Asheville (Take #2)

As some of you might remember, Mr. Handsome and I took a delightful, romantic trip to Asheville, NC in March of 2014. Unfortunately, both of us caught the stomach flu and spent a majority of the trip with our heads in the toilet. As you can image, we were a little nervous to drive down there again last month for the wedding of my friends - Monica & Ryan.

I'm happy to announce that this time around... we did NOT catch the stomach flu! We drove down to Asheville on Friday and got there in time to have some delicious food, (best fish tacos EVER), and beers at Highland Brewing. We stayed in quite a sketchy place (run-down motel) in the heart of the city where the bride OH so kindly told us afterward that "all of the hookers stay." Obviously, we will not be staying there again.

 

 

 

 

On Saturday we spent the morning strolling around downtown, looking in cute local shops & walking through various fairs and festivals. The wedding was at 2:00pm on the rooftop of a building downtown that overlooked the Blue Ridge mountains (cue the string quartet). Right afterward we headed to a hipster bar called "Sovereign Remedies" to get our pregame on before the reception. At the reception we ate SUPER fantastic food including oodles of pies, roasted harvest vegetables & gouda mac'n'cheese. NOM!

The best part of the weekend was seeing some of my old Camp Thunderbird friends that I hadn't seen in 10 years. It really felt like we hadn't spent anytime apart, true friendship! It was fun not being sixteen years-old anymore and being able to drink together (legally). "T-H-U-N-D-E-R-B-I-R-D... Thunderbird, Thunderbird it's where I want to be, HEY!"... The second best part of the weekend was finding out that the bride and groom were adopting their own, original last name, "Le Blanc." I will happily refer to them as the wizard couple from now on... Monica and Ryan The White! (A little LOTR humor for you folks)...

Congrats to the bride and groom!

Hans Franz Oktoberfest!

Happy October, loyal readers! I've been incredibly busy lately celebrating the BEST SEASON EVER (aka - FALL) with some fun festivals, trips and races. Here's a quick rundown of my FALL-tastic adventures...

In the last two weeks I've gotten to fly to both Dallas and Chicago for work trips. In Dallas we checked out some AWESOME restaurant concepts and were treated to a lovely evening amenity at our hotel - a sampler platter of local nibbles including cheese, nuts crackers, jerky & chocolate.

We flew to Chicago to hold a photo shoot for our next food promotion launching in January 2015 - SOUP! In between shots, we checked out some amazing local restaurants and speakeasies equipped with classic cocktails & jazz musicians. It was like time traveling to the 1920's!

Last weekend I made time to Metro over to Union Market for the Crafty Bastards Arts & Crafts Festival. Hundreds of local artists came to sell their beautiful handmade goods. I ended up buying some cute new magnets and greeting cards.

In true fall fashion, Mr. Handsome and I found a local Oktoberfest celebration at Mad Fox Brewing in Falls Church. We paid $20 each to get into the festival and fill these adorable little glasses time & time again with tasty IPAs and Oktoberfest brews. PROST!

Last but certainly not least... I woke up at 4:30am this morning to drive my butt over to Mount Vernon for the Woodrow Wilson Bridge Half Marathon. My goal was to finish the race in under 2 hours. I absolutely CRUSHED that goal and finished in 1 hour, 51 minutes, 59 seconds. New PR!

Happy October!!

Happy September!

Fall has officially arrived here in the DC area! Temperatures are dropping, pumpkins are adorning storefronts and festivals are popping up everywhere. Fall is definitely my favorite season - It means my birthday and all the major holidays are just around the corner.

Friday night I had happy hour at a new restaurant in the city called GCDC (Grilled Cheese DC). It was an upscale bar with classic cocktails and craft beers with a menu featuring nothing but grilled cheese, mac & cheese & cheese boards. It was DELICIOUS!

Last weekend I drove up to Middletown, CT for my cousin Jimmy's wedding. It was a LIVELY family affair with lots of dancing, booze, bagels and small-town fun. Because we stayed in a hotel managed by my company, Mr. Handsome and I had a special amenity waiting in our room when we arrived...

Yesterday I went to the Wiener 500, an annual dachshund race at the Ronald Reagan building. There were HUNDREDS of dachshund puppies who all lined up to race for the championship bone. There was also a costume contest and a trick contest for all the dogs. (I was in heaven!)

Happy Fall, Everyone!

Studs, Glorious Studs!

Happy Labor Day, loyal readers! I hope you have fun plans for this weekend. I'm spending my time relaxing at home, visiting with friends, gorging on Caramel Apple cupcakes and Middle Eastern food, etc.

One fashion trend that I've been getting into lately is adorning beautiful stud earrings.The more color and sparkle, the better! Here are some cute examples I found on Etsy of simple, sparkly, fun stud earrings...

Pumpkin, Cheese, & Hot Pockets!

Here's a fun list of some stellar adventures I partook in this past week...

1) I went to Total Wine and spent over $50.00 buying PUMPKIN BEER. My favorite season is almost here, and one can never have enough pumpkin-flavored delicacies. NOM NOM PUMPKIN!

2) Mr. Handsome and I went to a cute little cheese & wine shop in Shirlington called Cheesetique. The wine & beer hit the spot, and the cheese was quite scrumptious. Their menu boasts lovely cheese plates, grilled cheese sandwiches, mac and cheese, cheese shampoo, etc. (FYI- That last one was a lie. They don't sell cheese shampoo)

3) I saw "Boyhood"- a cute indie film about a boy and his hood. The producer filmed the same actors over a 12 year period to show the progression of their lives and screen family. Such a neat concept!

4) I went to Wolf Trap on Saturday night to see JIM GAFFIGAN perform live! It was Mr. Handsome's 28th birthday present from yours truly. We had a romantic picnic, (fully stocked with pumpkin beers), and then laughed our faces off while Jim talked about seafood, steak, and hot pockets.

That's all for now, loyal readers! Keep it classy.

Dewey Beach to The Emerald City!

This past week has been a fabulous vacation sensation! On Sunday and Monday I drove up to Dewey Beach, DE to have some beach time with my dad's family for a Leister-palooza. It was fun and relaxing laying on the beach, eating lots of Mexican food and drinking delicious margaritas :)

On Tuesday morning Mr. Handsome and I woke up super early to catch a flight to Seattle, WA. We spent Tuesday through Saturday frolicking through The Emerald City & embarking on many exciting adventures. During our trip we...

-Visited 3 breweries & 4 wineries
-Encountered a giant bridge troll in Fremont
-Took a ferry to Bainbridge Island
-Shopped Pike's Place Market (TWICE)
-Hiked around Point Defiance and Owen's Beach in Tacoma
-Made some underwater friends at Seattle's Aquarium
-Visited the Space Needle & Chihuli Sculpture Garden
-Took an Underground Tour of Seattle's historic Pioneer Square

PHEW! What a trip. I think we might need a vacation from our vacation. I promised Mr. Handsome we could take a "relaxing" vacation next year. (Maybe Hawaii? I'd love to learn the luau!) Tomorrow it's back to the grind and back to reality, (sigh). Until next time!