My Long Weekend Was Probably Better Than Your Long Weekend: Monday Edition

Monday.

Memorial Day.

We had to be out of the hotel by 11:00 so we took our stuff down to the cars and, you know, did what everyone does.  Poured shots in my trunk.

We were hungry and ended up back at Cardinal's Nation for lunch.  Mostly because they had open seating - and an available table - at the bar.  But also because we checked the menu at Fox Sports Midwest and Cardinal's Nation was much more affordable.  We shook things up a little bit this second time around, though, and I had a burger for lunch while we split the fried calamari (with fried jalapenos!) for an app.

After lunch, we made our way to the ballpark.  It was HOT and it started to rain a little bit and that's why most of these pictures you'll see us with MESSY HAIR DON'T CARE.

I texted this picture to my friend early in the day:



He responded with something along the lines of, "OMG!  Can't believe you're wearing that at Busch Stadium."

Um, no. 

First off, they were playing the Yankees.
Second, this is Captain Clutch's last season.
Third, Jeter is a class act and pretty much everyone loves him.

Saying all this to make the point that there were a TON of Yankees fans and more Jeter love than I ever would've imagined.  The only attention my shirt brought was a few "LOVE it!" type exclamations.

Anyway.  The game ended up being rain delayed.  I drank too much beer.  The game went into extra innings.  The Yankees won.  And here are a few pictures of my lover:

 

 

 

 

Ahhhh.  Still sexy after all these years.

 

I had to leave right after the game and drive back to Memphis.  Totally worth it, though.  Fabulous Memorial Day weekend!



My Long Weekend was Probably Better than Your Long Weekend: Saturday and Sunday Edition

Since my invitation to the Kimye wedding was lost in the mail, I had to make other arrangements for Memorial Day Weekend.

(Totally kidding: you couldn't pay me Jay-Z's net worth to see those two fame whoring jackasses make a mockery out of marriage.)

My long weekend was simply amazing.  I mean, HELLO!, it's Thursday and I'm just now getting around to telling about it.

I left Saturday and headed for Missouri, stopping for the night at my aunt and uncle's house.  My grandfather and another aunt came over and we spent the evening visiting and drinking a few too many Bud Lights.  It was a great time with family I had not seen in far too long.  If we learned anything from this visit, it's that we have to get together much more often.  I love the area they live in and I'm thinking the kids and I may try to go visit for the Fourth.

Sunday morning I took off for St. Louis in an attempt to make out with Derek Jeter to meet my friend Brittney.  We checked in to our hotel then made our way directly over to the Ballpark Village.  This is the neatest place!  I wish every ballpark had one -- restaurants and bars and everything baseball and Cardinals themed.  We ate at Cardinal's Nation -- Britt had a burger, I had a turkey club, and we split an order of deviled eggs.

The prices were great for a downtown themed restaurant.  My entree, appetizer, two beers, and a tip were all less than $40.

With bellies full and a couple Blue Moons down, we headed over to the arch area.

 

SO MUCH construction in downtown STL.  I actually ended up driving into Illinois because I couldn't take exits my GPS wanted me to take because the streets were closed or blocked.

 

It rained a little earlier but the weather was fantastic while we were walking around.  We eventually settled at Big Daddy's -- a bar with an outdoor patio (hey there, favorite thing ever!)  We each had a 'Merica Margarita (sorry not sorry but, NOT GOOD) then headed back to the hotel.

We stayed at the Hilton at the ballpark.  Of the many amenities offered by the hotel, one we were most excited about was the 360 rooftop bar.  We had every intention of hitting there and then making our way around to other fun spots in downtown.  Uh, no.  We never even left our hotel Sunday night!  360 was fun but I have to say this about it: we ordered a flatbread pizza to share and um, no, don't waste your time, folks!  Save that money for more beer.

And that was our Saturday night in STL.  WAY more fun than any Kimye wedding.

Blues City Cafe: Put Some South in Your Mouth!

I have been to Blues City Cafe roughly 29048823 times.

Their tagline is "Put Some South in Your Mouth!" so, obviously, I've had every out of town visitor take a picture in front of their sign.

Oh.  And also?  They have the world famous WALK ME DOWN. 

There are other places in the Bluff City that boast a Walk Me Down but I've found that Blues City has da best. 

However.

Prior to a couple weeks ago, I had never actually eaten there.

Had drinks there?  Totally.
Sat at their bar and had a Walk Me Down?  Yup.
But I had not eaten there.

I went after the Grizzlies game a couple weeks ago.  My friend and I were seated in the area of the bar.  The service wasn't great (more on that at a moment) but there was live music.  While it was loud, it was also fun and, I mean, HELLO.  We were on Beale Street!  It's not like we were expecting a nice, quiet dinner.

