pedal to the metal

Oi. The past two days have been long with a capital L. I’m making my way back to Florida and the drive has been straight up boring. When I was young and in college, I had no issue driving the 18 hours straight home but now? No way Jose. I make stops often just to stretch and my ideal time span is six to seven hours a day.

I left DC yesterday morning. I gave myself some time to mentally wake up, have breakfast and pack the last of my car. I made one last stop at Trader Joe’s the day before since we don’t have any in Florida. I even checked their website and the closest one will be in Mt. Pleasant, SC when it opens. I love Joe but I don’t think I could do an eight hour trip for him. My sister gave me a gift card for my birthday so this was the ideal time to use it and stock up on non perishable goodies.

I’ll even miss their art

 

I said goodbye to Riley and was on my way to Charlotte

And if anyone in the DC area knows this person, I would love to meet them because I feel the same way!

No matter how I tried to mix it up with cd’s, the drive home dragged on. I got to work on my tan a little at least. This is the most comfortable way for me to drive since my knee often aches after awhile. And the truckers seem to let me pass whenever I’m sitting like this so two birds, one stone!

I stopped at Sheetz in Mebane, NC and took a picture of the gas sign to compare it to last year when I stopped there on my way up to DC

July 20, 2011:

April 8, 2010

Makes me sick.

I got to my friends house and took it easy the rest of the night. And by taking it easy I mean an hour and half trip to Target. I am looking for the dress I wore this weekend but in blue and have now been to three Target’s and can’t find it. I can find it in grey but it’s not flattering at all. I am going to try one or two more Targets then go online and try to find it there. And can someone please tell me why there is this sign in the baby section?

Don’t worry, baby fever is the last kind of fever I will ever have. The reason I was in that section was because my friend who I stayed with is ready to pop any day. Matilda wanted to see how pregnant she was and possibly whisper the baby out of her

She climbed up on her belly and whispered a few nursery rhymes but no luck. I was kinda hoping she would into labor that night and I would deliver the baby. Then it would be turned into a Lifetime movie and Tori Spelling could gain a bunch of weight, get her boobs even and dye her hair brunette to play me in a movie about sorority sisters who deliver each others babies. Homegirl is still preggers, oh well, will just have to keep the faith I will deliver a baby one day.

The drive to FL started off on the wrong foot today. I decided to go back to my lets hit the snooze button again game so I didn’t get on the road until 9am. Once I got through Columbia, SC there was an accident on I 26. I waited there for about 30 minutes having to pee and in desperate need of gas.  Soon enough we were on our way again and I stopped got gas, went to the bathroom and stocked up on some refreshments. I went back to my old college liquid diet of Mountain Dew and coffee for extra energy for the 11 hour drive. Good thing I went to the bathroom because once I merged on to I 95 traffic was at a dead stop.

 

That was at 1145am and at 2pm I was still there.

I was getting restless, Matilda was getting restless and I am so happy my car is in working condition. I got outside and was chatting with the car next to me and their A/C went out and they were traveling with two dogs and a kid. I am bad enough on my own in the A/C so I can’t imagine not having A/C and traveling with child and dog would be like.

By the time I got to the southern part of Georgia, it was around 5pm…..eight hours after I left. It normally takes me four hours to get there but the trip was doubled due to the traffic. I could have powered on, been delirious and drove all the way home but I knew that wouldn’t be safe and didn’t want something bad to happen. I stopped at Starbucks and figured out my next steps and decided to get a hotel room for the night.And this Microtel I’m staying at is total sketch. My parents recommended this place to me and there are some weird, skeevy men in the parking lot. I unloaded everything that was in plain view of my car so that took some time up all in hopes my car won’t get broke into in,

Backtrack, I have bad luck with moving. I often lose or damage things and when I made the cross country drive from Phoenix to Charlotte five years ago, something bad really happened. I was driving through Amarillo and it was a torrential downpour. I’m from FL and used to rain but I had never seen rain like this before in my life. I couldn’t see in front of me and had been driving for 12 hours already so I pulled over to the first hotel I could find off the highway. It looked a little run down however I was only going to shower, nap for two or three hours then get back on the road. So I did and when I went out to my car in the morning, the back windows were bashed in completely. There was some stuff left in my car however they stole my underwear, computer,toiletries, contacts, photos and other random stuff. I was in complete shock that this happened in a three hour timespan and was scared to drive on to Charlotte. The funny thing is is that I had three or four Coach purses sitting in the back of my car which were probably worth more than most of the stuff they stole. It still pisses me off to this day and it’s one of the sole reasons I hate Texas (well, that and GW) So now I am completely paranoid anytime there is stuff in my car and I’m staying in foreign to me area, especially when there are undesirable looking people around.

