Road trip adventures: Grand Rapids, MI

It is 10PM.

I finished my run at 8PM.


I still haven't showered.


I'm kind of gross that way :-)


I chose to do some work (I'm sick, I know), catch up on blogs, and write this post instead of showering. Aren't you glad? (sarcasm).


How was your weekend, blog friends? Zak and I took a road trip to Grand Rapids (MI), to visit his sister and her family. We used to hang out with them frequently when they lived in Chicago, but there was something about a 700 square foot high-rise condo that didn't mesh well with having a baby :-) They moved to Grand Rapids earlier this year, and this was our first trip to their new town. 


It was also our first trip with both dogs in tow. They did surprisingly well on the road!

Here's how the weekend went: We pretty much either a) played with baby Zeke, b) went out to eat, or c) took photos with baby Zeke. It was great! 

Saturday, we managed to catch some of the Herman Miller Grand Cycling Classic (US Finals Criterium) races through Downtown Grand Rapids. It was pretty cool to watch! Team Bissel (yes, the vacuum cleaner) owned the race, at least the one we watched.

source

Later, we checked out Stella's Lounge, a punk rock bar with a killer whiskey list and a giant, mostly-vegan menu. We went early, and the music wasn't too loud or anything, but was pretty hilarious to take a baby there. We had to take advantage of their cool mural outside for a mini photo shoot.

Stella's menu was indeed impressive, mostly because of the 200 types of Bourbon and whiskey available. I didn't want to be *that girl*, at least not while hanging out with Zeke, so I opted to try the "Hellbent for Lentils" vegan burger with "Chronic" fries. Holy delicious.

They call these "chronic fries" for a reason - highly addictive!

Hands down, the best burger I've had this year. And 100% vegan!

Zeke said that once he can eat solid food, he will have to try this burger.

Baby fist bump!

After dinner, we headed to Jersey Junction in East Grand Rapids, for dessert: ice cream!

Cake batter ice cream. It was pretty swoon-worthy.

"There she goes with the weird food photography again..."

All in all, it was a fantastic night. More foodie adventures and Zeke photos to follow!

You do the talking: Have you ever had vegan bar food? We have a great place in Milwaukee called Palomino that is pretty fantastic, and has a similar rockin' vibe.

Are you a whiskey drinker? I seriously love whiskey and Bourbon. It's kind of my thing! Only a little bit at once, though. I'd rather order a high-quality whiskey on the rocks and sip it over a couple hours, than order beer after beer.

Rufus, my original fur child.

How was everyone's Wednesday? Kick-ass, I hope!

Tonight's post is random. I could only think of two things to write about: how glad I am that summer weather has finally hit Milwaukee, and a certain fur child.

First things first. It's officially summertime in the Milwaukee area, and about damn time. The past two days have had on again / off again thunderstorms, and our garden is kicking into high gear. Soon, our raspberry bushes will be in bloom with fruit, and my tiger lillies will finally come around for the season. 

These photos are from last year, I just can't believe such beautiful things grew in our yard.


And when I think of beautiful colorful things, one special little furry man immediately comes to mind... 


Rufus. My first fur child.

About seven years ago, right after Zak and I met each other, I adopted a cat from the Wisconsin Humane Society. The adoption counselor told me that he was a 'special' kitten, was borderline not rescuable when they found him, and who may not ever fully warm up to people. All I saw was the cutest little boy, ever. 

Rufus is definitely not your typical cat. While he is very handsome, he prefers to be admired from afar. He does not  like to be held or cuddled, and is overall pretty wild. But he never ceases to amuse me with his curiosity and antics.

He makes a great gargoyle...

...and is surprisingly adventurous. He didn't mind checking out snow...

Okay, that was all Zak. Rufus wasn't really wanting to put these on.


He makes a great portrait subject...

His current favorite activity is lounging in an old box, watching the birds. Must be nice.

While Clay the puppy and Blue the dog are animals that actually enjoy human company and therefore get most of our attention, Rufus is my original fur child. Our home wouldn't be complete without him.


You do the talking: Are you a cat person, or dog person? 
I used to be a cat person, but Rufus changed that. He's cute, but pretty bonkers. I'm now more of a dog person.

F*ck it, I'm blogging tonight.

FRIENDS. How are ya? 


I've missed you. Well, for those of you with blogs, I've been enjoying reading and commenting and keeping up and in general, being a blogging enthusiast. 

But... I've missed blogging for my own self. When things get busy, I unfortunately let blogging slip down on my priority list. I've been up to other things like raising a puppy and trying to remain a sane individual.

Clay says: "Sanity? It's overrated!"

Tonight - I had a revelation. I was in bed and reading another dog training book, when I said to myself - "F*ck it. Tonight I am gonna blog!" So - here I am, and here we are.

My feelings, exactly!

