Thursday, April 19, 2012

The Man's Birthday

The Man had a birthday last week and, while he likes to keep it low key, we did celebrate.  I wanted to share with you a little bit of what went down.


First, we went to a special dinner at North Square that had a beer pairing for each course!  The Man is always looking to try new and different beers, and this selections seemed pretty special, so I though it would be a great choice for his birthday.

North Square is the loveliest restaurant in the historic Washington Square Hotel, which is actually quite romantic.  (Plus a friend of mine is the manager there, so if you go, tell Chuck that Rebecca sent ya!)



I was too excited to remember to snap a single photo until dessert, which was a delicious spice cake with beer ice cream!  The whole menu can be viewed here.

AJ, from Ommegang Brewery, was incredibly nice and came around to each table to talk to us about the pairings and ask us our opinions.  This is the first of many special chef's dinners that they have planned for the hotel's 150th anniversary, so I'm looking forward to going again soon.

As if that wasn't enough, last week, we got on a plane to Raleigh. NC to visit a friend, who, conveniently, also has an April birthday.  We arrived in Raleigh Thursday afternoon and packed up the car the next day to drive out to Wrightsville Beach.

Wrightsville Beach is a small beach town with only about one block of restaurants, but it was exactly what we were looking for.  Our friends have a little one (15 month old, Lucas!) and so we rented a condo from here.  It turned out to be the best choice!  There was plenty of room to spread out and Lucas could go to bed and the grown ups could hang out.  (Except for the first night when he wanted in on the action!)


I ate grits for breakfast and we ate Mexican food from this place both days we were there.  There was coffee on the beach in the morning and, ultimately, the visit was way too short.


But, even though it's still early Spring, it felt like the perfect kick off to Summer!!  We're both looking forward to a lot more beach days (and Mexican food).








Tuesday, April 03, 2012

I'm Nice Men

Oh, dear, Han Solo.  You were my first love, my only love for a long time. 


Then came Indiana Jones.  And, well, let's be honest, they're really just different incarnations of the same guy.

Finally, you get the respect you deserve.  In Forbes, no less.


Photo from here.