"Road Trip"

Well, I've moved - again!  This past week my cousin and I rented a car, left Worcester, and drove back to my homeland, where I'll be living for the spring and summer.  Unfortunately it couldn't have the classic road trip vibe, as we just needed to reach our destination as quickly as possible.  We went straight from Worcester to Chicago in one day, whew.  Here's a tip for long drives:  it turns out that they don't feel that bad if you leave practically in the middle of the night.  My alarm went off at 3:20 and we were on the road by 4 am, ha.  We made really good time to Chicago and were able to go for a long walk around the city to admire the buildings and parks (Trish has never been there) before dinner, beers, and much needed sleep.  We also made a quick stop in Madison on the second day for caffeine.  I wanted her to experience Bradbury's, one of my favorite coffee and breakfast places, and it turns out they are giving away free espresso all through April.  Really good, you should probably stop by if you're in the area.  She's staying for a short visit in the midwest, so I'm showing her some of my favorite places in La Crosse, unpacking, and starting to look for a job.  Wisconsin continues to be one of the best states ever, and I'm looking forward to enjoying this time here.  Hopefully some exploring will reveal new sides of my hometown :)  


ps:  The picture of us at the bottom is, of course, at the Chicago bean.

Taste of Winter

It has been unseasonably warm for the past few months, and now Christmas is just a week away.  There was some snow on the ground when we stopped in at Bradbury's in Madison, but then it warmed up and it all disappeared.  I am sort of enjoying not having to deal with bitter cold...but, where's the white??

Bradbury's

Bradbury's is one of my favorite spots in Madison - a small little place in a triangular shaped room that serves outstanding coffee and crepes made with ingredients from local, organic farms.  The best cappuccino I've ever had was here, and as an example of their awesome food, that crepe above is stuffed with scrambled eggs, smoked trout, sea salt, sungold tomatoes, and goat cheese.  Yuuummmm.