Side note: My apologies if the language seems a tad brash. This is how I talk, sometimes!


The past couple months, I've occupied my time with attempting to train for a half marathon. I figured this would help me have an excuse to make time to exercise, and that I'd reduce my overall stress. Wrong! 


Turns out that while I'm a trooper during long runs, short weekday runs have stressed me out more than anything and as a result, I haven't done enough of them. I'm not too worried about the half... it will still be fun, but probably less comfortable than if I were able to fully commit to *every* training run.


So, I'm still learning. And that's okay, right? I'm also registered for a full marathon in October, so I'm technically training for that as well. And will be registering soon for the Pikes Peak Challenge, which is three weeks beforehand.


On my Agenda:
Summerfest Rock 'n Sole Half Marathon - Sunday, July 10 (Milwaukee, WI)
Pikes Peak Challenge: 13.1 Mile Hike to the summit - Saturday, September 10 (Colorado Springs, CO)
Milwaukee Lakefront Marathon - Sunday, October 2 (Milwaukee, WI)


What races / events are you getting excited about? 
A winter race that I'm thinking of possibly splurging on is the Rock 'n' Roll Las Vegas 1/2 Marathon, because it's the day after the Urban Running Blogger Summit - December 3rd. Something  just calls out to me about several of my favorite bloggers being involved (Sarah aka SkinnyRunner hosting, Tina from Carrots 'N' Cake as the keynote speaker, and Janae from Hungry Runner Girl, Julie from Peanut Butter Fingers and Monica from Run Eat Repeat). And can you imagine the race course lining the infamous Vegas strip, all lit up at night with fountains and volcanoes and sinking treasure ships? Awesome.


So there you have it. I blogged tonight! And it feels gooooood. Time to get back to bed and that puppy training book. I leave you with more ridiculously cute photos. Cheers!

Puppies change everything

Heyo, friends - how's your Monday going?


When I last checked in, I shared just how awesome being a homeowner can be. As in when the furnace needs repair and then the next weekend, the dryer goes out. Ah, the joys of owning a home.

Well, we ended up going with this one - this sleek, yet relatively cheap Frigidaire from Sears. I now love Sears.

(image source)

The very same day, we ended up making another major decision and investment in our home, but this one was a lot more fun...

A puppy! I mean, come on, look at that smile... who could possibly resist? 

... and we've had our hands full ever since. 

He's an Australian Shepherd mix, 15 weeks old and very naughty. 

Apparently toilet paper is really fun to play with. Who knew?

We've renamed him Clay - for his unique red merle coloring, and of course for our favorite Green Bay Packer - Clay Matthews!

(image source)

Once he's fully grown, he'll be a big boy like Clay.

Our 'original' pets, Blue and Rufus, have been skeptical about the puppy, but for the most part are accepting. It's pretty hilarious to see their daily interactions. 

You do the talking: Do you have pets? What are their names, and what are the stories behind them? 

If you have more than one pet, what was it like when you welcomed the new one?

When we introduced Blue to our apartment where Rufus was reigning as king, we had to keep them separated for several weeks before they could be in the same room without getting defensive. Blue was Rufus's first dog, and Rufus was Blue's first cat! Now, they are old pals.

Groundhog Day Blizzard of 2011

The past 24 hours have been pretty incredible, thanks to the massive Groundhog Day Blizzard of '11 that passed through Milwaukee. Last night, I experienced things I had only read about in history books... high winds, snow that blew up instead of down, whiteout conditions and thunder snow. It was Nature in all of its power and glory. Destructive, yet beautiful. I could barely peel myself away from the window to get some sleep, and in the morning I awoke to bright sunshine and stark white.

Our backyard looked like it had whipped frosting poured over it an unevenly swirled about.
And yes, I just compared a blizzard to frosting. This is a food blog, folks.

The drift to the right of my car was about 5 feet high!

Even our covered front porch (1/2 level up from our driveway, and a full story up from the street) had drifts!

 It was quite a bit to take in. Zak and I were grateful that everyone we knew had spent the night at home and safe from the storm. I was pleased with our two kind neighbor men who came over to help Zak finally fix our snowblower, which he hadn't figured out how to get started since we purchased it in September. Today was definitely the day to get it operating!


Our dog Blue loved the snow, and Zak even brought out Rufus the cat to try it out.

Snow Cat?

He looks pretty hesitant...

Time to head back indoors. Brr!

The whole ordeal was pretty hilarious. Surprisingly, Rufus didn't mind going in the snow. Perhaps we'll try again tomorrow!


The killer icicles continue to grow and become more sinister-looking...

How's the weather where you live? Did you experience any bit of this crazy, region-wide storm? Have you experienced a "Storm of the Century" before? I am admittedly a history nerd, so I thought it was a pretty wild experience to have witnessed this blizzard!