Saturday Brunch

PhillyGuy and I always say things to each other like "Man, there are so many great places in the city that we never try!" Because, well, there are. And we don't.

So today, we did. We headed over to the other side of Broad AND the other side of Vine (hoooooboy are we getting crazy now!) to have brunch at Prohibition Taproom this morning.

I started with coffee...

AND a bloody mary, since it came free (!!!) with our meal.

I love me some bloody mary mix. This one was a nice, tasty standard - not a ton of horseradish, not too spicy, and nothing crazy or fancy about it. Just an olive, a lime, and spicy tomatoey goodness.

We split an order of the tempura-battered green beans to start. Holy COW, these were good. The batter was crunchy and salty, the beans were crisp and the aioli was tangy...I could easily have eaten buckets and buckets of these. BUT, I needed to save room for our entrees.

We split two things. The croque madame:

Pork roll, fried eggs and beer cheese sauce over a crusty baguette, and...

the burger special - gruyere, watercress, truffle oil and yet another fried egg. SO GOOD. I saved the aioli to dip fries and smear on the last of the burger bun.

With such a heavy breakfast, I'm still not hungry now, at 7pm...which I guess is a good thing. I also guess it's a good thing that I started my day off at the gym.

I haven't lifted in what feels like ages - while I've been good about getting to the gym regularly despite my nutty work schedule, said nutty work schedule leaves me craving the best possible sweat in the shortest amount of time - which for me is always cardio.

So, this morning, I started off with a couple quick miles (five minutes at 6.5mph, six minutes starting at 7.0 and increasing by .1 every 60 seconds to 7.5mph, then reversing back down to 7.0 again and cranking it back up to 7.5mph to finish off my two miles in about 17 minutes. Anything to combat treadmill boredom!), followed by P90X back and biceps. And WOW, it's been a while since I've done that workout, and it showed...I was totally spent by the end.

That particular workout ends with a strip-set of curls - you're supposed to do four sets of 8 and decrease by 5lbs with each set, but for little ol' me that's not mathematically possible. So, I started with 15lbs, decreased to 12.5, then to 10 and then to 8 for my last set. I gotta say, there's just something I LOVE about the feeling of your biceps shaking, even with 8lb weights, and then that delicious, DELICIOUS relief when you throw those little 8lb dumbbells down at the end.

So now, Cosmo and I are chilling on the couch (shocking) waiting for PhillyGuy to get home. I'm hoping I can get him to watch a movie with me tonight...I'm thinking either something with Woody Allen or something by David Mamet. A coworker recommended "the Spanish Prisoner" earlier this week, but I can't find it on demand and now I'm on a mission. Any recommendations?

I Have Been MIA

yeah. I've been MIA.

This week was full of...stuff. Lots of stuff.

Like this, which greeted me at my desk at 6:22 am on Thursday morning.

I hadn't started my day with a Starbucks latte and bagel in forever. This used to be my daily breakfast - until I moved from center city to G-Ho, where there is no Starbucks. At the time, I was actually concerned about that - I truly did not know where I was going to get my coffee. Answer: if I don't make it at home (see: copious amounts of Via and a reusable cold cup)...



...then I go to Good Karma, on 22nd between Pine and Delancey, or LaVa, at 21st and South. Or any of the other fun, neighborhood-y coffee shops all over this city. How, in god's name, did I manage to live in Philly for so long (like two or three years!) without realizing it? I guess that's what happens when you live in CC proper.

Anyway. That stack of documents is a third of what I had to review this week in time for my 10am meeting Thursday morning. I also had four filings, a bunch of agreements to finish up, and a lunch with new clients out in the 'burbs. It was a nutty week, and left me feeling like something just punched me in the face.



I still managed to hit the gym a few times, for some short speedwork and a bunch of time on the recumbent bike. The entire week, I was just counting the seconds for this:



I'm a casual snowboarder - I've gone a few times a year since college. I'm not anywhere near good, but I'm comfortable on green terrain and easier blues. PhillyGuy has never so much as touched a mountain, but I finally managed to drag him up to Camelback for some lessons and a weekend of fun, easy snowboarding.

We had some much-needed beers at a local brewery right by the mountain.



Why did the bar I worked at in college not do this?

Sometimes You Just

...need a burger.

(sometimes you also need to start remembering to bring your good camera when you go to dinner, but I digress.)

