Birthday trip recap, part 2

The second part of my trip recap is all about the shopping. The Western Shore  of Michigan has a couple of stores that I just love, the Sawyer Garden Center and Drier's Meat Market.

The Garden Center, for the first time, actually had gardening supplies!





Bulbs, patio furniture, and grills were displayed all over.

The back greenhouse was delightfully springy.











What makes the Garden Center a required stop, however, are all the other areas of the store. There's a grocery section full of local and small-farm goods, like jams and dried fruits and interesting pastas and breads. Then you start wandering through the rabbit warren of other rooms, into one full of soaps and candles,  one with children's books and toys, women's clothes and jewelry, more garden accessories like birdfeeders, glass figurines, on and on and on. I can easily spend an hour just browsing and daydreaming.











(Blurry because I was giggling while I snapped the photo.)





My haul, after all that, was rather restrained. In my opinion.





The Ugly Doll and jalapeno beef jerky are for my husband, the US wooden puzzle map is for Babyfriend, and the chocolate covered pretzels are for me.
Not sure if those Plink things are any good, but you are supposed to use them in your disposal to keep it sanitized and smelling nice. We shall see.




Since I had such success with the frog jam and the triple berry preserves (raspberry, black raspberry and blackberry, THANK YOU for no blueberries!) from this brand, I decided to try a couple of others. Do you know I have never had strawberry rhubarb anything? I have lived a sheltered life, you guys. It's very tasty!

I was hoping for an orange marmalade -- I would really like to try a good one, not the gross million extra packets they always have of it when you are picking jellies in a restaurant -- but there were only peach marmalades available. Which makes sense, since oranges aren't native to the area. Sigh. I guess I will have to wait for my mom to make another batch that sets this time. Hint, hint, MOM!!!

The next day on my way out of town I headed over to Three Oaks for Drier's Meat Market. It is a tiny little storefront in the middle of a tiny little downtown, but when you go in it is a complete throwback to an old-fashioned butcher. A hog butcher; I am sure they sell other kinds of meat, but most of what I am there for is the pig: bacon, sausage, liverwurst, and of course, ham. HAM!





Love the sawdust on the floor. I only wish they had a barrel of penny candy to complete the image.





My haul: port wine tub cheese, ham salad (gone in two days, lol), liverwurst, more jerky for Hubby, and a couple of pork-beef sausage for us. (Excuse the price tag on the jar, I was having a Minnie Pearl moment.)



Since I knew the ham salad would disappear quickly, I decided to pick up some of the relish they use in it, so I can try to recreate the magic at home on my own. Fingers crossed it works!
The mustard was an impulse purchase, and easily the second best thing I bought. It's a creamy grain mustard, with a great final kick of horseradish. One of the best mustards I have had in a long while; makes me wish I had bought the bigger jar! Ah, next time.



I know there are probably tons of other stores there that are equally delightful, but these are definitely two of my favorites. I can't believe we drove through here so many years and never stopped! I guess I am making up for lost time. :)

So that was my trip. It was a wonderful break from my daily life, and nice way to finish off my staycation. Now I have been back to work for a week, and the daily outfits have been piling up! I will have to do a catchup post on those... :)

Birthday trip recap, Part 1

The end of my birthday staycation was so great, I have been in denial all this week that is over. Ha!

The trip to New Buffalo was fantastic, exactly the break I needed. We stayed in the Four Winds casino hotel, which is done in a wooden beam/cozy furniture style. Very pretty!





Hubby joined me on Wednesday night, my actual birthday. We had cocktails at the martini bar in the casino, then a late dinner at the steakhouse.



I do love a good dirty martini; they gave me extra stuffed olives for my birthday. Yum!
I was also excited because my Christmas jacket from my mom got a good wearing again; the silky fabric with the lacy pattern is just perfect for a night out.



