First Philly Finds

August 14, 2012 / foodsweatandbeers / 7 Comments

Being in a new place without a job or schoolwork leaves you with a lot of time to explore. And, since my roomie is off being a lab rat, I’m fending for myself. Luckily, I got a good pair of walking shoes, so I’ve been hoofing it around my little neighborhood. I’ve found a few bits and pieces worth noting.

I found that one of the perks of strolling around the city is that, more often than you’d like, you end up being a cigarette puffing co-pedestrian. And, though that sucks, sometimes they’re smoking cloves, and that’s the lesser of the evils.
I found out that Shake Shack makes delicious custard. And it’s even more delicious when it’s free and served in a pop up garden.
Yummy.
I found myself spending three hours in Barnes and Noble reading a Young Adult novel. Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver, the second book in a little series I started this summer. Yup, it’s a little silly, but it’s nice to read some pleasure literature before things start getting grad school-y.
I found my first Philly craft beer event to be delicious, though I also found that I shouldn’t attend an all-you-can-drink event on a fairly empty stomach. The Brew and Chew at Cavanaugh’s was a tasty foray into some new River Horse beers and a few tasty tapas. I also met a few folks, and feel like there could be a Philly Beer Family out there, just waiting to fill the void in my heart that exists ever since leaving my beloved NCBeer crew.
River Horse Hop-a-Lot-Amus

Special Ale paired with a short rib flatbread topped with Havarti cheese, tomato, and arugula

Double Wit paired with a Mahi Mahi taco, purple slaw, avocado (yay) and a spicy lime drizzle
I found Heaven in a hot dog bun.
Ay, chihuahua!

Oh, sweet delicious sausage. Underdogs is this tasty little joint on 17th Street. I got the Chihuahua, a chorizo sausage with sautéed onions, chipotle mayo and queso blanco and fries with that same chipotle mayo. My GOODNESS, talk about delicious. And yes, I chowed every one of those french fries soaking that bag with grease.

Chapel Hill friends, imagine a hot dog version of Buns. Amazing fries + dipping sauces, every topping imaginable, and friendly employees. If you try every single one of their 23 dogs, you get your name put on the Wall of Fame.

First Philly goal, made.
I also found that sleeping in a new place with odd hours makes me want to nap constantly.

Gooooood night (good afternoon? Good grief.)

Six Pack Sunday: Philly Recon

July 15, 2012 / foodsweatandbeers / 9 Comments

Hello there, strangers. Long time no talk. Or type. Or tweet. See, I’ve been working on a most-important mission. That mission involves establishing one of the most basic of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs: SHELTER! Some of you may know that, starting this fall, I’ll be starting at UPenn’s Public Health program in the fall and, while the idea of commuting from the shore house is great in theory, I recognize that, in practice, it’d get ridiculous pretty fast. Enter: the apartment hunt.

In my opinion, one of the more miserable experiences of life, the apartment hunt is a necessary evil. This meant that the past few weeks have been spent scouring Craigslist, poring over real estate agent’s websites, and scampering all over Philadelphia trying to find a home. Fingers crossed that my last application went through… but goodness, what an adventure. And that is now the subject of this week’s Six Pack Sunday.

1. Home: It’s Where I Want to Be

Hey there gorgeous!

Honestly, why WOULDN’T I want to live here?

2. Bubble Break

All that scouring can make a girl frustrated, irritated, and in need of a break. So I took one.

Luckily, I met some new friends.

Philly’s More Fun When You Sleep Over

January 19, 2012January 18, 2012 / foodsweatandbeers / 5 Comments

I love Philly. And that’s saying something, considering realistically, how little time I’ve actually spent in the city. Growing up, there were field trips, of course. Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell, classic destinations for any Pennsylvania school student. I’ll admit, though, it was the closest city to me so, like anyone who lived in some sort of Philadelphia suburb (or anywhere nearby), I claim it as my own.

The City of Brotherly Love

Since I’ve grown up (to the ripe old age of 24? It’s a process), I’ve gotten to experience a different side of Philadelphia. I’ve been there for New Year’s Eve celebrations, foodie visits, a bachelorette party, numerous other random parties, and, of course, the Healthy Living Summit last summer.

