Yesterday morning, we hit the road bright & early for the Michigan Summer Beer Festival in Ypsilanti. Of course, we had to make a stop at Zingerman’s in Ann Arbor for lunch, which was fabulous as always. I had a great sandwich, but the highlight for me was the Burnt Sugar Gelato. It was so good! Like the top of a creme brulee. Mike bought some fancy cheese and then we pressed on to Ypsi.

When we got to the park, it seemed like there weren’t many people there. I assumed the turnout was weak because it was supposed to thunderstorm all day. Good thing I brought umbrellas & towels. We got a decent parking spot, then headed to the gate. Oops, somehow we went to the back of the park and were at the employee entrance. We had to walk all the way around the park and down a couple of city blocks to reach the front gate. HOLY SMOKES there were about 568975568 waiting to get inside!! We waited in line for a while, marvelling at the assortment of pretzel necklaces people were wearing. At first we thought this was just a sustenance thing, as drinking on an empty stomach is not a good idea, but much later we figured out that the salty pretzels actually cleanse the palate between samples. Next time we will know better and have our own pretzel necklaces. We also saw a few people with Cheeze-Its and pretzels, and even a dude with various types of beef jerky and cheeses on a necklace!!

About the time we were halfway through the line the sun came out and started blazing. It did not stop all day long!! So much for my umbrellas and towels! Since it had rained so much before the fest, the whole park was a grody mud pit. But nobody, including us, really seemed to care that it was hot and muddy and humid and gross. There was beer beyond the gates, and we had work to do. Here’s a pic of us waiting in line. Mikey took the photo, so he’s not pictured.

Once we got inside, Dawn, Peach Pit & I got our cups & tokens. Mike & Peach Fuzz don’t drink beer, so they decided to camp out in the shady food tent while the 3 of us decided to check out our first brewery. The festival was HUGE, with 54 breweries and over 400 beers available to sample. Where to start was a pretty big challenge. Dawn & I diligently checked off the samples we tried on the beer list included in the program. Peach Pit doesn’t even like beer, and was really only there because he heard there was drinking. We even heard him say things like “Give me the lightest beer you have.” Contrarily, Dawn & I studied our list of options carefully before we got into the lines so that we knew what we wanted before getting to the taps.

There were some standouts for me. I loved Olde Peninsula’s Stout Chocula. It’s a little sad that I had to go all the way to Ypsi to sample a beer that is brewed 5 minutes from my house, but that’s the way the cookie crumbles I suppose. I really really enjoyed the Oak Aged Hatter IPA from New Holland. I didn’t even choose that one, Peach Pit did. I got The Poet Oatmeal Stout from New Holland and it wasn’t my fave so we traded. It was so good, though. Smooth, yet still rich. I also really enjoyed Pickle Tink, a strawberry wheat brew from Schmoz in Grand Rapids. It tasted like fresh strawberries. it was very good. I hope I get the chance to try this again sometime when my palate isn’t hosed by drinking 100 different flavors in one sitting. The big winner for me was Old Hat’s Peanut Butter Stout. It was absolutely delightful, and I have fantasies of an Olde Peninsula Stout Chocula/Old Hat Peanut Butter Stout float with vanilla ice cream. I think I need to make that happen this summer.

There were also a few brews that made it into the “Interesting” catergory. We tried a Margarita Shandy from Big Buck that was not bad. It was different than anything else I’ve ever had, that’s for sure. One of these would be good on a hot day, but I don’t think I’d want more than 1 at a time under any circumstance. I also tried the Short’s Imperial Spruce India Pilsner. This one was definitely different – it tasted very pine-y, sort of like a beer-gin hybrid. I didn’t hate it, but I don’t think I’d get that one again. One thing we were really excited about was the Beer Popsicles at the Big Buck booth. We waited in the line 20 minutes only to find out they were all out! They did have Stout ice cream, so I got one. It was really good and chocolate-y, but I realized dairy was maybe not the best choice so I tossed it after a few bites. They also had a beer Slip N’ Slide towards the end of the day!!

