overnight in milwaukee!

we had a great time in milwaukee this weekend! here are the highlights:

* pit stop at the brat stop for fried cheese curds, bad service and ofcourse brats!

* taking really embarrassing pics at art museum and seeing some really cool modern art. we also had a photo shoot by the lake :)

* tara deciding to get her nose pierced and literally going on a wild goose chase trying to find the best piercing place and asking 1,000 questions at each and putting little dots on her nose. she went for it finally at the end of the night and it looks perfect! her nose was made to have a rhinestone on it!

* local brews & a delic appetizer at balzac off brady street

* getting our sangria comped at a shitty mexican restaurant. it was literally fizzy wine with no fruit. come on.

* doing mud masks and painting our nails a hideous shade of purple with neon designs with a junk food buffet.

* girl talking till 3 a.m.

* getting treats at the public market

* getting a tour of sprecher brewery and trying their yummie samples!

i know that no matter where i go with these girls - or any of my friends - i will have an absolute blast. i laughed so hard and talked so much. i had smile lines on my face within about an hour into the trip, a very good sign. thank goodness for my friends that like to have little adventures, are up for anything and make me laugh till i ache. thank goodness.

milwaukee getaway!

i'm starting to realize how many cool/fun/cheap places there are to visit in the states. i've been so focused on euro travel for so long i've been neglecting my home turf. this summer i had a blast in nashville, just enjoyed a vaca in daytona beach and now me and 2 of my best girlfriends are heading to milwaukee for an overnight this weekend. i kind of always forget about milwaukee. when in need of a little getaway i scour my brain for a good nearby spot and usually end up in michigan. luckily my friend suggested milwaukee and i looked into it and there are all sorts of fun activities to do there!

on our way up we'll make a pitstop at the Brat Stop - http://www.bratstop.com/

after we get into the city, we'll get started wtih a brewery tour at Lakefront Brewery - http://www.lakefrontbrewery.com/main.html

then we'll visit the Milwaukee Art Museum - http://www.mam.org/

if we have time to kill, we'll go to the Mitchell Park Conservatory - http://www.county.milwaukee.gov/MitchellParkConserva10116.htm

then we'll hit the town for dinner and drinks and end the evening with bottles of wine at our hotel.

the next day we'll grab lunch and visit some shops at the Public Market - http://www.milwaukeepublicmarket.org/index.php

and then we'll hit the road!

all that adds up to the best lil girl's getaway! anyone else been to milwaukee and have any suggestions??

visit to the senior home.

this school quarter i had to make a very difficult decision: take a class i wasn't very interested in or skip volunteering at bingo for 10 weeks. i haven't really missed bingo in the 2 years i've been doing it except for a couple of times when i was traveling. when i have had to miss it, i have massive guilt issues and it really throws me off because i've made it a part of my weekly routine. unfortunately i decided i had to take a class that made sense and give up bingo for the quarter. my seniors took it just fine - 1 even pinched my cheek and told me good luck with school.

due to the massive amounts of guilt and need for some quality time with my elderly friends, i decided to still go once a week for a visit. i had good friday off so i brought in sugar free marshmellow eggs for easter for them. i walked in and found one of my buds joe reading one of the books i brought in for them. that made me really happy. we had a nice chat and then i went off to see francis who was also reading one of the books i brought! i thought this one was a tad racy but she said she loved it. then i went to see peggy for a quick minute and it made me happy that she recognized who i was and was happy to see me. lastly i visited with lee. lee has told me about his family issues in the past. he abandoned his first wife and their children to be with another woman and he recently found god and wants to reconnect with his sons. he has so much guilt and it's hard to hear him talk about the pain he has with this issue. he told me he received a letter from one of his sons that day and expressed how happy it made him. then he cried because he's not in touch with his other son. then i cried. i want so badly to comfort them and to make their lives happier. but all i can really do is what i have been doing. visiting, bringing treats, books and so on. they help bring light into my life and i hope i do the same for them. even just a little bit, to take away the disappointment, the frustrations and the inconveniences of their lives is all i want for them.

visiting makes me realize how lucky i am to have my health, freedom, independence and privacy. i'm going back for round 2 this thursday with more racy novels in hand.

junk food junkie.

lately i cannot get enough crap food. this always happens if i have a little something junkie and then i spin out of control. i think it started when we had a taco buffet at work. food buffets always cause trouble. i believe i had 5. later that week me and the bf went to pequods for the most delicious deep dish pizza in chicago. then things just went into a downhill spiral. now all i want are all my favorite junk foods. if i could eat whatever i wanted with no guilt and no health problems i think i would have a diet of:

cheese fries, hotdogs, movie theatre popcorn, cheese sticks, chicken nuggets, fried chicken, buffalo wings, cheese and sausage pizza, ribs, potato skins, nachos, cheese puffs and mac and cheese. seriously, yum.

luckily, i have a small ounce of self-control and don't eat these things as much as i'd like and in addition to all the junk i'm also currently obsessed with salmon and brown rice, red grapes, pirates booty, baby carrots and broiled chicken. and if it wasn't for my new enjoyment of fitness classes at the gym i truly think i'd have a heart attack. but i am going out for mexican food tomorrow...