The Weekend: Rockabilly Chili

The annual WMSE Rockabilly Chili Contest offered up some good surprises yesterday. I got to try about a half dozen amazingly different chilis - from chicken masala chili to beef brisket chili - and I liked them. Then the biggest surprise - mad heartburn. Seriously. Heartburn. (Listen body, I'm 28, not 78) Thankfully, The Wicked Hop had a dish of Tums sitting out. I dug in like it was M&Ms. I guess that's a sports related injury in the food contest world.

There were 3 that really stood out to me:
no. 1) The Bel Air Caintina chipotle chili with shoestring tortilla strips and avocado crema
no. 2) The Wicked Hop tomatoey-brisket chili with tons-o-toppings (shot of whiskey optional)
no. 3) Braise Restaurant's bean chili with bacon on top

None of these won the official contest. For those results, go here. Just bring an arsenal of antacids next year if you plan to try the ghost chili pepper chili from Ball 'n Biscuit. Or else.

The Weekend: Milwaukee BrewFest

Pop Chart Lab Beer Poster, $25
(click for larger image)

Finals are over! And what better way to celebrate than with a beer. The Milwaukee BrewFest is going on this Saturday on the lakefront. I have always thought that Milwaukee needs to embrace its beer culture and make this city a destination for beer tourism. And this is it. It's the second year for the BrewFest, but the first year I'll be going. There is a long list of breweries to visit and taste. I'm anxious to try some of Abita's new beers.

And there's even a BrewFest Queen contest! I know, really. My money is on Ruthie B. Ruthie blogs over at Newaukee and friend and old co-worker. So yeah, she's pretty much awesome. And she really does love beer. It's true.



The BrewFest starts at 3pm Saturday, July 30th at the Old Coast Guard Pavillion on the lakefront, near the Milwaukee Yacht Club. Over 100 craft breweries will be there along with food vendors like Fuel Cafe and Crawdaddy's. Here's the list of activities from their website:
* Musical performances
* Home brewing demonstrations
* Exhibits from Museum Of Beer & Brewing
* Keg barrel race, bingo and ring toss
* Crowning of 2011 Miss Brewfest
* A variety of food for purchase from local restaurants and vendors
* Local artist and craftsmen
I really like how they have a special designated driver ticket for $15 that gets you a brat or hot dog and 3 tickets for either soda or water. Good job, guys!

This weekend is pretty busy - Tour de Fat is going on in Humboldt Park, Brady Street Festival, WMSE Backyard Barbeque and German Fest are all going on this weekend, too!

A Weekend of Shows

I've got a busy weekend on my plate: not one, but THREE concerts. Tonight is Amos Lee at the Riverside Theater (read about the history HERE). I'm VERY excited about this show. Lee's last album got some help from the Calexico guys and is without a doubt, his best album to date. There are still some tickets left, so if you're without plans (and the snow holds off), get your rump downtown to see this guy! Or check to see if he's playing near you. On Volcano Choir, fronted by Wisco-native Justin Vernon at Turner Hall Ballroom. This band got some good press down at SXSW, so I'm anxious to check them out.


And thennnn, Sunday night, Sarah Silverman takes the stage at the Riverside. Laughter attacks he we come!

Happy Weekend: Coffee and Doughnuts

Happy weekend, y'all. Almost every weekend, my father-in-law comes into town with fresh bakery doughnuts in hand for some Sunday morning coffee talk. This picture looks like it was taken right off my kitchen table. In actuality, it was taken by Neil at Front Room Photography. Remember Neil? He took my wedding photos. This photo was from another wedding he shot this past summer. You can't go wrong starting a wedding day off with Alterra coffee and gooey Honeydip donuts. Keeping it real.

The Weekend: Haunted Houses

After dinner with the parents tonight, we are headed to a haunted warehouse on the near south side. The hub LOVES haunted houses. Our already spooky 100 year old basement is decorated and spooked out every Halloween for our annual costume party. Sometimes my stepdad even hides in the coal room with a chainsaw to freak everyone out. We take Halloween very serious at our house. So, I'm glad I found this list of Haunted Houses in Milwaukee. I don't scare that easily when it comes to mock haunted houses, but creepy abandoned houses in the woods? Now THAT scares me.








Photo sources: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

How Lulu the dog spends her weekend

.....mostly sleeping. She got tired from playing with her toys then fell asleep. If you're wondering why I usually post pictures of my dog sleeping, that's because she sleeps like 18hrs. a day. F'reals.

I got up today and took a trip to the South Shore Farmers market, stopped too get some coffee and the new People magazine so I could go home and read all about Elin Woods and what's gonna happen to Tiger. Important stuff, people. Had brunch and Centraal and bought a sectional sofa. Productivity!

Have you heard that new Cee Lo Green song yet? It's my weekend jam. I heard it on NPR last week (yes, NPR).

Happy 4th of July weekend

Laura Trevey painting,

I'll be doing some posting over the weekend and a LOT of chillaxin' in the backyard. Hope you have a good weekend, too!

Weekend Style: Yoga clothes (with or without yoga)

I love wearing workout clothes on the weekend, especially yoga pants--they're like sweats only classier. This weekend is going to be pretty busy, so no actual yoga to go along with the pants. I plan to stop by the Fondy Farmers Market first thing tomorrow AM, then swing by Lululemon in the Third Ward on my way home. I am pretty excited for my first visit to this store. I hope I find some good workout clothes for when I hang out with new my best friend. We've been hanging out a lot lately.



(top to bottom: harpers bazaar, people, karen cheng)

Happy May Day

Does any still celebrate May Day? I remember growing up and our neighbors would leave a small basket of flowers on our front door knob.


image: K is for calligraphy

Last week, Design*Sponge posted a DIY May Day basket project, check it out HERE

And Happy Derby, too!

Weekend: A wedding, Lake Geneva, and KFC

We drove down to Lake Geneva today for my friend's wedding. I grew up nearby, but since I've moved away I seemed to have forgotten how pretty the town is in spring. I always remembered it for the Illinois weekend tourists and horrible downtown traffic, but there's a lot of charm to that town. Here are some flickr photos from Luiz Felipe Castro. He really captures what I'm talking about. Between the wedding ceremony and the reception we took a detour over to KFC. Mostly, we went because we were intrigued/fascinated by the Double Down, but wimped out and did not order it.

Weekend: Laying around

Nothing exciting going on over here. Just planning to lay around most of the weekend. Lulu the dog and her foster friend, Payton, are getting an early start. I will be leaving my relax-fest, to see Alice In Wonderland; anyone else going to see that, too?