Thursday, August 19, 2010

Stopping in for an Update!

I may be the world's worst blogger. Seriously.  I can't even remember what I've shared and what I haven't, so if I get a bit repetitive, please excuse it.  Here goes.

1. There has been quite the parade of celebrities in the restaurant lately (some of which I have seen, other's I have not. Sad.)  So for the roll call: Martha Stewart celebrated her 69th birthday with us.  Beyonce and Jay-z had a little date followed by the British David Beckham (all of whom I didn't have the pleasure.)  Oh, and Susan Sarandon was in as well, I made her a Waterfelon!!! Then I sang Rocky Horror tunes the remainder of the day... Oh Janet Weiss!!

2. Some lovely work folks had a Rhône wine party (which is a little region in France that makes wine, and I believe it tends to be slightly peppery?) Everyone either brought a bottle from the region or cooked something for dinner (I did both).  I brought a white wine (a Viognier, which is my favorite) because I don't like my beverages to be room temperature as a general rule, and I made broccoli slaw with a sesame tamari vinaigrette.  What started out as a tasteful and grown up wine tasting with lovely apricot glazed short-ribs and a multitude of salads, with each wine being carefully tasted and talked about, and referenced in a book soon became a room full of drunken friends dancing around to old school 90s music.  And ending with everyone hanging out on the roof, looking at the stars and watching the cars climb over the Williamsburg Bridge towards the city.

3. During said party I met a guy who competed on an episode of "24 hour Restaurant Battle," and was having a party on the following Wednesday to watch the episode air!  Kristina, Julia and I attended and it was a lot of fun.  The restaurant Justin created was called "...& Jelly," if you haven't seen the episode google it, or find it on YouTube.  It was a very interesting idea and the food looked pretty awesome, I was pleasantly surprised how the concept was expanded to be more than the traditional ideas of jelly and butter. Intrigue...

4. The "Juice Girls" have taken to Julia's favorite bar to play trivia in Greenpoint at the Black Rabbit.  It's a lot of fun with categories that are way better than what Columbia has to offer.  For example, there was a "Name that Song" portion.. the catch? all the songs were played BACKWARDS!!! And included such gems as "You Oughta Know" by Alanis when she was angrier, and some Hootie (I TOTALLY told them it was Hootie, and I would know!)  The first night it was just myself, Julia and Kristina and we won a PickleBack shot...Whiskey with a pickle brine chaser (it's surprisingly good, seriously, try it at home.)  After trivia comes the Chat Roulette portion of the evening.  Which is sort of like a one-on-one video chat room where it randomly selects a participate and you can talk to them, or click next if you don't like them.  It's kind of scary, and absurdly hilarious. (did I mention we had a video projector to shoot this on the wall at the bar?? yeah, it was awesome.)

Some trivia facts I learned:
-Long ago, when the Bishop of Rochester's chef poisoned people, killing two, new style of execution was legalized... what was that style?? guillotine?? Nope, Death By BOILING! Yeah... Ouch.
-The largest loss of life in the history of the US Navy occurred when the USS Indianapolis was torpedoed, horrible right? But oh wait, then there was a bought of shark attacks!! How horrid. Yeah, I survived the war, my ship sunk but I managed to escape alive, then I got eaten by a shark.  Thanks.
-And some animal facts: The Goldfish is the only animal who can see both infrared and ultraviolet light.  On average, birds live a mere six months. And, AND the mosquito has teeth!! Forty-Seven TEETH!!!!! ew.

5. I found my new favorite coffee shop, thanks to the lovely CieCie.  It's just down from work, called the Grey Dog, and reminds me a lot of CoolBeans! (which makes my whole heart happy!) The menu is written on giant chalkboards, the staff is friendly, the music is wonderful, it's a happy little haven in the middle of the bustle :)

6. I recently ate a Vietnamese sandwich, a Bánh mì, with Ann Marie and Mary. It was REALLY good, especially with Sriracha!! MMmmmm, spicy! Then we went to Duck Duck, a bar around the corner from her place, where we watched the Sunday night shenanigans occur (dancing and whatnot,) and we people watched and drank Cerveza Pacífico Clara! It was good, and served with a lime. Also, it was drizzly and wet so I got to borrow Ann Marie's rain boots!!! I LOVE rain boots!

7. And lastly, the "Juice Girls" are crossing their fingers for a trip down south (as two of them haven't been because they're from the west coast, and CieCie and I want to take them!!)  The goal is to go through Charlotte (CieCie's hometown,) make a stop in Columbia to take them to my favorite places (I'm thinking the Whig, Blue Cactus and ArtBar if it's a Friday!) then onward to Charleston.  The hope is to go through Asheville on the way back and maybe stop in at River Spirit!!  For anyone wanting to take a little trip to the mountains, check this place out!! It is the business endeavor of a dear friend of mine who I'd lost contact with the last few years until this week!! So "Yay!!" and happiness for his growing establishment! Also, it's beautiful and "I want to go to there!"

I didn't have the patience to link up any pictures, so instead I left a train of things to get lost in. Enjoy!

2 comments:

Erin Gail said...

CHARLESTON! It's lovely here :)

Maggie said...

i vote charleston, too!