rant/rave: animals + sweaters = love.

no really, i love the idea of a sweater with an animal on it. and you know, this sort of thing does come up in conversation, with ashley of course. 

Just take note of some of our g-chat convo from yesterday:

Ashley: there's a sweater with sheep on it! i haven't bought a sweater in like 10 years, alex. they are always so pricey.

Alex: hahaha. i so want a sweater with an animal on it. really. i do

Ashley: they have 2 sheep ones. and jcrew has a bunch with hens

Alex: i like the second one more, it needs to be pretty ridiculous

Ashley: i like the first one! i wish they were goats. i fucking love goats.

Alex: it's too cute. i still really like that deer one. or do you want a bunny

Ashley: last year, i was obsessed with one with hedgehogs from urban but once it went on sale, i could only find a small. and it was SMALL

Alex: of course, urban

Ashley: i do like a fox.

Alex: did you see the horse sleeve? hilarious?

Ashley: the worst. i hate horses on shirts. i don't know why. i also don't like one-sleeved shirts.

Alex: how can you feel so strongly about a particular animal on a sweater?

Ashley: therefore, the worst shirt ever has one sleeve and a horse.

Alex: perfect logic

Ashley: there's something about them. it's not just horse sweaters i don't like, but also t--shirts with horses. and i like horses.

What? You don't have strong feelings on horse shirts or animal sweaters in general? Ridiculous.

xoxo

science of beer

The Museum of Life and Science in Durham hosted an after-hours event on the Science of Beer. So of course we (Ashley, Jonathan, and I) went.

There were food trucks outside but we were ready to head in for some beer...I mean science.

Once inside, it was pretty busy and we were surrounded by beer. And yes I mean beer. It was really an awesome beer tasting with some science to entertain along the way.  

Jonathan getting riled up about something:

Basically, you walk around, stop at a booth have some beer, do a little talking, and maybe learn a little science. But there was something about this event that made it even better:

THE CRAFTING STATIONS

Yes people.  The wise founders of this event incorporated some beer-related crafting booths to take a break and enjoy coozie-decorating or coaster making.  A wonderful idea that provided me with a good deal of excitement   However, they were out of coozies by the time we made our way over to that area, so that was a little disappointing.  They must have underestimated the inner crafter of beer drinkers. 

Anywho, there was also a Cabot cheese booth, which was a much needed and a delicious food element to this walk around:

Do you see how much cheese she is rocking?

The dill one was my favorite, and now I can't find it anywhere. 

Major life problems.

After drinking so very much beer, we headed over to bull city burger for some food and water.  

Yes, the water comes in mason jars, adorable but almost the norm now, and no, the burgers were not that spectacular.  They were not bad, they were in fact good.  But not great, and the fries were fine, as was the pickled platter.  Overall it was overpriced decent food.  I wouldn't go back.

To recap: yeah to Museum of Life and Science for putting on such a spectacular event, just bring more coozies next time!

xoxo

first soup of fall

It has finally started to cool down in the last week or so, and that mixed with the stormy weather created the timing for the first soup of fall.

Just a potato veggie soup, but oh so delicious:

A red onion, two stalks of celery, and one big potato, chopped and sauteed in that order, along with some olive oil, salt, pepper, cayenne, garlic powder, onion powder, and celery salt. 

Then a carton of vegetable broth and a boil, and then let simmer until potatoes are tender.

Then my favorite kitchen tool, the immersion blender does it's thing,

Finish off with more of the same seasoning to taste, top with some parmesan, and ta-da:

Makes four servings.

xoxo

lake break

So this past weekend Jonathan and I headed to Arkansas to visit my Grandparents at the lake.  

It's a long drive, about 14-15 hours depending on traffic and weather but we made good time on Friday and of course stopped at Sonic for lunch, my fav.

The weekend was of course filled with food, visiting, and walks around the lake.

There are actually no pictures of food, it was a tech-detached weekend but here is an approximate list: 

biscuits and gravy, jams and jellies

eggs, and bacon

white beans

fried okra

homemade sourdough cornbread

coconut pudding

vegetable soup

fried fish

potato salad

deviled eggs

purple hull peas

tomatoes, peppers, pickles and relish

brownies

I know. Jonathan was a bit overwhelmed by the amount of food he was expected to eat. 

But he survived.

There are some pictures from around the lake,

Some crazy skeleton: 

Cloudy day on the lake:

Birds in the trees:

And, the neighbor's mailbox:

It was a very wonderful weekend. A little cloudy and rainy, but a lovely time with Mema and Papa.

Ready to go back in November.

xoxo

jake-attack

jake came to visit a couple of weekends ago. He got in late thursday night and then we were off to a solid weekend of fun and eating. 

On friday we took CH by storm and headed to Breadman's for lunch and then met up with the kids for some chill time at Sutton's and then froyo of course.  We did a driving tour of campus and then had dinner with Jonathan, Megan, and Mike at Buns! Later that night we had a night of Cards Against Humanity at the Standard, of course.

Saturday was a Raleigh day.  We started with biscuits from Sunrise and then headed east and grabbed Cook Out for lunch, a first for both Jake and I. 

Cook Out is ridiculous.  I'm not sure if in a good way though.  For a five dollar combo you get a sandwich (burger, chicken sandwich, bbq, etc.) and two sides.  But what can you get for sides? Well many things, including chicken nuggets or a corn dog! They are not even pretending to get  you a vegetable. Really, look at the menu and be disturbed, a little grossed out, and entirely intrigued. 

After gorging ourselves we headed to Big Boss to meet up with Ross, Yuna, and Kelly and enjoy the Brewery tour, which was less of a tour and more of a source for cheap beer (I'm not complaining).  Cool fact, the brewmaster that gave us our tour is the same guy that created Abita Purple Haze! NBD.  He also loves the Razorbacks, check plus. 

