Oktoberfest

Last weekend Sexybeast & I went camping to Moreau state park near South Glens Falls. Since we knew we were going to miss Wolf's Biergarten's Octoberfest, we decided to have our own little party at the camp ground.

First night, we could not get the fire started....stupid freshly cut wood that was completely soaked!

The next morning it started to rain when we awoke & all Sexybeast had on his mind was COFFEE. I was heartily looking forward to Kahlua and hot chocolate only to discover that we had forgotten to bring drinking implements. SB was very emphatic that we find a dine & STAT. I would have settled for Dunkin' Donuts but off to find a diner we did. Garmin gave us some bad directions and we got turned around before we found Maude's Kitchen. I la-la-la-LOVED this place. It was fun and quirky and I got a great recipe for hot buttered rum. The curtains were old aprons! So cute. All the coffee cups were mismatched and every table had a kitchy set of salt & pepper shakers. I highly recommend the hash browns....not a hint of grease & a pleasant taste of paprika. SB was happy w/ his sausage gravy & wanted to have gravy at every meal. It was not to be though :-(

I could not wait for a shower! The bathrooms were very spacious and clean. BUT the water was c-c-c-c-COLD. Freezing. It was awful! I had about 2 minutes of hot water & then back to COLD.

To kill some time while it rained, we saw an amazing exhibit at the Hyde Museum of children's book illustrations. Sendak, Di Paola & Steig...OH MY!

Lunch at Davidson Brothers Brew Pub. Great service, great food & according to SB great beer. I had a glass of pinot grigio & chocolate w/ Godiva liqueur & Bailey's.

A real fire courtesy of Hannaford!

Then relaxing by the fire & reading. The rain did not bother me in the slightest.

SB consumer many franziskaners while we prepared the feast. Pork schnitzel, red cabbage & spaetzel w/ gravy. The cabbage was out of this world good! Fresh from our garden and brown sugar combats the cabbagy bitterness.

Proust!

Meat ya Later!

SexyBeast & I had a chance to check out the 4th Annual Festival of Meat. SB was in heaven! There was clams, pulled pork, suckling pig, steak & chicken wings. Plus an array of potato side dishes, corn on the cob & fried Twinkies. $25 for the whole lot.

SB was even more impressed the Elk's Club's bar, $3 for gin & tonic. He got THRASHED!

Overall, it was pretty good. I didn't have any of the porks or the clams and the steak could have been bloodier.

Hall o' Famer

It's no secret that summer is my favourite season, the hotter the better I say. I also say the wetter the better but that's a story for another time.

Anyway, SB and I are lucky enough to live close enough to some amazing campgrounds on the banks of cool and refreshing lakes. This past weekend we shot up to Glimmerglass in Cooperstown.

Last year we stayed at the rustic sites, roomy area but port-a-potties and 10,000 miles away from the showers. This year we stayed at a site a few feet from the facilities but smaller sites right on top of each other. I preferred having neighbors.

We spent all morning at the beach, swimming & reading. Not at the same time of course! Then lunch in Cooperstown @ Alex & Ika. I had the open faced chorizo sandwich & mixed green salad. I'm such a sucker for a home made vinaigrette. SB had a hanger steak and fingerling potatoes. WOWIE ZOWIE! I cannot recommend this place enough, peeps. And the sangria! Oh the sangria! They make it w/ port, I could have had 5 of those suckers.

Then more fire. Music. Uno. Laughter.

Nein ich bein

SB and I went to Schnitzel-Fest at the German American Club in Colonie. Colour me surprised as I had never known there was a German American Club, let alone it was on some random side street in Colonie.

Anyways we get there @ 7, just as the oompa band took the stage & oddly enough there was no to greet us at the door to take our money.

So we belly up to the bar, a total old man bar if there ever was one. SB was really excited to have a few liters of Franziskaner.

I partook of some Stella, not German but close enough

There was some confusion about the schnitzel part of the evening. Apparently, you had to RSVP & no where in the Metroland did I read about that. We were frantically told that we had to be served last and there was only pork left. No problem! Except the chef asked if we wanted pork or chicken.....and nobody really wanted to seat us, so we sat at the bar......and they tried to serve us somebody else's schnitzel.

It was damn tasty! We also got some green bean salad & a healthy scoop of mashed potatoes & some steamed mixed veggies. We some how got the shaft on the bread.

