A New Adventure | Peaches Prattlings

{January 28, 2018} A day with my fella…

Why can’t we sleep in on Saturday? Seriously? It’s Saturday, the weekend, ever hear of a day of rest? Yeah, me neither! Up early, let’s just say the sun hadn’t greeted us yet. Not fair!

PSM and I sat out on the lanai and had our morning drinks, talking and just enjoying each other’s company, the sunrise and the view. It doesn’t change from this spot day to day, but it’s so wonderful, peaceful, inspiring, calming and beautiful, who cares!

After a while, we decided on a plan for the day, so he went off to do his PT exercises and I did my workout for the day, that trainer of mine is trying to kill me, even virtually!

Then, load up the car; beach blankets, towels, chairs, bottles of water, book, headphones and sunscreen, of course, pet the pooch and away we went. We went to Haliewa Town, on the North Shore and stopped at Cafe Haliewa for breakfast, we were famished! We sat out back, which is only open until 11am, we were lucky. We had a yummy breakfast of a veggie omlet and hawaiian sweet bread french toast with bananas. Doesn’t it look yummy? Tasted just as good!

Then…after a rough morning of nothing, ha ha, we needed a break, so off to Waimea Bay. We found a great spot under a palm tree and set up camp. PSM settled in for a long winter’s nap, ha ha, couldn’t resist that! I went to the shoreline and thought I’d go in and go in I did. The waves were rough, I made it in, was really enjoying myself and a big wave came and stole my fabulous $5 sunglasses from Walmart that I’ve had for about three years. I la la la love these glasses and I hope I can find another pair! I really think Mother Nature has something against me! First my ankle and now my shades, what gives momma!?

After some frolicking in the ocean, and by the way, I cannot wait, like PSM, I know! for his shoulder to heal so that he can frolick and play in the surf with me! I headed back to PSM, grabbed my towel and laid down in the sun, sunblocked, I promise, I learned my lesson! I finished the book that TS had given me and I, OMG, LOVED it! I’ll tell you about it soon!

We sat, hung out, enjoyed, watched people and then…can you see the little bubble of surf? We saw whales! Awesome!!! January is the time for whale watching in Hawaii and there they were! It was cool seeing some yesterday and here we are today seeing them again!

I did like that the lifeguards would give a warning every once in a while about the surf being strong, keep the kids out eventualy and if you wanted recommendations for calmer waters, come to the tower. Very cool. They also warned people to not jump from the rocks if you are not a strong swimmer. I saw t-shirts to that effect! Oh brother!

Eventually, we thought about getting something to eat and along the way up the North Shore, we stopped at Ted’s, which is a famous bakery and got some sweet rolls. Then on to the next beach! I apologize, I can’t remember the name, but look at it, gorgeous,sigh! The sand was much more course, I love how diverse the beaches are!

On this beach we started planning our next vacation. Guess where?! Not telling, but it’s in the Pacific! Yup, we live in the Pacific, in paradise, on an island and what are we going to do for vacation? Go to another island! We figured as long as we live in this part of the country, go see things on this side of the world! I cannot wait to tell you where we’re going!

Now it really was time for food! We went to the Kahuku Sugar Mill, it is now a tourist attraction with food trucks, shops, not much else. They didn’t have anything we really wanted so we went back into Haliewa and went to a Thai restaurant that neither of us cared for, so I’m not going to tell you the name, but the atmosphere was nice and the company even nicer. One of the things I marveled at was that in Hawaii there aren’t many places you actully have to get dressed up to go. Most places you can walk in after coming off the beach, they’re ok with it. Welcome to island life!

After dinner, back to the house to chill and pass out, wouldn’t you after that day?! Beach and beach, it can wear you out!

What does tomorrow hold?!

Day 22

{January 24, 2018} Do we know each other that well?

