Month: May 2011

Flat Tire Decor Review

May 30, 2011

My friend and garden blog guru, MrBrownThumb, asked me to join a group of garden bloggers reviewing products from Flat Tire Decor. I would receive one of their products for no charge, and provide a blog post of my experience and opinion. Other than receiving the product, I was not compensated for this review, and these are my honest opinions.

Flat Tire Decor is a Milwaukee (West Allis) based company that recycles/reuses old tires by turning them into footwear and other products.  Milwaukee company and keeping tires out of landfills, how great is that? I received their largest basket, the ‘Newport’, a two handled trug-type shape that’s about 8″high with an 8″ base and 12″ top opening. (Milwaukee folks – you can get these at any of the 4 Elliott’s Ace Hardware stores)

Kiddo suggested I use the Newport to chill drinks. This is a great use. We like serving food buffet style, and are always looking for different ways to present guests with self serve options for many different beers, wines or soda. I know, I have one smart Kiddo, thanks for noticing. He earned a pack of his fav Sprecher Cream Soda as a reward for coming up with the idea.

 My other favorite use was on the back of my bike. The stiff nature of the tires, allowed the sides to hold up to the bungee cords. The open top allowed me to safely carry plants and other farmer’s market finds which could get damaged in the pannier or messenger bags.

Ironically, the most obvious use of the Newport was my least favorite. I am a huge fan of using trugs in the garden, and already own three. I mix dirt and fertilizer in them, fill them with weeds, use them to tote tools, plants and other things around the garden. However, for this purpose, I wasn’t overly fond of the Newport. A bit too small, handles felt a bit clunky in my hands.

However, I so liked the idea of using the Flat Tire Decor items with my bike, that I exchanged several tweets with the owner (their twitter account is @flattiredecor) suggesting they make a bike basket version. An oval similar in size to the Newport with a way to attach to handlebars would be great. Even better with an easy on off feature to allow the user to carry it around while shopping and then quickly put on the bike. Something about using waste from an auto while using my bike as transportation makes me smile.

Taking A Bite Out Of The Big Apple

May 28, 2011

 In addition to a lot of walking around New York, we did a bunch of eating and drinking. This was a work related trip (hubby’s work, not mine). Good food, good company and good drink was guaranteed.

 Being the Top Chef fan girl I am, I couldn’t go to New York without visiting Tom Colicchio’s restaurant CraftBar. Naturally, we had walked there. Taking a path up Fifth Avenue with a walk through the Union Square Greenmarket. The Andy Memorial brought a smile to my face.

We were at Craftbar mid-day, so enjoyed a cheese plate, along with some craft beers. Hopefully, on a future trip to NYC, we can add dinner at Craft or Craftbar to my list of Top Chef restaurants where I’ve dined. Tho’ I can already add this to the ones I’ve enjoyed.
One of the highlights of the trip was the “Neighborhood Nosh Tour”. 8 of our group choose this as an excursion on a Saturday morning in early May. We began the tour at Ferrara’s  in Little Italy for coffee and cannoli, which we enjoyed outside the restaurant.

After eating our fill of these delectable sweets, we needed to walk a bit to work up an appetite for our next stop. A tour through Little Italy and on the Chinatown, with a stop along Canal Street to haggle on “real” Rolex, Coach, Louis Vitton, Chanel did the trick.

I found the shops and street vendors in Chinatown fascinating.
Our destination was Columbus Park where we ate Tasty Dumplings while watching people young and old perform Tai Chai, play chess, and mingle in the park.
A quick bus ride brought us to the East Village to Yonah Schimmel’s Knishery. I’ve never had a knish. As knishes go, I’m sure these were quite good. BUT….while I love potatoes, knishes just went to my been there done that, checked the box list. Not a fan. The Egg Creams, tho’, I could do again (but I’m a huge fan of Chocolate Phosphates)

We ended the tour with a trip to Empire Candy. Was so stuffed at this point, going to a place to buy something for later ws just the ticket. Bought several treats to bring home to Kiddo while here.

 One of the more unique experiences happened on our first night as we walked to the restuarant the group was met by the trip sponsor’s, and asked to sign the “Cask of Dreams”, which was then rolled down the street to Public, our restaurant of the evening.


This was Derby weekend, so we had to find a place to watch the race and drink a mint julep – Brinkle’s worked out well for that. And, of course, I worked in a Blue Moon or two (including on Broadway at Million DOllar Quartet).

 On our last morning in NYC, we walked back to the East Village for sandwiches at Katz’s Deli. Made famous in the “I’ll have what she’s having” scene of ‘When Harry Met Sally’, this Ny Deli is known for their pastrami sandwiches and salami. Loved it.

In fact, loved this trip. Can’t wait to get back to NYC!
This is part 2 of a trip report on NYC, part  1 is here

New York City State of Mind

May 27, 2011

Hubby and I spent a recent weekend in New York  City.  Despite all my traveling, I have only been in Manhattan one other time. While only 8 or 9 years ago, that trip seems like a lifetime ago – I was such a different person, out of shape, not likely to venture out and explore on my own. On that trip, I was in the city for a meeting, and went from hotel room, to meeting room, to bus with a large group to take us to restaurants or a show. I hadn’t yet discovered how even in a large city like New York or Chicago, biking or walking to explore a city brings it all down to scale. Makes the city more human, more accessible.