And back to today. So this skeevy hotel room is full of my stuff now and I am hoping to get a good nights sleep, shower and get home tomorrow afternoon. Seeing that I’m back in Florida, I had to stop at Publix (AKA one of the best grocery stores ever) and pick up a quick dinner of buffalo chicken tenders and cole slaw

And I got the Real Housewives with me

Let’s hope this bed doesn’t have bedbugs

What are your tips for staying safe while traveling solo?

Has anyone seen this commercial for Summer’s Eve? I keep cracking up every single time I see.

 

Up to Beantown: Part Two

More Boston love! Stephanie took me to one of her favorite places for brunch on Saturday morning, Zaftigs

We got there early but apparently not early enough since everyone else and their mom had the idea to go there that morning. Even though there were a some people waiting outside, we got a table right away complete with a waitress who lacked personality. I got the San Francisco Joe’s Special-turkey hash with spinach, mushrooms, onions with a side of home fries, toast and watermelon. It was way too much food and way better than any kind of eggs I can ever make.

However,  once I saw Stephanie’s french toast, I came down with a little case of food envy.

Gah, I die.

The best part of the meal was listening to the table next to us. It was one skeevy guy in his mid twenties and two college aged girls. He reminded me of a third rate, unattractive Jason Siegel with two or three unbuttons undone on his button up shirt. Homeboy wouldn’t shut up. He started to talk about how Harry Potter, Star Wars and Lord of the Rings are all one in the same and that is when Stephanie and I shut up and just listened. Then he decided to be generous and pick up the entire tab (perhaps because he wouldn’t shut his pie hole the entire meal?) then when the girls were all “Noooooo, you can’t do that!” he said “If I can’t take my girls out for a meal, what good am I?” or something about that effect. Blah. Sometimes I don’t mind tables closetogetherlikethis in a restaurant, other times when I have to listen to random, weird conversations, not so much.

We went walking around later and the dilemma of what to wear came up. I hate pants in the summer time but can deal with capris. I was feeling more like wearing a casual dress around but that meant I would wear flip flops. There was nothing more I wanted to do than wear sneakers since we would be walking around a great deal but that was out of the question. I wish I could make sneakers work with a dress but there is no way to make it look good

(source)

Go on with your bad self Sarah!

We started off around Quincy Markey and near the Government Center

Somehow we ended up in the middle of an African festival.

Then we ran into some street performers who were just about to get started so we found a place somewhat in the shade and watched them.

Then started dancing, breakdancing and doing flips then they started grabbing people from the crowd to take part in a special exhibition. Of course, they grabbed yours truly. At first they lined me and threes others up one in front of the other and explained that they were going to flip over us. Oh joy. The last thing I need is a man flipping over me, especially when I am without health insurance. Then they had us bend over. Um, I was in a dress so the last thing I wanted to do was bend over in front of a bunch of people since as one of the performers said I was “juicy” to another performer. Gross, I still take offense to that comment. They had the decency to cover the girls up though so we didn’t look like a 2 Live Crew video. So we were just waiting there and I guess the guy flipped over us. We were just bending over waiting, my knee was killing me and I just wanted to get up into normal pose again. Stephanie was awesome and took some pictures of it though so you can see what I’m talking about

And I walk away unharmed-score!

We went into the madness that is Quincy Market afterwards. This is a total tourist spot complete with shops, carts, performers and restaurants but it was fun to see since I am a tourist and all.

We perused the carts and shops

Amen

Made our way over to Boston Common and that’s just about the time my camera died so please enjoy a few last pictures before we got there

Walked through the gardens and saw the swan boats.

Made our way over to Newbury

Saw all the shops there  including pretentious ones like Chanel, Gucci and others that I will never ever be able to afford. There were some cute, independent ones as well.

Too bad we didn’t have time to stop in these coffee shop, I adore the name.

Stopped at Stephanie’s on Newbury, it was that weird of time where you don’t want a meal but you need a little something in you to keep going. And our feet hurt. And we were sweaty and were in desperate need of a cold one.

Then heaven was placed right in front of us-Warm Vermont Goat Cheese appetizer.

This picture does this no justice whatsoever. When they brought it to us, the cheese and oil were bubbling right in front of our very eyes. I just kept staring at it since I’ve never seen goat cheese bubble like that before. We tried to tear the bread but it was piping hot and burnt our fingers when we tried to. But we powered on and tore away anyways since we didn’t want to miss the wonderfulness that is warm goat cheese.

So please check out Stephanie’s photo. Stephanie-Cookie Battle, not Stephanie of Stephanie’s on Newbury. Hmm, that was a tad confusing.

Reason #62 why I want a DSLR

After the walking fest we rested our feet and then  went to Margaritas for dinner for some much needed Mexican food. Ok, much needed margaritas with a side of Mexican food.

