Snowy Tuesday

It's a snow day! All of the schools are closed today. The kids across the street got busy right away and built a snowman. I shoveled early this morning before Mike went to work - it was probably 2-3 inches. Now it just keeps coming down - a mix of big flakes of snow and icy hail as we're right at 32 degrees. I'll most likely have 2-3 more inches to shovel this afternoon. It's pretty and I don't have to go anywhere so I really don't mind.

I had a photo shoot this morning for my headshot photo. Sarah from I Do Photography came to the house. She did a really nice job. Even took a few shots of Bailey. She was very professional and made me feel comfortable. Would certainly recommend her to others.

Last night we went to Bacchus for a wine tasting. There were several wine purveyors from around town who each selected five wines and champagnes to sample. For the most part we were underwhelmed with the selections but there were a couple of shining stars. It was a nice experience and good for the Bartolotta Group to put on an event like this. After the wine tasting we went to Buckley's Kiskeam Inn- a new owner has taken over the quaint little cafe on the corner of Cass and Wells that used to be Benjamin's Inn. We used to go here quite a bit when we lived downtown. We had a holiday party here when I was with the GMCVB. And I liked to go here for lunch when you needed a nice quiet spot. I think they will do okay as they have put a large bar in what used to be the dining room. It looks like they are going more towards an Irish Inn feel. There used to be around 3 or 4 rooms upstairs that Diane used to rent out for the night. I don't think the new owners will use this as an inn.

This past weekend was kind of a loss due to Mike waking up with the flu on Friday. He slept all day Friday and Saturday. I had a city tour on Saturday from 1:30pm-5:30pm which included a stop at Miller Brewing for a tour. The group I toured were in town for a board meeting and looking at the city for hosting their 2010 convention. It's been a while since I did the brewery tour so it was nice to get myself reacquainted with it again. I met the group at the Hotel Intercontinental which used to be the Wyndham Milwaukee City Center. Since the Marcus Corporation bought the hotel, the changes have been fantastic. The lobby is now a nice place to sit and enjoy a cocktail or coffee and some conversation. It used to be such a boring ill-used lobby. Also, to note - the Christmas tree in the Milwaukee Center lobby area is awesome! One of the best dressed real trees I've seen in a long time. Very pretty!!

Sunday, we enjoyed another Packer win. We took the Raiders down!

Let it snow! Let it snow! Let it snow!

Dine and Dash

Last night we looked at several restaurants in the downtown area for a corporate dine-around night in 2008. We started with the old world German restaurant, Karl Ratszch's, with it's unique atmosphere (they have been in business since 1904!) - had a German bier and went on our way across the street to Zarletti just for a quick look. I like Zarletti - very good Italian food with a clean, upscale atmosphere - big windows yet cozy. Next we went to Yanni's - I just wrote about Yanni's as I had taken the ladies on tour to lunch there on Tuesday this week. As usual, they were incredibly cordial and provided a sampler tray of oysters rockefeller, bbq ribs with truffle mashed potatoes, crab stuffed shrimp and Steak Diane - everything was really tasty and I look forward to going back for dinner. Then we moved on to Coquette Cafe just for a look. They were pretty busy and a quick look was all that was needed. This is one of my favorite restaurants in the Mil. Next we visited Coast and had a few entrees to taste. The salmon was a hands-down favorite - we also tasted stuffed Chicken and Tenderloin. Mmmm..on all. The popovers, which I normally devour, were a bit overcooked. Bummer. To end the evening, we had an outrageous display of chocolate desserts provided by Bacchus. Unbelievable - every one was absolutely dee-lish! Our guests were pleasantly surprised and impressed with each of the restaurants and of course, "who knew Milwaukee could be so cool?"