How to Run Away From Home**

1. Make a plan

Remember a few weeks ago when I told you we were giving up restaurants for Lent? And I added the caveat of restaurants in Columbus? Here's why.

So there we were on Ash Gwensday Eve, eating our "last supper," so to speak, at Buffalo Wild Wings. I was lamenting that a year ago we were going to Jamaica and I wished we had done that again this year. Aaron said "let's go somewhere now." Jamaica was a wee bit too expensive for a last minute trip, but we found relatively cheap flights to New Orleans, which happens to be our favorite city to visit.

2. Leave

That was Tuesday. On Gwensday we double checked that we could actually do this. Then we booked our flights and hotel, and made sure the cats wouldn't starve in our absence. And on Thursday we were on our way! Columbus friends, check out Allegiant Air. They fly out of Rickenbacker and have direct flights to NOLA. Be warned, you pay for everything: checked bags, carry on bags, refreshments, having your boarding pass printed by them... But if you know that going in and you're prepared, it's totally doable.

3. Have a blast!

We stayed at the Royal Sonesta, which is right on Bourbon Street. That's not something we would normally do, but this was immediately after Mardi Gras so it wasn't super crazy. We got a room with a balcony on a side street and never had any noise issues (of course we also live in the city so we're used to some noise).

Selfie on our balcony

Famished, we went to the Napoleon House. They have muffalettas on the menu, which are a must-have for Aaron and he was not disappointed. I had a meatball sandwich, which I know sounds weird but I was super hungry and nothing else spoke to me. I actually was disappointed with my sandwich but that was the last time I didn't like anything I ate.

We stumbled upon a hole-in-the-wall bar called the Copper Monkey where we talked to a local for quite a long time. He was displaced by Katrina (and actually suffered through the Superdome debacle) and lived in Pittsburgh for a couple years, so we had things to talk about there, and while he liked Pittsburgh, he was homesick and moved back.

Recently we've noticed that while on vacation, we tend to get up early and thus, we're not exactly night owls. #middleagedeasterntimezone

Friday we had the requisite biegnets for breakfast (not at Café du Monde this time but at Café Biegnet, where we should have split an order. Then we were off to the New Orleans School of Cooking for a cooking class. We considered a hands-on class but that would have been $250 and the demonstration class was only $65, which includes the meal and beer. We met a cool couple from Calgary and had fun talking to them. On the menu: shrimp and artichoke bisque; crawfish étouffée; bread pudding with rum sauce; and pralines. And beer. We did a class like this way back in 1992 and our instructor this time wasn't as entertaining as that one, but we had a good time and ate great food.

Aaron playing Vanna White at the cooking class

Then we did some bar hopping and met even more interesting people, including a farmer from the UK who was in the midst of a three month US tour. Then we walked by Maison Bourbon and Aaron was in heaven. There was a five piece jazz band playing so we sat at the bar and probably stayed for four sets (and would have stayed longer if hunger hadn't set in). I think Aaron talked to four of the five band members and we were really struck by the trombone player who looked remarkably like Aaron's grandfather (who also played trombone).

Dinner was at Mr. Ed's Oyster Bar and Fish House. We had barbecued shrimp as an appetizer, which is one of those dishes that everyone has a different interpretation. This one was amazeballs. Aaron ate fried catfish with a side of jambalaya and I had a combo of jambalaya, shrimp Creole and crawfish etoufée. We really enjoyed this dinner, although our jambalaya was cold.

Saturday we decided to get some culture and exercise, so we walked to the New Orleans Museum of Art. Along the way we ate breakfast at Lil' Dizzy's Cafe. Freakin' awesome. We both had catfish (Aaron's was grilled, mine was fried), eggs (Aaron's scrambled, mine over easy) and then Aaron had grits and I had home fries (I can't do grits unless they're really doctored up). They also had a buffet, which I would have done but I knew I'd overeat.

Scenes from our walk to the museum.

What we really didn't think through was the fact that we'd have to walk three miles TO the museum and then walk AROUND the museum. But we did it and enjoyed it. The woman at the desk said she knew we were "foreigners" because we had short sleeves and no coats. It was in the 60s. Luckily, there was a street car right there that would take us to the edge of the French Quarter.