The only way to jam in everyone's smiling face!

But it’s a very rare occasion I get to go to Philly without a real “reason”, an event or some sort of scheduled activity. That’s why this past weekend was such a treat.

I flew into PHL on Friday night and took the train to Ryan’s stop, where he met me, bundled up in my “puffah” (the pet name of my Michael Kors puffy coat, one of my very favorite Christmas presents) to brave the Pennsylvania freeze. We enjoyed a beer, we snuggled, we watched some goofy movie about the Rock who plays a chef and el gato and Stifler is a mobster’s son and there’s lots of guns? I don’t know, it was awful, so [inevitably] Ryan loved it. (EDIT: Looked it up, it’s called The Rundown. In case you’re into ridiculous films like that.) Despite the cinematic fail, it was a perfect, relaxing night.

The morning just took it to a new level of wonderful.

Bob’s Diner, in Roxborough. I would’ve taken a picture of the adorable outside, but that would’ve been risking my life in the middle of traffic, and I hate being hit by cars. It was perfect, though, like a little trailer cafe met one of my favorite, long-menued diners in Jersey. I originally ordered French toast with bacon, and then I saw it. The Holy Grail of breakfast meats, in my opinion. PORK ROLL! I quickly replaced my bacon order, and was soon greeted with a warm plate.

Golden and charred, my favorite things

The French toast was so light, it was like a cloud. A cloud I doused in syrup. The pork roll was the star of the show, though, thick, charred, and salty. I made quick work of my plate, forking up a combination of French toast and pork roll together in each bite. It didn’t stand a chance.

Nice try, breakfast.

Ryan enjoyed a giant chocolate chip pancake, which I enjoyed too, because I’m his significant other, and that’s a rule in the dating world, right?

What's yours is mine.

Trust me, there were plenty more chocolate chips in the pancake. And then, they were in my belly.

While at breakfast, we spotted a fraternity brother (one we’d seen just a week before at GC!) I stayed true to myself by obnoxiously asking his dining buddy, who was definitely NOT someone we knew, to take a photo of us.

Delta Psi in Philly!

I love the ease of Philly. I love the chance to chat it up with all the waitresses at the diner, I love strolling around and seeing the historical mixed with the modern, I love the food, I love the Regional Rail system, and I love the people. ~~Maybe~~ I’m biased because my boyfriend lives there (oh, and I met him there 4 years ago), my friends live there, and it’s the city I’ve been to the most. But if you can’t love your city, what can you love?

…well, you could love pork roll, I guess.

What’s “Your” home city?

What’s your favorite aspect of it?

Healthy Living Summit: Saturday Sessions

August 24, 2011 / foodsweatandbeers / 78 Comments

~~Good evening, and happy my last night as a 23 year old!! Before you know it (less than 3 hours from now!!~~) EDIT: Post started last night, and published today! Ooops.

I’ll officially be 24 years old. On August 24th. That, right there, is a Golden Birthday, y’all. I spent the eve of my 24th birthday where I’ve spent the past 4 birthdays (at least at the start): The living room of my fraternity. I enjoyed my 20th Birthday there hosting a “That’s So Jordan” Birthday Party. Yup, a theme party themed after myself. When you ask yourself “What Would Jordan Do” like I suggested in last night’s recap post of the HLS Cocktail Party, well, that’s a great answer.

Maybe the most Jordan I've ever been in my life. Four years later and the tiara still hangs to the side.

After the hijinx of the cocktail party (broken umbrellas, tummies full of tacos [in Ali‘s case], bellies full of beers [in my case], and exhaustion), we crashed hard at Chez Ali. I was snuggle buddies with Krissie, but we kept things pretty PG, so don’t think you’re gonna get any of that type of hijinx in this post.

I marveled at the wonders of cereal bars galore as we Healthy Living Summit attendees attacked the foods as if we’d never seen a box of Attune Foods cereal (the sponsors of breakfast!)

Oi vay, all the cereal you could handle.

