Gala for American Family Children’s Hospital

Posted on May 5, 2013 by pintofgoals

Oh hey, Cindy. Nice to see you…and breathe the same air as you.

In case you’re curious, she still looks freakin’ incredible: beautiful hair, flawless skin, and thin but not gaunt. EVERYONE, including our table, stared at her as she made friendlies with the big donors at their tables.

On Friday night, Brody and I attended an event at the hall in Gordon’s Commons on UW-Madison’s campus hosted by Merrill Lynch raising money for the American Family Children’s Hospital in Madison. Cindy Crawford was there because her brother, when he was two years old, was treated at UW’s hospital for leukemia. He unfortunately passed away two years later, and since then, the Crawford family has been involved in supporting the hospital.

There are lots of ways to contribute to the charity (besides paying for a table or seat for dinner). Outside of the ballroom, lots of goodies were lined up for a silent auction. I didn’t even get a chance to look at the items, but to be honest, everything was likely out of our price range anyways. Later on, they also had a cash auction. Lastly, a very generous woman agreed to match all gifts for the event up to $400,000. At the end of the night, Merrill Lynch presented the American Family Children’s Hospital with a check for approximately $616,000 for an addition, as they have already outgrown their space.

As for the food, it was quite delicious. We started with an appetizer of shrimp, asparagus “salad,” and a chilled pea and mint soup with bacon.

For the main course, we were served steak, a scallop, and some vegetables (potato and rutabaga I think). Brody wasn’t a fan of the scallop, but I thought it was cooked perfectly and happily ate his.

Sorry for the blurry iPhone photo

Dessert – my favorite – was a trio of chocolate mousse, rhubarb tart, coffee creme brûlée (the best of the three). Again, my amazing husband generously gave me his coffee creme brûlée.

After the eating portion of the night, there were speeches (including one by Cindy Crawford) and a video of a family impacted by the Children’s Hospital. The video was obviously very moving, especially with a little one on the way. I’ll admit to getting choked up a few times and shedding some tears, in particular when the husband said how strong his wife was throughout the whole ordeal. Because one of their twin boys needed to be sent to the American Family Children’s Hospital from Fond du Lac only a couple hours after birth, the first time she really saw her son was when he was five days old. I get teary-eyed even typing that now.

It’s scary to think about all of the bad stuff that can go wrong. I hope we never have to send our child to the Children’s Hospital, but like I said with my minor medical issues, I feel so darn lucky to live in a city with such incredible hospitals, doctors, nurses, and support staff.

Brody and I had a fun time getting dressed up and going out together, especially since we were able to contribute to such an amazing cause.

A few pregnancy related bits from the night:
-The wife of Mark Tauscher, a former Badger and Packer player, said I looked great as she walked past. At first I didn’t realize she was also pregnant, but luckily I did and then complimented her on her red high heels.
-I was one of at least five pregnant ladies at the event. I’m guessing we were all sniffling and crying through the video.
-My go-to drink when I’m out with others who are drinking is a club soda with a little cranberry juice and a lime.

Questions:
What celebrities have you seen in person?
What charities do you like to support (through time or money)?

Hey Shorty, It’s Your Birthday

Posted on April 28, 2013 by pintofgoals

Yesterday I turned the big 3-0.

Some people freak out over this milestone, but it didn’t bother me at all. It was actually a lovely day from start to finish.

It started with participating in the Crazylegs two-mile walk with my friend Jena. We made shirts – people loved them!

We walked along with my former coworker Brad and his wife Jess. They had their baby girl, Hadley, about two and a half months ago. The four of us talked baby stuff (I love hearing people’s birth stories) while Hadley slept.

We made out way into Camp Randall and posed at the finish line. Both of us got a wee but jealous of all of the red-faced runners. I miss the adrenaline, exhaustion, and sweat of finishing a good run. This summer, hopefully, I’ll be back at it.

It’s crazy (no pun intended) that a year ago I ran 14 miles, with the last five being the Crazylegs race. How things can change in a year!

At 1pm, I scheduled a prenatal massage at The Wellness Room – happy birthday to myself. She didn’t have a table for me to lie on my stomach, but it still felt amazing. Because of my self-diagnosed supine hypotensive syndrome (have I mentioned this before?), I was unable to stay on my back the whole time, even at an angle. I still felt super relaxed afterwards as obvious by my manly voice for the next couple hours.

