We KNEAD to Start Running

Last Saturday Katie and Elaine somehow managed to get their butts out of bed to go watch the Columbus Half Marathon. You might be thinking that watching a bunch of strangers run wouldn't be that fun. Well - you would be correct. Lucky for us, our friend and co-worker Josefa was running so we were on a mission to find her.

After scouring the city near and far to find Josefa, we failed. Turns out she was a speed demon that day and finished before we were able to see her. Although we didn't run 13.1 miles like the half-marathoners, we did walk over 2 miles to the finish line at the Columbus Commons so we were hungry. We decided to just pick a place on our over 2 mile walk home, and that place turned out to be Knead. The cool thing about Knead is that every ingredient they use is locally produced and locally grown.

We got there around noon so we could have chose from their lunch or brunch menus. Katie's roommate Anita was with us, and all three of us went for brunch. Anita and I both decided to their one of their specials for the day: frittata's with arugula, garlic and onion with a side of potatoes. They were fantastic! Anita is somewhat allergic to eggs, but still loved them even after she began to feel the side effects! Katie went with the french toast. It looked and tasted phenomenal!

Our first Knead experience was a success! After watching all the marathon runners and how happy they were as they crossed the finish line, we all decided that is something we should do in the future. For a good breakfast, try Knead, and beware - if you go watch a marathon you will undoubtedly feel the KNEAD to start running as well!

Important Business Dinner - See You at Tip Top!

Last Friday night Katie & Elaine took one of our favorite restaurants in all of Columbus - Tip Top. Tip Top is a small bar on Gay Street in downtown Columbus where you can get good drinks and good eats. All the food is good, but they are especially famous for their sweet potato fries. If you like sweet potato fries - this is the place for you. What makes the sweet potato fries so yummy is the spicy mayo sauce that comes with them. Not too spicy, but delicious when dipped with a sweet potato fry.

We went to Tip Top with Alison, Kate & Derek from work before heading down the street to CCAD to judge final projects in one of their 3-D design classes. We all started off with drinks - beer for the ladies and a rum and diet for Derek. Katie and Alison had Original Sin and Kate and I had Bell's Oberon. For my second beer I had Lindeman’s Peche/Peach. IT WAS FANTASTIC. I love anything peach flavored - and to have a peach flavored beer! I was opened up to a whole new world that night. 

For appetizers we ordered sweet potato fries, of course, and corn fritters, housemade fritters of corn, peppers and spices, topped with a dollop of sour cream. The corn fritters were awesome, and lucky for me no one else really wanted them - so obviously I helped myself. Wouldn't want those babies to go to waste would we? 

For dinner Kate and Katie got one of our all-time favorite Tip Top meals, the avocado-Honey-Shallot chicken salad on a pretzel roll bun with sweet potato fries. I had the mac-n-cheese, rotini noodles with sauteed poblano peppers, red onion and corn tossed in the creamy cheese sauce. Derek had the Smoked Salmon Fritters, smoked salmon, risotto, herbs and cheese lightly breaded and fried, served with Dijon-horseradish dipping sauce and Alison had the Tonya's Herbed Goat Cheese Salad, goat cheese rolled in fresh herbs and lightly grilled served over mixed greens with tomato wedges  and their own balsamic vinaigrette. 

Tip Top, as always, was delicious. We are never disappointed when we go there. If you are looking for an intimate but fun atmosphere and a good meal with drinks - Tip Top is the place to go!

NASH-ATTACK! Girl's weekend in Nashville 2012

Last week Katie & Elaine traveled 6 hours away from our little Columbus home to take NASHVILLE! It feels like months ago we were randomly scouring Southwest.com for flights anywhere but Columbus because we needed a getaway. Well - we found flights to Nashville for $45, so Nashville it was! The planning had been going on for so long that when it finally came time to leave we were PUMPED! Our friends Michelle, Gillian, Krysti and Danie came along for the ride to help us take Nashville. We were only going to be there for less than 3 days - how much damage could we really do? 

The week before our trip was my birthday and the day after we arrived was Krysti's birthday - so basically we used that as an excuse to celebrate all weekend long. Our first day we explored close to our condo and went to the Opryland Hotel. In our future lives when we are trillion-billionaires we will stay there - it was so pretty! We ate at the Jack Daniel's restaurant - YUM! That night after some daytime pool time it was time to start the party. Girl's weekend was officially a go.

 

The morning of day 2 was spent by a few of us recovering from night 1. Michelle, Katie and I woke up at the crack of dawn only to hit the pool and take a nap. Sidenote - HAPPY BIRTHDAY KRYSTI! After mimosa's and breakfast we headed out to do some shopping in Hillsboro Village. Being graphic designers, of course we had to hit up the paper store, Social Graces. I think we all made at least one purchase then we had lunch at Boscos. They had live music playing while we ate - it was so Nashville of us. We also stopped at Pinkberry Yogurt on the way home - OMG YUM.

For Krysti's birthday we went on a ghost tour - not quite what we were expecting as it was more of a history lesson than getting scared, but either way we had a good time. Afterward it was time to find food and the on with round 2! We got ribs for the birthday girl then went to check out Tootsies. It wasn't really our crowd (full of old people). Unfortunately, from the moment we stepped off the plane, Krysti's allergies went crazy so she wasn't feeling good. Her and Danie went home but for Katie, Michelle and I the night was young. We wandered around for a while not really knowing where to go, so we decided to check out The Stage. Remix to Ignition, Purple Rain, What's Love Got to Do With it? - Oh boy were we in for a treat. We stayed there all night, got on stage TWICE, and rubbed elbows after the show with the band. GAAAHHH!

It was the best night - EVER. The next day the only thing on the agenda was to visit Hatch Show Print. We came, we bought lots and lots of screen prints, we left. We ate at a place called Burger Up - so good, kind of reminded all of us of North Star. Also, they carried Jeni's ice cream - what's not to love? Our last night wrapped up with going to the Mercy Lounge to watch 8 bands compete on the Road to Bonnaroo. The place was awesome and the music was fantastic! That night we also may or may not have met up with a certain keyboardist/guitarist/singer from the night before :) 

 

Hopefully this is the first of many girl's trips to come. Thanks Nashville it was real - we had a blast!