Fun weekend

My husband and I had fun plans made for the last weekend of summer.

We traveled up to IKEA in Canton, Michigan on Friday afternoon. My husband wanted to buy glass cabinet. In 2013, we went to IKEA for the first time and my husband found this glass cabinet. He has since filled it up and needed another one. While walking around the store, we saw items that we would love to add to our home. A house is never complete, but we also discussed ideas of how to change rooms in our house as well. I wish I had these ideas when we were renovated our house back then. Oh well. It's great to keep learning and expand your knowledge.

After IKEA, we continued north to Novi and the Twelve Oaks Mall. The only reason for driving north to Novi was we wanted to eat at The Cheesecake Factory. Novi is the only Cheesecake Factory location in Michigan. After visiting the Michigan State Fair last year, we wanted to eat there. We found out the wait was 1.5 hours, so we left. This visit was different. We were told our wait would be 15 minutes. Not even five minutes later, we were at a table.

I ordered the lunch size Four Cheese Pasta: penne pasta, mozzarella, ricotta, roman cheese, Parmesan cheeses, marinara sauce and basil. It was very good and I cleaned my plate. I did order cheesecake for dessert: Toasted Marshmallow S'mores Galore: Hershey's cheesecake topped with housemade marshmallow and Honey Maid graham crackers. It was so rich and good. I actually didn't finish it all. The leftover is still sitting in my refrigerator. Next time I visit a Cheesecake Factory again, I will be ordering my go-to favorite: Ultimate Red Velvet Cake Cheesecake. If you know me, I love red velvet anything. I have ordered this is Portland and Chicago. I didn't order it in Novi because I wanted to try something new.

On Saturday afternoon, we crossed the Ohio border to attend the Fulton County Fair. I attended this fair as a youngster with my family every year. The last year I attended the Fulton County Fair was 1998. It was only a few weeks after my Dad passed away and my whole family went. It was nice to attend again after such a long time away. Even though I did participate in the Lenawee County Fair for years showing hogs and displaying art, I really enjoy this fair. The fairgrounds has two show barns, two show rings for horses: open air and roofed arena, many food vendors and the fairgrounds are large. I was disappointed that I couldn't pet the hogs in the barn. The barn was closed because the 4-H kids were participating in the hog judging show. We watched one of the Heavy Weight market hog shows. I picked the hog I thought should win and the judge picked the same one. I do miss being around hogs every day. Before leaving, we did walk through the arts building. Not many submissions, but the quality was good. I asked a volunteer if someone outside of Fulton County could submit work. I was told I could. I think I may do so next year.

We drove to Toledo after leaving the fair. We looked at furniture at a few different places. Our main focus was couches, reclines and dinner tables. Not too many selections caught our eye, but at least we did decide what we both wanted. The next stop was to the mall, as always. My husband bought some clothes and I bought a magazine at the bookstore across the street. The night ended with dinner at Famous Dave's, as always. 

Such a great weekend. Summer is the best time of the year.