I was very excited to have my margarita (thanks Steph for the pic)

It was absolutely gorgeous out and right on the Charles River. I wish I would have got a picture of the patio because it was spacious and quite busy for a Saturday night. I wondered if there was going to be anything cheesy like a mariachi band that comes around to each table but she said there was nothing alike that there. Phew. I could have gone for tacos, nachos or fajitas but my body was in desperate need of veggies since there was a lack of greens and other fresh stuff that day and day prior. I got the Chicken Baja Salad which was adorned with a heaping portion of veggies and I swear my body felt better once the veggies were consumed.

And to go off on a short tangent……

Look who Matilda got to meet while in Boston?

Matilda and Cecil got along very well. They reminisced about the days of Eisenhower and when you could get a quality cup of coffee for $.10.

Sunday was another long, fun day around Boston. And visiting a city means one thing–blogger meetup!

The Other Side was very  *ahem* interesting. By interesting, I mean hipster. Our server had jorts on while another man sported a fedora and other people just had a sense of irony about them as hipsters do. The whole seating arrangement still vonfuses me since the host said there couldn’t be more than 49 people in the building at once so he could have sat us partially before everyone arrived but then if more people arrived after that and our guests hadn’t, they would have to wait for someone to leave. We told him how many people were in our party and he couldn’t grasp the fact that we had five people in our party, not five. I guess he wasn’t a genius at math like in Good Will Hunting, maybe it was just wishful thinking on my part that I would run into some closet prodigy.  Leave it to me to order a meaty dish at the mostly vegetarian/vegan restaurant.  I don’t care, the Ham Solo was worth every single bite!

 

Ashleigh, Stephanie, Caitie

Me and Erin

Matilda even made a guest appearance!

Group Shot!

Ashleigh, Erin, Caitie, me, Stephanie

 Another successful blogger meetup! It was wonderful to meet these ladies and put faces/names to the blogs, take part in some good conversation, enjoy good food and drink and escape the heat for the day. I love how real the Boston girls are and they were just all around fun!

 

Up to Beantown

Hello all! If you can’t tell from the title, it’s going to a Boston recap kind of post. So if you’re not a fan of Boston or recaps, please feel free to move along.

The plan on Friday was to wake up early which shouldn’t have been a problem since I’ve been working up at 6am with no problem at all. But of course the day I have a train to catch, I decide to start using the snooze button like it’s no ones business. I never hit the snooze button since it’s one of my biggest pet peeves ever. I don’t get the concept of setting an alarm if you’re just going to hit the snooze button over and over again. I would rather wake up, bitch about waking up so early and get on with my days but yeah, the day didn’t start out well. Neyal drove me over to the Metro and gave me specific instructions on what to do. I’m not sure why I was so nervous about riding it alone but she assured me I would be fine since the mentally challenged do it all on their own every day. I’ve been on there before with others but I guess when going at it solo with a time restraint, I wanted to make sure everything would be right. I was surprised at how easy it was. The only issue as always was sketchy people on there which odds are, there will always be a few bad apples. This girl was sitting across from me and just kept staring at me. It was very creepy, when I was look over to the side, so would she. When I would look down, so would she. I wasn’t sure if we were playing the whole don’t bat your eyelashes game but I was relieved when the Union Station stop finally came up.

All I had to do was go up the escalator and I was there. They have a bunch of self serve kiosks just like the airport so it was easy to get my ticket and go.

Leave it to me to sniff the aroma of Starbucks in the air. The line was absolutely out of control as expected however I thought it was pretty efficient of them to have someone going to each person in line, getting their order and then telling the baristas via headset. I thought I would go up to the cashier, grab my coffee and go since there eight or nine people in front of me. But I got up there and my drip coffee wasn’t ready and I got my sandwich and the cheese was melted to the bag, it wasn’t a good way to start the morning. Add that to some creeper hitting on me while charging my phone and I was ready to get on that train.

Well, Matilda was ready as well. She was excited for her first trip to New England.

All aboard!

Matilda was the perfect girl to have with me since we got a seat on the quiet car. I wish planes would adopt this because it was so nice and peaceful. No cellphones, loud music, loud conversation or crying babies What more could you want? When someone’s phone went up, the conductor came right over and told them no phone calls, how it was the quiet cart and all. I just raised my fist in the air a little and mouthed “Word” since silence is golden.  I slept a little and chatted with the lady sitting next to me. She boarded in Philly and was telling me about the u2 concert in Philly the night before. If I can’t get tickets for the u2 concert, I will happily life through someone else who has been. I would have loved to have been at that particular concert because another favorite band of mine, Interpol, opened for them instead of Florence& The Machine, who has been opening for them this tour. I wanted to sleep more but it just wasn’t in the stars, this better not happen when I go to Italy because I will definitely need to rest on that trip.

I even got to see a bit of NYC before we got into Penn Station.

