Week 21: Farewell to My Fabulous Fifties: Toronto Edition

OK, you got me. Toronto wasn’t part of my original bucket list. But since we’ve traveled to this lovely city of international culture and beauty, I thought it would only be responsible of me to share our adventures. So here it goes.

First of all we were in the city because my husband, as a high volume user and faculty member for Invisalign, was invited to lecture here. We arrived a day early so we could explore a little. We checked into a lovely corner junior suite at the Marriott Delta. It had big windows on two sides overlooking the city. It was also unique in that the bathroom had a floor to ceiling window that looked out at the foot of the CN Tower. Of course, there was a shade to pull for privacy but it made quite an impression when we first walked in.

Very comfortable room with windows looking out over the city on two sides!

Taken at a bit of an angle, but that is the top of Ripley’s Aquarium and the tall gray column on the right is the base of the CN tower, had I taken the photo a bit more centered you would see more of the tower.

We had plans to head up to the top of the CN tower, but the day was rainy and overcast and there would have been very little to see. Instead we decided to check out the Ripley Aquarium of Canada. It doesn’t appear to be very big from the outside and at a ticket price of $39 per person, I was thinking we might be disappointed. However, because it has lower levels, it actually is a pretty extensive aquarium. It did a lot to educate visitors on the need to be mindful of our wasteful ways to preserve the integrity of our natural resources for generations to come. Mike and I both enjoyed it and spent a few leisurely hours strolling through the exhibits. There were two high points, one was a scuba diver that could be observed feeding stingrays while a narrator discussed these animals. Surprisingly, the diver was also equipped with a headset that allowed her to join in the conversation. The other cool part was a very long tunnel made of glass going through the exhibits, including the predators of the deep. I have been in others like it, but this one was by far the best. It was very long and it actually appeared the fish were flying over our heads, like something from a surrealist painting. It was pretty cool. If you are thinking of a visit, tickets can be bought online and even purchased as a combo with a ticket to the CN Tower.

The following day, Mike started his day bright and early and while he was lecturing, I headed out to explore the city. Somehow, my internal radar brought me directly to a mall, just a short .75 miles away. Hmmm, go figure. Eaton Center Mall had some great stores, Nordstrom’s, Saks Fifth Avenue, Kate Spade, Ann Taylor and even Old Navy. I spent some time strolling around, and following lunch at the Nordstrom’s Bistro, headed back to the hotel, logging plenty of steps and seeing much of downtown along the way. I felt perfectly safe strolling the city by myself. I made it back in time to read a little and then dress for dinner. We were having dinner at Aria with the attendees of the conference, along with the other speakers and Invisalign representatives. We met some lovely Canadian orthodontists and as a bonus, Paul, a Toronto rep (and very nice guy) gave us some awesome suggestions for restaurants to try and areas to visit. Aria, our restaurant for the evening, was also very good. Great appetizers, great dinner, great conversation and a lovely way to end the evening.

Saturday, Mike was up early again, but the lectures were confined to the morning and he was free for lunch and the remainder of the afternoon. We ended up heading to the Distillery District at the recommendations of Paul, enjoying lunch at Mill Street Distillery. I had some yummy crab cakes and Mike ordered a chicken pot pie and an unusual orange flavored beer whose name escapes me. Then we did some shopping and strolled through a few of the many art galleries before heading over to Balzac’s for coffee.

Distillery district. We saw several wedding parties taking photos while we were there. It was a visually rich environment!

Mill Street Brewery, cool vibe, good food and drinks!

Lots of art galleries and unique installations that made it a popular spot for instagrammers and photographers alike.

Funky coffee shop. We sat upstairs on the balcony and enjoyed a leisurely latte.

After our Distillery area adventures we headed out to dinner via Uber to Patria. Patria was a small plates Tappas restaurant, tucked away just a little off the street, again recommended by Paul. It was amazing, though I didn’t navigate the menu as expertly as I’d hoped. In my defense, it wasn’t in English and I ordered two dishes that both basically ended up being fried cheese. One was porcini mushroom with manchego and the other, goat cheese and figs. Delicious! Mike ordered three things, spicy meatballs, a savory shrimp, and bacon wrapped dates. All were yummy. I also tried a new white wine Torres Viña Esmeralda, Cataluyna. Just as an aside, my favorite wine, if you followed that particular post, was a Michigan wine called Shady Lane made with Moscat grapes. However, as it was from a small vineyard, it was produced in small batches and it is no longer available. I would say this wine is another winner. It is a well-balanced Spanish wine, and it looks like it is available on the open market at a price point in the neighborhood $15 dollars a bottle (which is one of my favorite neighborhoods!) Though at the restaurant it was $13 a glass, very typical of the general mark-up on wines at restaurants, I suppose. This meal didn’t do much for my weight loss attempt and it was difficult to quantify what was exactly in it to determine calories. Whatever it was, it was worth every bite! Not to make excuses, but we had a lot to celebrate. Mike did a great job with his speaking engagement and they suggested at a future point they’d love him to come to Vancouver to lecture. We’d love to see that part of the Canada so I hope it comes to fruition. We were also celebrating getting a closing date on our Florida house! Very exciting!

Go through the archway and head towards the back, following a lantern path to the restaurant.

Patria, I wish I had taken a photo inside, it had a cool and romantic vibe. For Mike’s cocktail, my glass of wine and our 5 small plates the bill came to $135 Canadian. It’s definitely a nice place to celebrate a special occasion!

Sunday was the warmest of the weather we encountered, edging up to the low 60’s, most of the time the weather had been in the 50’s and overcast. We headed out to Lady Marmalade, a little restaurant that was recommended as a brunch spot for locals. It was about 3 miles from our hotel, a short Uber ride away. It was a rather small place, very narrow, just one table wide, but two floors. Very unassuming from the outside. The line was up the stairs by the time we arrived at 9am. It moved quickly though and it was worth the wait. Interestingly enough, they only prepared eggs two ways, scrambled or poached. I tried poached, never having had eggs prepared that way before and they were quite good. Mike had a waffle with fresh fruit that looked luscious. The serving size was adequate and the service was very good.

Very unassuming exterior, danish modern interior with lots of light wood. Great menu, great find.

After breakfast, because the restaurant was bordering on Chintatown, we decided to do a little exploring. There were a lot of fresh fruit, flower and vegetable open air stands. We walked almost all the way back to the hotel.

After checking out at 12 noon we headed to the CN tower, which held the title of the tallest free-standing structure in the world for 32 years, until 2007. We were able to pre-purchase tickets through our concierge to avoid the line, which ended up being a smart decision. They offered discount coupons as well, which would have saved 15% if you didn’t mind having to stand in line for your ticket, but because we were pressed for time, we opted to pre-purchase tickets through our hotel to expedite things. We purchased the ticket that takes you all the way up to the top, all 1,465 feet. There is another less expensive option that allows you to go up fairly high, about 1,135 feet. This area is the one with the glass floor. I was surprised to see an option for adventure seekers, you could walk out on the out ledge on the 2nd highest level, 1, 135 feet above the ground. You’re hooked to a rail with a carabiner and walk around the ledge before leaning over dangling from the edge. We were able to observe this from above. I wish we had more time, I might have tried it. One of the people doing it was celebrating her 60th birthday! Mike assured me this is NOT what he wants for his upcoming birthday. Me, on the other hand, if we are ever back in Toronto, I’d love to try this! We had planned to stroll around near the hotel, but it had started raining so we decided to head to the airport early instead. We took an Uber which cost about $40 from our hotel. We had planned to go to the Delta Sky lounge but unfortunately it wasn’t located in our terminal. Again, a big THANK YOU to Paul for hitting it out of the park on every recommendation.

In other bucket list items, I managed to read a few more books. I am currently on book #59. I read “Crazy Cock” a book by Henry Miller given to me by a friend, which was unremarkable and in fact the language was clumsy at times, but what distinguishes it is that it characterizes the process of a writer finding his voice. Henry Miller was a censored author in the sixties, his work was ultimately vindicated and subsequently allowed to be printed in the United States. This book apparently is supposed to epitomize his early writing. I want to read “Tropic Of Capricorn” which is written in what ultimately came to be known as his “voice” and compare it to this early work. I also read “The Lost Girls of Paris” while in Toronto, an excellent read. I am currently reading “Sold on Monday,” by the author of “The Orphan Train.” I hope this book is just as good!

Excellent work of historical fiction based on factual happenings during World War II.

In other items, I have done one more Nordictrack workout before we left for Toronto, an interval workout around Lake Bled, Slovenia. I am still deciding on the next series of workouts I want to try. Yoga work outs continue at home, along with meditation and visualization. French class continues as does my uninterrupted Duolingo streak.