Please don’t call me hon… I’m sure I’ve talked to you about this before, but this morning…yeah, just happened again. And I didn’t feel any better about it. Let me preface that I lived in the south for about 20 years and it is common for southern women to call each other hon and darlin’ especially in a retail setting and I got used to it. It was more in the retail clothing stores and restaurants, not so much fast food. Now, where I do expect it, is if someone has been in that establishment before and builds a rapport with the staff or one particular person, I get it, hon, sweetie, darlin’. I know I have been in places like that and envied that connection and I had it myself in a few places, hey, I get hugs from the staff at the Waldorf Astoria in Chicago, I’m sure some people look at that with a head cocked. The place I did not expect it was at the Dunkin’ Donuts this morning that I have never been to in a city I have never been to by a person I have never met who was apparently trying to speak above the din that was non-existent. Think it just rubbed me the wrong way? Yup. I’m sure the people who go there regularly enjoy it, but let me go at least one more time before we get that familiar. Day 19

{January 23, 2018} Soul Vegan/Soul Vegetarian – Either way, yum!

I love this place!

I discovered Soul Vegan/Soul Vegetarian about two years ago when I was schedule to teach at the site I am at this week. When I was looking for somewhere to go for lunch today, what to my surprise did I find on my Happy Cow app? Majani for one! Do you remember me telling you about going to Majani, the vegan restaurant near DLP? It was about nine miles from the site. Well, Soul Vegetarian is about seven miles from the site, wow! I knew what I was doing for dinner!

I messaged DLP and eventually we worked it out, I had to go into the office, so I picked her up and we headed to Soul Vegan, which happens to be about a 15 minute drive to her house, perfect!

It’s not a fancy restaurant, bare bones, there are tables in the front room and back, a large counter for ordering takeout, an open case that has prepared sandwiches, desserts and some other cold things. Where it lacks in furnishings, it makes up for in energy and flavor. Every time I have been in there, there are a few people eating at the tables, but so many more at the deli counter or online to place or pick up orders.

On the other side is a deli counter, you can get hot or cold food. I was excited because I knew I was getting a fabulous dinner and then, from the deli counter, food for tomorrow! I need lunch in advance as there is not much happening around the site I am at!

We ordered nachos-n-cheeze, no jalapenos for our appetizer and I had the gyro and DLP had the ribs, both orders came with french fries. Once again, the food did not disappoint! That gyro was fabulous and I cannot wait to have the rest of it for lunch tomorrow!

From the deli, I ordered a few prepared salads, cous-cous, both large and small, egg-less egg salad, I know, let it out! and a carrot salad, the last one I tasted, oh boy! I love finding fun and new places that I can frequent and this one is on the list, especially having someone to go with!

If you’re in Chicago and you’re vegan or just curious, I recommend this place very highly. Ok, I have to go to sleep, I’m excited about lunch tomorrow!

Day 17

{January 22, 2018} Let’s get cultured and then kill brain cells!

Order of the day? Ended up Museum, lunch, movie, tv.

So…rouse ourselves about 9am, breakfast, then drive into Manhattan to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, or The Met, for those of you ‘in the know’. There was a David Hockney exhibit and we both like Hockney.

Now, if you’re familiar with David Hockney, it’s most likely paintings of swimming pools, which he is most known for. This exhibit was pools and more, earlier work, later work, portraits, compositions, famous people, wild brush strokes and one or two pieces we looked at with our heads cocked and said ‘Huh?”. The pieces did exactly what art should do, evoke emotion or response, even if the response is one of confusion.

There were some pieces I liked and some that I really didn’t and that’s the beauty of it, I don’t have to! There were some portraits of famous people, like Andy Warhol and Van Gogh and then there was this watercolor of someone named Celeste, dad and I were both drawn to it and I wonder if I was because she reminded me of my mom. Check out the piece that depicts a road, it was actually photographs that he pieced together like a collage of different roads in California. I thought it was fabulous!

Then it was on to the Michelangelo exhibit, much darker, lighting wise than the other exhibits. It was sculpture, paintings, drawings and sketches, oh my! The hard part was there were so very many people, you really couldn’t get that close to any of them and with my lack of stature, it was hard to see some pieces at all!

We looked at some of the impressionists, Rodain, Monet, Manet, Pissaro, Cezanne, Matisse, so wonderful! Unknown artists, known artists, a joy! I love going to the museum with my dad, not only does he have a wealth of knowledge of art, he has a passion for it! There were advantages to going to the museum with both of my parents. With mom, she was very knowledgeable as well and we liked a lot of the same painters, ones that dad doesn’t care for, but she wanted to read every single placard!

