Giving&Dating

Target's FEED brand was released today.

Joe took me out on a day-date, which included lunch at Olive Garden, a trip to the movies - The Bling Ring - and shopping at Target&BarnesAndNoble where he bought me the denim vest to wear, The Pretty One to read, Oz - the Great & Powerful to watch.

I love love love it all.

My vest provided 24 meals and can also be added to just about every outfit in my closet. I can't wait to wear it - probably too often.

I feel very happy about the day - we got to enjoy a stress-free day together in the midst of this disappointing&frustrating month and did our part to "FEED USA" and keep the "Great American Bookstore" alive.

Eastern Market

I've driven through Eastern Market, but I've never truly experienced it. After brunch in downtown Detroit, though, Syd&I decided to head out to Eastern Market to pick up some flowers and look for goodies.

It was mostly a good time.

We looked at rows&rows of plants and table after table of fruits&veggies. We went into a cute, little antique shop where I found a cool, old saw to decorate with and admired the fun&unique architecture of the market buildings.

I saw "mostly a good time" because the strangest thing happened when we were walking in. We parked a few blocks away and as we were strolling past a storefront who's door I was admiring this woman came running down the middle of the street with a flat of flowers in her hands yelling, "Get him!" "Call the police!" "That son of a bitch!" ...that's when we noticed that the man who'd been standing by the car outside the storefront we'd been gazing at was actually stealing from her car! By the time we realized, the man had disappeared and the woman claimed he hadn't gotten anything. I'm not trying to be rude, but just because you're at a pleasant farmer's market on a sunny Saturday afternoon doesn't mean you've fallen into a thief-free society and should leave your doors unlocked... Sad, but true.

Hudson Cafe

Syd&I went to the Hudson Cafe on Saturday afternoon for brunch. I'd never been there, but it's right downtown Detroit in a relatively freshened-up neighborhood near some of downtown's biggest businesses offices. I drove around block and opted to park in the MGM Parking Structure (like usual) and walk through town. The weather was beautiful and the people were friendly. I'll give it to the men of this city... they may spend their days sitting around by the mass transit station, but they know how to compliment a lady passing by. I was feelin' pretty confident&comfortable, which is something I love to be able to say in this city of mine. Syd had met the chef for the Hudson once before, so once we were seated, she requested he head out to out table when he got a chance. Shortly after, he came out and greeted us - inquiring what we'd ordered. Obviously, he felt we needed to try the Red Velvet pancakes, cause he had them sent out to our table with the rest of our meal. They were absolutely amazing. For out original meals I'd gotten the Juevos Rancheros and Nutella Crepes w/ Banana&Strawberry. Everything was amazing. The décor was great, the service was excellent, and the food was superb.

I will definitely be going back.

Afternoon Walk

I love walking through the city on a sunny afternoon.

 The People Mover

 Different SkyLine View

 Rosa Parks Transit Center

 Sidewalk Under Construction

 Washington & Grand River

 Tights Squeeze Between Buildings

Fuck Hipsters?

Pretty Rain

Joe and I went for a walk this morning

before I left for brunch downtown.

He stepped over a leaf then stopped me

to point out the raindrops on top of it.

I snapped a few shot of nature's beauty.

It's been raining like crazy lately

and, though I hate the wet shoes&pants,

I love how pretty it turns out sometimes.

NoMoreNickNames

I think I'll stop using nicknames.

It's a pain.

La Feast

Joe & I have been meaning to try La Feast - Royal Oak for lunch, so we finally did today. I got lentil soup and a falafel sandwich. The soup wasn't my favorite thing on the planet, but the sandwich was amazing. I could eat it every day. So many delicious&unique flavors in Mediterranean food.

Small Cell Lung Cancer

The entire month of May Joe's mom had a horrible cough. She wasn't in my car on the drive down&back, but apparently she'd violently coughed the entire time. When we got back, she had a doctors appointment that led to a chest x-ray that led to another appointment.

Joe&I got home from work and the front door was wide open... he walked back to his mom's room to see what was up and the look on his face when he returned to the kitchen was pure terror. "She had her appointment about that chest x-ray today... This isn't going to be good." She emerged from the bedroom with puffy eyes and a wet face. "They found a tumor in my lung." The rest of her words escape me - they came out in muffled murmurs and circled my ears before floating past me.