Then we did some shopping and bar hopping and eventually went to Pat O'Brien's for hurricanes, just because we had to. I've learned my lesson the hard way and only had ONE hurricane (that's a story for another time). We ate dinner at the Gumbo Shop and had a courtyard table, which was lovely.

Sunday we had reservations at The Court of Two Sisters, which is one of our favorite places for brunch. They have live jazz both inside and outside (we sat in the courtyard as this was the best weather day) and a wonderful brunch buffet. This is where I took my favorite picture of the weekend:

We checked out of the hotel, but our flight wasn't until late afternoon so we did some more shopping and finally ended up at The Boondock Saint, which is pretty much a locals bar and doesn't even appear to have a website. We met some of the best people here and had a great time talking to locals and the bartender. It was sunny and 80 degrees and yes, we were inside, but the door and windows were wide open. We talked to a guy who has lived there for 20 years. We've been to NOLA five times (you might call us "five timers") and he told us that the sixth time we have to move there. We met another guy who lives there about five months of the year and he showed us a photo album of pictures he took in the Ninth Ward after Katrina. Devastating. Then there was the couple from Slidell, about our age, whose high school aged daughter was doing a project in the Quarter so they were hanging out at the bar. So much fun! Naturally the last day was the best day and we didn't mind at all when we received a text that our flight was delayed an hour.

I talked a lot about food, but saved the pictures for the end:

1. Brunch and bloody Marys at Court of Two Sisters
2. Peel and eat crawfish and Abita beer
3. Breakfast at Lil' Dizzy's
4. Hurricanes to go
5. Biegnets and coffee

We're so fortunate to be in a situation in which we could just take off with no notice!

**Note that we love home, so we weren't really running away from home, but running away from responsibilities and frigid temps and snow.

All about that beer

I've laid a lot of heavy stuff on y'all lately, so how about something fun? Last week I was in Portland, Oregon for a software user conference. Sounds boring, right? Wrong. Don't forget that I work for a brewery. This is brewery-specific software, so when we broke for lunch, in addition to coffee, water and iced tea, there was beer. And for me, at least, the conference was super useful. AND, we had a good amount of free time, which I'll focus on now.

I traveled with my coworker Beth and neither of us had ever been to Portland. We arrived Tuesday afternoon and the conference started Wednesday. We stayed at Hotel Monaco, which I can't recommend enough. It's unique, the staff is lovely, it's dog-friendly, and they have a happy hour every day from 5 to 6 with free beer and wine.

Yes, that's a stuffed bear on the bed. They also had animal print bathrobes in the room.

Tuesday night we went to Deschutes Brewery. My beer of choice was the Fresh Hop Saison. For dinner I had the Steak and Blue Cheese Caesar Salad, which was good but was nothing compared to the Paprika Fries (which don't show up on the online menu). Um, amazing. Fries with smoked paprika, a garlic rosemary aioli and manchego cheese. We debated between those and the Curry Fries, which I bet are also incredible.

Wednesday night we had a conference welcome reception at Henry's Tavern. This place is huge and we had an area all to ourselves with free beer (they have over 100 taps - I had Full Sail's Amber Ale) and a buffet dinner. Afterward we went to Fathead's, which is a Cleveland brewery that just opened a Portland location two weeks ago. I had the Sunshine Daydream Session IPA (you'll notice that I don't drink dark beers; I like the flavor but it's just a little too much for me).

Thursday evening Beth and I went to dinner at Jake's Famous Crawfish, which has been around more than 110 years and is now part of the McCormick and Schmick's family. We shared the Dungeness Crab and Bay Shrimp Cakes as an appetizer (fantastic) and for my entree I had Horseradish Crusted Pacific Salmon, which was OMG-amahzing. No beer for me at this dinner; I drank wine.

Friday - our conference ended at 11:30 and we weren't leaving town until Saturday so off we went for food and beer! First stop: Lardo's for lunch. We loved this place and it would be dangerous for my waistline if I had one close to me. I mean, they have salads on the menu but if I'm eating here I'm not getting a damn salad. I had the current Chefwich, which you can see below and it was delicious, as were the Lardo Fries, with herbs and parmesan. I had a couple different drinks, including Rev. Nat's Hallelujah Hopricot Cider (forget any preconceived notions you might have about cider; this isn't grossly sweet and the apricot flavor is very subtle). I also had Arch Rock's Gold Beach Lager, which won a gold medal at the Great American Beer Festival in October (oh by the way, our brewery also won 2 medals - a gold and a bronze).

