One Step closer to "Martha Status"

I think this post proves we have lived in Madison for too long. I made soap the other day! Not the kind made from lard... I found it on pinterest(surprise surprise), and it is basically extending the life of a bar of soap. It all started when Joey found out that a chemical often found in antibacterial products called triclosan could be harmful. I am not here to preach about what will give you cancer etc. If you want to learn more about it look it up. I think it is in toothpaste too. Anyways we decided to change the soap we buy. Natural soaps can be expensive such as Mrs. Meyers but I LOVE that soap! So back to making the soap-the farmer's nest blog has way to make a gallon of Mrs Meyers soap for about $5 which saves a lot considering a 12oz bottle of the liquid soap costs $3.99. Check out the link it was so easy! Now I think we have enough soap for the next 5 years. Well not that much, but you get he point.

My Kind of Town Chicago Is

One of the best parts of living in the Midwest is living within driving distance to Chicago. Chicago is an incredible city that I fall more in love with every time I go. My friend Caci has a relative that lives in an amazing condo in the city so we went down for the weekend.

You can't get to Chicago with out paying about $10 in tolls which sucks but you also can't get to Chicago without passing IKEA...which is always a treat. Caci had never been so we trekked around ikea for a couple hours with her baby Charlotte. Isn't she adorable?!

I don't know how it happened, but we didn't buy anything! I was as shocked as you guys are. Caci has a lot of self control when it comes to frugality, but I was there too and didn't even buy meatballs or a cute mason jar?!

I was super close to getting a few picture frames for my postcards from the MFAH but resisted. Joey and I need to get rid of things not buy new stuff. He is off to school in August, and I am moving into a much smaller/cheaper living space. Just gotta keep reminding myself that I can get whatever I want when we finally "settle down". Hello all matching dishes!

After IKEA we were starving. As much as I wanted the Lingonberry sauce and meatballs from ikea's cafe, I was pretty sure that anything we got in downtown Chicago was going to be a tinsy bit better....just a tinsy bit ;)

We got to the condo which was adorable. Nancy (Caci's dad's cousin...but we'll just say Caci's aunt) has a great decorator. I scored by having the whole basement to myself which I was not expecting to have when staying with someone who lives in the city! We freshened up and walked to a new pizza joint that Nancy said was pretty popular in her hood. -warning- there was A LOT of unhealthy eating. consider this blog post as an ad for Lipitor lol. We stuffed our faces with delicious pizza and garlic monkey bread that will send you to heaven... and the couch with sweat pants.

Thankfully we did a lot of walking to work off that pizza. We got on a bus to take us to the heart of downtown so I could see "the bean". It was so cool and freezing outside. I want to go back to take a million picks with a better camera than an ipod touch, and in some daylight too....and some summer warmth. Millennium park was awesome, so many cool things all in one place.

I love how the skyline is all lit up in these pictures. Obviously the touch doesn't do it justice Curses not remembering my real camera ever.

I love the feeling of being surrounded by skyscrapers. I could totally get used to living in a huge city.

The "fountains" have random people's faces on them, and in the summer it is a fun place for kids to play around in their swim suits. There is a spout at the mouth and water comes out of it. In this pic though I was able to capture a group of Asian tourists flashing the peace sign. I think I can call my life complete now.

The sides of the fountain towers change color which made some fun pictures.
We went walking around some more while Nancy gave us the tour. We ran into this building which name I don't remember, but it is super old and famous I guess. The interesting thing about it is that the whole thing is turning into a Target! It is sad that such a beautiful building is becoming a big corporate facility, but still I would flip out if this was my Target! They aren't changing anything on the facade since it is a historical building, so I am pretty sure that this is going to be the coolest target ever.

We checked out some other touristy spots like the Macy's-which was ginormous, Chicago Theater, Marilyn Monroe statue, the river/ trump tower etcWe ended up heading back to the condo after our travels around town, and ordering delivery. Did you know you can order delivery from hundreds of restaurants on one website in Chicago? Amazing.The next morning was wonderful. I woke up when my body felt like it. I can't remember the last time that happened. Such a luxury those days were. You know you have become an adult when "sleeping in" is 8:00 am. Nancy had a "race" thing where she climbed all 95(?) floors of the John Hancock building. After she got back from that we bundled up and walked to the Bleeding Heart Bakery for brunch. OMG this place is A. effing delicious and B. effing soo bad for a girl with a sweet tooth.
I decided to go big since it isn't everyday that we go here. I got their doughnut sandwich. Don't judge! It was a small sized portion lol. Basically it was like a mc griddle but in between a doughnut. Disgustingly delicious right? I felt amazing after eating it. Not. But hey its part of the experience, and I will not be ashamed lol. After getting some goodies from their pastry window to take home to joey we headed back to the condo to get ready to go back home.

