Grange Hall

My mom planned a fundraiser bus trip to Chicago this past weekend, so Juli&Rinda&Abby&Mom&Joe all hopped on the bus and headed to the Windy City. Our first stop was to meet my brother, Dustin, and his newest lady, Caitlin, at a restaurant in the Westloop called Grange Hall known for it's local eats (Michigan local, actually) and homemade goodies. It was quite a hike from our stop on Michigan Avenue to the restaurant, but well worth it. The neighborhood was adorable and the building was very quaint with a great old barn door and an inviting outdoor sitting area. The inside was fun with fresh flowers on all the tables and eclectic farm-themed decorations on the walls. And, of course, the entire menu looked delicious. Joe got the most amazing looking item, though: A Reuben burger with a corned-beef-patty&pumpernickel-toast topped with egg&sauerkraut and thousand island dressing. The service was perceptive&impeccable, the portions perfectly-size, and even the restrooms were petite&pretty. I would definitely love to go back.

Fresh Flowers

Reuben Burger

Front Entrance&Patio

Line of Seasonings&Sauces

Booze Bar

Comment Card

Brunch @ Toast

I've always been a breakfast eater, so when I moved to the Detroit area I had to find a new favorite breakfast spot. Erica introduced me to a place called Toast in Birmingham, MI. She raved that I'd love the decor and insisted that I try it. So we met for brunch one Saturday and I fell in love. Now, it's my favorite place to go when I'm cravin' a good breakfast, which obviously meant I suggested Elise&Erica meet me there for brunch on Saturday before our Zoo date. We sat down and all said the word "mimosa," so we ordered Mimosas for the Table - a bottle of champagne and carafe of orange juice just for the 3 of us. Goodness was it delicious. The perfect addition to our brunch items. Our server seemed to think we were a pretty entertaining table also - probably even more so after we'd each downed 3 mimosas. We sat&talked giggling&gossiping for about an hour before heading out for the day.

And I successfully turned another Bestie into a Toast Lover.

mug on the table next to us that I had to take a picture of

The Buscuit

Jacob&I enjoyed breakfast at The Biscuit in Holland this past weekend. It was a cute, little restaurant in an area I'd never been to before. The menu was mostly local and very vegan/vegetarian friendly. Ironically, I didn't get a biscuit - I'm not a biscuit girl - but my meal was delicious and (as always) the company was excellent.

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.

Christmas Breakfast

Every Christmas of my life has been spent at my maternal grandparents’ house – and it always starts off with an 9am breakfast.

 Egg Bake & Coffee Cakes

Like clockwork on Christmas morning, we show all up for this meal – even my brother, sister-in-law, and nephew who drive across the whole state. I never want to miss these traditions – whether I really like the food or not – I love love love kicking off the day that way.

Breakfast Lately

Something about weekend mornings make me crave breakfast foods

…

lately every other day of the week

I go without food till about 1pm

…

but I wake up on weekends and immediately bound down to the kitchen for some type of egg creation. Lately I’ve been making turkey sausage omelets for Mr.U and – obviously – my favorite egg sammiches for myself.

 

Breakfast&Grandparents

Sunday morning – after gaining an extra hour of sleep from daylight savings time – grandpa decided to make frenchtoast&sausage for breakfast. I sat at the island in the kitchen watching him and grandma work on the delicious smelling yumyums.

They are too cute – the way they work together …bumping into each other and asking questions the other one can’t hear or respond to. Grandma starts a task and grandpa finishes it (like usual). And eventually the table is set and the meal is ready.

 Any meal at gma&gpa’s is wonderful and this breakfast was no exception, so Mr.U&I enjoyed quite a few pieces of cinnamon french toast before heading back to our side of the state.

Boyfriend's Breakfast

Mr.U had to take his GRE Saturday morning, so I woke up early to make him breakfast before his big exam. He’s been craving pancakes for weeks now. Since I’m not a pancake person, I never think to make them, but since he’s been studying for weeks now, I figured he deserved them. They were gooey&filling and he seemed to love them. I patted myself on the back for a successful first pancake attempt.

I’d also found a recipe for oatmeal bake in the Reader’s Digest and decided to try it. (I’m an oatmeal girl, so it was a treat for me also). It wasn’t the best breakfast treat – oatmeal-bananas-blackberry mush – but it tasted alright and it was nice and healthy (much healthier than pancakes) so I forced myself to enjoy it.

Nephew's Shoes

I got to have breakfast with my favorite little boy yesterday at a wonderful bakery called DeBoer. My sister-in-law picked the restaurant so we could try their pumpkin pancakes, but – unfortunately – they weren’t serving them yet. Instead, Mr.U&MyBrother both got a manly mixture of meats-eggs-cheese-gravy. I had amazing poached eggs with ranchero sauce and my Sister&Nephew shared blueberry oatmeal pancakes that looked delicious.

We spent a few minutes at their house before leaving the boys to watch football while we attended ArtPrize. In those few minutes, my nephew set his eyes on my shoes and insisted on wearing them till I left. Riding around the living room on his little four-wheeler with my oxfords on was too adorable – I almost didn’t want to ask for them back.

 

Homemade Breakfast

Mr.U had a golf outing Saturday afternoon, so after a couple hours of extra sleep I woke up to make us some delicious homemade breakfast.
Sliced potatoes sautéed with onions, peppers, and hot sauce.
Omelets with fat free cheese.
And one piece of whole wheat toast.
A wonderful way to start the day – mine including basically nothing but napping&sewing. Mr.U’s needed the nourishment a little more.

Perfect Muffins

I’m back on a muffin making kick.

Mr.U likes to take them to work for breakfast,

so I keep adding healthy options to FiberOne muffin mixes to create new versions.

I made the PERFECT batch tonight:

Banana-Cinnamon-Oatmeal

And they rose into perfect little bubbles.

So good.

So adorable.

Sammich Sunday

I finally got to cook Mr.U my famous Egg Sammich this past weekend while we were dog-sitting at my brother’s house. I paired it with some delicious spicy hashbrowns – like the ones we get at our favorite breakfast spot: Nina's.
It’s always fun to play house with him and act all domesticated.

OliviaMonster

My parents came to visit me when I was living in Florida and the little condo they stayed in was so cute.
2 bedrooms
– 1 for them, 1 for my brother&I –
lots of brown&tan
I had to go to work while they were there, but I stayed with them as much as I could – partially because my house was at the peak of disgustingness thanks to my nasty roommates but mostly just because I’d missed them so much. My favorite stuffed animal, Olivia, kept them company while I was gone, which made my dad happy cause he has a fun, little habit of documenting his time with her and sending it to me for laughs. One morning, while I shoveled scrambled eggs onto people’s plates, I got this picture of her eating breakfast with dad in her new Walt Disney World t-shit. Yeah, we’re a dorky family, I guess, but it was cute. Their entire visit was so therapeutic and made me realize just how much I really missed home – I could sacrifice the endless days of sunshine to giggle with my family again.

Breakfast Magic

I truly miss serving breakfast in Disney World. Watching excited guests (ready to conquer the day) wander into the resort food court in search of eggs and MickeyMouse waffles was worth the early morning wake up.
(not that I'd ever complain - I'm definitely a morning person)

But, even while I explained the breakfast options over&over, I smiled, because I sincerely loved my job and felt happy everyday.

Honestly, though, I probably miss breakfast in the bakery more. All I did was stand&relax - make sure the bagels&cupcakes were in order - answer questions for sleepy guests. People in the "Grab&Go" area don't want to be obsessed over... they just want a smiling face, a potentially helpful hand, and -mostly- somethin' to munch on.

I can't wait to go back - both for work&play.