Play in the City

Won't be in Milwaukee for New Year's ...

This year Dave and I are making the trip up to Minnesota to ring in 2007 with Amanda and Mark.

However, if we were staying in Milwaukee for New Year's, I do believe I know what we might be doing. We might very well be spending our evening enjoying colorful cocktails, delicious hors d'oeuvres and soulful music at the ever-so-chic InterContinental Milwaukee.

I wasn't aware of the fact when Christi and I checked it out several weeks ago, but along with its multimillion dollar renovations, the Wyndam Milwaukee City Center recently got a new name, too. 

I'm slightly fixated on this hotel since I visited ZenDen.

I really did feel like I was in a different city when I walked through its doors. And that isn't a slam on Milwaukee, for there are many, many other venues around town that are sleek and upscale. There was just something a little different about this one, and I believe it's a sign of the direction that Milwaukee is heading in.

For New Year's at InterContinental, guests can enjoy open bar from 9 p.m. until closing time, passed hors d'oeuvres from 10 until 11:30 p.m., and a champagne toast at midnight. Also, in order to dramatize the international influences that the hotel has been touched by, guests can toast with different "InterContinental World Clock Cocktails" at the passing of each hour to mark the start of the New Year in another country.

In addition, guests will be invited to submit a New Year's Resolution into a drawing for a chance to win the ultimate InterContinental Milwaukee Lifestyle Experience Prize Package at midnight. The package features limousine service, two nights stay for two in the new presidential suite, an exclusive dining experience at Kil@wat, cocktails at ZenDen, breakfast at CLEAR, and theater tickets to complete the downtown experience.

What a TREAT for whoever wins that!!

The New Year's Eve package at the InterContinental is $80 per person (or $90 if you pay that night) and you can find more information here.
I'd also like to mention Swig, which is where we went for New Year's Eve last year. They took good care of us and the food was just divine. For $75 a person, you can eat and drink to your heart's content.

I definitely learned a lesson last year, though: when it comes to living large on New Year's Eve, I believe one must choose to either eat really well or drink really well.

Perhaps some people can manage to eat a multi-course, rich meal and then still enjoy plenty of drinks and the happy feeling that comes with, but Dave and I couldn't do it last year. We ate way too much (which, of course, we love to do!) but then the drinks didn't have much effect other than to make us a little sick.

If you want to drink like a king or queen, hit up ZenDen and savor those smooth martinis. If you want to eat like a king or queen, hit up Swig and order plate after plate of mouth-watering tapas.

Of course, there's a slew of other options around the city, too. Your favorite restaurant, bar, club, theater ... they all have specials going on. That's one big reason I love New Year's – the options for having a fabulous time are seemingly endless!

However you choose to spend your New Year's, be safe! And have a great time!

The Power of Google

Thank goodness for Google. And Yahoo and Dogpile, too, but especially Google.

Not only do I use Google, oh, 100 times a day both for professional and personal purposes, but every week, a steady stream of visitors arrives at Play in the City via this search engine.

I appreciate the traffic, but what’s even better is the power to see what people are searching to get to me. Typepad allows me to click and see exactly what was typed in, and it’s quite enlightening to see which activities, restaurants, festivals, etc. get searched the most often.

Better than the information value, though, is the entertainment value. Just this week I decided to start keeping a list of the random searches I get – and I regret not writing down the gems of the past year and a half!

Some examples from the past few days:

“Divorces from geocaching”

“Sexy snow bunnies”
“Cheap martinis”

“What does a skydiver hope to see when he/she pulls the rip cord?” 

“Hot Brett Favre photos”

Perhaps now that I’ve started a list, I’ll have to do a “Best-of” list every few months …

Anyway, this post has a point. I’ve been getting a slew of searches for Candy Cane Lane and the Polar Bear Plunge the past couple weeks – and I’m so happy to be a resource on these things!

For those of you who aren’t here via a Google search but who perhaps weren’t reading yet at this time last year, allow me to take you back, will you? You can read about Candy Cane Lane here and you can read about my first Polar Bear Plunge here. And, I failed to mention it last year, but donations are taken at Candy Cane Lane and they benefit the MACC Fund.

If you’re curious, I will be heading out to Candy Cane Lane again this year – it’s tradition! – but I will not be partaking in the Polar Bear Plunge a second time. Dave and I will be visiting Amanda and Mark in Minnesota over New Year’s so – aw shucks – I have to miss out on jumping into the icy waters of Lake Michigan.