And look, Rose! Turns out I actually don't need an evening clutch -- I totally forgot I had this one from White House/Black Market -- another Christmas gift from my mom during our trip to Vegas a couple years back. It's got all the style elements I love in a clutch -- it's quilted, studded, sparkly material without being made of spangles, and is big enough to hold a wallet, phone, lipstick and even keys.

Hubby left the next day and went to work, while I drove around exploring my favorites spots in the area. First up was the New Buffalo beach. Beaches in winter are lovely, lovely places -- bleak and empty, with sharp contrasts in the elements and colors.



The parking lot is never empty in the summer.



Red beams on the benches are more eye-catching than usual.



Not a lot of humans, but the birds leave their mark.





The lighthouse stands tall, waiting for the summer visitors to return.



Hard to believe it's 30 degrees out looking at this view, isn't it?



I always wonder what they do to keep the sand from moving too much in the storms. Looks like they use a series of temporary fences.



Ice chunks line the edge of the water.






After that, I headed over to Sawyer for my long-awaited lunch. The Greenbush Brewery is well worth a stop if you are in that area. The beers are pretty good, but OMG the food is outstanding.




Just look at those options for snacks and soups! Blue cheese and cauliflower, are you kidding me? Bring a vat of that, please!!

I had my trusty Country Ham & Cheese and it was as fantastic as the last time. I cannot believe all the magic happens in that tiny space back behind the braided garlic.



They are expanding the kitchen now during the "slow" season. The place was still pretty full of hipsters, even for a random Thursday in March.



It's like Cheers, if Cliff Clavin owned a laptop. ;-D

Of course my next stop was right next door, to the Sawyer Garden Center. But this post is already pretty long so I will leave that for my next entry. I will give a sneak peek of some of the delights they had there: shamrocks!



P.S. Happy belated St. Patrick's Day!

Part 2 coming tomorrow. Promise.

Happy Birthday to me!

Forty years ago, I made this plate.



(Kind of wish it had a piece of chocolate cake on it.)

So today I turn 45, which feels both impossible and exactly right. I hated my 20s (so much wasted opportunity and time), my 30s were the years I was figuring out this whole sharing-my-life-with-another-being thing and coming to terms with the fact I was never going to have a fancy high-powered career like so many of my prep school and Ivy League classmates. My 40s have been more about grappling with outward appearances -- trying to change my body, updating the way I look and present myself to the world -- and more importantly, about learning how to be a good friend. I've had so many girlfriends come in and out of my life: work and school friendships that fizzled over time and distance, ones I gave up on purposefully, women I still love and miss and yet don't make the effort to get back in touch with.

So I've been working very consciously to keep the ones I have now, an assortment of amazing, funny, smart women from all different parts of my life. They're so kickass, in their own ways: Cheryl has the biggest heart of anyone I know, Kris is my favorite well-dressed tomboy who is relishing/exhausted by being a new stepmom to three pre-teen boys, Jill knows the good dirt on everyone *and* exactly the right thing to do in any social situation, her daughter L is one of the unexpected great joys of my life, Jessie makes me laugh and think harder than she probably knows, Pat is wisdom personified, Donna is both old-school Polish and thoroughly modern, Amanda awes me with her crackling wit, Kate is one of the most determined and focused people I know, Alyssa makes me wish I could do my 20s over again this time with her guiding me through it, Lori is absolutely unafraid to let herself look silly.

And those are just the ones I know offline; my online life is also rich in friendships with amazing women, bloggers and FB friends and LJ nerds and so forth. For many years, my online friendships were stronger than my offline ones, but now there is more of a balance. I love and appreciate all of them, and all of you.

ANYWAY.

Birthday. Me. Let's get back to the important stuff. ;-D



I had to do some things involving getting dressed up for the first few days of my staycation (BOO!) but from today forward I plan on living in my jeans and casual outfits.

However, none of the outfits will involve THIS jacket.



