When the mouse is away, the cats will play- part 1/2

I remember the first time Emery flew on his own. We walked him to the gate, gave him upwards of 90 somewhat nervous hugs and then watched him walk down the jetway until he was out of sight. At which time, I burst into tears. I remember there was a nice young man in a cast waiting to pre-board and he said, "oh wow, mom, you're like, legit crying."

Well, as time has passed, the crying has stopped, the nervousness has declined a touch and the excitement... has grown. This is the week that Jon and I get to just be Jon and Jeanine, husband and wife, not mom and dad. We have date night every night and we reconnect. With food. And beer. Oh yeah- and with each other!

This year, I was at work when Emery left. 4 hours and 20 minutes later:


And so our week begins. :)

Friday - Stockyards Brewing Co. tap takeover at The Lone Elm Taproom
  • Stockyards is great. Highly recommend going to the brewery. Although a nearby tap takeover at one of our favorite spots is super convenient, the brewery has a very cool vibe, lots of history there. 
  • Because Lone Elm is great for local brews, we also got to try a couple great beers from Torn Label, another favorite of mine. 
  • Bathrooms, clean. Food- fish and chips and chips and salsa, both delicious. 
Saturday - Happy-Half-Birthday (mine) celebration at Martin City Brewing Company-Pizza and Taproom
  • This place is, just... yes. A fav. 
  • The beer is delicious. One of the best IPAs in town, Hardway, NOT on tap this week because they "just can't keep up with demand." When you see it out, grab it. It's one of KC's favorite IPAs. Try the others too- they have really good beer. 
  • The pizza, is also quite delicious. DO NOT miss out on the red chili oil. It's all around on every single table. We took our pizza home and when the bartender asked if we needed any parmesan or peppers I said, "let me tell ya what we do need..." Before I finished asking, he smiled and knew. If you like spicy, don't miss it, it's delicious. We now soak our crust in it like prime rib in au jus. 
  • Bathrooms here are usually in pretty good shape. They are the unisex kind where you just go into a little room and then wash your hands in a community space. I like my own little room when I pee in public, so I appreciate these bathrooms. 
Sunday - Brunch at Gaslight Grill
  • Wasn't sure what brunch would have to offer a girl who's mostly vegan. No eggs, bacon, sausage or carving station for this girl, so, is brunch worth it? Well, this one is. Hummus, grilled veggies, cocktail shrimp, assorted breakfast breads, mashed potatoes, breakfast potatoes, delectable desserts, the most fluffiest yummy biscuits and oh so delicious sausage gravy. Wait, what? This is one of those items I pause being vegan for. Totally worth it. You know I love sausage! (and if you don't... see "Cue the 'que" from February 2nd.)
  • They set this up in the back room (the jazz room) all vegas-style and I really enjoyed that. 
  • They have decent drink specials- $4 mimosas and bellinis, $5.50 bloody's. 
Monday - Happy-Half-Birthday celebration at RA Sushi
  • You haven't loved your half birthday this much since you were 7 years old. Join the rewards program. They essentially send you a $20 GC for your "half birthday." You can't use it on other specials, so it's a fun way to go try some crazy fancy special roll that you might not order otherwise. 
  • They have great happy hour drink and food specials. 
  • The bathroom was a little messy this day. Nothing gross, just paper towels and stuff on the floor. I hope they don't screw up their cool vibe by allowing a messy bathroom to be a thing. 
  • **Special stop on the way home** - back to Martin City for the MCB Forgotten Farmhouse Ale. It's good. It's not Tank 7. It's more Belgian Saison-ish and a bit more carbonated. I like it. Got a 6pk to take home. 
  • We've only been to Garozzo's one other time. It was good, but the thing that really made an impression on us? The Sicilian Garlic Dip. We made a pact that we would come back some time and just get that and a glass of wine. So we did. 
  • It is like liquid garlic crack. 
  • The only thing that could mess it up would be being served with icky bread. Don't worry, it's not. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Love Letter

Image
Through many of the most important times of my life, one name stands out above all... a name I knew I could always count on... the great love of my life... Benny. Or actually, it's called Benny's. Benny's Restaurant & Tequila Bar to be specific. (Don't worry, Jon knows.) I'm not sure words can describe my love for this place, but let's give it a whirl, shall we?!? Benny's was there during some of the most impactful moments and times in my life. After moving to Denver, Benny's was the first place that I researched, sought out and brought friends to on my own, instead of being along for the ride to places others were choosing. Jon and I had our first date there. Benny's was the backdrop of many nights during the time we were falling in love. Benny's is where we were when we decided we would officially be an "us." We went there for our anniversary every year we lived in Denver. We conceived our child after a night out at Benny...
Read more

Through the Lens of a Midlife Crisis

When I first started this blog, I'll admit I had this thought that Jon and I were going to be some sort of famous restaurant bloggers. At the time we had so many conversations with people about the places we went and the food and drinks we liked. We had been to almost all the breweries in town and knew about all the ones coming. We were always looking up favorite local spots and breweries in every town we ever traveled through and found ourselves giving recommendations to hit up cool spots in places like Lusk, Wyoming ( The Pizza Place ) and Leeds, Alabama ( Rusty's Bar-B-Q ). And to be honest, the blogging thing was actually going pretty good and I was having a LOT of fun writing about stuff we found interesting. There were a few things I didn't expect though. One important thing - if you are not already a famous food blogger, but only aspire to be, no one is funding your aspiring blogging career. Small wrinkle.  Secondly - you should probably up your exercise game because...
Read more

The time has come

For a long time, I have been trying to convince Jon that we should write a blog. Mostly the conversation has always ended up with no. Why? There are so many blogs out there. Who in the world would care what we have to say. Well. Tonight I have finally been pushed to Yes. We're doing this. I don't care if no one ends up reading this- we are doing this. Because if nothing else, it will be cathartic to say the things we have to say and fling them out into Internet World, instead of keeping it to ourselves. Jon and I (mostly Jon) have worked and lived in the world of restaurants for many years. We have seen it, done it, experienced it all. Or so it feels. Jon's last job required him to frequently scope out the competition, and that's really where the fun began. We would pop into restaurants and bars at least once, and sometimes several times, a week. We scrutinized atmosphere, employees, food, happy hour specials, bathrooms, all of it. With more than half his life now spe...
Read more