globetrotting: the dealio

I'm heading to Germany and Belgium on Saturday to see my oldest friend in Milwaukee get married to a German, visit with family friends, and spend some quality Meghan Time. I also anticipate having some excellent adventures, because that's how I roll.

Here are the highlights that I'm looking forward to:

• Getting the tour of the "real Belgium" from actual Belgians
• Beer Island! Seriously, there is a boat on the Rhine. It goes to an Island. On this Island, there is a Biergarten. You drink there until you're ready to go back.
• Seeing my dear friend marry her Prince Charming in an actual castle. Even though I don't believe in romance for myself, it's nice to see it can happen to other people.
• Doing nature-y stuff in the Black Forest, as well as eating Black Forest cake and looking at cuckoo clocks.
• Meeting new friends from across the globe.
• ??? - Putting myself out into the great unknown, satisfying my wanderlust, and letting the universe be my guide.

globetrotting: privacy settings

Last weekend I was at a party and we were discussing the pros and cons of posting your vacation stories online, since apparently Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern will be watching the internets to plan a heist of my home. I kinda feel bad for a thief who would find no television sets, a five-year-old dying laptop, IKEA furniture, and a bunch of Victorian novels. And now that I'm planning a "use up your perishables" dinner on Friday night, there's not even going to be anything in the fridge.

Sorry guys.

In all seriousness though (Mom & Dad), I do have my friend and neighbor Jason watching my place while I'm gone. I also live in a very confusing building, where my friends can't even find my apartment half the time. I know my next door neighbor and everyone in the building kinda watches out for weirdness.

Message to thieves: Really, don't waste your time.

globetrotting: ah, customs

In advance of my trip I flipped through my travel journal before I packed it. It contained many gems and inside jokes from my India trip, several of which I emailed to my travel buddy Jason.

I can't resist however, sharing with you this hilarious scene from customs in Newark. I completely forgot about it, probably because I was exhausted and recovery from having parasites invade my digestive track on the flight back.

Scene: Customs purgatory in Newark. Flights from Delhi and Israel in line. Winding toward us is backpacking hippie juggling hackysacks. New Yorker couple behind me.

NY Guy to Hippie: "That's the best thing I've seen in 12 hours."
Hippie: "Oh thanks, if I wasn't afraid of airport security I also have balloon animals in my bag."
NY Guy: "Pardon me?"
Hippie: "Balloon animals. You know...dogs, elephants...but I had a run in with security once."
NY Guy: "Oh, um, okay, take care."

art attack: my "mini" summer gallery night

It's hard to believe it's been a quarter of a year since my epic adventures at Spring Gallery Night (photo above depicts the first of what would be many beers). I'm definitely toning it down for summer, have to watch my spending for my impending Europe trip and am running the Sausage 5k early Saturday morning.

There's a ton of awesome shows around town, including one in Bay View and the Urban Ecology Center that I can't make it too, so if you have the time, check them all out.

If you want to stalk/look at art with me, here's a handy dandy map of where I'm going to be (click the markers to find out when, also zoom out for the full view):


View Summer Gallery Night 2010 in a larger map

Again, for those not into interactivity, here's the schedule:

5:30P: Dean Jensen Gallery
5:50P: DeLind Fine Art
6:10P: Pfister Hotel Lobby Gallery
6:45P: Peltz Gallery
7:10P: Caggio Gallery

Thanks as always to the awesome folks at the Art City blog for making Gallery Nighting a decipherable experience.

Oh, and if you don't get enough art on Friday, I HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend you make a trip to the Milwaukee Art Museum for the Milwaukee Artist's Marketplace on Saturday from 10-5. This is one of my favorite events of the year, and even though I may not be able to buy more than a $10 painting this year, there ARE $10 paintings and all sorts of awesome stuff by local artists. Worth the trip down.

monday munchies: tornado meatloaf

I hopefully will be able to update you with my culinary adventures tomorrow. I was just about to sit down and prep a post while my CSA/market-inspired meatloaf was cooking, but then the sirens went off...and I freaked out.

