February Hits and Misses

A round-up of February Awesome:

Brian offered to make dinner one night a couple weeks ago, and asked for my opinion on what to have. Unfortunately for him, I offered nothing useful, so he came up with some easy dinner like any man, right? WRONG. I walked into his apartment the next night, after a long day at work followed by a workout at the gym to the smell of beef. Specifically, brisket. Specifically, Homesick Texan's all-day brisket, which Brian adapted for a slow cooker, and chopped up, and put on sandwiches with coleslaw.

The thoughtfulness and time behind this meal, which he made for us, blew me away, as it always does. You think I would have learned my lesson when he made gumbo on our first date, but I like the constant surprise of pleasure in our relationship.

Speaking of a pleasurable surprise, this song came on at the end of a Hart of Dixie episode a few weeks ago. It's fantastic. I can't wait for their album to come out.

I've subscribed to Garden & Gun magazine. I can't explain it. Well, I can. It's published in Charleston, focused on Southern food and culture, and well -- there's this too:

If you want a taste, their website has glorious writing. (I like that the hue of the wood on that rifle matches my hair!)

Everyone's seen the video where Kristen Bell flips out over a sloth, yes?

Some misses:

I made these Peanut Butter & Banana Breakfast Cookies, but something didn't taste quite right. For the record, I truly believe this was operator error. I've made lots of delicious recipes from this website in the past. But it was disappointing- I was very much looking forward to eating cookies for breakfast!

Carolina lost to Duke, in a buzzer-beating shot. It was horrendous. And heartbreaking.

A Birthday Trip to Door County

For the past few years I've taken a trip for my birthday, either to a far away warm-weather spot: San Francisco & Santa Barbara, or just a quick trip home when I was living in Chicago. My birthday falls in what feels like the dead middle of winter here and a short vacation always brightens the dreary early February.

This year Brian and I decided to head up to Door County (the "thumb" of Wisconsin, if you will). While it was by no means "warm" we're having the mildest winter I can remember and it stayed mild this past weekend as well. We ate some delicious food, drank local wine, swam at the hotel, drove through a very quiet state park and took in a small town winter festival (fireworks included!), amidst lots of sleeping. Here are some photos (mostly of ice!) - Ready?

The Fish Creek winter festival was held on Saturday and had all sorts of fun games...

Bowling on the (muddy) ice:

 Yes, that is a sign for a toilet seat toss.

 Brian trying his hand at the "cannonball." He didn't win.

 Some photos from our drive around Peninsula State Park:

 Horseshoe Island as viewed from the Eagle Tower, a 75 foot tower. I shoved my fear of heights down as we climbed up, up, up and this was the reward:

 The little town of Ephraim.

 (Aren't we the best picture takers, me with my shadow in the way??)

 We couldn't get over the shapes of the ice. These photos were taken in Gill's Rock, the small village at the tip of the Peninsula.

Despite a lack of palm trees and 60 degree temperatures, in my opinion this was the best birthday trip yet.