Pies

I got a recipe from a co-worker the other day for some pies, so we made them for our Labor Day get-together at Kim and Chad's last night.

Basically they were like cream pies... One we filled with blueberries and one with peaches. I made the crusts from scratch (good ol' Joy of Cooking is such a help). I'm still learning on pie crusts though... I can never seem to get them to roll out nice without cracking or sticking. Then we made the filling and Chris topped them with freshly whipped cream and decorated them.

If I can bake it, he can make the presentation awesome for it.

Frank's

My parents' friends, Buzz and Marinan, came up to visit and check out Michigan a little before they and my parents headed out to Chicago to do part of the Ride for the Relay Route 66 motorcycle trip.

So we gave them some good old family dining at Frank's. Did you know that place has been around since the 1920s?!

New Slicks

I got some new slicks (smooth tires) for my bike the other day. So... I learned how to change bike tires! I don't think it's quite as quick of a process (changing a flat) as everyone says, but maybe I just need more practice.

Anyway, I feel better having changed tires because now my ride is a little easier (knobby tires make it a little harder on all street riding) and now I know how to change a tire. This is all good stuff in preparation for our upcoming trip, the Apple Cider Century. I don't think we'll actually do the century (100 miles), but there are plenty of smaller options for us to choose from.

Anyway, here's my tire (left) vs. Chris' tire (right) - which is what my previous tires were.


And then here's me with my "naked" xtracycle (no bags or snapdeck on it).


Take note of the shirt I'm wearing... It says "The Pumpkin Patch" on it... You know what that means. Every year, the 2nd and 3rd weekends of October...great family fun! Chris and I won't be there on the Saturdays this year (we have weddings both weekends), but we'll be there for the Sundays. Check it out!

Chicago-land

We took a trip by plane...


By train...


By ship...


No... by flying Ford Anglia!


Chris and I drove down to Chicago to check out the Harry Potter Exhibition. It was a lot of fun! Sure, there was plenty of staff with fake British accents, but it was pretty cool seeing all of the props and costumes from the movies. We couldn't actually take pictures IN the exhibit, so all of the above pictures are from elsewhere in the museum. I bought a book that had pictures of the exhibits so that I could at least have something.


The exhibition runs into the evening after the museum closes. We didn't get a picture by this big banner beforehand, so when we got out of the exhibit, we went to get a picture in front of it and they turned the lights off right when we were about to take the picture... Photoshop helps, but it's still a little dark...



This (below) is a Lego set that was designed based on Frank Lloyd Wright's Falling Water. They had a few Lego sets based on his architecture, but they were much too pricey for our meager souvenir budget...


After Harry Potter we needed to get some good Chicago eats, so we asked a guy walking down the street where to go. He suggested Gino's East, which was right down the street. World-famous for it's deep dish pizza.


Chris really liked it... It was about 9pm though, and we weren't really hungry that late into the evening, so we each had a slice and took the rest home with us! (I think a slice is worth about half of a normal pizza anyway...)


The decoration at Gino's East is graffiti-like, with people's names written all over the walls, covering almost every square inch. We left our mark, like good little tourists.

Desperately Behind...

I'm desperately behind on my posts... So... Here's a bunch for today.

Ericka and Cas came over from Boston not that long ago for a wedding and we got to spend the afternoon with them. Ericka was one of my roommates in Los Angeles and a bridesmaid in my wedding. Very cool chica. And Cas is way cool too.

This is Ericka and Cas. We had lunch at New Holland Brewery.


Then Chris wanted to give a tour of Hope's campus. We wandered into the Martha Miller Center and checked out the communications (video, radio, etc) area. This picture is not at the Martha Miller Center.


And finally we ended up at Lemonjello's for some Boba Tea. At least, that's what we called it in LA, but here it's just Bubble Tea. Our other roommate (in LA), Jill, loves this stuff. She could not make it out this way...




Someday (hopefully soon!) Chris and I will head to the east coast to visit. Half my family is there and more and more of our friends are migrating in that direction...