So you get a post tomorrow! Goodnight!

what i'm looking forward to this week

Summer has officially begun in Milwaukee, so I've taken advantage of three "rest days" at the beginning of the week to get my life and apartment in order before insanity begins.

Thursday
Becky and I's Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) Share from Rare Earth Farm starts! Looking forward to hopefully enlightening you all with the return of Monday Munchies detailing what I do with my bounty.

After picking up said veggies, it'll be my first trip down to Alterra on the Lake's Musica del Lago series. We have a solid group going for De La Buena. Hopefully the weather will be lovely.

Friday
I will be celebrating a dear friend's birthday, but beforehand I hope to swing by Taylor's to celebrate the birthday of UrbanMilwaukee.com. I doubt I'll make it to the screening of Rad at the Bike-In Movie, but you should go if you can!

Saturday
In the spirit of keeping an attitude of gratitude, I will not bemoan the fact that I'm missing 1,000 other events in Milwaukee (including participating in the Great Milwaukee Race with my friends) because I'll be working at the Juneteenth Day Parade & Celebration. Actually, you should pop by and check it out.

Provided I'm not totally exhausted after, I'll be heading over to the The Brenner Beer Tasting at the Parachute Project on 27th & Wells. I went to the first Parachute Project event on Gallery Night and it's definitely worth checking out. I'm a big fan of the "pop up gallery" concept and using abandoned urban spaces for art's sake. Check this one out if you can.

I'll likely end the evening at the Summer Soulstice on North Avenue, another Milwaukee summer tradition.

Sunday
Anyone want to be my brunch buddy on Sunday morning? I have signed up to write a guest blog for the fantastic Milwaukee Brunch Reviews this summer and would like to hit up Buckley's this weekend. Afterward, I plan to hit the Lakefront Festival of the Arts, swing into see the AIDS Quilt at the Milwaukee Art Musuem, and probably pop over to Polish Fest.

***
How can you be bored in this town? What are your plans for the weekend?

practice an attitude of gratitude

This was my fortune cookie last night from Lucky Liu's and I really took it to heart today.

The last month has been incredibly rough. My mom lost her job of 15 years, my godfather passed away after a short battle with melanoma, and I got in a car accident at work and now have to deal with both a back injury and fighting an unjust ticket (since when is driving in the shoulder of a two-lane highway legal?).

Thanks to the car accident I also had to put my fitness and weight goals on hold until I start physical therapy and find out how to adjust my exercise plan. Nothing's more frustrating to me at the moment.

BUT the cookie put it all in perspective.

So here's some of the many things I'm grateful for today:

• Getting up early enough this morning to hit Alterra Coffee before work.
• I hurt less today than yesterday and that I wasn't hurt worse in the accident.
• I have the resources, intelligence and gumption to fight my ticket.
• My best friend in the world, Kat, happened to be visiting the day after my wreck and took care of me mentally, physically and spiritually. AND she cleaned my bath tub so I could soak my muscles. She's pretty much amazing.
• Swimming really helped my back out and the WAC and Milwaukee Athletic Club have partnered so I now have access to a pool downtown.
• I was able to donate blood today and that I can be motivated enough by the importance of it to overcome my terrible phobia of needles.
• My #fitmke and dailymile networks rock and have been so encouraging throughout my hiatus from my exercise routine.
• The stars aligning and the Pabst Theater booked the Pavement reunion. Now I can sell my Pitchfork tickets and have an extra weekend in Milwaukee, go to a friend's wedding shower, and support the WMSE Radio Summer Camp.
• Spending quality time with my family this past month.
• My awesome co-workers who bring in treats, entertain me throughout the day, and give me rides home when it rains.
• Reconnecting with childhood, high school and college friends recently. And continuing to make new friends, even with three decades behind me!

Thank you fortune cookie!