While on a 20 min break, Matilda got her own seat

I should have kept her there because maybe that would have kept the people at bay. Apparently, everyone wanted to sit next to me and the girl who sat next to me at Penn Station broke the cardinal rule of being a girl with big hips : Thou shall not sit next to another girl with big hips. It was uncomfortable all the way to Boston.

The second part of the trip was pretty dead. I broke into my Clif Carrot Cake bar right after we left NYC

I wasn’t sure what to expect with this flavor. I’ve liked just about any CLIF bar flavor I’ve tried in the past but there is always the risk of making a bar out of a popular flavor and it turns out like crap. To say the bar was extremely tasty would be an understatement. It was flavorful, moist for a bar and the only thing that would have made it better was some cream cheese drizzle.

By 5pm I was in Boston, hooray I survived the Amtrak! Stephanie was gracious enough to let me crash at her place and show me her city for the weekend. We took my suitcase over to her car then made our way over to the Seaport District for much needed dinner and drinks (not in that order). The plan was to go to Temazcal, a newer upscale restaurant right on the water but there was already a wait….at 5:15. Um no. We tried to find a spot at the bar but the place was absolutely jam packed, which is definitely a sign it’s doing well. I even got to hear my first Boston accent while waiting in line to speak with the hostess. I heard some guy say “We’re just going to the bah (bar)” and I giggled to myself, I love Boston accents!

We went over to Jerry Remy’s  right next door. There was a little wait and when I say that, I mean 10/15 minutes not this hour long bull crap. We made our way straight to the bar to get some hoppy refreshments in our system and the place was a complete sausage fest-score! Not only did it have nice views of men, it also had nice views of the food. We noticed that pretty much every table had an order of nachos on it and they looked heavenly with cheese, chips, sour cream, meat galore. When we sat, we finally found out why the nacho craze at Jerry Remy’s. On their menu, they guarantee cheese on every. single. chip. I’ve never heard of something so wonderful and now questioning why we didn’t order the nachos?  I ordered the Remy Burger with a side of sweet potato fries because I needed real food stat. I’d been chowing on snacks all day so a big meal was a must plus I needed a little something something to soak up the beer.

Sweet potato fries count as a vegetable serving right? Right. Even though they weren’t orgasmic, they were good enough to down. The burger was magnificent and I ate up every single bite, Jerry Remy’s was a great spot for a low key,  dinner option after a long day of traveling.

I marveled at the skyline, well, a part of the Boston skyline on the way back. Also at the beautiful scenary, people walking around and smell of the water. I feel spoiled when I go to a new city since Charlotte’s skyline is lame and the Uptown area is pretty much a ghost town after 5pm.

And that’s all for now. I am leaving DC tomorrow morning and have way too much to take care of in the next 15 hours. Stay tuned for more Boston fun!

Do you like the process of traveling such as packing, waiting, sitting next to strangers, etc or would you rather just get there without the fuss? Some of my friends hate going to the airport and having to wait with others then sitting next to strangers but I find it oddly exciting!

When you travel, are you chatty with others around you or do you keep to yourself? I’m a chatty Cathy most of the time but occasionally like some quiet, alone time.

Frugal Friday: Saving money when without home

Happy Frugal Friday! I am about to hit the hay because I have to wake up early for another traveling adventure. This time?

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Boston!

I haven’t been there since I was 11 years old and can’t wait to experience it as an adult. I’m taking the train up there so I’m sure that will be an experience itself and am intrigued by the whole train business. I haven’t been on am Amtrak train since I was in fifth grade when we went up to DC for the safety patrol field trip. I can’t wait to people watch but don’t think there will be as many skeezers on it than a bus. Stayed tuned for tons of pics and blogger meetup details!

As many of you know, I’m still living the vagabond lifestyle and much to my surprise, I haven’t been spending a lot of money. We’ve been eating out but not as much as I thought we were going to. If not eating out, I’ve been having leftovers at home (AKA Neyals house) or eating meals at home. Neyal likes to go out to eat but she is all about saving money and calories as well so we have been doing one meal at home and then go out for one each day if we don’t eat both meals at home.

Leftover chicken verde stew

Ropa Vieja made in the crockpot

Neyal’s garden is sick. But in a good way! She has a ton of vegetables growing right there in her backyard which saves her money on produce, especially in the summertime. Right now she has tons of peppers, tomatoes, cucumber, basil, parsley and more.

Check out these zucchinis!

Matilda took a liking to the big zucchini right away

I stopped by Trader Joe’s the other day after reading about Stephanie’s love for Joe.

I tried the tortellini bowl for lunch the other day and it was wonderful! It is pretty much the same as Amy’s Pesto Bowl. I usually have to add protein or some kind of space to kick up a frozen meal but this didn’t need anything additional.

 

When we went to the thrift store the other day, they had a ridiculous music selection. Not just cd’s, they also has cassette tapes, records and I saw an eight track! They cd’s were only $1 each so I grabbed some for all the road trips ahead of me. Apparently  I was trying to go back to my college days.

