Yes, an entire tent dedicated to CHEESE.

On Saturday, my Wisconsin Badgers were playing Northern Illinois University at Soldier Field and I was fortunate enough to get tickets to the game and a Badger pre-game tailgate.

The tailgate had beer, brats, sandwiches, cookies, chips and cheese. But, given that I’m from a cheese-fanatic state, a local cheese company had an entire tent dedicated to cheese, separate from the other food and beverage tents.

The minute the woman at check-in told us about it, I was off like a shot. I may be muttered, “I want to go to there,” and then quickly started scanning the crowd, full of red-dressed Badger fans.

Of course, the cheese tent was a little hidden (no doubt to control the crowds) but when I saw it, I had to photograph the awesome-ness of this moment.

If you couldn’t tell, I love cheese. LOVE IT. I’ve been known to demolish a cheese plate at a party with only carnage left behind. It happens.

Here are some photos of this mecca:

Cheese tent, I want to go to there

No surprise, Cheddar was the most popular

And of course, the best way to tailgate is a plate of cheese and a beer, clearly, I took advantage of both.

I love the Midwest

How was your weekend?

Anyhow, to help clear my cluttered mind of random stuff I’m thinking about, I put together a lovely bulleted list of things on my mind, some more random than others.

• How long will it take once I arrive in Mexico to be on the beach with drink in hand? My guess? One hour (at the most)
• Is it possible to wear leggings as pants all the time and not look silly? I’m willing to try
• I’m totally obsessed with Boo the dog on Facebook. Seriously, I would steal that dog. I want one just like him (kidding?) The video of his “typical day” makes me scream with cuteness
• This week’s episode of Glee was so amazing. I’m letting myself download three (or four) songs…or maybe just all of them :)
• Daylight savings time is bringing me down. I love getting another hour of sleep, but dark at 5 p.m.? Really?
• Arielle asked me this weekend if everyone in the Midwest is obsessed with football. After seeing the crowds at the bar Sunday, I think she’s right
• Why is picking paint colors so difficult? I’m so indecisive with what colors to select for my living room/bedroom. I’m thinking off white and light gray but I cannot commit. Blerg
• I’m pretty much also stalking photos from the Breaking Dawn set in Brazil. I’ve got Twilight fever yet again!
• I need to get back in for a mani/pedi stat. I did my own last night and it was…well embarrassing
• I’m dying to try Temptu’s Under Eye Concealer. I have serious under eye circles

Also, THANK YOU everyone for the feedback on the dresses to wear to the wedding. Holy cow, I was truly blown away by the response it got!

The dresses I packed tonight are the Banana Republic purple/black dress, floral dress and pink NY & Co. one. The final pick will be a gametime decision, but I feel good about all of them thanks to you guys! I even laid out jewelry, purses and shoes. I will be glammed up in any of those dresses!

What’s on your mind lately?

Anyhow, this weekend was celebrating two more things I love about fall: college football and farmer’s markets. Sure, the latter is actually more of a summer thing, but for me, it’s more about fall.

I love college football. I don’t get to watch it live or on TV nearly enough so any opportunity I get, I take it. And this weekend, I got to watch my favorite team (the Wisconsin Badgers) play Minnesota in Madison. I LOVE watching games at Camp Randall, even if it’s 80 degrees and I’m sitting in the sun most of the day sweating like a wh*re in heat. Sadly, I only make it up there once a year so I savor it as much as I can.

That includes indulging in some great, beer battered cheese curds (YUM), New Glarus Spotted Cow (awesome beer) and the farmers market around the state capitol.

I suck at going to farmer’s market in Chicago because I am not a weekend morning person. I get up early five days a week, so Saturday/Sunday, I take my time leaving the house. This is why I never make it to the local farmer’s market. But in Madison, I get up early and hit the square before the game, visiting my regular vendors, like this guy:

I love walking around the square, seeing the fresh produce, fruit, flowers and seasons decorations.

