breather

This was the first weekend in over a month we had with no plans. So friday we watched Hot Tub Time Machine, which was hilarious.



Saturday morning LauRenn were having a yard sale so I went and helped them out for a bit while Steph was running in her last triathlon of the season.



Later that night we went out for dinner at the Village Tavern over at flatirons. And sunday I finally got a chance to bottle the Belgi-geddon!

put the lamp on my head

Saturday night Greg threw a housewarming party party party! Once the dozen or so trays of jello shots arrived, things really ramped up. In no particular order - drums being played with a ski helmet on, crawling through the new doggy door, userng the lamp as a guitar (after being denied the use of it on my head), using everything else as a guitar, getting bitten on the leg by someone pretending they were a dog, and group sing along to 'Winds of Change'. Nary a dull moment. I had planned on bottling beer the next day, but all that really got accomplished was lounging around poolside.

chicago round 2

I took my b-day off for friday the 13th, and brewed up a batch of Scotch Guard Bomb Ale with my new burner - so much quicker. Later that night, Steph took me out to the Melting Pot for a killer five course fondue dinner amidst the craziness of the last night of the Downtown Louisville summer street fairs.

The next morning we carpooled to the airport with Greg. We had different flights but they left around the same time. After landing at O'Hare and taking the blue line most of the way into town we switched over to the red line at Monroe, right after some crazy assault just happened on the train and they were detaining the suspect. Randomly enough, Greg also happened to be on this train on his way from Midway - wacky! After setting into our hotey (the haunted Tremont), we met up at Gino's East for some deep dish dinner. Later that night we met up with everyone at Sushi Sambi for drinks and general merriment.

A big air show was going on all weekend, so when we were out and about the next morning we heard a lot of planes passing overhead. After a morning shopping (mostly at H&M since we don't have one out here), we broke for lunch at the little cafe under the John Hancock. When it was time to go, we cabbed it over to the venue, which was a really cool spot called the Leaf. After some apps, it was speech time and I was up first since I was Jacq's maid of honor - hahaha! Next up was the slow dance and then dinner with a great spread of food.



Then it was time to get the dance party started upstairs. The dj ladies had us going and even let me sing doom metal sweet child o' mine!



We danced until closing, then cabbed back to our respective hoteys. Earlier in the evening I hurled for some reason, so by now I was starving. The only places open were some 24 hour italian delivery joints - quite possibly the worst food I've ever eaten. Flew home monday and vegged out.

slappin the bass

Hadn't originally planned on going, but wound up scoring some free tickets to the Primus show at Red Rocks on Thursday. I picked up Steph after work, we grabbed some burritos at Illegal Pete's and were on our way. The weather was great, and we tailgated during most of Gogol Bordello's set because the singer drives me batty. Primus hit the stage around 10pm with way original (and Sausage) drummer Jay Lane. We got a healthy dose of mostly earlier material, and several covers (Floyd, Police, Tom Waits) clocking in at about 1hr 45mn. A great birthday eve show!



Set:
Pudding Time
In The Flesh
Here Come the Bastards
Behind My Camel
GroundHog's Day
Those Damned Blue Collar Tweekers
Golden Boy
American Life
Big in Japan
Over The Falls
'drums & whamola jam'
Eleven
Jerry Was A Race Car Driver
Over the Electric Grapevine
Harold Of The Rocks
E:Tommy The Cat

casual weekend

We went to see Taming of the Shrew at the outdoor stage of the Shakespeare fest with Meg & Paul on friday since Stepha had some freebie tix from work. Before the performance, we picnicked by the pond. Overall a pretty good performance. I almost fell asleep towards the end of the second act, but rallied after a Bard's Ale during intermission.



Saturday morning we drove down past the tech center, and I bought some brew equipment from Brock's mom's boyfriend. I made the trip for a dedicated propane burner and copper immersion chiller, but also walked away with a couple 5 gallon glass carboys, a keggle, and a mash tun cooler.



Later that evening we went to a b-day party for Steph's pal Michelle, and had some killer cake. The guy who brought it over had won a baking award for it or su'in. Sunday I went for a run, cleaned the basement a bit, and then we watched Mad Men.

ned & avery

Went camping after work with Heidi & Tomas - just a quick jaunt up to Nederland. Got camp set up just as some light rain began. And just around this time we met the resident hermit, Dino, who said he would hook us up with a bunch of wood he had recently cut. No lie - he had a bunch of wood, unfortunately we couldn't get rid of him. He eventually left us alone, and we cooked up some dinner and hit the hay once the beer ran out.



Left after breakfast the next morning, and stopped for some lunch at Wild Mountain - had some great BBQ and local brews. Later that evening we met up with Greg at Waterloo for a couple drinks and passed out watching Foxy Brown.

Sunday I had planned on just vegging out, but opted to sync up with Jen & Jeff at the Avery anniversary party. Twenty bucks for all you can eat BBQ and $5 beers - how could I resist?



Turns out for a bit extra, you could get access to the rare beers. Good brews indeed. We spent most of the time with in the rare beer room after having a Wheel Wacker Wheat (collab with Ska Breweing) with lunch - I tried out:

Altar Boy - the Reverend aged in a French Oak Opus One Barrel with Bretts and House Sour Blend #2
Brett IPA - The standard IPA with a secondary Brettanomyces fermentation
Fumator - Smoked beer aged in Stranahan whiskey barrels
Ruminator - Dopplebock aged in Gosling Rum casks
Samael Oak (English barleywine - it was 14.9%).

We also did a vertical tasting of the Czar - 2007, 2004, 2002. Those beers will catch up with you quick...