October 1, 2014 by Pointes of View

The September List

1) I’d forgotten how magical Fall is. I haven’t experienced a true Fall since I lived in Reno and that was almost 20 years ago (!). I can’t stop ooh-ing and aah-ing and taking photos (and I’ll have a bunch more to share soon).

2) Bug of the month: the cicada. A large, invisible (I’ve never seen one, have you?) insect that makes a loud buzzing noise. All day long. Wikipedia says, “Many people around the world regularly eat cicadas.” I can see that.

3) The worst peril of potty training is not your kid rolling around on the floor screaming “I want a diaper!” for 20 minutes. It’s when they finally poop in the potty and you go to empty it and your face gets splashed with toilet water.

4) I didn’t cry on the first day of school as expected. What I did do was giggle as I ate my lunch on the couch and watched Season 2 of Mr. Selfridge.

5) I’ve been wanting to check out J House Juice on Fisher and finally went in. In addition to a full Starbucks menu, they offer smoothies, fresh juices (Lucy and I shared a pineapple, grapefruit and ginger blend) and delicious coconut desserts that are big enough to satisfy your treat craving, but no so big that you wish you hadn’t.

6) The city of Grosse Pointe Farms does not want your old recycle bins. We bought one of their larger bins, so I called to ask if we could give back our small bin (they are currently out of stock, I happen to know).
Me: Wait, you don’t recycle recycle bins? That’s kind of ironic, don’t you think?
Woman on Phone: Well, residents don’t want used bins, they want new bins.
Me: Wow, okay.
Woman on Phone: They just don’t want to have a used bin, do you know what I mean?
Me: I would want a used bin, actually.
Woman on Phone: You could label it “trash” and we’ll come pick it up (Ummm). Or you could use it for something else.
Me: Uh, okay, we’ll use it, thank you.

7) And the best Asian restaurant in Grosse Pointe is….(drum roll)…Trader Joe’s. Sad, but true. (And yes I’ve been to Bluefin Sushi). Maybe I’ve been deprived for too long, but the other day I whipped up their frozen sukiyaki, added some green onions and rice and I have to say, pretty darn good. Their orange chicken and pot stickers are also not half bad (do I need an intervention?).

8) A couple months ago, I requested a book from the library that was not in the Grosse Pointe library system or the State of Michigan library system. A couple weeks ago, I got an email saying the book was waiting for me at the front desk. Sure, Amazon is faster, but the library is free. Love.

9) We’ve painted the rest of the house, but now need to settle on a paint color that will tie our future kitchen to the family room. My husband has likened my paint selection process to that of a serial killer (really?).

10) I thought I would have all this free time when school started. I was going to be Martha Stewart on steroids. Baking, cleaning, taking lessons, general do-gooding. In reality, by the time I blink and have my second cup of coffee, it’s time to pick them up. Argh.

11) The day I do not have to make a school lunch, I will have all of you over for a champagne toast and a dip in the hot tub.

12) Reupholstering a couch is not $600 (which I budgeted for). Or even $800 (my budget cushion). Not even close. So until we can afford it, the bright yellow floral couch and zebra rug will have to find a way to get along (but does it look like they’re @^#%$* getting along!? The answer is no).

August 3, 2014 by Pointes of View

The July List

My previous list entries were well-received by y’all, so I’ve decided to make it a regular thing. Surely I can learn 12 new things about this town, myself and life every month? I wasn’t sure what to call them. I tried Musings, Discoveries and Observations, What I’ve Learned So Far, etc. They seemed too grandiose. So I’m simply calling it The List. Here we go.

1) I still heart Detroit.

2) Here, I am Mrs. Martin. I will never get used to the formality. Especially with friend’s kids. My first instinct is to correct them, but instead I giggle nervously (which I’m sure makes a great first impression).

3) I finally found the 2% minority residents. They are getting their smarts on at the Grosse Pointe Park Library. Heck yes.

4) Do not get the onion rings at the Village Grille. Unless you like semi-raw onions covered in corn dog-type batter. Better yet, don’t get anything at the Village Grille.

5) I’ve discovered a way to frequent Morning Glory without having to lower my coffee standards: iced tea. I don’t think I’ve had iced tea since Oklahoma. I’ve forgotten how refreshing it is to sip iced tea on a hot day.

6) Speaking of hot weather, people here don’t realize that San Francisco is not California weather. Stop apologizing for the”mild, wet, etc” Michigan summer. It’s July and I’m not wearing a parka. I’m good.

7) Word gets around. One of my mother-in-law’s friends knew we had put an offer on our house before we even told anyone. Umm….wow. That’s pretty impressive, even for a small town. (Did I say impressive? I meant annoying).