It was a really nice meal. I also forced SB to polka for half a second. And we saw old men drink nasty liquor. Here's some high lights, "I'll have a Beefeater's with......Beefeater's." "Did you run out of Johnny Walker Red?"

Non-Stop

It's Tuesday and I'm already wiped out!

The weekend was super packed w/ lots of goings ons. Friday night, I went to a Wine, Whine & Dine party. I only knew 2 people there including the hostess but that did not stop me from having a good time. And not a forced good time either, this was GEN-U-WINE. I came home at 2 am.

Saturday, I got my hair did.....at 9 am. Ugh! I felt like poopity poop but at least I looked fabulous. I unfortunately did not get a nap in before we went out again to our friends' home for "boiled" dinner. The corned beef was sooooo delicious, I think it was the cloves that did the trick. Another late night.


And yet, my old tired body did not want to sleep in. Grr!

Pi Day, or March 14th (3/14), happens to be SB and mine dating anniversary. That's right, bitches, we celebrate 2 anniversaries! We had kicked around the idea of going bowling before going out to eat. But something about going on a date to the bowling alley in the early evening on a Sunday seemed depressing. It's much more fun to go to 11pm Rock n' Bowl. Bring on the black lights, classic rock & cold Coors Light!


Anyway, we headed off to The Standard. I've great things about the food & service and it seemed like the perfect spot for a special occasion meal. We stared off w/ a Manhattan for him & a glass of Prosecco (sparkling white wine) for me. SB was highly annoyed that his drink was $10. Agreed! Since I'm trying to slim down for the wedding, I forewent the fried yummy apps for a pecan, endive & bleu cheese salad. It was great but there was sooooo much of it. I probably only ate 1/3 of it. I also a little taken aback when our server asked if I wanted the rest of the salad in a doggy bag. Uh....not so much, thanks. SB had shrimp lollipops in a panko & coconut crust. SB proclaimed it tasty, though he was worried about poking his eye out on a skewer. For my main, I had lamb chops, a baked potato & broccoli. Now, normally you can only have one side but I really wanted more veggies. I expected a charge for the extra food but $5.50 for broccoli!? Come on! SB wanted braised baby short ribs but they were all out :-( So, he settled on a black pepper crusted filet w/ garlic mashed potatoes. SB really likes his crust! I took dessert to go. I like the idea of snuggling up on the couch in my jammies w/ a sweet treat.

Chocolate cream tartlette, think about that while yr driving to work!

What the Hell am I on about?

I was thinking about this blog. Remember when I used to write about cool stuff? Now I feel like a hack. Fucking hate this time of year!

So a few weeks ago, SB & I went to Stowe, VT. I'm not a skier & for the nearly 7 years that I lived in New England, I never went to Stowe.

We stayed at a cute little A frame w/ some friends that work for the Lake Champlain ferry company. It smelled like mould and looked like it hadn't been decorated since it was built in 1973.

So, the main purpose of journeying to the Green Mountain state was to watch a few of our knuckle headed friends jump into the freezing cold Lake Champlain. My initial thought was "The hell? Why" but after watching groups of people (little kids, fat dudes, etc.) run head first in a frozen lake, I noticed the looks of triumph on their bright red faces. It looked so liberating and fun! So next year, yours truly will be gathering donations and participating in "The Penguin Plunge".

The other highlight of my journey was stopping in at tiny coffee shop. Truly a one woman operation. It's nice to see a small business drive out Dunkin' Donuts! One of the specialities of the house is a "Dirty Chai", an awesome regular chai w/ a shot of espresso in it. Divine!

And speaking of hot drinks, we popped into Lake Champlain Chocolates. So overpriced!!! They could learn a thing or two from Lindt. But I digress. They have a concoction sold there called "Chai & Mighty", a mixture of chai and Mexican hot chocolate. Mix it in w/ some hot milk & a shot of Bailey's and yr in for a treat, my friend.

Maybe my awesomeness will come back soon...

1492

SB & I went to the Amherst/S. Hadley/Northampton area of Mass for the long weekend. We almost didn't go because I couldn't find a cheap hotel room. But thanks to hotwire we stayed at the Howard Johnson's for 57 clams a night.

