A Nation of Fun!!

We had the BEST time in D.C. I absolutely loved everything about this town! The food was amazing, the people were all extremely nice, and the town has so much to offer!

We ate and walked, and ate, walked some more, went to a museum, walked, ate, etc.
A perfect mix!

We visited many areas of the city, capitol hill, downtown, Chinatown, and Georgetown. We went to the Holocaust Museum - very interesting, but somewhat disturbing, Lincoln Memorial, Washington Monument, WWII Memorial - we found AK's grandpas information, very neat!, White House, the National Museum of American History - also very interesting!

Barrack row - all the top generals in the U.S. live here

Now to the restaurants...

WOW! DC has soo many to choose from, but we had the best list from a local!!

Mac and cheese from Ted's Bulletin - HANDS down best I've ever had!

The second night we ate at the Old Ebbitt Grill, also very tasty!!

Finally, we ate at 1789 in Georgetown, dessert was fantastic!!

We went and had after dinner drinks at a cool place in Georgetown, called Billy Martin's. It is supposedly were JFK asked Jackie to marry him. A very chill place with fantastic bartenders!

If you have not been to D.C. since your 8th grade trip, I highly recommend you go back! The town is thriving and there is something for everyone!!

The Fam

We had such a nice weekend! AK’s older brother and his girlfriend, mom and dad came up for a visit. This was the first time we have had family come for a visit so it was great to have them in town. We had a lot of fun showing them around Columbus and visited the neighborhoods of German Village, downtown Dublin and the Short North.

We ate and ate until we just couldn’t eat anymore!

The Rock Filet at The Elevator -
you grill it yourself on a 375 degree rock

Group Shot at The Elevator

AK and I in German Village being silly!

Menchie's

Many of you know how much I LOVE Ice Cream and Frozen Yogurt! Well this weekend I found my new favorite place for frozen yogurt, Menchie's.

What is so great about this place is you pay by weight and not by how many toppings you have. So you can put 5 different types of toppings or mix two different frozen yogurts and not have to pay additional! It's really reasonably priced too, 44 cents a ounce. So for AK and I to get two cups of frozen yogurt with any toppings we wanted it was $6.50!!

They have several different flavors, usually about 8 everyday. I went with the New York Cheesecake and mixed it with chocolate and topped it with reeses pieces, chocolate chips, cookie dough AND chocolate syrup. Needless to say, this may have not been a good find for me, I may have a slight addiction on my hands!

Between you and me, I went back the next day and got another frozen yogurt before I went to the grocery!! I felt like I just couldn't resist, it's right next to the grocery!! So here's my warning to you, if you are a frozen yogurt person, BEWARE!!

To find a location near you, visit

Mamacita

I'm loving this new restaurant in Nashville, Taco Mamacita! We went to celebrate a friends birthday while I was in town there. The atmosphere is awesome and I love the outside patio. It's in a upcoming part of Nashville and it's a great place to people watch!

Their margaritas are great and they have one called the Skinny Margarita that is only 100 calories!!

We started off with a sampling of cheese dip, guacamole and salsa. We definitely finished all three! So good!

They have great tacos, enchiladas, their tortilla soup is suppose to be amazing and their nachos were huge!!

I went with the tacos - pick two and ordered a Club Royale (a double-stacked taco filled with roasted chicken, salsa verde, shredded lettuce, pico de gallo, creamy black bean mash and chipotle cream sauce) and a Baja Fish (panko breaded tilapia served with crispy Napa cabbage, authentic Mexican white sauce, pico de gallo, sliced radishes and cilantro). For my side I went with sweet potato fries, so not what you would think would be good with tacos but was awesome!!

If your in the Nashville area you definitely should stop by! They also have a location in Chattanooga.

The Puffy Cookie

Oh me, Oh my! Last week when I was in Nashville I had to run to Kinko's and then there it was, Puffy Muffin! It was 10am and I couldn't resist, I had to go over and grab a pimento cheese sandwich for lunch and of course one of their wonderful chocolate chunk cookies.

I didn't just get one cookie, I got three! By 2:30 p.m. all three cookies were gone and my stomach was showing proof! If you are ever in the Brentwood/Cool Springs area in TN you must stop by and pick up a cookie! They also have great chicken salad, pimento cheese and wonderful cakes!

Potbelly

AK and I did some shopping this weekend, but before we hit the stores we had to fill our belly's!

We went to a place called Potbelly's and it was so tasty! They specialize in sandwiches, and they are SO GOOD! They run them through a toaster and they come out just perfect! They also carry Zapp's potato chips (made in Louisiana), which AK and I both love.

I got the T-K-Y skinny - so good and just enough! For AK it was a tough decision - Pizza or Italian sandwich, he went with the Italian and was very pleased! So if you want to fill your belly, you should check out Potbelly's! (okay, yes that was pretty cheezy!)

A Columbus Visit

Andy’s cousin and his wife Kelly from Baton Rouge are coming for a visit next weekend! They are our first visitors! We are so excited to spend some time together and to show them around town!

Here are a few things we have planned for the weekend…

Since they are huge LSU fans, we thought we should show them The Ohio State University stadium, so they can compare a SEC stadium vs. a Big Ten stadium.

Of course we have several places we would like to take them to eat – Thurman’s for lunch (although if we go there we may not have room for dinner!) Thurman's is located in German village, which is filled with antique shops, Queen Anne style homes, and brick-laden sidewalks and of course more great restaurants! Andy and I have never been to this restaurant, but we would like to go for dessert! It’s called Schmidt’s and “specializes in original German and American dinners, sandwiches, mouth watering desserts, cocktails, and many German and micro brews by the bottle and on tap." Doesn't this cream puff look delicious!!

My mouth is watering just thinking about it!!

Saturday night we will be hanging out in the Arena District and Short North - which is filled with several bars and a great local brewery - The Elevator.

We may even have some time to go to Easton Town Center and do some shopping or I’m thinking a pedicure for Kelly and I and let the boys hang out! I know it will be a fun weekend!

So needless to say, come hungry if you come visit us in Columbus!

The Thurmanator

I learned very quickly that you have to compromise on what your going to watch on TV as a couple. Andy could watch ESPN all day long. Now I am a UT football fan, but don't have a desire to watch every game imaginable! I on the other hand could watch E! all day.

Our first week in Columbus was almost complete, it was a Sunday afternoon and we decided to watch the Travel Channel. The show was titled Man vs. Food and it just so happened the host was in Columbus! He was at a place called The Thurman Cafe. We started watching and the burger that he was about to eat was massive and looked so tasty. Both of our mouths were watering, we looked at each other and said - Let's Go!



Thurman Cafe is a small place, during a weekend you could wait up to 2 hours for a table. We went at 3 - perfect timing, we were sat in 10 minutes. It has the biggest, probably most calories, and protein burgers I have ever seen. You haven't had a burger until you have a Thurman Burger! It is overloaded with ham, mozzarella, American cheese, lettuce, tomato, mushrooms, sauteed onions, pickle, peppers, and mayo with chips and a pickle spear. So I did the unthinkable and ordered it! I had to eat it with a fork and knife because it was too tall to fit in my mouth! Andy ordered a pizza burger (go figure!) - it was topped with mozzarella cheese and pepperonni's.



They have a burger called The Thurmanator which is twice as big as the Thurman. It got it's name because Arnold Schwarzenegger used to live in Columbus and would come order this burger before a workout, because it has so much protein!

If your ever in Columbus I would highly recommend you try The Thurman Cafe!