And yes, I did buy the Baha Men cd. One can never get enough Who Let The Dogs Out. Plus, there could be other hidden gems on there!

We went to 7-11 on 7-11 for a free 7.11 oz slurpee.

I’ve collected a bunch of reusable shopping bags at different events throughout the years. Instead of using them for shopping only, I use them day to day as well.

My Vitamin Water bag doubles as both a gym bag and a beach bag for me . It smells really interesting.

And my Food Lion bag used to be used for grocery shopping but now it’s used strictly for groceries. I cleaned out my cupboards when I left my apartment in Charlotte and the remainder was snack foods so why not take it on the road with me?

Instead of going out for fro yo, we made spinach ice cream the other night. I’ve made spinach smoothies but never spinach ice cream so I wasn’t sure how it was going to turn out. Neyal got the recipe from Costco magazine, I couldn’t find it anywhere online but I found this recipe for it which uses the same ingredients.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We followed the directions to a T but it still came out more like a smoothie than ice cream. It was good though,thanks to the agave nectar.

Totally not Frugal Friday related but has anyone else heard about the new Style Network show Big Rich Texas???

It’s supposed to be like Real Housewives but only saucier and cattier—can’t wait!

How have you saved money this week?

Do you grow your own vegetables or herbs?

Did you get your free Slurpee on 7/11?

So long, farewell

Happy Friday all! No Frugal Friday post since I am getting ready to drive to Atlanta this morning to meet my parents. Atlanta is about four hours away from here and I am going to give them a bunch of my stuff to store in Florida while I’m traveling.

Including this

You all know how much I love Lincoln. He’s my little baby and my PIC (thanks Leila for the term I love it. That’s partner in crime for those who don’t know what it means!)

Originally, the plan was to travel around with Lincoln by my side but the more I thought about it, the idea of him going with my parents is the best choice. He won’t have to sit in a car for hours each day and be in environments that he is not familiar with. Plus my parents have an older dog who does exceptionally better when Lincoln is there since Lincoln keeps him on his toes. As my dad said “My you giving us Lincoln, you’re helping keep Mickey alive” Touche, pops.

Lincoln definitely knows somethings up. I only got four hours of sleep and just packed up the car and now he won’t even look at me in the eye.

I don’t know when I will see him again but it will be sometime in late July. So a month…..without my dog. I’ve cried enough this week because I will miss him so much but this is going to be the best for both of us. Besides, he gets to go party in Boca Raton, FL with another dog, a pool and a house with people who are there to rub his belly. It could definitely be worse.

I’m not the only one who’s going to miss him, the paparazzi will!

But more to come on that later, I got to hit the road.

Hope you all are having a better Friday than I am, I’m a wreck right now. I’m going to miss my pup

The deets on Italy

What:  I’m going to Italy!

Who: Me, no long flights for Lincoln. Luckily, I will be staying with the parental units then so I have a dog sitter for free!

When: In September for two weeks

Where:  I’ll be flying out of Fort Lauderdale connecting in Philly then flying into Venice. And can I just say I love the idea of flying into an airport named Marco Polo? I will definitely have my valium on hand for the flight since this will be my longest flight ever.

 

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Why: Why not? I doubt I will have the opportunity to go and not have to worry about getting time off from work or worrying about work while away.

How: I’m sure some of you are wondering how I am going to Italy if I’m unemployed. This is actually a once in a lifetime thing since my flight and lodging are basically free. My sorority sisters husband is in the Air Force and got stationed in Italy in the past year. She is still in the US and will be moving there at the end of August, along with her two dogs and I believe they will be there for two years. So I have a free place to stay and  I will definitely be bringing her American goodies and cooking and cleaning in exchange for free board!

As for the flight, thanks to my US Airways Dividend Miles, it’s pretty much a free trip. All I had to pay was $100 for taxes and I still have some miles leftover to use towards my next free trip! I would love to stay for longer than two weeks but didn’t want to overstay my welcome and my best friends 30th birthday is at the end of September. She is having a party in Phoenix and I will not miss it! So September will be a traveling month for me.

We have some side trips planned when I get there, this is what we are thinking so far:

Milan

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Verona

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Florence

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Slovenia

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Croatia

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I am fine with going anywhere but Florence and Croatia are my must visits. I’ve wanted to visit Florence ever since I was a little kid. I remember reading geography books (yes, I was a dork) and looking at the cities of Europe and Florence’s architecture always stood out to me. Add art, history, wine, gelato and men to the mix and I’m game! My grandmother was originally from Croatia and came over to the US in her teens so it will be terrific to see yet another part of my heritage. After Italy and Croatia, I just need to make my way to Poland.

 

 

 

 

 

Do you have any fun, summer trips planned?

