show me what democracy looks like!

This is what democracry looks like!

Dave went back down to the Capitol last Friday with a group of colleagues.

He got pictures of lots of protest signs. Here are some of his favorites.

greenbush bar

Dave and I were craving Italian for dinner last night after watching The Godfather on AMC. But we didn't want white tablecloth-type Italian, we were looking for hole-in-the-wall Italian. So we went here.

The Greenbush Bar is in the basement of the Italian Workmen's Club in Madison.

The atmosphere is great! Cozy and homey and casual - just what we were looking for.

Unfortunately, the food was not good. We both ordered pasta dishes and I think Newman's Own red sauce out of the jar is better. We have yet to find great Italian food in Madison, but I think we'll go back and maybe try the pizza or sandwiches. The place was packed and there was a line to get a table, so it must be good at something!

state street at night

Snapped a couple pictures of State Street the other night walking back to my car after sewing class. Please appreciate this! I had to take my right glove off to turn on my camera!

For your viewing pleasure, some blizzard and day-after videos from here:
http://www.thedailypage.com/video/article.php?article=32115

blizzard aftermath

The pictures from the blizzard in action just don't do it justice, so here's the aftermath!

blizzard night 2011

Blizzard 2011 has hit southern Wisconsin! It started snowing this afternoon and was no big deal at first, but the storm has been gathering steam all evening. Now when we look out the window we can't see across the street through the screen of snow! The snow is very light and powdery and with the crazy wind it's swirling and churning in all directions - sideways, around in circles, straight up, it's crazy!

Public schools and state and local government offices had decided to close for tomorrow by 5 today. Then, UW-Madison announced classes are cancelled tomorrow! So to celebrate, Dave made a cocktail and I cracked open a grapefruit Izze soda and we cooked up some yummy and tropical tilapia tacos. (Recipe courtesy of my brother - thank you!)

We wanted to go outside to see what it felt like out there, so we bundled up and went downstairs and walked over to the Chocolate Shoppe. Because when it's cold and snowing and blowing snow, what else do you want to do but go get ice cream!?!? After some genuine super-premium Wisconsin goodness, we came back upstairs and watched our Tar Heels beat BC 106 to 74!

So, it's been a fun blizzard night and even though we'll both be working from home tomorrow, it's still been fun knowing tomorrow is a "snow day". Can't wait to see what it will look like out there tomorrow morning!

winter in Westmorland

This is from a couple of weekends ago, but I forgot to post. Our neighborhood has a very nice park (as all neighborhoods in Madison do). And the park doesn't slow in the winter! A few Sundays ago was the winter playdate.

Hockey (not pictured), hot chocolate, sledding and ice skating. Fun!

Ben Folds

We went to the Overture Center last night to hear Ben Folds.

It was a great show and a nice venue. The Overture Center has 7 stages, I think. I saw Ingrid Michaelson with the girls in October in the Capitol Theater, which is the renovated historic opera house that they built the rest of the Center around. Last night's show was in the largest - Overture Hall.

Here's Overture Center from the outside.

And here's the lobby.

And here's Ben!

Here's what the inside of the hall looks like.

And you can drink in the hall, but only in these coffee mugs. It's really weird to drink beer out of a coffee mug! No worries - I did that in October, not last night.

I love the lobby - beautiful views of the Capitol!

walking on water...i mean ice

The lakes are frozen!

So we went out to walk on (frozen) water today.

We saw ice gophers,

and dinosaur bones,

and an ice fishing shack!

Look at this crazy crack in the ice near the shore!

See ya later, gophers!

weekend of madison fun

Next up in our "parade of visitors"? Erin! And Jen again!
Erin was dead set on coming here once it got cold. I tried to talk her out of it, but after 100 + days over 90 degrees in NC, she claimed she was ready for some cold weather. Not only did Erin get a dose of cold this weekend in Madison, but she was here for our first real snowfall!



The snow didn't slow us down at all. Jen came up from Chicago and we spent Saturday Christmas shopping 'til we dropped.

In addition to our first snow, we had a number of eating firsts this weekend as well. I'm glad Erin and Jen were here so I could try out some new places!

We imbibed some pre-dinner drinks at a brand new restaurant downtown called Nostrano. We will need to go back for a special occasion dinner sometime! I loved the atmosphere, especially the scene from the bar out to the snowy street outside. I snapped a not-great picture. And added a snowman to cover up the trash can. But you get the gist.

