Archive | January, 2013

rendezvous with ROF in raleigh

great weekend in raleigh, north carolina with ROF. he is there on business and i thought i’d swing in and say hello. as you can imagine, we didn’t eat at burger king. more like we ate like kings. oh yeah, it wasn’t any warmer in raleigh except for during the day – it was a nice 50 degrees (12 degrees now in b’ham folks!)

friday night, we went to a place called THE PIT which was anything but the pits. upscale BBQ in a rehabbed sweet space in historic raleigh. fried pimento cheese balls, beef brisket and more. we had a great time. it was just great to be with ROF.

saturday morning we walked all over the town and took in the sites of the ice skaters at the rink outside our hotel, played cards at starbucks, napped and then hit the town again. this time to a street food place called Buku. inspired by all the street food around the world, they served it tapas style. we took in mussels (out of this world), pierogi, dumplings and more. and a bottle of silver oak. then we headed home to the hotel and started “skyfall” before falling into a sated sleep halfway through.

sunday, we chilled out, finished skyfall and started one of our long lost AFI top 100 movies “Mr. Smith goes to Washington” which, by the way is freaking excellent. however, it just solidifies my reasons for not getting politically involved. bunch of rats all of them.

here are some snaps from the weekend.

Tags: buku, marriott, places to eat in raleigh, raleigh, rof, the pit bbq, weekend trip

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Categories ROF, TRAVEL

detroit city

15 Jan

Comments 1 Comment
Categories TRAVEL

traveling review: fargo, nd

11 Jan

fargo is not a place that you get excited about going to – especially in the middle of january. especially if you’re a “big city” girl like myself. but here’s the deal. i like it. i like it a lot. like most cities, the drive from the airport to the hotel is less than flattering.

it’s a drab to say the least. but if you remember the last time i was here (click here) i ate at a fantastic restaurant that was at the bottom of a really cool hotel. so i stayed there this time and i was more than glad.

first of all. welcome to fargo:

second of all, welcome to hotel donaldson or HODO as it is affectionately known as:

the 17 room hotel that has been around since the 1800’s – as a hotel. completely redone in 2000 and opened in 2002, the hotel celebrates it’s 10 year anniversary this year. i would have never guessed it was 10 years old. 3 maybe tops. the lobby is on the second floor. there i was greeted by the host who checked me in and pointed out the “happy hour” in the lobby which was shrimp, pate, hummus and other goodies with soft drinks, wine and beer. i snagged a diet coke. each room is specially designed and decorated by a local artist. i was upgraded to room 17. when i opened the door, i was instantly stung with a tinge of guilt. this was a work trip but i’m having too much fun. look at this huge room! complete with a bathtub in the middle of the room. the water fills the tub from the ceiling. hello. needless to say, i didn’t take a bath but the pottery that filled the room was gorgeous. the ceiling was both open and vaulted.

but the deliciousness of fargo doesn’t end there. i had dinner downstairs at the hodo lounge by myself and had a meal made for foodies. and the place was packed on a wednesday night.

in fargo?

i started with the scallop and leak soup which was creamy and every bite had a scallop.

and then had the chicken. oh..sigh…let me describe it the way they did.

chicken mulligatawny: spring prairie farm chicken breast, steel cut oat risotto, squash, pomegranate, almonds, coconut curry sauce, jalapeño and cilantro.

outstanding. i am spoilt. if it makes you feel any better, i was all by myself!

i went back up to my room and had this waiting for me:

it actually is a nice little town. the local pride that is in the HODO – filled the walls with books written by local artists, art and food from local communities. i just can’t help but fall in love with such a passionate little place!

the lesson here? always look for the diamond in the rough.

Tags: fargo, HODO, Hotel Donaldson, places to see in fargo, work travel

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Categories TRAVEL

taking off!

8 Jan

i’ll be honest with you – sometimes it’s hard not being a mom in a mom-filled world. there is a bit of that feeling of missing out on something. and i am. i get it.

but that is kind of superficial thinking because all moms know being a good mom takes more than just the desire to “be one”. so on the flip side of that feeling is the confidence of having made smart choices in my life- i’ve made a lot of them including waiting to marry the man of my dreams instead of “mr. maybe” years ago just so i could have kids. as i’ve said before, if the relationship isn’t right between mom and dad – it isn’t a good basis to bring kids into the world – crap rolls downhill as they say. it starts at the top.

i’ve also wanted to blog for a long time on why there isn’t a better way to bond with other childless couples other than using the word childless or DINK. both really kind of negative words, wouldn’t you say? i guess nothing has to be said but i wish there was a term that defined: happy/loving life and each other. why aren’t there resources for us, a way for us to bond? we have several couple friends who are very happy and don’t have kids. as i roll these questions around and come to no solid conclusion, something happened that jolted me out of my serious pondering:

road. trip.

oh wait… two more…

last. minute.

yep, on friday night at about 7pm after i got home from work to a fire in the fireplace, a glass of wine waiting for me, ROF said to me “want to go to chicago tomorrow?” that would be a … yes. so we gave max to carla at the canine inn and hit the road. we roughed it. suite at the park hyatt, a bottle of plumpjack, tour of all my old condos and dinner thanks to chicago’s most wonderful socialite and personality and good friend, candace jordan (thanks candace!) at one of my dad’s favorite places in the world (and no reservations available for months) gibson’s steakhouse.