Starting the Year with Yoga

Buddha B Yoga Studio on U Street

A U Street Yoga studio with a nice space.

Prices
Drop-in: $17
New Student Special:  2 for $20

Accessibility
The typical U Street difficult parking situation.  As a girl from the suburbs, I despise wandering around for half an hour looking for a parking spot that I hope to squeeze into without giving my parking "neighbors" a little bump.  Definitely U Street Metro accessible.  The entrance is not accessible from U St, but rather around the corner on the other side of the 7-11 on 12th St.

Atmosphere
The space was nice with cubby holes, hangers, and plenty of room to keep all of your crap for an after-work yoga session.  The main check-in room was characterized by the smell of lavender.  The yoga room was clean and spacious - plenty of room to spread out my mat, yoga block, yoga strap, and blanket.  There was a significant amount of noise from the street and the bass from the club downstairs bumping during the 8:30PM class.

The Class:  Prana Vinyasa
The website's description claimed the class was Intermediate level; however it's level of rigor was significantly less than expected.  Additionally, the room was not heated for this particular class.  The instructor, Denise, was old-school and fabulous, leading the group through a series of stretches utilizing the yoga strap.  This was a first opportunity to truly utilize the yoga strap for Chataranga, which did wonders for consciousness of form in this fundamental movement.  We also used the strap for a full-range Pigeon.

The Verdict - Overall, a solid yoga class.  I'm looking forward to the next class - a heated yoga.

Supino's: Brilliant Brick-oven Done Pizza

After a wild night of Halloween festivities (Critical Masquerade & Necto Pride via Chris Green's crazy ass bus party), Eric and I were tired and lazy almost to the point of bumming all day. Fortunately, hunger won - as it often happenswith him :D - and we ended up heading to Eastern Market, sights (and appetites) set on Supino Pizza.

I'd heard of this adorable little place from my cousin. As a hard-core (self proclaimed hard-core, let's be real) pizza enthusiast, I was dying for a slice. The restaurant is cozy with its purple walls, and pretty small with just a few smaller high round tables in the front windows and a couple of longer rectangular ones, almost cafeteria style. The menu offered red (sauce) and white (no sauce) pizzas with the option of purchase by the slice. I love sauce, so we went with The Supino (roasted garlic, olives, ricotta, mozzarella, and red sauce)....a large one between the two of us,naturally. During the 25 minute wait, we checked out the Rocky Peanut store a couple doors down. They sold an amazing selection of gourmet groceries, including every spice, bean, candy, or dried fruit that you could possibly imagine in bulk. We picked out some dried kiwi and turkish apricots to munch on.

When we walked back into Supino about twenty minutes later, the workers yelled, "Eric is here!," and promptly served us our ginormous pizza.

The crust was just the perfect texture, weight, crisp. Truly delicious. I loved the roasted garlic and ricotta cheese! Not the hugest fan of the olives, but you know, it could be because I have unsophisticated taste in olives and love the dumb sliced canned ones too much. Oh well, take notes for next time. Another thing we wished we'd done - and will definitely do next visit - was order the pizza with different toppings on each half. Definitely would recommend a visit...honestly, any topping would be just fine on this amazing crust.

first Polish food experience in Hamtramck!

On Sunday, Eric and I went to Polish Village Cafe in Hamtramck for - what I suppose might be - a taste of the homeland.

It was an adorable little hole in the wall. Smaller, dark with a long bar across the right side of the room and little tables with red and white checkered tablecloths and candles. Unfortunately, we got there a bit late (around 815pm, and they close at 9pm). Fortunately, we were able to order carry-out -- which was what our homebody lazy-asses had been considering anyway.

Whilst waiting, I discovered Zywiec. (Which I consistently pronounce incorrectly ... along with every other Polish word I've learned thus far ... which is not very many. Lol.) Quite yummy, and alcoholic at 5.7% ABV considering its lightness and drinkability. It came in a pint ($5), which meant I drank half of it and then tripped going up the stairs on my way out. Ah, classic.


However, this level of buzz worked out fantastically for when we finally got home to eat our food. Pierogi with sweet cheese and meat, potato pancakes, and Nalesniki with apples. Delicious and greasy. Our choice were limited because we were so late, but it was overall, quite fun ... next time, I want to go earlier so that I can try potato pierogis.

A Tribute To Pumpkin

Let's just say I had internet and a craving. Plus fall is my favorite season, so everything associated deserves praise, honor, and a spot on my blog. This is a true fattie's quick tribute to things amazingly pumpkin.

Emily S., this is for you.

Pumpkin pie.
Crumbly crust. Optimal firmness. Get those spices. A dollop of whip. Make your own.


