of the city... decided we need to start using more rope lights in our holiday light decorating... realized we maybe should have started our tacky lights drive before people turned their lights off for the night... ate some tasty Dutch babies prepared by the husbands (while the wives were working their butts off at a spin class)... wished our beagles were a little less curious so that we could have awesome seasonal tablescapes... found the prettiest ornament on the tree... watched the city's Christmas parade from the warmth of our friends' apartment... captured a cute family moment... remembered I reallly need to watch Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer this season... and got another photo for the "our husbands always walk in front of us because they walk too fast" album.
(Not pictured here: our travel delay allowed us to see a friend in Richmond who I had completely forgotten lived in the city. So thanks crappy weather, instagram, and facebook!) Is it time to go back yet? I think we just need to just develop the Star Trek technology that will allow us to travel around at light speed to any city we want to go to at any time. That would solve a lot of problems, including that pesky problem of not having all of our family and friends live in the same city as us. I guess I can tell Paul now what I want for Christmas. And the fall adventures continue! My friend and I made our annual trip to Barthel's Fruit Farm for apple picking - and for caramel apples, porch pumpkins, pears, photo ops and general fall lovin. The McIntosh apples were in season, and we both carried home dozens of them. Apple picking has become one of my favorite fall traditions after falling in love with it my Jesuit Volunteer Corps year in upstate New York. The apples are sometimes secondary to the drive to the country, the fall colors, and being outside in the beautiful weather. I may have sampled a few apples straight off the tree. Is there anything better? Not in September. I picked out some pears too. I plan on canning whatever we don't eat at our community garden canning workshop next weekend (photos to come!). Teaser! The pumpkins all looked ready to pick, but they won't be ready for another few weeks. Guess that means we'll just have to take another drive out to Barthel's. Guess that means I'll have to have another caramel apple, and might just have to buy some apple cider. Life is so hard. Could this farm be anymore picturesque? Red barn, roaming dog, beautiful flowers, fields of pumpkins, corn, and apples as far as the eye can see. Nothing better for the soul than a trip to a farm in fall. Except maybe caramel apples.
Is it any secret that I love ice cream? If it is, it just means I've been quiet about my obsession. Which is probably good for all of us. During my last trip to Portland, my ice cream obsession was taken to a new level when I managed to have Salt & Straw ice cream two times in four days. Not quite enough I know, but I had other places to visit too while I was there. Salt & Straw does ice cream exactly the way I would expect a wonderful Portland-based company to: with local flare and gourmet taste with great style. A sampling of some of their current flavors: almond brittle with salted ganache, sea salt ice cream with caramel ribbon, freckled woodblock chocolate, honey balsamic strawberry with cracked pepper, coffee and bourbon, chocolate with gooey brownies, pear with blue cheese... mouth watering yet? The store is as beautiful as the ice cream. Their samples are even served on real metal spoons! It's funny that something so simple is so uncommon . As always, it's the little things that make a big impression.
When I put this post together I realized I never actually got a picture of the ice cream. What a terrible oversight. Now, you'll just have to visit their website or shop for yourself and see what all the fuss is about. And now I'm going to try to survive an ice-cream less afternoon. Alas. I wonder if Salt & Straw would speed deliver ice-cream to the midwest. I can dream can't I? In all my trips to Portand, I had never visited the Portland Japanese Garden. Paul and I finally rectified that terrible travesty during our time in Portland last week. The garden is one of the most beautiful places I've even been, and I wish I could take weekly trips there just to recapture the calmness and serenity I felt there. I'll just have to settle for visiting every time I go to Portland. Here's some of my favorite photos from our visit. View of the city of Portland with Mount Hood in the background. The moss "islands" grow in the shapes of a sake glass and gourd: symbols of enlightenment and happiness. For some reason this space reminded of a movie by Hayao Miyasaki (the world renowed Japanese animator). I kept expecting to see the little guys from Princess Mononoke appear - the little kodamas or tree spirits. They're so cute in the movie, but maybe a little creepy when you see them out of context? I swear they're adorable! Either way, I think the Japanese Garden accomplished a lot by having a space be so inspiring that you can have an emotional connection to it - or connect it to something else in your life. Well done.
I am stretching these Portland photos as far as they'll possibly go this week because I am super busy with our move! Today is our official move day, and the movers are working hard as I write this. Yes, we got movers because we are sooooo grown up (and lazy). I went to the new apartment for the first time last night, and I love so many things about it. I cannot wait to unpack and decorate and make it a home. I have a feeling we'll be very happy there. Now what was I writing about again? Oh yeah, Portland....A few other special moments I enjoyed: sipping wine with a view of the ocean with Paul's grandma, his dad, and his aunt (and Grandma's adopted dog Peanut). The wine was actually Franzia because it's his grandma's favorite, and because his grandma is 90 and awesome, we drink it with her. eating at Local Ocean - look at that big smile on my face. I knew crab chowder and crab cakes were about to be in my belly. spending time with my lovely sister-in-law and her new "friend." a backyard barbeque with Paul's college friends. I don't know how I was lucky enough to inherit the friends and family I did when I married Paul. Seriously, he knows some amazing people, and fortunately they love me because I love a person they love. this amazing view of the Columbia River complete with sunshine and beautiful weather. the pool that came with that beautiful view and some much needed relaxation time. girl time with this lovely lady. brunch at a cafe that made me feel like I was right back in Paris. these delectible delights and the pedicure that followed. There was one last memorable moment outside the nail salon when my sister-in-law and I both realized that we had the time of my flight wrong, and I had exactly thirty minutes to get my suitcase, drive to the airport, check in, go through security, and get on the plane. Needless to say that didn't happen. BUT. Southwest has a policy where you can fly stand-by on a later flight if you make it to the airport within two hours of your scheduled departure time. So that's what I did. And I made it safe and sound back to Milwaukee, Pedro, and Diego. Ah adventures.
Paul and I visited friends and family this weekend in Oregon and enjoyed exploring the Pacific Wonderland. We spent part of our weekend at the Oregon coast in Lincoln City and Newport. When Paul and I were still dating, we took a trip to Newport, and I felt so nostalgic retracing our steps as a married couple. I love having a shared history together, especially one full of memorable adventures. We drove past the lookout point where I saw my first whale and went to the restaurant where I had some of my all time favorite seafood (Local Ocean in Newport if you're ever in the area). We visited a few new places this time including this gorgeous lighthouse. The fog made the viewing a little difficult, but I think it added to the mysterious feel of all the pictures. Do you think you would ever want to live in a lighthouse? I feel like it would be wonderful to see the daily changes of the ocean, but I couldn't deal with the isolation. These photos were taken in Newport, right before I dropped my lens cap next to these sea lions. Think he was smiling because he was predicting my clumsiness?
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