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