I like a lot of Short’s beers, so I bought a T-shirt, and I got a brewfest T as well. All in all, it was a super fun day. I would absolutely do this again, but I think I’d do the bus tour next time, because poor Mike & Peach Fuzz were pretty bored most of the day. I know they had fun at Zingerman’s, but the Beer Fest itself didn’t have much that was of interest to them, sadly.

Here’s my faorite picture from the day. Dawn took this pic of the 2 of us, but Peach Pit was feeling left out so he had to make his presence known, too. The end result is just adorable.

I also did this. If you’ve been reading my blog for any length of time, you know I love me some sand messages.

On Saturday, the boys went fishing while the girls stayed at the cottage and hit the beach. It was warm, but breezy – a perfect day for lounging by the surf. I slathered on sunscreen but still managed to get burned wicked back on the tops of my feet. Ugh, they still hurt. Anyway, we had a blast, and it was a nice relaxing little mini-getaway. There are lots more pics, and you can see a slide show here.

Aside from that, not too much is going on. I haven’t knit a stitch in quite a while, but I really need to get back on it. Mike’s mom told me last week that the big show in November is definitely on, so I need to get some stuff ready. I am thinking mittens to start with because I can knock them out so fast. I also have a great idea for some ornaments I want to do. They’re not knit, but I think they’re going to be really sweet. I guess I need to get a plan and make some lists.

I’ve been spending most of my time reading. After seeing Eclipse, I got sucked into reading the Twilight Saga again. This time around I read Twilight and Midnight Sun together – a chapter of one, then the matching chapter of the other. I thoroughly enjoyed reading them that way. It was so much easier to compare & contrast the two perspectives while each was still fresh in my mind. I burned through those and also New Moon, and now I’m a little more than halfway through Eclipse. After I finish these, I might need to take a break while I get a jump on some crafty goodness.

I’m stoked for the beer fest this weekend! It’s going to be totally sweet. I’m so looking forward to it because I heart beer and road trips. I also heart Zingermann’s, and I am pretty sure we will have lunch there. Woot! I need to get some fun road trip activities planned. I’m thinking Mad Libs for sure, but I’m open to suggestions, so if you have any, let’s hear them!

Last Friday we went to Grand Rapids to help Alexis celebrate her graduation. I made her the sweet afghan, of course, and I think she liked it. I didn’t really see her open it as we were on our way out the door, but I am pretty sure it was a hit. Besides that, both of her sets of grandparents, Mike & I, and another Aunt & Uncle went together and got her a laptop and a digital camera of her own. She was super stoked about that. She is leaving for Texas in September and will be gone for 3 months as part of a mission trip, so she really needed those things, and she was extremely happy to get them. The party turned out great, and it was good to see everyone.

On Sunday we hooked up with Bill & Deb and headed to Indiana because Bill needed to procure some illegal (in MI) fireworks. We had a blast! We started at the outlet mall and looked around there for a while, then hit the fireworks store. I’m not big on fireworks, so I settled for some morning glory sparklers and some of those popper thingies that you throw at the ground.  After that we decided to hit the Four Winds, but since it was a school night, we only stayed for about an hour. Bill was the big winner – he managed to wrangle $30 out of the place playing video poker!!

I finished season 5 of Lost, and that’s about as far as I can go right now, since season 6 isn’t available (legally anyway) on DVD yet. It got SO much better. When I said it was horrible, I was only about 2 episodes in, and once I got over the hump it was much more interesting. Also, I must say, I’m a big fan of Sawliet. Did Sawyer totally grow up working for the Dharma Initiative, or what? I was pretty much over Juliet as a character, but her hooking up with Sawyer totally reinvigorated her. And then there’s Locke. Alive! Dead! Alive! But not really? Anyway, I am eagerly awaiting the final season to see how this twisted story ends.

