Who Doesn't Love a Good BJ?

Cringe at the title if you want, but it's my Birthday today (shameless comment plug!), so if I want to post rude titles, I gosh darn will.

That and Mum and I went to BJ's Brewhouse for lunch, which I adore....probably as much as men love bj's. No really, do a survey. I'm sure you will find that men love getting a good ol' bj as much as I love frequenting BJ's....and I do frequent it pretty often, I just don't always post, or take pictures, or strive to be a better blogger. Maybe if Cosmo had that "101 Ways to Manage a Better Blog" article instead of "101 Ways to Give a Better BJ" I would have a fabulous, highly trafficked blog. But considering I'm sure I just lost all my conservative readers with that one, I'd better cut to the finish..... hehe!

If you don't know about BJ's BrewHouse they are sprouting up all over the Southeast, and are a micro-brewery/Restaurant Chain that totally blows Hops out of the water! They have 7 house brews on draft all the time and then have seasonal stuff too, my faves being the Pumpkin Ale from the fall and the Amber Ale from last month! The one in Gville is hopping since it is still "new"......it only opened a year or so ago, and just to brag, my current mang (thanks for this word Becca! LOVE IT) was one of the engineers on the project. Love that! hehe.

So, without further ado, here's a peak at some yummy stuff at BJ's!

Jeremiah Red-my fave of the house brews

(and yes, I've tried them all!)


Thai Lettuce Wraps Appetizer
(this also makes a great light meal if you don't mind getting messy!)


Broccoli Cheddar Soup
(I'm sure this is the most unhealthy soup on the planet, but DAMN is it GOOD!)


BBQ Chicken Salad
(This was the LUNCH PORTION! Whoozer! the onion strings were a tad soggy, so I pushed them to the wayside, along with most of the chicken-I'm just not feeling much meat these days)

Anyways, this is just one of the many delicious options at BJ's. They have a huge and varied menu, so it is one of those places you can take a whole group and everyone will be happy, which is great with my often picky pals!

Now, if you will excuse the Bday girl, she has some primping to do before the fabulous weekend begins! hehe.

Love to all,
~the vulgar little 24 year old, Jess

Surprise! (Hangover......)

Most people either love or hate surprises. I'm one of those weirdos who is in between. I'm a bit of a control freak, so going on "mystery dates" and such aren't really my thing, because I hate being unprepared for any situation, but on the other hand I think life is one giant surprise, so of course I enjoy a surprise gift, phone call or even full blown party now and again.

I had never been acquainted with the surprise hangover before. But on Friday I had the pleasure (or lack there of) of being introduced. As one can imagine the surprise hangover follows the "surprise I'm drunk and that wasn't my intention" of the previous evening.

I am writing this post with the intention of preventing you from experiencing your own "surprise hangover." If you experience any of the following, you should stop the behavior immediately and seek, um, higher grounds?

Starting the night off with an extremely dull meet up at The Top
Consuming Sweetwater Happy Ending (Imperial Stout- 9% a/v) on an empty stomach
Seeking Refuge with two fabulous women at Stubbies
Consuming Old Rasputin (Another Imperial- 9% a/v)
Finally ordering Goulash for dinner
Burning your tongue on said Goulash
Sending inappropriate texts to the guy you are dating
Ordering Old Chub (Scottish Ale, 8% a/v)
Sending more texts to said boy, begging to meet up (classy, I know)
Drinking some water (obvs not enough!)
Meeting sexy, and oh so tolerant of your escapades, boy at park
Commencing with drunken make out session under a tree
Getting leaves stuck in your hair (he will help remove them, of course)
Swearing you are fine to drive, of course
Starting the 45min drive home....realize 15mins in you aren't fine to drive, of course
Having no other option, as it is a Thursday and you have to go to work tomorrow
Drunk Dialing your NC BFF and begging her to talk to you so you can make it home
Somehow unlocking the door to the house
Crashing into bed
Attempting to send text to boy and bestie that you are home "safe"
Failing at both said texts
Waking up at 3:30am and chugging water
Sleeping through alarm
Waking up by the miracle of the Hangover Gods at 6am
Dragging pissed off body to shower and wash your stupid head
Chugging hot tea
Limping into work
Grimacing some semblance of a smile at your students
Suffering, because you are retarded
Giggling regardless, because DAMN that was a GOOD night!