This is where I will leave it for now. I am writing this sitting at the Toronto airport waiting for our flight to board. Looking forward to landing back in Michigan and getting back into my normal routine and the opportunity to chip away at a few more items on my list. But of course, I am ever hopeful another adventure awaits us all just around the bend.

Week 20: Farewell to My Fabulous Fifties: The High Ropes Edition

Week twenty already? Time has been flying! It’s been a busy and productive week. So I’m going to dig right in. Let’s start with bucket-list item #4- modernizing our house. This week we had our contractor extraordinaire, Tony, back to work some magic in our laundry room. I apologize that I neglected to get a before picture. I am literally kicking myself (OUCH*&%!) It is still a work in progress but I’ll just have to describe what we’ve changed so far. We had navy blue countertops which were scratched and also had needless holes drilled from ancient appliances no longer in use. We had matching navy porcelain knobs on the cabinets and a black and cream patterned rug on the floor. The laundry tub was cream-colored plastic with a few stains and the faucet that went to it was leaking. The lazy Susan in the corner was broken and that is what kicked off the whole project because the counter top needed to come off to do the repair. So, for you moms and dads out there, it was a “If You Give a Mouse a Cookie” situation. I still need to strip the wallpaper border at the top and I’m changing the paint color to Platinum by Behr (Marquee One-Coat) and ridding the top of the cabinet from all of the knick-knacks and dust-catchers. We need to repair the dryer vent anyway, so we’ll have to pull out the washer and dryer and when we do, I will start painting. I also changed out the artwork and added a drying bar across the top of the sink area. I kept the longer drying bar that hangs over the floor drain. Since pictures speak louder than words, I will post a photo showing where we are in the project. I promise to post a photo of the completed project later, though it probably won’t look too different.

This is a work in progress. The cabinet top is by Wilsonart Hi-Def in Trinidad Lapidus with a Mirage finish. Notice the knobs are still the navy. On the plus side, they match the washer and dryer, but on the minus side, several were chipped.

Waiting for paint and to remove the knick-knacks from on top of the cabinets. The knobs have been changed out and the sink and faucet replaced.

You can see the old wallpaper border which I will be removing and we will most likely be removing the devices with wires hanging down as well.

I am keeping my hide-away ironing board on the wall. I like being able to do a quick pressing out of the dryer if it is needed. We have one in our master closet as well, highly recommend.

On to this month’s recipe. It comes from Noom, the app I’ve been using to deal with item # 7, lose ten pounds. I’m four pounds down so far. It’s been a slow go but a pleasant one. I will write more on the App at a later date, once I’m further along in the process. Anyway, we’ve tried three different recipes from the App and they’ve all been delicious. Here is the recipe for Lemon Oregano Chicken. Easy and delicious, my two favorite things in a recipe.

Lemon Oregano Chicken

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

2 TBSP lemon juice

1 TBSP butter or trans-free margarine, melted

.75 tsp dried oregano

.5 tsp lemon pepper seasonng

.125 tsp salt

2 tsp finely chopped parsley or chives

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Coat a small baking dish with cooking spray. Place the chicken in a single layering the dish. Pour the lemon juice and butter or margarine over the chicken. Sprinkle with the oregano, lemon pepper and salt.

Bake for about 15 minutes or until a thermometer inserted in the thickest portion registers 160 degrees F and the juices run clear.

Served drizzled with the pan juices. Sprinkle with the parsley or chives.

202 calories per serving/serves 2

Easy peasy and super delicious. My husband Mike loved it too!

That checked off #23 trying a new recipe at least 1-2x a month and # 40 use my herb garden in cooking. I used chives over the chicken and used parsley to fancy up our plates. This may be the last hurrah for that.

Served with broccoli and a bowl of Italian Wedding Soup. YUM!

Treerunner Adventure Park – high ropes course

On Saturday we set out to tackle the high ropes course again at Treerunners in West Bloomfield. Though rain appeared to threaten again, it held off and we were able to complete our adventure. The assembled team included myself, my husband Mike, daughters Jenna and Samantha as well as Jenna’s husband Kristianth. The last time we were there, as you may or may not remember, we were interrupted by a thunderstorm and were issued a raincheck. So after undergoing the mandatory refresher, we headed out to exactly where we had been when they closed down last time, the second hardest course, the black diamond. We were lucky that there was no one ahead of us so we didn’t have to wait. The black diamond WAS difficult. It required not only balance but really great upper arm strength. At this point, I should tell you that my daughters are in great shape, they are both professional NFL cheerleaders who work out daily and have awesome upper body strength. My husband works out regularly and Kristianth is no slouch either. I, on the other hand, have a bad left shoulder that gives me trouble every once in a while. I’m sure you see where this is going. At any rate, the black diamond and double black diamonds are also the highest. I have to give my husband and daughter, Sammi brownie points because they both are afraid of heights so this added a layer of difficulty for them. About 1/2 way through the course, after balancing on swinging logs which also turn on the wire (what sadist designed this course?) and making my way across using basically your upper body and a great deal of balance, I gave myself a big pat on the back only to come upon what would become my nemesis, some wooden triangles about 2 feet apart or so, suspended from a wire, or as I’ve come to refer to them, the triangles of death. I immediately became entangled and trapped with my own carabiner, enough so that a staff member hollered up, “Hey, you up there. Just go back. You are doing it wrong.” Ok, thanks for that park-wide announcement. Let me just slink back to the platform. I thought, “Nope, I’m going to do this.” So…back at the platform…, after a discussion with my daughter, I decided to tackle it a little differently. I used my trolley to zipline through the wooden triangles. Well, it was a good plan except for one thing. It really wasn’t designed for a zipline so there are no pads around the wooden post awaiting you at the other end. This would have been a good time for someone to tell me about using your glove on the wire to slow yourself down. Alas, no one had. So after being shot into the wooden post like a pile driver, I decided that there’s not much worse that could happen to me. I was wrong.

Unsuccessfully navigating the triangles of death.

Kristianth doing a stellar job of not falling.

My daughter Jenna, part monkey, part feminist, part dare-devil. That’s a lot of parts.

Samantha manages to make it look easy. It wasn’t. *The logs swing while you are moving on them.*

My husband. You basically monkey bar across. This one is all upper body. There is no rope to balance on. Kudos to Mike. This was one of the most challenging ones.

You had to go around the wooden posts on the wire, which made it a bit challenging. There was another one where you had to unclip and re-clip your carabiner several times to advance, while balancing on a single wire. It required even more concentration.

Once we completed the black diamond course, my high achieving family said, “Come on, let’s do the double black diamond. It’ll be fun,” they said. “You’ll like it, Mom.” Well they were half right. I liked the first half, which relied mostly on balance. When we got to the second half, which required what I consider to be an abnormal amount of upper body strength I called bull**** and tapped out. They told us in orientation, if you get stuck or want down just call “STAFF” and someone will be right over. It took all 3 of us calling for a good hour (ok, it was 5 minutes, but it SEEMED like an hour) to get the attention of a staff member who zipped on over and let Sammi, Kristianth and myself down. Mike and Jenna continued on, lunatics that they are. Even though I may be making this sound like NOT A LOT OF FUN, it actually was. From having my son-in-law ask me if I’d seen the movie “Tangled” and making me laugh while I was suspended among the tangle of triangles 50 feet about the ground (hereto referred to as “The Triangle Incident”) to cheering each other on and giving each other tips, it really WAS A LOT OF FUN! I am proud of myself and would definitely do it again, but maybe I’d start by going down a level to the blue level and just do the single black diamond next time.

Kristianth was behind me most of the way, which added a level of difficulty for me because he was constantly cracking jokes while my life is literally hanging from a wire. Funny guy, timing could be better.

After we finished the course, we headed out to grab dinner. I had done a little reconnaissance as I am watching my diet right now, determined to lose those 10 pounds menopause has so heartlessly deposited. I pre-selected Stage Deli in West Bloomfield on Orchard Lake Road for dinner. We all were all delighted with our meals. The atmosphere is upscale for a deli and the food didn’t disappoint. I was delighted to find they offered a Diet Cabbage Soup, so I ordered that to start, followed by a Monterey Salad, which had chicken, lettuce, bleu cheese, avocado, corn, crumbled tortilla chips and green onion, tomato and honey lime vinaigrette. Jenna ordered an omelette, Sammi asked for plain grilled chicken and asparagus, which wasn’t on the menu, but they happily made it for her and Mike and Kristianth had Reubens. The service was great and we all agreed we would come back if the opportunity presents. So that is my #11, try a new to us restaurant each month.

