Another sad goodbye

Living in DC it is common to be invited to a going away party several times a year. So, another good friend of ours is leaving DC--- but just for a year to do public health work at an NGO in India. (It's kind of hard to be mad at that reason) Thankfully, she plans on coming back after a year (hint, hint: Allen and Heather). We had a lovely good-bye dinner for her and I was flattered by the request to make dessert.

Knowing her love for chocolate and strawberries I made a spiced chocolate mousse tartlet with strawberries in a ruby port glaze. I'm pretty proud that the dessert came out looking good on the first try. I figure I need to make sure I give her a small reason to want to come back!

chicago

On Sunday I met Vega in Chicago to see Pearl Jam. It was a short trip - left Sunday morning and back Monday afternoon - but we managed to do quite a bit in a brief time span.

I arrived a little later than I had hoped due to an hour long delay finding a gate when we landed and then track work on the subway that meant taking a bus part of the way from O'Hare to downtown. I had a couple hours to kill before Vega was scheduled to arrive, so I walked around in the chilly 50-something degree temps.

Once he arrived, our first order of business was pizza at Gino's East. Chicago-style pizza is my favorite. I don't understand why it isn't possible for the concept to work elsewhere. Have you ever met someone who doesn't like it? And bonus points to Gino's for having toasted ravioli, which I haven't had for a while, and was a good appetizer while we waited for the pizza. Several slices later, we still had a few hours to kill so we took the advice of a few people from beeradvocate and went to the Hopleaf for a couple of beers. We were able to try a couple from Three Floyds, which isn't distributed to DC. Alpha King Ale was particularly good.

As expected, the concert was amazing. We were in the lower level on Stone's side. They played 26 songs including many I had yet to hear in my previous eleven shows: Long Road, Love Reign O'er Me, Rats, plus three songs off the new album. A guy next to us, also a Ten Clubber, brought his dad. It was his 54th show (his dad's first) and he is going to more than ten on the current tour, including a second Chicago show tonight and several in Australia and New Zealand. That makes my two this tour seem a little light (hopefully Philadelphia in October).

After the show we were finally hungry for another meal. We wanted to find a pizza place that was open, but it was late and we couldn't find one. We ended up getting a couple burgers at the Billy Goat and then headed back to our hotel for the night.

This morning we went to Ann Sather's for cinnamon rolls and then had to head to the airport. I wanted to work in another pizza meal, but I guess it will give me an excuse to go back sometime. The trip was great. It was nice to see Vega and the band.

a croatian, the beach, and a cherry limeade

It was a good weekend for Team Purple House. Our friend BZ was in town on Friday and the weekend started out nicely with dinner with him, Doug, and Katie, followed by a going away party for a friend who is headed to India for a year. We weren't out too late, but late enough that when the alarm went off at 5-something the next morning to go run, I turned it off and stayed in bed.

After getting up a few hours later and eating homemade cinnamon rolls, Doug and my wonderful wife took me to Rehoboth Beach for my upcoming birthday. As you may have read on the twitter, traffic was less than swell. But eventually we made it and found a parking spot within reasonable walking distance of the beach. The weather was nice, albeit a little hot for this midwesterner.

The piece de resistance was dinner and drinks at the Dogfish Head brewpub. It was outstanding. In addition to the usual suspects, we had 120 Minute IPA, Midas Touch, and Palo Santo Marron on tap. And Doug and I had them dig into the cellar for a 2004 Olde School Barleywine and a 2006 Immort Ale. There was even a band playing, which we all enjoyed. A good time was had by all, particularly the overserved ~55 year old lady who commandeered the drums during a break and opened the next set.

Sunday began with a trip to a donut store. Not just any donut store, but the Fractured Prune. They only make cake donuts, but they then take those little circles of goodness and dip them into any kind of flavor you could want. I didn't pick too well - the cherry and mint chocolate chip weren't the best - but everyone was impressed. We then hit the beach and baked in the sun. It was so hot that even Lelaine, who thinks it is too "cold" for the beach unless it is in the mid-80s, had to seek refuge under the umbrella.

Before hitting the road, we...and by we I mean Lelaine and Doug...had a brief pit stop for all-you-can-eat crabs. Three hours later we were on the road. Three hours and a stop at Sonic later we were back to the condo and ready for the impending workweek.

summertime

Saturday was a good summer day. After getting up too early for the 10 Miler training, I was left with a lot of free time as Lady Bigelow was headed to a winery with bookclub (see all the tweets from today). One of the bookclub husbands, Coach 'Hoff, and I decided to grab a little lunch and have ourselves a nice little Saturday.

We went to Five Guys for lunch. Doug joined us, and amazingly, it was his first ever Five Guys experience. Where has he been living? The burgers were as good as always but there was one really positive development. The one at 9th and H now has birch beer, which is pretty outstanding news.

After lunch we hit up the 'Hoffs' roof deck for a day of lounging in the sun, drinking a couple beers, and grilling dinner. Another highlight was after Jerry - another of the participants - and I walked to the grocery store for dinner, we came back with three encased meats: summer sausage, brats, and Italian sausage. It was obviously a good meal, which capped a good day.

My running group is supposed to keep food journals chronicling what we consume each day. I think they would cry if they knew what I ate today.