Though I have cereal nearly every morning at work (mostly that Fiber One 80 calorie goodness that I talked about before), it’s really not my breakfast of choice. I’d always prefer a warm morning meal with a bit of meat to start things off. I totally recognize the decision to have the food options they had, but that hard boiled egg and cereal certainly left me wanting some eggs of a more scrambled nature. The Lehigh Valley Dairy milk was, IMHO, the star of the show, and as a Pennsylvania native, it was glorious to enjoy a tiny carton of real, local milk.

First on the agenda was an Icebreaker, sponsored by Glam Media and Bliss.com.

Hey! I've been skydiving!!

I’ll shoot you straight: I. hate. icebreakers. This one, while active, didn’t really break too much ice for me. Basically, we all walked around demanding to know who doesn’t eat dairy products, who was over 6′ tall (that one was an easy one to find…. and it was me), and who composted at home. The funniest part of this event was when someone at my table REALLY broke the ice by telling us the tale of a neighbor who composted their poop. Can you even imagine? Just considering the idea of visiting a neighbor, seeing them outside washing a giant bucket, and wondering…. did they just poop in there? Yeah, that resulted in some belly laughs.

Anyway, I didn’t win a Lululemon gift card. I wasn’t too upset.

No, happy hour is my happy hour.

Once the ice was thoroughly broken, it was time to get to the sessions. The best part of this whole “conference made up of bloggers” thing was ABSOLUTELY keeping up with things through live tweeting. As I mentioned to Allison, it was like the most public note passing of all. And it helped keep things light and funny, which can be tough to do sometimes with panels on negativity and how the “numbers game” can drive you crazy.

There have been countless recaps of the sessions. I’m a little late on the game when it comes to HLS recaps, so I’ll just include a few pictures of my favorite moments from the rest of the day, followed by some major takeaways.

American Gothic: Frito Lay Style

No free food? HA! I laugh at the mere idea!

I will, Pauly. I hope to meet you in Raleigh tomorrow night...

220 women at a conference = ANNEXATION OF THE MEN'S ROOM!

Not to be confused with the Annexation of Puerto Rico.

Shake break. Like a shake weight, with our whole bodies!

And here’s a shot of my accommodations waiting for my ride home:

I'm a bag lady. And proud of it.

Having just filled out my HLS Questionnaire, I have a lot of thoughts about the Summit as a whole.

It’s amazing to meet new people, but can be really hard to do that when other folks are less interested in branching out than you are. Being a newbie (and proud of it), I wanted to soak up EVERYONE! But many people were there to reunite with friends that they’ve known forever and maybe only get to see once a year. I totally understand that, and this isn’t a pity party by any means because I had a good time. But it almost made me wish that I could only have a conference of folks who’d never met before, just to level the playing field.
There are a lot of stereotypical “healthy living blog” cliches that are totally real. I’ve never seen people go so crazy over cereals and nut butters. My feelings about both of these: decent. But not life-changing. And honestly, before this weekend, I don’t think I’ve eaten a nut butter in over 6 months.
I was surprised by how many people believed they could be or should be professional bloggers. The presentation given by Katy Widrick on Monetizing Your Blog was so eye opening at what it would take to become a professional blogger. I talked to a few people, at the summit, IRL, and online, who seem to just expect that they’d start writing about their lives and they’d start having companies flock to them for product reviews and sponsorships. If you work long and hard (let’s say…. 2-3 years, and make blogging your fulltime career for some), maybe you’ll get enough readers to make blogging financially support you. But it’s just not the norm.
I really wish that there had been more guys there. Now, let me explain this. I was NOT coming to Philly for a manhunt. Trust me, I get to date this stud:
How he puts up with me, I'll never know....

