socks are the feetiest

There are some songs that are great at every age. I love “Everywhere I Go”.

snoop floops

I don’t think I have a biological clock.  My niece is the cutie-est but I don’t seem to want to create my own mini-me.  We all have our priorities, I suppose, and mine seems to be sleep and extra cash.

Just got back from spending a few days in the heartland with the fam.  My niece is three and quite the sweet loon.  She was my shadow for much of my stay.  She can’t quite wrap her tongue around the words “Fruit Loops”, calling them “snoop floops” instead.  I’ll never call them fruit loops again.  She suffers from mild separation anxiety, and won’t let me pee or shower by myself.  I lost my last shred of dignity this past weekend as I tried modestly to shower while she peered at me through the glass shower door and hooted, “I see your butt!”  She won’t let you brush her hair, put clothes on her, or potty train her.  She’s a little bed-headed princess.

The Thirsty Bunny is finally posting on his food blog, Splendid Table, again.   He’s getting a Masters of Gastronomy at Boston!  I’ve gotten him tuned into Tableau Vivante too.  Here’s hoping for posts on different kinds of salt and olive oils!

if firemen were in charge

I meant to post this commercial a while back – a very clever election year ad by Nextel. Normally, I don’t like being a shill (I’m not one of their customers anyway). Also, you’d think I’d have more respect for the institution of Congress having worked there for nearly six years. You’d be wrong. I’ve been in the executive branch now for six years and reckon that my esteem for the legislative branch went south about 5.5 years ago. Don’t hate on the civil servants, people. I’d say more, but would like to keep my job.

the quest continues

We have coupons for 30% off at Off Fifth and tomorrow the quest for the Handbag of Glory continues.  Or, for shoes I can wear to Manic Bride’s wedding.  Maybe in canary yellow.  Teh Smitten ain’t so much into handbags so he might just get jeans.

Nick & Nora

Teh Smitten and I had a very relaxing Friday evening.  We gave the pots and pans a night off and walked down to the Argonaut for dinner and drinks.  The patio and front bar were pretty full when we arrived, but the main dining room and upstairs bar weren’t.  Smit and I headed upstairs, saw that Lee the Bartender was in and made ourselves at home.  We ordered the weisswurst as a starter, and I had the special – lump crab cakes.  Teh Smitness ordered the pork loin chop, which came with a sweet corn creme brulee that was so tasty he nearly licked the ramekin clean.  Everything was great and we both felt that we had ordered the better dish – always a good sign.  Lee informed us that Bobby Flay might be returning to DC to go head to head with the Arg’s chef on fish tacos, so now I am determined to try those out.  The only other place in the DC area where I’ve found decent fish tacos is at Guajillo on Wilson Blvd.   Teh Smit also had a Troeggs weiss beer that was very tasty.

Seeing as we had a well-stocked bar and several netflix movies at home, we decided to skip the hot pasty action at Palace of Wonders.  Also, I had 600 Lb Gorilla chocolate chip cookie dough at home…  If you don’t know already, this is the only frozen or refrigerated cookie dough you should be buying – I can only find it at Giant.  Their oatmeal, raisin and white chocolate chip is also excellent.

We popped in The Thin Man (William Powell and Myrna Loy), ate cookies and had cocktails.  Such a great old movie!  I have now put the entire series into Smitty’s netflix queue.  If we had a bigger place we would give Nick and Nora parties.  (And if I were rich and thinner, I’d dress like Nora Charles.) Teh Smitten already channels Nick anyway…  It was a good thing we chose to stay in last night as the rain started coming down sideways a bit after 10 pm.  Maybe if it stays clear we will try Horace & Dickie’s tonight!  In addition to the fried fish, the fried chicken is supposed to be outstanding and the place is super cheap.

honorable mention, who are you people?, and trip update

One of Teh Smitten’s high school friends has an excellent food blog – Tableau Vivante. (Bunny – you should take notice of this with all your gourmet tendencies. You haven’t posted on your own food blog since 2007 and that is just sad.)

I realize I should have highlighted this very good blog much sooner, but she hosted a spring/food related Haiku contest and I wanted to minimize competition. (Sorry, bitches. Its just how I roll.) The prize was a bento box. Yes, I know. I don’t cook and wouldn’t have the slightest idea what to do with a bento box. Well, I could make pbj’s, cut them into triangles and throw some Pringles and grapes into one… Or stuff it with spaghetti. The point is that I don’t know what I’m doing so its a good thing I didn’t win. (Although posting photos of a spaghetti-stuffed bento box sounds funny.)

I did, however, garner an honorable mention. Pretty spiffy! After reading TV, I am now interested even more in the idea of making my own ratafia cordial.

Also, the posting I did about the local restaurant, NAPA 1015 (and my love of my local liquor store) garnered about 215 hits (not necessarily individual visitors) more than I’m used to on a daily, or weekly, basis. Seems the all-star Frozen Tropics (a well-known/respected neighborhood blog) discovered the post and linked to it. I had to go back in a do a quick edit after finding grammatical errors.

Still no word from Clam Gulch, Alaska. Who is Clam Gulch and why won’t they speak up? I get the DC, Chicago, NYC, Boston, LA and San Jose hits, but not Alaska.

Lastly, here’s our current draft itinerary for CA. I’ve decided to skip the Paso Robles area and stick closer to Carmel by the Sea, Monterey and Santa Cruz.

