A Madison Outing

Downtown Madison

This past weekend we decided to take a little road trip to Madison, Wisconsin (specifically to get family portraits taken from the lovely and talented Anna). But really for years people have told me that I would love Madison, and they were right; I do love Madison.

Indie Coffee

We started our outing with delicious coffee and food at Indie Coffee. It is an artsy little coffee shop next to UW Madison, so if you could guess on a Sunday afternoon, there were plenty of college students with faces buried in laptops trying to catch up on their latest school work. David enjoyed a Pumpkin Spice Latte and Salami Focaccia Sandwich while I enjoyed an almond milk Mocha and Vegan Mediterranean Veggie Wrap.


Our family portraits were taken at the UW Madison Arboretum, which the trees were beginning to change to the stunning colors of yellow, orange, and red.

The Old Fashioned

Afterwards we dined at The Old Fashioned which is right in Madison Square. The restaurant was solidly packed on a Sunday evening, saturated with personality, and the menu made it difficult to pick just one dish and drink. David drank an Oktoberfest Beer and feasted on a Spicy Burger and fries (impressively the burger came from 100% grass fed cows-which tends to be hard to find and the bbq sauce had the surprising hint of yellow curry). I sipped a deliciously sweet Riesling White Wine and ate a salad filled with plump Door County Cherries alongside flavorful chicken. Not only were the waiters friendly and attentive, but the atmosphere of customers was one of friends, family and good times.

As we drove off after our fun little Madison outing, David and I realized that this one little outing is just the beginning to many more Madison outings to see the variety of lovely things that city has to offer, such as the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art, Madison Children's Museum, Henry Vilas Zoo, Olbrich Botanical Gardens, the Madison Public Library, etc. The town is filled with museums, parks, two lakes, kayak rentals, endless mom and pop coffee shops and restaurants. Overall, I can't wait to visit again otherwise watch out I'm moving in!

The Pioneer Woman Book Review

"The week of a girl's wedding was supposed to be a happy time. I should have been leaping gleefully around my parents' house, using a glitter-infused feather duster to sparkle up my wedding gifts, which adorned every flat surface in the house. I should have been eating melon balls and laughing in the kitchen with my mom and sister about how it's almost here! Don't you love this Waterford vase? Oooh, the cake is going to be sooooo pretty. Instead I was in my bathroom holding my face at gunpoint, forcing it to exfoliate on command."
 -The Pioneer Woman: Black Hells to Tractor Wheels A Love Story by Ree Drummond

Originally from Oklahoma, Ree Drummond attended college in LA where she relished in the city life, becoming a health nut-heel wearing-martini drinking-vegetarian. After graduation she decided to end a long term relationship, leave LA and move to the Windy City, Chicago. During this transition, Ree moved back to her parents house in Oklahoma while trying to find the perfect Chicago apartment. One evening, she dressed to the nines, headed to a bar, and met a cowboy, a swoon-worthy cowboy. At that moment she viewed him as her "marlboro man," someone she was head over heels, madly in love with. However, life had other plans and they didn't cross paths again until a few weeks before her big move to Chicago.

"The Pioneer Woman" is a memoir written with honesty, humor, and sarcasm. I caught myself laughing throughout the book and rooting "hurrah!" at points while in others cringing in the tension or dire situations. Overall this was a book that I didn't want to put down. I even laughed at myself thinking that this memoir is the closest romance-novel like book that I have ever read and I'm not ashamed to say I LOVED it!

If you read it too this month, share your thoughts and favorite quote! If you didn't get a chance to read it; find it and read it!

In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, October's read will be "The Middle Place" by Kelly Corrigan which is a memoir about a woman who works her way through breast cancer and its impact on her family.

Happy Reading!

Pumpkin Mocha

In celebration of fall, my husband and I started drinking homemade Pumpkin Mochas!

Enjoy this Autumn drink hot or cold!

Ingredients:
*1-2 TBSP Chocolate Syrup
*1-2 TBSP Pumpkin Pie Syrup
*Pumpkin spice or cinnamon
*2-4 shots of espresso
*Almond Milk (or regular depending on your preference)
*A favorite mug!