I looked over the menu and thought really hard about ordering some BBQ.  Ribs sounds OH SO GOOD.  But.  But!  I saw something on the appetizer menu that caught my attention.  Gumbo Cheese Fries, it said.  Chris Webber tweeted about us, it said.  I knew I had to try.  I JUST KNEW. 

So, for all of the AHHHHMAAAAZE things on the menu, I ordered the Gumbo Cheese Fries.

Y'all.

DID NOT DISAPPOINT.

Those fries.

They were, for lack of a better word, orgasmic.

Imagine it with me for a moment here, mmkay?

You have french fries.  Those alone are pretty damn good.  Then you put cheese on them. And HELLO?  Then.  THEN.  You add SEAFOOD GUMBO.  Ermagherd.  Y'all!  I was eating fries and shrimp and cheese ALL AT ONE TIME.  I think I'm gonna need a moment.  They.were.so.good.

They were also served with a side of a ranch.  Now.  I love me some ranch dressing. Love.  LOVE.  But I kinda gave it the side-eye and was all, "really?  With my SEAFOOD GUMBO?"  But. Ya know what?  IT WAS GOOD.  I still can't even believe it.  The ranch made it POP and, furrrealdough, I never would've thought it.

Those fries were good.  With the ranch?  They were GOOOOOD.

I'm still - nearly two weeks later - all, "were dem fries fo' real?!?"

My friend ordered the catfish plate.  I had a taste and, while it was totally delish, my fries were MUCH-O better.

Blues City also had Blue Moon on tap (though the waitress did let me know that they were out of oranges) which makes it a win in my book.

My only complaint(s) about the restaurant:

The service left MUCH to be desired.  Our waitress was friendly enough but she just . . .  didn't come around a whole lot.  It was very busy - seeing as it was right after the Grizz game and all - so it wasn't entirely her fault but, I don't know, I just felt like she could've been like, "Wow, guys!  It's so busy!  So sorry!"

All in all, as far as establishments on Beale Street go, this one gets two thumbs up from me.

The Freakin' Weekend: Classy Girl Wasted

So, it's no secret that I have a big, huge crush on country music.  My current favorite country song is Helluva Life by Frankie Ballard.  LOVE.  One line in the song is bad times make the good times better.  Now.  I'm not going to insult anyone by relaying my total First World Problems to you all but I will say that the past few weeks have been a little stressful.  This past weekend, though?  STRESS WAS TOTALLY WORTH IT.  Bad times made the good times better. 

The weekend was awesome.  Amazing.  Epic.  Totally still crushing on it and thinking about writing it a love sonnet right nizzzow.  Just that awesome of a weekend.

Friday was K1's birthday.  We did the morning birthday traditions (balloons and streamers in his room, cinnamon rolls for breakfast) then I checked him out of school to take him to lunch (totally something I plan on doing for all of them, though J's birthday seems to always fall during Fall Break) at Buffalo Wild Wings.  The staff was AMAZING and when K1 - very excitedly - told the manager it was his birthday, he arranged to have ice cream brought out for both the Kyker Man and K2.

He's six!

All three kids were spending time with their dad that evening so I made plans with a friend.  We met up in midtown and cabbed downtown to check out the Tennessee Brewery Untapped.  The old Tennessee Brewery has stood abandoned for many  years and, in an effort to save the building, a few local business owners have invested in "reinvigorating" it for the month of May.  Every Thursday through Sunday, the space hosts food trucks, local breweries, and live music in hopes that some entrepreneur will see the ambition in the space, purchase it, and do something with it.  I've been wanting to check it out since I heard about the event.  Honestly though?  I was kind of disappointed!  There was only one food truck.  The bar area was more limited than what I was expecting.  They did have air hockey and shuffleboard set up as well as various sheets that said things like "I Love the Tennessee Brewery Because . . . "  It was neat and it was fun just . . . not entirely what I was expecting.

But, um, hello?  Taco food trucks for the win!

Those are chorizo and crawfish tacos with a local IPA and lager (so sorry, so didn't pay attention to the ACTUAL beer names)

 



The crowd was mostly young and aspiring professional.  My friend and I are both early 30's and felt a little . . . old . . . until we were passed by a group of cougars on the prowl.  All in all . . . good time and PERFECTION for people watching.