After wandering around the Pearl District, visiting an art gallery and grabbing some coffee at Stumptown, we rode a bus across the river to Cascade Brewing Barrel House. Cascade specializes in sour beers, which I first enjoyed in Denver last April and I have now confirmed how much I love sour beer. We did a flight of tasters and our bartender was so friendly and helpful, giving us suggestions on which order to taste the beers, then we tried the Glueh Kriek, a hot spiced mulled sour cherry ale (which sounds strange but was kind of the best thing ever. We could have stayed there all evening but wanted to spread out our patronage. In another example of how fantastic the staff at Cascade are, they recommended some other breweries to try.

We walked to The Commons Brewery, which is kind of hard to find in the dark, but so worth it. It's a tasting room - no food or even seating to speak of, but they have eight taps and it's some damn good beer. I had the Aji Citron Reserve, which isn't on their online beer list, but it's a Saison beer with citrus and chilis so it's got a kick. I loved it. Also, I left my purse in the restroom and someone brought it and made sure I got it back. Seriously, Portland in general is so polite and friendly!

1. Glueh Kriek at Cascade
2. The tasting room at The Commons
3. The Commons' tap lineup
4. Flight of sours at Cascade

Then I got to have a reunion dinner with my college friend Michelle who lives in Portland. She's my sorority sister (Gamma Phi Beta) and fellow choir nerd and we hadn't seen each other since college. We had a lovely dinner at Paley's Place and tried to catch up 20-odd years in 3 hours.

Saturday our flight didn't leave until after 1:00 so we went to breakfast at Fuller's Coffee Shop, which is a diner in every way, and paid a visit to Powell's Books - a perfect end to our stay.

I can't wait to go back to Portland and explore even more of the area!

Guess who's back? Tell a friend.

I took last week off from ye olde blog. I was in Denver for the Craft Brewers Conference (for those who don't know, I work for the Columbus Brewing Company, a microbrewery). I went with three coworkers, plus another friend who happens to be in the industry. We had three days of seminars, meetings, and trade show browsing, and four nights free for eating and drinking.

How many trade shows have beer stations at which you can sample beer all the live long day?

Restaurants/bars that I was able to enjoy included:

• Yard House - huge beer list, yummy food; I had tacos which were fantastic and not just because I was super hungry
• Lucky Pie Pizza and Taphouse, where I discovered a love of sour beer and sampled Bacon Peanut Brittle and beer battered cheese curds as well as pizza, of course
• Falling Rock Taphouse (twice) 
• The Cruise Room at the Oxford Hotel, where they use fresh-squeezed juice for their cocktails, resulting in the best Greyhound I've ever had
• Illegal Pete's, which is like Chipotle in a dive bar setting. I like the flavors of Chipotle better, but Pete's takes that extra step of mixing up your burrito's ingredients before wrapping it.
• Little India - I got takeout from here one night when I decided not to go out and party. While waiting for my food I drank a stellar Moscow Mule. The food was also excellent.
• Euclid Hall, where the food was so good I can't even describe it. I had mussels for my entree, which were good but the side of fries with bacon aioli? Sweet Jesus, my mouth is watering just writing about it. We also shared appetizers including Shrimp and Grits Fritters, Carnitas Papas Fritas, and the Pickle Sampler. I could go on and on.

Note my fab flip flops, which I purchased at Walgreens for $6.99 due to blisters.

Friday night was the World Beer Cup gala. We didn't attend, but we had entered three beers. There were over 90 categories and over 2,000 total entries. We happened to be at Falling Rock, where they were showing the live stream of the awards on their TVs. Well, guess what? We won GOLD in the Imperial Red category!!

What a great way to end the trip!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Technical difficulties prevented me from posting yesterday, but it was my grandma's 96th birthday. She's currently undergoing rehab/physical therapy after having what may have been a mini-stroke, and damn if she isn't stronger than ever. Last year I wrote a post about her; you can read that here.