Yes, Yuna is Razorback red in this picture:

 

The crates were made in Canada! (just like Yuna)

After spending a few hours in the tap room we went to Beasley's for dinner, where for some reason they gave us twice as many waters as we needed.  Maybe they knew we needed hydration...

Delicious veggie plates for Jonathan and I:

We finished up the day around some bars and food trucks.

Sunday began with Crepes in Carrboro, and then an afternoon in Durham. 

Followed up with lunch at Vespa, and a pilgrimage to Southern Season. We then had a chill night before Jake left early Monday morning. 

It was a lovely visit. It's clearly time for Jake to move here.

Just saying.

xoxo

reading list

jonathan and i were at the lake this weekend visiting with my grandparents. It was a wonderful break from technology (though I did have my cell phone my computer was off for four days!).  Now I'm back and catching up.  More to come on the weekend, and the food of course, but for now some articles i'm reading:

a. because everyone is (and should be) talking about romney.

b. because i still want to be an archaeologist.

c. because it's what i study: martha's philanthropy and the big players

d. and one for the facts people!

food and crafts to come soon.

xoxo

carolina with the sister

Casi came down to NC for a lovely long weekend.  We had a fabulous time of course, filled with too much booze and food, but that's just what we know how to do...

Jonathan and I picked her up from the airport.  

I was concerned immediately when I noticed they had the same sunglasses. Later their connection would grow stronger, and they would team up to pick on me. 

Ridiculous.   

We then went to gorge ourselves on Indian food, followed by a trip to the Big Boss Brewery for many drinks. 

Later that night, I took Casi to Southern Season, for the first visit.  

She was quite pleased to say the least.

We finished out the day with more drinking (of course) with some of the lovely policy peeps. 

Saturday was a big day in Durham for us.  We had a biscuit from Sunrise, and Casi was in heaven.  We then grabbed Ashley and experienced Gouge Wrestling (see earlier post). 

After that epic morning we headed to Nana Tacos for a feast. When I saw this board I knew what I was getting: Mexican Chocolate Milkshake, Spicy. 

And a bunch of salsa to go with my tacos: 

We finished off Saturday with dinner at the Standard and then a round of Cards Against Humanity. 

The best. 

Sunday, we almost died.  How you asked? Overconsumption of biscuit. 

No, I'm serious.  We went to Weathervane, the restaurant of Southern Season, and had a proper breakfast with a side of biscuit.  

 But this biscuit was the size of my face, literally:

We chilled out for most of Sunday before waddling over to Maple View Farms for some ice cream, and corgi play time!

And then headed to Raleigh for some drinks at Foundation and Landmark, where we saw a strange group of people, which included this man: a man who brings his own pineapple to a bar...

Monday, we wrapped up the trip with biscuit #3 and lunch at the Pit. I then put her on a plane back to NYC with a belly full enough to get her through the winter.

xoxo

step 1: admit

I have a new obsession. And it's kind of a strange one: local pro-wrestling. 

I know, it sounds bizarre and very unlike me, but it's really awesome. I promise. 

Let me explain, GOUGE Wrestling is Raleigh's pro wrestling league.

Is league even the right word? I have no idea. It doesn't matter, because it's awesome.  

It's completely crazy but there are characters and they fight in the way that pro wrestlers do... and they do it all in a beer and kid friendly way, (separate items of course) showcasing the longstanding battle  between good and evil. 

I'm perfectly serious right now people. I love it. 

It 's so entertaining, you get all riled up and cheer for the good guys. 

So, when sister Casi came to town, we, along with ashley, headed out to a show in Durham. 

It was epic:

There were many 'fights', most were male ones:

but we also got a few ones with Luchadores, the ladies in masks: 

And then we had the main event, a two-on-two, good guys versus bad epic battle:

After the bad guys cheated to win, the luchadores and dj came on to punish them, and yet again, the good guys came out ahead!

And yes, post wrestling the kids get to come run around:

you know you love it.

right?

xoxo

bad influence

You know how everyone gets together and plays apples-to-apples as adults, but tries to make it inappropriate/funny, well some wise folks got together and just made a grown-up version, a very very inappropriate version: Cards Against Humanity.

It looks harmless I know, but it's not.  I warn you, this game is not for all audiences, not even for most adults to be honest.  

Needless to say my sister and I are completely obsessed with it and laugh until we cry when we play. Because really, what are you supposed to do when you see this:

I highly recommend it for a mature-audience game night, but I warn you, you may want to remove a few cards from the deck before you start depending on your level of sensitivity...

xoxo

blueberry please

well, this is going to be one of those posts that starts with "so i saw this on pinterest"

And the "this" would be yogurt covered blueberries, a lovely summer snack. 

I was inspired by this pretty simple snack so i added some almond and vanilla extracts, honey, and a bit of sugar to my plain low-fat yogurt.

Rinsed some delicious blueberries and mixed them into the yogurt bowl

And then was a bit more lazy compared to the inspiration shot: with wax paper on a cookie sheet, i dolloped out some blueberries instead of doing individual ones...

Stuck them in the freezer for a few hours and then moved them to a bag and back to the freezer for a cool down snack.

pretty tasty, fyi.

xoxo

rodeo time

Food truck that is.  megan, mike, and i headed down to the first chapel hill food truck rodeo on thursday. oh yes, we've had them for a while in carrboro and durham but the CH is now realizing where the fun is: a parking lot with a dozen trucks...filled with food. 

megan and i rocked out with baguettaboutit and mike stuck with his fav, klausie's.

all winners. i think the strategy really needs to be going in with another person and hit up a bunch of trucks and share...if you can really handle parting with half of your sausage stuff baguette...your choice.

xoxo