Milwaukee's Storm the Bastille Run: A 5k PR!

Doesn't this post title read all funky and robotic? A 5k PR! A 5k PR! It's like running has it's own coded, secret language. 


It means what it says, though - tonight I hit a personal record for a 5k distance!


The race: Storm the Bastille 5K Run / Walk, at Milwaukee's Bastille Days, which is the largest North American French-themed outdoor festival. Who knew?


The course: Beautiful Downtown Milwaukee, at night


The company: Stefanie and Nicole (my fellow half marathon divas), and a few other friends! 

We have special energy drinks, aka whiskey. Don't judge.

Essentially a party on sneakers, the Storm the Bastille course winds through Downtown and the 3rd Ward streets. While the pre-race music was a little odd (Broadway tunes and Gloria Gaynor's "I Will Survive"), nothing French or running-themed about it, runners packed the starting chute with friends and teammates, some of them in costumes. 

A whole team of Napoleons!

I couldn't resist a photo opp.

Next year I'm totally going to run as Marie Antoinette. I have experience...

Hahaha.

Tell me it wouldn't be hilarious to see a racing Marie? I still have the wig from this costume...

We couldn't resist a few more goofy photos before the race started. 

Once the race started, it was a fast start en masse. I began with my group, but promptly lost them (oops), and stuck to the left side of the course. There were SO many other runners, it was incredible!

Though I've been Downtown many times at night, running the course presented a new experience and the buildings and architecture looked beautiful.

It was a very fast course and before I knew it, my Garmin beeped and said I had completed 3.1 miles! But the finish line was still a block away... hmm.

My finals: 3.16 miles in 32 minutes, 57 seconds. A new personal record!

Happy Runners!

It was a great, fast race, and a ton of fun. I wish it had been chip timed as this was my fastest race yet, but that's quite all right. One complaint: the finish area was so jammed with people that everyone had to stop about 50 feet ahead of the finish line. 

You do the talking: Have you ever raced at night before? It was like seeing my city through new eyes!

Sunny, with a chance of Chana

Good afternoon!

It's another sunny, breezy day here in Milwaukee. For today's lunch break, I ran an errand about 10 blocks away (walked instead taking my car), enjoying the sights along the way.

Afterward, I picked up my very favorite takeout lunch... Chana Masala from Shah Jee's!

Enjoyed at the lovely Cathedral Square Park.

Chana Masala, peas and cheese, basmati rice with cilantro chutney, roti. I am 99% sure the lovely oily spots you see are from ghee (clarified butter) in the recipe, and I enjoyed every last buttery bite.

Question of the Day - What is your favorite lunch? I love me some Chana Masala from Shah Jee's! If I pack a lunch, my go-to favorite is a good old fashioned PB&J sandwich on whole grain bread.

Like, Totally... Brick 3 Pizza review, plus "Easy Desk Meals!" feature

I am writing this from my office, where I have been uber busy and listening to the Psychedelic Furs sound check. They are playing tonight at the Pabst with Happy Mondays and Amusement Parks on Fire.

Yep, I have already heard "Pretty In Pink," "Love My Way," and a whole bunch of songs I don't know that feature gratuitous live saxophone. Taking me back to the 80s when I was a youngin' (like really young). Tonight will be one of the fun shows this month at work, and I am pretty stoked for the shows.

Food choices today have not been so fresh / whole in nature. For lunch I headed to Brick 3 - a great New York style pizzeria - with the design staff. Jason, Brandon and Erik - and FRANK! Erik's pug mix. Isn't he cute?

Brick 3 is located in the Old World 3rd Street area of Downtown Milwaukee, and opened a few months ago. They are one of the few quick bite type of places that are open LATE - past bar time on some nights - and for those of us who work in the concert biz, it's great to get reliable food late at night. 

The highlight of their menu is, ahem, the pizza - they also have sandwich options (all for meat-eaters), a couple salads (haven't tried them), and some bakery items including cannoli. On their website, I spied calzones - I am a huge calzone fan and will have to ask about these next time.

Today, I tried the spinach and feta cheese pizza - not too bad.

I blotted the pizza with at least 5 napkins, and it still tasted a little greasier than I like. The feta tasted fresh and was mixed with the spinach... I could have done with 50% less cheese - but the combination was pleasant and texture was creamy. One slice was perfect.

Easy Desk Meal idea alert!

I have to eat so many meals at my desk, that I am going to start a new feature called "Easy Desk Meals." Today's idea - hard boiled eggs in a baggie!

