fuel.

As part of our grand adventure this last weekend I found a vegetarian/vegan/raw restaurant called fuel in Kalamazoo, Michigan that was only a few miles from the Air Zoo. 

We both started with coffee. The cream and sugar came in these super cute little square dishes. 

I so want these little dishes.

For lunch we had two different dishes: the crabbish cakes and the egg scramble. I even tried a bite of the crabbish cakes and was happy to find they didn't tase anything like seafood. Which I suppose makes sense given that they are "crabbish" cakes and not actual crab cakes.

Maybe all seafood should taste like something else. 

This jam was some of the best I'd ever had-it was this berry concoction of sweet gooey goodness.

We were both really happy with both the food and the experience. One of the things we wish we had in South Bend was a truly vegetarian restaurant (like our favorite restaurant in Madison, the Green Owl). fuel had good vegetarian cuisine, and we both really like the local and eco friendly cuisine. Although we probably wouldn't drive up to Kalamazoo just to eat there, we'll definitely be back the next time we're up that way. 

Weekend Recap: Air Zoo.

The N-boy and I had a festive and busy weekend. We started off by each doing our own thing with colleagues and friends. Saturday brought a morning of babysitting adorable children followed by a little DIY adventure.

Sunday, however, I planned a secret day of adventure for us. I didn't tell the N-boy where we were going at all, but just gave him directions step by step in the car. We headed north into Michigan where our first stop was a vegetarian/vegan restaurant called fuel for lunch. More on this tasty adventure tomorrow.

Our next stop was the Kalamazoo Air Zoo. I wasn't really sure what to expect going into the zoo, but since I knew the N-boy (and his brothers for that matter) are interested in planes I hoped it would be fun.

There were three levels of tickets: $8, $12, and $15. We decided to go with the $15 tickets as that would grant us unlimited access to the entire museum, including the various movies, rides and flight simulators. 

This ticket package was definitely a good decision. The planes were very nifty, although I was definitely a bit disappointed in the space section-it didn't seem to be organized well and there was no natural flow. But the various rides and simulators were definitely the highlight for me. Especially the flight simulator where we made the plane go upside down! 

A very small man in front of a very large world. 

Гагарин.

Hot air balloon ride! 

Very large sneaky plane. Don't ask me what its real name is. 

We ended the adventure with a stop at the Root Beer Stand. 

All root beer should be served on a tray that attaches to my car. 

It was a super fun day, and a great end to a busy weekend.

Did you do anything particularly festive this weekend?

Light Saber Attack.

We spent Saturday morning this weekend babysitting the kids of one of our friends. And their dog, Natasha. It should be noted here that we are cat people. Dogs kind of scare me. Especially large dogs. Luckily, however, the N-boy likes dogs in addition to cats and was excited to have the chance to engage in a game of tug-o-war.

The N-boy didn't have a chance. 

"What? I'm a cute little puppy!" says the dog the size of a small pony. 

In the meantime, I supervised wii baseball.  

The best moment, however, is when we went outside to play light saber. Well for some of us to play light saber. 

Light Saber Attack.

 What this picture doesn't show is two seconds later the teeny tiny dog escaping from across the street and running over to us, first jumping on Natasha who of course went crazy and managed to knock one child over, while the other one ran onto the porch. Of course then teeny tiny dog followed her to the porch. Sine the dog was approximately the size of a teacup, it was fine, but a little but crazy for a few minutes. 


Clearly a highly festive morning for all. We celebrated a successful babysitting adventure with Sonic. 

Oh Sonic. We love you. 

Dinner and a flamingo.

So I went to dinner last night with a friend while the N-boy went to a historian graduate student get together at a bar. I'm super happy that he's connecting with more of the budding historians here in town, and even happier that I was able to make plans to go out with a friend on my own! It's been a little hard with him home not because the two of us WANT to be attached at the hip, but that other seem to assume we are. And while we appreciate the thought that we might want some time together, it's been a very very rough adjustment for both of us and some time with our own friends alone is super. (Hint hint friends who are reading this.)

My friend Andy and I have developed a great little routine. First we go to dinner. Then we hit LOFT and Sephora at the mall, and finally we end up at Target. It's perfect. We eat lots of food, we buy cute clothes and fun perfume and we go nuts in the dollar spot.

Last time we went out we used a Groupon to go to Temper Grill.

"Why yes, I do like cheese that has been set on fire," says Andy.

Caprese Salad Stack. 

Last night we tried a new to us restaurant, Cosimo and Susie's. It was really dark inside the restaurant so there are no pictures, but we did both enjoy yummy Italian food. She had the vegetarian lasagna and I had the meat lasagna and we both ordered the full order so we'd have leftover to take home with us. Andy was worried that we'd get the takeout containers mixed up, so she marked hers with an "A." Not to be outdone, I drew a flamingo on mine. When the N-boy saw it he thought I was nuts and possibly a little over the top.

How could a flamingo ever be over the top? 

Festive for Friday-Christmas in July.

I told the N-boy that he was looking very Christmassy yesterday (the shirt is a little greener in person than in the picture). He wasn't thrilled with my observation but let me snap a photo anyway. He even brought me iced coffee as a present, so he was just like Santa Claus, too.

Ho ho ho. Merry Christmas. In July. 

Of course now I have "Feliz Navidad" from Christmas Eve on Sesame Street in my head. I bring this on myself. 

What's making your Friday festive? 

No Escape.

CatCat says "there is no escape, human"

Awesome. At some point I will manage to extract myself from under the cat and go shower. But obviously not right now. 

Why I never get anything done.

Friday the cat says "look mama, I'm here to help you!"

The best part about this post is that he jumped on my lap (again) literally as I opened up the new post. Touche, cat, touche.

Salmon Chase.