 And so on this trip we did all the touristy things, but for the most part we walked. A lot. My pedometer said I walked nearly 6 miles on Thursday, over 11 miles on Friday, another 9 on Saturday, and 7 on Sunday. The Trump SoHo hotel was our home base, putting us in a pedestrian friendly spot. On Friday morning, we ventured out with the group on Liberty/Ellis Island tour.


Rather than sticking with the group and riding the bus back to the hotel, we cut out of Ellis Island on an earlier ferry, walking through Battery Park to catch a subway uptown. A subway ride complete with entertainment.

From the subway station it was a short walk on a beautiful spring day to our destination of Central Park with a planned stop at the Boathouse. Our path to the boathouse took us past the Central park Zoo. I was surprised and fascinated by the rock outcroppings within Central Park. 
After lunch at the Boathouse, we headed to the Mall area of Central Park, and south towards Columbus Circle. 
Naturally, I was drawn to the flowers, particularly the flowering trees.
From Columbus Circle, we wandered south down Broadway past the Ed Sullivan theater (where close by Mario Lopez was filming for Entertainment Tonight), through Times Square, by Madison Square Garden to Greenwich Village.
Shed a few tears at the Tiles for America Memorial
I wish on this trip we’d had time to rent bikes and explore New York by bike. I’d really like to bike the New York City Waterfront Greenway which makes a 32 mile circle around Manhattan. All through the city, I saw bikes, and evidence of a surprisingly good bike infrastructure.  Loved the bike specific traffic lights, and was especially impressed with the re-design of Broadway with the separated bile lanes.
The Trump SoHo Hotel made a great home base for the weekend. Slick, modern lobby. Outdoor pool deck on the 7th floor. Location was great for shopping, restaurants and exploring. For New York the rooms seemed huge. Bathrooms had a separate two headed shower and water closet. But best of all, the bathtub overlooking the city, and the construction of what will be World Trade #1 was such a great touch.
Of course, all this exploring works up an appetite and makes one thirsty. And since eating and drinking is kinda what we do, I’ll cover the food and drink portions of the trip in part 2.

Wordless Wednesday: Bloody Marys – Milwaukee style

May 25, 2011

Love the beer side cars!

(A photo collection discovered on my phone: AJ Bombers, Sobelman’s, HoneyPie, in MKE airport, upgraded and at gate on AirTran)

Off the Road in the City……

May 23, 2011

“Blues skies…local MTB trails are open.”

Was thrilled this morning to see this tweet from @WORBA_MMB, the account of Metro Mountain Bikers, Milwaukee’s off-road biking club. The Metro Mountain Bikers maintain several areas of mountain biking singletrack around Milwaukee County.  The Hoyt Park and Oak Hill sections are in located in Wauwatosa – the city just west of Milwaukee proper.

The weather was perfect for our first trail ride of the year. Sunny, 80 degrees. We put the hitch on the car, checked out the bikes; giving them the ABC once over – air, brakes, cranks and chains. Once that was complete, made sure we had all the gear – helmets, water, gloves, before heading out on the 5mile trip to the trails. Yes, I know we could have ridden, should have – in fact I ride past the Hoyt trails on my bike commute.  However, kiddo doesn’t quite have his biking legs and stamina to do both the rides to and from plus the trails. Working on that is a goal for the year.

For this ride, we choose the Oak Hill 1 trail, aka Harley Woods, at Capitol Drive and Menominee Parkway.  To get to the trails, you drop in on the north side of Capitol Drive, just west of the parkway and the river, east of 45. Trailhead is well marked, just look for the signs.

 The trails are flowing, curvy single track. No tough climbs, but fun little touches of dips and creek crossings. The Metro Mountain Bikers do a great job of maintaining these – in keeping brush in check, building boardwalk type crossings, and installing rock and other armor in low lying spots.

The trail makes a 3mile loop heading out along 45 (which is only noticeable in one small section), and returning along the Menominee River. While not overly technical, and no steep climbs, the trail does force you to pay attention in order to successfully navigate the twisty spaces between the trees.  Both kiddo and I were fascinated by the bench in the river – and couldn’t decide if when the river isn’t so high, if you could sit in it.

 I also laughed at this tree. Apparently, a local beaver has the same opinion as I about having this tree at the base of a small hill with a slight curve in the trail. Tho’ I suppose it would prevent you from riding into the river.

The entire time, I could hear the voice of Tania, my instructor from the Ray’s Women’s Clinic, telling me, “Eyes up, Kim”.  I must say compared to the first time I rode this trail last fall, my skills and ability to tackle the trail have made dramatic improvements since that clinic. I am so looking forward to learning more at the Midwest Women’s Mountain Bike weekend next month. I even made a couple of tries at making it over a large log (these not so successful, but other smaller logs, no problem).
We had a great ride, a great time playing in the mud today. Brought a bit home with us.
And as I typed this, was reminded that it was a good thing we took advantage of this sunny afternoon – and how handy it is to get text updates via twitter from @WORBA_MMB, because my phone buzzed with this tweet:
“More rain, arghh!. Milwaukee MTB trails closed.”