PhillyGuy and I had tentatively planned to go to dinner last night. He had suggested our go-to spot, Resurrection Ale House. We probably end up there once every couple of months, both because of the fantastic beer selection AND because it is conveniently located directly across the street from our house.

Usually I'm excited about at least three or four different dishes on Resurrection's menu, but after reviewing it from work, I was kind of "meh" about it. Not that it sounded bad, but I wasn't getting my usual "OMG I CANNOT WAIT TO TRY THAT" feeling. So I started thinking of alternatives, and for a while, I was torn between Resurrection and Pub & Kitchen.

And then Pub & Kitchen started tweeting about their specials for the night, including a quail with oyster cornbread dressing...and I was done.

Naturally, that's what we started with. We split the quail, which came adorably presented, looking like a Lilliputian roasted chicken...

...and an English onion soup with apples and a rosemary crouton topped with melted cheddar.

(MAN, does that ever look appetizing. FML.)

The other factor that pushed Pub & Kitchen over the edge for me was the fact that I've been craving a juicy, fatty burger ever since we picked out Brickyard in NYC last weekend. Well, Brickyard didn't have a burger on the menu...but Pub & Kitchen has the Churchill burger.

Proprietary blend of meats, bone marrow butter and caramelized onions? Yes, please.

PhillyGuy was also feeling a burger. He stuck with the plain burger topped with cheddar, bacon and a fried egg.

Both were delicious. Usually, I'm all about a variety of toppings, so I was unsure about having just the onions on my burger...but it was just right. The burger itself was flavorful enough to carry itself alone. I tried a bite of PhillyGuy's burger as well, but I'm pretty sure I didn't get all of the toppings in my bite...sad face.

We also split an order of the mac & cheese, but the iPhone pictures were so awful I had to delete them both...which really says something considering the onion soup abomination I posted above. Let's try to describe: orzo wrapped in creamy sauce, studded with bits of short rib, covered in a blanket of...I don't even know what, frankly. For all I know it could have been artificial bacon bits. It was good, but a little underwhelming. The sauce was more creamy than cheesy, and I actually thought it needed salt. But then again, I tend to salt everything, so whatever.

So now I'm hanging in bed with my puppies, getting ready to wake PhillyGuy up so we can hit the gym. He spent all last week with a nasty cold, and I'm crossing my fingers that I didn't catch it. My quads are still a little sore from my 800 repeats the other day, which is always humbling (I used to be able to run a 5K in about 90 seconds to two minutes better than my time for 3 miles without killing myself!), but also makes me happy. I'm thinking it'll be a date with the elliptical and Tony Horton's chest and back this morning, and maybe a nice 5-mile run outside tomorrow...we'll see.

happy weekend!

But I Wanted a Snow Day

It did snow overnight, just like predicted. We got about six inches here in Philly, just like predicted. But...le sigh...road crews were pretty much on top of it. And so my office is not closed.

Oh well. As much as I was hoping for a day spent in my sweatpants, working from my couch, I actually don't really like working from home. Working from the couch hurts my back, and I do find it easier to type long documents on my fancy ol' desktop keyboard here at work, rather than my sleek Macbook Pro.

Anyway. Let's rewind to the weekend, huh? That seems fun.

As I've mentioned here before, Green Day is my favorite band. I hate to even say that, because the word "favorite" just doesn't do it justice. Regardless...while I was excited when I heard American Idiot was being adapted into a musical, I wasn't too nuts about seeing it - I mean, I love Green Day, not other people performing or covering their music, you know?



But that was before I found out, back in the fall, that Billie Joe Armstrong was doing a short stint on Broadway, filling in for the performer playing St. Jimmy in the show. The idea of seeing my favorite performer in an entirely new setting was unbelievable - I REALLY wanted to go. Unfortunately, my work schedule and PhillyGuy's work schedule didn't cooperate, and so we missed that run.

BUT THEN. I got word in December that Billie Joe was coming back for fifty performances during January and February. FIFTY! My schedule HAD to cooperate for at least one of those. And it did. PhillyGuy got us tickets to this past Saturday's matinee.

It. Was. Amazing. It was everything I could have wanted it to be and more. I sat there, entranced, and the entire ninety minutes flew by. Before I knew it, the show was over, and it was time for us to spend the rest of the afternoon and evening wandering around New York.

We found a little gastropub on 9th for dinner. The beer selection was great.



