Recapping: Restaurant Week(end)

Greetings Earthlings! Let’s get right into a recap shall we? After Zach and I got back from a beautiful wedding in NYC we had all of 1 night before having my sweet friend Sarah come visit for a long weekend. This was her first visit back since Maria & I moved her down to DC in August for her brand new big girl life so it was great to have her back in town and the fact that it fell during Vermont Restaurant Week was a great coincidence!

Thursday afternoon we got our gossip on while getting our nails done before heading over to Pizza Barrio. I had been to Barrio Bakery many times during the day for some great coffee & delicious sweet treats but had never actually made it for the evenings that they open up for Pizza.

How cute is this place??

The restaurant week deal looked great but we ended up breaking it up a bit to try a few things between the three of us. The Focaccia and bacon marmalade was an awesome salty-sweet combination that we were all big fans of. My favorite part of the meal was the chopped salad that we decided to split. I loved how fresh the lettuce, avocado, and cherry peppers were and the buttermilk dressing perfectly accompanied the goat cheese. It’s been 4 days and I’m still dreaming about it. Will need to recreate…

We tried two pizzas for our entrees, the Tricolore and the Green Mountain. The Tricolore was topped with mushrooms, fresh mozzarella and Prosciutto di Parma which was great but the Green Mountain pizza with it’s fresh apples and honey drizzle was the show stopper. Honestly you can throw apple slices and cheese together on anything and I’m in love, it’s the Vermont way.

It also helped that Heady Toppers were $5 and our server though clearly incredibly busy and maybe the only one working (?) was fantastic. I’d highly recommend this cute neighborhood favorite.

After dinner we rushed over to the Vermont Comedy Club to catch “Belly Laughs” performed by the hilarious Unmentionables improv group. I know I have discussed many times how strongly I feel about free shit so you can only imagine how excited I was to walk into the show and receive a badass canvas bag filled with swag from various Vermont Restaurant Week sponsors.

It’s quite difficult to have a bad time at a comedy show (plus the free shit high that I was riding helped) but this was particularly funny. I love the comedy club itself, it feels low-key and comfortable while still seeing top-notch performances and really fits what Burlington is all about. True to form the Unmentionables crushed all the glorious awkwardness that comes along with improv shows. They based their sets off of two interviews with people in the local restaurant/cider game which I thought was a cool way to connect to restaurant week.

Check this swag out folks! #chevreforevre

We spent the rest of the weekend drinking *arguably*  too much alcohol, waking up  semi-hungover and hiking a mountain with growlers from Fiddlehead because, welcome to Vermont. We started Saturday with dinner reservations at Pizzeria Verita as classy ladies and finished the evening by eating delivery Domino’s pizza and watching Gary the Goat youtube videos on the Big Comfy Couch. 26 is a real transition year.

It was a great time to have visitors and totally worth the fact that I am now exhausted to begin the month of May.

Do you participate in Restaurant Weeks around you?

 

Guess Who’s Back? Back Again…

Aloha beautiful peoples!

A two month blog hiatus was not in the books but with the school semester in full swing and one of the craziest work quarters I’ve ever experienced something had to go on the back burner. I bow down to all of you bloggers out there who never let the posts drop off, I honestly have no idea how you pull it off!

A decent amount has happened in the last 60 days, let us take a look in photos shall we?

I turned 25 and decided that I have a whole lot of things I want to do before I have to “grow up” so to speak. Case and point, I was given the honor of being the Hotel Vermont penguin at this year’s Ice Bar. Ya’ll know how strongly I feel about being a mascot so to ring in the birthday in costume was the highlight of my life night.

I have few traditions in my life but one is to share a bottle of the cheapest champagne possible with friends on my day of birth. This year the lovely Danielle celebrated her birthday with us so we obviously had to double to dosage. #twobirthdaystwobottles

I spent as much time as I possibly could on the mountain and while I’m happy that it is finally looking (and feeling) like spring around these parts it sure was an epic east coast season for snowboarding. It helps when you get to spend the days with these fine folks.