Up until this point Brody had been absent from my birthday due to a hockey tournament. He had a game at 4:30pm, so I got to the rink and watched his team shut out the other team, 9-0. Brody scored one goal (which I missed because I was in the bathroom – story of my life) and one assist. Unfortunately they didn’t make the finals. Fortunately, this meant we got to go to dinner for my birthday.

Last week I told Brody I wanted to go to the Tornado Room for steak. He was surprised because normally I choose funkier or more ethnic restaurants. This pregnant lady wanted beef, which, interestingly enough, is also what I requested for my birthday dinner last year.

I basically knew exactly what I wanted when we sat down – baked french onion soup, petit filet (medium rare), and a green vegetable (I went with asparagus). Their steak is SO good, and I love the onion ring they serve on top of the steak. I failed to take any food pics, but if you live around Madison or are visiting and you want the best steak in town, go here and you will not regret it.

At home, I had a few bites of Chocolate Shoppe peanut butter cup ice cream and then went to bed. We were asleep by 10pm. Party animals around here.

As for presents, my sweet husband got me a ten classes at my favorite yoga studio, Inner Fire Yoga, so that post-birth, I can get in the routine of going once a week on Saturday or Sunday while he stays home with our little one. He also got me a fabulous diaper bag.

I had planned on just using his (the Diaper Dude), but this one is way cuter and looks more like an over-sized purse. He’s so good at gifts!

Like I said – a very good day.

Questions:
Are you a “birthday” person?
What would your perfect birthday be like?

Six for Sunday

Posted on March 10, 2013 by pintofgoals

1. I might have a hernia. I’m not sure yet because my doctor couldn’t confirm it 100%, but I am scheduled to meet with a surgeon on Friday – kind of nerve wrecking as a 27 week pregnant woman. I’m also unsure how much detail I want to go into this on my blog; we’ll see as I find out more this week.

2. On a more positive note, Brody and I brought a box of books to Half Price Books, were given $16.50 for them, and then spent $45 (after the $16.50 was subtracted) on new books. Ha! But we got a handful of baby and kids books, including a few classics.

Along with the bedding from Land of Nod, we also got some shelves (the natural wood ones).

They’ll look awesome in her room!

3. Last night we had dinner plans with our friends Andrew and Melissa. They’re so fun to hang out with and we all just click really well. We had plans to try Forequarter, but the wait was TWO HOURS! No thank you. Next we drove to A Pig in a Fur Coat, which I blogged about before, and their wait was 45 minutes. Just to see, Brody called Umami, which I also blogged about, and their wait was only 20 minutes. I love Umami and was excited to have everyone try it for the first time. Unfortunately, I forgot my phone and took no food pics, but I will tell you what we/I had: appetizers included pork and chives dumplings, chicken dumplings, beef buns (these were amazing), pulled pork buns, and for my meal I had my go-to miso ramen. Delicious!

4. Today I went to Babies R Us with a neighbor, Robin, to register.

Brody and I decided on most of the big stuff together (car seat, strollers, swing, bouncer, etc.) and put those items on our Amazon registry, so today was for the smaller items. I asked my neighbor because she has four kids (the youngest being 9 months), and Brody was cool with it.
Before picking up Robin, I printed off a registry checklist but ended up using the one Babies R Us gave me.

Robin was so helpful! She gave advice as to what brands work best for her and the boys (yup, four boys) and how many of each item I really need. Even though I had a bunch of stuff already picked out for the Amazon registry, it still took us two hours to go through the store. Here are some of the items I picked: Summer SwadleMe, aden + anais swaddle blankets and burp bibs, Boppy pillow, Avent bottles, Carter’s white onesies, and a quilted sheet for the pack n’ play. There were some items I didn’t like the selection of (e.g. Boppy covers) and some that I’ll buy on my own (e.g. disposable nursing pads). I also noted on our registry that we are not doing pink decor, and hopefully this will deter people from buying us lots of pink stuff.

5. The weather this weekend has been crappy: rain, rain, rain, and some snow tonight. While it’s great that lots of the snow is gone, it has also meant no trips to the dog park this weekend. Sad puppies (and dirty floor).

6. Brody and I finished the day out with some shopping: Costco, Sherwin Williams, and the grocery store. We also cleaned out the nursery even more. Sadly, we did not get around to bathing the dogs. I’m sure they don’t care, but they are getting a little ripe.

Have a good night!

