Overheard

Brad was over at my brother and sister-in-law's on Monday when I was out of town. While there, my niece Sylvie was playing with her pretend cell phone. They asked her who she was calling, and she said Auntie Lisa. (p.s. I just love hearing "Auntie" come out of her mouth). Brad said "Ask her how is Miami?" Sylvie responded with "Auntie Lisa, how's your ami?" Kids. They say the darndest things.

Miami Vice is Nice

Well Hello there from sunny, hot Miami! I'm in town to give a presentation on Academic Quality Assurance at the MGMA Annual Anesthesia Administrator's conference. So far, I'm finding Miami to be fairly stereotypical of how it's portrayed in the media. I'm definitely giving it the benefit of the doubt, but there are a lot of fast cars and hard people around here. Not in a bad way. It's certainly different than the Midwest though. It's not every day you walk out of your front door to see not one, but two lamborghini's. Maybe someday I'll be that kind of wealthy. I'm not sure I want all the hassle that goes with it though.

View of Biscayne Bay area

The Intercontinental Miami

While I'm here, I'm also trying to take in as much of the sites and sounds as possible. Last night I took a cab to South Beach (SoBe as the locals call it) and ate some shrimp & grits at a fabulous little place called A Fish Called Avalon on Ocean Drive. It was fantastic. I even closed out the experience with a much needed piece of key lime pie! I tried my first piece of key lime pie over Mother's Day this year, and have had a craving ever since. No better place to fulfill that than in the city that makes it best!
Tonight then, I again headed into SoBe. Stephanie raved to me a while back about the sushi at Bond St Lounge, and after a heavy lunch of breaded seafood, I needed something healthy followed by a good long walk. So off I went to check out the famous tuna roll.

Greens with ginger carrot dressing

Spicy tuna, Arugula w/ crispy potato, and sundried tomato and avocado roll

After my dinner left me feeling much better about my health and well being, I wandered around town down the famous Lincoln Ave and Espanda Drives. Both streets were full of so much life, and I can't wait to come back some day when my mister is with me to lounge around and enjoy a drink. Ah how the mind wanders. Anyway, after my walk and leisurely stroll around SoBe, I hailed a cab and headed back to the Intercontinental, where now I'm all snug in my bed to rest up for my presentation tomorrow. Wish me luck!

Ch, ch, changes

Things have been busy around here kids! Hence my absence from semi-frequent blog posts. Spring always does this to me though. I spend so much time outside that sometimes it just feels torturous to be locked indoors next to the computer. I spend enough time in front of it during working hours as it is. :-)
Anyway, here's what's happening in Milan regarding all things spring! First up, Brad and I are planning on building a deck over Memorial Day. We've got the backyard all staked out, ready to drill holes and then fill them with concrete. We get to rent a cool machine called a "dingo" to do it, and I'm so excited.

Our "pretend" deck

Next up, I planted some of my garden. I planted some herbs as I did last year on the side of the shed, but this year I've also decided to embrace the square foot gardening method, and I've got four 4'x4' raised beds behind the shed. Now I just have to get around to filling them with dirt!

Herb gardenNew raised beds

Finally, I've gone to the birds. I noticed an Oriole on my hummingbird feeder early last week, and I've been obsessed with him every since. So I headed up to Wild Birds Unlimited to get an oriole feeder. It cracks me up that an Oriole's favorite foods are oranges and grape jam! I also picked up an ordinary feeder to try and attract some of the cardinals once the deck is all finished. Now, here's to hoping that the cats won't scare away the birds!

Oriole FeederCan I get some Cardinals with this feeder?

Happy Blogversary to me!

It's really hard for me to comprehend that today I'm celebrating this blogs' first birthday.I started blogging last year as an outlet for my seemingly non-existent creative mind and wandering thoughts. At that time, I was emerging from a really weird spot in my life and I thought it would be a good idea to start documenting the things I did, so I would have reminders of the progress I was making. And my goodness, look at the progress!! I look back over some of my previous posts and realize just how much more emotionally and mentally capable I am these days. From sewing projects to cake decorating, and my bento obsession to vacationing, I've accomplished a lot this year. I am a much stronger me, and it's totally inspiring! So here's to another year of getting things done and celebrating minor accomplishments. I'm so excited to see where this crazy life continues to take me...