It wasn't even worth 57 buttons! Ugh! The shower had two heads in it for some reason. You had to have a degree in engineering to turn the fucking thing on. The staircase reminded me of an M.C. Escher painting, yes indeed, there was a staircase to nowhere. The continental breakfast was terrible too! And I'm not one to complain about free food. There were bagels but no bagel cutter. Thank God SB always keeps his Leatherman on him. And when they run of coffee, they run out of coffee. Stick w/ the Lucky Charms.

On to the good stuff! We had an excellent dinner on Saturday when we arrived, at a place that I cannot remember the name of. Sorry! It was the first time I had mulligatawny, I'm staying away from fried apps.

On Sunday, we headed into Northampton to take in the sights. Did a bit of shopping at the used CD store Turn it Up, the thrift store, the book store. And we ended up sitting in the town square enjoying a Starbucks ( I had a chocolate Vivanno) & reading. Check out some of the great pics I snapped.

Sorry for the weird layout, blogger is being a whiny bitch!

My middle brother was supposed to meet up w/ us on Sunday but it was logistically impossible. So, in honour of my birthday, (Oct. 21st in case yr keeping track) he sent me a gift certificate to Northampton Brew Pub. SB got the sampler of beers and a full pint of the Pumpkin Spice. I had a really great tart hard cider. For nibbles, SB had some fancy nachos and I had a chorizo jalapeno thin crust pizza. The layout there is awesome, we sat outside on the 2 tier deck. Just gorgeous! I highly recommend the place.

After a full day of mogging around, we had a late dinner in Amherst at Pasta e Basta. It was a cute restaurant but the food was meh. My meat sauce had little flavour. Still, plenty of places left in Amherst that we have not eaten at yet.

Because of the awful breakfast a the hotel, we ate at the Route 9 Diner. Oh my Goddess! It was truly spectacular diner. SB had challah bread French toast & I had potato latkes. They were crisp, flavourful & not greasy at all. They were so crunchy I am thinking the latkes were rolled in corn flakes before they were cooked.

And of course we had our pilgrimage to Trader Joe's!!!! We got some cider, soybeans, taquitos, amongst other various delicious things. We got the Cha Siu Bao for the first time. They were so awesome!!! SB was drooling and murmuring, "MMMHHHMMM *GRUNT GRUNT* PULLED PORK!"

Can't wait for next trip there!

Wunderbar

Last weekend was Oktoberfest at Wolff's Biergarten in Albany. I love Oktoberfest! A celebration of food and booze?! Sign me up. Plus October is an awesome month, my birthday is coming up soon.

OK, so it cost 7 clams to get in. Then, you have to buy booze tickets. And unfortunately, I did not like their choices of beers on tap. They smelled like old socks. Thankfully Wolff's was open & I purchased a cherry lambic. It was $12! The hell?

For lunch, SB had the schnitzel, French fries & kraut. I had knockwurst, mashed potatoes & beet salad. The beet salad was amazing, crisp & slightly acidic.

We also got free schwag! Gigantic cheap plastic beer steins & little teeny beer stein shot glasses.

We had a great time w/ my brother & sister-in-law, couldn't have had better weather. We'll be back next year, Wolff's!

Magnets & Booze

Oh weekends, why are you so fleeting?

Check out my awesome octopus magnets. During Springfest, my dear friend Melissa, accidentally broke the cute little guy on the bottom. Unbeknowst to her, we glued the little guy back together as good as new. Unbeknowst to me, Melissa was wracked w/ guilt and went on-line to "replace" ol' Bluey. And now I have a fricking awesome pod of octupi on my fridge. WOO HOO!!

Sexybeast & I headed up north to the Adirondacks for Saturday/Sunday. We were tooling around Gabriel's trying to decide what we wanted for dinner. And bright light shone down upon me!

Check it!!! Gabriel's had Lindemann's lambics w/ a specially made lambic glass!!!! OH MY GOLLY!!! All for the low low price of 20 smackers! It came w/ apple & cherry flavours. Nom nom!

And I really fucking out did myself this time. I made summer rolls! I was really worried about using rice paper but it turns out it's incredibly easy. Just make sure you have plenty of hot water on hand. The filling is lettuce, sprouts, carrots, green onions, cilantro, mint & rice noodles. Simple, crisp & delicious. Not featured is the awesome dipping sauce to accompany the rolls, spicy and flavourful. However, you will note that I didn't roll the rolls in a very pretty fashion.