I channeled my inner “native Vermonter” to join the hotel friends for the 20th annual Magic Hat Mardi Gras parade through downtown Burlington. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t so freakin’ pumped about this overall game I found hiding out at the local Goodwill. I’m determined to find so many more opportunities to wear them… Zach is over the moon obviously 😉

I started making cupcakes again! I used to love making cupcakes for all occasions and I am so glad it’s something I’ve made the time for. These are my version of “King Cake” cupcakes:  cinnamon bun cake topped with cream cheese frosting. I’m not the biggest cream cheese frosting fan but this recipe was awesome. I’ll definitely be sharing soon 🙂

Zach and I headed out to Colorado for a week to celebrate my dad’s 65th birthday with the whole family. Between our love for beer, dual citizenship & the fact that Pops’ birthday is actually on St. Patrick’s day this is a holiday we take very seriously in the family!

In my next life I hope I come back as a competitive eater. I’m actually not going to tell you how much of this I ate because I think it would disgust you.

I used to live out in Colorado and miss it very much so it was awesome to take Zach for his first trip out. We obviously had to pop off a quick photo shoot at the continental divide.

We hit the highest chairlift in North America at Breckenridge…

And spent every afternoon soaking our bones in the hot tub at the bottom of the lifts.

I participated in my first comedy roast and let’s just say I’m addicted. I don’t know if it’s a good thing that I think of people in terms of roast material only now but I’m okay with it. Any situation that gives my sarcasm a place to shine is a situation I enjoy. I have also continued to force photo shoots upon Maria…

Like this one we took a few weeks ago at the Canadiens game where we demolished a nacho platter and moved on to massive bowls of poutine… whoops. Did I mention I need to go on a diet?

And finally, I created this cupcake display for a close friend’s bridal shower last weekend. Kelly is a librarian so I knew I wanted to do touch on that without it being too cheesy. My solution was to create these flowers out of old book pages and while I covered my fingers in hot glue I was very happy with the result. Not to mention the cupcakes were a real hit with the shower guests which was a nice ego boost. The flavors were:

Red Velvet cake with Cream Cheese frosting

Vanilla cake with diced Strawberries topped with White Chocolate Buttercream frosting

Guinness Stout Chocolate cake topped with Maple Buttercream frosting and Candied Bacon

And finally Chocolate cake filled with a Reese’s cup and topped with Peanut Butter frosting

It’s been a great couple of months but I’ve missed blogging SO MUCH and I’m so excited to get back to it! As always, thank you for reading, it means so much to me 🙂

Recapping: Quebec City Part One

Hello all and welcome to one of my favorite types of posts… travel recaps!

Warning: This post is decently long, I’ve tried to put as much character in it as possible but if you want to just scroll through the pictures I don’t blame you.

A couple of weekends ago Zach and I joined our friends on a last minute trip up to Quebec City and let me tell you, it was incredible!

Friday Night

We arrived at the Quebec City Marriott Downtown and were immediately greeted by a valet who helped us with our items and led us into the quaint but beautiful lobby. The rooms were on the smaller side but had all of the items we could possibly need for a weekend away. Once we got all settled in to the hotel we headed back down to the lobby for some recommendations for our Friday evening. I can’t for the life of me remember the valet’s name but let’s call him Isaac. He gave us the breakdown of the city and gave us some suggestions for dinner as well as a few local pubs to try out afterwards.

Dinner @ Café Au Bonnet D’âne

Roughly 15 minutes walking distance from our hotel we ended up at this cozy little corner cafe on Rue Saint Jean-Baptiste. The highlight of the menu was their extensive list of poutines which we all decided would be the perfect dish to warm up with. For those of you who haven’t had poutine it’s typically french fries, cheese curds and gravy… it’s also a heart attack waiting to happen but is quite delicious in moderation (aka once every 7 years). The poutine section had everything from traditional brown gravy to a cajun cream sauce and a even a red sauce. I went with the traditional and their take on the Mexicain burger which was topped with onion rings, chipotle sauce, brie and tomatoes. It was a total showstopper of a meal.

