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last weekend, i started and finished i am not myself these days, one of the most amusing and surprisingly poignant memoirs i've read. the story follows a drag queen who moves to new york and falls in love with a drug-dealing hooker. not exactly a heartwarming, fuzzy read, but i found myself in laughter and in tears throughout the book, and oddly enough, i found myself completely relating to the story (though i'm neither a drag queen or a drug-dealing hooker).
if you still don't believe me, i'll let josh kilmer-purcell speak for himself. following is the one excerpt i found spoke the loudest to me, and to my experiences.
i try to make myself realize that i have learned the difference between right and wrong. that there is such a thing as right and wrong. but instead i've learned that these are things– this "right," this "wrong"– these are things that we are told. simply told to believe. these are things we have not tested. and while most of the things we are told may be true, it is not until we have tested them, taunted them, flaunted them, that we truly know they are right. or wrong. or true. or false. or somewhere in-the-f*cking-between. and i think i know now a little better which is which. and i also know i'll never quit testing this world. i'll never rely on common knowledge. or common denominators. or even common sense, for that matter. to do so would be too, well, common.
a worthwhile read for sure.
my friend abby is one of the most fun-loving, hilarious people to be around, so it was no surprise that she chose the chatterpox pub, a quirky bar known for its ample supply of board and video games for entertainment, as the meeting place for september restaurant club.
the girls and i walked in to my mom and her best friend giggling and sampling the different microbrews chatterbox has on tap... a scene that always guarantees a fantastic night and lots of good stories!
the majority of us settled on the chatterbox speakeasy lager, while lisa and deanna sampled a couple of the fun, unique drinks chatterbox is known for (deanna's strawberry lemonade mimosa looked like heaven in a glass).
perusing the menu, i found myself having an incredibly difficult time deciding what to order. while one may expect the typical bar food at a bar, the chatterbox is far from typical. i settled on the mediterranean burger, with sun dried tomatoes, feta and basil pesto mayo on focaccia bread. i think it goes without saying that the meal was absolutely delicious– i devoured every single bite. while this is not far from the norm, the food was on a different caliber than that served at other bars, and there were about 15 other menu items that went on my "must try next time" list.
after dinner, below the lights of the revolving disco ball, as karoake was being set up beside us, we played a round of apples to apples before calling it a night. but it's definitely not the last the chatterbox will be seeing of us ladies!
last night, restaurant club met at il vesco vino, a quaint little italian place settled in a 19th century victorian mansion in st. paul.
it was a gorgeous night out, so the girls and i situated ourselves at a table on il vesco's equally gorgeous patio, complete with waterfall, bar and woodfire oven, which gave off the slightest, sweetest bonfire scent. as the italians say, i was already enamored with the place before i even got my water– the patio alone gave me the tiniest urge to move to st. paul so i could be close enough to frequent the place. (no worries, it was tiny and fleeting. i'm a mpls girl through and through.)
lisa and i split a carafe of a merlot/cabernet blend wine– just sweet enough her, just dry enough for me. disappointed to find they were out of the gnocchi i was so excited to try, i settled for the shrimp and mascarpone tortellini in a browned sage butter sauce. this dish did not disappoint– it was absolutely delicious, and just big enough to leave me feeling full, but not too full.
opting against dessert, the girls and i instead sipped our wine and chatted as the sun set. a beautiful summer night, a beautiful patio, and a delicious restaurant i highly recommend– and, despite its being in the "other city," i will surely be back again.
last night's restaurant club met at my choice, 112 eatery, a quaint little restaurant settled into an old building in the warehouse district downtown minneapolis.
we took the elevator up to the second level and situated ourselves at a table by a big window looking down on the streets of my favorite little city. we immediately poured over the wine list and selected a delightful pinor noir to accompany our meals.
since i've heard amazing reviews of the eatery's pride and joy– the cheeseburger– i ordered that. the gooey cheeseburger lived up to its rave reviews, as i devoured every single bite! served on an english muffin, it was just the right size to fill me up, and definitely not as greasy as the english muffin cheeseburger i tried at nick & eddie's a few months ago.
for dessert, lisa and i split the chocolate pot de creme– basically a fancy way of saying "chocolate pudding." while we could only manage a few bites each of the incredibly rich dessert, it was well worth it (and it was delicious with the pinot noir.)
all in all, this charming little restaurant provided a wonderful atmosphere for wine and conversation, and it served up a flavorful and unique meal. i'll definitely be back to try out some of their appetizers very soon!
last night was happy hour at redstone with the girls, and i must say– this city girl fell head over heels for the little suburban oasis.
though we had to wait upwards of 25 minutes just to get a table on the patio, it was well worth it. (and the wait was expected on a nice may day in minnesota.... urbanites, suburbanites, and everyone in between flock to the patios like the proverbial moths to a flame.)
for a patio whose neighbor is one of those godforsaken shopping malls, the atmosphere was one unlike any i've experienced before. with tables pushed closely together and nestled among trees sheltering patrons from a view of the sears parking lot, the intimate setting was perfect for happy conversation and cocktails.
over a blue moon and jerk chicken fondue with smoked gouda cheese (the most flavorful dish i've ordered in a long time from any restaurant– and for a mere $12, you better believe i'll be back again soon to partake!), my girlfriends and i caught up on our daily lives, our careers, and the next party i'm busy planning. i was so busy conversing and enjoying my surroundings and delicious food, i nearly forgot i had ventured outside city limits and was in fact in the– gasp!– suburbs.
perhaps i need to venture outside the city a bit more often.....
last night was my monthly restaurant club meeting with my girlfriends, my mom, and her best girlfriend.
each month, we take turns picking a restaurant we've never been to before, and try it out. there are so many great places in this city to experience, and what better way to do so than with a few of your closest girlfriends?
lisa's pick for may was alaska eatery, a seafood/steakhouse in st. louis park. it had the atmosphere and feel of something like a timberlodge or outback, but was much smaller and more intimate than the chains.
i'm not a huge meat eater, but i have been getting into seafood more and more, so i chose the somewhat safe choice of a walleye sandwich with parmesan truffle fries. (i was all about those naughty little fries.)
the food itself was a little blah, forgettable, though my walleye did have good texture and taste. (and my stella on tap was absolutely flawless.) after dinner, a few of us decided to split baked alaska for dessert.... gelato surrounded by a marshmallow-ey cover, dowsed in alcohol and lit on fire, left for you to decide how long to let it "cook." we might have let ours cook a little too long, and i wasn't sure how i felt about the gelato/alcohol combination (a weird pairing of flavors, that's for sure), but it's something i would dare to try again.
it's not a place i would necessarily go back to; but then again, that's what restaurant club is all about. trying new things. and, really– it's a night out with my girls. how could i go wrong?
