Tag Archives: detroitfood

spring makes me tired.

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I’ve never been fond of springtime. It makes me tired. I used to attribute this to a personal psychological glitch but it turns out it’s a real thing. ‘They’ – the ephemeral ‘they’ who are frequently referenced as all-knowing subject matter experts on a variety of topics – say it can be attributed to different factors including hormonal shifts, allergies, and weather changes. I also think for a Michigander who doesn’t like spring all that much, seeing bare, winter-pasty legs out in shorts the minute the temperature hits 50 doesn’t help.

Whatever the reason, I’ve been doing my best to shake off the lethargy and am annoyed at myself that I can’t. I should be doing all sorts of things to prepare for warmer weather, both physically and mentally, and instead I feel like I’m sleepwalking and still stuffing my face with carbs and wanting to go to bed at 8pm. This makes it a challenge when work is still demanding and I’ve been in high functioning burnout for the last six months and the kiddo has 2-3 soccer games a week that keep us up later and I have a bunch of little craft projects and books and whatnot and I still have the usual household work to accomplish. Anyway, thank you for indulging my foray into self-pity and I know I will feel better if I just get outside or get on the treadmill but dang.

This weekend was especially tiring but in a fun way. B & I had a long overdue date night downtown – we played video games at Barcade on Selden, had a very indulgent dinner at Selden Standard (grilled octopus, duck leg confit, charred sweet potato, house made rigatoni with pesto and chile, and a velvety Bordeaux), and sat out on the stoop of a nearby beer garden enjoying the mild spring evening. Then we wandered over to the Masonic Temple Theater for the Jack White show which was epic and face-melting. It was a homecoming show for him and the Detroit crowd showed their native son a lot of love. As a bit of backstory – Jack White paid off the temple’s back tax bill and saved the gorgeous building on the Cass Corridor from foreclosure. He never forgot that during especially lean times in the city, his mom was able to find work there as a theater usher. It’s a beautiful space and in 2022, Jack proposed to his now-wife onstage during an April show at the temple and Brandon was there and I had stayed home because of SPRINGTIME LETHARGY and I never forgave myself for missing that and now you see how all of this comes back around.

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day in detroit

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Eastern Market Antiques

For her 50th, my bestie’s daughters arranged a weekend getaway for us. We started out with facials at Eden Esthetics. 10/10 would recommend. We left with soft, glass-like skin and immediately hoofed it to Eastern Market. We were late for the market but had a light lunch and tea and checked out Eastern Market Antiques. Bestie found a fantastic vintage sleeveless house dress in grey and mustard and a pair of fringed grey moccasin boots.

We stayed in northern Detroit, at a loft in Milwaukee Junction, near the railroad junction of the Grand Trunk Western’s predecessors. It’s a heavily industrialized area and home to many 1920’s-era automotive factories, including the Ford factory where the first Model T was built. Now, some of those abandoned factories are being repurposed as lofts and eclectic galleries and shops. Our loft was an interesting factory space, under a graffiti-blazed overpass and surrounded by what looked like actual blight. It was rugged but hip. The radiators churned and kept the place at an almost unhealthy temperature, we could hear just about everything through the walls – and in Detroit that’s not a great thing – and the freight trains rumbled through at odd hours. As is typical in Detroit, Milwaukee Junction felt massive and empty, looming factory spaces and broken streets, devoid of cars or pedestrians, the population underground and nocturnal. Feral nature has taken over for decades and across the parking lot, under a rusted and unused water tower, a small wetland full of swaying reeds and egrets.

Brandon met us for dinner at San Morello downtown in the Shinola hotel. We split several dishes including a fantastic small pizza and gnocchi with truffles and a bottle of Syrah. We lingered at the Queens Bar next door before ending the night singing “Crocodile Rock” (Bestie’s husband the next day: “Wait, you were ‘Crocodile Rock’ drunk?!?”) with the live band at Cafe D’Mongo’s Speakeasy. This is one of the best little bars in Detroit, where you end up friends with everyone.

I came home on Sunday with a gastro bug that was unrelated to the evening festivities and spent an otherwise enjoyable day relaxing before the Super Bowl. Def sad to see the Eagles lose but a great game regardless and with my social obligations out of the way, I can revel in complete earned introversion for awhile!

Quick selfie at Queens Bar. I had to, I was wearing makeup for a change.

weekending

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After our short week, we really needed another long weekend, but what we got was a normal sized weekend which felt insufficient. Regardless, it was what we had to work with so we went with it.

Miss L was with her dad, so Brandon and I took our long run out to Kensington and did the 8.5 mile loop around the lake. The weather was ideal – bright and clear, but cool, and we had the added bonus of seeing a cross-country meet in action. The antelope-like high school runners gave me a bit of motivation as I slogged my weary way up and down the rolling hills. I felt good for the first 3 miles, bad for the next 3, and good for the last 2.5. Sadly, in the middle 3 we ran past a horrific biking accident on the paved trail. We’re not sure what happened, as by the time we ran past there was a small knot of onlookers calling for emergency services and administering aid to a fallen biker. She was unconscious and there was blood, but she was wearing a helmet, so my prayers are with her that she received medical attention quickly and won’t suffer any lasting repercussions. WEAR YOUR HELMETS,  BIKERS!!

