Ramblings of a Crazy Woman

...and I am not even talking about celebrity deaths. How come unexpected expenses, bad luck or breakages come in 3's. First our dryer stopped drying clothes and then our relatively new MAC computer blew out some internal power fuse and wouldn't turn on and now my husband's piece of crap, it's really a lemon, Volkswagon Jetta over heated on the freeway at 4:30AM in the morning and he had to get towed to a repair shop. Lucikly in this round of breakages the costs have been kept to a mimimum. We called our home warranty place and they told us they don't cover dryers so that made us freak about having to buy a new washer. Luckily in the end, the broken dryer prompted my husband to sit down and fix the dryer himself. Then last week the hub sat down to our computer and couldn't get the thing to turn on. We freaked as this was only 2 years old and we had no idea how much that would cost to get fixed. Luckily in this case the Genius Bar people told us we had ...

I found crack for my dog and it's called rotisserie chicken. Let me explain. So last night after work I stopped at the local Vons and did a bit of shopping and happened to walk by the deli. That is when I noticed an employee unload 10 chickens onto the counter. They were still steaming that's how fresh they were. Me and about 9 other people saw this at the same time and we all fought for who would get one of those hot out of the oven chickens. I had a good position at the counter so I got one and I couldn't wait to get home and eat my delectable prize. 10 minutes later I park the car in the back and close the gate and then I open my trunk and let the dog out. Mo who always greets me with such love and attention jumps into the backseat of my car and starts sniffing the bag with the chicken. He too smells the wonderous flavor of rotissserie chicken. I pull the groceries inside and unpack them. All the while, Mo is sitting patiently at the edge of the counter staring ...

This past Friday, I met up with two girlfriends, Cindy and Jessica, at my house. The night was to be simple. Have dinner and some drinks at a restaurant near my house. Given the option of either Mexican (El Iris Taco) or GastroPub (The York), they chose the GastroPub because they had never heard of the word before. Frankly neither had I until I moved into my "up and coming" neighborhood. They asked me and I really didn't know how to respond so I turned their attention to my hubby who explained. This conversation left me hungry for more, so I took to the internet to find our what GastroPub means. Here is what I found.... There’s no single defining element at work, though I’ve heard people trying to argue that things like serving handmade/hand-cut chips, or having a chalkboard with food specials, are the sole feature making a place a ‘gastropub’. Perhaps, though, they could feature on a checklist we might come up with, or a mathematical equation? What It’s Not Even the OED...

As I grew up in Michigan I have had several opportunities to visit Mackinaw Island in the past. It's a very charming if not Victorian type community located to the right of the tip of the Michigan glove. You could really miss the island on the map unless you have previously heard of the following things that make it famous: the Grand Hotel, the Governor's Mansion, Somewhere in Time or fudge. Yes, they make world famous fudge. In my opinion, it just might be the best ever. Mackinaw Island is unique in that no motor vehicles are permitted on the island. So that means you have a couple of options for travelling. You can either find a horse, find a bike or use the legs God gave you and walk. The island isn't very big, only about 5 miles around, so any of these options shouldn't put a person out. While I have been to the island before my hubby, a native of California had not. So we took two days from our recent Yooper trip to visit the island. I had never stayed a...

One of my bridesmaids in my wedding, Mindy, was married over Labor Day Weekend in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Anyone who lives in the UP is called a "Yooper." My girlfriend's parents have a cabin and a house in the UP so my girlfriend visits quite often. The hubby and I left a week early so we could enjoy the great outdoors. We rented a cabin in Deer Park, Michigan. Don't even bother trying to map quest this place because its off the grid! My parents joined us in our two bedroom cabin on Lake Muskelounge and the four of us had a week of fun driving all over the UP. We visited Mackinaw Island and stayed at the Grand Hotel, which was hubby's first visit, we visited a black bear ranch and saw a ton of bears and thought about our friend, Toby and his love of bears, we hiked around Tahquamenon Falls and then of course, there was the main event, the beach front wedding of my friend Mindy to Fred. Here are some gorgeous photos that were taken of the event. The...