The Ludicrous Burger

Might as well keep blogging about all the fun food adventures I had visiting my hometown in Maryland.

One night Kerri and I went out to Brewer’s Alley on Market Street in Frederick.  We met friends Sam, Harry and Klue.  We had a few amazing beers and some calamari along with exciting dinner conversation.

I got the Salmon, yum.   It was grilled with Granny Smith Apples.

My friend Sam got the Ludicrous Burger.  And Ludicrous it was.  A nice fat burger, with bacon and BBQ sauce and stuck between two grilled cheese sandwiches.  I asked Sam if it tasted like a cheese burger with extra cheese and he reported that it most definitely tasted like a burger between two butter rich grilled cheese sandwiches.  Wild.  I wonder if Brewer’s Alley will ever make it on a Food Network TV show with their Ludicrous Burger.

Reminiscing Fell’s Point

Over the weekend I went with my family to visit my grandmother in Baltimore.  She lives in Morrell Park, which is not the nicest part of Baltimore.  Someone painted a pretty nifty mural next to the railroad tracks as you get off of Rt95 at the Washington Boulevard exit. 

After spending a few hours with my grandmother, my mom, dad, sister Kerri and I went to Fells Point for a bite to eat and a little reminiscing. 

We grabbed dinner at Bertha’s, where we ate mussels and crab cake sandwiches.  Yum.  I remember my parents had an Eat Bertha’s Mussels bumper sticker on the inside of the cabinet under our sink when I was a really little kid, something like 30 years ago.  I picked one up while we were there, and put it on our mud room fridge when I got home. 

I thought this lamp post was artistically messed up. On the side of Bertha’s

We walked around and stopping by some of my parents favorite places like The Horse You Came In On and Leadbetter’s. 

I also saw the Blue Moon Café, which was closed.  Rich and I watched a Food Network TV show that it was on recently.  It looked like a really cool breakfast place.  I would like to eat there sometime. 

We walked around looking at some of the historic houses and enjoyed the general Fells Point vibe.  I used to go to Feels Point with my family when I was little, and with friends when I was a teenager.  It was always a good way to spend a day. 

I also saw this tag up on a wall.  It makes me wonder if my husband’s dog, Ash has been making weekend visits to rampage with his own gang around Baltimore…. He is a trouble maker and my husband swears that his paw-writing.

A New Hat and New Hair

This is The Temple – photo from their website

I visited my family in Maryland earlier this week and while I was there, my mom suggested my sister Kerri, and I go to The Temple and get our hair cut. 

I have not had my hair cut professionally in years and years.  The last cut I had was a few months ago and involved my husband snipping off a few inches for me.  We are talking a straight across cut, just to get some of the dead ends off.  I have had the same butt length, long, straight hair-do for over a dozen years.  Its straight and fine and I have a lot of it. 

I had been tossing around the idea of shortening my hair for a while, going for a more manageable length.  Kerri was thinking the same thing, and wanted to shorten her thick, wavy hair to a shoulder length cut.  So we decided to give it a go. 

The Temple is a Paul Mitchell school, and haircuts only cost $15, which is my idea of affordable.  It is a clean, upbeat,  modern hair studio located in a historic building in downtown Frederick.  It is full of students dressed in black, walking around with model heads in their hands.   The student I was assigned to was a friendly and enthusiastic 21 year old who was close to completing the program.  She was also competent and did a fantastic job.  She washed and cut my hair, taking off 12 inches and leaving me with fresh healthy hair.  Consultants (teachers) circulate, checking on students work and approving each cut before a patron is considered done. It took a full hour, but it was a great experience.  My hair is awesome, and my wallet is not empty. 

My sister and I took some time to walk around downtown Frederick after our cuts, and stopped in The Trail House, which is one of my favorite outdoor stores.  I picked up a new Prana hat to go with my new hair while we were there. It is amazing how a new haircut can make you feel like a whole new person.  And a new hat doesn’t hurt either.

Kerri’s new hair

 

My new hair and hat

Place Holder

yep, I have been busy and completely neglecting this blog.  But I have been out racking up life experience so I have things to blog about when I get some time!

For now, I’ll leave you with this photo of myself riding my adorable pony Simon at the MGAA Mid-Atlantic #1 Mounted Games Competition April 28th weekend in Upper Marlboro, Maryland at the PG Equestrian Center. We are playing the Bottle Shuttle Race.

