These Damn Winter Blues

As most of you know, I live in Wisconsin. It's cold here about five months a year - okay, I get it. I'm not one to complain about the fact that it's cold, or it's snowing, or be one of those. After about four months of that bitter cold, though, something in me just snaps. I don't want to do anything. Don't want to write, don't want to communicate or do much of anything. I just want to get home from work every day, microwave a bunch of pizza rolls, sit on my couch and do absolutely nothing but eat, hang out with my cats, and watch episode after episode of Law and Order: SVU on Netflix.

That isn't bad, though, right? Every once and awhile we all have to let go and just let life pass us by - not that we have to like it. It happens to everybody. Everybody gets bummed out and depressed at one time or another. For me, it is something that comes and goes. Sometimes, I am fairly certain it has everything to do with the weather. If we could all go full-boar all year long, and never have an emotional hiccup or trip up along the way, we would, first off, be much more productive and efficient, but we wouldn't be human.

We got our first 'big' snow of the year last week in Milwaukee, which was around five or six inches. I had to plow snow and spend the rest of the next day downing soda and candy like it was going out of style just to stay awake, but it was different. It wasn't just bitterly cold outside; it was a change of scenery.

Last night, for example, I decided to take a break from eating nothing but pizza rolls for dinner, and go to the bar where I host trivia on Thursdays for their Monday night taco special - $1.75 for beef and $2.25 for chicken tacos. This went hand in hand with their domestic tap beer special, which was all of $1.50 a pint. Their tacos are so good for something so simple! I decided to call up one of my work buddies and for about $6.50, I did something I wouldn't have usually, if not for wanting to do something different. And it felt good!

If I could attempt to have a change of scenery every day, and be better at just being human and accepting these feelings I get every year, I might just make it through these damn winter blues.

Have you ever dealt with these kinds of feelings? What are your surefire ways to combat them?

A thrifting adventure!

Last week, I went on a little thrifting adventure after work, and wanted to share! Milwaukee is a wealth of little shops here and there, some quality, some not so much. Then, you have the big-box thrift stores like Goodwill, where sometimes you’ll score on clothes, but not much else. When I thrift, I am usually looking for something to add to my religious art collection, craft supplies like embroidery hoops, or keeping an open mind (and open eyes!) for other fun, unexpected finds. I wanted to write this post and share a couple of my favorite thrift shops with you guys – as well as last week’s buys!

Likely my favorite shop in Milwaukee (at least the one I go to the most), is located in Hales Corners, a suburb, but is just a short drive down Highway 100. It is a Bethesda Thrift Shop, and there are twelve in Wisconsin, but this is the only one in the Milwaukee area. I love it for a couple of simple reasons: I always find something great, the items are always priced well, and the store is absolutely immaculate! There is nothing better than that when you’re out thrifting. I found a couple of great wall hangings featuring handpainted style kitties! So kitschy, but I couldn’t turn them down. I also found an old spice rack that I plan to repurpose for an upcoming How-To Tuesday!

A second favorite is also located on Highway 100! While it doesn’t donate to a particular cause and is for all intensive purposes a for-profit thrift shop, there’s something a little bit different about it…

There are Barbie dolls everywhere! On the walls, lining shelves, everywhere. There’s no rhyme or reason to it, they’re just there. 

I don’t typically have great luck here, but still like going in to poke around all the same. On last week’s trip, I found this adorable Enesco cookie jar with squirrels on it from the 1970’s! It was in great shape – best part about the buy was I couldn’t find the price (they typically write on the items with a grease pencil), so the store’s manager priced it at $6.50, and we eventually found the price, and it was initially marked $10! Such a cute, great find. 

If you are in the Milwaukee area and looking to check out a couple of different thrift shops, these are definitely a couple to look for!

Have you gone thrifting lately? What have you found?

Get out and bike!

