End of Spring/Beginning of Summer in Troy,MI

Hi guys, woofies and meowies! Long time no see! Sorry...
Just lazy I must confess. When I start something I wanna finish and I hate the idea of leaving something half done. However, I'm way behind my blogging posts and activities and I'm not properly catching up with other dear bloggers and involved in the blogosphere like I was some time ago but, I need to blog because I wanna make my book of memories so, when I'm older I can take wonderful walks down memory lane (sometimes not so wonderful...)What's more, I love writing...when I'm in the mood :):)

I'd like to take this opportunity to thank everybody who still pops in for a quick visit, leaves a comment and supports me and MPL. Thank you so much guys, you know who you are! You guys keep my blog alive, many thanks for your TLC! WOOF!

So, where did we leave off? Ok, my last post was about our time in Detroit,MI. In this post, I'll tell you about my time in Troy,MI ,which I liked much better. Mom & Dad couldn't carry on living in that hotel apartment with that horrible kitchen so, they started their search for another woof friendly hotel and were only able to find one in Troy, MI. So, we came back to Chicago for about a week to celebrate Mama's B-day and also to drop some stuff and repack to go to Troy. Mama's B-day this year fell on Memorial Day and her friend B, who graduated with her in London, came over from the Big Apple to visit with us on Memorial Day weekend. E also came all the way from STL but, no singing this time :):) Here is me and Mama on her B-day last year. We didn't take pics together this year, the weather was gloomy and cold and she was not into taking pictures this time.

We stayed at the Residence Inn in Troy for about 3 months and it had a huge green area, a backyard where I could play and run freely. The kitchen was much better than the one at the Holiday Inn in Detroit.

I also enjoyed staying out in the "porch" but, Dad had to improvise a fence by putting their largest suitcase to block the passage to the staircase so, I could be protected. I think they thought I could run away but I'd never do that.

At this hotel, there was no corridor for us( me and Dad) to do our tradition but, I was happy with so much green and many trees around me. There was a swimming pool and a gym in the common area but woofies were not allowed in those facilities. In spite of that, one day late at night Mama & Dad took me to the gym to see if I'd enjoy working out but I didn't like it so much. First, I tried the treadmill which I needed help from Dad... Pathetic! Then I moved on to the stationary bike but my arms and legs were too short to reach the handle bars and pedals(even more pathetic than the treadmill!)

I already got my driver's license so, I thought I'd give it a try at the wheel,and it'd be a good chance to practice since I was completely useless on both treadmill and bike and Troy was a quiet town. Once in a while, I'd give Mama a ride to the Sommerset Mall not far away from our hotel. In the beginning, it was not easy to drive without Daddy's help but, as time went by I learned to steer the wheel like a pro. Now I drive even better than Mom & Dad. Woof!

Even though I enjoy driving there is something that I like much better :Blogging!!!

That's it folks, that was our time in Troy. I hope you guys liked it!

Heading to Detroit

After 6 weeks at Grandma J´s and the kindergarten playground episode, we finally made it home! Mom & Dad did their research and found a woofy friendly hotel in Detroit for me! YAY! This time I was able to join them for their second phase in Detroit ( 6 more weeks ). So, we barely had time to pack everything, including pots & pans and had to hit the road and endure the long 5-hour drive from Chicago to Detroit. We stayed at a hotel downtown close to the Tiger Stadium and Greektown for the first couple of days, since we didn´t find availability at our permanent hotel. Dad and I didn´t miss the opportunity to do our tradition again. Then we moved to our hotel downtown Detroit, which was within walking distance to the COBO Center, Detroit Red Wings(hockey team),Detroit Riverfront and GM headquarters. When we got there, our room was not ready yet so, Mom & Dad ordered lunch at the hotel restaurant and ate outside while I sat under the table in the hopes of getting some food they might accidentally drop on the floor. No luck :( but, the weather was beautiful that day!
Along the Detroit river, where I always went for a walk, we could see the city of Windsor, Canada across the water on the other margin. To get to the riverwalk we had to go down a lot of steps and go up on the way back. I enjoyed going down as you can see below,but neither me nor Mama liked going up.



Mom & Dad didn´t like the kitchen there because when they used their own pots and pans to make dinner, the electric stove got so hot that the room got all smoky and the fire alarm went off. So they swtiched to the proper crockery found in the cabinets but, the performance was poor. To prepare a meal in that kitchen was hell! So we only spent half of the time there,cooking everything in the microwave for 3 weeks, and then we moved to another hotel in Troy,MI. Good thing I never need to cook my food :)
Even though my parents were not happy with the hotel, I was pretty happy with my daily walks along the river especially after the Detroit´s Downtown Hoedown, a huge country music event, when I could find loads of chicken and rib bones on the grass which made Mama´s face look really panicky. She kept an eye on me all the time and I was safe from swallowing those bones but, she missed the piece of chewing gum that got stuck in my hair under my right foot. Gross!!! She cut part of the hair and got rid of the remaining gum using olive oil. Also gross but, my foot got very smooth.
That was my time in Motown. Next, I´ll tell you about our time in Troy. Stay tuned!