How do you occupy yourself on a long flight? What’s the longest you’ve been on a plane?

Around Lakeview

Thursday was a free day for me since my friend who I stayed with had to work. I slept on their ultra comfy couch and played with their cute pup before making my way around Lakeview.

Seriously, how adorable is he? If I move to Chicago, him and Lincoln are going to be besties.

They had a french press but I’ve never operated one of those before and I’m always afraid that if I mull around other peoples homes, I’ll break something or something will catch on fire.so I got dolled up and made my way to stop #1 of the day.

Do I even have to say where that was?

If there was a Buckies, yo I’ll find it. Ok, not really difficult since there are everywhere but I used my Buckies Sense to find it.  I sat outside, people watched and tried to warm up since it was a bit chilly out. The view of Wrigley Field didn’t hurt either. I imagine there’s a lot more going on there during a game day but it was fun to see everything up close.

Even the field, it was right there.

Just me, the pigeon and Wrigley

 

I consulted Yelp to find somewhere for lunch and found a place with cheap lunch specials-Asian Mix Cafe.

 

 

 

 

 

When I read they had lunch specials, I was a bit skeptical. But turns out they do have cheap lunch specials. And I’m talking cheap—not only for my budget in Charlotte…..but also in Chicago! $6.50 gets you soup or salad, a mini appetizer portion and lunch entrée. I went with my safety dish of chicken pad thai along with soup and vegetable pot stickers.

I was the only person in this place and everything came out quickly. So quickly, the soup, vegetable pot stickers and pad thai all came out together.

Seriously, all that food for $6.50 and tax? Sign me up! Also sign me up to start reading signs by the cashier register that say you need to make a $10 purchase to pay with a card (which I later learned establishments aren’t allowed to do that hmmmm)  I had to bring my tab up so I got something completely new to me- a strawberry bubble tea smoothie

It was good but I was confused about the little dark things floating in it. I asked the lady and she said that they were tapioca pearls. Interesting. I chewed on a few and did not like it. I’ve never chewed on flesh but I imagine that is what flesh would chew like. If you have chewed on flesh, please do not comment, I really don’t wanna know.

I made my way around the area, taking it all in. I love the Lakeview area and with the El being right near me, it reminded me of a mini NYC.

Soon, I found my next stop at-Emerald City Coffee

No munchkins, sigh. I sat, enjoyed their somewhat slow Wi-fi, drank my coffee and watched the people go by. Breath of fresh air is the best term that I can think of. I absolutely adore the diversity of people here. No one looks the same, I haven’t seen one man in khakis, there’s handfuls of crazies, languages I’ve never heard before, people of all ages, nice people, not so nice people, etc.

And the men? GOOD LORD the men! I haven’t seen this many hotties in awhile and again-breath of fresh air.

Yes, Lakeview, I think we will be seeing each other very soon……

When on vacation, do you go out and explore on your own or like to have a set plan of things you want to see? I’m not one who abides by a schedule, I love to go out on my own and explore!

Have you tried bubble tea?

Greetings from Chicago!

Happy Thursday party people! And you guessed it, I’m in Chicago. I got here yesterday afternoon and absolutely love it here.

 

The drive up from Indianapolis was pretty uneventful. If you’ve never driven through Indiana, you’re not missing much. It’s flat, farm land with not much to look at.

I stopped at Portillo’s in Merrillville, IN for lunch. I am originally from that area and it’s so weird seeing how built up everything is now. There just used to be the mall, a hotel or two and a handful of restaurants but not the road it’s on is jam packed.

When talking with my sister and my aunt this past week, they told me I have to go to Portillo’s and that my life will never be the same once I have it. They told me I’ve had it before when I was a youngin but I don’t remember any of it although the name sounded familiar. The serve hot dogs, sandwiches, salads, burgers, milkshakes and more. The inside is a bit kitchshy and reminded me of Coney Island kind of restaurants with the signs for hot dogs, soups on the paneling. The place was packed for a Wednesday afternoon-I almost couldn’t find a table but fought off some children for a single table that they were using as a jungle gym. I got the dry Italian Beef sandwich with hot peppers and a side of fries

You can get the sandwiches with the gravy on them but the idea of soggy breads skeeves this girl on. And when I heard gravy I was a bit confused because I was thinking brown gravy you put on mashed potatoes. The gravy they serve is more along the lines of au jus sauce and once I poured it on the sandwich and took a bite, I remembered having it before. And it was a good memory. Poor sandwich, it didn’t have a chance of having a long existence in this world. Gone in 10 minutes.

Of course I got a little lost while coming into the Chicago Metro area because you know, that’s what I do. I swear I don’t like the whole idea of a GPS ordering me around but I think that’s what I need. One of these days when I get lost in the hood, I will learn my lesson and buy one. But until then, I will keep looking out for landmarks and try to get myself in the right direction. I finally saw this and just kept trucking along, knowing I was headed in the right direction.