Since I had so much to share this week, I’ll keep the remaining wrap up short. I have completed the Costa Rica series on the Nordictrack and have done 40 workouts of my 50 workout goal so far. I finished reading The Testaments and am deciding on my next book. I enjoyed this sequel to The Handsmaids Tale and would recommend it for any readers out there. Duolingo and French class continue. I’ve selected a few more things for the Florida house and am essentially done with interior furniture. We still have outdoor furniture to select.

My husband is speaking in Toronto, so I’ll be tagging along. I hope to have a few pictures to share with you from that lovely city next week. Until then, may all your adventures require both feet on the ground!

Week 19: Farewell to My Fabulous Fifties -Florida House Edition

We just got in at 1 a.m. this morning from a whirlwind three day weekend in Florida. It’s been productive as we’ve jammed ten days worth of decision making into three days! But oh what fun! Our first stop right off of the plane on Friday was to our pool design center at Superior Pools to make selections for the pool tile and gunite color. Mike had one stipulation, he really didn’t want iridescent tile. There were a lot of cool options but ultimately we selected a lovely blue-gray tile around the edge with a glass tile as an accent on the hot tub area. The floor pavers of the lanai are a pale gray laid in a pattern called Mariposa. The pool however, can not be started until we close on the house which is looking like it may be close to the end of October! Once the title is in our name, they have 120 days to complete the work. I’m hoping they knock it out in even less time.

Once pool colors were selected, it was on to our friends’ home to meet with Dave and Kim. We dropped off our things then headed over to our house. It is making great progress! The pavers are in for the driveway. The cabinets and counter tops are in and even the tub in the master bath. Our house is built by Lennar and is a smart home, meaning it has built-in technology features, such as connected thermostats, lighting, and doorbell cameras, that can be controlled through your phone. Mike had arranged for a Best Buy Geek Squad specialist to come out and give an evaluation with recommendations for the best surround sound products to use given the limitations of our open floor plan. And while the geeks conducted their assessment (and by geeks, I mean Mike and Dave along with the Best Buy Specialist) I conducted an assessment of my own, trying to imagine what kind of decor I might like in each room and what sort of architectural enhancements, such as crown molding or wainscoting, might look best in each space.

Driveway is in, windows and doors are in. Awaiting split rock trim in large window area and accenting the garage a bit.

Side view of the kitchen with the pantry.

Saturday we went to the model houses in our subdivision to get some decorating ideas. Then on to the Miramar Design Center to have a look around. Dave and Kim came along which was awesome because four sets of eyes are better than two and their experience in having done this before is invaluable! Then on to Baer’s Furniture for our 1 o’clock appointment. This was SOOO fun. I don’t know about you but how many times in your life do you get to decorate a whole house at the same time? My designer, Janet, was so knowledgeable. She had tons of experience decorating model homes and helping snowbirds get their places furnished. They also have a turn key service where they receive delivery and set up your furniture so when you arrive, the furniture is already in place! I’ll share just a few fabric selections and two of the furniture pieces I’ve selected. We’re calling my style Vintage Coastal. To be honest, I’m not really sure if that’s a thing, but I love what I picked! I’m just going to give you a little tease with furniture and textiles. I promise to show the whole thing when my project is complete!

Coffee table for the living room: Lexington’s Oyster Bay line with a brushed stainless steel top and nail head trim.

Some of the fabric selections. I am going with a very neutral color palate with just pops of color brought in through artwork and pillows and possibly curtain detail. I want the space to feel restful and vacation-like.

Nail head trim in antique nickel and the gray stained wood trim for an upholstered chair.

One highlight of the trip was being able to visit with Mike’s mom, who lives not too far away. We showed her the house and took her out to lunch at the Barefoot Bar and Grill which is the on-site restaurant. So that wraps up # 16 for this week. There’s still plenty more to get done there and I will keep you all posted.

Mike and his mom at the Amenities center of our community.

Now for a little housekeeping. A big thank you once again to Kelley for her suggestions for using herbs. So far, I’ve tried infusing white wine vinegar with rosemary. It’s a little young yet but I’m looking forward to trying it on my salads. In reading, I am on book 56 of my 50 book goal. I think I am going to try for 65 books instead 50. I finished “City of Girls” by Elizabeth Gilbert (author of Eat, Pray, Love). I enjoyed it tremendously! Now I am a few hundred pages in to “The Testaments,” Margaret Atwood’s long awaited sequel to The Handmaids Tale. So far, so good! French class and Duolingo streak continues, Nordictrack workout #38 is in the hopper, with only 2 more workouts left in the Costa Rica walking series. I’ll have to start looking for a new “destination!” In item #4, finish modernizing our home, Tony dropped off some counter top selections today to replace the laundry room counter which is scratched and ready for a refresh. While he’s at it, he is replacing the laundry tub and faucet which has a bit of a leak. The counter top has to come off anyway because the lazy Susan is completely broken and needs to be replaced and the only way to do it is to remove the counter top. You know how it is, one project always seems to lead to another. Hopefully it will be underway sometime this week. I managed to stick with Noom for item #7, lose 10 pounds. It’s been 9 days and I’m down 2.8 pounds. 7.2 pounds to go! It’s dropping a little slower than I’d like, but those scale numbers are going down so I am not complaining. I like the Noom App and will probably continue it beyond the two week trial period.

So, that’s it for now. So many projects, so little time. Hope all you undertake this week is a great success!

Since this photo, I trimmed some more of the stems to keep them below the level of the vinegar.

Week 18: Farewell to My Fabulous Fifties – Progress Report Edition

I can’t believe I’m a little more than one third of the way done with this journey! With summer almost in the rear-view mirror, I thought this might be a good time to take stock of where I am on the bucket-list and dive in to what remains to be accomplished! Everything that’s been highlighted has been completed. If it has an asterisk by it, it has been started but is something that is ongoing.

So I’ve completed twenty-two items on the list so far, and an additional fourteen items are ongoing. Many of the remaining items left to be done were intentionally saved as an indoor activity for cooler weather, such as organizing photos, cleaning the utility room, or baking bread for instance. I am very happy with my progress, though sad to report that #42, use the jet ski more, has probably reached it’s expiration date. The best I can hope for there is a fun day on the jet ski during summer’s last gasp or maybe early May if we get lucky with the weather and we are organized enough to have the jet ski back in the water. We’ve been traveling a lot this summer so we’ve actually not had as much time on the lake in general. There’s always next summer!

Tropical Bae : Molokai Coconut Bai with Pineapple Vodka

New items for the week included creating a cocktail for myself. I actually didn’t use Disaronno, as I had mentioned earlier. I’m tempted to create a new cocktail for each season though, so perhaps fall will bring something based with Disaronno. I am calling this cocktail Tropical Bae. It is super simple and very tasty. I simply combined Bai Molokai Coconut Antioxidant drink with New Amsterdam Pineapple Vodka. It was the perfect summer drink! Bai only has 5 calories a serving, so it’s a little easier on your waistline than some of the sweet and fruity cocktails and oh so very yummy! What the heck, I may even drink this in winter when I am yearning for summer weather, cue up the Jimmy Buffet.

I am continuing with Nordictrack, French Class, Duolingo, meditation, visualization and weekly yoga, though the search for a class continues. I have started working on # 7, lose ten pounds. I am using the Noom App and so far so good. It’s only day #4, so I will keep you all posted and give you more information on it if I continue with it after my two week trial. I hesitated to start because we still have a few trips ahead of us, but there is never a perfect time to start so why not start now! I also want to mention a fun read I just finished by Sophie Kinsella, “My Not So Perfect Life.” It was a funny and engaging read, just as we’ve come to expect from this author. I am currently reading “We Were The Lucky Ones,” a novel relating the experiences of a a Jewish family separated at the beginning of WWII, based on a true story. A much different book, but historical fiction is my jam so, despite the tough subject matter, I am enjoying it.

I am also excited that my husband and I will be heading down to Florida to check on the status of the house we are building. I hope to start working on #16, decorate our Florida house, while we are down there. Well, at least I’ll be taking measurements and doing some furniture shopping. We should be able to get a handle on closing dates soon. We are so thankful to our dear friends, Dave and Kim, who have helped us every step of the way. We are beyond grateful and are looking forward to being Florida neighbors!

In other items, I’ve started cleaning out our storage areas. I’ve taken photos of some furniture that we’ve been holding on to, and put it up on Facebook Marketplace. I have used this before with great success, though so far, it’s been two days and no bites. I am also going through my daughter’s closets to see what they’ve left behind and what they still want to hang on to so I can clear out some space. There’s still quite a bit to do. So far, two big bags are headed for the Salvation Army. The storage room will be next up.

