Touring the Woodford Reserve Distillery

Oct 30, 2013

Also, while we were in Kentucky last weekend, we were able to tour the Woodford Reserve distillery.
Now, I'm not necessarily a bourbon connoisseur. 
Actually, I've never even tried it until last weekend.
The tour was excellent, and after hearing all about bourbon for an hour I felt like a seasoned professional.
We had a great tour guide, Larry, who had great jokes and told us the inside scoop (even though I would assume he tells most groups the inside scoop).
We learned that 95% of the world's bourbon is made in Kentucky.
That's really the only fact I remember.
Oh, and "bourbon is whiskey but whiskey isn't bourbon".
They had a strict "no shooting" rule.
I'm also ashamed to say that I've never actually "sipped" any liquor.
They did have some chocolate covered bourbon balls though, that made great chasers.

We can't wait to check out some more stops on the Bourbon Trail, with the boys in tow of course.
If you have any recommendations, send them our way! 

A Weekend Getaway to the Bluegrass

Oct 29, 2013

I spent last weekend in Kentucky with two of the greatest gals of all time.
We laughed hysterically 99% of the time, and enjoyed plenty of great food, horses, gorgeous fall foliage, and only a little booze the other 1% of the time.
Kentucky was gorgeous.
For some reason I particularly loved the fences surrounding the horse fields.
The flight in blew away all my expectations.
The airport was surrounded by fields of rolling hills lined with trees covered in golden leaves.
They were everywhere and so darn cute.
Friday night we caught up over drinks and stuffed our faces at Village Idiot.
Saturday morning I woke up to the sweetest, cuddliest pup Ringo, Nicole's golden doodle.
Wasn't his jockey outfit the greatest?
We spent Saturday enjoying the horse races at Keeneland.
It was a bit chilly (thanks for participating, sun) but we had an absolute blast!
. . . a horse race in Kentucky wouldn't be complete without some Mint Juleps.
I chose the winning horse!
. . . and won $5.75
How freaking cute is this little booger though?
The highlight of the weekend (food-wise) was brunch at Doodle.
Peach bellini with egg filled biscuits and cheesy grits.
Heaven in my mouth.
 I didn't want it to end.
Nicole took us on a lovely tour of the area and we got to see the Martin Castle.
Supposedly, it was recently renovated after being abandoned for years after a man built it to woo his woman in the 70's.
True love, eh?
Nicole also gave us a pretty fantastic tour of the UK campus as well.
We visited the local record store and then followed it up with a few drinks and tacos on the patio at The Local Taco.
Again, such great food.
The company was even better though.
Nicole and Ringo were such wonderful hostesses.
I'm so thankful to have made such great friends and appreciative of the great time they showed us.
. . . now I can't wait to show them around Dallas, and for Ringo to meet Sir Charles.
They are [fraternal] twins separated at birth I tell ya.

Happy Things

Oct 25, 2013

Lately life has been crazy.
Is it really the end of October?
It seems like everything is going a bazillion miles an hour, but it's always good to take some time to look around and appreciate the happy moments.
Happy moments like . . . 

. . . finally convincing Josh to hit the trails with me again.
I'm kinda in love with mountain biking.
Even though Dallas is definitely lacking some mountains, we've still got some fantastic trails with steep drops and sharp turns and creeks and trees and rocks galore.
. . . finding $12 shoes at Madewell and the only two pairs left were my size.
They were originally $60. I put bargain shoppers to shame.
. . . finishing a bag of candy corn m&ms on a lazy Saturday morning breakfast in bed.
. . . having fancy non-alcoholic drinks to consume on call days.
. . . being crowned the all-time laziest pumpkin carvers ever.
At least Charlie still loves us.
. . . praying these bad boys can make a comeback.
These Birkenstocks were my high school staples, I'm shocked I held on to them this long but they are the most comfortable shoes I own. 
. . . surprising Josh with some sweet treats after a particularly sucky day of work (that I'm pretty sure I selfishly subliminally bought because I love them) 
In other happy news, I'm heading off to Kentucky today for a girls weekend smacked full of mint juleps, horsey races, and quality time with two of my favorite girls.

