In the Weeds

I had big plans for this winter. Big.

I intended to spend the 7 months of Wisconsin winter (and there were 7 months this year) prepping for the summer and fall art festival season. That was my intent. But we all know the road to hell is paved with good intentions.

Instead I spent copious amounts of time lolling about the sofa watching The Tudors, Big Love and Mad Men whilst perfecting the Sunday afternoon Bloody Mary followed by a well timed nap.

The tye dye table sat idle. Dust collected.

And just like that (insert finger snap here) the summer festival season is nipping at my heels. As a point of clarity, the weather has generally been about as far as you can get from summer until today, but you get the point.

In 6 short weeks I need to be fully stocked for 3 big festivals, in addition to keeping my consignor stocked with bucket hats and toddler tshirts. All this while working my regular job and shuttling my son from upwards of 20 ballgames, assorted practices and umpire duties.

I also need to keep up on my exercise routine because summer festivals equals fair food and fair food equals deep fried calorie laden delciousness. I mean I’m already limiting myself to one dessert a month, it’s not like I’m going to get all healthy and give up the fried cheese curds or pork chop on a stick, or the tasty roasted corn that is dipped in a vat of butter. Let’s not be unrealistic.

Now I’m in the weeds.

What’s the saying “Bite off more than you can chew, and chew it anyway”.

Pass the salt.

More musings on a my ongoing mid-life crisis

After two years of reading the fine print on pretty much anything either an inch from my face or doing the trombone move and extending my arm from as far from my face as possible, I pulled the trigger on new glasses with progressive lenses.


They don’t call them bifocals anymore.

Praise Jesus.

And praise technology. Bifocals are now aptly named “progressive lenses”. They can call them anything they want. The reality is I need reading glasses. Sad.

Initially I asked my spousal unit to help me select new frames. He was well-meaning but his mode of feedback was as follows:

• Frame #1: “Those look nice.”

• Frame #2: “Those look nice.”

• Frame #3: “Those look nice”

Lather. Rinse. Repeat.

I checked out two pairs of the “those look nice” frames and brought them home to show my son to which he said:

“Is there a 3rd choice” and “I don’t want to hurt your feelings but those look like Grandmas glasses.”

Yeah. Back they went.

Then I got smart and brought my BFF to the eyeglass selection party who could offer real feedback. We picked out three pairs that thankfully did not resemble “Grandmas glasses” and yielded the appropriate amount of “Those look nice” comments from my family.

I pulled the trigger and ordered them and now wait patiently for them to be completed.

Whoever said “age is just a number” is a liar.

The 100 Day Challenge – A long overdue update

When I fall off the blog wagon, I really fall off. I’m getting back on.


On May 5th, the 100 day no sweets challenge officially ended. I took all three of my “passes”during my 100 days and indulged in chocolate stuff (a wonderful, yet sinful dessert that is likenend to an slightly undercooked brownie), a piece of my dad’s birthday cake (best cake on the planet for the best dad) and bananas foster (I saw god).

In 100 days, I lost 6 pounds. I felt great.

And then May 6th rolled around and I somehow felt the need to make up for lost dessert time. In the span of 3 weeks I not only fell off the no dessert wagon, the wagon rolled me over. A couple of times. Clearly I have an issue with falling off the wagon, regardless of topic. There were krispe creme donuts, ice cream, a butterfinger, ho-ho cake, more ice cream, brownies, still more ice cream, bananas foster and a crème brulee.

The sad reality is, I have no will power. None. Nada. If there are brownies at home I will eat them. Because I can. My spouse bought me three peanut squares and damn if I didn’t eat them all. In one day. I am here to tell day, you can eat three peanut squares in one day, but you will feel dreadfully sick. I’m just saying.

So I’m back on the no dessert wagon. I think it’s in my best interest to limit my dessert intake to once a month instead of once a day. That sick feeling is rarely worth it and frankly, I really don’t want that 6 lbs back.

Updates to follow.

