Ladee's Travels

Beautiful weather for the ASU Alumni weekend. Lacrosse alum players out to compete against this year's team.

This is awesome. Put the restaurant on your must do list. We went to the Phoenix Theatre to see "3 Redneck Tenors - Broadway Bound" (See their website here ). This is a really funny show and the tenors are incredible singers. See the TV interview of these crazy guys click here

Celebrating early at La Grande Orange ! Kalen started his birthday off with a breakfast with his mother. He has lunch and dinner plans with coworkers and friends. What fun! Yes, those are the tacky number candles used for every birthday. I dug through the "candle bag" to find the numbers. Matching ones would have been great, but it is more fun to see the multiple styles. The cake is a yummy 8 layer red velvet cake from Tammie Coe Cakes . One slice is so rich and velvety. I can't imagine a whole cake. Many "Happy Birthday" wishes to Kalen. I can't believe that he is 25. So grown, such a great guy.

I managed another visit to MIM and talked K into visiting with me. We met at 11AM and toured Europe for about an hour then took a lunch break in the Cafe . I had the grilled sausage and K had a roast beef sandwich. Both were accompanied by a nice chilled Heineken. We returned to the second flour to tour Asia for two hours. I needed another break, so we went to the coffee shop for coffee and a cookie snack. We spent the "last hour" on a fast walking tour through the US and Canada, and then through Africa. Exhausted, we returned to the service desk to turn in our headset. The woman at the desk told us that we had to walk just down the hall to see the Hands On room and the "Visiting Artists" room. Promising that we would only quickly look, we took our headsets and journeyed down the hall. What a wonderful surprise. String instruments, drums, things to shake and plink...all for our enjoyment. Each section is nicely hidden, so as you move past a wall, your are deligh...

I purchased a Matcha bowl, whisk and tea today from Teavana. I found it online at their store but decided to go to the Biltmore store to save shipping costs. Matcha is the tea used in the Japanese tea ceremony. The water is heated to 170-180 degrees, less than boiling. I put a little of the powdery green tea in the bowl and filled with water. Oops. Mistake 1 and 2. I think that you need to wet the powder first with cool water and then add the hot. A full bowl (mistake #2) doesn't allow enough room to whisk a foam. At the suggestion of G, poured out half and made two servings. End result? Very tasty deep green tea. I'll repost back on the "mental clarity" claims? (Note: I changed the "repot" to "repost". Maybe I have mental clarity already once I read the posting.) Have you tried this? Share your experiences online.

The Musical Instrument Museum (MIM) is located at 4725 East Mayo Boulevard in North Phoenix. This is at the corner of Tatum and Mayo Blvds, just off of the 101. The parking lot entrance is on Mayo. The building is huge. The entranceway is landscaped with desert plants and is a beautiful start to the museum experience. Little did I know what I was in for at this point. The customer service staff recommended that we start on the ground floor with the introductory section, then move to the second floor to begin viewing the instruments. An awesome collection of guitars started our experience, and a display on how instruments are made gave us a warm-up to what we were to see. We went to the second floor on the escalor (or you can take the stairs, or an elevator). The layout of the building is airy and spacious. Once we reached the second floor, we put on our headsets and continued to the first room on our right: Africa. As we rounded the corner to enter the room, we were immediately blow...

(Tina, this is for you!!) I'm shocked at how wonderful Market Square is now. Gone are the mass herds of pigeons. It's open and airy, with clean tables and chairs. Two entrances are still under construction. I don't remember the old buildings as they weren't worth a second glance. More photos when I can post.