2nd Halloween Event: Halloweekends @ Cedar Point

USUALLY one of my favorite days of the year.  Halloweekends at Cedar Point.

We ran into a bit of a glitch this year.  It was THE busiest day that some employees say in 3 years, all summer included.

We all still had fun.  We rented a great condo on the water with a view of the park - much improved from the utterly crappy hotels around there.  Seriously, if anyone from the Sandusky chamber of commerce ever comes across this post, you should be embarrassed.  The hotels are overpriced, and I've literally had roaches in my presence.

We had glasses for beer and wine before the park.  This was the only wine glass we could find ...

We got to the park a little bit late after having a great BBQ at the condo, and only ended up getting to go on 2 rides.  If anyone plans on going to Cedar Point EVER, you should buy a FAST LANE Pass.  You can skip the line on almost all of the rides.  It's $75 and very much worth it (on top of your regular ticket).  Oh, buy it online the day before because by the time we got there they were sold out.  They only sell a limited amount.  They also have a super pass that lets you into any ride for $95, and a FRIGHT LANE for all of the haunted houses for $70.  We've never been to one of the haunted houses there because the lines are so long.

Liz just made the height requirement for the mine right.  You heard right, folks, one of the two rides we got to go on was the mine ride!

Great decorations throughout the park.  This giant beast was animatronic, with a speaker.  The character was saying things like, "Don't make me get up."

Sea wasn't allowed to wear his hat on the mine ride.  His hair was HIGH.  This picture doesn't do it justice!

The guys thought the beer line was too long, so they sat down to order from a waitress.  Then they were told they had to order food.  They each had one bite before leaving.

Waited 2 hours in the parking lot before getting out.  It was ridiculous.  And this van figured out a great way to get their GIANT carnival bear home.

Back at the condo, Sea & Franny curled up under the princess blanket

It was a good day, with our much needed hidden flasks (did I mention that the front gate didn't even ask to look inside my very large backpack?  Is anyone else slightly disturbed by that?)  It was beautiful weather, and the CarnEVIL and FRIGHT ZONE walkthroughs are always great.

Peace.  Love.  Serene

1st Halloween Event of the Season - Witches Only Dinner Party

Mwah ha ha - do I hear spirits in the air?  

I certainly did on Saturday night with all the witches around!  My annual Halloween dinner party was a hit!

With the weather being so nice, we were able to eat out on the deck, with a friend's canopy for protection from the rain (thanks Darleen!)  Placecards were made from mini pumpkins, glow sticks inserted into paper lanterns made the perfect lighting and ambiance, and wine bottles littered the table.  It was a perfect night.

The middle lantern is battery operated.  The other two are paper lanterns from the dollar store with a glow stick inside.  It made a very cool effect!

Great food and great friends - could it be a more perfect night?

 Very cool dinner by candles and lanterns

The night was truly complete with a visit to the local haunted house (the story was that entire family was murdered and the killer was never found) and karaoke at my favorite place. 

 

Listening to the man behind the speaker try to scare us as I waited to inside the haunted house.

Photo credits to Samantha and Darleen!

Thanks Sam, Katy, Donna, Michelle, Melissa, Darleen, Audrey, & Kimmy for making the night so special!  Michelle E, and Michelle L, we missed you!

Peace.  LOVE.  Serene

Guess what's coming ... (giggle) ... BOO!

That's right ... it's getting to be that time of year!

The other day I stopped into SPIRIT HALLOWEEN, which has been open since  August.  So exciting!

What are you going to dress up as this year?  What should I be this year? I need to start making a costume!

When am I allowed to start decorating?  My mom always said Oct 1st, which I'm sure I had marked on the calendar, but my roommate now says I can start whenever I want.  I think mid-September sounds good.  I'll start with the pumpkins and the fall-type stuff (And ghosts. Ghosts are always in season), then I'll move on to skeletons, ghouls, and spiders).  This weekend sounds like an excellent time to start decorating.  My roommate said it was ok.  : )

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Retro Post: 4th of July

4th of July in Marquette, MI

And yes, this is what the Kid Rock song is all about ....