   

A pint @ Nelligan’s Pub

After our hearty meals we headed back towards the hotel in search of the small Irish pub we were told had a great low key vibe which is exactly what we were looking for. The Nelligan’s crowd was eclectic to say the least, everyone from old men throwing back shots and laughing at each other to college aged kids huddled in the back room trying to get a buzz going. Seating was limited but we were lucky enough to have two gentlemen offer to move over so we could get the bench by the bar. We had a blast sitting and chatting with them for an hour, I couldn’t believe how nice everyone was to us. I’ve been to Montreal many a times and each time (in my experience) you count your lucky stars to get one friendly waiter let alone a couple of locals. I tried their namesake ale and thought it was really good but it was the atmosphere that won me over.

After a few more stops on the pub crawl list we headed back towards the hotel but made sure to stop first at the ice rink located across the street and take photos/run across the empty ice. Shh don’t tell anyone.

Saturday Morning

As you can see from the photo above our hotel was located just outside of one of the gates entering the old city. Saturday morning we ventured down through the winding cobblestone roads to find the historic district of Petit Champlain.

Petit Champlain is located so much lower than the rest of the city that you have to take a serious set of stairs or this funicular. We gladly paid the $7 for the four of us to ride down.

The minute we stepped out of the Funicular it was like we had just walked into an old European city. I kept comparing it to stepping out of the Tardis because I couldn’t get over how beautiful and different this part of the city was. I’ve finally made a Doctor Who reference on the blog… so happy!

Brunch @ Le Lapin Sauté

My job was to find the brunch locations for the trip (a task I take incredibly seriously) and after reading a ton of reviews online had settled on this gem of a spot.

The entire restaurant was the size of my apartment’s kitchen and so perfectly decorated to be someone’s home in the country. The service was unbelievable, they were so friendly and welcoming. They gave us menus in English (bonus points) and the menu was expansive but fairly priced. Our meals included coffee or tea, fruit smoothie shots, and the entree for around $15 on the higher end.

I ordered the maple sauteed apple omelet which came with potatoes and this warmed up slice of baguette. It was all so delicious but that strawberry jam was the best part of the meal. I wish I could have taken it home with me. The servers were so attentive and helpful, they really seemed to enjoy themselves. I would love to go back there in the summer and enjoy my meal on the restaurant’s patio!

We spent the rest of the morning popping in and out of the stores on Petit Champlain which ranged from authentic fur shops to your typical souvenir shops and candy stores.

Couldn’t resist.

This photo is one of my favorites from the trip! I love that you can see the Château Frontenac as well as the Funicular and the streets of Petit Champlain 🙂

So that was the first half of our trip, hope you guys enjoyed it! I can’t recommend Quebec City enough, we had such a surprisingly amazing time! Stay tuned for the second half which includes a behind the scenes tour of Hôtel de Glace, ice skating, as well as a restaurant featured by Anthony Bourdain.

Have you ever been to Quebec City?

Have you ever had Poutine?

Recapping: An Overnight in Saratoga Springs

Hello all!

I wrote out this entire post on Sunday to be able to post Monday and then of course my computer crashed without even saving a single draft… #bloggerproblems. So anyway sorry it took a couple of days to post but in any event Sarah and I had a great time during our little getaway to race country Friday night.

First stop was to Olde Saratoga Brewing Co where I managed to walk in on someone using the restroom immediately upon arrival. Where there is an awkward situation, there is an incredibly awkward Kari finding it. Sorry dude! After that adventure I spent 5 hard earned dollars on choosing 6 beers to sample from their impressively long list. The tasting room was really cool and they even had some doughboys for sale from a local company.  The beers ranged from Lagers to Stouts and everything in between. I really liked their Saratoga Lager but the IPA stole the show. The Moonpie Oatmeal Stout was surprisingly delicious and Sarah and I both liked their Peanut Butter & Jelly Stout.

We made a quick stop at the Courtyard we were staying for the night before the chilly but easy walk downtown. While most of the shops were closed on Broadway you could tell that this would be an incredibly fun spot to hang out in during the warmer months. Very similar to Church Street in it’s design and even some of the shops they had mirrored the ones here in Vermont.