Next came an oncology appointment at 9pm on a Thursday. I took her. Joe had holed himself off in the basement since we heard the news. I can't say I gathered much from the appointment besides the fact that I hate oncology offices and that sympathetic expressions don't actually lend real  information.

The next morning produced a 6am phone call that she needed to be admitted. The oncologist - an old friend of Jan's - said he'd let his emotions get in the way of sending her straight to the hospital and she needed to go in. So I headed to work and Joe stayed home to take her. The day was atrociously horrible. Trying to keep my mind on paperwork while knowing what he was going through was so difficult&painful.

After a weekend of radiation, she's able to breathe again and her cough has cleared up so much. It's amazing. Unfortunately, though, it's still small cell lung cancer, which needs to be aggressively treated with chemotherapy if there's any hope for remission. Her first round starts today, so our fingers are crossed that she doesn't get too sick, since everyone takes to chemo differently.

I seem to be the voice of "real conversations" in our household. Since Joe closes up when serious&sad topics unfold, I get to hear all the unfortunate news&details. I'm trying very hard to hold it together, keep my head up, stay positive, and stifle any horrified emotions.

BFF Books

Elise lent me the first three books of
Lauren Conrad's LA Candy series.
They're pretty simply, somewhat-silly reads,
but I've enjoyed them so far...
reading all three in one week.
I need to get the rest of her books
(I believe there are two more)
so I can rip through more of the story.

Pier Afternoon

Our last morning in South Haven was foggy and quiet.

Elise&Syd&I wanted to stick around and enjoy the west side anyway.

We went for a walk out onto the pier and sat at the end

enjoying the fresh air and people watching.

Slowly the fog rolled back and we could see the shore.

This is the land I grew up in...

the environments I remember from my youth.

Many a summer day was spent on the pier in South Haven

and coming back here to visit refreshes my soul.

I'm glad others who've come into my life can enjoy it, too.

Shopping&Treats

After breakfast with the girls at the Golden Brown Bakery
everyone had to head their separate ways but Elise&Syd&I,
so we shopped around the little downtown shops for a while
including Decadent Dogs where we found lots of cute doggy goodies.
Then we went down by the pier
where we munched on Pretzels&BoscoSticks from a little food truck.
A fun&filling morning.

Mushrooms.

I guess I thought these were photo-worthy ...for some reason. #stoned

South Haven Sunset

The sunset we were able to enjoy
from South Haven's Lake Michigan shore
during our 2nd night of the camping trip was absolutely perfect.

Girls' Camping Trip

Syd set a date for the Girls' Camping Trip a while ago and when this weekend finally arrived it did not disappoint. Our original campground on the southern portion of the Southwest Michigan lake shore was wiped out by a storm, so we opted for a new, family-oriented site outside South Haven, MI. One big cut on BabyShannon's foot later and we had both tents set up with all the booze&games set up under a canopy. We spent our evening - somewhat quietly - playing Irish Poker, drinking Pink Drink, and laughing our heads off around the campfire cooking hotdogs&s'mores.

Slows Bar BQ

My dad had seen Slows Bar BQ on the Food Network and talked about it ever since we moved, so it was an obvious choice for our pre-baseball game lunch. The sauces were amazing and the sides were to-die-for… baked mac & cheese and delicious cheese fries. My mom got an entrée and I had her sides, which was perfect. Joe got a sandwich and my dad got brisket, and they both loved both meals.

Mom&Dad Weekend

My parents came over to My Side of the Mitten this past weekend. It made me so happy to see them and show them around where Mr.U&I live.
We started out by putting our names in at Slows BBQ. We’d parked across the street in a security-guarded lot with proceeds benefitting the surrounding neighborhood, which warmed my heart a little then walked around Corktown while waiting to be seated in the restaurant. It was a first visit for all of us, so we had fun with the experience. And it did not disappoint.
After lunch, we drove to MGM Grand Casino to park then walked to Comerica Park for a Tiger’s game. The sun came out as we got to our seats, so we baked in our front row balcony seats while watching the game. A couple times my mom&I walked around on the shaded terraces and gazed out at the city skyline to avoid the beating rays. It was a nail-biter at the end there – Valverde hopped back on the Closing-Struggle-Bus, of course – but we ended up winning. We headed back to the car then drove back to our house – driving by the house we’re attempting to buy first, so dad could see it for himself. Then, after a quick hello to Mr.U’s mom, they left for the journey back to their side of the state.

