Latitude 41 N: Detroit Shoreway

Last night an impromptu trip to Lakewood to visit friends led to dinner at one of the many new places that's popped up in the Detroit Shoreway area recently.

Latitude 41 N is at the North East corner of Detroit and 58th St. - kitty corner from the Happy Dog and across the street from the old Snickers, which was recently Cheddar's but looks to have a new name - Mac and Jac?? (but I digress).

Anyway, it's was the best new restaurant experience I've had in a long time. The menu is great - pizzas, salads, sandwiches - interesting combos - comfort food that comforts, not smothers.

You order at the counter, pay there and take a seat - which was gloriously efficient.

I started with the spinach side salad - which I was expecting to be... just spinach - and maybe some cranberries.
Instead a received a glorious archaeological dig of tasty treats. Candied walnuts... and blue cheese! And... is that BACON?! Fresh sweet onion! And, oh yes, spinach. It's normally served with a fresh mango dressing, but they were out of mangos and seeing as I was overcome with joy for all the unexpected fixin's I could care less. The oil and vinegar was delightful.

In addition to a standard issue dinner menu, they have an all-day breakfast menu as well, so I split the Southwest Breakfast Quesadilla with a friend: again, spectacular - scrambled eggs with black beans, avocado, sausage, salsa and cilantro sandwiched between 2 tortillas and lightly topped with cheese (and more salsa).

Our third had the Shrimp Po' Boy with homemade fries (served with vinegar!) and a napa slaw which was a high-end take on a salad my grandmother brings to every family picnic - cabbage and ramen noodles with a sweet dressing.

I stayed away from the Po' Boy as, alas, my greed for all things seafood turned on me one night last year following a half container of Lobster Bisque and some shrimp cocktail - all those years of raw oysters caught up with me and I can clambake no more. *sniff*

That said - Latitude 41 N - wonderful!
I can't wait to go back for more!

Oh Crap! Scarf

A friend moved to Boston last year to attend school and I SWORE I was going to knit her something this winter. She's incredibly generous (she brought me back a Sari-ish thing from India!) and I hit that "what can I possibly make her to show my appreciation" wall - which usually leads to unending procrastination.

I know it's far too late in the season (even for Boston) for woolly, but until I figure out how to make lace, woolly it is.

Ladies and Gentlemen, my own one skein wonder...
The "You mean she'll be here FRIDAY!!!" Scarf.



Detail



Lion Brand Thick and Quick
No. 17 needles
Basic cable knit

I'm still getting to know the camera, hopefully I can figure out a better balance between light and shadow so I can show off texture with more finesse.

Urban canopy

9th and Prospect

Just enough shade.

Oh and I got a new camera!

Friday I picked up the best investment I've made in a long time.
I've been looking at digital cameras, but my budget was rather limited.

I found a number of good deals at a big box office store, and researched the 4 that were in my prince range. The Canon Powershot A570 IS had the best reviews and was the best price - so I went back the next day.

I got the last one (floor model) so I negotiated an additional 15% off the clearance price.

After just a couple of days of playing, I'm VERY happy with my choice - although I'm still hoping to get a SLR at some point in the next couple of years.

Love the color, focus, handling, etc - overall, best purchase ever.

Enjoy a photo of fresh cut lilacs in my kitchen -

Day at the beach

I was in Lorain today, and took a walk to Lakeview Beach. It's recently been updated: new beach house, new gates...



The Redbuds were in bloom and beautiful against the blue sky...



And someone was taking advantage of the winds for an early season sail...

dog on an elevator

So this morning I had to share an elevator with a dog and it bothered me some.

I don't dislike dogs... on the street, in their owner's home, in a dog park, even in the workplace if it's fairly well known that there will be dogs.

I worked with a company who's director kept 2 fairly substantial beasts around, and I was informed prior to the interview about the dogs so if I didn't want to (or couldn't) be around them on a daily basis, it was my choice.

But something about a 50 lb dog in a small, packed elevator felt incredibly presumptuous and entitled - she wasn't disabled and there were no identifying markers of a seeing eye dog on the harness. How do I know your dog is trained to be in that situation?

Next time maybe wait for an empty elevator... take the stairs?
If I weren't pushed to the back corner of the car where she got on, I would have exited and gone another way myself.

And I know this a is a touchy subject, but I can't help but have a negative reaction to it... Times weighs in here.

UPDATE: I've been thinking alot this morning about why this experience bothered me so much. I like dogs. I like dogs in offices - it does tend to humanize the environment. Upon reflection, I've worked at no less than 5 places that had dogs around, and I never batted an eye. I'm not an advocate of those with allergies, or really worried about the dog's behavior - it was fine in the elevator.

At first I thought it was the slippery slope argument - "If she brings her dog and it's ok, what happens if that guy brings his, and that woman hers, then there are exponentially more dogs over time, doing uncontrollable dog-like things."

But I know that the slippery slope argument is a well known logical fallacy.

So where does that leave me... was I simply being unreasonable?
Maybe I'm bothered that she appeared to value the comfort of her dog over the potential discomfort of those around her.
What if it wasn't a dog, but a heavily laden rolling cart - I'm thinking that holding the elevator up and shoving herself in may have provoked the same reaction.

So I think my reaction is rooted in my intense frustration with those who are not aware of the world around them - and she's now lumped in with those who don't use turn signals - or the hipster man-child who parked his bike in a driveway - or the people who stop at the bottom of the escalator to get their bearings and block everyone else from getting off.

May 1st Hot Chocolate

I've been good - really good.
Lost 9 lbs good.

And tonight I wanted chocolate.

So I thought a nice cup of real hot chocolate would hit the spot.

Mug of milk
1 oz. milk chocolate
1 oz. bittersweet chocolate (I use Trader Joe's Pound Plus)
1 Tbsp. unsweetened cocoa
Honey to taste
Small pat of butter (only if you use skim or 1%)
Cinnamon

Scald milk, add all ingredients, stir until blended.

Top with marshmallow (or chocolate flavored bunny shaped Peep.)



Relish and smile.