A Festive Fall Weekend

Good Morning!

I’m back from a very enjoyable and relaxing weekend.

As you know, I left for Buffalo, New York Thursday afternoon and although my flight was delayed an hour… I still managed to make it to my grandmother’s for dinner time.  She was so happy that I had gotten in safely that she paid no attention to the fact that we were eating dinner at 9:30 p.m. (a little late for her!).  Although we had a lot of catching up to do, we went to bed shortly after dinner because there was a full day of activities planned for Friday.

Early Friday afternoon, my Aunt Natalie swooped my FarMor and I up and took us on a road trip adventure.  It was the final weekend in Buffalo for good foilage spotting, so we drove all around the Buffalo/Niagara area taking in the beautiful scenery.  Our main destination was Ellicottville, a quaint ski village and hour and a half south of Buffalo.  My dad used to work in Ellicottville when he was growing up as a Ski Patrol member.  It was really neat driving around and seeing all the places my dad had gone to.  The view from the top of the “Hill” was gorgeous.

After a long journey down, we got out of the car and walked around and looked at all the boutiques and specialty stores.  My favorite store had these cute little signs in them:

I wanted one real bad, but I need to stop spending money on so much STUFF!

We took our time walking up and down the downtown area until we decided it was time to get some food/drinks!  There was a local Brewery, Ellicottville Brewery, that we decided to check out.

The Brewery had a fairly decent selection of on tap brews, I stuck with the Pale Ale for the majority of the evening while my FarMor enjoyed the Blueberry Wheat Ale.  It was a lot of fun relaxing in the cozy brewery and ordering a couple appetizers including these delicious crab cakes:

They were not as good as my dads, but still tasty!

We made the long journey back to Clarence Center after dinner, arriving back at FarMor’s just in time for a piece of her homemade apple pie.

Oh. My. Gosh.  If you know me well,  you know that I am not a cake lover.  But man – oh man – do I love pie.  I am going to have to recreate this baby sometime soon!

Saturday morning I woke up bright and early to squeeze a quick 3 mile run in before my dad arrived at the airport.  I woke up so early that morning, I was able to watch the sun rise of my FarMor’s house!

Seriously, upstate New York is so gorgeous… It’s hard to believe that the hustle and bustle of New York City resides in the same state!

My dad’s flight got in around 9:00 a.m. and I was very happy to see him as he and my mother had just gotten back from their Anniversary Trip in Asheville, North Carolina where… THEY BOUGHT PROPERTY to build a custom house!  I am so excited for them, Asheville is such an awesome city – but this does mean that I will be the only left in Chicago.  Tear.

Around lunch time, the three of us headed to downtown Clarence Center to window show and grab lunch.  My favorite store is in Clarence Center – Perfect Gift.  They have so many cute little nick nacks and trinkets, it is the perfect store to waste time in!  There is also a little shoe and clothing boutique attached to it that had a lot of great items, but came with a rather $$$ price tag.  I didn’t buy anything in the stores, but I did get some really great ideas for Christmas Gifts/Stocking stuffers!

Next door to Perfect Gift, was a little cafe where we had lunch.  I had never been before, but when I walked in a saw that they carried METROPOLIS coffee, I knew I was going to love the place.  For those of you who are no aware, Metropolis coffee is a delicious roast that comes straight out of Chicago.  We found out moments later that the owner herself was from Chicago and featured a Chicago Italian beef sandwich on the menu with giardinera (people in NY have no idea what giardinera is).

I stuck with a light grilled chicken salad to save room for a evening activities, but it was very tasty!  We left full and happy 🙂

Months ago, when I originally booked this trip I told my dad that I wanted to go to a Buffalo Sabres game (they are our favorite hockey team).  My FarMor is 98 years old and is an avid fan, but has never been to a game!  My dad agreed that it would be a really special gift if we could take her, so he decided to make a trip of it himself.

Around 5:30 p.m. Saturday evening we all jumped into my FarMor’s car and headed downtown to Buffalo.  My dad had set up special wheelchair accommodations so that my FarMor could get around the stadium easily.  When we arrived, she was so excited she hoped right into the chair and we were escorted to our seats!  Thanks to my dad, we had REALLY GOOD SEATS.  I’m talking 11th row – 100 level – right in the action.

If you cannot tell from my FarMor’s face, she was loving life.

Although the Sabres are having a rather… rough season… groooan.  The game itself was still a lot of fun.

I was able to get my Beef on Wick fix in – a Buffalo specialty and a couple beers to wash it down.

It was a really special night.

I still can’t believe how quickly Sunday came…  My dad and I decided to do a 4 mile run along a local running trail to start our day off right.  We were blessed with another gorgeous day, which made leaving this special place even harder.

To send me off with a bang, we whipped up some traditional Swedish pancakes and a side of turkey bacon.

It was the perfect end to a lovely weekend.

Life of a Suburbanite

Good Morning!

I write to you this morning from the luxurious Union Pacific Northwest Metra train… 🙂

Last night I got to live my life as every good suburbanite does.  Dentist appointment after work – no cavities – walked half a mile home because I did not have a car – no CTA buses.  I arrived at my parents house where my father already had dinner cooking on the stove anticipating my arrival.  The Buffalo Sabres game (huge fans) was blaring in the background and score was a couple of goose eggs.  The Sabres were up against the Pittsburgh Penguins, so needless to say we were all a little anxious.  My special engraved ‘Lindsaybird’ wine glass was waiting for me on the kitchen counter to be filled with a crisp aromatic chardonnay.  Life was just peachy.

On the menu? Turkey sausage with whole wheat buns and spicy mustard (I am a Chicagoan after all – no ketchup allowed).  The delicious sausage was accompanied with corn on the cob, a vinegar based – no mayo coleslaw and homemade onion soup with croutons.  All for mwah?

We ate our delicious meal while watching the game with one of my fathers buddies – the wives were busy at a local book club meeting.  It all felt very familiar and I became a bit nostalgic as the home-cooked hockey-watching nights used to be a regular activity when I was still living at home.

As our wine glasses kept filling up, the Sabres kept scoring!  And wouldn’t you know it… they were able to come off with a win against the #1 team in the NHL!

Throwback Wednesday?

My father, at this moment, could be heard blocks away as screaming and cheering filled the living room.  The win was quite refreshing since I have to listen to Blackhawks fans gloat about winning all the time.  It’s been a rough season for Buffalo… but I may just be bitter 🙂

The evening ended and I headed up to bed.  Twas a great night in the burbs!

This morning I awoke at 5:00 a.m. as any commuter does when trying to catch the 6:38 a.m. express train into the city.  Large groups of men and women in black trench coats and dress suits gathered by the tracks at the exact location the trains doors would stop.  I filed into my little huddle area like a heard of cattle anticipating the opening of the doors and hoping to get lucky and nab a window seat.

There is an art to commuting from the suburbs – which huddle to choose – where to position yourself in the huddle – how aggressive you need to be to weave into the tight squeezing of the door – just to get a seat.

Alas! I was able to nab a window seat and immediately pulled out my one-way ticket for the conductor to stamp – causing many glares from surrounding commuters who knew I was no regular Metra rider.

Now that I am all settled and relaxed I can write this post while being softly lulled by the sound of the engines.  My short-lived life of suburbanite has ended.  I’m back in my city – time for work!