After an hour at Starbucks and some texts to Amy asking where I was, what time it was (Chicago is in the central time zone but my phone didn’t change time when I entered), I went over to my friends house……right after the Cubs game ended. Which fighting my way through traffic is a whole other story in itself and og my god—there is a midget who sells water-but yeah, another time for that story. Soon I was on my friends porch, enjoying new-to-me beers!

We went to Uncommon Ground for dinner.  They are a hippie-esque restaurant with local art on the walls, live music and use products that leave no or a low carbon footprint. And their vow is to “use seasonal, locally produced, family farmed & organic products”—how could I NOT love this place?

We sat outside and they have a quite a spacious patio area but most of all, I love the diversity of people walking around. Edit—diversity of people and their dogs—this is such a dog friendly neighborhood! I feel like every person we saw had a pooch and I think I saw some that Lincoln would like.

I got the Capriole Goat Cheese Stuffed Portabella Mushroom Sandwich-
“artichoke, spinach, arugula, caramelized onions on cracked oat bun”

Aww yeah, look at that goat cheese! It was messy but worth the mess, I was very happy with my selection.

Even the bathrooms made me feel at peace with the world

I don’t want to go back to Charlotte, which I know I always say that anytime I’m away but for reals. I am staying in Lakeview and it’s awesome here. I love that people walk everywhere and you see people all the time although it’s not crazy rowdy. I have a few restaurants and bars I can walk to in Charlotte but nothing like this. I could totally see myself here, just need to figure out the whole job and how will I pay to live thing.

Have you ever been/lived in Chicago? What’s your favorite thing to do in Chicago? Help a sister out, I have a day to myself but I think the first thing on the agenda is finding some coffee!

Pancakes, stank and parfaits

Some of you commented on my last post that my sister and I look alike which I find hilarious since everyone says that but I just don’t see it! Oh well, she is cute, so I will take that as a compliment My second day on the west coast of Florida was a much needed beach day.  Before that, my sister made breakfast-chocolate chip pancakes! Now that’s what I’m talking about. The fact that they were Mickey Mouse shaped made it even better.

We left the dogs to their sunbathing to do some of our own.

We made our way over to Manasota Key to rest, relax and get some sun. However before any of that, the first mission was to find coffee. My sister and her boyfriend don’t drink coffee, which is a completely foreign concept to me. They had soda at their house but soda just doesn’t give me the same jump as coffee does. Seeing that on a normal day I have two to three cups in the morning, no coffee in my system is not a good thing nor does it make me a happy camper. My sister went to Places on her phone to see where we could get some java goodness and soon found a Dunkin Donuts and all was right in the world.

I almost made her stop at this shopping center when I saw the sign

 

Then we arrived at the beach, it was serene and had a good number of people but it didn’t seem crowded at all. And what the hell is up with the creepers on the west coast of FL?As my sister and I were getting our stuff out of the car, this old man walked past us and said “Hope you girls brought your bikinis’” We just smiled and did a nervous laugh but I really wanted to say “No, creeper, I didn’t bring my bikini. I think I’m being nice by not doing so because the amount of cellulite on my ass would give you a heart attack!” In the first ten minutes we were there, we saw a group of people crowding around watching the water. At first I thought it was a situation like on Seinfeld where the whale washes up on shore with a golf ball stuck in its blow hole but no go. We soon found out that a dolphin was swimming near the shore—it was so cool to see one up close!

The water was more shallow and calmer that on the East Coast of Florida not to mention cooler. It wasn’t blistering hot yet, which made for an enjoyable day at the beach. After that, we went to The White Elephant Pub.

My other sister has been here before and said the food was good but the atmosphere was gritty. I said hakuna matata for I love bar food. But bar food  in a beach atmosphere? It’s go time! We walked through the indoor portion of the restaurant and found a table on the patio. But that I found out what my sister meant by gritty—- it smelled like some concoction of hot trash, bad cheese and homeless. Yes, all three co-mingled together in a funky harmony. No matter what I didn’t I couldn’t escape the smell and it just reeked.
As unpleasant as the odor was, the food was great! They had a sweet selection of seafood baskets and entrees, burgers and appetizers. I got the fried grouper finger basket which came with a generous portion of crinkle cut fries and cold slaw.

White Elephant is not all about saving the earth as they don’t have condiment bottles at the table–just packets.My sister and I went to town on them!

And if you don’t think I swiped any, you would be wrong. The food plus the view we had definitely outweighed the negative of the stink in the air. Peep the gorgeous view we had from our table!

By the time we left, it was really starting to get hot out. I told my sister I wouldn’t be opposed to stopping by a Dairy Queen for a cool refreshment. Sadly, the Dairy Queen went out of business but we found something even better—a locally owned establishment called Swirls-N-Curls Ice Cream!