There's something magical about going back to your hometown each year at a time that you know lots of your old friends are also coming back into town (or still live there, but willing to come out on the town).  This year happened to be ridiculously hot in Marquette, MI.  I'm pretty sure candles were melting without being lit.  And of course most people don't have A/C because they simply don't need it (usually).  So my mom had to invest in a couple of new fans so everyone had their own directly on them, in order to sleep at night.

In addition, I usually like to spend some time in nature, and what I call "Serene Point", which is the spot in which I decided that my life had to have different priorities, with exercise, nutritional, ecological consciousness, and my inner Martha Stewart / Deepak Chopra.  If you've read the blog, no doubt you know about Serene Point.  Anyhoo ... THIS year the heat brought flies.  A lot of flies.  A lot of BITING flies.  So while I tried to go do my meditation, apparently mother nature said, "Not this year, baby."

This year I convinced my friend Michelle to experience the wonders of Marquette, and we had a great time to say the least!  We were also often joined by Baha, from Turkey, who was staying with my mom over the summer.

Walking around at the annual Washington Street parade - Lots of work go into these floats!  And you won't get arrested for carrying around beers!  (the police, I'm sure, would tell you differently)






Seabrook's vintage scooter came in really handy on a very busy weekend - not a lot of parking spots - notice the hog / pig on the front fender.  I'm not sure when the curly tail got broken off.

We had a really good time all week - packed with activities.  This is literally how Sea slept for like 2 hours.

You can't go to Marquette and NOT get Frosty Treats.  Think of it as a classy Dairy Queen.  Ice cream with pizazz!

Beer sampler at The Vierling - also a necessary stop in Marquette.  The blueberry beer is the best you'll ever taste!

BEAUTIFUL VIEWS!

We also had a lot of great food - this is the family at The Portside.  Lots of great food, but you have to try the breadsticks and the round ones!

Climbing sugarloaf mountain - oh no, we don't take the trail!  We scale rocks, jump gorges, walk balance beam fallen trees, rock climb, not knowing where on the mountain we're going to end up.  We eventually got to the top in record time.  So much fun!  

And of course I couldn't resist a handstand!

And I always have to have karaoke :)

Off-Roading on the way home to avoid traffic is fun, but scary when we are in the middle of the woods, our GPS doesnt know where we are, and Sea says "We can make it through that mud puddle."  And it turns out that its a small mud LAKE, and we almost DIDN'T make it through.  Poor little Ford Edge did a lot of work that day!

Not pictured:  Going way out of our way to buy a lot of huge fireworks, 4th of July parade, Fireworks at the lower harbor, International food fest (seriously - they have chinese food and everything!), Bike bus pub crawl (that was hard work!), and time at the 2 other brewpubs in town (yes, there are 3 within a mile).

What a great way to spend a week!

Peace.  Love.  Serene.

Retro Post: Pool Party

I think I've said this before, but every year I get more and more kids to the pool party, and it's AWESOME!  I know that maybe some adults don't care for that, and they want more of an adult-oriented keg party, but it's a Sunday for pete's sake!  So here are some pics of the great fun we had (in June) at the annual pool party!

Granny looking snazzy, as usual

Raft / pool chair forts!

Katy, our resident OWL - flipping!

Some team members from Bloomfield Gymnastics stopped by!

Just chilling in the sun - couldn't be better!

Peace.  Love.  Serene.

Too much of a good thing?

I know I'm active.  I know I love to do "stuff".  I'm usually up for anything, especially if it's new.  But is it all too much?  I've recently been accused of doing too much.  Yes, almost every weekend of my summer is booked in advance, and pretty much fall too - all the way to Christmas.  But what would I give up?  Am I not taking enough time to rest?  Is it causing me to get sick?  I just don't want to miss out on anything!  I am also a big believer in living in the moment.  Love the season you're in.  Live it up while you can!  So any feedback is very welcome on this subject.