Dinner, which I am having now, is two hard-boiled eggs from a sandwich baggie. The baggie is great for transporting the eggs, keeping them from making my coworker's mini fridge smell like eggs, and for breaking them without making a mess. Don't know what I mean? Gently *thwack* the bag against your desk or a hard surface to crack the shells. Remove the shells inside the baggie, and you've got peeled hard-boiled eggs without the mess.

These are Roundy's brand vegetarian, cage-free eggs. Personally, I have noticed a huge difference in quality and flavor from the usual "grade A" eggs we buy. Much tastier.

Two hard boiled eggs as a meal is a bit boring, but can be great when you add a nice green salad or fruit cup. Cheers!

A Weekend of Sisterhood + Fabulous Eats

Hello there! I took the past few days off from blogging as my lovely sister Annie was in town. She was here for less than 48 hours, however it feels like a lot longer as we packed activities into each day and evening!

Among other things, we experienced some great food. We ate out... I don't know... three times? Lol. 

Saturday started with a lunch at Fratello's, a restaurant overlooking the Milwaukee River in the Historic 3rd Ward. Here are some photos from the restaurant's website - it was too cold out for us to sit on the patio, but the interior has a modern, warm vibe.

Special guests were my Aunt Bonnie and Uncle Dave, who were in town from Eau Claire for a Jimmy Buffet concert! My family also chose Fratello's for my Mom's birthday dinner earlier this year, and while the server was great, the food was so-so. This time around, the service was poor but the food was a bit better. 

The problem with service, started with too little bread being brought out for the dip trio that was ordered for an appetizer. I was late to lunch and did not get a photo of this... but it looked like mini garlic toasts and pita wedges were offered alongside hummus, bruschetta topping and a third mystery dip. 

When I got there, there was about 50% of the dips left but we were out of bread. My Mom requested some more and we did this 2x. It wasn't until later when we had the bill, that the waitress had charged an extra dollar for each tiny basket of bread! Sure, an extra dollar isn't that bad - but she should have mentioned we were being charged each time. 

I started with a cup of broccoli soup - it was nice and hot, but pretty bland. Tasted fine after I added some salt + pepper.

For an entree, I chose the Blackened Halibut Salad. 

The fish was great - perfectly done, warm and spicy with the blackened seasoning. The salad was pretty standard, next time I'd probably request the mixed greens vs. the romaine lettuce base. There were black olives and feta cheese in the mix; the feta was good but the black olives tasted can-ny. It's a big pet peeve of mine that restaurants cut corners by using canned black olives instead of kalamata olives in Greek-type of salads. I digress...

My sister ordered the margherita pizza. They key to this simple dish is fresh ingredients for fresh flavors - ripe tomato, tangy basil, fresh sweet mozzarella cheese.

She said that it was not very good... the tomatoes were mushy, there wasn't enough cheese, the basil wasn't fresh and there was too little. Annie is a foodie and loves her pizza, so this was a disappointment. 

For dessert, we ordered the trio of cupcakes for the table. Fratello's has a lovely cupcake menu with lots of options!

We chose the Turtle, the Peanut Butter Cup, and the Chocolate Fixx.

These were great - frostings were the highlight - however the cake parts tasted pretty stale. I enjoyed a few spoonfuls of the Turtle, and tasted the frostings only for the Peanut Butter Cup and Chocolate Fixx. A sweet ending to the meal.

I usually keep an open mind with restaurants... however have to comment that the server was absolutely horrible to my Mom. When we received the bill, the waitress rudely (and I do mean rudely) and loudly proclaimed that "We DON'T accept Discover cards, actually MOST restaurants DO NOT accept them." She also cleared the table of every utensil - water glasses which we were still drinking out of, every last piece of cutlery - while all of us were still sitting there. Many times she interrupted our personal space by stacking plates, slamming stuff around - inches from our shoulders or arms! What a rude gal. I hope that whatever was bugging her, she gets over quickly because WE will not be headed back to the place anytime soon!

Sorry for the rant. I insist on being honest on this blog, and that was my honest opinion :-)

Coming up - a recap of our visit to the Milwaukee Public Market, and Saturday's dinner + dessert!

The stuff that dreams are made of... Shah Jee's takeout, take two.

Last week, I attempted a lunch from my favorite local joint, Shah Jee's Pakistani, that kinda failed. I got to the restaurant too late and all of my favorite entree, chana masala, was gone. I had to settle for some bland Saag Paneer (potatoes with spinach) and a bizzare mix of greasy vegetables.

