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 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!

View from our front porch. Notice the water level is so high, many of the docks are under water. Ours is o.k. because they built a second level above the waterline.

Week 11: Farewell to My Fabulous Fifties – The Bathroom Edition

Hello on this beautiful Monday. I am not sure what the weather is doing but it is a beautiful Monday to me because my bathroom is done! There are no painters, plumbers, contractors or workers of any kind. As nice as they all are, it’s great to have our home all to ourselves again! In fact I think I’ll do a celebratory lap in my jammies!

So this edition, week 11, will primarily focus on our bathroom reveal. Our home is 21 years old and the bathroom is original to the house. The before photos don’t show it well, but the tile was cracked in spots and the space was in need of a general update. Our contractor Tony did a great job from start to finish and I would happily recommend him without reservation. He was honest, hardworking and always showed up on time. He was also priced fairly. We really felt lucky! We are delighted with the way it turned out. This bathroom is used as our back-up bathroom when time is tight and we both need to shower and it also serves as a guest bathroom. We had a new steam sauna installed. Our old one had been broken for quite a while, so we are really looking forward to putting that sauna to good use. So here are a few before and after photos.

Surprisingly, we found this vanity at Lowes and it was exactly what we had in mind. It came with the sink and marble vanity top. We decided to eliminate the wall mirrors and just place one individual mirror above the vanity.

I stripped off the wallpaper (not fun) and we opted for wainscoting along the walls with a tile border running around the room. It also serves as a backsplash to the vanity.

We opted for a rain shower and a hand held shower. We had a niche built in for bath products.

Hand-held shower in addition to rain shower and bench for using the steam sauna.

I scoured Instagram for quite a while to collect all the bathroom images I liked and looked for commonalities between the photos to help make decisions. We opted to go from a beige palate to a gray and green palate to coordinate with our recent basement remodel. The green in the photo actually doesn’t translate well. Our paint color was Seasalt from Sherwin Williams with Extra-white for trim and wainscoting. Our tile is a linen-look from Virginia tile with coordinating Agate Bari Pearl with variations for trim and shower floor. Our plumbing fixtures were from Builders Plumbing and Heating Supply and Ferguson Plumbing, both in Ann Arbor. Now that it is complete, I am so happy we undertook the project. It took 3 1/2 weeks from start to finish but that includes a week where nothing was done, the contractor was finished but we were waiting for the painter and shower door. The shower door had to be custom made due to sizing, and was done by Mirror Image. The artwork on the wall adjacent to the vanity was a watercolor we purchased years ago in Saugatuck, which I had re-matted in gray. I found the Bless Our Nest mixed media piece at Bed Bath and Beyond. If you want any names of people or products, don’t hesitate to reach out.

So, that’s a wrap for our bathroom redo! But because owning a house provides a revolving carousel of never-ending projects, our next few undertakings will be having our wood floors refinished and replacing the laundry room countertop. Onward and upward.

In other news, I have found THE wine! Many thanks to Amanda, a member of my husband’s office team, for sending it my way! I have been trying wines from Italy, France, California and Washington, but I should have known that deep down I am a Michigan girl at heart. This 2016 Muscat is from Shady Lane Cellars located in Michigan’s Leelanau Peninsula. It’s described as elegant and fresh with aromas and flavors of orange and apple blossoms, tangerine and a clean vibrant finish. It is not too sweet and strikes just the right crisp note for my palate. I still love me some Grand Traverse Late Harvest Riesling but this will provide a nice alternative when I’m not in the mood for sweet. I enjoyed it with barbecue chicken, fresh corn and a salad made with produce from our local farm-stand (shout out to Budd’s Produce). And as a further bonus, I know I will always remember the name of this wine because my family nickname is Lane. I find it pretty humorous or perhaps poetic justice that its name is Shady Lane. I believe I can confidently check off item # 46 on my list (find a new favorite wine) I also believe I see a road trip up to Shady Lane Cellars in my future!

Chicken was still on the grill while we enjoyed yummy salad and corn from Budd’s Produce in Belleville. Shady Lane Muscat was the perfect accompaniment to this summer meal.