With dad, he and I love a lot of the same pieces and we have an affinity for the modern, a way of viewing that might not gel with some people. And…he doesn’t want to read every placard, so we could see more of the museum in less time! He was great when I was in high school and had art projects, he and I would go into the city and go to the different museums together to help me get what I needed.

Next it was, you got it, modern! Picasso, Leger, O’Keeffe, Chagall, Rockwell, Davis, Miro, just makes me happy. Some of it is bizarre, but some of it, pure genius, fun, frivolous! Sometimes I look and wonder how it would be possible, not to be happy looking at this much wonder!

When we were done, we had a hunger! So back to Staten Island to a Turkish restaurant we both like for appetizers that fill you up! Babaganoush, hummus, stuffed grape leaves, lentil soup, shepard’s salad, couscous, all delicious! We were stuffed, just like the grape leaves! A little grocery shopping and then back to the house, but then turned around and went out again, I decided I wanted some new boots and away we went!

Back home, it was time for a movie. Blade Runner 2049. Um…yeah. The popcorn was good and we got to see Harrison Ford. Yeah, the popcorn and Harrison Ford.

Then we needed something fun, so we watched another episode of Brokenwood, which was really good and so was the Ben & Jerry’s non-dairy Caramel Almond Brittle. O M G!! Yes, it is that good!

When the episode was over, it was time to talk to you and then crash, my alarm is going off at 4am, back to Illinois!

I hope your weekend was as fabulous as mine!

{January 19, 2018} A wonderful surprise

Tonight, while I’m at the airport waiting to go to NYC for the weekend, I got a text.

This text was from one of my oldest and dearest friends with a scheduling question. I thought it was a little odd, wonderful, but odd, since it’s been a few months since we’ve talked and we don’t text or talk as often as we would like.

I had my suspicion and I was hoping I was right so…we connected and got to talk for about 30/40 minutes before my flight and yup, I was right, she’s expecting sweet angel number two! I cannot believe it! I’m so thrilled for her and the entire family!

I love that she called and told me herself instead of hearing about it somewhere else, so very special. This wonderful friend is so much more than that, she’s family, a sister. She was one of the first friends I made in Atlanta and it doesn’t matter how often or not that we speak, it’s like it was just last week or yesterday, no time passes.

Our lives intersected and separated and intersected and separated, she was so there for me when things went down with the wasband and she was one of the first people I wanted to tell about PSM, reconnecting with my kids, so many things we’ve shared throughout our lives.

My one regret, during our separated times, I didn’t get to be as big a part of her daughter’s life as I wanted to when she was little, I was going through things and that is very much on me. I hope that I can do better with her and her baby sister to be.

Mazel tov to my wonderful, sweet, caring, fabulous friend. I am so thrilled for you and love you so very much!

Day 14

{January 18, 2018} A welcome and tasty surprise!

Have I mentioned it’s not easy being vegan on the road? Nah, I’m sure this is the first time you’ve heard it, ha ha.

Today and tomorrow, I’m in Kankakee, IL and it’s not a hotbed, so to speak, of choices for me for food, especially as a vegan, either grocery store or Burger King, I do love their veggie burger! Now, I’m not disparaging any of these areas, but there generally isn’t a lot around the offices that I am supporting, even the people that work there tell me that!

I went out for lunch and on my way to Burger King, I saw Stefari Cafe and hung a quick louie, that’s a u-turn for anyone not in the know! I pulled in front of the building and went in.

It’s in a charming brick-front building, you can tell they are trying to revitalize the downtown area. You walk in and you are transported to a small hometown cafe with a modern air. You can tell they are trying to keep it small town, but the touches have a modern feel.

When you walk in Stefari, https://www.stefaricafe.com/, you feel like this is a place you can hang out. As one reviewer said, a great meeting place.

The decor is kitschy/ country sheik. Hand written menus on a chalkboard behind the counter, comfy chairs to sit it, all of this warm and welcoming.

There were some people working at the few tables in the main room as well as the dim back room. A group of ladies were playing mahjong, it looked like their weekly get together. You almost wanted to ask if you could join.

Turns out, they are not all fluff, the food was good as well, happy to see that! I had the veggie sandwich panini style, yum! Hummus, eggplant, zucchini and red pepper. Admittedly, it would be better with the feta, but a tasty treat overall. I chose the fresh food versus the chips. Well worth ita With it, I had apricot loose leaf tea, yummy.

