it was a good day

Saturday afternoon doesn't get much better than watching Mizzou come from behind to beat a top 25 team on the road while eating grilled cheese and chicken soup as it snows outside (pretty amazing it is snowing in October).  I'm about to head to the gym and tonight we are having dinner at a place Lelaine has wanted to go to for a while and then meet up with some Mizzou folks.  It was a good day.

this week

Lelaine has been traveling a lot recently.  This last week she worked in LA Sunday through Wednesday, got back into DC on Thursday, and then went to Miami for a bachelorette party this weekend.

I spent most of the week knocking out seasons four and five of The Wire (I had seen them before, but season four is the best season any TV show has ever had) and watching season five of Friday Night Lights.  Both were good investments of my time.

Thursday was our anniversary.  The last four years have gone by amazingly fast.  It seems like it was only a few weeks ago that we were in Pensacola for the wedding.  This week also marked the fifth year we have lived in our little apartment.  It definitely doesn't seem like we left the purple house that long ago, and I never would have imagined that we would have been able to live in our little 650 square foot place for this long.

To celebrate our anniversary that night we went to Corduroy.  We had been once before and loved it.  This time we sat upstairs at the bar, where you can do a three course meal for $30.  It is probably the best deal in DC.  It is a limited menu, but all the choices are on the regular menu and if you sat downstairs and ate the same thing it would probably cost twice as much.  We had a very nice time.

The weather has been gorgeous outside, so I spent Saturday morning and all afternoon...inside brewing beer and watching Mizzou get smashed by Okie State.  Lelaine gave me a beer making kit for Christmas and I decided to try to make it again.  The first time was not successful - probably due to sanitation issues (everything I used was clean, but I wasn't using the best type of sanitizer to sterilize everything).  So far so good, as it appears to actually be fermenting as it sits in the bedroom closet, so at the very least the yeast is doing its job.  We will find out how successful this attempt (American IPA with Kent Goldings and Fuggle hops) will be in about six weeks when it is ready to drink.

I got up early this morning to watch the Manchester United vs. Manchester City game.  City is winning 5-1, and since I dislike the Yankees of the EPL, I am enjoying myself.  The quality of play will surely be similar to that in my game in Rockville this evening.  I hope that the Chiefs fare as well today against Oakland.

Who Needs a Man to Travel

For those of you in the DC area, you might have heard the Bigelows trading shots at each other about places to go on vacation. Some of you may have heard stories of possible trips to Maine, Asheville or Providence. Well, after many years of waiting, I decided, why do I need my husband to travel?

So last weekend, I took a page from the book to the left and set out on my own to Providence and to Newport. I drove very early Saturday morning to avoid traffic and got to Providence just in time for Saturday brunch at Nick's on Broadway. It was a great choice because they had one of my favorite foods cassoulet--except for breakfast. I drove around the city, saw Brown and walked around the downtown area.

I happened to be in town for the "Waterfire" art installation that night. It's a big deal in Providence, but in general it is fire pits in the water that they light up. It's pretty and they play Enya music. But the real highlight was my dinner at the bar at the Capital Grille. I am told that this was the first of the chain. Unlike the DC spot, this Capital Grille was a real local hangout. The bartenders knew most of the crowd. People came and ate there once or twice a week. My bar companion gave me some great history of the Kennedys, Providence and Newport.

The next day I traveled to Newport to see the mansions. I took the cliff walk for a bit and walked around Bellevue Avenue. I now wish my last name was Vanderbilt. I think I could live that life. I had the best meal at the Mooring where I had a half order of the bag of doughnuts which is lobster, shrimp and crab fritter and the best oysters. I also took a drive on Ocean Drive and saw even more mansions. I never thought I would need an extra large house (especially since we live in 650 feet) but I guess I could learn to like it. (that was sarcasm).

Check out our twitter feed for pics of the food. Flickr has the pics of my trip.