Treat Yo’ Self

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We never had Ben & Jerry’s stores in Texas…or Michigan…or anywhere I’ve lived. And until I met Ted, I pretty naively thought that they only existed in Vermont. Ted had one right next door to the theatre he worked at in Palm Springs, CA.

Can you imagine?

If you need him, he’ll be the diabetic in the ice cream shop.

Of course their pints are sold in freezers across America, but to be honest, I don’t remember trying Ben & Jerry’s – ever. It looked good enough I suppose, and everyone waxed poetic over the thick chunks of goodness in every bite (and who doesn’t like ice cream stocked with a plethora of chunky goodies?), but…eh. I guess I just never got around to trying it.

The other day while I was out and about, I drove past a picturesque little old-town Main Street. You know, the sweet little village square that beckons you to park your car and go for a stroll to browse her gorgeous architecture, perfectly manicured lawns and sculpted trees, boldly-hued blooms in every window, and trendy little boutiques that sell yoga shirts for $238.

Yeah. I’m a sucker.

(No, I’m not stupid enough to spend $238 on a shirt. But if you are that person…I accept donations.)

It looked like such a beautiful area, right along the canal with red and yellow and orange leaves swirling across the blacktopped streets and roomy sidewalks, against the backdrop of pretty vintage streetlamps and cream and moss green buildings with crisp black shutters and welcoming store signs with catchy names outlined in chic fonts.

So I parked and walked and explored and admired and caught my breath after dry-heaving over the prices in the $238 store…and it was fun, to take in the scenery.

And then, obviously, I came upon a Ben & Jerry’s.

“Do I dare?”

It just seemed like the right thing to do.

So I did.

I sampled AmeriCone Dream (“vanilla ice cream with fudge covered waffle cone pieces & a caramel swirl”), and Late Night Snack (“vanilla bean ice cream with a salty caramel swirl & fudge covered potato chip clusters.”) – which is a dangerously perfect pairing for those either with a swingin’ case of PMS or who just adore the sweet n’ salty combo – before settling on a homemade waffle cone of New York Super Fudge Chunk (“chocolate ice cream with white & dark fudge chunks, pecans, walnuts & fudge covered almonds”) which was to die for and seemed appropriate.

I think I might need this ice cream more than once every twenty-six years.

NYSFC and I walked along the canal together, enjoying each other’s company. Me more than it, I imagine. I was, of course, the only person walking the canal. Everyone else was running, or jogging, or biking – or some lofty and motivated combination of the aforementioned – likely wearing $238 yoga shirts with their spandex workout pants…and sneaking me the stink eye as they rushed past. It goes without saying that I was also the only one downing an ice cream cone.

Treat yo’ self.

Exercise and asparagus, there’s always tomorrow.

:)

Also, I know you’ve been hankering for an update on our sweet crays.

Gigi
Ace

They’re gorgeous. They know.

Getting blue crays?

Best. Idea. Ever.

As always, can you even believe they used to be this tiny five short months ago!?

Life is beautiful.

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Along the Erie

 

I think I found me a new favorite park :)

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Falling Fast

Surely there is nothing more beautiful than a peaceful Monday evening in the autumn.

Tis’ the season!

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City Views

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Life downtown, it’s not bad on a pretty fall day.

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On the Fringe

This weekend was all about the Fringe Festival! I took advantage of a free weekend – something that has always been a precious rarity for me in the business of theatre, but has only recently become a fairly attainable and welcome ritual – to take in as many free Fringe events as I could cram in. To be clear, there were a ton of Fringe shows I was intrigued by and would have loved to see. There were a ton of artists I would have loved to support financially…but that’s the beast of Fringe, isn’t it? 180 shows in five days is virtually impossible to start with, but generally those of us who are most excited to get out there and see these shows and support the arts – we’re artists ourselves, and at $8-$16+ a pop, it just wasn’t in the cards for me this year. So I did the next best thing. I traipsed myself to free event after free event and signed myself up to volunteer for a few Fringe box office shifts at Writers & Books – one of the Fringe venues (and a totally fantastic place in general!), for which I was rewarded with a nifty shirt, the opportunity to peek in on a few more shows, and a free ticket to one of the headliner shows.