Then, for dinner, we went to Chautara, a Nepalese/Himalayan restaurant I had been dying to try but could not convince a certain someone to go with me. Since we had visitors, he had to oblige! Plus, Erin and Jen are always up for an adventure, so I knew they wouldn't mind trying out brand new food at a place we had never been. Of course, the food was delicious!

This morning, before the ladies were heading home, we tried a new-to-us breakfast place on the eastside called Lazy Jane's Cafe. Yum, yum, yum, love, love, love! We loved it! Delicious scones, great cozy atmosphere, and delicious eats. It didn't hurt that it was a gorgeous sunny and cold day - blue sky, clean snow, sunshine, and good friends. A lovely Sunday brunch! If you are reading this and planning to come visit us, we will probably take you here!

Jen, it was great to see you again so soon! Erin, come back soon so we can explore more of the eastside together!

bison!

Since the sun sets before 4:30 now (!!!) I try to sneak out for an afternoon walk every day while there's still sunshine.

Today on my walk I spotted two bison at the entrance to the bikepath!

I can't believe I had never noticed them from the road. I guess they are kind of hidden. And dressed as pilgrims no less!

I read online this was part of a neighborhood beautification (?) project a while ago. Here's what the Midvale Neighborhood Association has to say about the bison:

The Midvale Heights Neighborhood Association has been working with local resident and artist, Bill Grover to bring history to life at the site where the new southwest bike/pedestrian path crosses Midvale Blvd.. To develop a sense of this hillside, we focused on the geographic location and local history of our area. From this, we gleaned these major themes:

-Midvale Heights lies atop glacial till left here 12,000 years ago.

-The till is underlain by 500 million year old Cambrian sandstone and limestone.

-We live at the northeast edge of the North American bison range and the edge of what was the tall grass prairie.

We will build a circle of limestone seating area which will form an interactive sundial. Cryptic images symbolizing the hours of the day will be etched on the surfaces of the stones forming the seating. Other features of the site will include a boulder of red granite, our Wisconsin State Rock, placed to mark the hour of noon and True North, a Burr Oak and prairie plants will show us what the oak savannah and prairie might have looked like before this area was developed, a bison and her young will be formed out of concrete near a simple neighborhood sign cantilevered from a base of glacial boulders.

The prairie and the Ice Age are big up here!

teach me how to bucky

Check out this hilarious video. Bucky Badger is UW-Madison's beloved mascot.

We introduced Jen and Drew to this video this weekend and I think we've converted another fan!

what is it? #3

So if you missed the first two installments of "What is it?" (here and here), I present to you now "What is it?" #3. 

The game usually goes like this. I post a picture of something that's new and different to me, something you don't see on the east coast or something unique to Madison. You leave a guess in the comments section on what you think it is. Whoever guesses it right is the *winner*! There is no prize for the winner, but at least you get the satisfaction of knowing you were right!

The lack of a prize doesn't even matter for this one because this is more of a rhetorical "What is it?" and more of a "What the heck?" or "Seriously?" or "Well I'll be!"

Here's the picture.

What is it? Yup, it's three dead deer tied to an SUV. We were warned about this by some of Dave's colleagues and we saw it for the first time yesterday. We were driving around scoping out neighborhoods for potential future home purchasing and were heading back into Madison proper when Dave spied poor dead Bambi behind us. It wasn't until the SUV sped by that we noticed there were three!

Now I know people hunt in North Carolina and everywhere but this is still something I had never seen before! Plus, we weren't really out in the country and this car was heading towards Madison!

So there you have it. First time seeing three deer strapped to an SUV. A Wisconsin moment.

polka polka polka!

Last night Dave and I had dinner at the Essen Haus! Dave had jaeger schnitzel, I had the hühner schnitzel. Yum! I wanted to get the beer in a boot, but it turns out it's 2 liters of beer! That's a lot for two people!

Here's the beer boot.

Photo courtesy of citydictionary.com

There are rules to drinking the boot.

1. The boot can NEVER touch the table while delicious beer goodness still remains.

2. The player must flick the boot before passing it on to the next player.

3. When a player receives the boot with a chance to finish the remaining beer, other people at the table must initiate table pounding to encourage the player. Other patrons at the Essen Haus will also pound on their tables.

4. The player who passes the boot to the player who finishes the boot must pay for the next boot.
 
5. You must drink the boot with the toe up.
 
 
Around 8:30 the polka band kicked up and some enthusiastic folks even danced and hooted!

So who's coming to Madison to help us drink a boot?

Prost!