And this time, I picked up some stuff I’m wicked excited about, including:

• Homemade honey and honey shooters (yes, shots of honey)
• Wisconsin maple syrup lollipops (YES!)
• Green peppers the size of my head
• Freshly made kettle corn
• Honey crisp apples (LOVE these)
• And this cutie……

Yep, I’m going to try and grow my own basil. I have no idea if it will work but I’ll give it a try!

How was your weekend? What are your favorite things to pick up at the market?

Spring haircut

I love my long hair but in the summer, it’s kind of  a pain. It morphs into a frizz ball in humidity and feels like an animal laying on my neck/shoulders in the heat.

So when I got my hair cut this weekend, I was bold and went a bit shorter than normal. I do love it but I’m having a hard time adjusting. I just have to keep chanting “it’s only hair, it will grow back…..”

You may not notice a difference but I’m nitpicking on it right now

Pretty wine labels

No joke, when I look for wine, I usually buy what looks the cutest. I know what types of wine I like but when I have to narrow it down, the label can easily sway me.

So to celebrate pretty wine labels, several awesome, hilarious Chicago blogger ladies got together again to indulge in cupcakes, snacks and, well lots of wine. Seriously, lots of wine.

Last year it got pretty of control (in an awesome way) and this year was no different, including wine shots, dancing to 1990s music and screaming along to it. It was epically fun. My modesty will not allow me to post some of the things we talked about (or witty comments I made) but for me, the best part of the night was talking on hostess’ porch with the gals, laughing, screaming, drinking wine and eating custom cupcakes, check these out:

And then it turned into a dance party. I don’t remember a lot from the later parts of the night but I do vaguely remember faux riding a pony to Ginuine, doing the Single Ladies dance and making a horrified face with TC when someone halted the audio on Lady Gaga/Beyonce’s Telephone mid-song.

Oh and I woke up this morning with a massive headache and spent most of the day on the couch or in bed. I am a baller.

Hawks on parade

Finally, in case you didn’t know, the Chicago Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup. I’m not a hockey fan but it as really exciting to watch and see the city completely come together and celebrate. And what better way than with beer a ticker tape parade downtown!

Here are a few photos and more are on my Flickr page too but I will just say, it was INSANE. The fans filling downtown and Michigan Avenue was unbelievable. I had Obama rally flashbacks and couldn’t believe how many people were there. Amazing. Another reason why I love this city.

Crowd at 8:30 a.m. (Rally began at this spot at 11:30)

The Cup was in the last bus and behind the cops are PEOPLE following the parade

How was everyone else’s weekend?

• I do not like Nutella. At all. I’ve had it in crepes, on toast and in desserts and I just don’t like it. I don’t mind chocolate hazelnut but I’ve never been a fan. People I lived with in Germany thought I was a freak
• I’m terrified of grates in Chicago. In fact, I refuse to walk over them if I can help it. I have this horrible fear that I’ll fall through
• I get ready for work the same way every day. I tend to be forgetful so the routine helps me make sure I don’t forget to brush my teeth, or put put pants on
• The smell of fresh laundry is one of my favorite smells ever
• Sometimes, I laugh so hard that I can’t talk or breathe. I love that feeling
• I don’t know how to drive stick shift. People tried to teach me but I never completely learned. And I have no plans to do so
• I prefer white chocolate to dark chocolate (even though the latter is healthier)
• I am ridiculously uncoordinated at dancing. In fact, I only know about 2-3 moves and repeat them, trying to look like I know what I’m doing
• I have NEVER made an NCAA bracket. I have no idea why
• I do not drink coffee or tea. I don’t like the taste of both. I will have a mocha or some girly kind of coffee-like drink once in a while but if you see me drinking coffee, something is seriously wrong

So do you think I’m a total freak? What are some quirky, odd things about you that you’d like to share.

Review blog update: Summer movie trailers are out so I made a list of movies I can’t wait to see

Anyhow, let’s get started!

Vampires, werewolves and shirtless action, oh my!

As you know, Friday morning at 12:45 a.m., TC and I were at the Chicago AMC theater with several hundred other Twilight fans to get our New Moon-on. We arrived at 11, thinking the line wouldn’t be too bad and were greeted with this.