PhillyGuy had a Founder's IPA (I can't remember for the life of me which one now), and I had a Sierra Nevada Celebration seasonal that was on special for happy hour. (I apologize for the crappy phone pictures, but I didn't want to bring my good camera since I wasn't sure I'd be able to carry it into the theater.)



We split the phyllo-wrapped asparagus to start. This was filled with melted asiago cheese and happiness.



I had a ribeye, topped with mushrooms and onions in a green peppercorn reduction, sprinkled with a fantastic blue cheese.



PhillyGuy had the pork chop, which was served over sage and cinnamon apples with sweet potato croquettes on the side. We also split a side of brussels sprouts with bacon and cippolini onions:



...I assume you that they were NOT quite that shade of green in reality. We enjoyed our food and beer while watching the Seahawks kill the Saints, before trekking back to the train station to head home. I love the train - between our rides there and back, I started AND finished a new book on my Nook.

I'm having a hard time getting started on work today. Not a ton of people are here today, so it's pretty quiet in my office...EXCEPT for the very vocal secretary who sits outside my door. I've already heard all about how many people she had to dig out of the snow this morning and how lucky she is that she has an appointment with her chiropractor today (in baby-talk-voice, on the phone to her husband, no less), and now she and the IT guy who sits next to her are discussing the merits of taking the train vs. driving in the snow.

I should have stayed home.

Chopped

Yesterday was a big day.

It started out pretty normal - just about every weekend morning, I wake up around 7 or 7:30, take the dogs out, and make a cup of iced coffee (FYI, the regular starbucks VIA dissolves perfectly well in cold water - you don't have to buy the special "iced" kind). I bring the coffee, the dogs and my laptop back up to bed, where PhillyGuy is still sleeping, and we all hang out while I catch up on my google reader, twitter, and all the other stuff that the internets have been up to while I slept.

But see - I had an appointment to get my hair cut. As I mentioned on twitter earlier in the week, I got it in my head that it was time for another big change. I spend most of my time "growing out my hair." I gravitate towards the same long, layered cut constantly. But then every few years, I very suddenly and very intensely decide that I am "OVER" long hair. And I get it chopped. A few months later I decide to grow it out again. Repeat every two to three years.

I was thinking about it all morning. We started out with breakfast at Rachael's, a little deli at 19th & Sansom. Normally I get lox and bagel there, but I was feeling eggs yesterday.

Ham, onions, green peppers and cheddar. Coffee:

I don't know what kind of coffee they use there, but this was really good - almost chocolatey.

So I had a little talk with my stylist. I warned my husband what might be coming. And yes, I went with the chop. Here's what my hair looked like Friday night:

You can't see it THAT well, but the longest layers were down to my bra strap in the back. And now:

I LOVE IT!

It's been a good ten years since I've had it THIS short, but I'm in love. Now I need to invest in some better headbands for the gym...

GAH!

Too long since I've posted!

Let's start with the bad news. That I've already gone sort-of-public with, on Twitter, and I've known in my heart for a while.

I'm not running the Distance Run this weekend.

I'm very unhappy about it, but the fact is, I let my emotions get the better of me and neglected my training far too much over the month of August. Could I fake it? Probably. But I might actually hurt myself, and I know I'd be disappointed with my performance. I know myself, and the last thing I need is to spend 13 miles ragging on myself for failing to train.

The good news? I still get to hang out with a bunch of blogheads coming into town this weekend for the race!

The BETTER news? The (inadequate) amount of training that I DID do leaves me in a good place. My knee is OK, my endurance is OK, and I'm ready to start training for the Philly Half in November, which I just registered for!

On to the fun stuff. It's been a while since I've posted. Part of it is that this has been an insane week at work, and I just haven't had time. Part of it (the BETTER part) is that it was an equally insane weekend - but I was too busy HAVING FUN. Saturday we made an impromptu decision to have some of my siblings over to watch the Penn State game and make dinner. Sunday we hung out with some friends from law school who I haven't seen in forever. Add to that the cleaning and house-prepping, and the gym-ing and grocery shopping, and BAM! that's a full and fun weekend.

Last Friday (god, has it seriously been that long?) PhillyGuy and I went out to celebrate our anniversary. Yup - Monday marked two.freakin'.years since we got all dolled up and said "yup, you're the one" in front of our friends and family.



To celebrate, PhillyGuy made us reservations at R2L, a restaurant at the top of Two Liberty. We started with a drink at the bar while they got our table ready -- and he managed to snag us a very private, corner table that looked out over the Western part of the city.