Bowlin’ for Colons Charity Event

Posted on March 5, 2013 by pintofgoals

On Sunday of this weekend, Brody and I participated in a charity event called Bowlin’ for Colons, which raises money for colon cancer through the UW Carbone Cancer Center. Lots of bowling alleys in the Madison area participate for people to just stop in, but our friend reserves Ten Pin Alley and promises to fill it with friends and family. He has loads of connections (honestly, he knows people EVERYWHERE he goes) and a bigger family. This was our second year bowling and supporting this great organization.

For three games of bowling and a t-shirt, it’s $35 a person. There is also a raffle; Brody and I bought 25 tickets but sadly didn’t win anything.

These were the shirts.

Such a fun color! Last year they were kelly green. Brody ordered me a large – apparently he thought I’d be bigger at this point in my pregnancy. It’s all good, though; it’ll make a good sleeping shirt when I am bigger.

Our team also included Jena (Wine and Recipe friend) and Matt, a friend of Brody’s he met through his involvement in United Way. We had a fun team and were all very supportive – lots of high fives and cheers.

Jena started out strong!

Look at that form.

I made Brody take a picture with me. He was drinking a bloody, and I had a Diet Coke. Jena and I later ordered virgin bloodies. I really wanted one just for the olives and pickles.

A good but blurry pic.

I wasn’t being modest when I said Jena started out strong – check out those final scores.

Am I embarrassed by my incredibly low score? Not really. It was all in good fun, and I’m not a very competitive person anyways. I got better with each game though; the score of my last game was 109.

The event started at 10am, and by 11:30am and after two intense games, we were all hungry.

This bowling alley pizza was pretty good! I had two pieces, which fueled me through another game.

We finished our games around 12:30pm, but before we all went on our ways, I forced me team to take a picture.

Yeah for raising money and having fun!

If you live in the Madison area, consider giving this event a shot next year!

Questions:
What organizations do you like to support (with time, money, or events)?
Are you a bowler? Worst and/or best score?

Not a Weekend Warrior

Posted on February 19, 2013 by pintofgoals

My weekend update is a little late, but I have a good excuse: last night I judged a Forensics tournament at the high school I teach at and didn’t get home until 9pm. As they say, better late than never.

Brody was MIA this weekend (aka bachelor party in Chicago). He was gone from Friday to Monday and had a great time with his college buddies.

Knowing I’d be home alone, my mom and sister came to hang out. We had no definite plans, and that was fine by me.

As the title states, I was not especially productive this weekend, but I did still did stuff; plus, I actually remembered to take some pictures!

Already on Friday night Moose was missing Brody, staring at the door into the garage, waiting for him to walk in. I was missing him too, but I didn’t lie down on the tile floor and stare at the door.

I was super lame-o on Friday night, but it was awesome. My mom and sister weren’t coming until Saturday, so I’d turned to Netflix for some entertainment. I watched Goats and Hungry for Change. Bridget, via text message, challenged me to watch three documentaries this weekend, but I failed. Instead, the movies became less “intellectual” as the weekend continued: Knight and Day, Mirror Mirror, and The Five-Year Engagement. Maybe next weekend Bridget!

The walk into the dog park was like an ice rink. Inside the park wasn’t much better.

The sun was out both days this weekend, and the temperatures weren’t bad at all. Saturday I went solo, but my sister joined me on Sunday. Some parts of the park are very dangerous right now, and a dog park lady and fellow Golden owner scolded me for coming while pregnant. I was careful, though, and walked off the path in the snow or shuffled slowly over the ice.

Along with walking for forty-five minutes each day, I also made it to BodyPump Saturday morning. My hope of getting to a yoga class did not happen. Can I say “Maybe next weekend” for that too?

A Food Fight gift card was burning a hole in my wallet, and I rarely go out to eat when my mom is in town. I took my mom and sister to Monty’s Blue Plate Diner, where I hadn’t been since right after college. We had to wait for about thirty minutes, and my hunger pangs told me I needed something stat.

Insert image in mind of a massive cranberry muffin.

My sister had a bite, and I had about half the muffin. Luckily I had some self-control and saved room for lunch.

My mom had a grilled sandwich with chicken (still makes me want to gag), bacon, and goat cheese; my sister chose the Florentine (two poached eggs over sourdough toast with spinach, tomatoes and a mornay sauce); I ordered the “hippie” sandwich with grilled tempeh, mushrooms, onions, and avocado.

We were all very happy and left with full bellies.

The weekend also included shopping (Home Depot, Marshall’s, hair supplies store, and the Dollar Tree), eating (frozen pizza, burgers, salad, and potatoes with sour cream), baking (macaroons), reading (I finished The Good Soldiers), and even a little grading (sonnets written by my freshmen).