But I really get the feeling that if there were more males around other than the 4 that I’m aware of (oh, and Mark, one of the DrinkChia sponsor folks, who was just the BEST!) maybe it would’ve felt less like a lady sleepover party and more like a summit of likeminded folks coming together and discussing something they love. Then again, this is another thing I can’t control because the HLB community ITSELF is dominated by women. I just couldn’t help but think it.
The sessions were all good, but I especially liked the ones that felt like they were truly from the heart. The one regarding Rising Above Negativity illustrated issues that each of the panel members had experienced, and something that everyone experiences in their lifetimes. I was also touched hearing Lisa‘s story in the numbers game presentation because you could feel her emotions in her words. Even Katy’s post on Monetizing Your Blog felt like she was so passionate about wanting everyone to make bank that it resonated. I didn’t feel like that with all the presentations. Action Mantras, while effective, can feel contrived and hokey. The Flexitarian Diet… I just don’t think it’s for me, but that’s neither here nor there. It’s just definitely not HERE (meaning on my blog).
For me, the point of attending HLS was as an adventure. I wanted to challenge myself to meet new people, to step out of my comfort zone, to do something I’ve never done before. I came, I talked about myself, I talked to strangers, I walked around Philly (well, actually, I have done that). And I actually did get a rush, like a lighter version of my skydiving trip.
THIS IS EXACTLY LIKE A CONFERENCE!
But I still felt out of place. And I couldn’t help but read all the tweets from the Beer Blogger’s Conference in Portland and miss those folks who enjoy the carbonated suds I love so much. Too much of a good thing can be quickly become a bad thing. And I felt like this nonexistent “formula for a healthy living blogger” was followed to a T by some folks who were trying so hard to present themselves in this light that I missed out on getting to know the true them. The point of meeting bloggers IRL is to see what maybe you don’t get to see on their blog. To go deeper than the internet’s surface. And while there were definitely a few folks there who did this well, there were enough folks that looked like they were trying so hard not to mess up that I never really felt like we even approached that level.

I’m so glad I went. I had fun, I met folks, it felt like blogging became real to me, and not just this random online Xanga or something. I don’t know if I’d go again… if it were as convenient as this year, definitely. There’s much to be learned, there’s much to be shared, and maybe I’d find some sort of friend group to bond with. It wasn’t what I expected, though I’m not sure what I DID expect, and I have LOVED reading the recaps from others. But I’m very glad that I was “me” the entire time (even though a few times, the moment I mentioned beers, peoples eyes glazed over as their interest immediately waned.)

I just can't quit you, beer.

I’m not ending with any type of action mantra or any wise closing words. I guess I’m ending vaguely, which is sort of how I feel like I left HLS. Like a vague, hazy daze where I wasn’t entirely sure what happened. But regardless, it was a great early birthday present to myself, and I can’t wait to fly right back to PHL in 2 days for another crack at the Northeast.

Healthy Living Summit Weekend: The Eats

August 23, 2011 / foodsweatandbeers / 8 Comments

As well received as my Healthy Living Summit Cocktail Party recap was, I decided to hold off on a recap of day two until I have time to fully devote myself to a complete writeup of the Saturday sessions. However, that doesn’t mean you should miss out on everything. And who doesn’t like food posts?

Before my trip, I wanted to enjoy a tasty little treat, so I whipped up my traditional pre-flight beer and snack!!

Weyerbacher Hops Infusion? Don't mind if I do.

Turkey and Cheese and Lettuce on a sandwich thin! Beer! Carrots! The best.

I also did my best to eat the rest of the spinach before I left.

I felt like a straight bunny, nibbling on leaves. But it got the job done.

At the home of Ali, we whipped out all the stops (aka the baked goods):

I promise, we didn't eat all of this. Some. Most. but not all.

Let’s just say that it was a bit of a smorgasbord.

Wawa: The stuff my dreams are made of...

For dinner:

Wawa Shorti with Roast beef, cheddar cheese, light on the mayo, lettuce, tomato, onion, salt, pepper, oregano. I always get this when I go to Wawa. It is like a second nature, entering it on the touchpad.
Wawa Diet Raspberry Iced Tea

Can someone PLEASE explain to me why there is no raspberry iced tea, diet or otherwise, to be found in North Carolina? I can’t even get the Snapple kind…. If you know where to get some, PLEAES email, call, text, or tweet me. ASAP. This is not a joking kind of request. This is so heartfelt I feel it deep in my heart.