Holy sh*tballs

People must have arrived for the movie at 8 or 9 p.m. That is a level of hardcore I will never achieve.

Thank goodness for relevant reading materials to pass the time.

Sadly, people didn’t dress in costume (we were easily the most casual people there), but the ladies got R-O-W-D-Y when the movie got started, clapping, cheering and gasping/screaming when Jacob and Edward were on screen. As expected, Jacob’s ab-action got the loudest response while Edward didn’t fare so well. I guess the ladies like a little meat on their men’s bones :)

And as a member of Team Jacob, I would look at that chest all day long. RAWR. I even said to TC pre-movie, “when I see Jacob without his shirt on…it’s cougar time.” I think we laughed about it for 10 minutes. Exhaustion will do that.

We got out of the movie at 3:15 a.m. and I walked into my apartment at 3:45 a.m., where I promptly went to bed and got back up at 7:30 a.m. to get ready for work. Kill me now. I fared pretty well during the day but crashed HARD Friday night. But, it was SO WORTH IT.

So what did I think of the movie? (non-spoilers below)

I loved it. It was much better than Twilight (like day and night different, aka better) and the things that really irritated me about Twilight weren’t so bad this time (minus Jasper’s unfortunate hair and Alice’s bad fashion sense.)

I also really loved the Jacob character. He was exactly what I imagined he would be and the scenes he had with Kristen Stewart had more heat and emotion than anything with Edward (sorry ladies). Maybe I like him so much because I identify with his character in a lot of ways, but he was great. And TC and I disagreed on a scene in the movie that foreshadows book four but we did agree that we’ll be back at another midnight showing for Eclipse on June 30. It’s on the calendar already!

Football with a side of soft pretzel

Lately, we’ve been really fortunate with good weather in Chicago. And by good, I mean not frickin’ freezing. And Saturday was a great day that included mild temps and sunshine. And that was the day I was up in Evanston with my parents for the Northwestern/Wisconsin game. Compared to the seats my parents and I are used to in Madison (50 yard line, 20 rows back), these seats were….not as close.

I cannot believe that guy stood up in the middle of my shot. D-bag.

Whenever I go to a game, I always treat myself to a hot dog, soda and soft pretzel. That is my go-to for stadium food. I don’t know what they put in it (and don’t want to know) but it is awesome. And as it got darker and colder outside, the fans became bigger d-bags and my team started losing, I was ready to get out of there.

Oh college football, I love it but it will break your heart sometimes.

So did anyone else do fun stuff this weekend? If you saw New Moon, what did you think? Or what is your favorite stadium food?

And sadly, college football season is coming to a close, so to celebrate the last two games of the Badger football season I hit a Badger-bar this weekend for the Michigan game and next weekend I’m headed to Evanston to see them play Northwestern.

Yes, I do love college football. That and I can’t say no to a 32 oz. beer for $7 at a bar that puts fresh duct tape on the seats before the game starts. That’s MY kind of place :)

College football has a ton of rivalries but the Michigan/Wisconsin game is a big one. Why? Because fans of each team hate each other. The only team I dislike more than Michigan is Ohio State. That’s how we roll in the Midwest.

But I do have a lot of friends from Michigan so TC, her friend Marie and I put our team alliances aside and watched the game together at a Wrigleyville bar. As you can see, it’s my kind of crowd :)

Well, minus the b*tchy looks on those girls faces

At the bar, I also learned that I can easily make guys buy shots for me and my friends, all with power of my eyes.

I wish I knew about this power earlier!

I’m not trying to be narcissistic but I do have big eyes that I try to play up  with slightly tinted contacts and lacquered-on mascara (without looking like Tammy Faye).

So a drunk guy stumbles over to our table and begins to slur/talk to us. He starts with TC and Marie and when he looks at me he stops talking.

Him: Wow your eyes are blue

Me: Yes they are

Him: They are like really blue

Me: Yes

Him: They’re beautiful

Me: Thank you, that’s very sweet

Him: They are…striking….

Me: Thank you!

Him: I’m going to buy you guys some shots

And then three shots showed up. I know what you’re thinking, he’s married, but I’ll take a compliment where I can get it.