Very proudly, I’ll also admit that I was sleeping by 9:30pm Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

Before I turn in for the night, I’d like to give a shout out to my friends Jess and Brad who welcomed their baby GIRL (they had kept the gender a secret), Hadley Grace, into the world. She came two weeks early, but considering she was 8 lbs. 10 oz., I think she was ready!

Photo posted on Facebook and Instagram by Jess

Monday, Monday

Posted on February 11, 2013 by pintofgoals

“So good to me.”

I know a handful of older rock songs from my childhood. My dad loved music from the 60s and 70s, and as he drove me to and from ballet five days a week, that’s the music we listened to. This includes “Monday, Monday” by the Mamas and the Papas.

How was your weekend? Did you go out, socialize, eat too much, drink too much, or stay up late? Or, was it a relaxing, rejuvenating two days? Mine was the perfect mix of both.

Saturday was Brody’s birthday, and since we had guests coming in to town and other plans Saturday night, Brody’s birthday dinner happened on Friday. He requested pan-style pizza.

There are lots of recipes out there that mimic Pizza Hut’s pan pizza. I found one, bought the ingredients I was missing, and got to work right after school.

Surprisingly everything turned out! I used my Pampered Chef stonewear deep baking sheet and ended up baking the dough without toppings for five-ish minutes before loading it with a chunky tomato sauce, Italian sausage, pepperoni, onions, and cheese.

Post-pizza, I passed out on the couch at 8:30pm while Brody watched Grosse Pointe Blank. I was the life of the party!

We had friends from Chicago come visit this weekend. Adam and Megan arrived around noon on Saturday, and with empty bellies, we hit up The Alchemy for food and beer (obviously none for me). Last time I ate there I had the Matilda sandwich – I passed that recommendation on to Megan and she got it (and loved it). I had the vegetable grilled cheese and devoured it. Brody and Adam each ordered the pork sliders.

Post-lunch, we visited Ale Asylum. The three of them drank delicious hoppy beer (can you tell I miss it a little?) such as Hopalicious, Satisfaction Jacksin, and Ballistic while I sipped water and Diet Coke.

Post-drinking, we ran home to let the pups out and then went to Cooper’s for dinner. I had the fish and chips – not the healthiest (actually quite unhealthy) but it was delicious and I didn’t stuff myself.

Good food and beer = happy people!

Now for the best part of the weekend: the Avett Brothers concert!

The concert was at the Orpheum on State Street in Madison which is where we saw Trampled By Turtles two weekends ago. The line to get in was all the way down the block to Noodles. Once we got in line, though, it moved quickly. Inside we luckily found an area to stand/sit and enjoyed the show. They were amazing performers and so much fun. Even though I only recognized about a fourth of their songs, I was still bouncing, dancing, clapping, or swaying along to everything.

And because this post is getting a little word heavy, I’ll wrap up Sunday in a list: Woodman’s to grocery shop, breakfast of pancakes and bacon and baking and cooking (details coming later).

It also involved visiting open houses, napping, reading of The Good Soldiers, and some eating interspersed through all of that.

The weekend was the perfect mix of activity and relaxation and time with Brody, friends and myself. I was ready to tackle the day today having had such a great weekend.

I hope you also had a wonderful weekend!

Coming soon…tuna salad recipe and a banana bread recipe.

Questions:
What kind of beer do you like?
Who have you seen in concert recently?
What’s your perfect weekend like?

Weekend Where, What, and Why

Posted on January 28, 2013 by pintofgoals

Where? Our family room
What? A lot is going on: JP relaxing, Bridget making faces at Callie, and Scoop feeding his son Mason
Why? We had just gotten back from lunch at Graze and the boys were hanging out before going on a private brewery tour at Karben4

Where? On the couch in our family room
What? Mason (Booger Face) and me
Why? Because he’s so darn cute (even with the green snot) and I need practice with babies

Where? Ale Asylum
What? Private brewery tour (which was very special because they don’t officially start offering tours until February)
Why? This was a late Christmas present for Brody (as was the tour at Karben4) – it was awesome and we learned a lot

Where? Ale Asylum tasting room for dinner
What? Vegetable quesadillas
Why? I needed some veggies – it hit the spot

Where? Orpheum
What? Trampled By Turtles performing
Why? Our friends from MN (Scoop and Reagan) are neighbors with the lead singer and they make “crunchy” tunes