I saw Bandaloop – the gravity-defying skyscraper wall dancers, a wearable technology fashion show, a comedy improv troupe comprised of both deaf and hearing actors who signed their performance, a children’s fairytale musical storyteller, a harmonious grass-roots all-Amerian banjo band, a stunningly touching multi-disciplinary collaboration between a writer, a dancer and a musician, a theatrical piece featuring the poetry (and ghosts) of Emily Dickens and H. P. Lovecraft, a rhythm and blues tap dance trio, a modern dance group, a whole tap dance show featuring a band, free-styled tap jams, and a tap dance tango, and the headliner show I collected a free ticket to – comedian Patton Oswalt (you may know his comedy work or remember him as Remy from Ratatouille or Spence from the TV show King of Queens), who is hilarious live and really does his best comedy work when he’s interacting with the audience and sign interpreter.

 

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Between enjoying Fringe shows and volunteering for Fringe shows, I tried out mass at a new church, savored an authentic beef and onion empanada and  “French Artichokes” (flour and egg washed pipping hot artichoke hearts sauteed in olive oil, lemon, wine, and Romano cheese), worked in a luxurious nap, met and made a new friend, learned about a fantastic new place for me to hang out and write, joined a book club for fun-loving young professionals, and learned the absolute joys of the public market…which is out-of-this-world incredible. I will be going back every Saturday morning. It easily could have been an all morning event – a cross between Cincinnati’s Findlay Market and Pike’s Market in Seattle. Though I drooled over baked goods, Polish and German eats, gorgeous blooms, fall pumpkins, corn and gourds, thousands of varieties of apples, sweet peppers of all shapes and colors, and the biggest squash and zucchini I have ever laid eyes on, I only walked away with a beautiful bunch of home-grown basil, a bundle of asparagus, a bushel of plums, and a bin of fresh cheese curds – which I consider a testament to my willpower. I may have to be bribed out of that market with kittens in the future.

All of this and beautiful fall weather too!

How was your weekend?

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Fringe Day 1 – Bandaloop

Wall dancers…and a tap dancin’ flash mob, for good measure.

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Of Film & Pho

Fried squid, rare steak pho, and an independent documentary – The Queen of Versailles. Sounds superficial, but leaves a lasting impression. It’s a funny…and a thinker.

Not bad for a lonely Tuesday.

Hope you had a great Tuesday too. How’s everyone enjoying the crisp, cool, cloudy, blustery autumn air?

{via}

I love it!

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This Bar

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I found a new bar

for the Packer games.

It’s spacious and roomy,

with big TVs.

Nicely kept up,

green with a white and black checkered floor

and lots of tables.

Out of the city and not too crowded.

Clean and sufficiently dim.

It has NFL ticket,

even on Thursdays,

and free wifi.

The menu is tasty

and the wait staff is friendly,

and though I wish they had ciders,

they do serve water from mason jars.

It’s an old train station

right on the tracks.

The whole building shakes when a train roars past.

I think that’s my favorite part.

My new bar…

it’s the little things ;)

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What’s up, Weekend

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1. Fall is here!

2 – 4. Farmer’s market goods!

5 – 16. The zoo!

17 – 19. The beach!

20 – 22. Opening night!

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Door County, Take Three!

I’ve mentioned before that we try to make it up to Door County once a year, usually in early September, to celebrate our anniversary. Since we got married there, Door County holds a pretty special place in our hearts. Like attending the home opener Packer game with Kate and Tim, celebrating our anniversary in Door County has become an annual tradition we very much look forward to every year. We tend to hit up the same places every year, obviously because they’re tasty and/or beautiful and we love them. But we’re also making it a point to branch out a little bit every year and try something, or several somethings, new each time we go. I love comfort just as much as I love adventure, and Door County is a perfect place to enjoy both.

We I started the day off in the best way possible – with a relaxing upper body, back, neck, shoulder, and scalp massage at the Lavender Spa in Fish Creek. I booked a massage there on the day before our wedding and it was the most relaxing 30 minutes of my entire life. I’ve had other massages at other places before, but they’ve never been nearly as enjoyable or effective. Door County is the only place I’ll plunk down my hard-earned (or in this case, generously gifted, for my birthday) cash for a massage…because I can truly relax and enjoy it in Door County. Needless to say, it was pretty much the most perfect way to start our day! I’d highly recommend it for anyone and everyone…peaceful music, soft lighting, heated beds, plush blankets, calming lavender and mint scents, a gorgeous country atmosphere, and a great massage…unbeatable! While I massaged, Ted headed to Orchard Country winery for some fresh cheese curds…obviously, the man was suffering.