The girl at the brewery recommended Boca Bistro for it’s fantastic tapas menu. The space itself was awesome! From the exposed brick to the tin ceilings, they really did rustic meets modern so well. I have had a small huge obsession with pigs since I was a kid so the metal pigs scattered through the shelves were my favorite part. Sarah and I were beyond impressed with the staff, everyone we encountered was so warm and welcoming. The food itself was delicious and it came out unbelievably fast. We tried the ham croquettes as well as the pork belly for our plates. The croquettes were good but I don’t think I’ve ever had pork belly that well done. We could have easily bellied up (pun intended) to the beautiful bar and reordered that one plate 10 times that night. Instead we asked our friendly waiter, Mark where we should head to next.

Don’t be fooled by my horrendous plate photo abilities, that sweet potato puree mixed with the tomato relish was perfection.

Mark suggested we try out Seven Horse Pub for round two of appetizers and other beer options so off we went. I can’t say too much about this place other than your typical bar/restaurant. The beer was pretty good, the spinach and artichoke dip was standard but it definitely seemed like a fun place to get out and watch a game.

Our lovely friend Chelsea suggested we hit up Circus Cafe for a cocktail during our trip so that was the next step. It was a little dead in there but that was easily overlooked thanks to the amazingly funky atmosphere! To be fair though we were there about 5 hours before I assume real people go out (we had a self-given curfew). We just ordered a couple of drinks but the menu looked so fun! I would love to go back to try it out for lunch or dinner (if I can pull myself away from that tapas menu that is).

The final stop of the evening was to Henry Street Taproom a place that if it relocated to Vermont I would without a doubt become a regular. This place was at the top of my to do list going in and every single person confirmed that we needed to try it out. So many beers, an awesome fireplace, such a great casual place for the locals and non-locals to hang out.

We had a blast exploring downtown and I can definitely see many more trips to the area in the future… like when the weather is above zero degrees. My only regret is not taking a picture on the horse statue outside of the hotel. You avoided me this trip horse statue, next time you won’t be so lucky. There you have it folks, I’ve officially run out of synonyms for “delicious” and “awesome” so I guess I’ll end this recap here.

See ya later, Saratoga Springs 🙂

Have you ever been to that area of New York?

Do you have any trips coming up? Zach and I will be joining another couple for a trip to Quebec City this weekend and we can’t wait!

Fun Facts Friday

1. Ski season is here and liftopia is where it’s at.

Snow has been dusting and I am so ready to hit the mountains. If you haven’t already used liftopia it’s an awesome site for getting discounted lift tickets all across the country. I used it a few times last season and this year I’m super excited to check out some mountains I haven’t snowboarded at yet, I’m looking at you Killington!

2. 15 minute Greek pasta salad does wonders for week night dinners.

I pinned this awhile ago from Tasty Kitchen and found a long day at work mixed with having no desire to go to the grocery store was the perfect excuse to test it out. I used my favorite Maple Grove Farms of Vermont dressing and it crushed. It was literally so simple but it really hit the spot. It made sooooo much pasta salad (you have been warned) but I didn’t even mind having it for lunch for the next couple of days.

3. My November Ipsy Glam Bag was sort of a disappointment.

The Products:

it Cosmetics: Bye Bye Under Eye Concealer

This stuff is powerful, I put too much on my hand before putting it under my eyes and I was convinced it would never come off. I suppose that’s a good trait in a concealer though right?

SeaRX: Birch Sap Moisturizing Lotion

I could go either way on this lotion, I put it on after washing my face and while it burned a bit (negative) I also noticed my face didn’t dry out over night (positive).

J Cat Beauty: Wonder Lip Paint

No. No. No. I suppose I could use this for a Halloween face painting costume but otherwise it’s a bit too much for my liking.

Marc Anthony: Oil of Morocco Argan Oil Volume Shine Hairspray

I wanted to love this stuff because it smelled amazing and was the perfect travel size but it left my hair feeling dry and didn’t keep the fly aways down.