8) Delight Bakery & Cafe has delicious scones. Really, really good. Josef’s was closed a couple weeks ago, which prompted a visit across the street to this small shop. The “cafe” part of the title is a bit misleading, as they don’t serve coffee. If I could grab a cappuccino with my buttery scone, I’d be more inclined to make it a regular stop.

9) Toilet seat covers are non-existent. Even at fancier places. I feel like I’ve been to one nondescript place that did have them (Starbucks?), but that would be the only one I’ve seen. In San Francisco, even the hole in the wall places provided you with bum protection. Glad I’ve been doing my squats.

10) My first trip to Tigers Stadium was also the girls’ first baseball game. They may have enjoyed the carousel and peanuts more than the actual game, but watching the little one cheering with the crowd? Presh.

11) Apparently, it’s okay for complete strangers to ask me where I live. As in my address. And if you don’t readily give it up, they will kindly offer their address, as if to say, now it’s your turn. Cases in point:

EXAMPLE ONE:
Trader Joe’s guy (seeing my license): So what made you move out here?
Me: My husband’s from here. Kids.
Trader Joe’s guy: Where are you guys living, here in Grosse Pointe?
Me: Yes.
TJ Guy: Whereabouts?
Me: What?
TJ Guy: What street are you on? We’re over on Charlevoix near Merriweather.

EXAMPLE TWO (Me, on my morning run)
Lady in Car: Hey!
Me: Hi
Lady in Car: Oh, you can keep running. Do you know where Carver street is?
Me: Sorry, I just moved here.
Lady in Car: Oh! Welcome to the neighborhood. What street are you on?
Me: Uhh….
Lady in Car: I’m on Ridgemont. What street are you on?

12) Speaking of street names, how do you pronounce Cadieux? Wrong! It’s CAD-joo. What about Gratiot? Wrong again. GRA-chit. One more try with Vernier? And… wrong. VUR-nur. So much for the French influence.

June 13, 2014 by Pointes of View

Twelve More Things I’ve Learned (about Grosse Pointe).

Lake St. Clair

A few weeks after we moved here, I made a list of twelve things I’ve learned about Grosse Pointe. Now that another two months have gone by, I’ve learned a few more things:

Wow. Your bedspread matches your curtains. In every room. (More on house-hunting in another post.)
The electric oven is eons better than the gas oven. There, I said it.
Everyone I’ve talked to has warned me about the vigilant and prominent police presence. Above all, do NOT speed, they say. Police are everywhere. Okay, done. So why does everyone ride so close to my bumper? Stop tailing me. Where are you even going? I would say that every time I get on the road, someone gets all up on me at least once. Some old guy in a Jaguar actually passed me the other day on a 25 mph road.
I knew produce was going to be sad. Still. My one girlfriend here (also a California transplant) said to me with a shrug of her shoulders, “I hate to say this, but you really just have to…you know, lower your standards.” Now when I buy avocados, I buy at least five at a time, in case the first two I cut open aren’t usable.

benchpark
5. Lazy summer evenings are easily one of my top five most favorite things in life. Oh how I’ve missed you, Summertime! Contrary to popular belief, San Francisco does not have a true summer. Certain pockets of the city might, but much of the city is covered in fog and cold during the months of June, July and August. Which is why tourist stores display their “I heart San Francisco” sweatshirts at the front of their shops in summer. And why I continue to see Facebook photos of my friends wearing parkas.

6.Kids live here! Sure, kids live in San Francisco, too, but you don’t really see them. It’s hard to explain. In Grosse Pointe, kids are everywhere and they’re made to feel like part of the community. Often kids are unaccompanied or even alone. I’m talking about little kids… five- and six-year olds taking their dog for a walk around the block or riding a bike up and down the street.

7.Running along the lake is just as great as running through Golden Gate Park. Although the dirt paths in the park were a little easier on the knees – yikes.

8.Seriously, stop tailing me already!

9.I may never eat good Chinese food again (unless I’m in Hawaii or San Francisco or London. Or maybe China).

10.Trader Joe’s is the only store that sells organic milk that is not ultra-pasteurized. I’ve looked everywhere. If you don’t know the difference between pasteurized and ultra-pasteurized, you can check out this explanation at Musings of a Housewife.

11.What’s that smell? Oh, it’s just pesticide. You know, a bunch of chemicals that are harmful to people and animals. It is pretty much on every front lawn. sigh

12.When all else fails, go for a bunny walk. This has helped stave off many a meltdown at our house. We haven’t actually seen any bunnies on these walks (although oh my gosh you guys, I saw a little baby bunny in our backyard last week. It was sooooo cute!) I’m sure the huge, black dog has something to do with that. But we have seen many from the car on our bunny drives.

I’m enjoying these lists. I may just make it a regular thing.