I’m teasing, of course – the Polar Plunge was a blast. But as I’ve stressed before, when it comes to activities that are particularly scary (skydiving) or crazy (polar plunge), I’m a one-shot gal! Check it off the life list and move on!

Point being – if you’ve never done the Polar Plunge, mark it on your calendar now! Noon, Milwaukee’s lakefront, January 1. You only live once!

In other news, it’s the first day of winter today. The days get longer and longer from here on out! Gotta love that! 

Oh Christmas Tree

Let the holiday season commence – we got our Christmas tree!

Yes, folks. We hunted. We appraised. We decided and sawed. We hauled, we hoisted, we paid and we took that tree home with us. And now here I am, basking in its soft glow and inhaling its ever-so-piney smell. 

This past Sunday was gloomy but mild, so Dave and I were allowed the luxury of taking our sweet time walking around Buffalo Bill’s Christmas Tree Farm in Franklin in search of the perfect tree.

I had found three tree farms that we were considering visiting and, being easily swayed by the promise of free cookies, I decided on Buffalo Bill's. The other two sounded good, too, but “free hot chocolate” just couldn’t compare with “free hot chocolate, coffee, cappuccino, and cookies – with hayrides and a bonfire on the weekends.”

Following a scrumptious breakfast at Jean Pierre, we drove the 25 minutes or so out to the tree farm, hand-painted signs pointing us in the right direction along the way. 

After we parked, an adorable blond girl with a red painted nose greeted us, pointed us to the bucket of saws and explained the pricing. The trees were $47 up to eight feet and $14 per foot after that.

As we walked out to where the trees were, we passed by fenced-in farm animals and saw the bonfire, which was mostly just a smoldering pile of ashes at the moment. The place was crowded with families and couples roaming about, all in high spirits, snapping pictures and smiling.

We wandered up and down the rows of trees, surveying each one that we thought might be a possibility.

I didn't like the kind that were thick and cone shaped – where do the ornaments go then? Some were too tall, others too sparse, and still others had dying branches on them.

Finally we found our tree.

A perfect eight feet with plenty of branches but room enough between them for lights and ornaments. Dave got on his knees and started to saw, and then he gave me a turn. I was huffin and puffin before too long - it required strength to keep the saw going back and forth, and it wasn't too easy at that angle.



I gave the saw back to Dave and held the tree by its trunk as he completed the cut. I carried the saw and he carried tree, and as I followed him I couldn't help but think how cute we were, all newlywed-y and cutting down our first Christmas tree. I daydreamed about how I'd think back on this day when it was five of us out there scouting for a tree instead of just two. (But I also thought about how much I appreciate this time of just the two of us right now!)



We brought our tree over to where a few men were standing by a machine that shakes it and bundles it up. We were given a ticket and went inside the trailer to pay.

Inside, kids were decorating ornaments and getting their faces painted, and on a table were assorted sausages and cookies – two of my favorite foods! We paid our $49 and some change and then grabbed some hot chocolate and cookies before heading back outside to collect our tree.



A nice teenage boy brought it to our car for us and put it on top, and then Dave went to get some twine. Attaching it was pretty easy and only took about five minutes, but when we got inside the car we were surrounded by rope zig zagging around our heads. Probably not the safest thing, but we made it home ok.

We were happy with our tree farm choice – everyone at Buffalo Bill's was extremely friendly, wishing us "Merry Christmas" and thanking us for joining them. We thought the cheap plastic soldiers and candy canes and Santas lining the driveway on the way in could use a little updating, but in the end, they just added to the place's charm.

Santa Claus walking around talking with kids, the girl with the red nose, the animals, the fire, the food, the face-painting – it all adds to the experience, and the experience is what people are looking for. I loved it.

On our way back, we stopped so I could get my picture taken by one of the Buffalo Bill's signs we saw. I was amused by the part that said "Come to our farm." I wanted to pose above the sign so I started to climb onto the trailer – and I darn near broke the whole thing when it started to crash down under my weight. (Um, it's not smart to climb on a trailer when it's not attached to anything.)



(Oh, and I realize I look a bit hung over and unshowered in these pictures ... it's because, well, I was.)

Despite a little worrying that the tree was going to fall off as we sped along on the freeway, we got it home safely. Having never put a tree in a tree stand before, we did a pretty good job of getting it in there tight and straight. Dave helped put the lights on, following me around and around the tree, but by the time I was ready to put ornaments on, he'd lost interest. It was fine by me – I like to decide where each one is going to go!