June 7 – arrive late-ish at SFO – stay in SF?

June 8 and 9 – Carmel by the Sea

June 10 – Santa Cruz?

June 11 – fetching friends from SFO, so maybe stay in SF?

June 12 and 13 – San Jose for wedding.

June 14 – SF – probably near SFO since we’re flying very early on the 15th.

Lodging has been nailed down for Carmel (Sea View Inn for the 8th and 9th) and San Jose (12th and 13th) so we have to settle the rest. Every time I think I find a deal online or in a travel book, I read these frightening reviews on Tripadvisor and promptly give up. We want to see the St. George’s Distillery and probably Scharfenberger Chocolate Factory out near Oakland, and I would like to maybe see Muir Woods since its been 32 years since I last visited. I also want some authentic Mexican food (since there sure as hell ain’t any in the DC area). Once again, your suggestions are welcome.

local crafty

I put off the documenting of last year’s trip to the UK for way too long and getting back into the scrap booking mode has been tough.  I lack the many accoutrement’s that my mom and sister have accumulated and so am getting by on the bare minimum.  Last weekend I braved the Michael’s craft store out in Springfield for the basics and found it really overwhelming.  After some digging around, I discovered that there is now a local craft shop on Capitol Hill (Eastern Market) called Ipso Crafto – it is right next door to Stitch DC.  I keep meaning to go to Stitch DC’s beginning knitting classes.  I still don’t know how to cast on!  I realize the knitting fad has already come and gone so its not like I’m trying to keep up with anybody.  Ipso Crafto is much larger than it looks and is pretty diverse.  It hosts scrap booking nights and one-on-one sewing classes.  Pretty neat.

I love my neighborhood sometimes.

Unf, Teh Smitten was involved in a minor car accident today.  He seems to be fine but his cute little car has been marred a bit – mostly cosmetic – but it means he can’t get his car inspected and registered this week like we had hoped.  Stupid touron (tourist + moron) drivers.

UPDATE:  The after hours ticket witches are very active in my neighborhood on the Hill.  If you have a bf or gf who drives, who lives outside of DC and visits often, be aware that they issue $100 tickets after a couple months of seeing a non-DC car regularly.  They have this satanically efficient little van that takes photos of the cars as they drive down the street.  So, even though Teh Smitten had planned to take his vehicle in for inspection and registration today (as we are now officially living in sin), he was ticketed last night.  This is how they must pay for the stadium and Michelle Rhee’s salary…

clam gulch, ak?

I have a reader in Clam Gulch, Alaska.  How did they find me?  Who are they?  I know most of the people who read Allez oop and I don’t know anyone in Alaska.

Thankyouverymuch.

NAPA 1015 and an embarrassment of inebriants

Teh Smitten and I hit NAPA 1015 for dinner tonight and it was great.  I’d read about this new restaurant, just a couple blocks from my house, on Frozen Tropics (a neighborhood blog), and understand they’ve recently changed their menu.  Also, they’re supposed to have an excellent brunch.  One of the owners shared that the menu will be changing again next Wednesday (when they hold gratis wine tastings from 5-7 pm) and we’re keen to go back.  It is probably the best restaurant on H Street, NE.  Considering how much we like both Dr. Granville Moore’s and the Argonaut, this is saying a lot.  We no longer have to go across the Hill to Belga for excellent food!  If you are nearby (or even if you’re not), please go.  I like this place way more than Sonoma and the staff are really knowledgeable and friendly.  I’d like to see this place do well and stick around.

To start, we had the chicken brochette – it game with a carrot and raisin salad that was flavored nicely with cumin.  I had the garlic-herb seared Angus flat-ironed steak(medium rare) with wild mushroom ragout over mashed potatoes.  Loved it.  Teh Smit had the lemon and rosemary brined chicken breast with wheat berry pilaf and garlic seared broccoli and liked it very much.  He had a glass of Argentinian white wine and I had a Cabernet Sauvignon.  We liked everything so much that we cleaned our plates and ordered desserts.  If they don’t keep the Key lime tart with a homemade graham cracker crust, which Teh Smit was wise to order, I will cry.  I had the strawberry short bread with fresh whipped cream – it was nice and I figure it will be even better during the height of strawberry season.

Before dinner we made a quick stop by Schneider’s Wine and Spirits (the most brilliant liquor store EVAR) and located St. George Absinthe – manufactured in San Francisco!  St. George Spirits is a place we have been thinking about visiting during our June trip to CA – it is located near Oakland.  I’ve been on the lookout for a brand of absinthe other than Lucid or Absente, and am not disappointed by St. Georges.  It is a bit stronger but more complex, and is mellowed considerably by a dash of water.  We also picked up a bottle of Stone’s Green Ginger wine – which inexplicably mixes well with whisky.  It is a slightly sweet digestif.  We also picked up a Spanish priorat, a South African muscat, a French somethingorother and somethingelse Spanish.  And some beer.  So we’re good at least till Tuesday evening.

On the health front, it was a better week for me.  Aside from some iffy sushi last night (no thanks to Cafe Asia – I won’t be doing raw food for a while as a result and do not recommend their carry out sushi at all), I felt better this week.  Despite the yucky sushi experience I had the best night’s sleep in at least two months last night – slept a solid 7 hours.  Maybe things are finally turning around for me.  That would be nice.