We left the brewery and headed over to Beale Street where we settled at Silky's.  They had dueling pianists so we decided to skip the patio and stay inside.  GET THIS:  My friend tipped the pianists and requested Tom Petty's Mary Jane's Last Dance and NEITHER ONE OF THEM KNEW IT.  I KNOW.  They half assed it then gave us a good attempt at some Jack and Diane before my friend shouted out, "some 90's boy band!"  BUT.  They played N'SYNC!  Now.  Hello!  I love me some JT now but if I want 90's boy band then, um, I want some Backstreet Boys and I Want it That Way!  Anyway.  We had a great time and on our way to find a cab to take us back midtown we stumbled upon a GIRL FIGHT.  Hello!  Does it get any better?

That was Friday.

Saturday I headed back downtown again to take my boys to the Redbirds game.

 

The good news: I didn't have to pay out the ass to park.
The best news: I DID have to pay out the ass for a beer.

Worth it.

 

The best news: the boys (and I!) had a BLAST. 

They want to go back and I think I've decided we're going to start going on Tuesdays when they have $2 hot dogs and drinks.  The boys just loved it too much not to make it some kind of tradition.

 



The Redbirds won, the boys loved it, and every Saturday after the game they have fireworks!  Seriously, does it get any better when you're six and seven?  K1 told me at one point, "this is the best Day After Birthday EVER!"

I kind of love downtown Memphis and, after Saturday, I'm making it a point to take the kids down there more often.  Obviously, it's not totally kid friendly (DO NOT TAKE YOUR KIDS TO BEALE STREET AFTER 7-ISH PM) but there IS a lot for kids to do.  And my boys, for one, LOVE tall buildings.  And, I mean, this is Memphis.  Can you imagine how they'd do in NYC?!?

Then Sunday rolled around.

Full disclosure: I'm not just the biggest fan ever of Mother's and Father's Day.  I have an amazing mother and an amazing grandmother.  BUT.  The Mother's Day holiday has always just seemed like "ho hum just another day" for me.  My kids aren't old enough to "get it" yet and I'm too far from family for the one day trip to really make sense.

This year, though, I invited my friend Kendra to come over and get "classy girl wasted."  I made a breakfast casserole and fruit salad.  We killed a couple bottles of champagne drinking our way through mimosas.  The kids played.  We talked.  It was just a good time.

BEST. MOTHER'S DAY. EVER.

I love warm weather.

I love that it's almost summer.

And I OMG SO TOTALLY L-O-V-E love weekends like the one I just had.

Bring on more of them!

Gritting. Grinding. And the Time Prince Harry Came to Memphis. For my Birthday.

Okay, so maybe the "for my birthday" part is a stretch since it's two weeks away but, still, forget the stuffy, pretentious wedding he was in town for. Harry came to town in May because it's my birthday month. And you can't convince me otherwise.

Let's backtrack to Thursday.

I headed downtown for the Grizzlies game, paid out the ass to park, had a drink at Silky's then made my way to FedEx Forum.  The Grindhouse was hopping and there was excitement in the air.  If Memphis won that game, they'd take the entire series.  The were a few jokes about the royals but the most "famous" (I use that word loosely) person in the crowd was Yo Gotti ("who the hell is Yo Gotti?" -- my friend.)  The only gritting and grinding was done by the Oklahoma City Thunder and Memphis lost pretty miserably.

 

 

So, the game sucked but it was cool to be there and, I mean, NBA PLAYOFF GAME.  Then this happened:

 



 

First off, HE WAS AT RENDEZVOUS.

 

Where do I tell everyone to go get BBQ when they're in  Memphis?  Um, yeah.  Rendezvous.  I'm sure you'll find roughly 849722 references to it on this blog.

 

Then, there's this:

I WAS HALF A MILE FROM PRINCE HARRY.

 

While I was watching Z-Bo and Tony Allen choke and punch people in the face, PRINCE HARRY WAS HALF A MILE FROM ME CHOWING DOWN ON RIBS AND PULLED PORK AND THE BEST BAKED BEANS IN MEMPHIS. 

 

And, let's be real, I know that little walking icon says it would've taken eight minutes but, let me tell ya, this bitch sure would've sprinted for her life down Third Street for a glimpse of the prince.

 

Of course, I didn't even know he was at Rendezvous until I was already home and in bed.  That's what I get for not checking my Facebook alerts.

 

I'm sure, if things had been different, Harry and I would've had a magical weekend.  I mean, he just broke up with Cressida Bonas.  I'm sure he was trolling Memphis for thirty-something moms of three.

 

That was the closest I came to Harry over the weekend.  He was not at the Memphis Neurology Clinic nor did he show up at my gym or in my backyard.  He also didn't leave the wedding early to lay in bed with me Saturday night and drink a Blue Moon and watch the Grizzlies lose.  Again.

 

One of these days, Harry.  One of these days.