Post-massage, we hopped in the convertible and headed up to Sister Bay for some delicious brunch eats at Al Johnsons “Goats on the Roof.” We, of course, saw my beloved goats munching grass on the roof. I, of course, loaded up on my annual whip cream with a side of hot chocolate beverage masterpiece. Ted got our annual and their traditional Swedish crepes with fresh lingonberries, and I ordered my annual plate of Swedish meatballs but branched out this time and opted for homemade split pea soup instead of the Swedish crepes. All was delicious. Love those lingonberries. Love those goats!

Following brunch we took in a leisurely game of mini golf (and some fall leaves!) at Pirates Cove mini-golf. This is a really fun course. A few hole-in-ones made for a pretty great game of mini golf.

We stopped for fresh berry gelato at Jo Joe’s in Ephraim (where we took family and friends for a fun pizza & gelato luncheon the day after our wedding), saw a sweet car for sale in a pretty smashing color (Ted loves this car – the Triumph – it’s one of his dream cars), stopped by Ted’s telephone booth on the tip of the Door peninsula to say our yearly hello, dropped in to check out Uncle Tom’s Candy Store in Ellison Bay for the first time though we’ve passed the sign for it for three years now (an excellent place, btw! Absolutely delicious homemade-by-mamma treats…totally recommended!), sat on a small beachside pier for a while just enjoying the water, waves, beach and scenery, browsed a few of our favorite shops in Fish Creek to see what was new, I got a mammoth mega chocolate peanut butter cup at the fudge shop (it was epic. I only get one a year for a reason….but it’s so good!), and we went wine tasting and cherry tasting at the winery we got our wedding wines from. Of course, we made good use of our sky blue classic Oldsmobile Cutlass convertible and drove with the top down.

For dinner, though we adore The Cookery, Summertime and a slew of other local Door County eateries and we’re always anxious to hit them up every year, we decided to try Trio in Egg Harbor instead. Trio was the restaurant my cousin Tammy, who passed away earlier this year, tried when she and my Aunt Penny came up to Door County for our wedding two years ago. Tammy loved Trio. She said it had some of the best food she’d ever eaten. The last time we came to Chicago to visit with Tammy a few months before she died, she mentioned that if she could have one last meal, it would be at Trio. With a recommendation like that, how could we go elsewhere? After Tammy died, Ted and I vowed that the next time we visited Door County, we’d dine at Trio, in memory of Tammy and to celebrate her life at a place she loved. It also happened to be the dinner we treated ourselves to in celebration of our two year wedding anniversary. The verdict? Totally fantastic.

The food is European – mostly German, French and Italian – with a country twist. Gourmet comfort food, if you will. Our waitress was phenomenal (seriously one of the best we’ve ever had anywhere), the atmosphere was cozy and beautiful, and the food was divine. To keep the menu fresh, Trio changes up their menu with new gourmet offerings every five weeks. Already full of wine from our wine tasting we opted to skip the booze and instead split an appetizer of perfectly seasoned, thick fried calamari with lemon and marinara. Ted tried to duck confit on a bed of braised red cabbage and I ordered the cassoulet toulusain, a white bean cassoulet with duck, lamb, and garlic sausage. Both were savory and incredibly delicious. For dessert Ted had a mixed fresh-berry crisp and I had a key lime torte with homemade raspberry syrup. It was a wonderful way to celebrate both Tammy and our anniversary. Tammy’s got great taste!

After dinner we parked ourselves at Peninsula Players, one of Door County’s most renowned professional theatre companies (LORT B I think?) located in the woods of Peninsula State Park and right on the water, for a performance of Lombardi, a great and humorous play about the legendary Vince Lombardi when he was the coach of the Green Bay Packers during the 1960s. It was a truly great story told with lots of love and passion and humor by characters you don’t want to let go of at the end of the play. After the show we strolled through the woods surrounding the theatre and enjoyed the warm, flaming bonfire they’d lit by the bay before we drove back to Green Bay.

As always, an incredible day in the Door peninsula!

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