First Trip on a Sailboat

Last Friday my boss decided that we all needed to go have a picnic at the marina where he keeps his sailboat. Steve loves his boat, and we hear about it all the time. Needless to say, some of the older lab members were bemoaning the boat and hinting that Steve would want to spend all evening there. So I was worried, because I like spending my Friday nights not with my coworkers. I like them all, but I see them all week, you know.
Anyway, it was actually pretty fun. I got there and had a couple of beers (Leinenkugel Oktoberfest) and Steve grilled hamburgers. Then it was time for the boat. Thankfully, there were too many people there for everyone to go on the boat at once, so we split into groups and each boat ride was only 1.5 hours. I'd never been on a sailboat before, only canoes and motorboats, so it was neat to see how a sailboat worked. We went out a couple of miles into Lake St. Clair, and it was cool when the motor was killed and we were going only on the sails. It was neat, and it was nice to be out on a lake since it's been a while.
So overall, it was enjoyable. I had fun, and I didn't have to stay all night, and now I can say I've been on a sailboat.

Stratford Shakespeare Festival: Other Stuff

So besides seeing plays, I mostly ate a lot of food, drank a lot of drinks, and went shopping. I was only there for three days, it's not like I had loads of time to muck about. Anyway, I stayed at Bentley's. It's both a pub and inn. The rooms there are extremely nice. So are the drinks. I had a martini called "Taming of the Shrew." It involved raspberry, melon, and vanilla liquor, and it was delicious.
That's the front. Apologies for the lamppost in the way. The other best food place is the Boar's Head pub.
They serve wild boar pub burgers there. They are really good. It's a denser sort of meat, kind of like buffalo, and it tastes pork-ish. Anyway, they're good and I recommend them to all omnivores. I just had Guinness to drink there since it was pub food. They also have sticky toffee pudding, which is heavenly. That's a sort of bread pudding, not American jello type pudding. It's delicious, and I'm sad that I can only get it in Stratford.
So, that was Stratford. I always wish I could stay longer, because it's nice and Canadian and different.

Stratford Shakespeare Festival: The Plays

While at Stratford this year, I saw two plays: The Two Gentlemen of Verona and The Tempest. Two Gents was the first of the two; it was a matinee show at the Studio Theatre. The Studio is a small theatre, and even at the last row I could clearly see all the actors. I've not read Two Gents, so seeing the play was my first experience with it. The play itself is supposed to be one of Shakespeare's earlier plays, which is obvious due to a plot hole one could drive a semi-truck through. But it was acted very well. All of the actors did a great job, especially those playing Launce and Speed. I really liked the setting as well; it was set in a 1920s vaudeville period, which worked perfectly with the play. It was certainly very enjoyable.
In the evening I saw The Tempest. I knew it would be amazing because Christopher Plummer was playing Prospero, but wow. It was an experience. Everyone was fantastic. Christopher Plummer made me cry with his final monologue. His rapport with Ariel was fabulous. Even more minor characters like Trinculo were hilarious. The actor playing Caliban also did a great job. What made it even better was that I was in the very front row of the Festival Theatre, so I could see all of the subtleties that one would miss further back. It was definitely the best performance of The Tempest I've ever seen. Again, the costuming was beautiful, and the staging fantastic. The complexities of the stage movements were really cool. I'm so thrilled I was able to be so close, especially to see someone as truly talented as Christopher Plummer.
Overall, it was fantastic to see both plays. I wish I could have seen A Winter's Tale and As You Like It, but couldn't afford it. I heard that Twelfth Night will be playing next year; hopefully I will make it back to see it. And hopefully I'll be in the front row again!

My super cool birthday cake!

My birthday cake! Yes, I turned 23 and had a dinosaur birthday cake.

23rd Birthday

Thursday was my 23rd birthday. I took the day off of work, since I didn't really have much to do anyway. Instead I went to lunch with my best friend Jasmine and her daughter Vivi. We went to a new restaurant in Southfield called Taste of Ethiopia. We had their lunch buffet and it was delicious! It was also very affordable. They had a lot of options, mild and spicy. After that, we went to Just Baked in Twelve Oaks mall and had cupcakes! I had the Rocky Road flavour and the Blueberry Cobbler. They're delicious and I especially liked them because they didn't have frosting on them. I don't like most frosting. Then I went out in the evening with my parents to Olive Garden, and we had ice cream cake. My cake had dinosaurs on it and a volcano. It was pretty cool. Anyway, it was a good day and I enjoyed having the day off.

Lady's Purse

This is a weird flower at the Phipps Conservatory. It's called a lady's purse.