Cheese Curds & Cheese Heads

Friday afternoon was a rough one. A very public shouting match from my cubicle, with the new Education Service Specialist at Cam's school, that included ultimatums and insults (flung at me, not by me). 

Mike and I were scheduled to head to Milwaukee on Saturday to celebrate his birthday. He had contacted his friends to let them know we'd be in town, and we had a hotel reservation for Saturday night. When I got home Friday night, I knew I had to just let go of my extreme frustration or I was going to ruin Mike's birthday weekend.

Then Mike suggested we leave immediately rather than waiting for Saturday.

My response?

But we don't have a hotel! And I cannot leave Cam home alone for an entire weekend without having the police department on speed dial! And ... and ... WE MUST PLAN! Spontaneity is evil! If we don't plan something terrible will happen! No! I don't know what ... I just know it will!!

Thank goodness Mike has mastered the ability to talk me down from the ledge ...

Cam was at a friend's house - a friend who is a good kid and whose parents are very ... well ... parenting parents. Mike suggested I check with them to see if Cam could spend the weekend there while he made an inquiry at the hotel to see if they had rooms available Friday night.

The friend's parents were thrilled to be able to help out and agreed to have Cam as their guest for the weekend.

The hotel had rooms.

We spent the next 30 minutes packing and loading, then headed out.

I was a mess for the first hour of the drive, my bestie - anxiety - sitting squarely on my chest, but as I continued to drive, I began relaxing, letting go of the stuff that bounces around in my brain.

We checked in at the hotel, then headed out for the start of a celebratory weekend.

Mike deemed Friday night as "pre-game warm up". It involved letting Milwaukee know he was in town, drinking at a few different establishments, and losing my Qdoba virginity.

Saturday I woke up in the swanky Aloft Milwaukee Downtown to this view.

Then we went to The Eatery on Farwell for breakfast. I had The Hangover Burger (½ lb hand-pattied burger stacked up with provolone & Muenster cheese, bacon, a fried egg, caramelized red onions, lettuce, tomato, avocado aioli, Sriracha aioli & hollandaise served on a homestyle bun with a choice of side) and the best Bloody Mary I have ever experienced in my life.

Yes, that is beef jerky in that glass. And since when have all Bloody Mary's started being served with a side of beer? I'm not complaining, I've just never seen this!

Bellies full, we headed out shopping. It's been at least 3 years since I've purchased a new outfit at a retail store ... seriously. This was HUGE. I don't spend money on myself, and when I do it's usually for a single clothing item at Goodwill or off the clearance rack at Walmart. But this time? I bought a complete outfit - nothing from the clearance rack - including shoes. I didn't even look at prices (which fortunately turned out to be very reasonable).

Then it was back to the hotel for a little rest, a quick "linner" (if you can have brunch, you can have linner) of cheese curds at The Loaded Slate,

... and then back out for the MAIN EVENT!

Although we had planned on starting at Vitucci's, and then drinking our way to other bars, we wound up staying where we started.

Which was a good thing.

'Cause I got to kiss a girl ... several times ...*

Wait! What???

* Don't you hate it when a blog post ends like that??