Since today is Haikuesday, I give you this:

She's one tough cookie

Grandma Elmo's ninety-six

Those are some strong genes

Aaaaaaand... we're back!

Just in case you've been living in a cave out of the loop, Aaron and I were in Jamaica over the weekend. This was the first time we've (successfully) taken a warm weather vacation in the winter. We left early Friday morning and I'm telling you, we weren't even off the plane in Jamaica and Aaron said "we're doing this every year."

We stayed in Montego Bay at the Riu Palace Jamaica, not to be confused with the Riu Montego Bay which is right next door. The Palace is newer -- it just opened in December -- and it's adult-only. We were welcomed with a champagne (cava) toast. Our room wasn't quite ready but we got a couple piña coladas and relaxed in the shade (we were still wearing travel clothes, which were too warm for the 80 degree weather).

The Riu Palace is all-inclusive, and I do mean ALL. Here's our room, complete with liquor dispenser:

Friday afternoon, and all day Saturday and Sunday, this is where you could find us:

If you're looking for pictures of excursions or nightlife, you won't find them. Our goal for this vacation was to do nothing. We were only gone from Friday morning to Monday night. We could have gone snorkeling or to the resort next door for nighttime entertainment or any number of things, but we didn't. Aaron did get in two runs (half-marathon training) but other than that, we were next to the pool or at the swim-up bar.

This was our first time staying at an all-inclusive resort. We had read a lot of reviews of different places and we talked to fellow vacationers about their experiences. Here are my tips and observations. When going the all-inclusive route, it helps to be flexible. If you're a picky eater or a picky drinker, this might not be for you. The Riu Palace has four theme restaurants (we ate at the Japanese and Italian ones, and there's also a steakhouse and a "fusion" restaurant) and a buffet, where you can eat breakfast, lunch and dinner. We ate breakfasts and lunches from the buffet and seriously, if you can't find something you like, you're too picky. Also, if the swim-up bar is busy, it's really not helpful to be ordering a "banana daiquiri with dark rum on the bottom and 151 on top." Really?

Some of the daily activities included sangria and paella made on the beach.
Also, beach aerobics, pool volleyball, water aerobics (I didn't do any of that).

One of the negatives I read about the Riu Palace is the proximity to the airport. It's very close, which is great in terms of the shuttle ride to and from your resort, but if you're not a fan of airplanes flying over you all day, go ahead and find a resort that's farther away. It didn't bother me at all, and if you know anything about Aaron, you know that he's a total airplane nerd, so he loved it.

Sorry for the squinty eyes!

Another complaint I read, and also heard from some people there, was the lack of nightlife. Again, we didn't care. I mean, y'all know where we live, right? We have multiple places we can walk to anytime we want. The Riu Palace has three bars, one of which is open 24 hours. At Riu Montego Bay, there's a nightclub and being a guest at the Palace gives you access to anything at Riu Montego Bay as well (which is also where you can go windsurfing, sailing, snorkeling, etc.). I also read some conflicting reviews of the staff and all I can say is that we found the staff to be wonderful: friendly, happy and helpful. I will suggest that, even though tipping is not required, take some small bills to give to your favorite bartender or anyone else who provides great service.

Our philosophy was "we can go out at night in Columbus; what we can't do is be outside in a pool/on the beach drinking and reading and relaxing." Consequently, we were early to bed and early to rise. We're definitely well-rested! And we have zero regrets and declared it one of the best vacations ever. Yesterday morning Aaron said over and over that he didn't want to leave. I kid you not, we saw no rain until the moment the shuttle arrived to take us to the airport (and it didn't last). But of course, we all have to go back to reality sometime, and this morning we woke up to snow, so I have to just keep looking at this:

One of my new favorite pictures

Buh Bye, Gross Weather!

In case you haven't heard, we're gettin' out of Dodge this weekend and going to Jamaica! By the time you read this, I'll either be on my way or already sitting in the sun sipping an umbrella drink and reading a book. Of course, as I write this I haven't even packed. Just a tiny, insignificant detail.

While the weather this week hasn't been nearly as cold as, well, the previous five weeks, it's still been crappy. We'll be going from this:

To this:

And from this:

Actual photo taken from my house Thursday afternoon

To this:

And no matter what:

What else could I possible play for you today than this?