Moving on, my Duolingo streak remains intact at 712 days. French class resumes after summer hiatus on Monday. I’m still meditating using the Headspace app. I’ve even tried a walking meditation which I liked. I’ve done yoga using my Nordic Track and I’ve managed to squeeze in a total of 30 workouts on my way to 50, including a walk along a Hawaiian beach, and a stroll through both Antarctica and Vienna. I am way ahead of schedule. I’ve read a few more books (Unsheltered, Year One, The Education of Dixie Dupree). Very different reads but all were enjoyable. I am currently reading John Grisham’s new book, The Reckoning, which will be book #43. I am 84% of the way to my goal of 50 for the calendar year, and 14 books ahead of schedule. This will give me a cushion when I dive back into the last book in the Poldark Series, which is entails reading 688 pages of very small print and always seems to slow me down!

We are getting close to the debut of our dog Kobe’s new tricks. (yes, I said tricks with an s!) Turns out you CAN teach an old dog a new trick …or two! In looking over my list, there are still quite a few things that can ONLY be done in warmer weather, so I need to keep plugging away at them. We head up north next week where I hope to check a few more items off of my bucket list and take a few photos of the lovely upper peninsula to share with all of you. Make it a great and productive week and like Kobe, why not challenge yourself to try something new this week too? As always, if you want to check out the original bucket list here is a link to the blog post. Make it a great week. Now where’d I leave that wine glass?

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Week 9: Farewell to My Fabulous Fifties

Monday already? This week has just flown by! The highlight of our week was a long weekend in Mackinac Island. If you are not from Michigan and are unfamiliar with the island, you are missing out! This is a tiny island, with a coast of 8.2 miles, perfect for biking around the perimeter. It covers 3.8 square miles and much of it is preserved as Mackinac Island State Park. No cars are allowed and travel is done exclusively by bicycle or horse and carriage. It is an area rich in history and serves as a popular tourist draw, attracting both day trippers and those visiting for a few days. My extended family has been coming here for years. My parents stay in their boat at the marina and family members either stay with them or at nearby resorts. Once we arrived, I was excitedly looking forward to checking off a long-awaited item on my bucket. As many years as we’ve been coming here, we’ve never eaten at The Woods, which is a lovely restaurant associated with the Grand Hotel (another popular tourist destination). This Bavarian influenced restaurant is tucked away in the woods (hence the name) and requires a 30-45 minute carriage ride to get to it. My husband, myself and our daughters had six o’clock reservations on a Friday evening. After a leisurely carriage ride, we arrived right on time. Our waiter, Michael, was amazing. He has been working there for over 20 years and his experience and warmth made our evening even better. I ordered a grilled New York strip steak, done perfectly. My daughter Sam enjoyed her spinach Florentine ravioli and my older daughter, Jenna had roasted free range half chicken. My husband ordered the crispy maple duck breast. All of our entrees were delicious and even the sides were yummy. I especially liked the red cabbage. We ordered 3 desserts to taste, a mango cheesecake, chocolate hazelnut tart with dark cherry jubilee sauce and vanilla cake donut topped with Mackinac Fudge Ice cream. All were wonderful. It was a bit of a splurge, but the experience was memorable and worth it!

We were on the island from Thursday to Sunday morning, arriving by ferry and staying at The Harbour View Inn. It is possible to fly in, and we’ve done so if we are just staying the day. My husband pilots an older Mooney but the airstrip is even large enough to accommodate a small jet. We’ve stayed at various hotels over the years, but Harbour View Inn seems to be the one we come back to the most. It’s a short walk to the marina and depending on your room, you may get a little view of the harbor. We requested a suite which has 2 beds along with a siting area with a pull out bed, giving us plenty of space if we have an extra guest or two. Breakfast is included. I did manage to bike the island 4 times, in preparation for that ride to Lake Eerie. My husband Mike and daughter Sam actually ran the island, all 8.2 miles, while my daughter Jenna and I biked it as their support team. I was so proud of them both as this is not a typical run for either of them. This trip is always a memorable one and I am so grateful to be able to continue to make these memories with my family. If you ever have the opportunity to go to Mackinac Island, I highly recommend it. Hiking, kayaking, bicycling, shopping and dining, there’s something for everyone!

My family, (minus my sister and her husband). They only visited for one of the days this year.

Just a little bit of the Grand Hotel. Sadie’s is a family favorite for ice cream.

Another flower garden on the grounds of The Grand Hotel.