Mike & I also finished season 3 of Buffy, and it was quite awesome. I miss Spike though. I’m hoping he’ll be back pretty soon. I’m sad to see Angel go, but hey, if a dude can get his own show, he should jump at the chance. We are planning to watch the Angel episodes that crossover with Buffy as needed, with the help of our friend Dawn, who is an expert in all things Buffy/Angel. In the absence of Lost, I have been filling that hole with the first season of Bones. It’s a really good show, and I’m liking it very much. I just watched the Christmas episode where they are all trapped in the lab, and it made me weepy.

That’s all for today. I’m off to meet my mom for lunch. Toodles!

I spent a lot of time searching the internets for the perfect weekly planning pages. I printed out and tried lots of different ones, but I could not find one that was just what I wanted AND would print out perfectly. I was sick of settling, so I decided to freehand my own weekly pages. I did, and here is what I came up with. First is what the page looks like. I have a master and I just photocopy this as needed then cut in half and punch. This comes out perfect every time! I also LOVE the fact that I can color in little hearts or doodles, and of course I love to add stickers and such. So these are kind of a blank canvas for me each week, which is great. The second pic is what it looks like in use for this week. I fuzzed out some incriminating to do’s, but you definitely get the idea. Click on either pic to see a larger version.

One other change is that I started using the menu planning and grocery lists from The Project Girl. Follow the link to get this free download for yourself. I am using the second version, meals on one half, grocery list on the other half. It’s perfect for what I need. Be sure to peruse the rest of the freebies there, she has some great stuff. Travel checklists, food journal pages, chore lists and lots more. Definitely worth a look.

I’ve also gotten more book covers and I change them pretty regularly. I had bright green for St. Patrick’s Day, and now I am rocking a bright Smurfy blue.

After a looong debacle involving several different worker dudes here for many different days, my tub is finished! As of last night, I’ve used it twice and it is officially the BOMB. We still can’t shower in there because we haven’t hung the bar for a curtain. We haven’t hung it because we are still deciding what color to paint. We had a clear idea of what we wanted when we went to look at paint (iced mocha), but then we saw all the fancy swatches, and we were totally confused. So now we have 62,086 swatches and still have no idea which way we will go. So, we’ll see what happens there. It’ll be interesting.

Other excitingness is that I am making headway in my Beer Society adventure. I decided to start rating the beers and keeping track. View my progress here via a Google Spreadsheet. I’ve also added that link to my Blogroll on the left over there. It’s moving along, and it is quite fun. Here’s a pic of George & Mike hanging with me on Sunday while I tried a couple of brews.

Ok, a couple of other quick things. Mike & I went to a matinee last Friday and saw Percy Jackson & The Lightning Thief . I really enjoyed it. It was definitely formulaic and similar to Harry Potter, but that didn’t bother me too much. It was funny, interesting, and the effects were great. I did feel like the story was a little bit obvious and it was pretty clear how things would turn out, but still very enjoyable. I started reading the first book as well and I am really liking that too.

I also started watching Weeds on DVD which Voldemort and his lovely wife got me for Christmas. I just finished the second season, and it’s genius. I still have 2 more seasons, plus the fifth came out recently as well. I can’t wait to see what’s going to happen, it’s always hilarious.

Just for giggles, here’s a cute pic I snapped of Nemo the other day. :)

On Sunday we headed to Casa de Vargo in lovely Sparta for a VII reunion. It was so much fun, and I’m so so happy that everyone was able to make it. Even Matt’s mom & sister came from Toledo, which was just great! It was really really fun to hang out with everyone. We finally got to meet Tony’s girl, Karin, and she is awesome. Thumbs up big time. Everyone seems to be doing really well, and we had a blast. Here’s my favorite pic of the guys. It’s blurry from all the action, but I think it’s a great representation of these dudes. Also, more pics from the party are here.

While at the VII reunion, I was talking to Shawn about the Gallagher’s Beer Society, which I joined recently. He is sort of like my beer mentor. He has completed the GBS beer list 3 times and is working on number 4. There is a plaque on the wall at Gallagher’s with his picture on it for crap’s sake. The dude is an expert! He told me that he usually goes on Monday night because the bottles are discounted, so I told him I’d like to go too. I met him there the following night, and he attempted to show me the ropes of the GBS. It was really nice to hang with him and chat. He is such a nice guy. I’m sincerely hoping that Mike & I can get together with him soon. Maybe this next Monday night since I have many many more beers to drink before I can complete my task.