I have to thank my friend Kelley for reaching out with suggestions on ways to use my herbs. She suggested making herb butter by mixing softened butter with chopped herbs ( any combination) then place either in ice cube trays or make into small balls and freeze. Once frozen transfer to a ziplock or freezer safe container. You can use it to added richness to sauces or place on top of cooked steak/ fish/ potatoes/ pasta. It makes a great finish. She also suggested making an herb vinegar. Start by getting a pretty bottle with a stopper, one that can fit in your fridge. Fill the bottle with herbs. Keep them whole and on stem as they are easier to remove and look beautiful. Then fill the bottle with white vinegar. Let it sit in your refrigerator for at least week. Use on salads or warm greens. You can keep topping off the bottle with additional vinegar to keep this going for months. Note: herbs must be fully covered by vinegar or they will start to mold. As long as you are using smaller amounts it is easy to top off and still keep the great herb infusion. These are awesome ideas. I will try to post photos if I am able to make either of these. As you can see from my photos below, one pot is thriving but the second pot with the basil plant appears to be on it’s last legs. The stems have become woody which can make the leaves bitter. They aren’t yet, but I fear they soon will be. I will need to get to harvesting right away. Thanks to Kelley for these awesome ideas!

Mint, Cilantro and chives still looking good.

The basil stalks have gotten a bit woody as the plant bloomed during out last trip. I need to harvest the basil before it’s too bitter.

I am so grateful to everyone that has followed along for any or all of this journey, and especially to those that have reached out to me with ideas or simply words of encouragement. This blog started as a means of accountability for myself and I have to say it has added so much fun and adventure to the inevitability of becoming sixty. As John Barrymore said, “A man is not old until regrets take the place of dreams.” I intend to keep on dreaming and I hope you do too. Until next week.

Week 17: Farewell to My Fabulous Fifties – The High-Ropes Course and Williamsburg Edition

Good morning! I’ve got a few more things checked off of the bucket-list this week and I am excited to share them. First, we did the high-ropes course at Treerunners in West Bloomfield, Michigan. Well, sort of. After being all suited up, getting our orientation and doing a medium level course, we were lined up for a double diamond course (the highest level of difficulty, much like the hill designations for skiing). We were then told the course would be closing due to thunder. Because we were only an hour or so in to our visit, they issued us all rain-checks and we will be returning at the end of September to fully experience it. So this week’s post will be part 1 of our experience.

Registration is online but you check in here!

Treerunner Adventure Park was a little difficult to locate initially. It is just off the parking lot of the Jewish Community Center. It had something for everyone, from kids above 3 to grown kids like myself. I went with my 23 year old daughter Samantha, my 26 year old daughter, Jenna, her husband Kristianth and my husband, Mike. After receiving an orientation you proceed out on your own. It’s very safe as you are always secured with a carabiner to a line, much like belaying in rock climbing. There are a variety of different level courses to choose from and there are staff members floating around should anyone require assistance. I think it is fair to say, despite being there for only an hour, it exceeded everyone’s expectations. We are looking forward to part 2 of our adventure and I will definitely be sharing a bit more in-depth about the experience afterwards. If this is something you would like to do, here is a coupon code to get $5 off your visit: TRWRC18. It is not combinable with any other coupons or discounts. Reservations are required. It can be booked online and here is the link. https://www.treerunnerwestbloomfield.com

You can see a few of the lower courses here.

We headed to lunch after our rain-out and were treated to a double rainbow!

Last Thursday, I headed off to Williamsburg, Virginia with my mom. So here’s the back story: For her birthday this year, we let her pick anywhere in the continental US or the Caribbean for a trip. As my dad isn’t a big traveler, my mom’s adventures have been mostly limited to those she takes with her kids so this was to be a girls trip with yours truly. Initially I was thinking maybe mom would pick the Caribbean, but after hurricane Dorian, I ended up extremely grateful that she didn’t. Williamsburg contains the historic triangle comprised of Williamsburg, Jamestown and Yorktown. This was right up our alley as we are both history buffs! We stayed at the Williamsburg Inn which was a beautiful splurge and one I highly recommend, especially for a trip without kids. It is a beautiful 62 guest room/suite hotel in a Colonial Revival style, elegantly appointed in 19th century Regency decor. The design and construction were overseen by John D. Rockefeller in 1937 and it has served guests such as Queen Elizabeth, Prince Charles, Winston Churchill and Ronald Reagan, among other notable dignitaries. Our room overlooked the fountain and golf course. One of the little luxuries is a turn down service, complete with chocolates and Disaronno liqueur each night. We felt totally spoiled! Hey, I could get used to this. If you remember, # 14 on my list is to create my own signature cocktail. I am planning on using this lovely liqueur as a base! The other wonderful thing about this hotel is that it is located in historic Williamsburg and an easy walk to most of the things you might like to do there. The whole of the street is about a mile, so not too demanding an undertaking.

This is our hotel from the back. Our room is the middle three windows on the second floor in the curved section. Our view was this terrace with the fountain and the golf course. In nicer weather the patio is open for dining. It was open the Saturday evening of our stay.

Mom with her birthday present from the hotel. Delicious gourmet chocolates which she was kind enough to share!

Evening turn down included two chocolates (one milk, one dark) and my new favorite liqueur!

As far as dining, the hotel also offers several dining options. We dined in the Terrace Room for breakfast and we also enjoyed the Rockefeller room for our last evening meal. The service was great and the food was amazing.

Thursday, our first day, we explored Williamsburg. I had gotten a package that included most of the things to see and do in Williamsburg. Rather than give a day by day play by play, I’m going to give a quick overview of our visit.

There was a lot to see in Williamsburg. We dined at Kings Arms Tavern one day for lunch for an authentic colonial experience. I enjoyed peanut soup, a dish I’d never had, which was amazing. Our servers were all dressed in colonial garb. As a matter of fact, while strolling through historical Williamsburg, all of the workers were in period costume. Historic Williamsburg is a little like Greenfield village here in Michigan. There are cobblers, weavers and coopers at work on authentic equipment. As you pass various employees in full garb, they may tip their hat and say, “Good day to you!” We saw the Art Museum and went into the Governor’s Palace. The entrance hall looked more like an armory! I am sure the town was well-convinced of the Governor’s ability to defend their city. We also toured Basset house with a knowledgeable docent. This was the personal home to John D. Rockefeller and his wife Abbey during the time they were building the Williamsburg Inn and helping restore Colonial Williamsburg. It is an 18th century farmhouse with 586 acres of lawn and garden. It has been lovingly restored to the 1930’s, the era that Mr. Rockefeller and his wife lived here.

Peanut soup, rich and delicious! I need the recipe!

Lesson in Flexibility. You can make a plan, but Mother Nature may have other ideas!

Day two, we decided to do all of the indoor museums as we were under a tropical Storm watch due to the remnants of hurricane Dorian. It sounds far worse than it actually was. We ran between a few raindrops, nothing a raincoat and umbrella couldn’t handle. And bonus for us, the museum was practically empty and we had the place to ourselves. We hit the American Revolution Museum first in Yorktown. We were even given a raincheck to return to see the grounds so that is what we did on the following day. The grounds included a re-creation of a soldier encampment as well as a revolutionary era farm. My mom grew up in the south, so this actually brought back some early memories of her grandparent’s farm. It was priceless to be able to share these moments and memories with her. We also visited Jamestown Settlement. By the afternoon Jamestown opened the outdoors and we were able to see the grounds which held an authentic Powhatan Indian village, a fort and two ships. We were unable to go on the ships due to unsafe water levels making boarding difficult on that particular day. We enjoyed every part of our trip, even the road to Yorktown. Colonial Parkway was a beautiful drive, reminding me a little of Upper Michigan’s tunnel of trees, only with scenic overpasses.

Beautiful scenic drive along Colonial Parkway.

We learned how meals were made for revolutionary armies. Each group of 6 men had a bucket with a stew type food in it. *This group of men was called a mess, go figure.* There were separate fires built for each mess. They were responsible to keep the fire going and for making their own food. The fire pits were dug in a trench below ground level, like the one above, to be unaffected by wind.

Fun Fact: The Governor’s Palace at one time was home to both Thomas Jefferson and Patrick Henry.

Mom and I on the grounds of the Governor’s Palace.

Mom with George Washington in front of the Revolutionary Museum at Yorktown.