Dance! Dance! Dance!

To keep everybody up to speed: Bootcamp is over :( When it starts up again in the autumn, I vow to keep a food journal if it kills me.

To fill the void, I am taking Zumba. My (future) mother-in-law has been doing it for almost 2 years now and kept urging me to go.

The biggest con about the class is the fucking commute. Suburban Niskayuna is not convenient to get to from downtown Albany. Especially during the 5 pm commuter traffic!

For those of you not in the know, Zumba is like a fast paced aerobic dance exercise class. Little bit of samba, salsa, cha-cha-cha, belly dance & hip hop incorporated into traditional aerobic exercises.

The music is not something I normally listen to.....ever if I can help it.

But it's wicked and I'm usually a gigantic pile of sweat when we're done.

The best part about it is, I'm not the fattest person in class! One of my fellow class mates is in the midst of becoming a Zumba teacher and led one of the dances and she had the biggest bootie I'd seen that day. Big bootie swathed in lycra. I was mesmerized by it.

During one of our quick water breaks in between songs, this middle aged woman said to me, "I just can't believe what you can do w/ yr hips! You shake them so well. How do you do that?" Practise...especially w/ a loved one ;)

Summertime Fun

These were are digs for the weekend. SB and I headed up to Glimmerglass State Park on Friday out in Cooperstown. iPhone must have had a bug up it's butt because we circled around the camp ground for 30 minutes before we got there. ARG!

The major pro for staying @ GG was the Otswego Lake located w/in several feet of our "primitive' camp site. The water almost looked blue, it was like swimming in a bath tub, y'all! Gorgeous!


SB rigged up a clothes line a protective covering for his beer. But the fascists that run the camp site said it against the rules to have ropes hanging from the trees.

Here's the new and poopier version :(

Another pro for the camp ground is they sell dirt cheap fire wood, $5 a bundle.






SB & I had a last minute conversation about the food we wanted to prepare. Dogs, corn on the cob and one night out for dinner. And a mystery bag! At the bottom of our chest freezer, I found a vacuum sealed bag of patties. It came from my Extra Helpings meat box but I couldn't remember what exactly it was. As it defrosted, it became apparent there was onions and peppers in the discs. SB reasoned it must be sausage. Nope, they turned out to be hamburgers. Tasty too!






This corn had a weird baby cornlet/Siamese twin/mutation attached to it. It wasn't edible but this cute little chipmunk sure enjoyed it.



After another delicious swim on Saturday, it was time to hit the showers. Our site only had Port-o-Johns. I'm still trying to forget about them! The beach only had toilets and changing rooms. Where, oh where, could the showers be? Turns out they only had one set of showers at the sites located waaaaaaaayyyyyyyy far away from ours. Plus no parking by the showers. Loooooooonnnnng walk.

After the trek to the showers, we went to Ommegang Brewery for a tour and tasting. We got the Witte, a nice, light summer brew, and Rare Vos which was indescribably good. I also got some dark chocolate w/ pomegranate.

And hey, guess what, there is a Stagecoach Coffee in Coopertown. Neato!

We had cheap eats at a little pub, SB had surf n' turf and I had gigantic prime rib.

That night there was a double thunderstorm. The sky was lit up like Chernobyl w/ only a thin covering of nylon to protect us. It went on for hours on end. It was oddly exhilarating!

Next vacation in August...

Walkie Talkie

Isn't this the creepiest thing ever?!

I had no idea there's a nature trail near my house.
Check it...





Low bridge, everybody down!

And this time I didn't fall in. And all that working out has really paid off, look at that bootie!


More road blocks

Rui Chiu

I had a great opportunity to go white water rafting this Saturday. I was incredibly nervous that my underdeveloped muscles would not be able to keep up w/my fellow rafters. I'm notoriously wimpy and very pussified that way.

Here's a little FYI, you cannot, under any circumstances ever, wear cotton whilst paddling down a river. Which meant I had to wear bathing suit bottoms instead of underpants, no bra & a GIGANTIC synthetic fiber shirt of Sexybeast's. After putting on the wet suit, I resembled a black marshmallow.

After a quick bus ride and even quicker tutorial, we were on our way. Couple things I learned, never take yr hand off the T-grip of the oar. My hand resembled a claw by the end of the day for fear that I would accidentally knock the teeth out of my head.