Today, all was redeemed and lunch happiness was brought to me via a takeout box.

Spicy, savory Chana Masala. 

Sweet peas with cheese. 

Fluffy, perfectly done basmati rice. 

What a dream. Props to Kyle for making this happen!

Milwaukeeans can check out Shah Jee's for themselves: 770 North Jefferson St. (located in the basement food court). Open 11:30AM - 2PM, Monday - Friday. Note: There is usually a massive and slow-moving line from 11:50 - 12:30, fair warning.

Want to take a quick sec right here to thank all of the Foodie Blogroll readers for your support! My hits today and yesterday are off the charts, and I really appreciate your checking out my blog :-) Cheers to being part of such a supportive and amazing creative community! 

Windy Luncheon

Snuck out of the office for a short lunch break. It was raining out earlier today, but now the weather is sunny and windy! I stopped by Shah Jee's for some Pakistani food, and found a nice picnic table next to Milwaukee's City Hall.

The view was great - that's the Pabst Theater that has the show signs on the windows. I rarely see the Theater from this perspective! Usually I am stuck inside.

Sad to say, I did not much enjoy the Shah Jee selections. The basmati rice was good, but the two entrees - Saag Paneer (spinach cooked with cheese and herbs) and "mix" of carrots, potatoes and peas - tasted bland and were really oily. My usual pick here is the Chana Masala, which is chickpeas cooked in a savory tomato-based sauce. It's always got a great spicy kick, and these two just didn't possess that.

Anyhow... I ate most of the "Mix" and only attempted a few spoonfuls of the Saag.

I wanted to share a post from Caitlin at Healthy Tipping Point - she has some good tips for aiming to do everything with purpose. I've been pretty stressed lately and found these to make a lot of sense.

• Realize that everything is not an emergency.  Sometimes, it's better to sit on a decision (or an e-mail!) before sending it out.
• Create a "Plan of Attack" for big decisions.  Lay out the steps you must follow to succeed.  Identify potential roadblocks ahead of time.
• Realize WHAT and WHO really matters to you.  Don't spend all your emotional cash on a job you hate; save some for your significant other or friends.
• Seek advice.  Talk to your friends, loved ones, or spiritual guide for advice on tough decisions.  Weigh the pro's and con's of their advice against your own knowledge of the situation.
• Organize your life!  When your life is less cluttered, it's easier to move forward with purpose.  Get a datebook (or an iPhone) and rank your to-do's in order of importance.

For more on this topic, please visit Caitlin's blog at HealthyTippingPoint.com

Today I am especially identifying with realizing who and what really matter to me. 

Back to work - headed to a cake tasting with my friend Stefanie and her fiance this evening!

Review: Metro Bar & Cafe at Hotel Metro

Currently Listening to: "California" by Lucero

Today, I had the pleasure of joining my lovely parents for lunch at Metro Bar & Cafe, at Hotel Metro!

Hotel Metro is an elegant boutique-style hotel, fashionably located in Downtown Milwaukee on Mason & Milwaukee Streets. I've been to Metro Bar & Cafe a few times for their Happy Hour specials, but only once before for lunch.

The summer menu boasted some intriguing beverage options!

My Mom selected the Ginger Fizz - "house made ginger ale with fresh ginger, seltzer and a shot of lime juice." I tried a little and it had a strong, refreshing ginger taste. This was my favorite out of our three drinks, I want to figure out how to make it at home!

I tried out the Peach Ice tea, which included fresh peach puree - very mellow in taste with a hint of spicy black tea.

My Dad had the Mango Ice tea, same as mine but with delicious fresh mango puree. Smooth and sweet (sorry no pic).

The waitress brought a bread bowl - I had half of a white roll. The thin, crispy cheese breadsticks looked good as well.

For entrees, a special of the day was a Blue Crab Grilled Cheese. My parents love crab so they both ordered it!

I tried out the Roasted Vegetable Melt sandwich with fries.

While I was impressed with my Peach Ice tea, I did not much care for the sandwich. It arrived on some thick, whole grain bread but was coated with butter. I should have asked for them to hold the butter. The vegetables were overdone to the point of being kinda mushy, and it was a weird combination of squash, artichoke pieces (which I don't much like - too bitter), with just a few tiny pieces of mushroom and red pepper. My body was craving a salad and I guess I should have listened! I ate 1/2 the sandwich and about 2/3 of the fries, which were hot and crispy and pretty good.

Overall, a good meal at a great value. My favorite part of it was spending time with my parents! My Mom is back to school soon, I can't believe how fast the summer has gone by.