Pumpkin cheesecake.
More crumbly, graham cracker crust. Chilled, creamy pie filling.


Pumpkin latte.
A hot, steamy cup. Smells like heaven in the fall. Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte. (...with soy milk.) Additionally, Starbucks, what happened to your pumpkin SCONES?! ...jus'sayin...


All things pumpkin scented.
Candles, soaps, like Yankee Candle Pumpkin Spice. $24.99 for a 22oz. candle.
My personal favorite...
Pumpkin ice cream.
Preferable well-mixed with graham cracker. Yes.

That is all. Happy Octubre. :)

Rochester Mills Beer Company (Western Knitting Mill)

Today, my Grandpa took me out to the Rochester Mills Beer Company in downtown Rochester. Located off of Rochester Road, this site is the historically preserved Western Knitting Mill constructed in 1844.

What's funny is that my Grandpa worked there in the mid-1900's when it was Higbee who did steel piping for automobiles. After WWII, it was also a factory for producing flash bombs.

Since 1998, the venue has been a popular brew pub serving their own brews (which you can buy at Nino Salvaggio's down the street or at the restaurant...in KEG FORM) and delicious food at reasonable prices. The atmosphere is great for families, after-work chill spot, or casual dinner date with larger tables, a bar, and outdoor seating. There are flat screen TVs to watch your sports games, pool tables, and live music at night.

I thoroughly enjoyed my Hot Crab and Cheese Dip with a Water Street Wheat Beer. I'd also recommend the Cajun Salmon and Avocado Sandwich with homemade chips that I had for dinner.

My New Mustache

Explain to me....


How and why ....


I feel the need to partake in the mustache trend. Cuz it's sweet! I don't know why I got a blonde one. I was thinking of it more of a maize-ish yellow.

DIY Street Fair Day 2

So despite the fact that I haven't yet found a craft that I can do myself, I can always enjoy the fine skills of others. Particularly creative and talented Metro Detroiters selling awesome Detroit things and handmade goods, from gorgeous photographs to eclectic jewelry made from recycled metals to way cool tees and witty buttons to...yarn mustaches? ... in brooch form. naturally. (I'll have to do some further investigation on this phenomena tomorrow, because it's absolutely absurd and hilarious. Heaven forbid I jump on the mustache bandwagon tomorrow. I won't tell you if that happens....)

The Venue
So Aimee and I ventured out to day 2 of the DIY Street Fair in Ferndale. A fantastic atmosphere. Easily accessible. We got an amazing parking spot right on nine mile and walked right into the fair from there.

The only issue we immediately ran into was the stinking flying ants that we in the middle of some kind of molting season wherein they felt the need to swarm the premises and land all over the booths and in people's hair ... WHEREIN they proceeded to shed their wings all over everything. Impressive, guys, really. I didn't even notice this before in my past 23 years of life living around ants. Gross, but tolerable. Built a bit of camaraderie between festival participants as we battled our way through the swarms.

The Merch
Being poor, I had limited funds on me today and was determined to get the most out of them. I wish I didn't fall in love with everything I saw. Aimee and I decided on matching Detroit Lives! t-shirts ($20 bucks a pop)...

(I got the red on white, and hers is a bright blue with purple print.) We were also entranced by Detroit Manufacturing's "Little Miss Detroit" tees and Division Street Boutique's "Detroit Hustles Harder" in all colors of the rainbow. Maybe another day. Also picked up a couple of buttons from Barrel of Monkeys.

The Food (and beer!)
After an intense two hours of browsing (and the hours blew by), it was time to eat in preparation for samples at the Beer Garden. ($5 per beer or 5 for $20) I had the Livery's Oktoberfest (mm!) and Kuhnhenn's Loonie Kuhnie (A very citrusy pale ale, which I had not been prepared for. Should have tried it out before going for the whole beer.) We decided on the Fly Trap's Spicy Fried Rice with Grilled Chicken slathered in Green Hornet sauce.


Yes. Brown rice with snap peas, baby corn, peppers, sprouts, mushrooms, and grilled chicken heaven in a chinese takeout container. All for $6.


Approval. I'll give you four stars out of four for the convenience, speed of delivery, and - with all the veggies and brown rice - health factor.

...a health factor that was quickly negated by dessert. :(


Mudslide cookies with hazelnut chips from Treat Dreams in Ferndale. $2. Two delicious dollars.

By the time we'd finished our food, beers, and run out of money, the streets were getting darker and more crowded. Lights were going up - should have planned for a nighttime excursion, oh well. We still had a great time. Overall, this was a fantastic experience for Day 2. I'm looking forward to Day 3 tomorrow. American Mars @ 4PM!