We headed out on our 20 mile journey. I started out in the middle and then like any good game, we rotated. I needed up in the front w/ Sexybeast. Our awesome tour guide, Madd Pup, decided we needed to have some more fun. I ended up leaning far out of the raft to paddle paddle paddle like a crazy chick. Which was all well and good and righteous except there were ginormous waves. I got smooshed, choking and coughing and trying to paddle. But I did remain in the raft. And I kept the pace the entire time.

Then I ended up in the back and Sexybeast pig piled w/ 3 other people on the front of the raft. And unfortunately, the back of the raft got sucked back into an eddy we were trying to raft over and Sexybeast and company flew into the drink. I got knocked about in the raft pretty hard but I did not fall out. Woo hoo!

Then came the hard part, the last 3 1/2 miles there were no rapids and that's when I really felt the cold and wind and did I mention the snow showers? You paddle to keep warm and I had to make a decision if I was more exhausted or cold.

The best part was the end of the trip, we landed near the rafting center & I had a nice cup of hot chocolate waiting for me. Of course, I had to wait until my hands stopped shaking to drink it but still....

And I found out that peanut butter and granola sandwiches taste really awesome.

Oh Hoppy Day

I realize I haven't been treating my blog as I should. I haven't had the drive and I'm feeling conflicted about whether I should keep on keeping on or pack it in.

For now, here's the run down of my weekend.

We had Seder dinner on Friday night. Unfortunately, we missed the opening prayers because we had to return some mouldy ginger to Gabriel's Market. Anyways, all the usual players were there: Ms. Brisket, Mr. Kugel (BLECH!) and Miss Latke, made my fave way w/ white and sweet potatoes. And a personal fave that we haven't seen in a very long time for dessert, RICE PUDDING. Nom nom nom!

Saturday the weather was gor-ge-ous! Sexybeast went for a 6 mile run and hopefully next month he'll be competing in his 1st race. We went to the park for a grilling feast w/ Albany Jane and her husbear. HMMMM, jerk pork, plantain fritters, beef short ribs and tortellini salad. The park was had a fair amount of people there but it wasn't overly crowded. Good food and good company. Next time, Sexybeast & I need to remember to bring water. Oops, heh heh!

I wasn't feeling that hungry later when we went to my parents but Sexybeast will eat Chinese food at the drop of a hat. However, I did manage to walk to Bumpy's for an ice cream treat, after I roused Sexybeast out of his food coma. Plus, I figured the walk to Bumpy's would negate the calories from the ice cream.

Sunday, there was sooooooo much food w/ SB's family. Just miles and miles of starches, meats and sugar. Sadly, we were forced to bring home a doggie bag. MUHAHAHAHAHAHA!

It was really nice have a simple salad for dinner last night.

Updatelings

As per usual, we had a fabulous weekend, only to be thwarted by Monday.

Friday night Sexybeast and I went to visit my oldest brother and his family. My oldest niece is going to be 10 soon. 10! My Zozo Beans is turning into a young lady. Awww!

Saturday was Eat-Fest 2010. We had lunch w/ Albany Jane, her husbear and fellow food blogger Nicole (whom Sexybeast had casually dated before me! But it wasn't weird and SB totally has a type) at Aashiana for the lunch buffet. Now normally, I am not a fan of buffets, I like my food how I like it and I want it hot. But this was fucking exceptional!!! Sexybeast must have eaten 30 samosas. And, of course, I had to have kheer, Indian rice pudding. It was such a fun, relaxing afternoon. Plus 7 bucks person, perfecto!

And we continued the gorging at Sexybeast's friends' house for "boiled dinner". They bought 20 corned beefs for 11 people. Yeah, I know what yr gonna say. The highlight of the evening was playing games, Catchphrase, Left Right Center, Apples to Apples & Taboo. I freaking love game night! We so rarely get to play any games anymore :( If anybody is up for game night, send me an e-mail!

Sunday we trekked to Lowe's for gardening supplies. Sexybeast has a green thumb whereas I could drown a cactus. But I'm great weeder. So, I purchased a mini "greenhouse" to grow herbs, basil, catnip and mint. I'm really excited because it's basically similar to growing paper whites, no muss, no fuss. And Sexybeast decided to get a jump start on the peppers.