How To:
*Mix Chocolate and Pumpkin syrup in mug
*Pull espresso shots
*Pour espresso over chocolate and pumpkin syrup and stir
*Steam milk (attempt for the microfoam perfection!) or pour cold over ice
*Sprinkle pumpkin or cinnamon spice on top
*ENJOY!

Hello Autumn!

Zooey's First Pumpkin Patch

Zooey loved touching the pumpkins!

To welcome the new fall season we took a little trip out to an adorable pumpkin patch.

Zooey's mini pumpkin

There were lots of squashes, pumpkins and gourds. Even pumpkins Zooey's size!

Pink Pumpkin

I found a "pink pumpkin," and part of the price for it went to breast cancer research!









We even had fun on a tractor!

Zooey and her tractor

 Next stop: the apple orchard!

Zooey my Apple

Kick Cancer's Bum!

Good friends since high school

It's a surprise when anyone finds out that they have cancer, but it was a huge surprise when I found out that someone very close to me and my own age (mind you that I just turned 28) finds out that they have stage IV colon cancer that has metastasized to the liver.

If you can please donate or send warm wishes to him and his family.

Thank you.

Will Chalkboard for Espresso

Our Espresso Set up

Considering how busy we have become (as new parents) and the cost of a coffee drink, such as a medium mocha with almond milk is about $6; we thought it was time to add an espresso machine to our household. We picked one that is semi-automatic and has pressure bars (without those you are basically making drip coffee from espresso beans).

Yummy Espresso

Luckily one of my jobs when I first graduated college was working at a delicious coffee shop (Grahams 318). I had been trained how to make stellar espresso and microfoam with even non-fat drinks such as almond milk. Once again, lucky for us, we live close to a tasty “Pop” Coffeeshop (Arcedium Coffee House) that roasts their own coffee and espresso beans. So we have direct access to the freshest beans!

Once our espresso machine arrived we realized that it would be hard to tell apart the espresso from the coffee beans since all we had were two lableless white jars to store them in. You guessed it! It was the perfect time to try out the lovely art of chalkboard painting!

Chalk Paint

Instructions:

-Wash soon to be chalkboard

-Either paint tape shape or attach stencil for shape

-Use small foam roller to paint one coat

-Let dry 4 hours

-(Sanding is optional)

-Use small foam roller to paint second coat

-Let dry 4 hours

-(Sanding is optional)

-If need be paint one more time

Chalked Jars
 

-Let dry 3 days

-“Finish” the chalkboard by applying a layer of chalk

-Wash off

-Ready to use!

Now all that is missing is our very own coffee house sign! J

New Domesticity

Simply the introduction caught my eye, “I could keep going (and going and going), but you get the picture: the career girl---gone---Green Acres the memoir is the new chick lit. Our new collective escapist fantasy is more likely to involve a Vermont farmhouse and a cute Anthropologie apron than a SoHo loft and a pair of Manolos.”

“Homeward Bound: Why Women are Embracing the New Domesticity” by Emily Matchar is a must read book for those interested in the embrace of this new domesticity. You could be in any domestic role and/or in any profession, because this book is not about the how to be the new domesticity, but rather about this new social movement that has taken the country. It follows various domestic concepts since Colonial time to current trends. Topics such as: homemaking, blogging, the Etsy phenomenon, DIY food movement, and attachment parenting are its focus. Matchar avoids writing opinions, but rather reports on historical facts and real life accounts.

 

So if you have ever been intrigued by this new domesticity movement, pick up the book, it’s a quick read and I simply loved it!

Let me know what you thought of it when you finish!

Considering this quick book review/suggestion, I thought it’d be fun to read a book a month and write about it (you can join me if you’d like and it’ll be a little mini online book club!) The book I’m reading for the month of September and will review in October is a book mentioned in “Homeward Bound” and also rumored to be a future movie starring Reese Witherspoon. It is “The Pioneer Woman: Black Heels to Tractor Wheels---A Love Story” by Ree Drummond. It’s a true story about a city chick falling madly in love with a swoon-worthy cowboy and her new life on their ranch. She too has a blog at The Pioneer Woman.

Happy Reading!