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!

On Sunday, we had the gang over for Crappy Movie Sunday of course. This week we never really got around to planning for a movie, so Clovis brought a stack of kung fu movis over with him. We chose a movie called Chocolate that turned out to be sad, depressing, gory, and also a little absurd. We all had a great time watching it, though. After the movie we had some snackies and beers, discussed the concept of shame and how it impacts our daily lives, then we played the telephone game. The telephone game is pretty much a guaranteed good time, and we all loved it.

Yesterdy, we had my family over for a Memorial Day BBQ. It was a totally sucky and rainy day, but Mike is a trooper and stood outside grilling while holding an umbrella the whole time. We had some delicious eats, and we all enjoyed chatting and hanging out together. I made a yummy strawberry shortcake, and then I kept the strawberry tops and made fresh strawberry juice, which was really really tasty. Anyway, despite the weather, it was a great day, and a great holiday weekend.

Quick knitting update: I finished a pair of socks the other day. I think the socks theselves turned out great, but man is it some ugly sock yarn. I bought it on clearance, and I knew it wasn’t my favorite color combination, but it’s even uglier than I anticipated. I call these Toxic Sock Syndrome.

As for the sock yarn binky, there hasn’t been much progres. It’s just large enough that I don’t want to work on it when it’s hot, so I haven’t done a whole lot with it recently.

Houseboating last weekend was awesome as always! I didn’t take many pics because the landscape really hasn’t changed, plus it was rainy and/or overcast for most of the trip this time. The weather has been better, but trust me, none of us cared. We made the best of it and still had a ball. Shawn & I finally decided that we are equals when it comes to drunken Scattergories. So the grudge match is finally over and we can all rest easy. Pics are over at my Flickr, and here’s a video that I LOVE. Casey & Mike are singing along with 90’s on 9 and it’s so great. You’ll love it. Click here: Just a Dream. NSFW because Mikey says a naughty at the end. I know, I’m disappointed, too. I would have loved to embed it BTW, but Flickr and Wordpress can’t seem to play nice. I am having some kind of ongoing issue with uploading stuff to Wordpress. Super frustrating! Grrrr.

The week went by super fast since we didn’t get home until late Monday night, then Mike had Tuesday off. That left me only 2 days to get all of my usual stuff done before Friday!! So I was pretty busy with chores & such. We had another busy weekend, too. Sunday we had the latest edition of Crappy Movie Sunday – the dance classic Breakin’. Our rehash will be on the CMS blog in a day or 2. After the movie we grilled some yummy ribs (that Clovis made) and some burgers. It was quite a fiesta! We had a full house and tons of yummy eats. After we ate, the whole gang, except for Mike & I, headed downstairs to watch the big Lost finale. I’m not caught up yet and Mike has no interest, so we went to the man cave and had a romantic date watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer. We’re about halfway through season 2 and it’s really starting to get good. As for Lost, I’m about 2/3 of the way through season 3. Man, is it a crazy and intense show.

My friend Dawn has convinced me that I need to sign up for Netflix so I can get all the sweet TV shows streaming. You know I love television, so it was pretty easy to sway me. As soon as I finish season 3 of Lost, I am going to sign up for the 2 week trial thingy and get rolling on season 4. I can’t wait to get a look at hat my options will be!! I’m really really excited about this.

I had a pedicure this morning with my girlfriend Heather. It was SO great to catch up with her because it had been forever. Plus, my toes look HAWT, I picked a dark magenta that is totally rocking.

I’m sitting here watching the huge fluffy snowflakes fall, and it is so beautiful. Too bad I have chores that need to be done.

I also managed to bowl decently (for me), considering that I hadn’t bowled at all since August. I scored 134, 123, and 106. I also tried a couple of new beers at the alley – Founders IPA and Founders Pale Ale. Both were really good, but the IPA was a little more bitter, and I enjoyed the pale ale a wee bit more. Woot!

Yesterday, I shovelled. It was kind of fun except that George is sort of like the Hitler of shovelling, and likes things done in a very precise and orderly way – “typewriter style” is what he called it. Well I am more of a Trishtastic Freestyle kind of shoveller, so I felt restricted and bored by the precisionality of the “typewriter”. I am an outside the box kind of gal. Anyway, I have tried to shovel lots of times this winter and usually Mike won’t let me help. But I showed him! I shovelled while he was at work so he couldn’t stop me. I am so BA. Behold, the Shovel Queen:

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!

They’ve opened both sides of the highway for Northbound traffic so that people can get out faster, but it’s still moving at a crawl. Worse yet, there is no gas to be found in the city. Every gas station bears a sign that reads “No Gas”. They have 3/4 of a tank of gas in their car, but how far can they get with it when traffic is barely moving?

Luckily, my dad works nights at the airport, and his boss told him that he should bring his family, as much food and water as they can, and plan to hole up there until the storm passes. They are leaving to go to the airport sometime tomorrow, but right now, they are terrified. They are packing up all the important papers, photos, hard drives, and assuming the worst – that they won’t have a home to come back to. Especially since it’s a trailer.

I am confident that they will be ok at the airport, but they may lose their home and everything they own. I’m still hoping that Rita might turn a little more North before coming on land, because every little bit North takes her further from Houston. That makes me feel like a horrible person, though, because then there will just be so many other people’s family’s in her path. This just really sucks, you know?