I know it's officially fall and everyone is ready for sweater weather, PSL, and apple orchards. But, I'm going to take this post to flash back to my Summer To-Do list and recap what else I managed to accomplish in my final weeks of summer. Last time I posted I hinted that I had a few additional tricks and trips up my sleeve. Well, now is my Ta-Dah moment! I present to you: Summer Master aka The Reprise.

SUMMER BEER FEST!!!

I have a super cool awesome friend who works for a trade organization that caters to craft beer folks. She is awesome. Beer is awesome. Going to the Michigan Brewer's Guild's beer festivals is something I have done at least annually, (if not bi-annually) for years now. I have a cousin who also enjoys craft beer. We made it a bonding day. If you've ever gone to an outdoor festival you know have much fun they can be. However, they also require lots of energy and some prep. As a veteran of such events I have a system in place to enjoy the day. As someone with a chronic illness this preparation is important for health reason as well. If you're a sick person masquerading as a healthy person preparation is key to ensuring you can do what you want to do and not pay for it by having low spoon days for 3 days afterwards.

Next, beers... So many beers: my cousin does a thug pose next to a tap list, a peek at the Fli-City brewery Tenacity tent, of course the Beer City's Founders was there, and lastly beer and cookies are the adult version of cookies and milk.







And all of this was made possible due a friendship fordged by U of M's random roommate generator almost 2 decades ago.




TACOS FEST DETROIT






MY BEST FRIEND'S WEDDING

I have a best friend who became so when I announced, "We're gonna be best friends." This friend isn't a big talker, nor does he emote much. But, we are two opposite peas in a pod and when I learned he was getting married I was super excited. His nuptials give me hope that perhaps some day I too can find my media naranja. His wedding was a super spectacular weekend where I got to wear a sari (ohhh the colors), hangout with my old undergrad guy friends and talk made trash. I felt like I was 22 again.


Below: The groom mean mugging during the processional. Did you know they serve ice cream as part of the ceremony during traditional Indian weddings?!! Some wedding decor outside the ceremony room.







STAYCATION/VACATION

I didn't just travel out of state to have fun times with friends. I also have friends who came to visit me!!! GASP! I was shocked myself, I mean really, how often do big city living folk come to the humble mitten for fun? In this instance my friends Annie and Zoe can for a nurses weekend getaway in Detroit. Bonus of bonuses Annie is a bartender on the weekends and knows people in the "industry." As a result, I was able to take part in their gastro tour of the city. We ate, we drank, we laughed, and repeated this process for 3 awesome days at an AirBnB in the city. I tried to forge a friendship with "Chef," Annie friend in the restaurant scene because I could definitely use a new friend who likes to eat and drink. Sadly I didn't pass his viable friend test. Some of the places we ate and drank our way across the city include: Grey Ghost, Detroit Foundation Hotel, Seldon Standard, Wright & Co., Parks & Rec, The Skip, Standby, and Bad Luck Bar.








MOTOWN PHILLY MIX

The final trip of the summer season was to see my friend Raj. He's super awesome because he's a calm force to my anxious nature. He's another friend I claimed through vocalization and persistence. Raj moved from A2 to Philly around a year ago and while it's tough when your friends move it's always good to see them grow. I promised to visit him once he got some furniture and the end of summer was an opportune time... My trip also coincided with the Nas/Lauryn Hill concert. That was a great start to a lazy weekend... A lazy weekend that actually was pretty full of doing things.





Lucky me Raj took a half day so we could then gallivant about town. First stop: lunch at Reading Market. I had to take a full walk through to see what the options were before choosing of course. In the end we sat at the counter of Beck's Cajan Cafe and ate. I did NOT get the muffaletta (pictured below) but it was a nice photo op.





After leaving Reading Terminal we had to walk off that food. We had a nice walk about Philly and saw some art, tchotchkes, I tried a version of those cookie shots, and saw a pun!




All that walking made us thirsty so the search for a cool, hip bar began. I found a nice one online but actually finding the street it was on was puzzling. Philly is an old city with old city streets. This means many streets seem more like alleys because they are so narrow. This means sometimes these narrow streets don't have street signs. This means that even if you're using Google Maps to try and find the street you can walk by it twice. In the end... twas worth it, they have a scrabble themed wall.






My final morning there Raj saved possibly the best food combo for last. Before putting me on the MegaBus to ride outta town we stopped into Federal Donuts for chicken sandwiches and... you guessed it: donuts. Their chicken sandwiches have American cheeze, pickles, and some sort of ranch seasoning. It's a mixture of flavors I was not familiar with but I dug it. The donut selection included both fresh made to order cinnamon sugar type fried dough circles and fancier ones! Believe it or not I did not take photos everywhere we went. Other stops that weekend included brunch as La Colombe, some takeout poutine fusion from Shoo Fry, a tour and tasting at New Liberty Distillery, and a seat at Root's bar. Overall, EPIC WEEKEND.



LASTLY...

A final check in on my summer bucket list. Not everything got done but I feel pretty good about my experiences. And, there's always next summer. ;)