Spring Break 2015

I feel like this winter hasn't been so bad (knock on wood)?  I know the temperature is low but not as much snow?  

I wasn't planning on going anywhere for spring break.  Adam has been very busy with classes and the thought of traveling with a baby scares me.  Well, Adam wanted to get out of the cold and have some warm weather time. So in our regular fashion, we booked flights to Miami last minute.  I'm excited.

LA LA Land

Just came back from a whirlwind trip from Los Angeles.  It was a solo one since Adam had taken a lot of days off from work the past couple of months he didn't want to miss anymore.  

I was in town to celebrate my nephew-to-be.  The first in our little family.  We are so happy.

I also got to see a lot of people.  I have friends who want to see me! haha

It was a busy and fun trip.  I love LA (but just to visit).

image via: pinterest

Mock Family Vacation

I can't even believe I'm saying this but... I prefer Michigan over Portland.  

I guess it didn't help that heading back to Michigan, we flew over a thunderstorm and everyone on the plane thought we were going to die.  Scariest flight of my life.

Will update Portland soon.

walking shoes

I want to look stylish especially when we are heading to New York.  The weather report said that it was going to be rainy and a little bit cold, so I decided to bring my swedish hasbeens.  They are pretty comfortable straight out of the box.

These boots have been popular with Brooklyn/Tomboy celebrity set (ie. Chloe Sevigny, Michelle Williams, SJP, etc).

I guess I should remember that when we head to a city, we will be doing a ton of walking.  Anyway, we missed a bus to a subway stop so we ended up walking to that stop.. plus walking around the MOMA, my feet were killing me.  We made a stop to the Niketown and Adam bought me some new sneakers. Spoiled!

I got a ton of compliments from waitresses and strangers on the street.  Adam said that he would see people looking towards us but they were checking out my shoes.  Adam said he wanted to tell them, "she ain't that cool." Haha.

Anyway, note to self: ALWAYS bring sneakers to NY.

turks and caicos

We took a last minute trip to Turks and Caicos for spring break this year.  This winter in Michigan has been the most brutal.  A person I take yoga with said that it has been the coldest since the blizzerd of '77.  That blizzard is famous (I've seen t-shirts!).  

 The islands are pretty small and there isn't much to do.  Lots of relaxing and reading.  I like museums and exploring but this was a nice change.

We went on a boat cruise.  A part of it was conch hunting.  Adam was the only one on the boat that found a conch.  I was a proud wifey.

Damn, the beaches were the beautifulest beaches I have ever seen in my life.

dream vacay

the last couple of days in mount pleasant have been really weird. very cold and windy.  the day before that had lots of rain that melted the snow, then we got hit with more cold freezing the rain (making for icy, slippery roads).  thank goodness for the sun today.

I am totally wishing for a warm getaway.  Living in the cold is very hard.

So I am thinking this one piece ...

and the Turks and Caicos for my fantasy vacation getaway?

Home

I just got back from a quick trip to Los Angeles. This was a good trip. People wanted to hang out with me! I actually have friends!

I thought Adam would have a great time catching up on reading and TV back in Michigan. He ended up working too much and he missed me. Can you believe it?

Whenever I go home on my own, I don't want to leave.  I even got a little teary-eyed at the airport. I wish home was a little closer (but not too close). :)

all A's

semester is over and i got all A's. yaay!

ps. i want this print..

travel: cleveland

in about a week we will be roadtripping to ohio for the first time (no wait, adam went there a year ago for a conference). it will be my first time in ohio.  adam got tickets to see a show in cleveland. the crystal castles.  dude, i am way too old and unhip to be attending a crystle castles show.  wish me luck.

i think it is five hour drive from mount pleasant... very exciting stuff.

image via pinterest

where gifts go to die...

i'm not sure how it started but every christmas, we get sister caroline stupid gifts. usually the infomercial variety.

i saw this thing on gilt or fab and thought perfect! it is so silly.. i don't know if anyone would actually buy/use this. i would have bought it but $80 seems a little steep to spend on a gag gift that is heading into the junk drawer.

is this a joke?

adam does own this.  i know, what dummy buys that (this dummy did).  he used it for a few oversea trips but it has since been retired.

