Happy Hour c/o Fare and Gingerbread Madness c/o The Green Room

CPM and I made plans to hang at some point a few weeks back. This was pre-holiday times. We decided to check out the happy hour options at Fare. I tried the "Really Clean Martini," which was made with citron vodka and white grape juice. It was a tad too sweet for me and mainly tasted like grape juice.

We shared the truffle fries, which were good.

It was their mushroom flatbread that won as far as food that we enjoyed.

After happy hour we decided to do one more stop before going our own ways. And that stop was the Green Room. There we had some beers - they had Youngs Double Chocolate Stout on tap, which I just couldn't say no to. The bar was having a bit of a holiday fete, with complimentary food and treats on a few tables. We didn't really try the food, but when a gingerbread house competition was announced, we did want a piece of that action. Problem is...we didn't do a very good job. Our pre-formed house parts had serious cracks in them that the icing simply wouldn't keep together. We tried and tried to get our walls to stay up and to put a roof on them, but it just wasn't to be. So, instead, we went with a slightly different approach. At some point CPM declared that we had made a Tiger Woods...in that he was standing on a pile of destruction of his own making. Below you can see our Tiger (with candy cane golf club) and one of our competitors' far more successful constructions in the background. While we tried to plead our case to the judges, we were awarded nothing.

And here we are at the end of the evening. Good times. I'm wearing a scarf that B. gave me for Christmas and earrings my father gave me for my birthday. Gifts!

Food and Drink c/o Moonshine and Late Night Randomness with Midnight Magic and Holy Ghost!

Sometimes when I don't go to the country I feel like my Philly weekends are wasted...I stay in instead of going out, seeing very few people and not having many new experiences. This is just how it is sometimes, but there are moments when I'd very much like it to be otherwise. Such a sentiment was in full effect a few weeks back, when I knew I was going to be in Philly but had no social plans. This was unacceptable to me so I reached out to the folks I do know in the city to see if some kind of fun time thing could be arranged. CPM reached out, saying that she and her hubby R.'s friend J. had invited them to a "Friends and Family" restaurant opening night, and that I was welcome to jump on in. I happily accepted and on a Saturday evening we went to Moonshine. It was totally packed with South Philly folks who knew the family behind this new venue. At first we stood awkwardly by one of the water stations, generally getting in the way of customer and server alike, but the mood was convivial - even when we bumped, no one was angry or perturbed. Eventually J.'s friend or another family member set us up at a proper table to better allow us to enjoy the free beverages and samples of a variety of dishes. I think before getting seated we got to try the lasagna, which was a nice change from overly cheesed and was, I believe, vegetarian. They also had housemade pineapple infused vodka that they then were willing to serve with seltzer. Here is me holding two cups, though I think only one was alcoholic.

Multitasking!

I believe this was kind of a Latin styled pulled pork with plantain, also tasty.

The pineapple drink was lovely, but most of us stuck mainly to bottle beers. At some point we decided it was time to depart. J. and his GF had to make sure that their overnight guests could get into their house out in the suburbs, and R. and CPM had some kind of early morning event...so I decided that I might as well try to swing by the TLA to catch the tail end of a concert I had learned was going on that very evening. In previous years I've always tried to swing by when either Holy Ghost! or Midnight Magic is in town because I tangentially knew a member or two of their respective groups back in my college days. CPM and AS came with me to see Holy Ghost! and Chromeo a few years back, and the dancing portion of my birthday night last year came c/o Midnight Magic. So even as my phone died and there would be no way for me to actually say hello to the guys, I figured I'd give it a good college try.  

I arrived so late into the show that the girl at the front door let me in without buying a ticket, which was nice of her because I basically caught one and a half songs before Holy Ghost! was done. Then I awkwardly stood at the front of the stage to see if I could catch a glimpse of either of the two dudes that I would want to say hello to/would recognize my face. I was not alone in this endeavor, which made me feel even funnier. After not too long one of the other members of HG made eye contact with me and I said 'Could you just tell Alex or Andrew that Caroline from Bard says hello?' and he seemed willing to do this like he did not think it strange, though it looked like he was disappointing some other dude who was standing next to me and wanted to talk about music. The surprising turn of events here is that neither Alex nor Andrew came out. Instead it was B., who was part of the main crew of folks I 'ran with' my freshmen year of college and was the conduit through which I ever knew the other two dudes. We have easily not seen each other in about 10 years so it was like, really neat, but also kind of awkward...any time when you try to have a conversation about what your life has been like over a whole decade, and to ask questions of any import in regards to another's decade of life, well it just makes the fact that you're basically strangers come into wider relief. Though I still reminisced a bit, for better or worse, and was glad to see B. after so many years. We then went backstage where folks really just wanted to pack up and haul stuff and I kept getting in the way because I wanted to be useful. I was also wearing ridiculously tall shoes so I think the whole thing was kind of wacky, but I stuck around nonetheless. And because I am myself, I wanted photographic evidence of the whole thing...but my phone had died, so I ended up asking Alex to take a phone with his phone and then send me a photo. Demanding I was, but the photo came out pretty good.

Then they really were getting into 'load the bus' mode, so I made my exit...but not before getting a snap with B. too. Ugh, I look round all over, but that's just what it is.

A blurry view of them packing up as I left.

Martinis and Snacks c/o Tank Bar

Weeks ago, some time before Christmas, in a haze of work, I made my way to Friday Saturday Sunday's Tank Bar for a cocktail meet up with BC. I first tried a sweet cosmo type of cocktail, the Pinky Tuscadero, which was basically a cosmo with plum juice and raspberry elements. BC went in a totally different direction, ordering the Spicy, Dirty Bond. A vodka martini with the addition of olive juice and tabasco. It had a nice kick, and so when my sweet drink had been finished, I changed directions and went spicy.