I have to say, Stefari Cafe is here to stay, I hope it’s widely discovered! And i, for one and thrilled that I discovered it!

{January 17, 2018} Happy hour time!

It’s been a while since we had a work happy hour, we were overdue. Guess what we did tonight!

We met at Cactus Bar & Grille, https://www.cactuschicago.com/, it’s where we have had all the project happy hours I have been to. It’s a laid back place with a bar, a bunch of wooden high top tables and corrugated metal walls. We were there for happy hour, drink and food specials.

I finished at the client site about 5pm, so I decided to walk over, it was about half a mile, and it was a nice, crisp, chilly walk through the streets of Chicago. Wow, that sounded so much like a Dickens novel, ha ha!

I got there before everyone else, so I checked in at the podium, was taken to our tables and ordered an amaretto on the rocks, yum! It was ‘let’s pretend to be a grownup night’! You know how crazy it got? I actually ordered another! The first was only half a glass, so I decided to go crazy! I can’t even remember the last time I had one!

With my first drink I ordered guacamole and chips. I wasn’t sure what anyone else would want, but I didn’t want to drink on an empty stomach, I was hungry and I knew people would show up eventually to help me out. Oh, later, the cauliflower bits, yum!

My co-workers showed up, some of the client team showed up and we were on! Even a co-worker who left the project eight months ago. Eight months? Where did the time go?!

It was great catching up with everyone, just seeing everyone! I haven’t been in Chicago since mid-November when I was sent into the field to do onsite support. I’ve missed seeing my co-workers and friends, I was used to seeing them at least every other week, well, at least once a month, since we went through re-training over the summer.

Happy hours and work gatherings are a great way to blow off steam, catch up with friends and co-workers, maybe make new friends or connections, talk a little shop and relax.

It was just what the doctor ordered.

Day 11

{January 16, 2018} It’s a snow day…in Denver…go figure!

Sleep in, interviews, games, movies. Sound good? Yup, to me too!

I got to A&N M’s house yesterday, after a great day on the slopes! We ordered in Chinese food, hung out, watched the end of the Saints/Vikings game and then after their daughter, AM went to sleep, we watched Scott Pilgrim vs The World, interesting. It was amazingly awful! I think I loved it!

This morning, I got to sleep in, well, 8am or so, I’m good with that. I got my laundry out of the dryer, went upstairs eventually and hung out with AM, we interviewed each other, that was fun, we asked each other about our interests, hobbies and poisonous vs venomous snakes! Then we played games, made clay shapes that we painted and then we watched Ocean’s 11 since I hadn’t seen it, they were tickled at my reaction.

Then some lunch and I headed out to the airport a little earlier than I normally would have, it had been snowing since before I got up and the streets were slick all morning. By the time I left, the roads were dry, thankfully! My only concern, was my flight going to take off? The weather is crazy in Chicago!

It was so great to be with them yesterday and today, very relaxed and enjoyable, like being with family and they are.

At the airport I went to Cantina Taqueria and Bar to get some food and had a good salad that had lettuce, jicama, which is a root vegetable, avocado, cucumbers, pepitas, cabbage with a tamarind dressing.

I got on my flight, it was simple, only left nine minutes late, took off and landed in the snowy streets of Chicago. I have a new driver that picked me up, took me to the hotel and here we are, sitting on the sofa in front of the fireplace talking to you.

Tomorrow is a new day, who knows what the weather will be like!

Day 10

{January 14, 2018} First run of the season…ahhhh

I so love Colorado! And swishing and swooshing!

For those of you not in the know, that means I went skiing for the first time this season today. I got in to Denver last night, got my skis from A&N M, hung out of a bit and then drove up to Breckenridge, CO.

I am staying at the Doubletree hotel, which is ski-in/ski-out. What that means is that you literally walk out the door, put on your skis and ski down to the chair lift and then when you’re done for the day or ready for a break, you ski down the slope, take off your skis and walk into the hotel, not too shabby, huh? I got spoiled staying at a ski-in/ski-out a few years ago and I’ve loved it ever since.