Starlooks Cosmetics: Eye Pencil

I think I would like this in another color, olive isn’t really my thing but it was subtle enough that I would keep it in the make up bag.

I really liked September’s glam bag, last month was okay but this month just didn’t fit. At $10 a month it’s not exactly breaking the bank but I do hope the next couple months are better!

4. Tuesday night bowling is a necessary stress relief.

I like bowling and I’m not afraid to admit it. $10 for 3 games and shoes? Yes, please!

5. The Growler Garage is a must visit.

The Growler Garage has been on my to do list for quite some time now and with guests coming into town last weekend we finally pulled it off. It was a really cool building with lots of fun touches I mean table bases made from tires, that’s just plain awesome. Of course most importantly there was a great craft beer list to choose for tastings, I was a really big fan of the Veridian IPA from Banded Horn Brewery Company.  As the name implies you can have growlers filled right there and the other half of the store is a retail store with all sorts of beer from around the world. I said before, you must go check it out if you are ever in the Burlington area.

New York Dog House

Happy Monday Folks!

To read this post you must understand that I don’t exactly consider myself a “foodie.” You see to be a foodie you apparently have to like orange flavored things and nuts, both of which I find repulsive. I do however enjoy a good meal and even better service and at the Dog House in Astoria, that’s exactly what I got.

Pete recommended it by saying “awesome beers on tap, french fries with buffalo dipping sauce and sick hot dogs.” We were definitely on board.  I don’t know if you remember that little old I love hot dogs more than I should thing from when I started this blog but it’s a real problem. (Or is it?)

We started the meal off with an Ithaca Beer Co. “Flower Power” IPA which I enjoyed way more than I thought I was going to. It was a wicked blend of fruit while staying true to the bitterness that I love so much from an IPA. Seriously how did they get it to balance like that??? Probably why they are in the big leagues and I’m a basement brewer… Sigh …

Per recommendation we shared a basket of fries with buffalo and sesame chili paste dipping sauces. Buffalo sauce is obviously a gift from the gods (I keep a bottle of Frank’s at the office) and this one in particular was delicious. If they bottled it, I’d have it at my desk. Imagine the possibilities!

For the main attraction I picked out the “Slaw Dog” with house made slaw and apple slices on a “Kicking Kielbasa sausage.” I basically could have eaten seven more if they would have let me, it was so good!

Light on the mayonnaise, heavy on the apple slices, just as a slaw should be. These iPhone photos just do not do it justice.

As I mentioned before, the service was outstanding. When I say outstanding I mean water glasses always full, witty banter with our table, and of course quick with the food. People seemed genuinely happy to work there, it was like the restaurant was this shiny new toy that they wanted to show off. It was awesome. Then this magical thing happened when I mentioned (in a ramble) that I had a tiny little blog our waiter brought out their signature “Far East Dog- sesame chili paste, pickled daikon, scallion, peanuts on a Num Pang sausage”

IT WAS UNBELIEVABLE.

I didn’t get a photo because the boys started eating it the minute it was put on the table but I don’t even blame them, it was that good. None of us had even thought about ordering it originally but after he brought that out I can’t imagine getting anything else. The fact that I only had a third of it made me genuinely sad inside. Sweet but tangy, a hint of spice and that pork sausage… can you send that pork sausage to Vermont please?

Speaking of sending to Vermont if they could just open up a location up here in Burlington that would be great… the killer ambiance would fit right in around these parts. If I lived in Astoria I would be a regular, you can bet your ‘Far East’ dog on that.

And that my friends, is a post about hot dog heaven. Hope you enjoyed 🙂

Recapping: A New York City Adventure

Recapping last weekend minutes before the new weekend starts? Sure! Why not?

Saturday

Zach and I spent a quick overnight in Fairfield Friday and woke up to enjoy a lovely breakfast with the family before his mom and I headed to our much needed nail appointment. The ladies at Posh Nail & Spa were so cute and thoughtful! I was so impressed with the manicure but really it was such a great excuse to spend some girl time with Mama Deaks!

Red again, who saw that coming?

