Monday, February 27, 2012

Brooklyn Brewery & Mardi Gras

I started making dinner tonight, and then things happened, and now Heather is on her way over to enjoy this lovely dinner with me.  So I have a little time to blog about things that happened a week ago.  Because my blog is TIMELY like that, people.

About two months ago, the ladies at Cornerstone enjoyed a lovely holiday party that included a small batch Brooklyn Brewery tour.  And I was like, man, my friends would really like that!  Too bad they only have them on weekdays, since we all work on weekdays.  And then this thing called President's Day happened, where you celebrate presidents, and you also get a day off from work.  And I was like, guys!  This is the perfect opportunity!

So we went on a Brooklyn Brewery small batch tour.


Welcome to the Brooklyn Brewery!  This is the part where they serve beer.  Not where they brew it.  Mostly because there is a bar here, and not a bunch of brew tanks.


We all listened attentively as our nameless tour guide (nameless either because he didn't introduce himself or I wasn't paying attention) told us about the history of the Brewery, gave us a rundown of the tour, and informed us that we were, in fact, crashing the Brewery, since it was technically closed.


Look!  There he is!  Our nameless, yet informative, tour guide.


Then we began a tasting of four beers.  This is Andrea holding the... wait a minute... I can remember it.  No, I swear I can.  I know what it is.  It's the.  The.  Uh.

The Radius!  Because it was originally only meant to be served within the radius of the Brewery.  See? I remembered.  It tastes like banana, FYI.


Kristine does not, in fact, like beer, so she didn't really feel the way the rest of us felt when it came to drinking the beer.


Here's the rundown of what was on tap that night, with our nameless tour guide and Erin, Tasting Room Manager, getting ready to serve the next beer.


When it came time to serve the Local 1 (a naturally carbonated, super delicious beer) I said, Kristine.  I will make you try this beer.  So she geared up...


...she went for it...


...and the result was... questionable.


Nope, no longer a question.  She just did not like it.

So she gave the rest to us.  Whee!!


Look at these beer connoisseurs with the Mary's Maple Porter.


Time to see how beer is made!  Hello, big tank.


Teach us more about beer, nameless tour guide.


More learning.


After the walking part of the tour, Andrea, Heather, and I each got another beer to try.  I tried the Brown Ale.  It was yum.


Look at those pretty faces.


Look!  I got in front of the camera too!

Anyways, we finished up our beer and headed to get some delicious Polish food at Andrea's favorite restaurant in Greenpoint, Karczma, which was worth it, despite the cold.


Here's some white borscht with a side of mashed potatoes.  I tried it, and it was delish.


I got the biggest pork chop known to man with mashed potatoes and cabbage.  Like, I said, "can I please have the biggest pork chop in the world?" and they were like, "sure!  Here it is."  Because I get things done like that.

Then we went home because it was the end of dinnertime, and pretty soon it was the next day.  Do you know what the next day was?  Mardi Gras!


My photos are incredibly lacking from Mardi Gras, but we went to Ninth Ward, at 2nd Ave between 11th and 12th.  We got fried pickles to share, hurricanes (of course), and I got a debris dip sandwich.  I'm not sure if it was actual debris, but it was spicy and delicious.


Brendanbrendanbrendanbrendan take a picture with me Brendan!

(He did)

And then a week happened.  And now it's now!

Happy Monday,
Courtney

Thursday, February 23, 2012

The odds are not ever in my favor

1) There are 28 days until The Hunger Games movie comes out

2) The Hunger Games has a Twitter (@TheHungerGames)

3) There's a WEBSITE FOR PANEM: www.thecapitol.pn (Dot PN??  For Panem??  Hyperventilate!)

4) You can REGISTER as a CITIZEN of PANEM!

So I did:


I'm a mechanic from District 6.

And I would be so dead if I was in the Hunger Games.

Wheeeee!
Courtney

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Girls' Night(s)

This weekend was a long weekend.  Thanks, presidents!

Even though arguments can be made for the merits of men, sometimes you just need a girls' night.  That's how we felt this weekend.  So, we had two.

We had already planned a girls' night when we found out Allie got a promotion.  Hurray, Allie!  So, we celebrated with the only kind of sparkling stuff you should ever celebrate with.


Andre!


Just kidding.  That was just for the lols.  I got some Cava from Vinyl Wine, around the corner, which sells both records and wine (a winning combo).


However, you just couldn't tear away the Andre from Andrea (Andre??  Andrea??  GET IT??).


There was enough buffalo chicken pot pie to feed an army (thanks, Rachael Ray!).  And after playing dress-up-Allie-and-Courtney, we headed out...


...to CVS.  24 hour stores are seriously underappreciated in this town.

So while Allie bought some respectable drug-store product...


...Heather and Andrea took pictures.


What you should do at CVS....


...what you shouldn't do at CVS.


Open 24 hours, kids.  Appreciate it.

We headed over to Summit Bar, on 9th and Ave C, which was a nice place with a relaxed vibe, classic cocktails (an Old Fashioned over here, personally!) and a heated backyard patio.  I didn't take any pictures because I felt like it would be too tacky.


BUT at Common Ground the next night, I clearly had no qualms about being tacky.  I think that the prevalence of board games helped that out.

So, it was Apples to Apples and a dirty martini.  Andrea won (by a hair), but my personal favorite combo was: adjective: "overwhelming"; noun: "giving a hug."  It may have been because it was my combo, but let's just look at this objectively, people.


