The last few weeks have been insane at work and I’ve been feeling burned out. This past Friday, I decided to take half the day off to get out of work early and spend it with my husband, because I feel like I had barely seen him the past few months. Imagine my surprise when he told me we were staying in Lacrosse overnight and that his mom was sitting the stepkids.

We love going to La Crosse because they have great restaurants, antique stores, books stores and many other things to do around town. But he surprised me with a stay at a fairly new hotel called The Charmant, and oh wow— what a beautiful hotel! Build in a former chocolate factory, the hotel is an ode to French modern style. It pays homage to the past of this now historic building by using elements of the building in various ways, as well as displaying items that used to be in the factory. The building used to house the Joseph B. Funke Candy Company, which was founded in 1898 and was in business for 35 years. It all comes together beautifully to give the guests an experience that is part French charm with modern sleekness... and it works.

Upon arrival, we were greeted by a friendly staff and two pieces of the most delicious salted caramel chocolate I have tried in a long time. There is an entire case of chocolates as homage to past of the building, and this same past as a chocolate factory reverberates throughout the hotel by displaying items from the factory in a multilevel glass display case (which you immediately see when you come in) and in the rooms, as framed art.

The hotel has a wonderful restaurant that seems out of the pages of a Restoration Hardware magazine. The food is French cuisine in style which they have mastered indeed. When we arrived for dinner, the place was in full swing, so we requested to be seated at the counter where we could see the action in the kitchen and it was fantastic! The chef and staff were busy at work but were also friendly. I felt like I was watching a movie, and was thrilled when the chef delivered our dinner— steak for my husband and a delicious (and beautiful) bouillabaisse in a saffron broth for me. He spoke with us for a little bit about food and out travels, ad he was gracious enough to share with me the cookware he uses. Thank you, Chef! As we left, as I did throughout out dinner, I kept glancing at their wine walk-in cave. Oh my, and I spotted a bottle of 2012 (sigh…).

After dinner we went to our room, and I am still in love with it. As soon as I walked in I turned to my husband and told him “I want to move in”. The room was so charming! A tufted leather bed anchored the room in a combination of old and new, that was so welcoming and cozy in a very stylish way. I especially liked the corner desk against exposed brick. On the wall a collection of old photos and chocolate candy mementoes, continued to remind the guest of this building’s past.

This old and new French flair theme continues throughout the hotel, and nowhere did I find it more displayed than at The Parlour— a lovely little coffee shop that made you feel like you stepped in a patisserie in the middle of Paris. The croissant I had was baked to chewy crustiness perfection, and the cinnamon roll my husband had was one of the nest he ever had, according to him. And the coffee— wow!

We ended up having to leave the next morning because of an impending snow storm, but I left feeling like I had spent a weekend in Paris— refreshed and ready to face the week ahead. This was such a charming surprise by my husband and it show me something I already knew— nobody knows me like he does… well, maybe my mom :)

Joining I may be found on one of these link-ups: In a Vase on Monday, Mosaic Monday, Home Sweet Home, Friday Bliss, Home and Garden Thursday, Pink Saturday, Nature Notes, Dishing It & Digging It, Thankful Thursday, Grace at Home

I’m sharing this first photo of these bright ranunculus for no particular reason, but because I NEED COLOR. We were spoiled in December with wonderful weather and we are paying now with more cold and snow. So this photo from last year was a must!

~ So, what is new in the gardening home front? Well, I am trying to stay motivated by planning ahead to my little garden in 2019. If you followed me last year, you know that I consider 2018 my best year yet. So this year I am bringing back some old beauties and some new ones too! There will still be dahlias (of course!) but also some new flowers I have never grown. After much thought I decided not to give sweet peas a try. The debacle of 2018 when the high winds blew away the seed trays that had germinated, just broke my heart, so I am skipping them this year.

One of the things I have been doing is going back on my journals from when I first started gardening and it has been interesting to read and realize how I have grown as a rookie gardener the past 5 years. From my first freak out moment when the corn rootworm beetle destroyed my flowers to this past year when I found a solution to it, that is not harmful to the environment. And my stubborness in thinking that some plants may just surprise me and grown in this (at the time) new hardiness zone when they were clearly labeled against it. Oh, the good ol’ days. But that is the beauty of gardening— always teaching you, is it not?

~ Spring/summer will show if my David Austin roses, which I planted in pots and are residing indoors in my garage, will survive. Fingers crossed! The roses were labeled as good for this hardiness zone but something about the sub-arctic polar vortex type winters in the Midwest did not give me a warm and fuzzy feeling, so I planted in pots. We will see how that works out.

~ In other news— the 300 bulbs I planted in the fall behind our house may or may not grow (Read more HERE). Two weeks after I planted them, our city had some construction and the dirt from there was unceremoniously dumped behind our yard. Not inside our property, but about three feet from where our land ends. What this did was create a dike behind our property because the dirt is blocking the drainage line from our land. So last week when the snow started melting, this was the situation.

Below is one of the beds with the bulbs. There’s water hanging around the bed (you can see them in the background). This is so frustrating. The soil is frozen so the water has nowhere to go right now. And of course, the city is of no help until Spring. So, I am praying that these babies will bloom YET something tells me they will not.

~ As you know I started my Master Gardener’s internship and it is so much information! But it is great getting to use my mind for studying again! And being in this program has really opened the doors to meeting other people and getting involved in other events. We have a few local garden shows as well as in Minneapolis and St. Paul, that while not organized by the Master Gardeners, it allows us to come together and enjoy other gardening and landscaping activities. So, it should be fun and a great way to shed the winter blues! :)

What are you going to stay sane this winter?

WELCOME!

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