Frankly, I expected this place to be decent food and all ambiance. I was blown AWAY - it far exceeded my expectations. We started with a braided loaf of pretzel bread while we perused our menus.



Appetizers were bacon-wrapped scallop potstickers and crisp cheese risotto.



Risotto balls might be up there with the greatest decadent treat inventions.





We split a bottle of wine with dinner. After seeing Murphy-Goode Liar's Dice zinfandel on Jenna's blog so many times, I was very excited to see it on the wine list. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the world's worst picture of a delicious bottle of wine:



PhillyGuy also had french onion soup. The presentation was fun, but the soup itself was pretty "meh."



We also split two entrees. The veal, served five ways - including a meatloaf, a brisket, tenderloin, sweetbread and a gravy - tossed with potatoes:



and the halibut, seared and served over a smoky corn salad:



Un.Be.Lieve.Able. I can't pick a favorite, but I guess I'm leaning towards the halibut? Or maybe the veal? Or the risotto...GAH I DON'T KNOW.

I ended with a cappuccino, and we shared two dessert plates.



I love artistic foam! Beignets (which were actually a variety of fried pastries, including donuts, beignets, and an apple fritter) and a trio of dipping sauces:



and the "Cinnamon Toast Crunch." you had me at "donut ice cream."



I would HIGHLY, HIGHLY recommend this place for a swanky night out. The view was amazing, the ambiance was fun (if a little slick), but the food far surpassed my expectations.



Oh, and just in case you were wondering what we did on our ACTUAL anniversary?

Sweet Lucy's BBQ in the northeast.





I may love me some sweetbreads and cappuccino, but ribs and messy, vinegary Carolina BBQ sauce is where it's REALLY at for me.

Fish and a Mac

Last night, PhillyGuy and I went to dinner at Fish.

I've been wanting to head here for a while, and was so glad when PhillyGuy told me he had randomly made us a reservation. It was a gorgeous night, so we sat outside on Lombard:

Started with some beverages - glass of red zin for me, Small Craft beer for PhillyGuy.

We split a plate of seared scallops to start, served with roasted beets, mustard seeds and Nueske bacon. I also had a couple of oysters. Unfortunately for YOU, I'm a bad blogger and completely spaced on taking a picture until after we had annihilated everything...

As you can see, they were obviously just terrible. :)

When we were ordering, I told the waitress that I wanted a couple of oysters, but that I knew very little about them, except that I liked them. She was patient and informative and described each of the six varieties to me, WITHOUT making me feel like an idiot. Huge points for that. And the oysters did not disappoint - the Wawenauks, in particular, left me feeling like I'd just gotten hit in the face by a wave. I can deal with that.

For an entree, I selected the wahoo, which was served with a roasted onion, mushroom and fava bean presentation, over a lobster puree.

PhillyGuy went with the grouper, which was served with a cream sauce, peas, thinly sliced ham, and a pierogie. It sounded random - but holy cow, it was unreal.

The portion sizes of everything were perfect -- we finished our dinner (punctuating with "OMG" and general moaning) satisfied, but looking forward to dessert. And thank god for that.

We went with the key lime tart:

and the chocolate torte:

OH. MY. GOD. Now, I'm a HUGE sweet-and-salty person. Once I saw the words "dark chocolate," "pretzel crust," and "salted caramel" in one dish, I knew it was for me. And yes, it was everything I'd dreamed of and more. I had a small taste of the key lime tart, and it was delicious -- but it didn't stand a chance next to the torte.

Annihilation:

I kept telling PhillyGuy on our way home that I could die happy. Seriously, if we were crushed by an errant meteor or something, I'd have absolutely no regrets whatsoever. Suffice to say that we'll be heading back to Fish for sure.

Our other big purchase of the day was a brand-new MacBookPro for me. I spent a bunch of time this morning setting it up before I headed out for my run...but unfortunately, I forgot about my camera cord. And sometime between when I left for my run and when I returned, sweaty and smiling? Little Miss Sophie had gotten bored and chewed up my cord. She was nice enough to leave the USB piece untouched, but she completely destroyed the piece that hooks into my camera. So, before I can share pictures of my new toy, I need to head out and pick up a new cord. Which I will remember to keep in a dog-safe place.

"What, mama? I'm just an innocent lil' puppy."

Happy holiday weekend all!