On Tuesday, I had lunch with my mom, then met up with my girlfriend Laura and the 2 of us went out to meet the Zombie Prom Date Knitters for coffee & knitting. We had a great time! Those chicks are so much fun. After knitting I hooked back up with my mom and we went grocery shopping. When I got home from all that I made dinner and also rice krispie treats for Mike’s friends at work. It was kind of a busy day considering that I have no job (besides being awesome).

Also, I’ve got some newly finished projects I want to show off. First, a headband that I whipped up last night from some leftover sock yarn. I made one of these a long time ago, but my hair was short & I didn’t like the way it looked. Now that my hair is longer, Laura suggested that I make another because she thought it would look great now that my hair is longer. She was right, I really like it. Keeps my ears warm and looks cute. I will definitely make more of these in some different colors. Next, a green sock I finished, still working on it’s mate. Last, a crocheted afghan that I’ve been working on all winter. Made from scraps, and a gift for The George. I gave it to him this morning, and I think he digs it.

I think that’s all for now. Today I am staying home &  doing chores. Scrubbing toilets = not that awesome. But definitely needs to be done. Word.

Anyway, since I last posted pics, I’ve upgraded it a bit. I added a fabric book cover to hide the icky black pleather of the cover. I think it might be real leather even, but it’s all black, so eww….had to do something about that. I have also added a clear zipper pouch for all my fancy colored pens. I love colored inks, so I have all different colors going on in there. I also made new section dividers using these bright colored file folders I found at Target in the dollar section – 3 for $1!! I added some cute stickers and finally got a weekly claendar page figured out, so everything is working perfectly. Yay!! Here’s the pics:

You can click to see larger versions, and there are even more at my Flickr page.

The blue tab is for my “Create” section which houses all my crafty stuff – knitting patterns, notes, project ideas, sketches, etc. The little quote at the bottom says “Without freedom of choice, there is no creativity. Without creativity, there is no life.” Kirk, The Return of the Archons. I know, I’m a big dork. The purple tab is for the “Do” section – calendar, task lists, chores etc. Yes, that is a real live Fashion Plates sketch. I know, it’s completely awesome. I have 2 other sections as well – “Eat” for menu plans, grocery lists and coups, and “Think”, a miscellaneous section for quick notes and ideas. I can rearrange pages, dudes. I am pretty sue this could change my life and make me organized. Or it could just be a better way to keep track of my anal list compusion. Either way, it has been fun to make and fun to use so far. So yay for that.

I had dinner with Bill & Deb last night, and it was so great to see them and Owen. We had a yummy dinner, and Bill asked me why I was wasting time putting this notebook together when I could just download some kind of list app with my phone. I have looked for a good list app and have tried out some different ones. I am not a digital note taker, for some reason I just can’t make this work for me. I have tried doing tasks via Outlook, and I was super excited about Google Tasks, too. It just doesn’t doesn’t work for me. I like old school paper lists so much better for some reason. I like to cross things out, & I often make lists that reference other lists, which is why the idea of being able to reorganize the pages is so appealing to me. So that is why I don’t just download a list dealy.

On the way home from our fun dinner, the roads were super sucky, and we got stuck in a ditch! Bill’s crazy awesome driving skillz got us out with no pushing needed, but he couldn’t get the car all the way up mom & pops driveway so I had to hoof it to the top! It was kind of scary, but they made it home safe, so it was all good in the end.   And now the big blizzard is supposed to be rolling in this afternoon and tomorrow. Yikes! I hope I don’t get snowed in! I need to get home and see Mikey & my kittens!

I got another new cell phone last week. So far it seems to be working pretty well. I did lose all of my contacts again though, so if you haven’t heard from me in the last several days, text me and let me know who you are so I can save your number! It totally sucks picking up my phone to call or text someone and then realizing I don’t have their stupid number anymore!!