While Williamsburg wasn’t exactly on my bucket-list, what WAS on my bucket list at #41 was “Try Something new I’ve never done before.” And in that spirit, mom and I decided to do an evening ghost tour. I bought tickets for Haunted Williamsburg on our last evening. We planned an early dinner so we could make it to the Playhouse Stage where our 8:30 pm tour began. Our tour guide was named Iris and she was amazing. We talked with her a bit and found out she was a dramatic literature major in college. (who knew that was a thing?). Well, she certainly put her degree to good use! There are other ghost tours in Williamsburg but this one was recommended by our hotel and is the only one that brings you inside of buildings for the story telling. We stopped by Wythe house which is supposedly haunted by a woman in a blue dress who has lost a shoe(?). We also went to the Governor’s Palace as well as Randoph House which is supposedly haunted by a child. Most, but not all, of the stories involve employees who encounter things when they are alone in the houses. As I am a skeptic, I wasn’t convinced. Iris said she used to be a skeptic too and worried she wouldn’t make a good ghost guide. Her colleagues said to wait long enough and she would have an encounter of some sort. She did, she heard a baby crying in one of the empty historic homes. (twice). Iris was a great guide, and despite not leaving as a believer, I enjoyed myself tremendously. My mom was on the fence about ghosts before taking the tour, where I believe she still remains. While I don’t believe in ghosts, I do believe in signs from our loved ones that have passed on. But that, is an entirely different story.

This plaza in front of Jamestown Settlement has flags from all of our states with pertinent information.

Michigan’s plaque at the Centennial Plaza. I would like my family to note it was explored and settled by the FRENCH!

If you are thinking about going to Williamsburg, I would do it! It makes history come alive, though perhaps for smaller kids, some of the museums may not hold their attention. I have to mention another option for staying in Williamsburg which sounded intriguing, you can stay in one of the colonial era homes. That sounds like it might be nice for families with children. I was very delighted with our stay at the Williamsburg Inn. It would be a great place to go for an anniversary or special occasion. Make sure you tell them if you are celebrating something! They gave my mom a lovely little box of chocolates and a welcome gift of a small porcelain box on check-in. Our visit ended with a very nice thank you note to thank us for staying there. All in all, it was an awesome experience and one more checkmark on the bucket list!

As far as remaining items on the bucket list, I completed book #50! If you know me, you know I love to read on vacation, especially on the plane ride. I managed to finish two more books, The Road to Bittersweet (excellent) and The Friday Night Knitting Club (light and fun). I am currently reading My Not So Perfect Life (by Sophie Kinsella) with We Were the Lucky Ones in the on-deck circle. French class for the fall semester resumes tonight. My Duolingo streak remained intact throughout the vacation. I am happy to report they’ve added additional skills so now I have more to do than just review. I’ve completed 35/50 NordicTrack workouts. I am still working on the MasterClass series from Margaret Atwood (author of The Handmaid’s Tale). I’m still meditating, though I didn’t while on vacation. And speaking of vacation, upon my return I was absolutely delighted to discover a surprise package I didn’t order. THANK YOU to Deana for sending me “Flour Water Salt Yeast The Fundamentals of Artisan Bread and Pizza” along with a dough bowl. She had received the book as a gift and it changed her bread-making life. I am so excited to crack it open and check off item #22, “Bake a loaf of bread from scratch.” I will be happy to share the recipe I end up using. (Deana, recommendations please?) So thank you, thank you Deana! That was such an amazing surprise!

Thank you Deana! Can’t wait to try this!

Here is the link to my original bucket list if you are curious. I am thinking of posting an updated list showing those things I’ve managed to check off at some point in the future. https://wordpress.com/block-editor/page/farewelltomy50s.home.blog/10

Well, that’s it for this week. Here’s to amazing surprises. I hope your week has a few in store for you as well!

Week 16: Farewell to My Fabulous Fifties

Happy Labor Day! Hope everyone is out enjoying the day with friends and family. I will be heading out to do a high ropes course at Treerunners in West Bloomfield (Bucket list item # 47) with my family later on this afternoon. Looking forward to telling you all about it next week!

This week, has been a bit low key. I am keeping up with most of my ongoing goals, which I’ll tell you more about in a bit. First I wanted to share a new-to-me recipe using herbs from my garden (items# 23 and 40). This one comes from Healthy Cooking magazine June/July 2008. It is simple, quick and delicious, three of my favorite things in a recipe, emphasis on simple because, hey, I’m no Julia Childs.

Chicken Provolone

4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves (4 oz each)

1/4 teaspoon of pepper

8 fresh basil leaves

4 thin slices of prosciutto or deli ham

4 slices of provolone cheese

Directions:

Sprinkle the chicken with pepper. In a large skillet coated with cooking spray, cook chicken over medium heat until a thermometer reads 165 degrees, 4-5 minutes on each side.
Transfer to an ungreased baking sheet; top with the basil, prosciutto and cheese. Broil 6-8 inches from the heat until the cheese is melter, 1-2 minutes.
Garnish plate with parsley if you want to be fancy (and who doesn’t?).

I ended up using ham instead of prosciutto which I am sure would have been delicious, because that is what I happened to have on hand. I also did not use a meat thermometer, I gave it the old eyeball test and cut into it a bit to check for doneness. I served it with a baked potato with sour cream and chives from my container garden.

Nutrition: 1 serving equals 236 calories, 11 g of fat (6 saturated,) 89 mg of cholesterol, 435 mg sodium, 1 g carbohydrate, trace fiber, 33 G protein.

It was deceptively simple, but tasted amazing!

Help!! I am on the lookout for ways to use my herbs before the season ends. As they will not over-winter, I would love to find a good pesto recipe for the basil or any other suggestions to make the best use of my remaining herbs. I did manage to use some basil when I had my wonderful Book Club ladies over for a floating meeting on the pontoon. I put together a caprese salad as well as used a little rosemary for garnish on the charcuterie board. It’s awesome spending time with these articulate intelligent women. Most of the time we converse about books in our private facebook group, but once a summer we head out on the pontoon. We also try to meet up at a restaurant at least one other time in the year. We seem to have a lot more to say in person than we do in writing! These ladies are partially why I’ve been able to read some extraordinary books in my 50 book quest. They come up with some awesome suggestions and I much prefer curated books, when someone has read it and recommends it. I used to commit to finishing a book once I’d started it no matter what. Now my motto is “Life is too short to keep reading a bad book.” I’m not afraid to abandon mid-read if it’s just not holding my attention (of course, then it doesn’t count on my list either!) We came up with a few more suggestions for this year, and selected “The Silent Patient,” which I had just finished, (highly recommend) as our next read. I am on book #50 of my 50 book goal. Huzzah! My current read is “Pieces of Her,” so far, so good. I anticipate finishing it up today or tomorrow. Now I’m curious to see how many books I can read in a year.

We started at the house, then packed it up for the boat!

In other updates, French class at Alliance de Francais continues. No class this week due to Labor Day, but we are planning to meet for dinner Tuesday night. I am anticipating that we will be speaking French to one another but I am not counting this as my “meet-up” (item #24). Our instructor David has started conducting class entirely in French. I’ve perfected my “I understand what you’re saying” look while I frantically search my brain for the right translation. Did he just say, “The city hall is very ugly,” or did he just insult my mother? Two very different responses are required! And so we learn. Mistakes are made but I learn best by my mistakes. I just wish I wasn’t given so many learning opportunities! By the way, my Duolingo streak remains intact at 747 days. I am determined to keep it going as long as possible.

I have been working to continue yoga at least once a week. And since I can’t convince my awesome sister-in-law Sharona and niece, Ashley, to move to Belleville to teach (I mean really, is that too much to ask?) I am on the look-out for a nearby studio with a restorative yoga class at a convenient time. I have found that quick 10-20 minute classes on YOUTUBE have been fabulous. I like morning and evening routines with yogis Adrienne or Sarah Beth. I’m still meditating with the Headspace App. I remain in Costa Rica on my NordicTrack, half way through the walking series there and still enjoying it. They get more difficult within each series as it progresses. I have completed work out #34 of my 50 work out goal. It still holds my interest and keeps me working out on my days off of boot-camp.

Forest trails, beaches, mountains. Ecological diversity is amazing!

New things I am working on include taking an online Masterclass in creative writing with Margaret Atwood, author of The Handmaid’s Tale (item #30). I have really enjoyed Masterclass. We have an all access pass and in the past, I’ve taken cooking with Alice Waters and writing with Judy Blume. They have things like stand-up with Steve Martin, magic with Penn and Teller, or how about Martin Scorsese, Ron Howard or Jody Foster on film-making (what?!!). There are classes on just about every interest. The reason it’s on my bucket list is that something that can be done at any time often gets done at no time. You know, there’s no time like the present, Carpe Diem, strike while the iron’s hot, never put off until tomorrow what you can do today, insert your favorite cliché here, (too much?)