Brewsday: Peticolas Brewery Tour

Oct 23, 2013

A few weekends ago (after I recuperated from my week long Philly work conference coma) Josh and I enjoyed a longgggggg relaxing weekend in Dallas.
Finally.
Although we live here, we rarely have a spare weekend (that can involve alcohol)
If we aren't busy with a wedding/shower/engagementparty/vacation then we are only in Dallas for the weekend because I am on call.
We decided to test out one of the newer breweries in town: the Peticolas Brewery.
Josh has been wanting to go on this tour forever.
He's annointed this local beer as his all-time favorite in the area.
It sometimes seems like their beers are pretty hard to find around here, and we quickly learned why.
The man who started the brewery is Michael Peticolas.
He's a lawyer with an excellent taste for good quality beer. 
He only recently hired employees, and from overhearing a few conversations during the tour, I gathered that it's pretty darn hard to get hired by him.
He's quite the cocky confident fellow, but we loved it.
He gives each tour himself, and if you are standing around chatting with your friends distracting others from learning all about beer, then he promptly and loudly asks you to leave the room (via his megaphone)
He was awesome.
He doesn't advertise or bottle his beer.
He relies on the power of the people to spread the love for his beer via word of mouth.
If you like his beer, you go to a bar and ask if they have it on draft.
If enough people ask for it then the bar will start thinking "What the heck is this Peticolas and how can we get some?"
It may sound crazy, but it's working.
They only do tours every 1st and 3rd Saturday of every month.
If you are in the area and have some spare time, I'd highly recommend checking it out!
If you can't, then find some on draft and take in all the hoppy goodness.

A little insight into my work life

Oct 22, 2013

A while back my best blogger friend Morgan asked me to write a guest post for her blog.
She has always had a fascination with the medical field so she wanted to know what a day of my life was like.
Now contrary to what you may believe, it's not all guts and gore, or all Grey's Anatomy.
It's crazy and sucky and rewarding (and involves entirely too much paperwork).
Darn you Obamacare. 
Jk. 
It's just fun to blame everything on Obamacare.
 Go here to see the post.

How bout them dawgs?

Oct 21, 2013

This weekend we returned to the greatest city in Louisiana for our college homecoming game. 
The game was terrible, but the city was excellent.
We had a blast catching up with all of our friends, and satisfied all of our cravings we have developed ever since we left Ruston.
Post-game celebrations at Ponchatoulas were a necessity.
. . . and a Sunday lunch at Sundown was vital for our sanity.
This may look like a regular 'ol chicken sandwich to you, but this little thing consumes my dreams.
Grilled onions, swiss cheese, toasty toast, fresh cut french fries and homemade honey mustard. 
mmmmmmmmmmhmmmmm.
It was a weekly staple for four years of my life.
It would be a lot easier to leave Ruston if it wasn't so darn cute. 
Josh's one requirement on our way out of town:
Let me elaborate:
Johnny's Pizza started in Josh's hometown. 
Since then it has exploded and become the greatest pizza in all of Louisiana.
(In my humble opinion, but also everyone other Louisianaian's humble opinion as well)
They attempted to franchise in Texas (we even had one in Dallas for a little while) but Texas people don't seem to appreciate Johnny's in the way that we do.
Needless to say, many of the Texas locations aren't doing too hot.
We lost the Dallas one recently (RIP) but we survive the draught via Johnny's Take and Bake pizzas.
Thank you sweet baby Jesus. 

Our new anniversary tradition

Oct 17, 2013

In one month from today we will be celebrating our first year of marriage.
What the heck, right?
It has really been a whole year already?
Sheesh.
Last year while we were planning our honeymoon, I had far too many daydreams about our one year anniversary trip.
I rarely discussed my ideas with Josh, because I wanted it to be a surprise for him.
After all his hard work planning our honeymoon in Iceland, I really wanted to return the favor with an awesome trip.
I had it all mapped out in my brain, I just left out one minor detail.
Money.
I had no clue where we would stand financially at this point in our lives.
I guess I just assumed we would have an endless amount of savings to pour into a week long adventure out of the country.
Now, we rarely say no when it comes to travel or concerts, so I have no reason to complain about "funds being low" because we aren't necessarily penny pinchers.
Needless to say, my big imaginary anniversary trip is going to have to wait until next year.
This year, Josh is planning a surprise mini vacation over Thanksgiving weekend to celebrate our first year of marriage.
We decided that we would take turns planning surprise anniversary trips each year.
Now that he has officially booked the flights, he is letting me announce my guesses
(I haven't even told him my guesses yet in real life).
The only hint he gave me is that a passport is not required.

My top {American} choices (in no particular order):

Alaska
. . . mainly because I want to catch a salmon and eat it within 30 minutes from catching it
Also, because I feel like I deserve a second chance at the whole northern lights thing.
I'm still holding a grudge, Iceland
Also I kinda need to see Christopher McCandless's bus.
Portland, Oregon
. . . mainly because of Voodoo Donuts
. . . not to mention my intense love for the pacific northwest
. . . and also Multnomah Falls
Bend, Oregon
 Almost Canada, right? 
 Slacklining Smith Rock is a necessity.
Portland, Maine
I've been craving lobster soup ever since we left Iceland
I also need to know what the heck a potato donut is

Lake Tahoe 
I can't go a winter without snow skiing
Regardless of where Josh has chosen, I know we will have a blast.
Heck, we could go to Detroit and have fun together. 
All I'm craving right now is a cabin nestled in the mountains.
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