Weekend Things & Love/Hate Relationships

Lauren6 Comments

Don’t worry, that’s not a description of my relationship with Joey.  But it is a description of my relationship with him being out of town for the weekend.  It’s that time of the year again… Spring Training!  Which means Joey’s been in Arizona, soaking up the warm weather, time with his grandparents and of course, Rockies baseball.  Meanwhile, I’ve been at home, loudly playing three songs on repeat, eating a bowl of Brussels sprouts for dinner and spending more money than I probably should be.  In other words, love the alone time, hate that I’m missing out on the AZ funshine <— that’s a new word I just made up.  Like it?!  Some other love/hate relationships I’ve been experiencing this weekend?

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The one with my mani/pedi experience on Friday afternoon.  Love how my nails turned out, hate that it ended up making me wayyyy late for my other Friday night plans.  Note to self: If manicurist says she’s running 20 minutes late, just reschedule.  But, fact: Blondes Pink nails have more fun.

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Love that I got to spend the night with these two cutie faces at the Nuggets game on Friday night, hate that someone stole the cash out of my sister’s wallet when she accidentally lost it on the walk to the Pepsi Center.  At least they turned in her wallet, ID, debit card, etc, but bad karma to that person!

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Love homemade almond milk, hate that there’s such a rush to use it.  I’ve only made almond milk one other time a few years ago and I remember being pleasantly surprised by how delicious it was and not so pleasantly surprised at how quickly it went sour.  We’re talking two days quick.  I made sure to make a small batch this time and use it all up between Saturday (when I made it) and Sunday.  So amazingly creamy!  I definitely need to make this a more frequent occurrence.

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How’s that for a complicated drink order?  I missed one box though!

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Love Saturday morning coffee, wedding talk and massage with my mom, hate when my massage ends!  I most definitely took a mini nap during said massage, which is a true sign of how good it was.  At the end, I tried my best to convince my mom she forgot to massage my head.  She knew better, but did it again anyways 🙂

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Could that roasted red pepper hummus look any grosser?

Love this weekend’s PERFECT weather (hello, al fresco dining!), hate that indoor running endurance apparently does not translate to outdoor running endurance.  It was 75 degrees yesterday.  I repeat, SEVENTY-FIVE DEGREES.  Too nice not to go running outside.  I’ve been religiously and exclusively running 3 miles at the gym lately, but I headed outside on both Saturday and Sunday and felt like I’d never run in my life.  Save me.

Love all the restaurant options in Denver (btw, Twitter informed me that one of my favorite restaurants follows me and now I feel like I’ve really made it in life), hate that it’s so fricken hard to park!  Basically it goes like this: 5 minutes to get everywhere, 15 minutes to find parking.  I paralleled and it only took me one try so this is huge progress.

Love catching up with Hannah, hate that it doesn’t happen nearly enough!  Evidence that we are soul mates is that I had been staring lustfully at all the appetizers and her first question was “should we get some of these appetizers?”  Um yes!  Gorgonzola-stuffed bacon-wrapped dates for the win!  I think we are officially up to date on each other’s lives.

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Love Sunday breakfast with my family, hate that no one ordered the “Cornbread Rancheros.”  I’m pretty sure that’s what the restaurant is known for, yet none of us ordered it.  Boo!  I got a brie and veggie scramble with griddled potatoes and although it was tasty I was kind of disinterred for some reason.  Definitely solid (and close!) enough to give it another try though.

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Love that I was able to take my dad to Cheesman Park for the first time — I had no idea he hadn’t been there yet! — hate that I still suck at getting around in Denver without help from my iPhone.  Bad excuse, but Joey does most of the driving so I’m never paying attention to how we get places.  Codependency problems, right?

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Love that I replenished our grocery supply (now that’s a fruit bowl!), hate that I ended up at home with a bag of someone else’s meat?  Like $20 worth of stuff I definitely didn’t buy.  I consulted my sister and she said the store would most likely have to throw it away even if I did return it, so I guess I just inherited some ground turkey and cod filets?  What does one make with cod filets?

And last but not least, love that Joey is home today because I hate how quiet it is around here!

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P.S. I really did have Brussels sprouts for dinner last night.

Denver Restaurant Week: The Oceanaire

Lauren1 Comment

Oh Denver Restaurant Week, how do I love thee?  Let me count the ways.

On a scale of 1-10, how embarrassing is it that I originally learned that as a line from “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” instead of as a famous poem?  Actually, don’t answer that.  Anyways, guess what just ended ended a full week ago?  Denver Restaurant Week!  The week when Denver restaurants of all sizes, shapes and price ranges come together to present us Coloradoans with set multi-course menus for $30/person.  It’s the perfect opportunity to enjoy a meal at some of the pricier restaurants for a more affordable price and it brings great joy to my life.  It also brings great decision making anxiety to my life as I attempt to sift through the very long list of participating restaurants.  But after seeing “Crab Cake Taster” on the menu for the Oceanaire I was sold and after hearing “Salted Caramel Pretzel Sundae,” Joey was more than sold.

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Let’s take a journey through the meal, shall we?

We started with bread… and this plate of chilled vegetables and olives?  Is this a thing?  We also started with a bottle of red wine, because why not?  Also, it was Wine Wednesday so we had to, right?

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Next, we had a choice of appetizer.  As previously stated, I was in it for the crab cake taster so that’s obviously what I ordered.  Joey went with the clam chowder, which I tasted and thought was really good, but not nearly as good as my crabby cake.  It was baked instead of fried so it had this lovely soft creaminess.  I wouldn’t have minded eating 3 more 🙂

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Then came entrees.  I ordered the paella.  It sounded good and I felt like it was a good compromise between meat and seafood, but it was just okay.  Joey’s steelhead on the other hand… AMAZING!  We made a deal to switch halfway through and I was more than okay with passing off the paella.

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We also ordered these giant asparagus.  Seriously, they were freakishly huge.  Joey described them as “like eating a hot dog made of vegetable,” which is both hilarious and incredibly accurate.  Also, Joey decided to order some scalloped potatoes without consulting me — which is rude because all food related decisions should involve me — but then they were delicious and that shut me right up.

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I was expecting to share dessert but we each got to order our own.  In other words, I had to be rolled out to the car afterwards.  Sadly, the sundae was rather boring, but my carrot cake was good.  It had a slight hint of orange to it that I couldn’t decide if I liked or didn’t, but it at least made it a little more unique.  Unless carrot cake always tastes orangey?  I’m obviously new to the world of carrot cake.

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Overall, I liked the Oceanaire, but I didn’t love it.  I felt some of the dishes were just so-so (read: chowder, paella, sundae) and my inner food snob feels like a really standout restaurant doesn’t have anything so-so on the menu.  BUT the crab cake, salmon and carrot cake were so good that the meal still felt special and satisfying.

Up next, our night at Restaurant Kevin Taylor!

Do you have a restaurant week where you live?

Are you a seafood eater?

Are you a carrot cake lover or hater?  I feel there’s no in between there.