My dad is from Brooklyn so as a family we had made a few trips into NYC as kids but I was really looking forward to hanging out in the city as an adult. Thankfully for our trip we had two great tour guides in Zach’s best friend Pete and his sweetheart of a girlfriend Kate who went above and beyond to make our trip so amazing.  Here are some of the highlights:

Pete and Kate took us for a walk along the newer section of the High Line and I thought it was a really cool way to wind through the different sites of New York.

Our next stop was for dinner at Mari Vanna, a very eccentric Russian restaurant in the Flatiron district. They aren’t joking when they say it’s like walking into a Russian apartment, it was absolutely incredible. We were seated in the corner by potentially the creepiest photo ever of a little boy and a bunny rabbit… let’s just say I wouldn’t want to be the one that has to close the restaurant at night.

We started off with a Vodka flight with flavors ranging from Horseradish to Pomegranate. While I’m not the biggest liquor drinker I did find the Cucumber flavor quite refreshing.  We literally ate food until we couldn’t see straight (or maybe that was the vodka) and it was so delicious. From the authentic appetizers to my entree of stuffed cabbage I cannot recommend this restaurant enough!

I literally could have spent hours in Eataly but this little beer caught my eye the most. While the thought of an oyster stout is horrendous how cute is this freaking bottle? I used to collect all things pig as a kid- I’m talking straight up obsession with all things pig related. Surely others had weird obsessions right?

Sunday

The main purpose of the trip was to go to a Jets game at the Meadowlands so Sunday morning we hopped on the train and headed out to New Jersey for what we thought would be a straight up Steelers blowout.

We were like really excited obviously.

After a series of unfortunate events including purchasing tickets to Disney on Ice instead of the game we finally made it into the stadium just in time to see the second Jets touchdown.

Beer and sports, that is the way to my heart.

J-E-T-S! JETS! JETS! JETS!

The Jets straight up shut down the Steelers and it was so sick to be there! We had such a blast 🙂

Also please note the Steelers fan in the right corner… in the final quarter he got straight up taken out by another Steelers fan falling down a couple rows behind us. It was the most slow motion fall but I’m so glad everyone is okay!

When we got back to the city we headed over to Astoria for a highly recommended dinner the Dog House which will get it’s very own post next week, just know it was incredible.

Monday

Breakfast food is the best food in my opinion so I took my job of finding a great brunch spot in the city VERY seriously. After reading tons of reviews and taking into account our location we decided to try the Bluebell Cafe and I’m happy to report we were not disappointed. The decor was so cute and the food was exactly what we were hoping for. I seriously could have eaten an entire plate of that bacon and the homemade biscuit? To die for.

Thank you so much to Pete & Kate for such amazing hospitality, you guys are the coolest 🙂

It should come as no surprise that traveling is my favorite thing to do and this was a hell of a way to celebrate our Anniversary, thanks for the amazing trip Zach!

Have you ever been to an NFL game?

Anyone have exciting plans this weekend?

Fun Facts Friday

Late afternoon Friday post, but still this makes three this week so HOLLA!

1. Everyone must go see Guardians of the Galaxy.

Nerds and non-nerds alike, it is totally worth it. The cast is straight up hilarious and I’ve been quoting it for the last two days! As you can tell I would highly recommend it. I might not recommend eating the entire box of sour patch kids during said movie but hey, live and learn right?

2. I may get most of the recipes I use from online but I almost always write them down first. I just like having actual written down recipes, weird? Maybe. I then stage a ridiculous photo of this act because #imablogger

3. A new beer and my go to week night recipe is a win!

Fiddlehead (i.e. one of my favorite breweries around here) just put out a new double IPA and it is the bomb.com! They release it a few places around town but once it’s gone it’s gone so I was super excited when a friend of mine picked up a case at the brewery and gave us a few. The recipe I wrote out above is from Damn Delicious and as I mentioned before it is my go to! It is so easy to make and produces some awesome leftovers, score.