Before long, our tree was complete, and it's beautiful. We moved the couch down so the tree could be seen well from outside, and Dave commented on how homey our apartment feels now and suggested that maybe we should leave the tree up all year.

I don't think that'll happen, but we sure plan to enjoy the warm feeling it brings to our home for the next month!

A peek at our holiday

I'm so fascinated by the blogosphere because it allows you to get a glimpse into people's lives, a glimpse that you normally wouldn't be able to get …

This morning I checked out Taste of the Town and Audra had shared photos of her family's Thanksgiving festivities.

As I ate my Thanksgiving feast yesterday, I wondered about all the other families celebrating the holiday together … what were they eating? What were they talking about? I think it's so nice to know that all over the country, millions of other people are doing exactly what you're doing at the same time.

I was glad Audra shared her day with us, and I figured I'd come on and share a few photos of our day, too.

Dave's parents hosted Dave's mom's side of the family and my mom and brothers and Grandma joined us, too. It was a full house! Dave made a cheesecake like he does every year, I made green beans and rolls, and after dinner we had a bonfire in the backyard.

I love Thanksgiving because its sole purpose is to be with loved ones and give thanks for all of life's blessings. It doesn't get much better than that.

I hope you all had a wonderful day yesterday and that you have much to be thankful for!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Christmas parade tomorrow

Tomorrow morning is the 80^th Annual Milwaukee Holiday Parade. It begins at 9:30 a.m., will start at Kilbourn and Prospect and end at Grand Avenue Mall, and will take about an hour to pass a given point.

Dave and I went last year and I completely loved it. I’m a bit sad we can’t make it this year – we’re taking a class at 8 a.m., which I’ll post about Sunday, and then Dave has to work for a few hours.

If you’re free, head downtown and check out the parade – it’s sure to get you in the holiday spirit!

Keepin it real!

It’s something I’ve never done before. 

Now that I’m married, I think it’s time.

And I think I’m going to like it.

I’m talking about cutting down my very own Christmas tree!

Growing up, my family almost always had a real tree, but mom and dad bought it from the Kmart parking lot. Practical, but not exactly the stuff that traditions are made of.

I’ve heard of this ritual of walking around a tree farm in the cold weather, armed with a hacksaw, searching for that perfect Christmas tree. It sounds exciting and rewarding and romantic, and I’m ready to have the pleasure of experiencing it!

Yes, in honor of our first Christmas as a married couple, Dave and I are going to make the leap to the real tree. And yes, I know all about what comes with getting a real tree – the expense, the transporting, the sap, the needles, the maintenance, the disposal.

I say bring it ON.

But, you see, being a u-cut-it virgin, I am unsure of where to find my perfect Christmas tree. I have done my Google searching and these are what I’ve come up with near Milwaukee:

Noffke Tree Farm in Mequon

Buffalo Bill’s Christmas Trees in Franklin

Stumpf's U-Cut Christmas Tree Farm in Cedarburg

According to this website, Buffalo Bill’s has free hot chocolate, cider and cookies, as well as hayrides and campfires on the weekends.  Noffke Farm and Stumpf’s also serve refreshments.

I’m all about the experience, and I hope to choose the best farm for my first cutting-your-own-Christmas-tree excursion.

If any of you have opinions, thoughts or suggestions as far as any of these places, or other ones, are concerned, I would love to hear them! And if I don’t get any good advice, I suppose I’ll have to just pick one and hope for the best ... 

We’ll be heading out in search of our tree next weekend, and I’ll be sure to report back on the experience! 

Veteran's Day

On this Veteran's Day, I want to give a very big and heartfelt thank you to all of the men and women who have served and are currently serving in the United States military.

I am ashamed to admit that I don't normally give Veteran's Day a lot of thought. Of course I'm always grateful to those who serve, but today when I woke up I really thought about it more than usual.

The idea of leaving my family and my life to go to a faraway country and actually fight and have my life in jeopardy every day; to sleep in a strange bed and eat strange food and be surrounded by strangers while missing my loved ones every minute, not knowing when or if I'll be home again … these ideas are so foreign to me I almost can't put my mind around them.

But this is the reality for thousands upon thousands of Americans just like you and me.

I'm angry for them and for the whole world that there is war and a need for them to do what they do.

I don't know if we should be at war, I don't know how many of the troops actually believe they should be doing what they're doing over there, and none of us know what the outcome will be or when they'll be able to come home.

