Archive for December, 2009

“You are the moonshine of my life!”

Thursday, December 31st, 2009

Moonshine

Today is our sixth year anniversary.

Can you believe someone would put up with my shenanigans for six years?! Before I talk about how great things are, let’s recap all the reasons why this relationship should never have worked:

  1. The first 2.5 years were long distance.
  2. I’m a dog lover. He… Well he has learned to love me being a dog lover.
  3. We work together. Friends warned of relationship suicide.
  4. We have no common ground in music. He sleeps at every opera.
  5. I eat out. He eats defrosts White Castle Burgers from the Kwik Mart.
  6. He reads books and intelligent magazines, I watch Judge Judy.
  7. I can be needy, but he’s always kind and giving.

Despite all the chaos in my life, Adam is still by my side. I’m not the easiest person to live, work or be in a relationship with. Does he like the torture? I don’t know.

All I know is I’m a lucky guy. He’s totally out of my league and all the ladies in our lives are totally jealous.

Happy Anniversary Adam.

-Love, your Little Brown Jug.

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Posted in Home + Love | 10 Comments »

Stock the NYE bar for under $100 bucks thanks to Total Wine.

Monday, December 28th, 2009

coupons

This ain’t your sweetie cola, pink-dyed sugar, pre-made mixers bar. We’re talking the basic essentials of a solid at-home bar program. If you’re making crowd-pleasing froo froo cocktails on NYE, this might not be the post for you. (Although I love my froo froos too too!)

Using the right coupons and a little patience, you can save money and stock a handsome bar for under a hundred bucks at Total Wine.

The trick? Knowing which bottling companies own which products… that way you can use stack coupons. As you walk through the store, look for coupons attached to the bottles. Although the photos on the coupons only show 2-3 examples of sale brands, the fine print opens the sale to many others. You’re generally not interested in buying multiple bottles of Jim Beam, but you could spread those $30 savings to include their other products!

NOTE: The photo includes some extra items outside the budget that I happen to personally love. C’mon, budget smudget I need Campari in my life.

Once stocked, celebrate with an Gin Aviation!
(Recipe on Facebook page.)

Thanks for readying! Cheers!

StockTheBar

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Posted in Cocktail Hour | 2 Comments »

Take the cash, but not critiques?

Monday, December 28th, 2009

SoundsLike

Why do many restaurants expect diners to spend money during the first few months of operations yet don’t feel its fair to review them from the get go? Supposedly they need at least 3 or so months to smooth out the kinks.

First time restaurant owners, chefs, etc… maybe I can understand. But those who’ve been in the business for years, I don’t get it.

I know, I know… “What about new staffing, new menus, ordering mishaps, and every other unpredictable disaster that happens when you open a restaurant?”

Think about a symphony performance. Opening night is “review night.” You’ve got only one chance to impress the critics on the first try, otherwise ticket sales will suffer for the remaining handful of gigs.

Eric EATS OUT has a great post about the new FnB Restaurant in Scottsdale where he highlights the successful opening night. Granted, the staff and the space are small but it sounds like the joint pulled it off quite nicely.

Yes. A “family and friends” pre-opening night is definitely a good idea to work out “kinks” in a new space just like a music ensemble has at least one on-stage dress rehearsal to test acoustics, adjust seating, etc. (No paying audience of course.)

Why is it OK to take the cash, but not the critiques?

What say you, restaurant folks?

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Posted in Reviews & Dish | 4 Comments »

It’s just my “winter weight.”

Thursday, December 24th, 2009

Confession: My gym membership card is caked in dust. In fact, I have over a thousand bucks in prepaid personal training. No joke!

I’ve managed to eat my way through the 2009 recession and Arizona’s top restaurants have given my waistline a hefty stimulus “package.” For god’s sake look at the photo in the previous winery post!

How can I manage my crazy eating out lifestyle and maintain a healthy body? We’re going to find out. The new “Waistline Woes” category will truly demonstrate the chaos between food and my lifestyle.

Are you committing to losing weight in 2010?

Any suggestions for success?

Posted in Waistline Woes | 6 Comments »

Should I start a winery?

Sunday, December 20th, 2009
Ty Largo stumbling around the wine festival.

Checking out the scene and sipping wine.

We did it again, dammit. We threw another huge festival, despite swearing them off two years ago. Maybe we’re addicted to the event marketing rush. Last month was the Arizona Wine Growers Festival at The Farm where the state’s wineries made history with their first event.

It was a big success. Tons of fun. Over 800 peeps. Rave reviews.

The wine growers are a fantastic group to work with. So we came out of retirement after a short career in events (Eats3, Crave Arizona, and this wine fest) to throw this party. Everyone did an amazing job organizing the event. (Rhonni, you are a goddess.) Since the festival, I’ve been thinking about opening my own winery.

Do I have any clue about wines or making them? Nope.

But I do have all the resources. I have plenty of friends who know wine and I can sure as hell market and sell the stuff. My friend Josh Moffitt at Arizona Vines & Wines magazine is a wine country real estate pro and I’m sure he’d be a huge help. I’ve always wanted a little cafe, dessert bar or cocktail bar of my own. Maybe it should be a wine bar.

Should I start a winery?

Posted in Wine | 8 Comments »