The only hard part is remembering which run takes you back to your hotel! Sometimes I have to take extra runs to figure it out!

I got up leisurely, it was nice to sleep to 8am, then I got some breakfast, back to the room to pile on the ski gear and head to the valet who had my skis. After I got my skis, I walked across the street, put on my skis and woosh.

Since this was the first good weekend for skiing and a holiday weekend, it was a bit crazy on the chair lifts. The runs weren’t too crowded, just the lines to go up were long. I think I waited almost 10 minutes each time, normally you don’t wait more than 5 or 6. They haven’t gotten a lot of snow this season so far, last night 13″, not too shabby!

I got to the top, put on some tunes and away I went! It was a beautiful, crisp, sunny day and the snow started, a light flurry. Ah…

I did a few runs, and it was a few because of the time waiting to go up. After a few hours, I went in, remember, ski to the hotel! I made a sandwiche, chilled out and then went back out, walked across the street and swoosh, swish for a few more hours, then I was done for the day.

As I said to myself “one more run and I’m done”, that trick a ski instructor gave me a few years ago, I see the run that goes by the hotel and I thought, “good deal, I’m done, let’s go”. I walked the skis to the valet and then into the hotel.

I went into the hotel, walked into the bar and saw a few minutes of the Eagles/Falcons game and ordered some brussel sprouts on the happy menu. The brussel sprouts and I headed up to the room to relax and talk to PSM

A few hours later I took a shower and then walked into town. It’s a nice 10 minute walk, the streets are covered in snow, it even started snowing while I was walking and then I joined the other folks strolling up and down Main Street Breckenridge, Colorado. The holiday lights are still up, warm and inviting and the air started to get chilly. Nice.

I went into a few shops and then I headed into my favorite pizza joint in town, it’s plant based, vegan and I love it! Piante, https://piantepizzeria.com/. I don’t know if you remember me telling you about this fabulous place. I sat at the bar, my server told me I was his first customer as a server, he usually just takes orders over the phone, he’ll be great at it.

I ordered bruschetta that had cherry tomatoes, cashew cheese and basil, yum! I then ordered the rosemary pizza that had cashew mozzarella, parmesan, truffle oil and let’s just say, y u m again!

I started talking with the chef, Wes, he remembered me from last year because we talked about the white pie which has arugula on it, which adds color, making it not a white pie!

I like the little touches; the open kitchen right on the other side of the bar, the books they have in their ‘library’ for anyone to read while they are there, bringing the check in a book, the ‘Greenbox” pizza box, where it’s perforated in four parts so that you can have your leftovers on an instant plate! It’s not a very big space, but it’s warm, inviting, friendly and cozy.

The Pats/Titans game was on and I was surrounded New Englanders, oh brother! And check out the t-shirt Wes was wearing! I talked to PSM a bit, he was at home watching and it’s cool, we’re only 3 hours apart while I’m here this weekend!

Then it was back to the hotel, relax and talk to you. Tomorrow I’m going to go out for a few runs, come back, pack up my stuff, the valet can put it in my car in the heated garage and then go back out for a few more runs, then back to A&N M’s to hang out, dinner and who knows what kind of trouble we’ll get in to!

At the moment, just loving looking out the window at the view from my room. Sigh.

Day 8

{January 13, 2018} Wow, I actually heard that!

Now, you know I have status with airlines and hotels and I use it to try to get extra fabulous on occasion, right?

The most I have ever done is ask at the front desk if there is any fabulous they can do for me and sometimes there is and sometimes there isn’t. I appreciate the times there are.

Now the airlines have been great automatically doing things, like upgrades, get my bags on the plane by the skin of their teeth.

But I have never pulled the “I’m a Diamond or Platinum whatever” to get something. The most I have ever done with that is said “I’m Diamond and I pretty much live in hotels and I want to point this out”. They try to give me points or whatever, I’m not looking for that, just to let them know someone isn’t living up to their standards.

Tonight, on my flight, I encountered ‘one of those’. The guy next to me did not like his, seat choice, apparently they didn’t recline. He said to the flight attendant, and I quote I am a 2 million mile flier and I expect…

Seriously? If he booked late like I did, these were the only seats available, at least he didn’t have to sit in the middle!

You know what I have to say… grow up!

Day 12

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