Whatever power my eyes have over drunk guys, I need to harness it, especially when I want a makeout session or shots. I guess the eyes are more powerful than the boobs.

How was everyone else’s weekend? What is your best feature or what do you do to celebrate your favorite sports teams?

So it’s fall now. Thanks weather, I got the memo.

It’s still going to take time to really let this sink in, but I want to be positive and list the things I am looking forward to with this change of season:

• Leaves changing colors - I don’t see this a lot in the city, but whenever I go home, I go for a drive to enjoy them
• Scarves – I love them and wear them all the time when it cools down. Time to get them out!!
• Honey Crisp apples – These are like dessert in apple form. I always look forward to when they are in season
• Perfect sleeping weather – Cool weather + blankets = perfect night’s sleep
• Cotton jackets – Warmth without being too hot, perfect transition to the down jacket
• Smell of fall - It just smells crisp and cool, that’s the only way I can describe it
• Heated mattress pads/blankets - I love cuddling up in these with my slippers on and flannel jammies. So comfy!
• Working on my “winter coat” – I mean indulging in the treats and warm drinks/foods of the season. All in good balance with going to the gym :)
• College football!! – Yeah I love it. I plan to be watching the Minnesota/Wisconsin game on Saturday morning too!
• Farmer’s markets – so much goodness in one place

Yikes, this is very close to last year’s list too!

Anyhow, one of my favorite things about college football is home games in Madison. Unfortunately, I don’t go to many of them (given the lack of car thing) but the best part of the home games is at the beginning of the fourth quarter when the student section erupts in the well known “jump around,” to the House of Pain 90s hit. On a bad day, I listen to this song on my iPod and do a little “jump around” myself.

The video isn’t great but you can hear the crowd sing along and people standing start moving up and down almost in unison. It’s pretty awesome.

And speaking of farmer’s markets, I went to one near the capital in Madison this weekend and took some awesome photos. Sadly, I didn’t buy all of these items, but the food porn going on is more than enough for me :)

Peppers, caliente!

Eggplant

Kettle corn!

I was good and bought apples, but I did that moreso because I wanted one of these guys:

Red velvet whoopie pie

I love red velvet and cake and I think I just found the perfect combo! Oh and it does taste like heaven, although it took me forever to finish this one. Damn it’s filling.

What are you looking forward to this fall? Is it finally fall-like weather near you?

Review blog update: Yes, I’ve been behind on this, but now that it’s getting cooler, here’s my favorite nighttime moisturizer

And after some last minute prayers to feel better and survive the craziness, I’m pleased to say that I’m back in Chicago in one piece and feeling a lot better than I did Tuesday-Thursday last week (thank goodness!)

So let’s get started!

Football

My parents and I are huge Wisconsin Badger fans. Sure, I went to the University of Minnesota, but in our house, Badgers are #1 and getting invited to my take one or two of my parents tickets to the games is a big treat (*cough* 50 yard-line seats *cough*). And because I had to be in Madison for a wedding that same day, my dad gave me the golden ticket to the Michigan State game, where he told me beer would make me feel better (it does) and a soft pretzel (LOVE THOSE) would settle my stomach. My stepmom even smuggled in chardonnay, which we drank from a water bottle. Seriously, that woman is the QUEEN of smuggling stuff into games. Here’s the view from our seats.

Wedding

So after a great game (which we won!), I had to get ready for the wedding, which I did in my own traditionally classy way, carrying my dress, shoes and make up into a public restroom and changing in the handicapped stall. The Badger fans that walked into the bathroom and saw me struggling to reach the zipper on the back of my dress must have thought I was c-r-a-z-y.

But I pulled it together and was ready to meet up with Rebecca C and head to the ceremony.

And despite my “tough cookie” exterior and dead-inside heart, I do actually have a fluffy, nougat center (like a candy bar) and seeing two friends get married in such a personal, wonderful ceremony made me tear up, especially as the bride and groom choked up during the vows. I even had a moment, seeing them so in love and happy, where I said, “maybe this is something I want.”