As for ongoing items, yes, I am still working out on my Nordic Track. I am at work out 22 with a goal of completing 50. I have maintained my 698 day streak on Duolingo. I always manage to get a lesson in, even on vacation. Our Florida home has broken ground and walls are up, so one step closer to decorating. (hurray!) I finished “Summer of 69” by Elin Hildebrand. It was a great light read. I always enjoy reading her books in the summer and this one did not disappoint. I think I particularly enjoyed the setting of 1969 as it was very reminiscent of my childhood. I am now reading “The Education of Dixie Dupree.” This is our book club meet-up book and I am looking forward to sharing insights. That puts me at book #40 out of my goal of 50 by December 31. I am 74% of the way there, 13 books ahead of schedule. I try to have a safety cushion in the summer when there is a little more time to read. Meditating via the Headspace App continues and weekly yoga is a thing, though just via Youtube this week.

Our bathroom is essentially complete, we are just waiting on some paint touch-ups, and some artwork that I’m having re-matted as well as the glass shower door that is currently being made. I will be excited to share the before/after when the project is complete!

And you guys…guess what? It’s happening and I am so excited! I’ve made my skydiving reservation for August 17th. I am doubly excited because my daughter Jenna wants to jump with me! If anyone else is game to give it a try, feel free to join us on the 17th. Absolutely looking forward to it!

That’s it for this week. We head to Boston next weekend so I hope to have some cool things to share. If you’re curious and you want to check out my original bucket list, the link is below. Make it an awesome week! Geronimoooooo!

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Week 7 Farewell to My Fabulous 50’s Tour

It’s been a busy week and I’m sure you’ve been busy as well, so I’ll keep this short and sweet. We are making progress on our bathroom remodel and hope to wrap up all but the painting by July 4th. So far we’re on track. Our contractor, Tony has been doing a great job and we are delighted with the progress being made! He even worked on Saturday to help ensure he meets the deadline. Have I mentioned he’s awesome?

Making headway in the shower. The wall tiles are in, just need to add accent tiles, the fixtures and grout!

The cabinet and grouting as well as the wainscoting are next up.

My husband, Mike and I invited our friend Dave to come along on a “warm-up” bike ride before we tackle #32 on my list, riding our bikes to Lake Eerie. That ride will be 40 miles. Today’s route up to Flat Rock, was a little over 20. My only mistake was not wearing my cycling pants with the padded seat. I thought the padding Mother Nature so amply provided me with would be enough. Silly girl. I think we might be ready to tackle that longer ride soon but I’m definitely wearing cycling pants for that one!

20mile bike ride + no cycling pants= foolish lady

As far as things that are ongoing, the Duolingo streak of 684 days is intact and my crown level is 879 (for anyone familiar with Duolingo). I did a stretch morning yoga on Sunday via Youtube and I am up to 19 workouts on the Nordic Track. I am currently in the middle of Bora Bora beach bootcamp. I am still enjoying the adventure aspect of the workout and it’s been fun learning trivia about each workout location.

Bucket List Item #18: I am currently at book # 37, and am 72% towards my goal of 50. At this pace, I am 12 books ahead of schedule. My most recent reads were The Island Of Sea Women by Lisa See, The Death of Mrs. Westaway by Ruth Ware and I am currently reading When Life Gives You Lululemons. I very much enjoyed Lisa See’s book. She is a favorite author of mine and I’ve read and enjoyed most all of her books. Ruth Ware’s gothic mystery was good and I finished it quickly but it didn’t have any “ah hah!” moment for me. I’ll keep you posted on When Life Gives You Lululemons.

I am still meditating with the Headspace App and using visualization. The series I am currently on for Headspace is “Balance.” It has become a quiet and necessary part of my day. I have also been continuing work with our dog Kobe. He can play dead pretty well, still working on that tale wag though. I have been trying to get him to jump through a hoop and that is a work in progress. I am looking forward to sharing video of his tricks once we’ve perfected them. If all else fails, there may be some humorous out-takes.

This is Kobe. He is a good boy and a fast learner.

And finally, the jet-ski is in the water. I took it out for a quick spin and am looking forward to touring around the lake a bit more this summer. That’s it for this week. I hope to have more to report next week. Enjoy this beautiful weather we’ve been having, and have a safe and happy July 4th.