The highlights of the cocktail party food were already shown, minus one: Philly Cheesesteak Empanadas. I didn’t take pictures of these, because I was shoving them down my gullet. Imagine a philly cheesesteak. then fry it.

You get the idea.

Breakfast in the morning was sponsored by Attune Foods, and featured mostly a wide array of their cereals, fresh fruit, hardboiled eggs, and yogurt.

Pineapple. Cereal. I forgot how delicious real milk was, especially from Lehigh Valley.

Oh. A pluot. I had no idea what this was until I bit it.

I could’ve eaten the lunch for days.

Roasted veggie sammy, caprese salad sammy, cous cous and chickpeas, and Perrier. Oh, you fancy.

GIANT ups to Great Harvest bread. Which filled my belly totally and heartily. The mozzarella was so creamy, and the onions in the cous cous…. ooh, girl.

Snacktime was not really my favorite, but I partook because who don’t want no free foods?

Cinnamon raisin nut butter = the poo. So take a big whiff. The hummus was a little watery for my liking... oh well.

To be honest, though, there was a much more important meal waiting for me at home, after the summit. Something I’d been seeking out since I arrived in Philly. The holy grail of Philly cuisine.

We belong together.

I went a little off the beaten path with the Buffalo Chicken Cheesesteak and was rewarded handsomely with spicy, cheese, chickeny goodness. Something about the rolls up North, they just know how to do it right. And, even though it wasn’t in empanada format, it was at least as (if not much, much more) delicious.

What’d you eat this weekend that was delicious?

Do you have any favorite foods/drinks from growing up that you can’t get now wherever you live (due to a move or [gasp!!] someone stopped producing them?)

Airports: The Great Equalizers

August 23, 2011 / foodsweatandbeers / 20 Comments

Good morning friends, blends, and strangers who love/hate flying.

I was so excited that so many of you enjoyed my recap of the Healthy Living Summit Cocktail Party. Big shout out to Katy Widrick for the twitter love, spreading my words far and wide to her many followers and fans.

Even though the cocktail party was a blast, I’ll admit, there was one aspect of the trip to Philly (or rather, from) that cast a hideous pallor over my memories.

Not unlike the beautiful skin tone of Lord Voldy. (Click image for source)

That thing was so awful that it even warranted an angry tweet from yours truly.

You should never tweet angry. But sometimes, I do.

See, the beau and I are starting the long distance relationship thing a little early this week, with him leaving for a business trip and me heading back to North Carolina, also for work. He called me early Monday morning when his flight landed to say good morning and inquire about my weekend. And, as we all saw in yesterday’s post, yes, I may be a bit of a loud character.

If you went from hot tub to snow, you'd be screaming, too!

But when the fellow across from me shushed me, I couldn’t help but (quietly) ask,

“Excuse me?”

“I said ‘Shh’…. I don’t want to hear your conversation.”

……………………………oh. I’m sorry. I thought this was America. Not District 12 (Bonus points for Hunger Games reference understanding) where we have to be silent coyotes for the sake of everyone around us and to make sure we don’t offend President Snow (who this guy reminds me of. Roll with me on the Hunger Games train. And if you’re not, read them now. You will thank me.)

And yes, maybe I was loud. I tend to be. But that’s the thing about airports. EVERYONE is loud. All around us, there were babies crying, folks trying to get a hold of their rides (“What?! Terminal B? Did you say BEE or SMEE?! WHERE IS TERMINAL SMEE?!”), tearful phone goodbyes, video game playing, iPod listening. It’s a loud place. And I think that sometimes, for infrequent travelers (I am the opposite of this), they forget that, for some of us, the airport is part of our day-to-day lives.

When I looked up in horror at this jerk, all I felt was a totally mind-consuming rage.

Face has been covered because I realized it's not nice to tweet angry.

I think my thought process was something along these lines:

“Who does this ass-hat think he is? Look at him, sitting with that smug su-do-ku playing look on his face [you know the one that all good sudoku-ers get when they su]. I bet he regularly powerwalks past slower walkers in his neighborhood track, and looks back at them, and shakes his head. Yeah, he’s probably that kind of dude. I wonder if he’s ever purposefully spilled a drink on someone, or elbowed them for getting too close on public transportation. Likely.”