Photo credit to Ryan Crowley

Thoughts on Changing Shape

I am having one of those “I need to get in shape” days. 

This is a screenshot of the current local Craigslist postings from this morning.

They generally start with me realizing I have gained shape (ie. round) when I walked past a mirror, or maybe my pants were too tight when I put them on in the morning.  It continues with me repeating to myself, “you are too young to be so fat and out of shape.” interspersed with me repeating to myself, “you are too old to be so fat and out of shape”. 

It sometimes follows with a browsing of craigslist to see what exercise equipment is currently up for grabs and maybe an eBay search for what work out DVDs are the current favorite.

Usually I also make a list of things to keep in mind when thinking of ideas to help get in shape. 

Which might look like the following. Thinking Realistic.

1. I have no time

2. I hate the gym

3. My house is too small for big equipment

4. jazzercise sucks

5. I don’t want to spend money 

6. I have a short attention span

1. Gym.  – not going to happen.  I hate the gym, its location is way out of the way, it takes way too much time (like I said, its location sucks), I hate the gym, it expensive, and oh yeah, I hate the gym. Stationary bike.  – I wouldn’t mind a stationary bike.  But it would have to be super compact, upright, with a big butt seat and maybe a backrest.  And super cheap.  There is nothing appropriate on Craigslist right now.
2.  Treadmill – Today I think a treadmill is a great idea.  I could walk and walk and walk while I watch TV, which I don’t do that much of, but I guess I could watch more TV so I would have more walking time.  But it takes up so much space.  Maybe if we get rid of the couch, I could put a treadmill where it was.  Then I wouldn’t be able to sit down even if I wanted to.  So I would be forced to walk while I watched TV.  Tomorrow I hate treadmills, and realize how not realistic it is for space reasons alone. 
3. Mini trampoline – Now that sounds like a fun idea.  I can bounce while I watch TV and they hardly take up any space.  I bet they are cheap too.  *mention to a friend who reminds me my ankle sucks and I’ll probably roll it or something.  But still keep trampoline as a maybe idea.*
4. More ponies – If I get ten more ponies, I could just ride all the time and then I’ll get in shape.  *and I just roll my eyes at myself*
5. Swimming – I could go to the Bridgewater College pool for open swim once a week and swim laps.  This is realistic, but once a week is not going to make a huge difference.  I do like to swim.  I’ll put it on the maybe list with the mini trampoline. 
6. Walks – I love taking the dogs on walks, and I already do this.  So not sure how that’s going to fix the problem, but it’s on the maybe list. 
7. P90X – I hear about other people doing these confuse your body, extreme workouts.  I read facebook status updates like “day one of P90X, barfed all over myself but did it.” Then a week later “lost 50lbs by doing P90X already.  *high kick to the fat face old me*”  Look for them on eBay used.  Still pretty expensive.  Looks like you might need to get an equipment kit to go with it too.  hum… Ill add this to the maybe list with the mini trampoline, swimming and walks. 
8. Yoga – I have lost weight by taking yoga classes one and two times a week and it always makes me feel good to get my yoga on.  I really enjoyed it too.  But when I last took classes, just a few months ago, I had a lot of trouble finding ones that fit into my schedule.  The distance and times just did not make it practical.  But I could do some at home on my own.  Ill add that to my maybe list as well.  Yoga at home. 
9. Kayak – yep, been wanting one for a few years.  We already live less than a mile from good put in and pull out spots that would make a nice little after work – work out.  We already tube that rout and love it.  And every time I am all “I want a kayak”.  But just like every other time I think about this, kayaks are not cheap.  Ill keep it on the maybe list though. 
   

   I can totally picture me and Daisy doing this.
   Image of KayakKate from Borntopaddle.com
   Thanks for the inspiration Kate!

Just to update you, my maybe list is now comprised of;

-mini trampoline while watching TV

-swimming at the Bridgewater College pool one night a week

-walks with the dogs

-P90X, maybe?

-yoga at home

-Kayak

And of course, continue to ride my pony. 

Now the problem is moving on from here.  I know myself enough to know, that I need to make it fun.  And keep it changing.  Doing the same thing all the time is not going to work for me.  And I have to enjoy it or I will just find excuses not to do it. 

I think I’ll spend some time shopping around for a used kayak.