Monday, April 28, 2014

weekend in milwaukee

 Hello friends ~ it's a gloomy day here in northern Illinois and from looking at the
weather forecast, not much is going to change within the next 10 days. I would've
thought with the month of May coming up, that the days would be warmer and sunnier
and that I could finally get flowers, veggies, and herbs planted and the patio all set
up. After the loong, bitterly cold winter we had, I guess it's still taking Mother Nature
a long time to warm up. I did plant some chives in my herb garden yesterday and my
pea plants are awaiting us to build a simple trellis, but that's as far as we've gotten.

Brian and I enjoyed an overnight stay in Milwaukee, Wisconsin this weekend.
We stayed at a Four Points by Sheraton hotel and were impressed with how they
had updated the rooms. They have a more modern vibe now, which we really liked.
I enjoy several different decorating styles ~ traditional, cottage, mid-century modern,
and a more masculine modern. I suppose that's why it's hard for me to settle on just
one look! Anyway, we thought it was clever how the bedside lights were built into
each side of the headboard. Makes reading in bed easier and is a nice space saver.


 We also liked how the TV was mounted on a beam on the wall instead of just 
directly on the wall. You could take this idea in different directions according to your
decorating likes. I could see using a big piece of reclaimed wood to mount the TV on.


 I loved this mirror. I'm looking for something similar for the wall over my fireplace.


 Friday night, we had dinner at Cempazuchi - a mexican restaurant we had seen
featured on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. It was every bit as good as Guy Fieri claimed
it was...from the peanut and sesame based salsa to the huge variety of tequilas and
hand-poured margaritas to the homemade mole sauce. (Little side note: I am a huge mole
aficionado. I may or may not be known for licking mole sauce off my plate in
restaurants when no one was looking.)



 And when the waitress told me they had homemade ("never mixes here!", she proudly
proclaimed) Sangria, I was in. I told her I'd have one. She then said, "OK! Would you
like white, rose, or red?" I was like, "Are you kidding me? You not only have homemade
Sangria, but three different kinds? How do you decide on which one to have?" She 
replied, "Oh, I usually work my way up...white, rose, then red!" I thought that was pretty
funny and clever, but I chose to stick to one. I had the rose Sangria and it was delish.


On Saturday, we went to the Mitchell Park Conservatory Domes.


Our favorite dome was the desert one ~ perhaps because we've never experienced
this type of environment. We found the cacti especially fascinating.



It's so amazing to see such beautiful flowers growing on desert plants.


 We got a kick out of this plant: Old Man Cactus! Evident because of it's long,
white "hair".


 We also went into the tropical dome, which was lush with beautiful plants and
water features. It was so humid in there though, that we started feeling a little
sick and had to leave to get some cool air.




 We then headed to the Milwaukee Public Market, which we've been to several
times. We had lunch there and walked around just to "window shop".


Our last stop of the day was walking around Milwaukee's Historic Third Ward
neighborhood. We found this great junk shop called Hoarder's World. It has three 
floors of stuff and junk packed to the ceiling. We didn't buy anything, but it was fun
to look around.




My favorite part of the shop? The owner's dog, Champ who was resting
outside. What a sweet pup.


Hope your weekend brought you some fun as well! 
Happy Monday, everyone.
 

28 comments:

  1. Glad you two had a good time. I love mole sauce. There was this one restaurant in Tyler Texas that had the very best mole.
    Brenda

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    1. Ah, another mole sauce lover! A truly good mole is hard to find. I made it one time and it's very labor intensive.

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  2. I spied a little side table I would have been happy to bring home, but really how can you decide on anything when there's so much stuff everywhere around you! I'm glad you had a nice time.

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    1. I agree - there was TOO much stuff! It was a bit overwhelming.

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  3. Looks like you had a good weekend! What a great name for a shop! Sounds like my kind of place :)

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  4. Sounds like you had a great weekend trip. Good for you. I think Hoarders World would be a good name for me and my storage building. LOL

    Judy

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  5. Looks like a wonderful trip with lots of lovely things to see and do and ideas to bring home too!! Glad that you had such a good time. xx

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  6. This looks like such a fun weekend, Melanie...the food looks amazing! Love the pretty photo of you at the end, too!

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    1. You're too kind, Linda - thank you. And yes, the food was delicious! I could easily eat there every weekend. Guess it's a good thing we don't live too close. ;-)

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  7. What a fun weekend! I love doing all of these same things. Hoarder's World sounds like my dream come true! Haha. I love the look of the public market too. Those are always wonderful places. My husband and I are planning a trip to San Francisco in June and I've already got a large public market on the agenda for one of the days. I can't wait! The hotel room looks terrific, I'm sure you had a nice, relaxing night there. Thanks for sharing your fun trip!

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    1. You will have a blast in SF - one of my favorite cities!

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  8. What a great weekend. Lots to do in Milwaukee. Loved the pictures of the market etc. I love mole too.
    Balisha

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    1. Milwaukee is a nice diversion from Chicago - a little smaller and less busy. But still lots of fun things to do!

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  9. Hi Melanie,

    What a wonderful weekend you had! The hotel room looks really inviting and cozy, even though it is modern! I love the colours they've used (rusty reds and autumn ambers,, oranges), to create warmth and elegance. Your visit to the Mitchell Park Conservatory Domes is an amazing place to spend an afternoon; I would have been snapping away at all the pretty flowers and greenery for sure! Dining out, exploring markets and other sites of a city is always exciting for me and so glad you got a chance to discover some of the fantastic features of this one.

    Have a great week!

    Poppy

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    1. The room was indeed cozy (the bed was very comfortable) despite it being modern. I took a ton of pictures in the domes, but of course, only put a few of them on my blog.

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  10. It looks like you had such a fun weekend! The meal and room look fantastic, and how fun to visit a 'desert dome!' I am so enjoying my 'new' studio office - with the new floors! Hopefully soon all three bedrooms will have new windows, and the carpet will be removed from the last two bedrooms. It makes such a difference! Here's to Zippo eventually reaching 'legal age' like Tiger will this August! ... Donna

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    1. Glad to hear that you are enjoying your new studio/office. I know what you mean about the old carpet being removed...we're in the same boat! Our master bedroom is the next and last room to tackle.

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  11. Sounds like you all had a very delightful weekend!! You had me drooling over your yummy Mexican food...I love a good Mexican restaurant!
    Great post, beautiful photos, and wonderful tour of the sites you visited.
    Mary Alice

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  12. What a lovely trip! Looks like a very special place to spend a weekend. Love the market!

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  13. This looks just like my dream weekend! Nice food, and beautiful places to explore... Thanks for sharing!
    Greetings all the way from England!

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    1. Well, hello there Debbie "all the way from England"! Thank you so much for visiting my blog and leaving a comment.

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  14. I have always wanted to make sangria. It sounds like it was very good. The large cacti are beautiful. It is raining here from all those storms but my roses need it so I will not complain. Have a good week, olive

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    1. I have a fantastic summer sangria recipe...I will send it to you! Tons of rain here lately, too. I miss the sun.

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