I took a blissful nap and then Brandon & I drove down to Detroit for dinner at Flowers of Vietnam. This is a lauded restaurant in an old refurbished Coney Island in the middle of Mexican Village – you can tell it was a Coney, but the former pop-up has given it some more polished touches. They’re known for their caramel chicken wings and dear Lord they were to die for. Sweet, sticky, crunchy, chili-hot. Brandon ordered the enormous broken rice dish (with a full pork chop, prawns, and a full sausage) and I had a cold noodle dish with rosewood grilled tofu and Vietnamese-style egg roll. My mouth is watering just writing this. I enjoyed a cold glass of rose and afterwards, we wandered down to Motor City Wine, a cool little shop / sipping bar in Corktown. The patio is supposedly fun, but we just sat at the bar – I had glass of dry Austrian red and Brandon had a delicious cold, sweet Italian red. It was so good that we’ll be back to buy bottles for Thanksgiving or Christmas celebrations.

The weekend ended with more worrying about Pot Roast, whose tummy is still afflicted, and grocery shopping / dinner planning / food prep (maybe those two things shouldn’t be joined in the same sentence?) I did a vegan Pad Thai recipe that will be 2 lunches, I have some leftover quinoa / white bean skillet for 1 lunch, and a Buddha bowl of sweet potato, sauteed kale & black bean, corn and edamame with cilantro and some Bolthouse Farms avocado / yogurt dressing. Brandon’s movers are bringing over all of his belongings from storage at his parent’s house this week, so our full integration will be complete; and the week ended quietly with herbal tea, WRCJ jazz on the radio, Emmett on the chair next to me, incense and a brand new 1,000 piece seasonal puzzle from my mom. We may still be working on it at Christmas…

Be well and have a lovely week, friends.

bountiful

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And now, Labor Day, the unofficial end of summer. I worked from home for a few days last week to finish out Miss L’s last week of summer holiday and the windows were open, the breeze is cool and the skies are so very blue. The cicadas grind in the trees and it’s my favorite time of year.

Brandon has been working in Miss L’s old room to paint and put up his map collection in preparation for it to become his new study. He’ll be building shelves next. We hit up the hardware store for some supplies and I stocked up on finch socks because the little golden birds have already stripped my coneflowers.

The cooler temps have meant that the windows are open for sleeping, and on Sunday night I was awakened twice by a loudmouthed little owl in the yard – I Googled the call in the morning and identified it as an Eastern Screech-Owl. I’ve had them in the yard before, but I don’t usually hear them at night, so it was kind of a treat for geeky birdloving me.

Sadly, our girl Pot Roast has had some digestive issues – we think related to the cheap wet food that Emmett and Sarge feel absolutely passionate about – so there have been some messes to clean up, mostly in the middle of the night in the most inconvenient places. I’ve switched her to a Royal Canin for sensitive tums and hope that will help, otherwise it will be a trip to the vet for the littlest gangster.

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We rounded out our long weekend with a Tigers game on Saturday night and wonder of wonders, they actually beat the Twins and we got to see a couple of home runs! Before the game, we had burgers, beers for me and Brandon, and a milkshake for Miss L at Lovers Only. I tried the Impossible Burger for the first time and probably would not have known it was not beef, except then I tried Miss L’s Classic Smash and there was a difference. We agreed that for convenience and proximity to Comerica and ease of in-and-out, Lovers Only can’t be beat, but the milkshakes at Royale with Cheese are much better. And I will always rank the olive burger at Checker Bar highly!

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I did some meal prep for the shortish work week – overnight oats with some frozen blueberries and a quinoa & white bean skillet for lunches. Also a sweet potato which I’ll pair with black beans and kale later this week.

Sometimes it’s nice to go away for a long holiday weekend but I like this kind, too, where we just stay at home.

I am hoping that everyone in Hurricane Dorian’s path is safe and sound and if they’ve chosen to evacuate, that they’ll be home again soon.

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apparatus room + spring break

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Last weekend, B & I had an official date night. We drove downtown and hit Warby Parker for some spectacle shopping (we both found pairs that we like) and then got a drink at the Buhl Bar. Buhl Bar is NOT a dive bar – it is a small, intimate corner bar that apparently was private for awhile and has only been open to the public for a few years.

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It was a blustery evening, but we shared an umbrella and walked down to the Apparatus Room for our reservation. Apparatus Room is on the ground floor of the Detroit Foundation Hotel, which used to be the Detroit Fire Department headquarters and still retains emblems of its past. Big red doors swing open in airy arched doorways; there is a chic post-industrial feel, brick and even fire poles, and art by local artists. There’s also a podcast loft, which we heard about from Karen and Georgia during their My Favorite Murder visit to the Fox Theater a few weeks ago.

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The chef has a 2 Michelin star rating and the food was wonderful. I had the miso eggplant and two glasses of buttery, beautiful pinot noir; B had scallops and we split the Brussels sprouts. It was a delicious evening and we can’t wait to go back. We capped off our date night at home under blankets watching the Motley Crue tell-all on Netflix, which we also thoroughly enjoyed in an entirely different way than our classy Detroit evening.

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In other news, it’s Spring Break week for Miss L so I am trying to wrap some things up at work and then take off up north for a few days with my folks. It’s not exactly the warm tropical destination that most people seek out for their Spring Break, but we never considered doing anything else. Miss L loves her grandparents, it’s the height of relaxation, and having a few days to sleep, knit, read, and maybe do some running, hiking, and shopping is perfect. And I do love a cold winter beach.

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the “killing commendatore” socks matched the cover of the book i was reading

So far this year, I finished one pair of socks, and they went so fast that I immediately cast on for another pair for my mom, thinking that I could get them done in a few weeks and then start the sweater that I’m planning. (My first sweater!)  The second pair, however, have taken forever, and then I ran out of yarn (!!! – the problem with using stash yarn that looks like enough but is just a bit short). So I went to my fave yarn store for a similar colorway and decided to just do the toes in the new colorway (which meant I had to rip back the toe in the sock I’d finished already).
Hopefully I can wrap these up this week and cast on for my new project – yes, the sweater. MTC and happy Spring Breaking.