Where? Orpheum for the Trampled By Turtles concert
What? Bridget and I unsuccessfully taking a picture
Why? Because we’re friends and we wanted proof we hung out this weekend

Where? Our kitchen
What? Making a lemon loaf (aka fat loaf) with Bridget
Why? Because we obviously hadn’t consumed enough calories (although mine didn’t come from alcohol) – there were four sticks of melted butter and eight eggs in two loaves this recipe made

Where? Our kitchen stovetop
What? Dinner (a Wine and Recipe recipe) for JP, Bridget, Brody and me
Why? We like to eat…a lot – especially when hungover and/or tired

The Big Day

Posted on January 24, 2013 by pintofgoals

To be determined…

Our 20 week ultrasound is today at 3pm. I made this “note” for the tech to circle, and Brody and I will open it at dinner tonight (Fresco for Restaurant Week!). Hopefully we can hold off knowing for four hours.

To add to the excitement, I started feeling kicks yesterday. Finally! Having this anterior placenta really acts as a buffer.

I can’t wait to find out with Brody and share the news with our family and friends over the next few days.

Restaurant Review: A Pig in a Fur Coat

Posted on December 1, 2012 by pintofgoals

There are SO many new restaurants in Madison that Brody and I want to try: Gates & Brovi, Take Five, Buck and Badger, Roast, S2 Pizza Bar, and the list keeps going. With us being out of town so often this fall, we haven’t had open weekends…but as of now, we have pretty much no plans. No plane tickets, no weekend trips (besides a bachelor party Brody has in Chicago in February), no nothing.

One restaurant that had been on that laundry list was A Pig in a Fur Coat. I had actually chosen Umami for dinner, but they had a fifteen minute wait, and while that’s no big deal, Brody had noticed open tables at A Pig in the Fur Coat as he parked the car.

We were seated immediately. Two person tables flank the walls, and tall butcher block tables float in the middle. We had a private table in the corner.

Our waiter, who ended up being fantastic, brought us menus and explained how much he thought we may want to order. They have a variety of snack plates, small plates, and large plates.

We started with the rabbit rillette, which is basically rabbit pâté. I wasn’t sure what it was when we ordered it, but I am somewhat adventurous, and as long as it wasn’t raw, I figured I would be fine.

Oh, I was fine. Very fine. This was amazing. The rillette had great flavor and wasn’t overly gamey, and the pickled cherries added the perfect sweetness to the meatiness. Brody said this was the second best thing he tried tonight; it was my third.

We were just finishing up the rillette when the dates arrived. I love dates and was pleasantly surprised when Brody suggested we try this other snack plate.

The dates were stuffed with chorizo and had a piquillo pepper “sauce” over it. The combo of sweet and salty was very interesting and different than your normal date filled with a soft cheese and wrapped in bacon. The sweeter peppers were the key ingredient and added a freshness to this normally heavy appetizer. This was Brody’s fourth favorite item and my second.

After these snack plates, we knew having two small plates and a large plate would be too much. We had planned on having the poutine with foie gras and the ravioli, but that would’ve pushed us over the edge. The Canadian delicacy was cut, and the ravioli was filled with ricotta and egg yolks and served with brown butter and a strip of bacon remained.

Heavenly and heavy are the two words I’d use to describe this dish. This was fabulous, rich, and so unhealthy. There was a ton of egg yolk in the middle of this giant ravioli, and it blended nicely with the brown butter. Brody and I were in awe of how the ravioli was cooked yet kept the yolks runny. This small plate took first place for both of us.

At this point we were full but were not going to throw in the towel. Plus, we had already ordered the porchetta.

The tender pork fell apart and was well seasoned. I would’ve loved to have kept eating it, but I was stuffed. We ended up bringing about half of it home. This was Brody’s third favorite thing and my fourth. Again, I feel like giving it a lower rating makes it seem like it wasn’t delicious, but it was just that everything was so good.

In lieu of dessert, we shared a carafe of coffee to help settle our tummies. For all of that food, two glasses of wine, the coffee, and a good tip, the bill came to just over $80.

I highly recommend this restaurant. Besides the incredible food, the service was spot on (our waiter was so passionate and descriptive in his delivery), the ambiance was chill (warm lighting, simple decor), and they played great music (The Head and the Heart). They’re obviously doing well as it became increasingly busy as we ate. I can’t imagine anyone, besides a vegetarian, not loving this place. Go there, eat delicious food, and thank me.

Questions:
What new restaurant have you been to recently?
Are you the type of person who tries new things or always orders the tried and true favorite?