We are headed to Florida in a couple weeks to make a few selections for our pool and to check out the local furniture stores. I did a little preparatory work, both in person and online, checking availability, turn around and selection at various furniture stores in anticipation of diving into item #16, decorating our Florida vacation home. Can’t wait to share the results and perhaps even solicit opinions on a few things along the way. I am hopeful the hurricane will not do major damage wherever it strikes. This will be a whole new area of expertise to master, putting on hurricane shutters, lowering pool levels, and apparently many of our soon to be neighbors in Florida are filling sand bags. I am not sure what for or where they will put them. So many questions I need answered! As of this writing it has veered away from our location. In any event, prayers for the safety of those living wherever Dorian makes landfall.

Next week in addition to the high rope course I hope to share with you a little of the adventure I will be having with my Mom. We are heading to Williamsburg this week, a city neither one of us has been to. We are both history buffs so we plan on checking out Williamsburg, Jamestown and Yorktown. I am looking forward to spending some long overdue quality girl time with my mom. Here’s hoping the hurricane stays the heck away from Virginia! That might be more adventure than even we can handle. Make it a great week everyone and wherever you are, stay safe!

Week 15: Farewell to My Fabulous Fifties – Skydiving Edition – Wut?!

What a week! With summer winding down, I’ve been busy trying to check off those summertime boxes. This week’s blog post is going to be focused on the two things I managed to pull off this week. Let’s start with #39, a kayak ride and picnic.

We live on a lake, so kayaking is a fairly easy proposition and one I enjoy immensely. Unfortunately this summer has been crazy busy and I haven’t managed to get out paddling before now. We picked a gorgeous day and my husband Mike and I headed out, picnic packed and paddles ready. It’s about a half an hour paddle from our house to the park. To add to the sense of adventure, we were on the look out for an alligator that has reportedly been seen in Belleville Lake. Yes, really. Here’s the link: https://www.clickondetroit.com/news/weird-news/another-day-another-alligator-resident-sees-alligator-in-belleville-lake

And IF there is indeed an alligator here somewhere, I have no doubt this is where we would find it. You get to the park by going under a low-lying bridge which means no pontoon boats can navigate this area. This is an extremely tranquil part of the lake, no houses at all, loaded with wildlife and an occasional fisherman, and quite possibly an alligator with an impaired sense of direction.

Mike paddling towards the landing to beach his kayak.

Not an alligator. *(photo credit: Mike Lanzetta)*

Water lily up close and personal by my request (photo credit: Mike Lanzetta)

This year there happens to be an unusual amount of water lilies. It always surprises me how large they get. On our way to the park, before reaching the channel, we had to stop for a few photos. Once you reach the park, there is an area to beach your kayak. There are picnic and restroom facilities and it really is a great spot for a pleasant afternoon break. We spread our picnic under the shelter and enjoyed a leisurely lunch before heading back home. If you paddle just a bit further down, you’ll see the dam on the lake. We did not spot any alligators, just a few ducks, a heron and a turtle or two. If you have the opportunity to kayak out this way, it is an easy paddle from the DNR access located off of Rawsonville road. It makes a nice way to spend an afternoon.

Next up, bucket list item #2: Skydiving! Sunday morning started out with a light breakfast, serenaded by Sammi’s custom skydiving playlist, including Freefalling by Tom Petty and Live Like You Were Dying. Then at 9am, Mike and my daughters, Jenna and Sammi and I headed out to Jackson to Skydive Tecumseh where Jenna and I would be skydiving. I had planned to do this solo, but when Jenna volunteered to be my wing woman, I readily agreed. She was supposed to have gone skydiving with her husband last year on their honeymoon in Dubai, which is an iconic place to jump. But four hours later, after suiting up and watching several other plane-loads make their jumps, their jump was canceled due to 120 degree temperatures. When this opportunity came up, she was happy to tag along and I was happy to have the company! Unfortunately, she forgot her driver’s license and they require a state-issued ID. They would not budge on that requirement. Jenna offered a photo of her marriage license, and that was not acceptable. Thanks to Kelcie, one of her best friends who also happens to be our neighbor, for saving the day! She was able to text us a photo of Jenna’s license which was sitting on our kitchen counter. So first hurtle cleared and all systems were go!

Good luck hug from Sammi who says, “Oh, hell no!” to skydiving.

Kody being a jerk with the rabbit ears. J/K. He was awesome!

Inside the plane, approaching 14,000 feet. Jenna and I are ready to make that jump!

We met our instructors/tandem partners. Mine was a friendly young guy named Kody. He was an experienced skydiver who had a relaxed way about him that immediately put you at ease. He gave instructions in small bite-sized pieces making it easy to retain. I felt comfortable relying on his expertise to make the jump enjoyable and he didn’t disappoint. We were both suited up and a short while later headed to our ride, a King-Air, especially outfitted for skydivers. There were 10 people in all, 4 of us were sky-diving with 4 instructors and 2 videographers. It was a full plane. The plane is equipped with long bench-like seats along both sides and a plexiglass door that slides open like a garage door. You straddle the bench with your instructor behind you. We rose to an elevation of 14,000 feet, up beyond the clouds. The view was breath-taking! I happily volunteered to go first, so they slid the door open and I edged out to the slim black step that was just outside the door. Kody called out, “One, two, three” and then we jumped from the plane. The harness felt snug and I did as Kody advised, breathing through my nose, rather than my mouth. It was a free fall for what seemed like quite a while, though I’m guessing it wasn’t. We were diving head first until the chute opened, then he loosened up the rigging a bit to make it more comfortable and you could sit back like you were in a chair in the sky. Once the chute opened it was also quieter. The view was phenomenal and the floating sensation was great. I was even able to wear my glasses because they had special goggles that, while very unattractive, allowed you to keep your glasses on. I may have looked goofy, but I wouldn’t have wanted to miss one second of that view! He handed me the controls and I was able to turn left, right and do a spin. The spin did make me a little queasy so I didn’t do it for more than a revolution or so. It was awesome to look around and take it all in. There was also a videographer jumping with us and she was there to capture it all. Jenna jumped right after me and we met up on the ground. The whole thing took about 2 hours total, most of that time was spent in preparation or waiting. It took maybe 8 or 9 minutes to reach the necessary altitude. Final verdict: It was AHHH-MAZING and I would totally do it again. Jenna loved her experience as well. Neither one of us were a bit nervous. If you are thinking about doing it, I would highly recommend it. I’m not sure what I could ever do to top this experience. It really is the ultimate rush!

Soaring, as close as I’ll ever come to human flight.

Heading towards the landing spot, just spotted Mike and Sammi. Giving them a wave!

If you want to watch the short video of my jump, here’s the link. https://youtu.be/wS7NGCTqha

In closing, I can’t believe it’s only been a little over 3 months since I started on this bucket-list quest. I’ve had so many amazing adventures and it’s been an absolute blast! I’m excited to discover what the rest of my 59th year holds. A heartfelt thank you to those who have come along with me for the journey. I hope you all have an amazing week. Until next week, may your chute always open and all of your landings be happy ones!

Week 14: Farewell to My Fabulous Fifties

Bonjour mes amis (my friends) and welcome to week 14 of my quest to check off fifty items before I turn 60 next year. (Have I said YIKES! already?) I really am curious as to whether I will be able to complete them all. The clock is ticking towards summer’s final days and I still have a few warm weather items left to complete, all for the sweet reward of a simple check mark.

Well let’s see how I did this week. I would say, all in all, I am well satisfied! In continuing items, Mike and I made it to a new restaurant for the month of August. For my Belleville friends, we tried out Shakers Bar and Grill on Canton Center road, very near Antonio’s Cuccina Italiana. I was surprised at the extensive and creative cocktail menu and draft selections. They offered various labels of rum, tequilas, cognacs or vodkas. I opted for a glass of a German Urban Reisling. The menu was varied and Mike and I both enjoyed our selections, his being a pepperoni flatbread and mine, California grilled chicken breast, with bacon, Swiss , avocado, poppyseed honey mustard over greens with savory coconut ginger rice and roasted vegetables. They offered quite a few gluten free options, such as lemon butter grilled North Atlantic salmon or sweet chili chicken breast and a nice selection of steaks. They also have pizza! Portion size was good and service was very good as well. You can dine inside or outside on the patio. Cheers to finding another nearby restaurant to add to our list of favorites.

