Misadventures of the Monster Librarian

I sneaked away from the Farm for the weekend--that doesn't sound like much but it is a huge feat to do something and not have 5 million people know what you're up to...we have nothing to do at the Farm but work and know about each others' lives...we do live, work and eat together every day! I borrowed TSO's car (mine needs work) and drove all Wednesday afternoon; away from the Farm, through New York State, into and through Canada and back over into Michigan, to the home of my bestie L. Bestie L, her husband K and their three girls: L (age 9 years), A (age 6.5 years) and V (age 1.5 years) and I piled into their mini van the next afternoon and headed " Up North "--the area of Michigan that we Michiganders refer to when talking about any part of the lower peninsula above the fist knuckles (Michigan afterall is the "mitten state"). A little trivia for you: I grew up in Southeastern Michigan, right on the border of the tri-cities area, but was born in N...

Wednesday morning we woke up early and headed in to Fenton where we had breakfast with my Mom at my favorite restaurant, The French Laundry (no relation to the restaurant of the same name in NY City). The French Laundry is the second best thing that ever happened to Fenton in my opinion. I love to sit in the dining room, facing Shiawassee, (aka Owen Rd.) and look out at Mansion Row, the old stretch of huge houses all built around the 1920’s. Each one of these houses seems to display a grandiose style, as though trying to best the house next to it. The restaurant itself is a splendid mix of “kitch,” with mismatched tables and chairs, stain glass panels in the ceiling above, and some sort of plant growing gracefully, snaking up the wall on vertically strung wires. The specials, both coffees and beers are written on chalkboards on the back and side walls so that a person sitting at the unimposing bar might be encouraged to try something new. Breakfast is my favorite meal of the day, so si...