Chicago trip well done. Next time let's just find a really good salad joint ;)

I'm growing up!

Hey guys check it out: I figured out how to change the background on my blog! I will be playing around more to find a better background, but this will do for now. Someday I will totally understand how to make a blog, but it is still uncharted territory for me.

Life is pretty good over here for the Platers. It was a slight snowmageddon in Madison. People at Whole Foods were acting crazy getting their supply before we are snowed in. Madison's snow removal isn't like Utah's, and they don't believe in salting the roads which makes driving even scarier. It isn't that bad, but we are couped up in the apartment for the night. Great for getting my homework done...or blogging?

So today I bought Kale for the 2nd time. First time was a bad experience, but I am going to try it out in my green smoothies or even make some kale chips this weekend. I am excited.

Gertie had her first birthday which was so fun!

We had Minsi Gertie's best friend come over for some "pup cakes" you can see the recipe here. I tasted it, and they are pretty good. Just a really dense muffin basically. I put a little dollop of yumbutter peanut butter for the frosting. She wasn't quite sure how to eat her pupcake.


I made Schnauzer cupcakes for the humans. They were way too time consuming so I only made a couple, but they turned out pretty cute!

I haven't mentioned yet that Joey and I went to Houston together for his interview @ Rice University. Up until we had that little vacation I was so against living in Texas. I didn't want to live in the "Big American/ Walmartville" etc part of society. Houston was gorgeous though. A huge city with a fabulous art museum :) Getting to Houston was a nightmare, and to spare you all the details we ended up spending the night in Atlanta and got $1200 in compensation for flight tickets later! Worth the shiz we went through? I would say yes.

Once we landed in Houston due to the "overbooking" delays we had to book it ourselves to the University. We got to the rental car area and the guy (in shorts!!) greeted us with water bottles that were slightly sweating. Remember how it was February when we went? Yes I am liking this Houston heat already. He took us to a row of cars and said we could pick out of the row. Before he could finish his sentence I squealed the FIAT! I couldn't stop giggling and grinning driving out of the parking garage. Such cute cars! I will never own one though-no pick up what so ever.




We made it to the University a half hour before Joey's interview which was perfect. I dropped him off and dashed to the MFAH to check out the King Tut exhibit. It was amazing! I also had enough time to breeze through the rest of the museum and grab a couple postcards of my favorite pieces.

This one is The Corn Poppy by Kees Van Dongen. I couldn't get over how much I loved it! Love the red mmm.

After the museum I headed back to the school to meet up with Joey and the MBA "tour guide" who took us to lunch at a swanky university restaurant. After that Joey and I toured around the campus which was so quaint!
I loved the trees!

I convinced Joey to go back to the museum so I could show him everything I liked...and see some things that I went by too quickly. I love art! After getting our picture as mummies Joey was getting tired of being in his suit so we went to our hotel to check in.

After freshening up checked out "The Village" which is a big shopping district that goes on for miles it felt like! We grabbed some dinner at a local hipster joint- which was utterly delicious. Joey was having pregnant woman strength cravings for coldstone so we asked the waiter how to get to one. He gave us directions that seemed easy, but we never found a coldstone. We ended up running into another swanky shopping area that had a ice cream place similar to coldstone.

There was a cute movie theater there so we chilled at the Barnes & Noble (our frequented spot for date nights) while we waited for The Artist's showtime.


We loved The Artist such a great movie. Highly suggest it if you haven't seen it yet. We went back to the hotel and lounged falling asleep to watching VH1 top women artists. We were up bright an early to the biggest rain storm I have ever seen! Driving to the airport was scary in that little Fiat. There would be moments when we couldn't see anything because we hit a huge puddle...while on the freeway. We screamed a couple times. Other than the rain and getting a little lost we made it to the Airport. All thanks to the kind homeless man outside the gas station that showed us the way. Houston was the perfect little adventure we had been needing. I love traveling with Joey even though I am pretty sure we are cursed with bad luck anytime we travel together.

I went to Chicago last weekend, but I will post about that later. I need to type a comparison essay on Greek funerary pottery fun friday for sure!

ps I am trying to keep it healthy which gets really hard when you are a stress eater and being in college=stress. What are somethings you guys do to keep yourself on track, and keep stress under control?