Nummy veggies for the season :D

Weekend Wrap-Up

I've had a shitty week and it's only Tuesday. But I had an amazing weekend.

Friday night SexyBeast and I hunkered down to watch Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles ("are you Sarah Connor?) and Dollhouse. *Le sigh* I wanna like Dollhouse 'cause I'm a huge Joss Whedon fan but this fucker has been on for a month now and eeeehhhhhhhhhhhh. When's it going to be good and stay consistently good? And I sucked down a Krieg cherry lambic. I am so addicted to that stuff. I dream about it when I'm a work on a Tuesday morning.

Saturday, SexyBeast went for a run and I did absolutely nothing. SexyBeast is the runner. He now has huge Hulk thighs! After being fed and watered, we trucked on out to Hadley, MA to go to Mecca (read Trader Joe's). It took about 2 hours to get there but the gas is actually cheaper down there so it all evened out in the end.

After being surrounded by yummylicious food bargains, SexyBeast needed to be fed. I felt all Sylvia Plathy driving into Amherst. We ate GIGANTIC cheap burritos from Buena y Salo (Good & Healthy). I had veggies and guacamole, lots of peppers and beans and rice. SexyBeast of course had spicy beef and sour cream. I was full for hours.

Like any good college town, there was the ubiquitous awesome cheap bookstore. One of my purchases was The Lonely Doll by Dare Wright. Dare was a Canadian model turned photographer. There's something vaguely disturbing and sweet and weird about this children's book (1st published in 1957).

We finished out the day by having awesome awesome Vietnamese at Van's in Albany. Reasonable pretty eats. Yummy yummy pho.

Sunday we decided hike Thatcher Park. It was very very windy and turkey vultures abound. But the sky was blue. We soldiered on. Hey, let's grill Trader Joe's chicken jalapeno sausages. After 10 minutes of feeling like Mary Poppins, we ate in the truck.

Check out my photos.....

My Rockin' Weekend

My lovely friend Jess at http://randompics25.blogspot.com invited myself and SexyBeast to come down this past weekend to Pennsylvania. After SexyBeast consulted his spread sheet, he determined we could go and get our Philly on.

It's a quick 3 and 45 minute sojourn to get to Horsham. Unfortunately some of the trip took us through New Jersey. Meh! And to get immediately acclimated to our surroundings we ate some Philly cheesesteaks. The miracles of Cheese Whiz! And we sat and chatted and drank some Krieg cherry lambic. And by some I mean an entire bottle.... by myself. I had to though. Poor Jess is pregnant and I had to drink for two.

SexyBeast and I had some company in the bed. Jess and her finance's 2 black kitties kept us company all night long. Whether we wanted them to or not. Heh heh.

The next day, the boys continued drinking and pontificating while us ladies went to have a pedicure. It 37 bucks for 50 minutes of pampering. Well worth it. I have "A Ruble for your Thoughts" on my tootsies and 3 days later the bottoms of my feet are still very soft.

The highlight of Saturday was going to Little Marrakesh, a very authentic Moroccan restaurant. (check them out at www.littlemarrakesh.com) The decor was awesome, all jewel tones, comfy couches to sit at and candle light everywhere. Friday and Saturday nights Little Marrakesh offers their Sultan's Feast, a 6 course meal served family style. #1 Casablanca salad that included diced tomatoes, cucumbers and green peppers, hummus, eggplant (blechy) and cumin dusted carrots and steaming hot pita bread. #2 Atlas Bastia (you can see the photo in the previous post) phylo dough shell dusted w/ cinnamon and powered sugar filled with chicken, eggs and almonds. #3 Berber Tagine, a whole chicken served with green olives. You didn't even need a knife it was so moist and delicious. #4 Casbah couscous with onions, raisins and chick peas. I feel that couscous should be served with every meal. #5 Shish kabobs we had two beef and two veggie and all yummy-licious. #6 Moroccan baklava with hot mint tea. As many of you recall, I hate honey. For whatever reason, I found this dessert to be fantabulous. It was a great night, relaxing, lazy, decadent. Little Marrakesh also has entertainment, live belly dancers. 3 young ladies shook what their mamas gave them. There was one dancer in particular that was had a very big belly. But she looked amazing and when it came time for audience participation, I joined it. It was very freeing and I felt like a sex bomb.

Sunday we slept in and then gorged ourselves at the Cracker Barrel. We capped off our mini vacay w/ a trip to score some cheap liquor and quickie tour of the airplane museum.