Outdoor seating area with space heaters for those cooler evenings.

Moving on to French. French class for the summer semester continues but is ending at the end of August. I have already enrolled for the Fall semester. Summer classes start and end later and have been 2 hours long (7:30-9:30). I much prefer the earlier start of Fall classes and the shorter duration (7:00-8:30pm). I am also very grateful to our teacher David, who is from France and helps us in a friendly way that keeps us laughing together at mistakes and helps us to not take everything so seriously. As we progress, he moves along with the class as our teacher. I will say classes make all the difference because there is a certain immediacy to having to formulate a verbal response to a question that just doesn’t happen while listening to Pimsleur language learning CDs or using Duolingo. Speaking of Duolingo, I achieved my 2 year streak! For anyone unfamiliar with Duolingo, it is a free language learning app. They offer several languages. I have it set to a medium setting, primarily because I intended to go for a long streak. The medium setting allows for a moderately short time commitment which allows me to complete it even when traveling. Otherwise, on an average day, I usually exceed it by a little or a lot. For those familiar with Duolingo, I am at a crown level of 947. I have completed the entire tree as well as all of the stories and listened to all of their podcasts. I still review several categories each day using their Practice option to stay sharp. I’ve also continued to supplement my learning by re-listening to Pimsleur French V CDs in my car. To cap off achieving my two year streak, I watched a movie in French (item #45) and now that I’ve discovered Netflix offers a menu of French speaking films, I believe I will be taking advantage of this much more often. Merci to Amber, a friend of my daughter Samantha, for that little nugget! Much appreciated! The movie I watched was Cèzanne et Moi (Cezanne and Me). I enjoyed it though I certainly didn’t pick up on all of the dialogue, catching a few words and phrases at best without looking at the closed captions. It was great to hear the language spoken with passion and the appropriate inflections that language learners sometimes lack. The film was an historical drama released in 2017, which at times resembled the beautiful paintings of the Provence countryside the artist was so well-known for. I would recommend this film even if you aren’t studying French. It was a visual treat!

I enjoyed this historical drama. If you are an art lover or love foreign films, this one is for you!

In other good news, our house Florida is well underway! The windows are in and the drywall has been delivered. We are a few steps closer to furnishing it and have scheduled a Florida visit in September with great thanks to our dear friends Dave and Kim. They are our neighbors both here in Michigan and soon in Florida. We fell in love with this area when they invited us down for a visit. With their help and encouragement our vacation home will soon be a short walk away from theirs!

Who is this male model demonstrating that our new window is in?

And the big thing we accomplished this week was bucket list item #32, riding our bikes from Lower Huron Metro Park all the way to Lake Erie Metropark and back, a 40 mile round trip. We left at 8:30, later than we’d hoped but early enough to beat most of the crowd. We saw lots of wildlife along the way. The trip involves primarily bike trails spanning three metro parks, but there is a stretch, and really, a rather dangerous one along surface streets, which sometimes lacked shoulders or had very poorly maintained shoulders requiring a quick dart out into the well-traveled road (after looking carefully of course) due to a pothole, loose gravel, or enormous puddles.

Along the park trails, we saw plenty of wildlife: bunnies, birds, herons and assorted water fowl. Here’s a link to some awesome footage of what I believe to be a heron sitting along the shoreline of Lake Erie. We suspect there was a nest nearby because she was reluctant to leave at first, allowing Mike to creep pretty close to her before she headed out in flight only to alight a few feet further down the shoreline. https://youtu.be/HvqfK85lQ7c And despite earlier forecasts, the weather was perfect! With a mile to go before completing the trip, we made a pit stop for lunch by taking the trail that leads in to Flat Rock. We went for a late breakfast at Tony’s Coney. The ride itself took just short of 4 hours. I thought I would have back issues because I injured myself doing an Ab challenge earlier in the week (don’t ask). But no, my back is fine. What I did do was injure my hip flexor. As a matter of fact, I am writing this with an ice pack in place. Maybe these injuries are my body’s way of saying, “Sit the f*** down. You’re old now.” Nevertheless, however stupidly, I persist. One thing for sure, getting older is not for sissies. I have to give credit to my husband for being such a good sport. He’s not only been an enthusiastic supporter of mine, but a willing participant and even more remarkably, he never seems to get injured while participating in these bucket list tasks. As an extra perk for me, he is an excellent photographer and allows me to use a few of his photos or videos if I ask very nicely. He’s also a proof-reader extraordinaire! I’m a pretty lucky girl. He’s also handsome. hehe (hmmm…looks like someone’s been busy “proofreading” here.)

View from a small park we drove through in Flat Rock.

Mike at the bridge, about 1/3 of the way in on our journey.

Tony’s a great little breakfast spot for a biking break.

In a further update, all of the ongoing things I said I would do, I’ve done: meditation, affirmation, yoga, reading a book, among other things. I am currently reading The Devil in the White City, by Eric Lawson, book # 47 for me. I am about 1/2 way through and really enjoying it. By the way, I have been loving Overdrive, the library app that lets you borrow books. I am saving a bundle and it’s enabled me to already be rounding home on my 50 book goal goal! I’m 31 work outs in on my 50 work out goal on the Nordic Track. My new favorite is Walk The World, taking on the beaches and forests of Costa Rica, a lovely country with the “Pura Vida” philosophy. I’d love to get back there one day, but for now, virtually will have to do!

This post has gotten rather long so I’ll end here. I am very excited for my next post because by then my daughter and I will have jumped out of a perfectly good plane. I look forward to telling you all about what I hope will be a thrilling experience! Ah, the things I’ll do for a checkmark. Until next week, friends!

Week 13: Farewell to My Fabulous Fifties

Happy Monday! We are back from Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and I am happy to say I’ve managed to check off a few more items from my bucket list. The Upper Peninsula is a beautiful part of the state, and we have enjoyed the Les Cheneaux area for many years. If you happen to be following along, you may know that I decided to add tackling visiting someplace we’ve not been before while on our up north vacation to my bucket list (#25). And, what the heck, why not tick off item # 17 (Go hiking) while we’re at it!

But what to do? I looked at a map and looked into what each area offered and I ended up deciding on a day trip to Munising, an area rich in beauty and hiking opportunities. Munising is roughly 2 hours and 15 minutes from our resort, Spring Lodge. We were on the road by 8am heading northwest. Since we are attempting to do things we’ve never done before, we chose to hit up a lunch spot that serves pasties. Despite our many vacations to the U.P., I’d never eaten a pasty (pronounced Pass-Tee). I honestly wasn’t so sure I would enjoy it. We stopped at a cute and quirky little place in Munising called Muldoons. My husband, Mike opted for beef (which according to Mike apparently requires gravy) and I chose veggie which we ate on one of the outdoor picnic tables. We ended our meal by sharing an apple pastie. They are delicious little bundles of goodness wrapped in a pastry crust. Two enthusiastic thumbs up here.

Muldoon also sells maple syrup, fudge and gift items. Plus who doesn’t love a good Bigfoot statue!

Instead of striking out on our own, we ventured into Munising to the Pictured Rocks Interpretive Center where we spoke with a park ranger to plan our visit. We were trying to decide between hiking or taking a boat or kayak along the shoreline. After a brief discussion, we opted to hike (next time we’ll try the boat). We headed up to the Miners Falls area to hike towards Mosquito beach which, despite its name, is perhaps one of the loveliest beaches I’ve seen. And guess what, no mosquitos! We walked along trails, taking in rock formations and waterfalls. After about a mile and a half hike, through both wide and narrow trails full of tree roots and ankle twisting opportunities, we happened upon a gorgeous white sandy beach framed by tall sandstone rocks in the distance. There were a few families there, dogs fetching sticks and children playing along the shoreline. The water was an unreal Caribbean blue. Mike was able to fly his drone a bit to get a better look at the rocks than the beach itself afforded.

One of the rock formations of Pictured Rocks, called Miner’s Castle.

*Water is such beautiful shades of blues and blue-greens.*

Mosquito beach, acres of soft white sand.

We found an awesome piece of driftwood to sit on and a willing photographer!

A piece of nature’s artistry sits at the shoreline.

After hiking back the mile and a half, we drove a little further westward along the coast and parked near Hurricane River for a 1.7 mile hike along the lake to the Au Sable Point Lighthouse. There is a dangerously shallow sandstone bottom that extends about a mile out into the lake which has led seamen to nickname this area Graveyard Coast. The lake has been at a record high and usually you can see remnants of shipwrecks from long ago along the shoreline, but because water levels were so high, there really wasn’t much to see. There was however some very lovely forested trails which provided cooling shade on this warm summer day.