May 13, 2014 by Pointes of View

Detroit: A Small Photo Collection

Cass Corridor

I’m slowly building my photo collection of Detroit. Like many outsiders and newbies, I’m really drawn to its buildings. I’ve always loved abandoned structures and old buildings (and the unknown stories they hold), so of course I am oohing and ahhing over all the broken windows and overgrown plants and everything. On one trip into town, I was yelling “STOP!” to my husband (who was driving) at almost every other block (and although I’m sure he was rolling his eyes, he did stop. most of the time.).

Street Art, Midtown

One thing I noticed about the buildings (especially downtown but also some of the apartments on the outskirts), is that they are SO. BIG. And so tall! It’s not like I haven’t seen tall buildings before. I’ve been to New York and all over Europe. I’ve seen big. But I guess I haven’t been around it in so long, that they seem incredibly massive and looming to me. Plus, there are codes in San Francisco because of the earthquakes, so big and tall doesn’t really happen there (unless you’re at Macy’s. haha).

Courthouse. For sale.

There is beauty in the breakdown, the hardship. But there is also a great energy to the city that these photos don’t show. It’s an energy that’s hard to capture in photos or even explain in words; its vibrancy is understated. There is definitely a pulse here. It’s a cool-as-a-cucumber kind of pulse that has nothing to prove to anyone, yet is warm and inviting at the same time (I’m going to figure you out, Detroit!).

Midtown

I’m super excited to continue discovering what this town is all about and sharing my perspectives with you.

April 21, 2014 by Pointes of View

Twelve Things I’ve Learned So Far (About Grosse Pointe)

I’ve been living in Grosse Pointe for a little over two weeks now. Here are twelve things I’ve learned so far…

1. The Starbucks in the Village makes a better dry cappuccino than any San Francisco branch. (milk foams better here, too. humidity levels?)

2. Every second car is an SUV or truck. Every 20th car is a cop car. Every 50th car is foreign.

3. An unexpected snowstorm in April is magical, revitalizing and cathartic.

4. Detroit-style pizza is going to be the death of me. (If I can’t fit into my swimsuit this summer, I blame you, Buddy’s!)

5. I can make a perfect grilled cheese on an electric stove. Sushi rice, not so much. Pork cutlets, a struggle. Stove = 2, Me = 1.

6. Nope, that’s not a cute cottage, that’s a garage.

7. Fire hydrants are red.

8. Squirrels are creepy.

9. Japanese beetles are not ladybugs (and they are all over the apartment. and also creepy).

10. A quarter will get you anywhere from 20 minutes, to and hour and 15 minutes, at a meter (and look at them!).

11. Detroit is beautiful.

12. An after-dinner family walk makes everything better.

April 14, 2014 by Pointes of View

Moving Day

Friday was moving day. A big, bright orange van with the words, “San Francisco Bay Area” pulled up in front of the apartment a little after 8:30 in the morning. It took them all day to unload (I think they left at 5:30pm-ish).

My husband said the movers (the same crew moved us out of our SF place) kept commenting on how heavy the boxes were. “In my 35 years on the job, never have I…” and so forth. I did most of the packing. Whoops. But absolutely nothing broke. Except when I dropped part of the espresso machine as I was taking it out of the box. Yeah, well.

The first time I walked through the apartment, I was underwhelmed. No closet in the second bedroom (unless you call a 6-inch deep x 4-foot wide space a closet) and a somewhat similar “closet” in the “master” bedroom. The kitchen was tinier than I thought (and most of the counter space was taken up by a behemoth microwave from the ’80s). And there were dead flies all over the attic (which made the baby cry and want to go home).

Looking at the apartment from the backyard. Second floor.

After my husband arrived (five days after I did), he and Sam the Labrador slept at the apartment, while the girls and I continued to stay with his mom (so much easier to be in a furnished home with a stocked fridge, especially with little ones).

The girls and I still haven’t moved in officially. The fridge and the washing machine are both on the fritz (to be fixed tomorrow). Not to mention the boxes everywhere. But I’m already growing fond of the place. I managed to fit all my cooking stuff (meaning the stuff I didn’t put in storage), save a couple bulky items (slow cooker, mixer), into the tiny kitchen. We figured out solutions for the clothes situation and the attic is a super play area for the girls (and it has air conditioning!).

Me and Sam in the backyard on moving day.

And the backyard. Oh my gosh. Having the girls be able to go downstairs on their own (carpeted, not scary stairwell inside of the house) is a million times better than our situation in San Francisco. And I can see them from the kitchen window. Dream come true.

A lot of our things we allocated for the apartment didn’t fit into the small space. And I kind of love that. I loved putting books, artwork, clothes, dishes, back into boxes and labeling them “storage.” I loved the process of “no, we don’t need that.” I feel clean. And I feel like, yes, we can move from a 1700-square foot home to an 800-square foot apartment and live to tell about it. Very excited to move in (tomorrow?) and really get this adventure started.

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