What I do know is that my heart and thoughts go out to them all today, and I'm going to make even more of an effort to keep them in my thoughts and prayers every single day.

I hope that knowing how grateful we all are and knowing that we truly understand the sacrifice they are making for us and our country will bring those men and women a little bit of comfort, a little bit of peace, and a huge amount of pride.

Happy Fourth!

It's been a long, relaxing holiday weekend – I'm sad it's coming to an end!

Like every year at this time, the city is buzzing because Summerfest is in full swing. I went down there Friday afternoon with my boss, Mary, and my two coworkers, Vicky and Rebecca, where we ate a Cajun lunch at Craw Daddy's and had a few rounds of drinks in the warm afternoon sun. It was a nice change of pace to be there early on a weekday when it was less crowded – even if the musical acts at that time of day leave much to be desired!

I'll probably get to Summerfest just once more, most likely next Saturday night. I was going to go tomorrow with Dave to see Andrew Bird, but he's going with a friend now instead. It's fine – twice a year is about good for me. There are plenty of people whose year revolves around Summerfest and who go just about every day – I think they're insane, but to each their own!

Traditionally, I kick off Summerfest by seeing the Big Bang fireworks down at the lakefront the Thursday night that the fest starts. I'd heard rumblings, though, that the July 3rd fireworks were much, much more impressive, so I decided that we'd hold out for those this year.

We left the house around 7:00 last night, knowing full well that we probably wouldn't get the best spot but not really minding. We got some food at Metro Market and then started driving around to find parking. We had no idea that these fireworks were SUCH a huge event until we saw people walking with their chairs miles from where the fireworks are launched. When we saw a sign about 2 miles from the lake that said "Park here, $20" we knew we were in trouble.

Rather than pressing our luck, we hung back near Lake Park and found a spot on a residential street, and then we hauled our stuff down a hill near the hospital toward the lake. We laid our blanket out across the street from the lake and weren't surrounded by many people, which was nice. We ate and drank and people-watched, and I spent a little time curled under the blanket to hide from the dragonflies that kept whizzing past us. That proved to be too hot so I had no choice but to brave the big old bugs until it was too dark to see them anymore.

At 9:25 the fireworks started and by this time, our private grassy area had been overtaken by people. When the first fireworks went off, they were beautiful, but we realized right away that we were sitting in the equivalent of the nosebleed seats and we could barely hear a darn thing.

After just five minutes, there was a finale of sorts, which was followed by a five minute lull. People around us were wondering aloud "is that it?" until the sky lit up again. There was a second finale ten minutes later and that's when Dave and I decided to leave. We knew the display couldn't possibly be over since this second "finale" was only about ten seconds long, but we'd had enough and were getting bored. A half hour later we could hear that grand finale from home and we were a bit disappointed that we missed it, but from where we'd been sitting, it probably wouldn't have been so great anyway.

I love fireworks, but what makes them so exciting is how bright and loud they are when they're right in front of you. Since we were so far away, we missed out on that experience, and it was a bummer. One girl I know said that she and her family staked out their spot the night before and then were down at the lakefront all day cooking out and playing volleyball and waiting for the fireworks. She said they were "intense and totally awesome" - and I'm sure they were. But I'm sure as heck not willing to stake out a spot the night before!

The fireworks drew thousands upon thousands of people to the lake yesterday, and while there's something neat and celebratory about that, it was a bit much for me, and I think I'll stick with the Big Bang next year.

Besides Summerfest and fireworks, I got a ton of wedding stuff done this weekend – started addressing the invitations, finalized the invitation design, decided on the look and flavor for the cake, decided on table numbers and favor tags …

As I stood in Michael's on Sunday just staring at the spools and spools of colored ribbon, I came to a realization: I have become one of those crazy, obsessed brides who thinks about her wedding constantly – one of those brides I vowed I'd never be! I'm embracing it, though – the anticipation is so much fun, and planning all the little details that will make the day perfect is a blast, too!

Today we started our registry at Target. I didn't bring Dave along when I started our registries at Crate and Barrel or Bed Bath and Beyond, but I thought he should be involved at least a little bit in the process, so I dragged him along today.

Just as I suspected, though, he wasn't the least bit interested in what blender or toaster or canister set we should get. He was, however, very interested in the XBox 360 he absolutely insisted on adding. Of course, I think he's dreaming if he thinks he's going to get that, but I just let him scan it in so he'd be happy.

I guess grooms need to have a little fun, too.