When he got up and left his stuff, I had crazy-person thoughts like “I want to follow him playing sounds of screaming babies on my phone. is that a ringtone that I have?” I promise I didn’t look (but the thought crossed my mind.)

Airports somehow (and frequently) bring out the worst in some people. I’ve seen folks have to be split up by TSA agents because they’ve started fights over who was supposed to board first. This is not a joke. I’ve watched people butt in front of entire hours worth of security lines, then receive death threats from the folks behind them. The pressure of flights leaving you behind, connecting flights, long lines, and expensive food just seems to put people on edge and make them total grouchballs. And one grouchball leads to another, and then you have a collective rage blackout and forget how you ended up in a pile of cinnabons and $9 beer puddles with blood on your knuckles.

It.... it all happened so fast.

Luckily, on rare occasions, they can also bring out the best. Because I’ve also watched people share their overpriced Chinese food and laugh like they’ve been BFF when they find out their flight’s delayed due to thunderstorms. Once, I even saw a Charlotte, NC local offer their guest room for someone whose flight was canceled until the next day. Having slept over at the Charlotte airport before due to flight cancellations and rescheduling, I remember staying up late, chatting with my fellow airport warriors about past stories and bonding over our mutual tragedy.

The Real Tragedy? This was my bed.

As I fumed with rage blackout potential, I tried to remember those good times. The laughter, the kindness of the occasional fellow passenger. Heck, early yesterday morning, my undies fell out of my carry on and a wonderful lady alerted me, in the shadiest manner possible, that I had panties gone rogue.

Who, me?

And so I didn’t do anything rash, like mash a banana into his carry on or report him for sexual harassment and potential dangerous weapon concealment to TSA. I just decided to walk away.

Whether you’re mean or nice, tall or short, old or young, rich or me poor, you can’t change what happens at the airport. You can’t bypass the security lines, you can’t MAKE the pilot take-off faster, you can’t demand that there be less traffic on the runway. Airports are the great equalizer. Maybe that guy chose to respond negatively, and be in a bad mood, but I chose to rise above it (quite literally) in the air, and had a wonderful conversation with my seat-buddy.

I still hope that guy was forced to sit by the toilet and that it smelled. I hope it smelled REAL bad.

Healthy Living Summit: Cocktails and Tasty Ales

August 22, 2011August 22, 2011 / foodsweatandbeers / 48 Comments

Greetings friends, old and new, and Happy MY BIRTHDAY Week!!

Have you not been celebrating? Might I suggest a No Pants Wednesday (or Monday) in my honor? Perhaps crush a cup of tasty beer with a friend. You just gotta ask yourself, WWJ(ordan)D? (No sacrilege meant here. I’d really be curious to know what folks did when they thought, What would that Jordan do?) If you’re new here, check out my 7 Links post for a little more about me!!

I’m currently celebrating my birthday week in style with a private, GIANT booth at Rockfish Seafood Grill (my home away from home).

How many people will be joining you? None? But you need a table? We got this.

Yet again, I can’t thank the folks at Rockfish enough for being so accommodating (always) AND emailing me a gift certificate for my birthday (!!!! FISH IS THE GREATEST GIFT EVER !!!)

Anyway, chances are, you didn’t come to hear about my fish fiesta. You came here to find out what this whole HLS drama is that I’ve been posting about, tweeting about, and generally abuzz about since…. well since I bought the ticket.

I’ll start at the beginning….

The beautiful Krissie from PhillyNerdGirl picked me up moments after I walked out of the PHL airport, a grin on her face and a bag of tiny pumpkin donuts in her hand. What a giver!

And a chatter! Love talking blog-talk.