And in case you are more of a visual person:
Happy Ending


Old Rasputin


Goulash


Old Chub

(I'll leave the rest up to your imagination, thank you very much)

Now before you go lecturing me for my antics on a "school" night, well, just save your breath. I know, I know I was a bad girl and frankly I scared myself. Usually I know when I've had enough, but this time I was like, "oh no, I only had THREE beers and I ate dinner, I'm fine!" I messed up the equation though, by having all high gravity beers and not eating until the 2nd beer, but I've learned my lesson. Trust me, being hungover with a classroom of hyper children (thankfully it was field day, so I just had good kids hanging out with me, finishing the scrapbook for BETA and watching movies.... so really I was off the hook) and then driving to Orlando for a Dashboard Confessional show that night-still hungover! sheesh!- was punishment enough.

Live and Learn!

Love to all,
~the alkie in the making, Jess

Serious Sushi (Ob)Sessions.....

So, confession time- I can NEVER get enough sushi, really. I mean really, REALLY!

And after an really great picnic with a new friend, where I enjoyed some unpictured sushi from Bento, I realized I had uploaded pictures for this post weeks ago and then left it, as always....cause I'm such a good blogger, ya know! ;)

Anyways, it's kind of nice that Bento inspired this post (or finishing this post....technicalities, technicalities) since that quick serve, Pan-Asian style restaurant actually inspired the "new guy" (relatively new, I can't find the exact date of it's opening): Rolls n Bowls- A Japanese Bistro, in town. This make your own sushi, sashimi, and udon bowls is the brain child of the owners of Dragonfly Sushi downtown, which I also enjoy- but more for a special occasion- and certainly not when UF is in session, it's over-run, if you get my drift- and I know I've posted about Dragonfly before, but I can't find it right now for the life of me. Life just flies by.....that and I don't have a search feature on this not -so high-tech-blog (you know, in case you hadn't noticed). So, anyways, I'm going to stop rambling and get to the point (and pictures!).

Cute/Trendy Exterior


Menu Board- while you can create you own anything, they do have set menu items that you can choose if you aren't feeling too creative or ambitious on any given Sunday (or whatever day!)


Two rolls from my first excursion- the Spicy Crunch roll (tuna, salmon, cream cheese, cucumber and scallion topped with temp flakes), which I get pretty regularly, since it is not actually fried and I LOVE that- they just roll it in panko crumbs for the crunchy and I think the Tampa Bay (katsu fish, spring mix, avacado, masago & mayo)-which I didn't realized was fried grouper, my mistake for not reading carefully. Oh and the amazing sweet wasabi mayo-oh so good!

Another favorite roll (unpictured-I don't take pictures of all my food anymore, since I never have time to post it all and get sick of the backlog, especially when I do eat a great deal of the same items) is the Oopsy Roll- Krab Delight, smoked eel, cream cheese, masago, shitake and cucumber with eel sauce.) oh man! I think I need to get this roll again, STAT!

OR if you are feeling a bit messier (which, hello I usually am! Jess the Mess, anyone?) you can do a bowl (choose rice or greens, I prefer the rice, which makes it a sashmi meal). For example, check out my super fly Alaskan Rice Bowl:


Salmon, krab, scallion, cream cheese, masago, avocado
So much tricker to eat, but so delicious, especially when served up with a side of miso soup and some sriracha sauce. (and some yummy organic tea)

Well, this post has only done what I had feared- I am now craving sushi even worse-I'm currently at the Beta State Convention with 5 of my students, but perhaps I can hunt down a sushi place for lunch! Wish me luck!

Love to all,
~an obsessed (and now quite hungry) sushi lover, Jess

Stubbie-Wubbie?

Hi guys!

Sorry for the silly title....I call my dog Chubby-Wubbie (his name is Chubby Checkers!) and well, if the shoe fits, use it as a title! *shrugs*

And let me tell you after my last night out at Stubbies, when I woke up the next morning I was feeling a bit Wubbie, if you will. Not horridly hungover mind you, just that "I hate you bitch feeling" radiating from my wobbly legs and throbbing head. Nothing a spinning classes couldn't fix....if I had made it to the class. Whoopsie!

So, let's recap the lovely brews that bruised my liver! (haha, brews-bruised, get it, get it? moving on...)
I've finally pinpointed that I'm really into sour beers as of late....so when I was hemming and hawing over what I wanted, I finally just confessed to Vinny (one of the fab bartenders) about the sour streak and of course he recommended the Duchess- which is my FAVORITE beer, and of course I've already had on my list and can't have a repeat. But the Duchess has a "relative" if you will, the Vichtenaar. And wow am I a fan of this Flemish Red as well! It has that same balsamic vinegar sting, but with out the apple sweetness of his lady friend. Crisp and refreshing and a fabulous way to start the night!

