The Weekend Edition

Another very good weekend in the books and another that was super diverse and full of events that were slightly out of the norm. Okay, maybe not so out of the ordinary, but I had a great time with some classic Anchorage events and managed to experience some serious culture while I was at it - and I got to hang out with all kinds of great friends! Here's the breakdown:

• Early dinner/drinks with Amy, Hannah, and Joanna at Crush (plus we met a new friend!)
• First Friday exhibits with Amy, Hannah, and Joanna in downtown Anchorage
• Late dinner/drinks with Arianna, Amy, Hannah, and Joanna at Orso's
• Catching the bank job at my place super late with Hannah and Joanna (I'm beginning to think I did a lot on Friday!)
• ESPN Gameplan going off without any problems at all!
• Kim and I catching Kung Fu Panda at Bear Tooth (awesome again!)
• Falling in love with 100 Bullets
• Lunch and coffee with Kim at Middle Way Cafe
• Going to the opening ceremony thingamajig for Freeze (a big local art event Amy and Cate's agency is doing work for) with Kim, Amy, Cate, Darren, and Eric
• Drinks and appetizers at Bernie's with Kim and Elisa (and Amy for a bit)
• Football all day long with Jason and Amy

It comes out as a lot more when I type it all out. All three days were great fun. First Friday was full of great artwork, tasty drinks and even tastier food. The Freeze event was pretty cool and it's always good to support events that promote culture in the Great White North. Football coming back was obviously the highlight of the weekend (even with my boy Tom Brady going down...*cry*) as Jason, Amy and I snacked on delicious food all day while being rather ridiculous as per usual (highlights: bacon and eggs, tons of coffee, tasty sammiches, getting suckered into Bud Light Lime and Volcano Tacos, Hole in the Wall, our commentary show, five yard punts, Peyton Manning's audibles, the Panthers' come back, etc.).

So yeah, it was a good time. See below for some pics from the weekend, including the comparison of Amy and I wearing Sarah Palin masks and a group shot from Freeze. Good times to be had for one and all once again!

Amy (left) and me (right) wearing Sarah Palin masks from Bernie's

(l to r) Me, Kim, Eric, Cate, and Darren at the Freeze event at the Museum

The Weekend Edition

When I went to school, I loved three day weekends. After hours upon hours of classes, nothing made the off time go down better than when there was a little bit more of it. Of course, now that I'm working for a living, I realized that I never truly understood how much I loved three day weekends. Especially when I manage to have a wonderfully diverse and incredibly fun one as well. What'd I do?

• Worked the State Fair on Friday and met tons of cool people
• Went to Amy's backyard fire and hung out with tons of cool people (lots of new people, plus Amy, Kim, Colver, Lorna, Hannah, Cate, Darren, and Eric)
• Screwed ESPN Gameplan up magnificently (but figured out that it's set up really well besides that, so yay!)
• Drafted a $250 buy league fantasy football team with Colver (Drunken Cowboys represent, our team is pretty rockin')
• Played two rounds of Frisbee Golf (Colver and I were on fire the second round)
• Checked out Crush (Anchorage Press Pick for best new restaurant - awesome wine bar) with Colver, Lorna, Kim, Hannah, and Amy
• Tropic Thunder v 2.0 (just as awesome as the first time)
• Went to the Alaska State Fair with Colver, Lorna, and Kim
• Pounded out six episodes of Freaks and Geeks with Kim (such an awesome show)
• Finished up reading the previous weeks comics (28 book week - good god)
• Had a Monday stocked full of rest and relaxation - hit the gym, lunch at Middle Way Cafe, coffee and reading at Kaladi's, hanging out at sister's, dinner with parents, Prison Break premiere)

So yeah, all in all it was a great day. What was the highlight? It's really a toss up between the fire at Amy's (so much fun!) and my first exposure to Crush, but because the fire at Amy's is pretty much impossible to talk about without sounding ridiculously boring (cliffs notes: we drank, we talked, there was bbqing, dogs wrestled, the fire was great, there were cigars involved - great times) I'm going to go with Crush.

Crush is a new restaurant in Anchorage that is primarily a tapas bar but is also renowned for its wine selection and its atmosphere. It's right outside the 5th Avenue Mall in downtown Anchorage, and to quote Kim it's "freaking delicious."

Kim, Hannah, and I arrived first, and Kim ordered a diet coke while Hannah and I ordered flights of wine. These flights were three two oz. pours of different types of wines, and Hannah went with the Italy package (a tour of wines from Italy, shockingly) while I went with the Discovering Whites package (a trio of tasty white wines). We also ordered four tapas, which is just a fancy word for little appetizers essentially. We ordered meatballs, mac and cheese, the hummus plate, and zesty chicken skewers. The waiter was greatly amused by our voraciousness, but we could care less. It was all incredibly good.

We tore those plates apart in no time flat, with Amy arriving with very little remaining and Colver and Lorna arriving with absolutely no plates remaining (they were taken away, I did not consume them out of sheer hunger). More drinks were ordered and we all discussed how much we loved the place. Whether it was the tables made of old wine barrels or the cork walls, the great lighting or the friendly wait staff, the comfy seating area or the even comfier looking lounge area, this place was a huge hit with our crowd.

Crush will most certainly be attended again by all of us, and whenever the next time is too far from now. From what I can tell, it deservedly won best new restaurant in Anchorage.