I did not think the color description "neon coral" would be as literal as it was, nor did the photo on the Gap site do it, um, justice. This thing was so bright you could see me in the dark from a half-mile away. Horrible.

And a very big bummer, because the fit and quality of the jacket was excellent. Damn you, Gap!

P.S. The pants were all terrible looking on me too. Ah well.

+++++

My real birthday present is the next few days; I got two free nights at a gorgeous casino-hotel over in New Buffalo, our favorite vacation spot. Hubby is joining me tonight and taking me out to dinner, then I am spending tomorrow poking around my favorite shops in the area, and gambling and whatnot, before heading back on Friday morning. To say I am looking forward to it is an understatement; I'm trying to pace out the things I need to do so I don't leave too early, but I have a feeling I will be in the car by noon.

I am really looking forward to poking through the Sawyer Garden Center. I am out of my beloved jams; the frog jam and the triple berry were both amazing, so I will see what else they have to try. Plus there is just so much to look at and photograph there!

We've been there in the summer...



...and the winter...



...so I am dying to see what spring looks like. Given that it is the western shore of Michigan, my guess is tulips. Lots and lots of tulips. CANNOT WAIT.

I will also be making stops at the local brewpub to try a sampler flight and have the greatest ham sandwich of all time.





The last day will be a stop at Dreier's Meat Market to stock up on all things ham. I blame them for my ham obsession; prior to eating theirs, ham was just something we ate on the holidays. Now I realize how much I was missing. Insanely good.

I won't have my laptop but I will fill you in on my adventures when I return. Be good while I am gone!

P.S. I hope I never get so old that I don't love my birthday. Because it rocks.

Staycation kickoff weekend

My long-awaited staycation is this week, along with my birthday on Wednesday. I have kicked it off in style!



It all began on Friday, where I had to find the right outfit not just for casual Friday in the office, but dinner and drinks afterward with my work crew. I think I did well here -- that day clutch was a great way to cross over from work to evening.
Purple Nordstrom open sweater, white LOFT long-sleeved tee, Gap trouser jeans, black Clark moto booties, tan clutch from Lane Bryant (Kate, I finally used it!).



I got 2 celebrations that day!



My co-workers had lunch for me in the office, and gave me a lovely, glittery, fashion card. And Portillo's chocolate cake, known far and wide as the Best Chocolate Cake On This Planet We Call Earth.



That night was another group of work friends, all of whom used to work in my department but have since moved on (we have a lot of turnover, haha). We did dinner at Little Goat Diner (get the hot crab dip) and drinks down the street. I had sangria, Phillip had some kind of pink martini.

Saturday was a trip babysitting and shopping with Babyfriend and the 2 J's. Babyfriend had her first chocolate chip pancakes, which were a BIG hit, as you can imagine. She is getting so big!



I dragged everyone to go see the Sejour anorak. We liked the olive okay, but the blue was the winner by a mile.





Around naptime, we broke up the party. I then went out for some adult games. :)



Between two big wins, I cashed out about $500 on that machine. Yay!

Sunday was much less exciting. Didn't even really have time to take a good shot, but I needed to memorialize my Color Project: Red usage of this pink/red-and-grey striped top, worn over a grey long-sleeved tee with ON Dreamer jeans.



Hee! I am tugging on my shoes because I had to head downstairs and start bailing. Our basement flooded, AGAIN. But we were expecting it, and even hoping for it a bit; we need to find the source of the leak so we needed another rainfall. Which we got, in spades. But we were smarter this time, at least; we bought a wet-dry vac to sop up the water as it seeped and pooled, and we just cut away the trashed carpet and padding. Hubby wants to get rid of it anyway and re-do the linoleum down there.

It was exhausting, but we kept the spread of the water from going too far, and when the condo maintenance guy came on Monday morning, we found the source of the leak. So the waterproofing companies will be here on Wednesday to give us some estimates. Not the best part of my staycation, but a necessary one.

How was your weekend?