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.

I Heart Michigan

The last few years, I've discovered a new love: Michigan.

We've traveled there to visit my husband's family since we got married, but the last couple of years we've been going there for ourselves, and I've realized I am far more comfortable there than I am in Illinois. Maybe part of it is the landscape of the Western Shore and the central part of the state; the farms are smaller and hillier like in Connecticut, and the beach towns are typical New England as well. Illinois is just...so flat. Twenty-two years and counting, and it still doesn't look right to my eye.

But Michigan is also the Midwest, especially around Detroit and its suburbs. Much more urban, like Chicago, and full of history and neighborhoods and ethnic traditions. Even the broken down buildings have stories and character. That's the part of living in the Midwest/Chicago that I love the best, and I find it here too.

Michigan contains both worlds I know of as "home". Is it any wonder I would fall in love with it?

Our first stop once we crossed the border from Indiana was the Sawyer Garden Center in Sawyer. When we went last summer, it was a feast of local grown produce, fancy foodstuffs, and rooms and rooms of fun gifts and even a Christmas section. I wanted to pick up some specific items for Christmas gifts, but I also wanted to just see what they did for the holiday season.

They did not disappoint.



This was the space where all the fresh produce was this summer, now full of fresh wreaths and greens. It smelled wonderful.



My husband loved these wreaths, and I was kicking myself for buying a fake one from Target this year. I never see wreaths like this around our town, and certainly not for $25.



Poinsettias in every color. Just a glorious display.



They were crazy cheap too: the jumbo pot was $15, the medium was $8, and we bought my mother-in-law a small pink one for $4.

Inside, it was just as decorated, this time with the fake stuff. Everything was already 50% off.









Soon we were overstuffed with Christmas cheer, so we headed across the gravel parking lot to the local brewery/restaurant. (Sawyer's adorable, but pretty small.)







This, my friends, is the single best sandwich I have ever had. Country Ham and Swiss on a pretzel roll. I like ham, quite a lot -- being a Polish girl I've had it many times in my life. I've mostly had imported, that pink jiggly square sliced up at the deli or served at Easter. My mother-in-law gets that honey-baked spiral ham so we have that during the holidays, and on rare occasions I have had country ham but I usually find that too tough and grizzly to enjoy.

This ham, however, had to come from Drier's Meat Market, which we also discovered this summer, over in Three Oaks. It was melt-in-your-mouth amazing, with a great smoky ham flavor that the pink stuff just doesn't have. The swiss was used sparingly and was completely melted and melded in with the meat. The pretzel roll was toasted so it was crunchy on the outside and soft in the middle, and held the sandwich together perfectly. A splash of sharp mustard was all that was needed to finish it off.

I wish I had another one right now. LOL!

From there we headed to Detroit, back to our favorite hotel, the MGM Grand. It was booked up so my husband had to get us a room on the concierge floor. Extra fancy!



A TV in the bathroom. With a rain shower too.



The concierge lounge. You have to use the hotel key in the elevator, and it opens right up to this.



The seating area. There was continental breakfast in the morning, and all afternoon and evening there was cheese, antipasto, meats, and a few trays of desserts. We spent the evening up here after the christening with my nieces and brother and sister-in-law, opening gifts and just hanging out and talking. It made the extra expense worth it.



The view from our floor. That tall building is the old train station and the neighborhood in front of it is one that is coming back with gentrification.



The flag in the middle is the one still standing from where Tiger Stadium used to be.



Boy, doesn't that make you want to stop and grab a bite? "Let's go to the burger place with the giant ASS on top! I'm sure it's really good." (The name of the restaurant is Brayz. If the giant ass wasn't enough to entice you.)



What is is about hanging stuff on restaurant ceilings in this state? Hmm, my love for you can only go so far, Michigan! Better watch yourself.



The woman wearing these was not a hooker. I know! I was surprised too!



The art in the front foyer of the hotel.



The festive wreath in the foyer.

See why I love visiting there?