Our trip to Madison, WI

Madison, WI is about a two hour drive away, which makes it great for a day trip. However, thanks to a hotel point promotion, I was able to redeem the points I earned from previous stays for a free queen studio suite. I was able to use 5000 points instead of 20,000 points for a redemption! Woo Hoo!

Our room had a mini kitchenette with a two burner stove-top, microwave, sink, dishwasher, and fridge:

We stopped at the Willy Street Co-op and picked up some vegan-friendly foods. We each got a “Caribbean Queen” juice which is a mixture of orange juice, lemon juice, and fresh ginger. It was really good. We also bought some fresh organic pineapple chunks, some Fajita-fu (seasoned-tofu) made locally by the Simple Soyman, a large portion of Vegan Pot Pie, and a bar of ricemilk chocolate. Everything was really tasty but I didn’t read the label closely enough on the Vegan Pot Pie…it contained peas! (For those of you that don’t know, I dislike peas very much). For the most part, I was able to eat around the peas. The pot pie had a really moist and flaky biscuit crust that was delish. The ricemilk chocolate was yummy too.

We stopped by an awesome coffeehouse called Mother Fool’s. All of their desserts and soups are VEGAN! They also do not charge extra for soymilk in coffee drinks. The barista was really friendly and gave us some good dining tips in Madison that we will check out on our next visit. I had a hazelnut soy cappuccino and a lemon-blueberry scone. Rob had a soy capp too (I can’t remember what flavor he got) and a large gingerbread cookie. Everything was really tasty and we’ll definitely stop by here again when we are in the area.

We went to the Monroe Street Festival and had a great time. I needed a birthday gift for my godmother’s granddaughter so I actually went to a children’s clothing store called Wild Child. The staff was really nice and helpful. I really appreciated that because I have no clue about anything child-related. I ended up buying 2 shirts and a pair of pants on sale for 10% off. Yay!

Sunflower Top and Black Flared Pants:

This is a long sleeve shirt with a very vegan friendly theme! I thought that was great because not only are the gift-givers (Rob and I) vegan, the baby’s uncle is actually a vegan who owns a vegan restaurant in Portland, OR called Proper Eats:

A library on Monroe St was having a book sale. We arrived just as they were having a bag sale. Buy a bag for $4 and fill it with as many books that will fit. We snagged 31 books! I didn’t photograph all the books I bought. Here are some of them:

Beard on Bread, Karl Marx – His Life and Thought, The Hungry Hikers Book of Good Cooking, Environmental Politics – Domestic and Global Dimensions, Salads – Food Writers’ Favorites , Power and Style – A Critique of 20th Century Architecture in the US, The Almost No Fat Cookbook (Bryanna Clark Grogan), John Stossel – Myths, Lies, and Downright Stupidity, Chinese Village Cookbook, Regional Cooking of China.

Trader Joes was also participating in the Monroe Street Festival and had a table set up outside with free samples. We each got a fruit leather bar and a mini bag of peanut butter filled pretzels. The pretzels didn’t interest me but Rob enjoyed them. The fruit leather was pretty good.

Last but not least, we had vegan pizza in Madison from Supreme Pizza. Although the pizza looks like it has a lot of sauce in the picture, it actually held together very well. We had mushrooms, onions, and artichoke hearts on our pizza. Yum! We ate the leftovers for breakfast the next morning.

I did buy some vintage kitchenware from a thrift store in Madison but will save that for a future post. If you are planning on visiting Madison, WI, be sure to check out Veg Madison. It’s a really helpful website. Hope you have a wonderful day

Olbrich Botanical Gardens – Madison, WI

We took a trip to Madison, WI this weekend. We had a lovely time and my next post will include my thrifty finds and the yummy vegan food we ate. This morning, we went to the Olbrich Botanical Gardens. The gardens were stunning and our absolute favorite thing was the Thai Pavilion (Sala) and Garden. I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves…

In the distance, you can see the lake. This photo and the previous two photos were taken on the second level of Rose Tower:

The bridge to the Thai Pavilion:

Sala (pavilion):

Ceiling:

There were Monarch Butterflies everywhere. I thought I would end my post with one of my favorite pictures I took:

If you are ever in Madison, WI, be sure to visit the gardens (did I mention it’s free admission? How cool is that?!). We didn’t have a chance to check out the conservatory ($1 admission) but we will do that on our next trip to Madison.

Good News

Hi all! I have a huge backlog of posts to put up. However, I do have a good reason for my lack of posts lately. I got a new job! I start next week. Tomorrow will be my last day at my current job. I will be able to utilize both of my college degrees at my new job so I am very excited about that. My new job is actually located across the street from the office condos where I currently work.

This past year has definitely been the busiest and most hectic year of my life! I will say it again…moving to the Chicago area was one of the best decisions Rob and I ever made. Unfortunately, we still have not sold our place in Michigan. Please keep sending good thoughts our way that we can sell it ASAP!

I will be posting this weekend. I’ve been reading your blogs but haven’t had a chance to comment on them yet.

Take care! Hope you have a wonderful day