Touring John's Office (2)

Almost every time we have a visitor, our clan makes a trip to John's office to tour give an office tour. The campus is expanding so quickly that we can never do a whole tour in one day; our interest wanes about an hour into the tour.

When our friends Ashley and Dustin came up for LE's baptism, I posted some photos of our walk around the office with them.

Steve, a family friend from Louisiana, came up for my 10,000 day surprise. It was his first time up to Wisconsin, and I think we have a convert! :) He was impressed by our city's infrastructure, the farms, the weather, the lakes, and the activities. All in one day, we strolled around the capitol building for the Art Fair on the Square; shopped the farmer's market; ate at my favorite lunch locale, Graze; and toured John's office.

1.) View of the cafeteria from standing outside of a conference room;  2.) Walking around the perimeter of the pond with the cafeteria on the left and the aforementioned conference room on the right;   3.) Art in the brush around the perimeter of the pond;  4.) Part of the cafeteria eating area from the upper level, looking out towards the same pond.

Mural in "Grand Central Station," next to the cafeteria where there's the General Store (snacks, toiletries, magazines, drinks) and the NY Sock Exchange (dry cleaning drop-off/pick up).

Some of the NYC themed building. I think that's my favorite one.

Treehouse conference room outside. You have to cross the slatted bridge to enter. 

Touring John's Office

Anyone who has come to visit us has taken a tour of John's office campus. It's a spectacular place full of creativity, artwork, and whimsy. Just before we headed off to Fiji, LE got baptized (more on Fiji and the baptism to come, I promise). Her Godmother, Ashley, and Ashley's husband, Dustin, came up from Austin for the baptism. Oh how I loved having friends come visit!

Here's a *glimpse* of where John works {when he's not traveling}. There's so much more there that wasn't captured; who has time or energy for a 3 hour tour?

In case it's not obvious, Ashley is imitating the penguin.

LE was sick but still well-behaved. 

One reason I love Madison

Photo is from the Graze website

For some reason, on Saturday, I got a craving for a good hamburger. Maybe it was because we were having chicken again. For the fourth day in a row. Maybe.

So, Sunday we went after church to a place we hadn't been to before but was sure to be good: Graze. It's the pub owned by the same people that own the fancy schmancy restaurant that John and I went to on our first date in Madison years ago. Its concept is hands down one of the top reasons I like Madison.

And I quote from their website:

We chose the name Graze because grass-fed animals and rotational grazing are important to us... The food we serve is literally inspired. It is inspired by the people who grew it and this land where it was grown. It is inspired by the wonderful meals that we have eaten in locales near and far, quaint and exotic. It is inspired by our love of people gathering over food and drink to spend some time together.

Graze is one of the many Madison restaurants that buys their food from local farmers. You will see the executive chef on Sundays at the farmers' market hand-picking his produce from the tables and filling his wagon with food for the week. He can tell you which farm each and every item in the kitchen came from. {You may or may not have seen him and his wife in your birthing class one weekend in 2010 like we did.}

You really can't beat that.

Like I said, there are a good number of Madison restaurants that follow the "eat local" mantra, but what made John and me leave Graze on Sunday and say to each other, "That was good," is what happened not only on our plate and in our bellies but rather what happened outside of it.

The atmosphere was casual. Open. Airy. Welcoming. Un-snooty. We felt like the staff was happy we were there and not just because LE was cute as a button.

We were seated next to another table with young kids. As LE munched on her goldfish at our table, I overheard the little girl at the table next to us place her order to the waiter. Not able to hear her squeak voice, the waiter squatted down and asked her to repeat. She wanted to order goldfish like LE had.

I leaned over and poured about 15 of LE's goldfish on their table, and they all thanked us for them. It wasn't just goldfish that I was sharing-- it was toddler meltdown prevention.

When our check arrived, our waiter let us know that our beignets were comped due to our kind deed of sharing a few goldfish. The $4 they picked up didn't set Graze back much, but it did give them a big boost in the now-that's-how-you-show-customer-appreciation category.

Even before they did that, we were planning on going back. We liked the atmosphere, that there were families there, and that John had a hard time picking out what to eat. All of those are good signs in our book.