FOUND: naps

They look so peaceful... Right now.


Like mother


Like daughter

Typed on iPhone , sorry for iMistakes

FOUND: no nappage allowed

Don't even think about napping while we are in Michigan... Katie learned the hard way.









Sorry, sucka!


Typed on iPhone , sorry for iMistakes

FOUND: paddle board

Mom is the posterchild for a waterbaby... when we are up north she can always be found lakeside.


The paddle board was a new feature... But this woman still can drop a mean ski and carve outside the wakes better that I will ever be able to....






It's pretty obvious where I got my love for drinking water from.


Typed on iPhone , sorry for iMistakes

FOUND: wake the lake

Soft core:



Hard Core:


No, that isn't me... That is my sister. Yes, she is an athlete.

Typed on iPhone , sorry for iMistakes

FOUND: Oogie photo

- Typed on iPhone , sorry for iMistakes

FOUND: corn pudding

I am already missing mom's michigan cooking....

It doesn't help that I'm in bed, nursing a post wedding hangover and the only thing that can make it all better is mom's corn pudding. Not fair.
Steak, heirloom tomato and burrata, fresh haricot verts, wild rice and cherries, corn pudding....

For now all I have to eat is-

Chocolate Frozen banana bites...

I'm going bananas.

Typed on iPhone , sorry for iMistakes

FOUND: oogie

Mommykins, I want a horse!
Rode Becky's Icelandic and now I am a preteen who has horse on the brain.

It's official I'm on a mission to get a horse (two) for ojai.

Oogie really changed my whole outlook on life. After an afternoon of trail riding: I found that I sat up straighter, I confidently had direction, and I pushed myself to ride harder than I ever had before.

I cantered through the woods at a frightening pace, I jumped fallen birch trees.... I nearly pissed myself twice.... But it was the good kind of piss. The kind of piss that reminds you that you are alive.

Oogie took me up alligator hill to the lookout where the Manitous never looked so awe-inspiring.

I think I might have a new hobby.

- Typed on iPhone , sorry for iMistakes

FOUND: black star farms

The cider drinking worked up a fierce appetite among us all. Just over yonder, there was a vineyard and an artisanal cheese maker that features a cafe with woodbaked oven pizzas. You might have seen the Bon Appetite last month where Mario Batali referenced this establishment, I mean, The Bennetts are sooooo a la mode. (insert eyeroll)


After pizza, we explored the barnyard offerings.... Mom and dad are in the market for some ani-mules for the farm in Ojai.

My vote: goats
Moms vote: chickens


Katie worked up a nap after the ride/cider/ feast and hung in a hammock with her book - Farm City.* * read it

FOUND: m22

Missing you already. Brought this sticker back for a daily reminder.

FOUND: massage in the park

I like the idea of a massage by the water, but publicly? Let's hope there is no happy ending.


Typed on iPhone , sorry for iMistakes

FOUND:final campfire

The storm was lighting up the sky in the distance and the wind was picking up.... Didn't stop Katie and me from building a fire for my last night.




- Typed on iPhone , sorry for iMistakes

FOUND: wilsons antiques

Downtown traverse city has the finest selection of affordable antiques....


1920's black velvet hat -$12

Why did people have to stop wearing hats regularly? I don't even look good in a hat, and I wish we had stylized hats in our daily wardrobe vocabulary.


Ebony and ivory, full set of dominoes-$95


Old school set of bingo- $25


I could have been in there for 1/2 a day easily..... Just the bookshelves of first editions had me stuck on the carpet like a freshly stepped in blob of bubble yum.

- Typed on iPhone , sorry for iMistakes

FOUND: cherry republic

For Breakfast, lunch, snack, dinner, dessert, post drinking delight.
Cherries be my diet in Leelanau County.



The pies from Gallaghers are supremely the best.



I recommend going to cherry republic to spit your pits. They have a designated area... A good place to measure your skills annually.


I'm quite the spitter I have been told. I beat my all time highest record.


- Typed on iPhone , sorry for iMistakes

FOUND: tandem ciders

Brooks worked at Tandem Ciders one fall, so we came by the tasting room, to turn it into a drinking room.











Post ride, you have worked up a thirst for the alcoholized version of the nectar of the orchards you are passing.








Our family favorites.


You must taste.


Typed on iPhone , sorry for iMistakes

FOUND: port Oneida road

Coming up here, I try to walk/bike/ride every trail I know, pass by every farm, eat at every fruit/veg stand. It is my duty to recognize and mentally record any changes that have happened since the last time I was up.



So many of the vistas I am left wondering how is it possible to be this breathtaking?


Mom asked me to take some photos for her.....


And then used her giant foot to conquer my sandy bluffs.








My rocky booty from Lake Michigan. mom and I, are similar to Serena and Venus, we are born of the same blood, but born to compete against each other.

Today's competition: petosky hunting. (petoskys being stones only found in this lake specific to this region)

I won.

And basking in my glory and confidence, I created another competition: most beautiful stone, won that too!

Typed on iPhone , sorry for iMistakes

FOUND:Gallaghers

When you arrive to this part of Michigan you are in the heart of everything that is right with the US of A. Long roads dotted with farms offering stands of freshly picked fruits/veg, baked goods, and honey. I love how even some of the stands operate on the honor system, with no one on hand, just put into the piggy bank what you owe for what you take.


Gallaghers is usually my first stop on my way to the cottage.

For a cinnamon donut.








Lodi apples, to Make my grandmother's applesauce. My mother lovingly makes it in her memory when we are in Michigan. Lodi can only be found here, so it makes it that much more special. It's the only applesauce I let past my lips. Once you have had Grammys 'sauce, hard to eat anyone elses. Can't top the best.






Typed on iPhone , sorry for iMistakes

FOUND: Leelanau county

If you ever have the chance to come to this part of the US, Take it. Here's a map, now you know where to go.


It's magnificent. five days is just not enough.

It's sad to go from spending entire summers up North to only five days. There just isn't enough time to jam it all in.


- Typed on iPhone , sorry for iMistakes