Weekend Review: Good Eating and House Guests!

Wow, I've hit an all time low on my weekend reviews. I know I'm already a week two weeks behind but I wanted to let you know about the awesome weekend I had (er...a couple weeks ago).

First stop, Justin, Mike and I took a mini road trip to Baltimore. For dinner we stopped by Chap's Pit Beef of Man v. Food, Diners Drive-ins and Dives (DDD) and Bizarre Foods fame. And wouldn't you know it's in the parking lot of a strip club. The Gold Club to be exact ;)

Justin and Mike about to enter...not knowing the glorious meat-fest that was about to commence...

I got the Guy's Triple D which consisted of pit beef, corned beef and sausage. I didn't eat the bread, but ate it with a side of sauerkraut. It was yummy!

After gorging ourselves on pit beef deliciousness I headed to the Baltimore Tattoo Convention. Here are some shots of the side show acts. There was also a suspension (!) but I didn't get pictures of that...

Sarah Miller of Ink Master fame was there working...

And here I am with the master of "bubble girlie style" Kristel Oreto...I swear, she is all over Pinterest!

The next day was Louie's Birthday so we stopped by Howl to the Chief on 8th St to check out some birthday treats...

There were plenty of adorable treats like these doggie cookie sandwiches...

But we decided on getting a couple of cupcakes.

One for Louie and one for Derby.

Look at how slobbery excited Louie is. He can hardly contain himself.

Did I mention we had some out of town guests? Justin's roommate from college, his wife, and his brother-in-law stayed with us on Saturday! They were in town visiting from Chicago (the BIL lives locally). First stop on the tourist adventure, Eastern Market where we saw some interesting street performers! 

That evening, while Justin and our visitors headed to H. St. Jill and I went to Echostage to hear Calvin Harris! For all my my non-EDM fans you've heard his music, but probably didn't know it was him. His songs include "We Found Love," by Rihanna and "Sweet Nothing" by Florence of Florence and the Machine. Here's a shot of me and my friends Clint and Mark. I swear, we always bump into them at events like this!

Next I took a picture with my friend from college, Mike, who was working security!

It was the first time I'd ever been to Echostage since it changed from DC Star, but I must say I was pretty impressed. Good sound system, decent outdoor area and plenty of room. The lights were pretty cool too. Wasn't sure if they were the club's or Calvin Harris' but they were top notch. * pew pew pew*

Here's a picture of the crowd from the balcony. I am way too old to be standing in the middle of that...so we mostly stuck by the sides. Because quite honestly as much as I love EDM, the DJ isn't really doing anything worth watching to motivate me to get close to the stage...live DJ acts (i.e.: Diplo) that's a different story

So back to our out of town guests. In addition to showing them around the Hill, we had to show them Georgetown as well, so I made a reservation at Farmers, Fishers, and Bakers to try out their all-you-can-eat brunch! It was super tasty and my first plate looked something like this. Piled on with salad, fruit, guacamole, and taco fillings!

More of the same...the kale salad was phenomenal! 

Too bad I couldn't indulge in any of these that were being passed around by the servers...wah wah...

We strolled around the Georgetown waterfront a little bit to walk off our food babies! LOL, Overall it was a good weekend with good food, good music and good friends!

I'll be posting about last weekend's festivities at my friend's wedding in New York sometime soon! I hope!

Welcome to the Family, Derby Briones!

Last weekend, Justin and I got another dog. Another french bulldog to be exact. We came to this decision over several weeks thinking about how much fun we have Louie and how much more fun it would be if he had a playmate. There have been many a time when Justin we have come home after a long days work and all Louie wants to do is play a never ending game of tug-of-war/fetch. We would always be like, "Why can't you play by yourself?" or "Wouldn't it be neat to have another dog for him to play with?" So we went on the internet searching for a rescue frenchie or an older frenchie (so we wouldn't have to deal with potty training) and we came across this little guy. His original name is Cutting Edge's Magic Man (AKA: Nick).
 

photo courtesy of Japacas

I called the owner and told him that we were interested in Nick and he gave me some background on him. Basically, he comes from a championship bloodline (his dad is an AKC grand champion and his mom is an AKC champion) and they were thinking about showing him, but his brother from the same litter turned out to be better in shows. Since they didn't want them competing against one another, they decided to find a Nick a forever home where he could be a pet.



We took a day to think it over, but we couldn't say no to that face! A few days later, we drove to the North Carolina/Virginia border to pick up the little guy. He's seriously is little! About half the size of Louie, but then again Louie's large size is an anomaly...

We thought long and hard about what to name our new member of the family and we finally decided on Derby. 1) It kept our Kentucky theme (Louie=Louisville, Derby=Kentucky Derby) and 2) He was born on our anniversary, July 3rd, and since our wedding was Kentucky Derby themed it was truly fitting that he be given that name.

When Louie met Derby for the first time, he was a bit unsure, but of course they started to roughhouse like frenchies do right away! Sometimes we have to break it up (because Louie can straight up bully little Derby--pun intended!) but for the most part they kiss and make up as if to say, "No hard feelings!"

What my sister likes to call "frenching"

For me it has been a rough few days with the two of them; breaking up their "fights," learning how to walk two dogs on leash by myself, sleepless nights due to Derby's incredibly loud snoring, but despite all that it has been incredibly fun. Sometimes the two of them can really stress me out and try my patience, but when they get along it's the best! They kind of remind me of kids in that sense. Or at least what I imagine parenthood to be (but a lot harder with humans!). Yes, I know dogs aren't the same as kids but you know what I mean! And, no we aren't planning on having kids anytime soon in case you're wondering, or as Justin always says, "Ask us next year." har, har, har...



Derby curling his tounge. One of the only tricks he knows at the moment, LOL.

So are you a dog owner considering another dog? Did you end up getting another dog and if so what assisted you in making that decision? I've never owned two dogs in my life before so it definitely has been a learning experience! It's been so rewarding having two dogs with two silly, but different personalities; it sometimes leaves me feeling like this:

Derby kind of looks like Louie in this picture