It's all about the service

Twice a year, select Madison restaurants participate in “Restaurant Week”. For five glorious days some of Madison’s premier restaurants offer a specialized $25 per person 3-course prix-fixe menu. Diners can choose from one of three appetizers, entrées and desserts for $25. It’s totally a deal and also an excellent opportunity to try some different eateries without completely breaking the bank.


My perception is that restaurants that participate in Restaurant Week do so with an equal amount of dread and hope. It’s busy. I’m sure they are not making money; however it does drive in traffic during the dismal month of January and provides a very competitive Madison market the opportunity to showcase what they do in hopes of earning repeat diners.

This week I took said family to Ruth’s Chris steakhouse. I have never had the opportunity to dine at a Ruth’s Chris. I have had the opportunity to dine at Flemings,  which is another high end steak house where everything is ala carte, the cocktails are generous and service is outstanding. Happily three of my four visits to Flemings have been on my fathers dime. (Insert choir of angels here). All of my experiences at Flemings have been outstanding.

Ruth’s Chris has a similar reputation. High end steakhouse and (supposedly) service to match.

Supposedly.

Now I could lower my expectations during restaurant week, by why would I?  Restaurant participation is optional. So if you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.

Ruth’s Chris was, I am afraid, a disappointment. In a competitive Madison market with a number of high end steakhouses, both chain and private, where all have good steaks, service is the differentiator. Case in point:

• I should not have to ask three times to get a napkin because my place setting had none.

• I should not have to ask twice for sugar with my coffee. It should be offered.

• We were left waiting for 15 minutes for our server to greet us. And then there was no greeting. No “Hi my name is Ryan”. No “Thanks for your patience”. No “Do you have any questions”. We received “Are you ready to order”…clearly diners ordering off the restaurant week menu are viewed with the same ilk as the steerage passengers were in Titanic.

• My husband’s steak ordered “well done” (that’s the equivalent of shoe leather) arrived “medium”. We didn’t bother to send it back – god knows we couldn’t flag a server down.

As for the food. It was respectable. I don’t think I am a fan of the 5000 degree sizzling plate and steak drenched in butter. I like butter on pretty much everything but the plate is hot hot hot and the butter browns which I found un-appealing. Seems like a lawsuit waiting to happen.

Even more telling is that I sent some feedback to Ruth’s Chris about this experience and 6 days later, have still received no response. I rest my case.

The 100 Day No Sweet Treat Challenge

New year. New tortures. I am taking on the "ultimate challenge".  Effective January 26, 2011 I am going 100 days with no cakes, cookies, pies, candy, muffins, desserts of any kind, donuts, coffee cake and chocolate. It’s a challenge I’ve always wanted to try. Either I will be able to gut it out and lose a few pounds off my waistline or I will have committed a heinous crime and be serving 10-20. Time will tell.

 

Every challenge needs an exception. With the collaboration of my fellow girl friends (also participating in this torturous motivating experiment) we devised the following exceptions:

•  Chocolate Milk (as that’s the only way to choke down my fish oil supplements that are the size of horse pills)
• Breath Mints/Gum
• Granola bars with chocolate chips
• Jello
• Waffles/Pancakes

 

Also participants are allowed three (3) exceptions, you know for dinners out when the promise of lava cake or crème brulee is on the menu.

 

Mmmm lava cake.

 

I am guardedly optimistic the challenge will be good for me. Guardedly.

 

My Most Favorite Day of the Year!

For the last 9 years my BFF and I plan a Christmas shopping trip to Mayfair Mall in Milwaukee. We generally go around the first week of December – always mid-week.