We also shared the grilled chipotle barbequed shrimp with jicama slaw and avocado dipping sauce. I also looked into the mushroom soup, but the photographs of said soup were not so good so I am not sharing them. The snacks were good, maybe not awesome, but good. The soup was especially creamy delicious and the shrimp had a bit of flare to them. But really it was the conversation of BC and our bartender that was most enjoyable. Whenever I go to Tank Bar I enjoy myself, it's definitely more of a 'date' type place, but if you're looking to have a nice conversation with a friend and the humorous interjections of a bartender with good stories, then it's not just for the date crowd. 

Darts c/o McCrossen's III

This past week's darts match was once again held at McCrossen's. We played a team from Kensington. They had lots to say about the set-up of the McCrossen's dart board, the prices of McCrossen's drinks, and the tendency of many customers and employees to walk by players as they were shooting (hard to avoid, as the bathrooms are all near the board). While I have no official role in the team (past 'unofficial drunken mascot') nor at the bar, their litany of complaints (some well-founded...it really is a tight space if you have a team of 10 people and when they first arrived there was nowhere for them/us to sit), I did take their early criticisms to heart. Or something. Not to heart. Basically in my head I believed conflict was a'brewing, so I drank heavily and tried to stay out of its way. At one point I really thought about just sitting under the table by the board and building a temporary fort...but I didn't do that. The end result was actually no large conflict, and me becoming very drunk. Though I still managed to have my 'moment of zen' by hitting an outshot just after the opposite team started making cracks about women, and how they throw. I don't know what LW is reacting to in this photo, but I like it.
This guy's nickname was Shorty. He and I had a conversation later about all the other nicknames he has 'upstate.' But I forget them now.
I did envy the other team their matching shirts.
K. shooting. I believe he and I had some kind of conversation about how one of the opposite team's member's flights were a confederate flag motif. Ugh.
Bunch a dudes playing darts.

Not sure what this is about, but I like it.
The older gentleman to the right was quite the flirt. I don't know why it is that I'm fine with men over 60 calling me sweetheart or hon (he was 83), but men under that age calling any woman they don't actually know either of those things raises my near non-existent feminist hackles.
I think this was after we won, which we did.
K. probably telling T. a number of things we could do to improve something.
Fist bumping it out. If I were fist bumping, I would be blowing that shit up.
Drunky McDrunkerpants (me, not LW).
I wore my boots, but you can't see them.
L. and K. talking about one thing or another.

Darts c/o McCrossen's

For our second darts game, the venue was McCrossen's. We played another team. It didn't go very well, but I took photographs nonetheless.
The rest of the people on my team are actually good. They are, in one way or another, invested in the game and their skillset. It's interesting to watch each one of them set up and throw and note their specific stances and rituals.
Because I am more a liability than any thing else, I mainly drink beer and - when at home - keep score (even though I am very bad at adding).
Here I believe I was finally up and T. took the camera to document it.
A. taking his turn keeping score.
LW looking on with a captain's face.
I'm not sure what this is about, but I'm glad I took a photograph of it.
P. looking on as LW's arm becomes one with the brick wall. Man it's dark in there, which leads to grainy photographs. Alas.

When T. plays he does this pretty much every time. Seems to work as far as his darts, but just makes me laugh.
The team didn't do well and there was a bit of frustration and whatnot expressed throughout the game and after it. I, however, enjoyed myself on the whole and was up way too late.

Darts c/o New Wave

Back in August I somehow found myself agreeing to be on LW's dart team. This was fine, as there were weeks before games actually started, and whenever I have a lot of time before a situation that I'm not 100% sure I'm going to like, I feel safe. I feel like I have plenty of time to back out. The issue, of course, is that weeks become days and then suddenly you're on a bus and in a cab to a different part of the city. The team's first match was at New Wave Cafe and Bar. Here you can see my sperminator flights, which no one really seems to find half as funny as I do.
Here is LW. in full captain form, complete with binder featuring some of her faves from ANIMALS TALKING IN ALL CAPS. Go there.
As part of the league, each hosting establishment must provide food for both teams. Here it was wings and pizza. The pizza was a little weird, but the wings were good.

LW loves her some binder. The team won, but I left before that was finalized because I like to go to sleep by 11. Or at least be in bed by then. Go team!

Walk About and Bily Kun Bar

After our early bird dinner, we took a walk around the Plateau neighborhood and then headed into perhaps more of that neighborhood, or another one just next to it? Unclear. This happened, which was magical. One man who passed by suggested I contort myself so it looked like I was holding the chicken. I did this, but the photograph didn't make me look as cute, so you don't get to see it. Them's the breaks.
At some point we realized that we had made a terrible mistake going north, that what we really needed were a few days of relaxation in Mexico with a bucket of Coronas. It started out okay...but M. got a little out of hand.
Alternatively M. and I came across this strange promo for Corona in a parking lot, and M. very demurely put her purse on the dirty floor and then laid her head just so for the photograph. Or! We went to Mexico and found this in a Mexican parking lot. Oh man, that would be so weird.
After much walking around and two disappointing experiences with sitting down at a place only to be ignored for ten minutes or more, we finally arrived at Bily Kun bar. I had a Czech Budweis and a shot of whiskey to soothe my aching feet. M. demonstrated that this was a definite finger full.
We enjoyed the bar, which specializes in all things Czech and I'm glad that M.'s determination to find it outweighed my whiny feet.
Then we traipsed home. Well, we didn't traipse as much as walk. And it was quite happening on a Friday night. People walking around, sitting outside, doing all the things young people in urban environments do.