It was a great great day to spend with them and only made me miss them even more. It’s hard to be so close, yet so far at the same time. Hopefully we showed them a good enough time that they’ll want to come back eventually.

Post-Concert Fun

After the concert, we headed out for drinks&fun in Royal Oak. We met up at the loft of some of Erica&Kari's friends then headed to Commune - a bar in the basement of Bastone - for some beer&dancing. At closing time, we walked down the street to Leo's Coney Island for late-night/early-morning treats&water. I got a salad, which I merely boxed-up for a Saturday afternoon snack, then munched on the delicious saganaki&cheesefries. All in all, it was a very fun&much-needed night out.

Ke$ha&Pitbull

I went to a Ke$ha&Pitbull concert with Erica&Kari Friday.

"There's a place downtown, where the freaks all come around."

 

Legs - Pigs - America ... ok.

"Go insane, Go insane. Throw some GLITTER - make it RAIN."

 

Ke$ha was wildly entertaining. I loved loved loved her show. She was inappropriate&sexy with a potty-mouth and stripper-poles. Her dancers wore fuzzy-animal-costumes and her stage had blow-up-accents including a pig and a huge pair of legs. She told silly stories about sex&booze and dropped the f-bomb while talking about a 12-year-old boy who'd been bullying, shouting "Fuck the Haters!" It was hysterical&wonderful and made me fall even faller in love with Ke$ha - an artist I've been singing along to for years. I would definitely see her in concert again.

"BLANCO! Acércame tu pantalón."

Pitbull's portion of the concert was absolutely wild. It was like a crazy dance party in the seats of a basketball arena. The funniest part was people-watching - especially the group of middle-aged latin men jumping&jiving to Pitbull's beats when he went into his Spanish tunes. The ran up&down the bleacher stairs and recorded themselves singing every lyric and dancing like maniacs. I have to admit that I wasn't very excited for a Pitbull concert, but it ended being a lot more fun than I expected. I thought I needed to download his album to be familiar at the concert, but most of the stuff he did was just the excerpts for songs he's featured on with music videos behind him and sexy dancers next to him. Interesting&Entertaining.

Birthday Runners

I got new running shoes for my birthday last year.

So this year, I got another pair.

I like this tradition.

Morning Ride

I rode my bike from Syd's to work this morning.

It was a beautiful ride at the sunrise

and I sat in the parking lot enjoying the weather

while I waited for Joe,

so he could throw my bike in the back of Gloria

and we could walk over to work together.

I genuinely love the town I work in

...and the Madden Girl flats I bought at Salvation Army last month

...and the birds that have finally come out of hiding

after Michigan's harsh (well, not so harsh) winter.

Hello, summer.

I love you.

24 Seconds

Last night I rode my bike to Syd's house in Berkley after work and we had dinner at 24 Seconds - Berkley. I just had chips & guacamole that I ended up taking home to munch on at work today, but they were pretty good. Syd said her burger was great. And we each enjoyed a post-work beer. I mostly just enjoyed that we got to sit outside on the rooftop patio. So glad the weather is starting to behave. After dinner we walked to the corner store for some beer to sip on the deck while Max ran around in the backyard.

I love love love being able to walk somewhere I want to go. My ideal life would be led without the need of a car. If I could ride my groceries home in a basket on my bike, walk from home to dinner, and stumble home from the bar - I'd be eternally happy.

For now that's not how it is... but hopefully before the weather turns cold again, we'll be in our own house with Dearborn at our fingertips.

Obsessed Treats

My latest obsessions in food:

PeanutButterApples&SpicyGuacamole.

I'm absolutely addicted.

I bought avocados for 10 for $10 at Meijer

and made a gigantic bowl of dip

...and ended up taking most of it to Florida.

Both are such healthy&delicious snacks.