Hopefully next month, I'll be regaling everyone with another mini vacation adventure.

The Plot to Kill

Spring has sprung in the Capital District and SexyBeast and I decided to take full advantage of the warmer weather. March 14th was our one year dating anniversary (also known as pi day to the ubergeeks out there!) and we planned to kick back and take it easy.

We got up Sunday to find the sky blue and the sun refreshingly warm. I had on my Merrill hiking boots, sturdy and comfortable. SexyBeast harumphed at them. I thought "Pshaw! What does he know?" We drove over to Plotterkill in Rotterdam, NY. FYI "kill" is Dutch for creek. Nothing sinister in the name at all. When I was in high school, the head bangers would hang out there and drink and fuck and fight. And put up nasty ignorant devil worship graffiti.

Did I mention that Plotterkill is in a higher elevation? We were surrounded my snow. I was now wishing my boots were water proof. We tarried on, carry not to slip on the ice. "I hear the creek! Let's check it out!" We made our way and  I noted this hike is not for beginners. And yes there was the creek but no bridge. We walked farther up to see if the creek head narrowed. No such luck. SexyBeast tried to fashion a home made pathway out of fallen branches. It looked too unsafe to try. Then we discovered a fallen tree. SexyBeast went 1st, shimmying on his butt. I took the cue from him and I FREAKED out. I made it but I was hyperventilating the entire time, worried about falling and breaking my neck. But we made it...... only to find more water. SexyBeast pole vaulted across. And my feet took a dip in the drink. One foot then the other. I thought I was standing on  a tree root. But we had our Shamwow w/ us so........

We finished our hike on higher ground until we were exhausted. I looked like a hot mess. It was the best part of my weekend.

Mini Vacay!

MLK weekend SexyBeast and I went to Portsmouth,NH. I found a really great deal for the Fairfield Mariott on http://www.hotels.com/, only 60 bucks a night and it was central to everything. Now, I lived in NH for nearly 7 years but never once have gone to Portsmouth. Thank Allah for iphone GPS.

Here's some awesome pictures our the neato throw blanket thingy that decorated our KING size bed. It was more for decoration than warmth. And the 50 stylish kinds of awesome chaise longe and rug. Not only that, we had a copy of the Bible and the Book of Morman. SexyBeast can be seen here reading the words of Joseph Smith.

Then we trucked on over to the Seacoast Museum and lingered on the freezing cold beach to take in the view of the Atlantic Ocean and the Isles of Shoals.

Then the drinking began!!! We checked out the Redhook factory and took a tour and sampled and drank. Oh and we also ate some yummy burgers. All the food at Redhook is prepared with beer. And as a geeky side note, I have officially been to both Redhook factories, the other being near Seattle, WA. Although, Lydia (http://ohmygodgirl.blogspot.com/ and http://www.kiss-and-makeup,blogspot.com/) and I missed the tour 'cause we were having too much fun at the winery across the road. Check out the heiffeweisen and doppleboch.

We proceeded downtown and low and behold at the snooty tooty kitchen store, they had a wine tasting. SexyBeast purchased a bottle of sparkling Pinot Noir. It was sooooooo tasty. We checked out a few stores, my fave was Marco Polo. A fun and wacky place that sells Paul Frank wallets, penis pasta and ironic magnets. It reminded me of Archie McPhee's. I picked up a pin up girl car freshener and a boat load of postcards. I collect postcards and when I have my house, I can festoon the place w/ my collection.

Then it really freakin' cold, so SexyBeast and I hung out at the Portsmouth Brewery to try and decide where to go for dinner. This time I abstained from any alcoholic beverages. But look at how much fun I had.

Finding a place for dinner was a gigantic pain in the asshole. We waited at The Rosa Restaurant for 45 minutes, watching other people get tables ahead of us. At which point it was nearly 8pm and we were tired and hungry. In the cold dark we found McMenemy's upscale Irish pub. SexyBeast had lobster mac n' cheese. It's like him, rugged and refined. I had lamb strogenoff over pesto ravioli. I'm not sure what says about my personality.

We left the next day in a wicked snow storm after we picked up some cheap booze at one of the many state liquor stores.

This trip met all my expectations and I cannot wait for our week long trip to Acapulco next month. Details to follow.