The intent is to shop for others, but in honesty, we do a lot of shopping for us. Two full-time working moms responsible for the near flawless execution of Christmas wizardry clearly deserve a little retail compensation. It’s a big fat juicy rationalization at its finest and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

In all of our years planning the Mayfair Holiday Shopping Extravaganza we’ve only been foiled once by bad weather. Otherwise, our drill is the same. By way of Starbucks I head to my friends house where we compare coupons for various stores, pile in the car and arrive promptly at Mayfair by 8:30am. Macys typically has a sale every other day so the odds are pretty good they are already open which means lolling about and acquiring several pairs of shoes in an hour’s time while waiting for the rest of the mall to open. This is not uncommon. My BFF understands and appreciates the value (and need) to own multiple pairs of black shiny shoes (or boots). It is strongly encouraged. It is not atypical to make multiple shoe purchases with said BFF, which of course receive affirmation of the buyer’s good style and taste. A successful first hour in the shoe department will result in one trip back to the car to unload packages.

And then it’s time to hit the mall, making various stops, lulled by sparkly holiday attire in store windows and the aroma of delicious treats from William Sonoma.

And just like that (insert finger snap here)…its 2:00. Not kidding. It’s the world’s fastest day…which means it’s time for lunch and cocktails. Is there anything better than lettuce wraps and Mai Tais from PF Changs while the rest of the world is having a workday? I think not.

Now I will admit that one Mai Tai slips down the gullet pretty quickly. Ordering a 2nd has been done on more than one occasion. There a few risks associated with the Mai Tai lunch; first there is that there are two, happily buzzed females roaming the mall wielding Visa cards. The other risk is that eventually the Mai Tai the buzz wears off, but one chemical can be replaced with another. Hurray for the White Mocha Peppermint Latte, a 500 calorie orgasm in a cup. Brilliant! The benefit of said lunch is that everything looks better through Mai Tai colored glasses (it’s the dark rum float) including me half naked in a three way mirror, which is why the lingerie shopping is after lunch. Many a sexy bra has been acquired at Soma while delicately buzzed on fruity rum drinks. It really should be a law to serve cocktails to women while shopping for intimates, jeans or bathing suits.

More roaming of the mall ensues including a trip to Crate and Barrel. And then just like that (insert finger snap here) the world’s best grown up girl day is over and it’s time to head back home…two ladies all the happier with several new pairs of shiny shiny shoes.

Putting the Jolly Back into the Holidays: Update #1

I took that first step to a jollier holiday season the weekend before Thanksgiving. Actually it was one step + 252 round trip miles. Go me.

The ulterior motive was largely driven by the craft show circuit but the end result was surprisingly positive.

My craft show circuitude yielded a tip on a potential show location for 2011…The Holiday Craft Market at The American Club in Kohler, Wisconsin. I’ve never been to The American Club but I have heard it’s lovely. I have had the good fortune to stay at The Sundara Inn and Spa which has all Kohler fixtures, like the shower tower haven system and the overflow soak tub. I figured anything linked to both The American Club and Kohler was worth a looksy.

As luck would have it the Holiday Craft Market was within the week of acquiring the tip. I made plans to meet my two sister-in-laws for a morning of crafting and scoping out the venue, all in the name of holiday cheer.

Of course this all seemed like a good idea when I made plans on Tuesday, but to be perfectly honest by Saturday, after a full week of my corporate desk job and a moderately lucrative show in Waunakee I was tired. Dog tired. My enthusiasm for hopping in the car at 6:30am on a Sunday morning had dwindled to record lows. But my BFF told me I would have fun and to press on.

So I did.

And it was.

I hate when my BFF is smarter than me. Curses.

The show itself is very lovely. I will definitely apply for 2011.

But the very act of walking the show and stopping to chat with vendors and buy a few trifles for myself (and a few for some other people) while simultaneously chatting with my sister-in-laws was really fun. And then we did brunch. Not just a regular brunch but The American Club Sunday Champagne brunch; the kind of brunch in which one tosses out all eating rules like “eating in moderation” and “no sugar” because the food is so decadent.

For two solid hours we sat in tufted chairs at a linen covered table listening to classical music and ate fresh omelet’s, cold seafood and sipped coffee from delicate china. Time was inconsequential. It was just a lovely morning of ladies who brunch. Decadent, relaxing and wholly enjoyable.

And that is how I kicked off my holiday season. Perhaps there is hope for me yet this holiday season.