I want to go to there: Tulum

Is it wrong that everytime I come home from a vacation, I am already dreaming about where I want to go next?

I want to go to Tulum.  Will someone take me?  Thanks!

image via sousstyle

bananas foster

I will write about our trip soon... unless you follow me on instagram (I went pretty crazy).  I even annoyed myself with my photos (sorry).  I think of it as a journal taking/making.. so I am reminded of my time there.

The food in New Orleans is soooo good.  But you know if it tastes good, it is probably bad for you.  I am really bad at eating healthy and really good at choosing the wrong thing.  My new obsesssion of this trip was 1. fried oysters (so good) and 2. bananas foster.  Have you ever had bananas foster?

I dunno exactly what it is.  I think you cook a sauce with bananas.  I got a french toast version and a cheesecake version.  Anyway, I cannot wait to bake a bananas foster cheesecake for our next dinner guests.

image via pinterest

is that guy famous?

we had brunch at madame matisse a few days. in walks a dude i think is garrett hedlund but i'm not sure.  we made eye contact (only because i was staring at him like a weirdo, do i know him?). he has a conversation with the waitress.  pays for his food and leaves (in a different state license plate rental- a highlander or some sort of car).

after he leaves, the waitress says, "is he famous? he comes in here all the time.  his name is garrett hedlund."

i tell the waitress, "he is not really famous but kirsten dunst is his girlfriend."  he's also currently in on the road.  he looks like a regular dude, i'm sure he doesn't get noticed at all.

he was in that gwyneth paltrow country movie..

Chicago Weekend (Day 4)

Our final day in Chicago. Turns out that Leslie was also in town visiting friends this weekend. So we met up and had brunch at Lula Cafe.

Mimosas!

Leslie ordered the graham cracker griddle cakes. It was like having smores for breakfast.

I ordered the chorizo and new potato hash. Delicious!

After we ran an errand at the Art Institute, we drove 23 miles out of Chicago to Arlington Heights to go to Mitsuwa Chicago. I think it is the biggest Japanese Market in the Midwest. I really miss all my markets out here.

We had a late lunch at the food court.  I ordered from Santouka. The usual.

Chicago Weekend (Day 3)

We visited the Museum of Cotemporary Art Chicago. The museum store is supposed to be the best store in the US.

We started our day at a brunch place called Nana's.  Adam's huervo rancheros

my nanadict

table scene

my bloody

i took adam to see the bean/cloud. he was pretty pissed because i took too many photos of him.

Chicago Weekend (Day 2) continued...

The reason why we came out to Chicago was for a Guided by Voices show. They played at a pretty cool venue called the Metro. It kind of reminded me of the Troubadour in LA. Ian said we could kill two birds with one stone (it is really close to Wrigley Stadium).

Guided by Voices

This is their 3rd encore. It was awesome.

Adam and the die hard fans were singing their hearts out.

here are some reviews of the show:
brooklynvegan
timeoutchicago

Chicago Weekend (Day 2)

We visited the Art Institute of Chicago on Saturday. They had a special Lichtenstein exhibit.

The Art Institute's most famous painting is probably Seurat's Sunday Afternoon.

Ruscha

Rothko (you know, I didn't start to appreciate Rothko until I started taking Graphic Design classes).

I made Adam go to all the intelligentsia coffess in Chicago. 

My latte

Chicago Weekend (Day 1)

Adam and I drove to Chicago for a long weekend last week. It is about 260 miles from Mount Pleasant (closer than LA to LV).

The husband got hungry after a couple of hours so we stopped at a cute town in Michigan called Benton Harbor.  We had a lunch

Once we arrived in Chicago, Adam wanted to eat again so we had a snack and cocktails at Chez Joel.

Cocktails

French onion soup

The Chicago Skyline

Boxes of cereal at Ian's.  He lives alone.

Ian took us on a tour of Logan's Square (hip neighborhood of Chicago).  It was awesome to catch up.