So I'm headed up north again tomorrow for my BEST FRIEND'S WEDDING!  Yay!  I love Sam, and Alex makes her sooooooo happy.  I'm so excited to share this with her.  And my recent project has been planning her bachelorette party.  I'm can't share details because she may read this, but all I can say is that it's going to be one hell of a party!  I'll post pictures after the fact.

Another reason that I'm so excited for this wedding is that she's taken so many things I have tried to concentrate on the last few years, and incorporating it into her wedding.  She's connecting to nature by having her wedding at the beach.  It's actually the beach that they had their first date.  How cute is that?  Her mom is growing all of the flowers for the wedding, and she is the LEAST STRESSED bride I have ever seen!  She didn't even pick out our bridesmaids dresses - she said "I'm sure you'll pick something pretty"... and we didn't even have to match!  She is so relaxed that I truly believe she's going to enjoy her wedding.  So many brides say that they barely even remember their big day because there were so many things to worry about ... not Sam!  She's going to be a rock star!  I LOVE YOU SAM!

Im going to get a bunch of activities on the blog soon - and don't be surprised if you get a bunch of pictures.   Yeah.  I just like to do stuff.

Peace.  Love.  Serene.

Whole 30 Wrap-Up

Sorry guys - you were probably thinking "That's it?  What happened when adding food back in?"

I wasn't as diligent at the very end of the plan.  I did add in dairy only for 2 1/2 days - and I felt perfectly fine (YAY!) so although I understand the fattening agent of dairy (human milk is for human babies to fatten up and get nutrients, and cow's milk is for calves to ... well, you get it), I am happy to say that I have no allergy to it.  And oh my god, it was the BEST broccoli and cheese omelet I have EVER tasted!!  (yeah, I ate half of it before I remembered to take a picture)

Gluten, unfortunately, different story.  My first gluten was and Olga's sandwich & snackers (which I didn't pay attention to, but had soy in it as well).  It wasn't like a felt nauseous or anything, I just didn't feel awesome later that day, and the next day.  I had a little bit of tummy rumbling, and I felt a bit sluggish.  You know what I mean - Nothing in particular was wrong, I just didn't feel great.

I was then getting ready for my annual pool party, so I gave gluten about 2 days as well.  After I started making food, all bets were off.  Gluten, potatoes, beans, corn, mayo, sugar ... it was all there.  So for the party, and then the leftovers last week, I just didn't feel like I did during the plan.  I may take a couple of weeks of no legumes to see how it feels.

So here's the plan:  While I'm not sure that I am ready to go gluten-free, I am making conscious decision to eat LESS gluten.  That I don't need toast with my omelet - fresh fruit instead.  Less pasta in my diet.  I have also talked to people about the best gluten-free bread and pasta.  Im not sure how that works, but Im willing to give it a shot!

Summer is the perfect time for this plan because everything is better on the grill - I love grilled chicken, grilled zucchini, baked sweet potato, all done on the grill.  Try grilled shrimp, chicken, steak, and almost any veggies.  As you can see, I tried grilled strawberries and cherries.  Ehhh.  I like them fresh and cold better.  I also loved steamed veggies.

Also, mix any veggies you have in the house with eggs for a great mix - this was onion, tomato, shredded carrot, and zucchini.

I will finish up with my first "dessert" food after my Whole 30 plan.  If you are ever in the Ferndale, MI, area, you HAVE to stop in at Treat Dreams.  I tried the blueberry riesling, and the strawberry cheesecake, before deciding on this decadent dark chocolate with cinnamon and chipotle.  So good, and my tongue was kind of on fire.  YUM!

All in all, I have heard so many times "You've really slimmed down", "Your skin is glowing", "You look great!" .... so that kind of makes it worth it.  And now I know what I'm in for if I ever decide to do it again - I know how to shop, and what to make.  If anyone else wants to piggy-back on my new knowledge, let me know!

WE CAN ALL DO THIS!

Peace.  Love.  Serene.