See you next week!

Leavin' on a Jet Plane

In case you missed the news, today I'm flying to Philadelphia for a weekend with my real-life friend Stephanie (from Life According to Steph, and she has a giveaway going on right now). I haven't seen her in 3 years and that was at her wedding so I'm really excited to have some time to spend together. AND on Saturday we get to hang out with Marla from Luck Fupus (she also has a giveaway now) and her sister Brie from A Breezy Life! I can't wait to meet them!

I've been thinking all week about how to pack. It's sweater and boots weather, which I love, but packing can be annoying. I'm not opposed to checking my bag but I'd rather not for this trip. I should also mention that packing is not one of my strong suits. I started with the boots and built my wardrobe around those:

I have some lightweight sweaters that shouldn't take up too much space and I'll pack one pair of jeans and one pair of pants. Of course I'll need biscuits and pleasures because there's bound to be some time spent watching movies like Bridget Jones' Diary, Legally Blonde, Dirty Dancing ... Biscuits take up some space so I probably won't pack those, even though they are super cute:

I'll take fuzzy socks instead.

Hairdryer. This gets tricky. Yes, my hair is naturally curly but you'd never know that when it's wet. I need to use a hairdryer with a diffuser attachment to get the curls to come out. Now, I can probably make it the weekend without washing my hair but given that there will be four bloggers all together... there will be pictures and they will be posted and yes I know I'm vain. And while Steph might have a hairdryer, I don't know if the diffuser will fit on it so I might have to make room for my own.

I definitely don't want to take a big bulky coat so I'm taking a faux leather jacket. I have a comfy yet presentable travel outfit, my iPad, magazines and a bathing suit for hot tubbing at Marla's.

I managed to pack everything with room to spare, which makes me think I forgot something. Or it just means I can shop!

Bon voyage!

Where have all the good times gone? ... Philadelphia!

Name that movie.

I miraculously managed to get to Philly on time Friday. In keeping with the "always real" part of my tag line up there, I have to confess that my procrastination led to nearly missing my flight. In fact, when I got to the airport I was told I was too late and they put me on standby for a later flight. I was dreading the phone call to Steph. Fortunately, my original flight was late in boarding and I was able to get on there at the last minute. Lesson learned. (Maybe.)

Steph met me at the airport and we took the train to the city and had a late, leisurely lunch at Parc Restaurant at Rittenhouse Square. We shared a decadent mushroom tart and a bottle of wine, Steph had a warm shrimp salad and I had the smoked salmon tartine.

Then we walked all over the place (sadly for me, the Wanamaker organ at Macy's is all covered up by the ginormous Christmas tree, which is up too early for our taste) and had a drink before riding the train back to Steph's house.

I have a wonky eye going on, but otherwise love this pic.

We stayed in Friday night, sipping on wine and watching TV. MFD (Steph's husband, in case you didn't know) brought us cheesesteaks for dinner.

Saturday we lounged around with the dogs (Gus, Geege and Maisel) and Steph's mom and her friend Michelle stopped by.

Meanwhile, back in Columbus, this was Aaron's Saturday morning:

I missed my kitties, but loved hanging with the dogs.

Eventually we got ourselves cleaned up and dressed and went to New Jersey to Marla's house, and her sister Brie came over, too.  I love when I meet internet friends for the first time but it doesn't feel like the first time. Marla's husband Steve was such a trooper, bringing us wine, taking pictures and then driving us to dinner.

Clockwise from top left: Steph, Brie, me, Marla; Marla's kick-ass dining room chandelier; Marla and me with Steph in the mirror; Marla knew my obsession with cocktail napkins and she had some great ones.

Marla doing her Miley Cyrus impression with the calamari.
Someone at the restaurant hid a bottle of Suave hairspray in the restroom.

Sunday morning we were up way early and Steph took me to the airport (don't worry, I got there in plenty of time). I arrived in Columbus at 11 am and drove straight to church for a rehearsal, took a late nap and caught up with neighbors.

My brother sent me this picture from the Veterans Day Parade. Our nephew James is in ROTC in high school. We're so proud of him!

James is second from right

Happy Veterans Day and thank you to all veterans for your service above and beyond!