To market, to market: opening day (with a side of custard).

In Madison, the third Saturday in April means opening day at the Dane County Farmers' Market. Wisconsinites gather on the square to welcome the return of the downtown market. Today's hot item: morel mushrooms, some for over $30/pound!

Kat, Mackenzie, and I braved the crowds and perused the market, where I was thrilled to get a great photo of "Piccolo Guy" (aka "Orange Guy"):

According to Mackenzie, he's a proud nudist when he's not donning his orange garb.

The piccolo was a lovely soundtrack to the market, which was peppered with the usual mix of young, old, political activists, and hipsters.

My loot from the market: R.P.'s pasta and some lovely potatoes.

After brunch at Marigold Kitchen, Kat and I went to the East Side Club for the Vintage Flea and Finds market. I purchased three vintage bangles for $2: score! We then decided to meet up with Anne at Michael's Frozen Custard for my first ever custard indulgence.

Creamy frozen goodness!

After a busy morning, it's nice to be home sweet home. My little girl is purring away:

Phoebe feels right at home in Wisconsin!

March poll results are in!

The neck-and-neck March poll results are in:

Wisconsinites love their beer, but I'm more of a wine girl myself. What's your preference? White or red?

White - 5 votes
Red - 6 votes

This cow likes her red wine, too!

Check out the April poll on the right and pay homage to your favorite pop culture cow.

A good dose of cow.

Who doesn't like a good dose of cow every once in a while? I absolutely love this video of British cows jumping for joy after being cooped up in a barn all winter:

Special thanks to Val for sharing this video with me.

No need to be sheepish: lamb season has arrived!

The locals keep telling me that I still haven't experienced a real Wisconsin winter, and I'm content with this. Spring is already here, and at certain times, Madison has even been slightly warmer than my hometown of Charlotte, NC. Spring is my namesake (Aviva translates to "springtime girl") and by far my favorite season: a blend of rain, sun, flowers, and in Wisconsin: newborn livestock.

The A-Z Farm in Oregon, WI welcomes their spring lambs by inviting guests to come in for a meet-and-greet. Yesterday, I joined Scott, Elysha, and Abby for a trip to meet these adorable little fellas, as well as some other barnyard friends.

Chickens hanging out in their coop.

Piglets having lunch.

A male turkey showing off for the female turkeys (a handsome fella).

We walked up to a little coop filled with baby chickens, and much to my delight, one of the farmers let me hold one:

Look how tiny!

Then, we arrived at the main event: the lamb barn. The lambs were abundant, friendly, and greeting us with loud "baaaahs":

Spring lamb scoreboard.

Petting time for this little lamb.

My buddy Abby enjoyed making friends with the lambs.
She left the barn with a stuffed sheep that she appropriately named Baba.

Just a few fluffy pals hanging out.

Having some lunch!

The black sheep of the family.

Oh, the cuteness.

Sleepy time!

Before we headed out of the barn, we stopped by the Bee Barf Honey booth to sample some Oregon-made honey. Great name, huh? I couldn't resist and left with a little treat:

Looking forward to stirring these honey straws into my tea!

The perfect end to our Oregon excursion was a trip to the little downtown area for some lunch at DeBroux's Diner. Abby enjoyed their "gorilla cheese." It wouldn't have been a true Wisconsin adventure without a little cheese.

Driving behind cattle in peculiar places: the saga continues.

After a great Saturday morning skate and a very relaxing facial, I decided to run a few errands. I drove to Verona to my favorite local yarn shop, The Sow's Ear, to pick up some knitting notions. En route to the highway that leads me home, I realized I was behind a cattle car:

I spotted two black and white ladies in this fine car.

The cattle car proceeded to drive onto the highway, where I was behind it for most of my ride home. My windows were down and I even heard a nice "moo" from one of the gals.

To read about my first experience driving behind cattle, click here.

50 is the new 80 (degrees, that is).

I have lived in Wisconsin for 10 months and it has occurred to me that my general standards of good weather are already starting to change.

When I left work around 5:30pm today and walked outside, I immediately called my mother to tell her about the lovely weather. It's the beginning of March and it's 50 degrees outside.

Ordinarily, I would not consider 50 degree weather in March to be newsworthy. But today in Wisconsin, the aforementioned lovely weather was certainly the talk of the town. I didn't need to completely zip up my jacket or put on gloves: it was sunny and perfect. I proceeded to get in my car, crank up some Florence + the Machine, and roll the windows down to fully savor this much-anticipated climate change.

Okay, let's face it: I'm becoming a Wisconsinite.

February poll results are in...

February poll results are in...

Batte of the froyo! What's your favorite frozen yogurt place?

I'm not into chains: I prefer local froyo! - 3 votes
Pinkberry - 2 votes
Menchie's - 2 votes

No love for TCBY and Red Mango.

PS: I'm a Pinkberry enthusiast. They should open up in Madison. Seriously.

Check out the March poll on the right!