Krissie and I ~~sped~~ crawled through some serious 3:30 traffic in Philly before eventually reaching Chez Ali (aka the Infamous Allison who planned the entirety of the Cocktail Party and saved us all from sobriety). Without wasting a moment (ok, we wasted several, ogling Krissie’s sexy shoes and eating s’mores crack like it was…. crack), I ~~politely requested~~ hungrily demanded a trip to Wawa. This Southern girl needed her fix.

Come to Mama. That's the good stuff.

Then, it was time for some ~~Boost~~ Boozy (DAMN YOU, AUTOCORRECT!) Arnold Palmers (I’m sure there’s a real name for them. But I like to imagine Arnold Palmer himself, all liquored up, hanging out with us.)

Thumbs up for booze, buddy! (Click image for Source)

Krissie, Ali, and Jordy: Sipping

We could only drink and gossip for so long before the itch to primp kicked into high gear.

A Glam Slam! (like a grand slam. I wish this was a real phrase.)

My best friend Ring, who was quite a hit at the party

We took an incredibly easy cab ride over to Reading Terminal Market, a place where I once enjoyed the best roast pork sandwich known to mankind (at DiNics) and the home of the HLS Cocktail Party. After ~~jimmying the door open with my superior lock picking skills~~ asking a security guard to let us in, we rounded up the rest of the ladies and, like a herd of extremely willing cats, headed to the party spot.

Hell hath no fury like HLBloggers tryna get some snacks.

Guess where I headed, with my two complimentary drink tickets?

Am I really that predictable?

The selection was actually top notch:

Dogfish Head Chicory Stout
Voodoo Brewery’s Pilzilla
Philadelphia Brewing Company’s Fleur de Lehigh
Philadelphia Brewing Company’s Kenzinger
Some wine (yeah, I had no eyes for that)
A YUMMY cocktail made with DrinkChia that was like a creamy daquiri with jelly chia bits

I went straight for the Chicory Stout first. And then I realized that I could still enjoy a few nibblets.

Quite the spread.

Single asparagus spear? Ok.

Also, I wore a tiara.

See, the thing is, with Ryan moving this week (Wahhhhhhhhh! – Snookie) and me having a work training then heading to OCNJ (again) for my cousin’s bridal shower, I wanted to celebrate. But really, I just wanted to wear a tiara. That’s What Jordan Would Do.

I met bloggers, large and small.

A lesson in extremes

I tried to meet them, one and all.

That's a lotta ladies.

I even took a picture near a stall!

Class-Act.

There were spider senses,

With the Okie in Pink, Lisa

And some blog-lebrity blends(es? I’m just trying to rhyme here)

Courtney and Julie, two of the women I read before knowing what HL was!

Birthday buddies!

Carly and Michelle finalllllly found some tiaras! (and a really weird fellow who photobombed from within a photobooth. that's skill.)

And my very favorite sponsors of the entire conference, Chandra and Mark from Drink Chia!!

Ch(i)andra!

I also think I found a kindred spirit in Jess, a fancy lady from the heart of dairy land.

Sassy as hell.

~~There was dancing~~.

There was not dancing. This might be my greatest disappointment of the weekend. There was something wrong with the iPod hookup, or something, and I felt very weird mingling and running around with no (and then, later, very quiet) music. Sort of like if the cocktail party was hosted in a GIANT elevator (full of food and drinks).

However, they more than made up for it by allowing me to drink as many cocktails as I wanted. Either there were so many pregnant ladies that their drink tickets somehow all were given to me, or they overestimated how much folks would drink…. or the beer gods were shining down on me (I choose this one.) Whatever happened, it worked out completely in my favor.

I want them all.

I tried to mingle, I truly did. I figured the tiara and octopus ring were both great ice breakers. And some folks were totally happy to chat. Other ones were either uninterested, or in the zone with their own little groups. I’ll admit, I’m not very well “established” in this particular community, and I had never met most of the men and women before, so I understand. But I’ll say that my heart was swollen with joy when Katy Widrick chatted my head off about beers. Finally, I felt like my two passions were merged and I didn’t feel like the odd girl out.

Then again, maybe I’m just a little too rambunctious to be brought out in public to new people. Like that time, at the end, that my overzealous flinging of an umbrella resulted in the demise of said umbrella.