Jam Packed Weekend

Posted on November 12, 2012 by pintofgoals

Hi there! How are you all? Have a good weekend? A productive Monday? I hope so.

Once again, it’s a self fulfilling prophecy: I post about my weekends. I promise my posts will get more interesting in the future.

I did have a great weekend, though, and I did a lot! It was all fun stuff and left little room for grading. While this does mean I will be scrambling a little to get the last batch of personal narrative essays graded by tomorrow night, it was worth it.

Friday Night
Two teacher friends (from when I worked at a different school) and I still get together. We made plans to grab dinner and then see Jersey Boys at the Overture.

We met at Graze as Nicki had never been. After Lindsay and I gushed about it, she had to agree.

This map of Wisconsin in the lobby shows all of the farms they use ingredients from. I love how so many Madison restaurants support local businesses and buy local.

We had drinks at the bar and shared an order of cheese curds. They have some of the best in Madison, up there with those from The Old Fashioned.

For dinner, I knew what I was going to order before I had even walked in the door: the bibimbap. This delicious concoction includes a fried rice block, shredded raw vegetables, green onions, tofu or pork (I chose tofu), a runny egg, and chili sauce. You mix it all up and dig in.

Not the prettiest meal, but the flavors and textures all meld perfectly together.

Lindsay and Nicki both got the pub burger which comes on a homemade English muffin as the bun and with double-fried French fries. Like the cheese curds, these are contenders for the best fries in Madison. I believe they are cooked in duck fat, which explains it.

With about fifteen minutes until show time, we headed to the Overture and found our seats. We were in the top balcony but only a few rows up and in the very center.

It was an amazing show, and I was surprised how many songs I knew (however, I am not the type to sing along). The story line covered a lengthy span of time, but it was really the music and amazing singers who made this musical what it was. Even though it was incredible, I still enjoyed Wicked more. I’m not sure why – maybe a stronger plot? That’s probably the English teacher in me thinking that way.

Towards the last half an hour, I got sleepy. If I had my druthers (Brody used this expression on Saturday, and I thought I should use it too), I’d be in bed by 9:30pm on a Friday. Yup, I’m a grandma. But, I had so much fun catching up with Lindsay and Nicki at dinner and getting all cultured (ironic diction there), it was worth the late night.

Saturday Morning
Mel asked if I was interested in volunteering with her for the Girls On the Run 5K in Waunakee.

I ran this last year with my sister-in-law and thought its be fun to help out and run again. Mel and I arrived at 8am and helped people register for the run. The time flew by, and before we knew it, we were listening to the National Anthem.

We all had the same bib numbers! We are all winners.

Picture courtesy of Mel

The run was fun, and SO cute! All of these little girls running with their moms, dads, and mentors. It was a hilly course, and due to the volume of people and walkers, Mel and I didn’t break any records. At the end, we did see and hear the overly supportive/forceful parent yelling for his kid to sprint to the end. As she passed us, I heard her say, “This hurts Dad.”

Saturday Afternoon
Three major events happened: I took the dogs to the park, I napped, and I went shopping. It was epic.

Saturday Evening
Brody and I were invited to the annual DAIS (Domestic Abuse Intervention Services) Gala. It was a swanky, black tie optional event at The Madison Club. There was a silent auction (we lost out on some photos of New York) and a live auction after dinner (Brody put his number up once).

The meal was incredible: mushroom soup with a small salad; fried braised short ribs, a piece of steak, puréed rutabaga, and fall vegetables; and a chocolate mound with cake, peanut butter mousse, drizzled with a raspberry caramel sauce. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the time or place to take photos, so you’ll just have to imagine this three-course meal.

DAIS is in the midst of a Capital Campaign, as they are raising money to build a new facility. It is an amazing cause to support and there is a great need for a larger space. It is heartbreaking to hear how many women and children they have to turn away because their beds are filled. If you live in Dane County, I highly encourage you to look at their website and consider donating.

Sunday
I could’ve used a rest day after all of that activity, but we had more plans. I made it to the park early with the dogs and did a little grading before heading to Fredonia. My sister, the music teacher, directed her district’s musical. We saw the matinee of The Wizard of Oz, and she did a great job. It sounds like it’s A LOT of work with choreographing, coordinating practices, dealing with kids from elementary school through high school, etc. Ugh, I am exhausted just thinking about it. Good work Laura!

Happy Monday!

Questions:
What’d you do this weekend?
Did you run or have a race this weekend?
What’s the best musical you’ve ever seen?