I was looking in a closet today and stumbled upon an old school set of Fashion Plates! Oh my goodness, do they take me back! I spent many an hour playing with them as a kid, and I was convinced that I wanted to be a fashion designer. I can’t remember if that was before or after my dreams of being a Solid Gold Dancer. Anyway, Mike’s mom told me I could have these! So awesome! I wish I had a scanner so I could show you the amazing outfit I made! I promise I’ll post it as soon as I get home. It will change the world.

I’m not sure if you are aware of this, but I have a real problem with lists and keeping things organized. I generally use notebooks, but my notebooks usually look like a wreck and have papers falling out of them and paper clips and sticky notes everywhere. I was looking through one of pops’ catalogs last night and stumbled across this genius notebook system, where the pages connect to these little discs, but you can also take the pages out and rearrange them as needed. They also carry a million different kinds of refill sheets (everything from lined paper to task lists to recipe cards) that are punched to fit on these little discs. And then there are dividers, pocket pages, fancy leather covers, and more. They had a starter set for $40, and I was totally ready to buy it, along with the special punch so you can add any kind of paper to your notebook, since the refills are a fortune. I was talking to pops, and he busted out this old binder style planner that he used to use about 15 years ago. It’s a 6 ring binder, but he also has the punch for it, and he gave me all of it. I am beyond excited!! I have made lists for all of the tabbed sections I will need (I told you I have a problem), including what types of pages I need for each section. I found a site online that offers free downloadable page templates for almost any standard size, and I am so excited to get my new fancy pants notebook system going! I have many plans and ideas which I have written down in my old ghetto notebook, and I just need to go out and get a few supplies like some colored papers, cardstock, etc to jazz it up.

Oh, and I finally saw New Moon on Friday night with Mike. I liked it much better than Twilight that’s for sure. I must say, seeing Jacob Black in the flesh in this movie made me seriously rething the whole Team Edward thing. First of all, he is WAY hotter then Edward (in the movies at least), and he is actually a really good actor. I think if Rob Pattinson was trapped in a paper bag and had no choice but to act his way out, he might end up starving to death in a paper bag, if you know what I’m saying. But then again, this particular book sort of painted Edward as a villain anyway. But I sure don’t remember Jacob seeming quite so appealing when I read the book. And I still can’t stand Kristen Stewart, and I think they sh0ould have picked someone else to be Bella. But I also think Bella is a total idiot, so maybe I wouldn’t like anyone playing her because I don’t even like the character. Who can say?

Well that’s it for me. It’s late and I am going to throw on some TNG and hope for sleep. I don’t have much hope since I’m alone without Mike and my kitties, but here goes.

I made a couple of batches of granola yesterday. I tried to use Splenda brown sugar and I wasn’t as happy with the results. Once this granola is gone, I will be going back to my regular brown sugar.

I did somethiong totally unprecendented today – I got up early and went to the gym. I know, I can’t believe it either. Even scarier still, I’m considering doing it EVERY DAY. Today I did 30 minutes in the pool. I’m thinking I’ll swim on Mon, Wed, & Fri, and hit the elliptical/treadmill/bike and also do weights on Tues & Thurs. So that’s my plan. It was actually awesome. I didn’t want to get up, but I did, and once I got in the pool I felt great! Plus, I feel great now, too. I think it will help me to stay on track if I get my exercising out of the way in the AM, so I’m really really shooting for that. Wish me luck!

I also got a call from the car chick this morning. Our new Scion has arrived! We can’t pick it up today because they won’t be done with all of our modifications until tomorrow, so we are picking it up tomorrow after work. So yay for that. I already bought a couple of cute things for MY new car (the Buick) – I got a butterfly magnet, and a new steering wheel cover that is brown suede with pink daisies embroidered on it. I’m actually really excited to be able to go places if I want to!! Like out to lunch or even just to the post office or the grocery store.

I think that’s it. Oh! We are leaving for the cruise 2 weeks from this Friday!! Holy Schnike it’s coming up quick. I need to start making my lists.