We gathered up the out-of-town girls (and yes, a few guys, so I guess we cheated a bit), pushed together a few tables, and pretended like we don't live in three separate cities.  Mama Jen even put up with my exuberant picture faces.


Uh, you don't live in separate cities, you guys.  Stop hogging all the camera time.

Let's get a GROUP picture, everyone!


"DIANA!  HEATHER!  GROUP PICTURE!!"


"Wait just one moment while I become distracted with your furry cardigan and Heather fixes her hair even though we want this picture to be totally natural and candid, of course."


"Okay now, I'll just put my arm around you, and we'll, like, all get together and smile and have our eyes open..."

 
"Welp, good try, everyone, but it's a bit blurry and there's mega red eye and there are boys photobombing in the background, which is what happens when boys invade girls' night."


"Look at that!  A beautiful picture of the five of us.  Well, your eyes are closed, Diana, but it was the best we could do, so we'll call it a success."

Then Alex took my camera and all of these pictures happened.


Random people.


Random people with funny faces.


Random people watching sports.


Random people... oh no wait, that's us.


Random creep in the backgrou... nope, again, that's me.


Let's all make our most flattering faces and it'll be great.


This is how we had to take all of our pictures on vacation last year because there were only the two of us.


Alas, we wrenched the camera back from him...


...but they took it back one last time for a final self-portrait.

Stay tuned for photos from our tour of the Brooklyn Brewery Monday!  So much can happen in a long weekend.

Love,
Courtney

Friday, February 17, 2012

Georgetown Cupakes Soho (get in my belly please)

Hi friends!  I haven't blogged in a long time because obviously I'm exceedingly busy and important.  Or, like, the opposite of those two things.

However, I've found myself saying "I should TOTALLY blog about that" many times recently, so I decided to do it.  So now I'm doing it.  Hurray!

It's the middle of February, and it's been a strangely warm winter.  I have barely had to bundle!  It's fantastic!  Oh, except for like one day last weekend.  When it was freezing.  When Heather and I decided to stand outside in Soho for an hour.  With inappropriately light coats on.

But it was worth it.  Because... Because...

Georgetown Cupcakes.

Now, some may hate on the fact that I waited in line just for cupcakes.  But LISTEN, people.  I like Georgetown Cupcakes.  And I like doing things on Saturdays that don't involve sitting in my apartment watching Netflix because I watched all of Downton Abbey, so what's the point anyways??


This was the line to get into the shop.  They were giving out a free cupcake just for waiting in it, from 12-9pm.

Oh wait, did I say that was the line?  I lied.  That was part of the line.


This was the rest of the line (taken after obtaining cupcake, of course).


We started off back here.  Honestly, I expected it to be a lot worse.


Getting closer...


We're almost there!

(I'm fairly certain I said "we're almost there" five different times while waiting, and each time Heather told me "actually, not really."  Until we got to this point.  I'm just really optimistic, you guys.)


And then we made it inside!  The shop has a couple of places to sit at the front, and this fantastic and fun cupcake picture on the wall.

I wouldn't let Heather get a balloon because I was afraid it would blow away and she would cry, even if I tied it around her wrist.


Oh... oh my.  So many cupcakes.  How does one decide??


For the opening of the new shop, there were NYC-themed cupcakes topped with little apples (for the Big Apple cupcake), taxis (for the New York Cheesecake) and "Broadway" signs (for the Black and White).


A sampling of flavors for Saturdays (this menu is now hanging on the fridge).


Here's the back of the shop... lots and lots of pink boxes (and people packing them) ready for cupcakes.


It was pretty much a madhouse, but we got our cupcakes within 5 minutes of ordering, so it was structured well.


I tried to steal this KitchenAid mixer because it was covered in pink crystals.  However, on my way out, the woman at the door was all, "uhm, ma'am, you really can't take that.  It's called stealing."  So I put it back.

Just kidding.  Have you ever tried to lift a KitchenAid mixer?  Way too heavy for me to sneak anywhere with.


Then we went to Chipotle, where I took a picture of the box because I knew I would be cracking into it immediately upon return home and wouldn't think to take a picture because I am a fiend.


These are so darned beautiful.  There are two salted caramels (for me and Andrea), a PB fudge (for my roomie Reece's pieces) and a red velvet (my kryptonite).


Heellllooo, red velvet.  Honestly, I love red velvet, I do, but of course the best part is the frosting.  And I have to say, G-town cupcake, I was a bit disappointed.  It wasn't as cream cheese-y as I wanted it to be.

Or maybe it was just overshadowed by...


...the salted caramel.  Come to me, darling.  This was seriously outstanding.


Reece devoured his within minutes (as we both stood in the kitchen, exclaiming over how much we loved the cupcakes, like mature adults) but I made mine last a few days.  It was difficult, though.

My parents are visiting next weekend to see Rent off-Bway, and I think we're planning to take a trip down to Soho to pick up some more cupcakes at some point.  Just keep me away from Broadway, because those crowds I can't even.

Happy long weekend, everyone!  And happy PROMOTION to miss Allie Alessi - we will be celebrating tonight with a girls' night!  If I actually decide to blog more than once every two months, I promise I will post pictures.  Because obviously, we're so cool.  Or the exact opposite.

Love and I hope you missed me,
Courtney