Weekend of Birthdays

I hope my readers had a good weekend. Friday I had my first day off of work due to my new schedule of working 80% time, and of course it was cold and overcast. I also had a bit of a cold and might have called in sick anyway. Travalon worked in the morning, then in the afternoon he and I went for a hike on a part of the Ice Age Trail that a coworker had recommended to me. In the evening we went to the East Side Club for their fish fry.

Saturday Travalon and I got up kind of late, so we ran to one coffee shop quickly before Tiffy came to town, but we had forgotten they were closed that day for a wedding. We ran to another one and stopped in a new chocolate shop next door. Mmm! It’s called CocoaVaa. When Tiffy came up, she and I stopped in there for some more chocolate. The cherry bonbon is amazing. I took Tiffy on a Betty Lou Cruise for her birthday, then we hung out on the roof of the Monona Terrace and watched some of the triathletes swimming in the Iron Man contest. In the evening she, Travalon, Richard Bonomo, and I went to Liliana’s for a dog rescue fundraiser, but Travalon was bummed to see that they have taken his favorite item (blackened catfish) off the menu. Also, because the fundraiser was so popular, the kitchen was backed up, so it took a while to get our food. When it came, it was so good. Then Tiffy headed home, Travalon went to see an AC/DC tribute band, and I hung out at Rich’s house for a bit.

Sunday Travalon went to visit his family in Oconomowoc, so I convinced Rich to join me for crepes at a health food place, and then he and I went for a hike by the Yahara River. In the evening Travalon and I took Hockey Girl to Sardine for her birthday, sitting out on the patio overlooking Lake Monona. I had skate, which is a type of fish, and oh my goodness was it delicious! We also had chocolate ganache cake, since it was a birthday party, while Travalon had caramel pot de crème. Afterwards we went up on the Monona Terrace rooftop, which Hockey Girl had never seen, and she was amazed by how beautiful it was up there. She asked me to take her picture in front of the Capital, but I didn’t really understand her phone and managed to take 54 pictures, none of them very good. Her actual birthday is today, so Happy Birthday Hockey Girl! (I don’t think she reads this blog.)

Famous Hat