In search for more sour Vinny brought me this Japanese beer called Red Rice next. I love the cute owl on the label and the bottle cap, but I wasn't enamored with this one. I couldn't even taste the sour, even though the girls I was out with said they could. Oh well, you can't taste 'em all!
With my sour adventures gone, well, sour I turned to other inspiration and went with Rogue's American Amber Ale (AAA anyone?). I really enjoyed the seasonal Amber at BJ's a few weeks ago and heck, who doesn't love a product by Rouge? Lovely beer, a smidgen hoppy for my personal palette but hell, after 2 beers the third flows right down.

Now usually I like to end my night with something dark and smooth or fruity (and there will be no TWSS jokes here, because neither of those come to my bedroom thank you very much!) but as you can probably tell the above is neither as well and we weren't even drinking in my bedroom! This beer my lovelies was the Sweetwater IPA....and yes, you are right, I don't like hops too much, so I typically do not enjoy IPAs either, or at all if we are being honest, and of course I am! But then again, when has Sweetwater ever done anything wrong in my book? Really. This IPA was light, fresh and packed with a tangy grapefruit flavors. In short I loved it.

Sadly, my head the next morning didn't love my 4th choice of beer so much, nor did my tummy enjoy the microwaved Moe's Queso either, but that's another story, best NOT told on a supposed food and fitness blog that has been dominated by beer for the last 7 months or so, but really who's keeping track of these things?

What better way to fix a Stubbie-Wubbie head and body than with an amazing brunch. Hello 43rd Street Dinner to the rescue!





Veggie Hashbrowns with 2 eggs over easy, dry rye toast I only nibbled on and of course a giant sweet potato pancake that I grudgingly shared with Ross and Christine! Just kidding of course I shared this beast and with good reason, considering the waitress split the bill wrong and put it on their tab. Thanks guys, you rock!

I will be ordering this again, no doubt...all my favorite foods and I can drench it in ketchup and hot sauce too? I just died and went to heaven. And the best news? My hangover died and went to hell after that meal, leaving me feeling oh so fine! (come on, you know that a hangover would only come from such a place as hell, right? haha).

Love to all,
~the surprise IPA drinker, Jess

Tippy Top Tempeh!

Hello lovelies and Happy Weekend!

I hope you are all getting a chance to enjoy the beautiful weather this weekend. Spring is finally here and my goodness, it is BEAUTIFUL in NorCenFLA right now. Ahhhh.

I would like to thank everyone who has voted for my microgrant. I know it's a long shot, but hey a girl has to try right?

So, what better way to reward my loyal supporters than with incredibly blurry images of an amazing meal at The Top. Yes, I am saying up front the pictures blow, we (my darling Christine and I, who else? hehe) were seated at a funky little 2 top near the kitchen, which was a great dinning experience, getting to oggle the sexy, alternative side of life, waitstaff all evening, but did not have the best lighting, as you soon will see. Nor can I hold my hand still apparently.

So, without further ado (or lame excuses) here it tis!






ahhh, tempeh, how I love thee. This was the pasta special of the evening and basically it was grilled tempeh over a bed of linguine tossed with mushrooms, tomatoes, and garlic in a cream sauce. Smothered in parma, obvs! The pictures do not do this justice, it was awesome.

And as a side note, the leftovers heated up great. Has enjoy else had the strange issue of re-heating a cream based pasta and the sauce sort of falls apart into a greasy mess that leaves you thinking, "what the eff did I eat last night?" No problem here. Must be because the Top uses all organic stuff, well and because the Top is magical. And if you don't believe me check out the other reasons why the Top is Tops!

And since no night at the Top with Christine is not complete without both sweet potato fries (oh trust me, we killed the unpictured basket....just imagine the most beautiful golden strands with addicting garlic aoli dipping sauce, le sigh....) AND dessert, well we had some dessert!

Bourbon Chocolate Cake. Hello Luuuuuuver. Enough Said.

Now this lazy (and some what hungover? ugggg- see my next Stubbies post for details, to be released soon!) gal is going to take her own advice and get out in the spring sunshine!

Love to all,
~no clever catch phrase today, Jess

Help a Teacher Out.....

.....please?

I've a applied for a microgrant of 200 bucks plus a handy flip camera through weareteachers.com.

The catch is only the top 5 entries (based on number of votes) will get the grant....so please help me out by voting for my super awesome "CSI style" forensics proposal. Just click here
and then type Jessica Mahoney in the search bar. Then vote on my proposal! And you will have my eternal gratitude!

Oh, and really cool, you can use multiple email addresses....so use 'em if you've got 'em, and come on, you know you have about 4 email addresses!

Thanks lovelies!

Love to all,
~the teacher who is always in need of more mulah, Jess

Spring Break Eats.....