Week 6 Of Farewell to My Fabulous 50’s Tour

The weather has finally been beautiful and we’ve been busy with yard work and cleaning the boat. Of course, when your boat is clean it’s mandatory to take it out for a spin, because, why wouldn’t you? In addition to the chores and pleasures that come along with the nice weather, the bathroom renovation continues to occupy much of my time. It is coming along well and our contractor, Tony, has remained true to his word. He shows up and stays all day and does the work. We anticipate being done in about another 1 1/2 weeks. The drywall is repaired and ready for sanding. On Monday, he continues with the plumbing. Excited for each new phase! Here are a few pictures of the work in progress.

Work in progress: mirror removed, all cabinets, plumbing fixtures and tile removed. This is the “yikes” phase.

I am excited to report that one of my herb gardens is thriving. It looks and smells great! The other, I’m afraid will need transplanting. As it happens, this pot has no drainage and the plants were too wet with all the rain we’ve had. The chives, a sad little cilantro and a single spindly twig of dill are the only survivors. I will transplant them but I am trying to decide whether or not to replace the herbs I’ve lost. On a happier note, I did harvest some basil and made a mini caprese salad as a side with our BLTS one evening. You guys, if you haven’t tried Rachel Ray’s Drizzle Reduction with Balsamic Vinegar, you are missing out. So yummy!

Thriving! Parsley, basil, sage, and rosemary.

Lost a couple plants and the survivors don’t appear very healthy. Need to give this guy a transplant and then a little intensive care. (Why do cardiac nurses always seem to revert back to familiar terminology? Or maybe it’s just me.)

Mini caprese salad with fresh basil and balsamic reduction drizzle

I have to admit that the recent sky-diving plane accident in Hawaii has me a little spooked. I’ve not scheduled my jump yet, but have been perusing Youtube watching videos to prepare myself. After a bit of reflection and a good self-pep talk, I have decided I just need to do it! I will be jumping tandem instead of solo and plan to use Skydive Tecumseh. If anyone has any feedback on them, I would appreciate hearing it.

On the language front, my French class is now on hiatus until end of July. C’est la vie. I continue with daily Duolingo and have maintained my streak, currently at 675 days. I hope to meet up with a few of my classmates at least once over this break.

In the search for a new wine, I sampled and loved a Washington Riesling (Chateau Ste. Michelle Harvest Select Sweet Riesling, Columbia Valley, vintage 2017) which was delicious. Almost all of the rieslings I’ve sampled have been very good. And fun fact: I’ve learned that the high sugar content of rieslings make them age well. So despite many white wines “going bad,” sweeter rieslings apparently will still do well if left on the shelf for a while. Good to know but somehow they never end up on the shelf very long around here. I’ve come to the conclusion that I would like to find a different varietal, OTHER than Reisling, which I already know I love. All suggestions are welcome!

A comfy chair, good wine and a good book. #winning

I am in the process of teaching Kobe a new trick (#31 on the bucket list). This resonates with me because it is pretty emblematic of my whole blog, teaching an old dog a new trick. He is a quick study! I’m teaching him to play dead (which he’s almost perfected except for the telltale tail wag). He’s a clever guy! Now we are working on getting him to jump through a hoop, thanks to some tips from my bootcamp coach, Shirley, who is also a dog breeder and trainer extraordinaire! She knows her stuff because we are making progress daily. I will share a video of both tricks once we’ve perfected them.

My Nordic track work-outs continue. I am doing a bootcamp series on the beach in Bora Bora. I have completed 17 work outs of my goal of 50 for the year, which I believe puts me 10 ahead of schedule. My favorite moment so far is when a group of dogs joined the trainer on the beach while she was running. It felt spontaneous and real and made me smile while running, which almost never happens. Have I mentioned I don’t care for running? I also did a simple yoga stretch class at home to fulfill my weekly goal.

Dogs! They were “fishing” in between running along with the trainer.

I am on book # 35 of my 50 book goal for the 2019 calendar year, which is 11 books ahead of schedule. I finished book #11 of the Poldark series and am going to read a few summer reads before tackling the last book of the series. I finished The Right Time by Danielle Steel. (Thanks April) Ms. Steel is not an epic writer, but she is a good story-teller. I am currently reading a book using Overdrive from one of my favorite authors, Lisa See, Island of Sea Women. I just started it last evening. So far, so good. (Thanks Kelley for putting it on my radar.)

So, that’s it for this week. I need to get that skydive on the schedule. I’ll just keep reminding myself that growth won’t occur in my comfort zone. Let’s hope this beautiful weather continues. Make it a great week and I hope you all continue to find new ways to grow and thrive.