Then my little group made our way over to a bar near the reception hall, but this bar had a tree inside. Yes, a HUGE faux tree. It was awesome. And drunk, male football fans were more than excited to see pretty ladies in dresses. I even discovered the joy of New Glarus’ Spotted Cow beer, which is almost as popular Miller in Wisconsin but is NOT available in Illinois. Oh the cruelty.

The reception was amazing, held at an old, vintage movie theater with the tables set at the floor of the theater with lovely accents and soft lighting. If I had gone with a date, yeah I would have been in the mood to make out :)

My weekend even ended with a French cab driver, asking me why I’m single and refusing to believe I’m 30. Yeah he got a little bigger tip than normal. Sometimes, it’s still nice to hear :)

So how was everyone else’s weekend? Do anything fun? Any other big college football fans out there?

And because you guys are so sweet and awesome, sending lots of hugs (you know I love them) and sweet words my way from the last post, I thought I would close this week on something positive with good love vibes.

So while I’m off licking my wounds and getting back to feeling normal, here are a few things I really love.

Okay so I left a few things off but these are the main things I’m loving right now since things in the love department aren’t working out.

Cupcakes

(red velvet is my favorite)

Champagne

(love the bubbles)

College Football

(go Badgers!)

Food

(the middle image should not surprise you)

Movies

(I seriously cannot wait to see these)

Fall TV

(goodbye summer, hello fall!)

Award shows

(it’s like  prom – without bad bangs and corsages)

That’s right, the Emmys are Sunday which means….it’s time for another Everyday Adventures award show fashion recap on Monday. WOOOO! Get excited kids for all the snark, designers and stars you can handle.

I can hear Rachel Zoe now…”I die!”

What do you love right now?

Review blog update: Another edition of Splurge/Save, this time with makeup brushes, d*mn those things are expensive!

The Journal-Sentinel site carried the first “official word” from Favre’s agent and it crashed the site. Apparently it needs to invest in better bandwidth. It treated his retirement like a national day of mourning, encouraging fans to write about their Favre memories and featured a banner that said “Brett Favre 1992-2007.” I thought at first that he had actually died and not retired. My brother and I traded frantic IM’s this morning, trying to find out what’s the actual story and then, when we heard, my Buccaneers-fan-brother was able to share his joy fully. Personally, I’m not a Packers fan, but rather am a “supporter.” I am disappointed to see he wasn’t returning, but if it was me, I’d rather go out on a successful season than come back, have a bad one and end it that way. Leaving on a high note is always the best way to go, even if that high note didn’t result in a Super Bowl win.

Later on the paper’s site, I saw that Packer’s fans were gathering at Lambeau Field to listen to the news and “mourn.” Again, did he die or retire? But to be fair, it would be hard for people within Green Bay where the town actually owns the team. That’s something rare nowadays.

At the gym, ESPN was heavy into Favre-coverage, including his brief cameo in the movie, There’s Something About Mary, which still cracks me up. But apparently his appeal isn’t that wide-spread because a girl I work with (who I promised not to name publicly) asked me today who Brett Favre is! You can imagine my reaction (comforting) but the shocked look on my co-worker’s face did make me laugh.

So in closing, let’s take a moment of silence to honor this Wisconsin legend, who no matter what, will always be a hero there, much like Barry Alvarez, but on a much bigger scale.

I’m proud of my movie achievements this weekend: Painted Veil, Superman 3, Casino Royale, 2 Days in Paris, King of Kong: Fistfull of Quarters and several movies in my DVR as well. It’s insanely lazy and unproductive, but I love it :)

My official choice of favorite Super Bowl commercial has to be: Pepsi’s “head bobbing” ad, which appeared in the first part of the game. It reminded me of the “2 p.m. coma” that happens around the office and the hilarious Will Ferrell/Chris Katten SNL sketch from the 90s. Very funny.

Oh and it’s snowing again…hard. Instead of 1-3″ by tomorrow morning, the Tribune online has upgraded it to 3-5″ – awesome! (said sarcastically)

Okay time to clean my bathroom sink and get the dishwasher going. I’m out of forks and spoons.