Tuesday with Skylar

We had a very busy day.

After staying up way too late blogging and chatting, I got up this morning way too early.

Once I finished getting ready, I woke up Skylar and we went to Meijer. We also stopped at Russo's for root beer. Greg and his family have a summer bucket list and they had a root beer tasting (read about it here). Skylar and I picked out four root beers to try; Virgil's, Dog 'N Suds, Boylan, and Henry Weinhard's Root Beer. They also had Dang (which we've had) and Dad's (which we've had). There were a few others but we limited ourselves to four.

We did not do a blind taste test. We did have a sample of each. My favorite in order were the H.W., Dog 'N Suds, Boylan, and dead last is Virgil's. The guy at the store said Virgil's was his favorite. Unfortunately for us it has licorice in it and neither one of us is a fan of licorice. Anise. Don't like it. So if anyone reading this blog does like it, leave a comment and I would be happy to let you have the other three bottles.

We went downtown to the city market. That was the first time I have been there. It's fantastic! We bought some Michigan cherries and blueberries at one of the outside farmer's stands. We bought some chocolates and breads inside and walked around. There are still a few empty spaces but it seemed to be busy.

After a quick stop at CVS because Skylar accidentally forgot some medicine (just amoxicillin, nothing too important) we walked to Ken's.

Then we made No-Bake cookies, Rice Krispy treats and we were going to make white chocolate chip, dried cranberry oatmeal cookies but we used all the sugar. We took another trip to Ken's to buy more sugar and we came back and made the cookies.

I made Club Em's for dinner (chicken, bacon, avocado, cheese - Gouda today on a hard roll - pretzel bun today) and beer battered onion rings.

I washed dishes and we watched the Tigers game. Now it's time for bed. We have another long and fun-filled day tomorrow.

Where everybody knows your name

We have a little grocery store right down the street. It's just under one mile, walking distance. At least eight months out of the year.

The little bodega is a weekly stop, and we usually end up there two or three times.

It's a great place to grab our fresh produce (brought in locally when possible), they have organic meats and everything in between.

It was on my list of places to stop this morning, after I had breakfast.

That's when bad things happened.

Or didn't happen.

I got the coffee maker ready, I poured beans into the coffee grinder, and... nothing. I reset the coffee grinder and tried again. Still nothing.

I tried a third time.

Nothing.

I ate my breakfast, had watered down coffee (that's a longer story that doesn't contribute to this one), and headed out to do my shopping. I headed to Meijer because I needed to stop there anyway.

My choices were very limited when it came to coffee grinders. I chose the KitchenAid, hoping that by paying a little bit more, it will last a little bit longer.

(As a side note: we have gone through at least four coffee makers and three coffee grinders in our thirteen and a half years of marriage.)

I stopped at the neighborhood bodega. I feel like I'm walking into Cheers. They know me and I always get warm, friendly smiles. They will do what they can to help me find what I need.

This morning was no different. I was even given a white chocolate truffle. Yum! That's when I mentioned that the chocolate made up for my coffee grinder breaking. They had a fresh pot of coffee brewed, would I like a cup? Yes, please!

Thank you friendly neighborhood grocery for the coffee, the smiles, the chocolate, and the hospitality.