I was chatting with a friend last night and I said as much as I LOVED visiting with my college roomies down in WPB for Spring Break I ate like crap! She was shocked, and replied, "There are such good places to eat at down there." Correct you are, my friend....but us roomies tend to act like the college gals we were just a mere 2 years ago (still in shock about that a little! TWO YEARS?! We are getting OLD!), so mostly I ate granola out of the bag, Publix subs, chocolate chip cookies and brownies and hot dogs and a lot of Bud Select/Bud Light/PBR (yes, I drink "crap beer" sometimes too, deal with it!). But a little "good food" snuck it's way into my "college vacation." Check it out:

Us 211 gals love Martinis, so Happy Hour at Blue of City Place was our First Stop!

There was actually good light, so I finally took some pictures....I typically get the same thing at Blue, so enjoy!

Dirty Gin Martini with Bleu Cheese Stuffed Olives (so I like things salty, ok?)

Snackies:The Best Fruit and Cheese Plater around....I get this every time, the cheese blend is so amazing, especially with apple slices. I think they laced it with crack, personally, which would explain my addiction. Tasty, garlicky, Bruschetta!


We also hit up this cute little Greek restaurant, next to Ms. Susan's Shop after getting our hair did.

I got the Spanakopita Lunch Special which included:

A yummy Greek Salad with a Dolmade (stuffed grape leaf)

Pitas with Taziki Sauce for Dipping
(this was for the table to share- we all got lunch specials- the girls snagged a few pitas before I took the picture!)

And a HUGE "Spinach Pie" that I barely put a dent it.
It was very spinach packed, and lighter on the cheese than many other versions, which I really enjoyed!

Plus a "side" of beautiful weather, which we took advantage of by dinning at one of the sidewalk tables.
Now, what would a spring break post be without some fun "clubbing" pictures!

Love to all,
~The Spring Break Junkie, Jess

Bookworms UNITE!

Hello loves,

I had planned on doing a butt-load of reviews for you today of the fab books I've had my nose stuck in recently, but as I was perusing the 3 week stack of local newspapers that had accumulated under my nightstand I ran across an article that made my blood turn cold and then rocket sky high (pressure wise, that is)

"Library in Jeopardy of Closing"

Um, WHAT? Who on earth would close a library? Especially in this crazy American world where we are obsessed with literacy and yet I have 11th graders who cannot read. Oh, don't get me wrong....they can say words...in fact they love to "read" aloud to me from the text, but they don't get a single blimey word they so proudly spit out (ignoring all the punctual pauses too, ack!). So again I ask WHY would anyone close our beloved libraries? The place where this rural gal made her first friends because I was "too smart" for pre-k! The place where I discovered a love for adventure, food and fiction? A place filled with smart, kind librarians who always smile and give you those yummy soft peppermints. A place that smells amazing (come on, you know books smell sooooo good, don't be shy). Oh and if we are going to get all 21st century, the place where underprivileged individuals can log onto the internet in this increasingly virtual world.

Why? Well, money of course. Apparently the brilliant and so "with it" people running our state up in Tally had a meeting: (from the article: GCJ 03/18/10)

"...appropriation committees in the Florida House and Senate are now trying to eliminate all funding for Florida's State Aid to Public Libraries program. Not only would this loss of funding severely weaken libraries ability to serve citizens but it would also mean the closing of library branches throughout the state."

Ya think? The library this article was focused on is the one right across from the high school I teach at. And until about 3 years ago it was the only public library in our whole county. Not only did I grow up there, as my Mom was a chair person on the Friends of the Library program for years, I see my students flood over to it each day after the bell rings. Libraries are essential to all neighborhoods and I am incensed that our political leaders could so carelessly purpose such a removal of funding.

If the United States of American wants to be one of the world's leaders we need SMART LEADERS, and since our current ones are not doing the best job we need the tools to produce new leaders, aka our students. So please, keep cutting the funding to libraries, remove the arts from schools, just go right ahead and sabotage the future of our country, you will be dead in 15 years anyways, Mr. Careless Congressman.

If you are concerned about this issue please write (or email) to your congressmen, house reps or even the Governor himself: Charlie Crist. Links here.

Love to all,
~the book-lover herself, Jess

Chop-Chop.......

......went my hair!

I love it....what say you?

This is my awesome hairdresser: Ms. Susan....if any of you lovelies live in the West Palm Beach area let me know and I'll get you hooked up with her contact info. Seriously, the best around!

Love to all,
~a lightened head owner, Jess

Happy April Fools....

Hello Loves!

I don't have any tricks to pull on you today, sorry if that is a let down.

I just wanted to emerge from my Spring Break Bliss and say hello!

It's been a great few days of spending time with my favorite girls, cocktails, shopping, beach time, grilling out and chilling out....what more does a girl need?

Pictures to come later.

Love to all,
~the spring break believer, Jess