My handsome hubby, camera in hand, heading towards the lighthouse.

We were lucky enough to arrive at the lighthouse at 4:30, in time to take the last tour of the day. The fee is $3 per person for ages 6 and over. The lighthouse has not been lived in since the 1950’s but was redecorated to the period of late 1800’s, when it was first erected. We were fortunate to climb the circular staircase up all 98 steps to the top where we heard a brief presentation and then were allowed out on the narrow upper ledge. It was a beautiful view and a really cool experience I think we’ll both remember. For any lighthouse afficionados, there used to be a kerosene lit lamp which acted as a beacon, though it was a steady light that did not blink or rotate. It had a 17 mile visibility. Today the beacon is electronic and blinks with a 14 mile visibility.

The beacon is now electronic and is located outside of the lighthouse on the upper outer ledge.

View from the top. Photo credit: Mike Lanzetta

Looking down the circular staircase inside the lighthouse.

As a book lover, I found this really cool. There was a supply ship that would arrive every so often with supplies and a different batch of books. They would simply close up the book cabinet and return their books in exchange for new ones. If there was a bookmark in a book they would leave it in place because there was a lighthouse keeper somewhere waiting for that book to get back around to them. According to our docent, their schedules were pretty packed with chores, but they managed to squeeze in a game of cards or a board game in their down time. They were usually here with their families.

We made it back to the resort around 9pm. Spring Lodge has a couple of unique offerings, one of which is yoga on the beach on Monday mornings and Wednesday evenings. A few of us took the Monday morning class. We’ve done it the last few times we’ve stayed here as well. It is always a relaxing way to start the morning!

The resort also offers Happy Hour on Friday night which features one of our proprietors, Ernie, on drums. Because my brother-in-law also plays drums, Ernie has him sit in and uses this opportunity to play the horn; the man has talent!

Happy hour includes visitors who stop in or listen from their boats on the water. Carl did an amazing job on drums as always. The caliber of talent in this little town is astonishing! Fun time. They played everything from Bare Naked Ladies to Van Morrison.

We always find this vacation so relaxing. Ernie and Carla are fabulous hosts. If you want to find out more about the resort, here’s a link. http://springlodge.com Fun Fact: my husband created the video on their website during one of our past stays. He did a great job of covering the basics in less than a minute. Look for a few familiar faces in it.

Besides hanging out with family, we usually rent a pontoon boat and go out for sunset cruises. We’ll have lunch on the pontoon or take the kids into Hessel for ice-cream at Mertaugh’s in the marina. Sometimes the adults head in to Cedarville or Hessel for a cocktail. For a small town, there are several restaurant options, Snows Bar and Grill is even within walking distance. Hessel boasts the Les Cheneaux Culinary School which is a fabulous dining experience if you are looking to splurge. We didn’t make our reservations in time this year, so we missed out. Ang-ios is a family favorite. The newest kid on the block is the Les Cheneaux Distillery, try the Drummond Sunrise cocktail, you won’t be disappointed. In the spirit of trying new things, we decided to take the boat in to Hessel and have breakfast at the NibbleLungen, something we’d not done before. We went at Jenna’s suggestion and I hope this becomes one of our vacation traditions.

A little market that offers breakfast, ice cream and a nice selection of wine and cold beverages and other household necessities.

We continued our tradition of serving chocolate chip pancakes, bacon, fresh fruit and mimosas on the boat house deck for everyone. Family traditions are important, as our younger family members continue to remind us! I’m so glad.

But the highlight of our stay has always been the Antique Wooden Boat Show in Hessel. We’ve been attending this show for years. It’s always fun to see the boats heading out in the early morning to take their place in the show. After we’ve seen a few boats head down the channel, we start the day by attending a good old fashioned pancake breakfast in Mertaugh’s boat garage, benefitting the Lions Organization for the blind. The boat show itself features classic antique wooden boats. The amazing thing is that many of these boats are actually in regular use as transportation. They are just lovely! I’ll post photos of a few of my favorites. The Hessel marina also has an art show on site with art of all types available for purchase. This year I bought a beautiful hand carved wooden box for my family room and a pen carved from white tail deer antler. We started our day early so we could head back downstate sooner and hopefully miss some of the traffic. By 11 am we were happily headed back home with a heart full of new memories and a few more things checked off my bucket list.

Wooden boat heading down the channel. Notice the water level has this dock completely submerged!

So beautiful! They are like floating artwork!

These cool boats resemble cars with fins!

While we were up north, I also managed to squeeze in a LOT of reading. I finished Less and read the 688 page book Bella Poldark, the last in the 12 book Poldark series. It was such a luxury to read the whole book in just a couple of days! I also read The Wife Between Us, which was a good suspenseful read. So I’ve completed 46 of my 50 book goal. I’m 92% done and 16 books ahead of schedule. I may have to up my goal!

These are the last 6 books of the 12 book series. There is also a PBS show called Poldark based on these books. They were recommended to me by a friend and I highly recommend them. It was an investment of time, but it was time well-spent. I’ll miss reading about these characters!

In other milestones, my husband and I returned home to step over the threshold into our new reality, that of being empty nesters. Our youngest daughter moved to her first post-college apartment while we were gone. We’ve spent some of the last couple of days giving her a hand with getting settled. Having an empty nest was not an item on my bucket list. I’ve had a taste when the girls were in college and I thought I was ready for it. After all, it is a parenting milestone. I told myself that we’ve succeeded at raising two successful, independent daughters! YAY!! High five to us, and pass the Kleenex please. I held it together pretty well actually, just a little mist up. Hey, I am looking forward to having less housekeeping to do, less laundry and less grocery shopping, but I know we are going to miss her and our grand-kitty, Ollie, terribly. It’s already feeling a little emptier here. Oh well, I’m off to figure out what I’m going to do with that empty room. Have a happy week!

Week 12: Farewell to My Fabulous Fifties

Good morning from Michigan’s upper peninsula, where the drinks are cold and the internet is spotty. We are up in Cedarville for the week, renting cabins with extended family and friends. I hope to have more to share about it and a few more bucket list items to check off next week. Since I am on vacation, this will be short and sweet.

Prior to heading out, I did manage to check off item # 44 on my bucket list. I took Kobe to North Bay Park near our home for a nature walk. This is a lovely little gem on Ford Lake with a wooden boardwalk that goes through the lake and wetlands, perfect for viewing water fowl and wildlife. Kobe loved it and I hope to get back there with him at least one more time this year.

The boardwalk in the water. You can see a viewing platform in the distance which we didn’t climb as Kobe has difficulty with steps.

We also had our contractor Tony back out to replace some cracked thresholds and tiles in our foyer (Bucket list item #4). We were lucky to still have some tile stored from when we built the house 20 years ago. I was a little worried the new grout lines would be obvious but we thought we’d go this route first, and if we didn’t like the results we’d rip it out and select new tile. But we were fortunate and Tony did a masterful job. It’s hard to distinguish between new and old grout. Can you tell?

Can you tell where the replacement tiles are?

Despite our spotty internet connection, my Duolingo streak remains intact at 719 days. French classes restarted last week. Since I’m up North, this week, I’ll be following along remotely. I’ve finished John Grisham’s new book, The Reckoning. It was pretty good. Now I am on to the Pulitzer Prize winning book, Less by Andrew Sean Greer. I am on book #44 of my 50 book challenge, which puts me 14 books ahead of schedule, a comfortable enough lead to let me tackle the last book in the Poldark series after this. Update on skydiving, it’s been rescheduled for August 25th due to my daughter’s work conflict. We are looking forward to tackling this together.

If you’ve lived in Michigan for any time, you know “going up North” is what one does for vacation, or at the very least for a long weekend. We are at Spring Lodge, in some cute little cabins along the lake in the Les Cheneaux area. Les Cheneaux means “the channels” in French. There are a series of islands which form long channels, thus despite being one of the Great Lakes, these smaller channels are calmer, making them perfect for boating and water sports. Our family has been coming up since my girls, now in their twenties, were little. My daughter has even named her dogs Mackinac and Cheneaux. As we’ve been coming up to this area for so long, it can be difficult to find something new to do. Castle rock? Check. Mackinac Island? Check. Mystery spot? Check. Soo Locks? Check. The list goes on. But after widening the circle a bit, I believe we will be heading out sometime this week where I will tackle bucket list item # 25 -take a day trip to somewhere we’ve not been before while in Les Cheneaux. I hope to share some awesome photos with you.

Well that’s it for this week. I know I put down my cold drink down somewhere. I’m off to find it. Either that or a nice nap. Cheers!