House hunting

We were pressed for time then! We only had 2 months to find a new home in Chicago. As you could see on my first Chicago post, it would be very hard to have neighbors like Oprah for longer than that. Streeterville happens to be one of the most expensive areas to live in Chicago so, we needed to start house hunting ASAP!! I told Mom & Dad that I would like to have a backyard and a deck like before and they told me that was not going to happen because, we were not going to live in the suburbs. Our only option would be a condo so, I demanded a balcony that I could go outside for a nap and maybe to do my "business" as well. After driving around the city to get a feel of it, looking at the EL(elevated train) stops and dog park locations ( supposedly a good park for me), debating on whether to have a nice view from the unit or not, garage parking or only a parking space, bla bla bla...
and also listening to some of Dad's co-workers' advice, we came up with a list of must-haves for our new home. MY must-have was a balcony, that's all! I didn't really care about the rest. Oh, very important ! It also had to be Sushi friendly. Some buildings wouldn't allow me if I weighed more than 15 pounds. Others would only take Meow speakers and Woof speakers were not welcome at all.
Initially Mom & Dad were trying to look on their own without hiring a realtor. Sometimes I'd go with them to some open houses and take a careful look at the balconies. One month went by and they found nothing! It was a race against the clock and there was only one month then left to find a home so, they finally made the decision to hire a realtor. They hired JP, who was expecting a baby but, always willing to show them new homes. But, even with JP's help, nothing seemed to please them. They needed to find a balance between the pros and cons of all the places they looked at( not too many, just about 150...) to be able to make an offer on our future home. To be continued...

Cooking with Sushi: Quick and Easy Mug Cake

Attention all busy/lazy Mamas, Daddas, children and chocolate lovers: I've got a quick and easy recipe for you; a delicious fluffy chocolate mug cake! Well, this is all made from scratch and I'm sure there are even easier ones out there using cake mixes but, I haven't tried those yet.

Mama got this by e-mail from Aunty M in Portuguese but, I'll share it with you below in English, of course. When she showed me the recipe I told her: "I can do this Mommy, it's soooo easy!"
Today was the first day I've ever cooked in my life, but I felt pretty confident I was going to nail it and I did! This was literally a piece of cake :):) Mom & Dad loved it!

Ready for this fun recipe? Let's go!

You are going to need:

-Utensils:
* A 300 ml(about 1 1/4 cup)mug (you'll prepare everything in this mug and eat from there, ideally)
* A sieve(strainer),small would be good.
* A fork

-Ingredients:
* 1 small egg
* 4 tbsp milk
* 3 tbsp oil (I used vegetable)
* 2 level tbsp cocoa powder
* 4 level tbsp sugar
* 4 level tbsp flour
* 1/2 level tsp baking powder

First "sift" the egg through the sieve and into the mug.( I didn't like this part, not simple) Beat well with the fork.
Add oil, milk, sugar and cocoa powder and beat more until blended.
Add flour, baking powder and beat gently until fully incorporated.

You'll have a more liquid batter than a normal cake but, don't worry! Don't add any more flour otherwise you'll have a heavy cake. We don't want that! We want it fluffy just like me :)Woof!

Now, microwave on full power for 3 minutes and voila! You're about to enjoy a quick, easy and yet D-E-L-I-C-I-O-U-S individual sized cake. YummY! (believe Mom & Dad because unfortunately I can't have chocolate, so I didn't try my own cake... snif,snif :(

Very important hints:
-The mug should be a 300 ml one.
-Always level measure spoons.
-You can serve this cake with a variety of toppings, nuts and ice cream. And you can enjoy it warm!(actually you should enjoy it warm, because if you wait too long, it won't be as moist and fluffy)

Bon Appetit!

Thank you Aunty M for sharing this with me. Have you ever made this recipe?

Ok now I'll show you how the cake should look like according to Aunty M's recipe pictures :





Now, this is MY CAKE! I opened the microwave door and ta-da! Looks like it worked.



Uh-oh! The batter overflowed a little bit. Don't worry Mama, I'll clean it up.



I'm not impressed with this cake presentation at all! Let's blame it on my microwave full power!



Then, I decided to unmold it from the mug, mmmmmm it smells GOOOOOOD! But it fell apart...(because it was soooooo fluffy!)



I thought I'd cut in half and serve it with a fresh strawberry and a little bit of Doce de Leite( Portuguese) or Dulce de Leche(Spanish) instead of serving it in the mug. YUM!



I'd like to share this cake with my June top 10 Sushi Lovers, Mariuca, Daisy, Aunty M(of course, she's the one who gave me the recipe; she's not a blogger... yet but, she certainly has a lot of stories to blog about, like my cousins H & F),Zubli,Lady Java, Claudia, Marcia(Aunty M), Faizal, Miss Yummylicious and Mima(Mama).

All visitors please feel free to treat yourselves to the cake as well!