Philly Foodies Take 2

Last night the Philly Foodies (as I think we have un-officially dubbed ourselves) had a great meetup at Farmicia.



What happens when you leave PhillyGirl in charge of the reservations? Um, I obviously make sure to book a table early enough for us to take advantage of half price drinks for happy hour.



And yes, we took advantage. In fact, the receipt helpfully advised us that we saved just over $87 by ordering our drinks at happy hour. Honestly, there were 9 of us - so that's not QUITE as bad as it sounds...right??



It was great to see some familiar faces again, and to make some new friends. There's nothing quite like bonding over discussions of cameras, other bloggers (many of whom we've never met), the merits of CSAs and the perils of training for long distance races during the absurd heat wave we've been having. Honestly, it's very refreshing to have someone be able to relate to the fact that you know the intimate details of the lives of people whom you've never met, and may never meet -- without sounding like a complete and total creeper.



Delicious bread, served in an adorable dim sum basket with an herbed butter:



Farmicia's menu.is.amazing. I had a ton of trouble deciding what to get. I wavered between the idea of getting a salad and an appetizer vs. an entree, vs. two salads (yes, that would indeed make me a freak), vs. two appetizers...etc, etc, etc. As I always tend to do, I made a snap decision when it (finally) came time to order, and went with the salmon.



I was inspired by the fact that came with swiss chard. PhillyGuy picked some swiss chard up at the market this weekend and tried his hand at making it. The verdict? It was "ok," but nothing we'd make again -- so I wanted to try it as prepared by someone who knew what they were doing.



It was definitely tastier this way -- reminded me of spinach, in that it's nothing mind-blowing, but certainly a nice standby veggie.

I also knocked out three -- THREE! -- cocktails. I almost always stick with either a glass of funky red wine, or an extra-dirty martini. When I'm out with girls, I feel like it's okay to venture into the cocktail menu a little bit. Farmicia definitely didn't disappoint, and I'm pretty sure between us we managed to try one of everything...including the intriguing PB&J martini.



Food bloggers in their natural habitat:



All in all, it was a VERY fun night. We need to make this more regular!

Of course, those three cocktails left me ready for bed by the time I got home. After a quick walk with the pups, PhillyGuy and I crashed out immediately -- we were in bed by 9:30 and I was knocked out so quickly that I can't even tell you what the challenge was on Top Chef.

I sucked down my first iced coffee before I even made it to work, so I stopped at Manhattan Bagel a few blocks from my office. They don't mess around with their sizes. When I order a "large iced coffee," that is precisely what I get:



Cameo by my (very favorite type of) pen for comparison purposes.

Ladies, it was awesome hanging out last night -- thanks for such a fun evening!