A couple of great friends of mine, Tiffany and Brian, got me on a bicycle for the first time in years this past September. They are very avid cyclists, and have gotten in great shape because of it. Personally, I've never been one for working out, but as a kid, I biked absolutely everywhere. 

Putting some thought into it, and thinking about the junky old bike that my mom got me after my mountain bike was stolen from my old apartment building, I got on it one afternoon about a month ago, and just rode and rode - before I knew it, I had made it seven whole miles on the thing. In all of its' weight, with all of its' squeaks - it had brought me seven miles. The next day, I got right back on - and went twelve miles. I was hooked. 

One great thing about biking that I never knew before I hopped on one was just how much I could learn about the city I have been living in for the last (almost) five years. I have found countless paths, like the one above that ended abruptly and ran parallel to railroad tracks, and have really come to see the beauty behind a rough(ish) city.

After three or four rides on the old Roadmaster bike, I decided to start doing some research and looking into new bikes at local bike shops. I scored huge! The bike I picked up is a 2011 SE Bikes Draft Lite. Since I got it home, I've been on it at very least every other day since I picked it up. Since Milwaukee's streets are paved with broken glass, I had an issue with a recurring flat rear tire that I actually just fixed over this past weekend with a Continental Gatorskin tire. Before I get too off topic, let me just make a long story short by saying that I love my bike. I love having the freedom to get on and ride, and forget about anything that's going on at home, at work, or anywhere - it's just me and the road beneath me, and that's wonderful to me. I've had a blast putting accessories on the bike, from the new rear tire to the Planet Bike rack and fenders, and even to the new saddle that was sent to me by Tiffany and her husband Brian! 

All that I'm trying to say is that I was wrong. I've discovered riding a bike, and not only have I fallen in love with something to do that's also good for me, but I have opened up an entirely new side of Milwaukee for myself. One of my new favorite things to do is to get up early on a Saturday morning, get on my bike without a specific destination, and just go. It's beautiful. 

Band I Saw: City and Colour

Photo by Erik Ljung Photography, taken from the Pabst Theater Facebook

Do you listen to a band that you've always wanted to see live, whose music has impacted you emotionally and gotten you through some of your darkest times? I was given the opportunity to see a band that has done just that for me over the past few years.

On Monday, February 6, Mike brought me to the City and Colour show at the Pabst Theater here in Milwaukee. In case you're unfamiliar, City and Colour started as a side project for Dallas Green, then of Alexisonfire. Since, Dallas has been experimenting with doing City and Colour full time, and if the show was any indication, doing very well.

Before going any further, let me just say that before this show, I have never set foot inside the Pabst Theater, although I've lived in Milwaukee on and off for about the past six years. The Pabst is an absolutely breathtaking place to see a show, both physically and from a sound standpoint. A history of amazing shows from nights past bled through the walls as the opening band played, and moreso before the house lights went down for the headlining act. The lights and sound were both impeccable, adding yet another level of enjoyment to an already wonderful night. It didn't hurt that drinks weren't too expensive, either, especially for what I was expecting in going to a more upscale venue.

It was one of the greatest live music experiences I have ever had. I have never had a more emotional reaction to a song than I did on Monday night. It's absolutely amazing how just hearing a song played live can bring up the most intense feelings - something I'd heard but never felt until that night. During at least two songs of the set, tears just poured down my face, and there was nothing I could do about it. The specific songs, for the record, were "Sleeping Sickness" and "Day Old Hate".

As someone who has loved the raw emotion and beauty in the simple songs of Dallas Green since City and Colour's debut, "Sometimes" in 2005, I was completely satisfied by the live show and the set. There was a perfect mix of songs from each of the albums released, and I loved hearing how well they translated into a live show.

Wiping the tears from my face as much as possible, I stood and sang along to every song. I had an honest experience and fell even more in love with some of the simplest, most emotional songs that I have ever heard. And the only thing I can say to that? Thank you, Dallas Green.