4. Chessters are ice cream sandwiches sent from straight from heaven.

I could never keep them in the house because I would eat them all in one sitting but when I am surprised with one I could not be happier! They are just so creamy and delicious… gahhh I want another one…

5. Those goofy looking cuffed sweat pants that everyone has been wearing lately are literally the most comfortable things on the planet.

I’m never ever taking them off! I went in to TJ Maxx to casually hunt around and I walked out with these puppies from HEAD, it was basically the best decision I’ve ever made.  I have previously only seen the brand in snowboard gear but damn do they make a mean sweatpant.

Also this picture is home Kari in a nutshell…

My favorite childhood mug where there once was hot chocolate there is now coffee but safe to say it’s gotten me through many a mornings.

The most amazing moccasins from UGG that if you don’t have you need to get.

The best flannel ever obviously from Vermont Flannel Company (we do beer, ice cream and flannel VERY well).

So there are my fun facts this Friday, I hope everyone has a lovely weekend!

🙂

Have you seen any good movies lately?

Do you like to write out recipes?

What is your go to comfy outfit at home?

Fun Facts Friday

I shared all the stuff in my personal life yesterday so today I will turn these fun facts into 5 things I really need/want to try…

1. I need to try one of these Mango Green Tea Smoothies from A Spicy Perspective

Have you guys ever used tea in your smoothies? I don’t think I have but I love mango and I drink Numi Gunpowder Green at work everyday so I’m very intrigued. Definitely on my to do list!

2. I need this print off of Etsy to go up in my house ASAP

It’s the truth people, it’s the truth. Also, can anyone else spend hours at a time on Etsy? The things people come up with are absolutely amazing!

3. I need this Nike pullover for my cooler weather runs

Or perhaps a cheaper version? Now that fall is right around the corner I will definitely need to up my game on running gear.  Those 5 year old shorts and over-sized shirt just won’t cut it in Vermont’s fall season.

4. I would like to try a rowing class at Row VT

With that said, I am also terrified of a rowing class as I feel like my arms would fall off after 4 minutes. I don’t know about you but my arms are straight up noodles!  According to the schedule they offer a few different styles of class one of which includes mat work which I feel like I would enjoy. I do love me a challenge so I definitely intend on checking them out!

5. Self-Explanatory

That my friends, is a real fact.

Have you ever taken a rowing class?

Any runners out there with a favorite fall weather clothing item?

Updates and Rambles

I’ve done some cool things lately and by cool I mean I did some things lately… here they are,

I’ve worked out in a legitimate gym for the last 4 days straight… in theory today will make 5. HOLLA!  So the above workout I did by walking a minute, running a few, walking another minute, etc for 30 minutes… question though I did it all at a 5% incline on the treadmill and I’m wondering if there is a way to reflect that in the app? Anybody know?

I stopped by two more breweries this weekend bringing the grand total of 11/37 VT breweries.

Saturday we hit up Four Quarters Brewing in Winooski and while I don’t normally enjoy the style of beer they produce (Belgian to be exact) I definitely think it was worth trying.  They had one called the Janus Future that was crazy! I’ve never had a beer that tasted so much like wine.

Sunday we hung out at Infinity Brewing Company in South Burlington and walked away with a growler of their Red IPA.  I’m not typically a red beer fan but this IPA was great.  I even enjoyed their Saison and that is saying something! P.S. If the guy serving us that day is reading this- are you from St. Albans?? I have a bet going that I can tell where you are from by your accent so if you could get at me that would be great.

I have two more stamps on my Indie Coffee Passport which means I’ve done 4/10 coffee shops on the list. You think I’d be further but I keep forgetting I have it.

Today was Pingala Cafe & Eatery and holy delicious it was. I don’t think I’ve ever enjoyed an iced coffee that much.  I’m not even exaggerating (which I know I do sometimes) it was amazing! I also got the Vermonter sandwich because I’m a walking stereotype and it was awesome.  You had me at house made Gouda style cashew cheese and apple slices.

I’ll definitely be back and next time I’ll bring other humans to enjoy it with me 🙂

How was your weekend?

Any thoughts on the Map My Run App question?

Have you tried a new restaurant or bar lately?