They had pretty much everything any other chain place can offer such as ice cream, soft serve, their version of the blizzard, shakes, parfaits, etc. I got the strawberry parfait and it hit the spot! Seriously, how delicious does this look?

I kept digging into it and it seemed endless and then bam-it was done. Sadface. Parfaits make everything right in the world and anyone who doesn’t like parfaits is a communist in my book. They have a cute little patio area with chairs, tables, games with oldies music playing in the background. The fact that they are doggie friendly and serve doggie ice cream treats made it all the better.

 

The rest of the day was very relaxing-I took my obligatory nap after being in the sun, had dinner then hung out and watched tv. You would think that after a day of being in the sun, I was tired but nope, Lincoln appeared to be even more tired than I was by practically perching himself on my shoulder.

 

 

Right before I went to bed, I found a plain, gold band sitting on the kitchen counter. I know they are planning a wedding but I thought it was weird to see one sitting out in plain sight. So I did what any 31 year old single girl would do and tried it on.

Felt very constricting, hmmmmm…..

What’s your favorite summer time treat?

Beach: Love it or hate it?

Flop it like it’s hot

I packed up on Wednesday to go to the west coast of Florida. Even though we moved to Florida when I was seven years old, the west coast is pretty foreign to me. We vacationed there a few times and I remember it being more mellow than the southeast coast of Florida with not as many NY/NJ people and not as much to do. My sister recently moved to the west coast of Florida and I wanted to see her before I trekked back up to Charlotte so on my way I went. While I was making multiple trips back and forth between the house and car (with a lot more stuff than I remembered bringing), I saw this huge turtle sitting up my car.

And when I came back he was gone. At least I have visual evidence he was there and that I’m not losing my mind. I had to make sure I had all of Lincoln’s stuff packed up and treats ready to go.

I had to say my good bye to this guy

Oi vey, that face. Mickey is going to be 13 this summer and I don’t know how many more times I will see him since he his health isn’t what it once was. This is one of the saddest good byes I’ve ever had to say. I know he is a dog but in my family, dogs are family. He has been there with me through college, mini, breakups, happy times, sad times, etc. I held him in my arms, rubbed his belly and said good bye. It was so emotional that I had to put Lincoln in the car beforehand so I could have some time with my Mick.

After that heartbreaking scene, we were on our way ready to go west side. It only seemed appropriate that we jam to Tupac not Biggie

 Like his momma, Lincoln is all about the east coast and not west,. RIP Biggie Smalls. Mental note to self: Must download Get Money by Junior Mafia, that used to be my job!

I got to my sisters place is no time then we took a drive over to Punta Gorda

 

 

Yes, I most definitely think I need to move to a city near the water. I miss it so much! What I don’t miss? The sketchy creepers that come with the beach. As my sis and I were walking onto the pier our dresses were flying everywhere with the wind and this creeper in daisy dukes walked past us andleaned over and whispered “Beautiful dresses” then walked to the end of the pier. We were in the middle of the pier at that time and we stopped there to take pictures because we didn’t want to become a CSI episode.

We stopped by a few stores and shopping centers, tried samples of fudge and perused shops

We stopped for a drink at the Wyvern Hotel roof top bar, which had an amazing view of the water. Give me a nice view, cold drink and cushioned seats and I really don’t need much else in life!

We had a great bartender who was quick with a pour (or twist of a cap) and gave us the 411 on the Punta Gorda area with solid restaurants and spots to check out and others to stay away from.

One of his recommendations was Asuka Japanese Steakhouse in Port Charlotte.

We sat at the sushi bar and when we came in there were two people making sushi then it dropped down to one right as the dinner crowd was coming in. Sushi chef was helpful but seemed a bit in the weeds cranking out the sushi. I don’t like when you go to a sushi place and there is a roll on the menu with no description—especially if it’s an obscure name that doesn’t give you any clue as to what it is such as the Snow White roll. WTF is a Snow White roll? Could it be white and black or full of seven dwarfy things? The sushi chef seemed a little irritated when we would ask him what something was then he finally got one of the waitresses to bring a menu. Annoying people is one of my strong points so push me to and I will. They had your traditional rolls along with special rolls for the evening. Most of their specialty rolls feature avocado which makes me shimmy since I heart omega three’s! I got the Chili Roll and Port Charlotte Roll—I love seeing both made right in front of me and both were on point with freshness and spiciness!

My sister go the Dynamite roll and a salad

I don’t know what’s up with Florida but the main thing that irked me was watching the sushi chef make all the rolls…..without gloves. Do food prep workers not have to wear gloves in Florida? I should know this but I have no clue. I saw him wash his hands a few times but it still skeeved me out.

How many siblings do you have? I have two older sisters but always wished I had an older brother.