So it's become abundantly clear after my last 5k, all the way back in April, that without a race on the horizon my training falls off. Couple that with some problems with the nerve damage in my hip and the beginning of a stress fracture in my foot, and well, I haven't been working out at all.

My doctor told me I needed to back off a little to keep my foot from getting worse. So I did. Except then it turned into a big break. And I don't feel as good when I'm not getting regular exercise. I struggle with anxiety issues and high endorphiny (totally a word) exercise helps keep that anxiety in check. The N-boy and I have been walking but it just doesn't do the same thing for me as running or spinning.

I'll start spinning classes again in the fall, but in the meantime I need to get back into a running routine and sign up for a race to keep me motivated for the rest of the summer!

The race I'm going with is the Salmon Chase. Last year I ran the 5k. I don't know whether I should run the 5k again this year, or go for the 10k. Registration isn't open yet so I still have some time to decide while I get back on a regular workout schedule.

I went for a two mile run on Sunday. On Floyd the Treadmill because it is so darned hot outside. It went MUCH better than I expected. I took one of my prescription pain pills ahead of time (as per my doc) and didn't have any hip or foot pain at all. So for this week (Monday-Sunday) I'm hoping to accomplish (in no particular order):

• 2 mile run
• 2.25 mile run
• 2.5 mile run
• Kripalu yoga class
• 3 mile walk
• 4 mile walk

Weekend Recap.

Friday

Cambodian Thai. 

Saturday

Sunshine with a book. 

Silverhawks Baseball.

This is the "Oh not another picture for your blog" face.

Sunday

Peppers from the garden. 

 Ribs on the grill. 

 N-boy. The grillmaster. 

Silverhawks baseball game.

So after our failed attempt to go to a game on Friday night we made it last night for the Silverhawks verus the Peoria Chiefs.

Swoop. He's a little creepy. 

We're a little creepy too. 

It turned out to be a beautiful night for a game-not too hot. It was also nice that the stadium wasn't too crowded. And that the Silverhawks won. 

It was also a good night for yummy ballpark food.

I'm not actually sure why the N-boy likes going to games with me. I get rather distracted and don't always pay the most attention to the game. I have lots of fun, but it just doesn't hold my attention the same way that hockey does. 

The below look is either right after I started my tirade (again) about why I think that the RBI statistic is stupid (Think about it-they get credit for the guys who are already on the bases. Which really comes down to how good the coach is at lining up the batting order). Or when we were discussing if I or one of my other coworkers would made a better war lord. 

I feel sorry for him too.

Despite my random observations at the game, we both had a really good time and enjoyed getting out of the house on a Saturday night. It was a festive evening, and nice to do another activity from my 2012 Summer Bucket List.

Cambodian Thai.

We had a rather epic fail last night when we tried to go to the Silverhawks game, arriving only to discover it was Boy Scout night and that the game was sold out except for lawn seating. We weren't really feeling the lawn, especially in an atmosphere where I was going to spend the entire game muttering under my breath after the Boy Scout's latest announcement, so we decided to get tickets for the Saturday game and head out to dinner instead. [The Boy Scouts could learn a thing or two or a million from the Girl scouts.]

Moving on.

We ended up at Cambodian Thai, a small hole in the wall type place in downtown South Bend. I'd never actually eaten in the restaurant before, as we've always gotten take out (an experience that taught the N-boy carrying take out on a bike is a challenge). It was good food and a nice evening, even if it wasn't the original plan.

Chicken curry. 

Drunken noodles.

Festive for Friday-Caffeine.

I've been drinking a lot of coffee lately. I think that's an ok thing for this time of year. It only gets worse as we head into three weeks until new student orientation. Pretty sure caffeine is the only thing that's going to keep me going here. That and loving my students and wanting to give them the best experience we can. But mostly the caffeine. 

What's keeping you going this summer? 

Unplugged.

Our modem died this week. It was a sad and somewhat terrifying moment. We've had it for almost four years, and when you think that it runs 24 hours a day, seven days a week, I guess it's really done pretty well. Especially when you start adding up all of the devices that we have running all the time (three laptops, one kindle, two iphones, an airport, an old ipod touch and an apple TV. Add in a partridge in a pear tree and we're ready for Christmas in July).

It's been a rough week. Even though I'm online all day at work, I hadn't realized how attached I really am to the internet. Or even to just watching Netflix through the apple TV. But in some ways, it's been pretty nice. I've gone for lots of walks with the N-boy. I've read more books this week than in the last month. And I've started working on a sewing project again. It's actually been pretty relaxing, and while I'm going to be VERY happy when the internet reappears this Friday (and better than ever because we decided to upgrade!), I think this has served as a good reminder to unplug and relax on occasion.

Potowatomi Zoo.

Last Sunday morning the N-boy and I headed out to do one of the items on my our 2012 Summer Bucket list: the Potawatomi Zoo. We live within walking distance, so we just headed out the front door and got there within half an hour of opening. 

There were several highlights of our adventure. The most obvious, of course, were the flamingos. 

Don't you think this one wants to come home with me?

Or I could take the whole flock. 

I also insisted on going into the petting zoo. 

Eying the goat to make sure he was safe. 

Mr. Goat is my friend. 

There were LOTS of tortoises. Which seemed random, but made the N-boy happy. 

The coolest thing by far (after the flamingos, of course) was seeing the lion roar! It wasn't at all like I expected but was still highly festive. It was fun because we can hear the lion roar from our house, so it was really cool to see him do it in person. There were actually two lions in the enclosure and this one started roaring first, and then the other one started in. A little lion duet. 

Roar!

We were at the zoo for about two hours, and both agreed that it was worth the $8/person admission fee. It was definitely fun, and the zoo was pretty good for a town the size of South Bend.