Sunday, September 27, 2009

The Overnighter

What a fabulous weekend this was!!! It all started out Friday with a hot date with my husband. After what seems like a year at least, we finally had a sitter come when we didn't have any obligations. Finally the opportunity to go out just for us. We headed for Plattsburgh and had some spectacular food at Anthony's Bistro. A great place to go when you want to raise the bar a little bit.

Last night was a completely different scenario. It was an overnight girls' night out in Burlington. Fun? Hell yes! Lauren picked me up at my house, then we headed to Sierra's before our lovely trip across the lake. We checked in to our hotel which was, to our entertainment, full of Shriners! Picture a hotel lobby with the infamous continental breakfast dining area with about 100 people in their 60's swilling beer. Now those people are seasoned! They were all so friendly! I have to admit that it would have been easy to imagine that they were all there in anticipation of our arrival. I mean the metal drivable camel that was in the parking lot, the Shriner party hats with the tassels and all of that bright red was more than I could have asked for.

Once we laughed our way across the lobby, we hit our room. Nice job with the reservation, Mike. It was a great room with a lovely spot to make martinis.



We enjoyed some snacks and a beverage before we headed out to try to find some new duds for our night out. We weren't very successful, but had quite a bit of fun in the process.



We enjoyed some silly shopping for a bit before we headed to the Burlington ferry dock to meet Briar. She had to work, and couldn't make it over when we were, so she did the walk-on thing. We quickly headed back to the hotel to get ourselves ready to hit the town. So many decisions. Clothes were being traded, make-up lessons were given...definitely girl stuff. Briar had the very tough decision of which shoes to wear, as you can see below.



Once we could officially declare ourselves beautiful, we made the decision of where to eat. We settled on American Flatbread. We arrived at our destination only to discover that there was a one hour and forty-five minute wait. No way! We needed food sooner than that. We walked out the door and were extremely lucky to find this place two doors down....



The place was absolutely awesome. We would all recommend it highly. Not only was the food incredible, it was really inexpensive too. Chicken Satay for $8. I didn't think of taking a picture of my plate before I had started to chow, but I think you get the idea.




With our hunger satiated, we were able to make a decision about where to go next. It didn't take us long to decide on Red Square. We got our drinks and headed outside to listen to a great blues band. It was getting chilly out, so we thought we'd head in to see what the scene was like in there. We ended up having perfect timing and managed to score one of the power booths at the back bar. It was prime people watching to be sure.





Briar even narrowly escaped a wardrobe malfunction!



It was a great place to enjoy each other's company, have a few laughs and check out the latest fashions in Burlington. Definitely different from those in our neck of the woods. We enjoyed ourselves so much there, that we never went anywhere else.



As we left Red Square, we decided that a snack was in order. What's that? You want to stop and get gravy fries from Nectar's? I'm in! Unfortunately I was not under the guidance of Lauren at that time, and ordered way too many fries. We brought them back to the hotel room and did our best to put a dent in them.



With our bellies full once again, we were ready for some serious sleep. We got a few hours in, and met in the lobby the next morning for our free breakfast. We spent the morning shopping more, then finished up our adventure at Three Tomatoes for lunch. We would recommend this place as well (no pictures though).

There's another thing that we would recommend...spending an overnight in Burlington with a few ladies.

Saturday, September 19, 2009

A Wild Night Out

Ironwood played at 20 Main last night, and let me tell you, it was an evening to remember. Unfortunately all of the Ladies couldn't make it, but the two of us who were there more than made up for the absence of the other two.

Let me start out by saying that the evening started out spectacularly! You see Sierra had lost a bet. We had a PTO meeting this week, and before we went we thought we'd make it a little more interesting by seeing who could make the most motions at the meeting. The loser had to bring the winner a dirty martini before the gig. Guess what? I won, which means that my evening started out with a fantastic beverage. That beverage led to others of course, thereby reducing our inhibitions, which leads me to my next and most important event of the evening...

The scenery in the place was amazing! Here's what I'm talking about....

























Need I say more? The previous pictures commemorate the best part of the evening, but that wasn't all the fun that we had. Sierra acted as the band's photographer, and she was able to grab a few interesting shots that you might find entertaining.







It was a great night, and I'll be reliving the memories in my head for several more days at the very least.








OK, so she did get one of all of us....

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Ladies' Night Inspiration

Last night was Ladies' Night at the Hollywood Theatre, and the featured movie was Julie and Julia. It was a great movie about a woman, Julie, who wanted to be a writer. She also apparently had difficulty finishing projects, so when she started her next project, she gave herself a deadline. Julie decided that she was going to cook her way through "Learning the Art of French Cooking" in one year, blogging about the experience the whole time. The movie was also about the trials and tribulations that Julia had while becoming the successful person that she was to become. There were all kinds of messages going on throughout the entire movie, not the least of which was how supportive and patient husbands can be. Women must truly be an enigma to men...I mean, we are so incredibly different. That isn't the point though.

One of the things that I thought was interesting was the whole blog thing. Julie started out her blog wondering if anyone was actually reading it. She got excited when she got her first comment, until she found out that it was her mother. It didn't take long for her to start receiving comments on a regular basis, which served as some inspiration to keep doing what she was doing.

After the movie was over, as women filed through the lobby, I saw Alison, creator of the Along the Au Sable blog. I mentioned that I thought the movie was inspirational. I was greatly saddened to hear her say that she wasn't sure if she wanted to do it anymore. I immediately told her that she has to keep doing the blog...we all enjoy reading it! I have to admit that there have been times when I felt like I really didn't have much to write about, especially when I haven't had a chance to hang out with the "ladies" in a while. Does the title of my blog limit me to writing only about my escapades with the ladies? Pshaw, I say! What's wrong with writing about the last oil change I got...or the fact that I'm tired of working...or why my son has to ruin a perfectly good morning arguing about the fact that he doesn't want to do the flouride "swish" at school? Absolutely nothing.

Alison, I hope you keep blogging. I, and I'm sure many others, look forward to reading your writing. Don't forget the six degrees of separation...many things can be linked back to the Au Sable, no matter what your activities or travels!