birthday Archives - Queen of the Food Age

Weekend Roundup: Too Much Food, Too Little Time

March 24, 2014

I spent most of last week sitting in bed with a wicked chest cold, but Friday night, Lily and I met up with Lauren, Shay, and Marlowe in Columbia to see the Divergent movie (since we’d all read the book). Before the movie, we got sushi (and delicious cucumber mojitos) at Miyo’s. My eyes were definitely bigger than my stomach, and I ended up giving most of my sushi away because I was too full. After dinner, we walked to the theater and settled in for the show. Shay & I were really pleased with the movie, but Lily, Marlowe, and Lauren all had some serious issues with it. Either way, if you read the books, I think it’s definitely worth the watch!

If for nothing more than to stare at Theo James for 2 hours.

Saturday morning, we had a pretty disappointing lunch at Copper River Grill before spending a couple of hours wandering around the mall. We all went our separate ways around 3 (except Lauren who had to leave at 5 am to go be in a parade), and I spent most of Saturday afternoon laying in bed catching up on Grimm and eating the edible fruit bouquet that my parents sent me.

Because nothing says “get well soon” like chocolate covered pineapple slices shaped like high heels.

Around 9, I met up with people at a friend’s house where they were having a wine and cheese night to celebrate a new job. We hung out there for a while before meeting up with Cullen & Taylor at The Alley to get a few drinks to celebrate Taylor finally being 21! We ended the night at Butcher & Bee with a burger, some buffalo fries, and a lamb gyro. It was pretty delish. We also met up with them Sunday morning at Lost Dog Cafe for brunch before they headed back to Greenville.

Oh, sweet nectar of the gods.

After brunch, I took a cooking class at Southern Season entitled “Asian For A Crowd.” We made a cold Thai noodle salad, Korean beef bulgogi, Vietnamese banh mi sandwiches, bok choy kimchi, and a floredeliz salad for dessert. I immediately regretted the decision to get brunch before the cooking class because I was stuffed for the rest of the day.

There was enough food for a crowd, but only 2 people to eat it.

After the cooking class, I met back up with Lily to see Muppets Most Wanted, which was entertaining, but nowhere near as good as the first Muppet movie. We also celebrated my sweet kitty, Fezzik’s, birthday. I can’t believe he’s 3 already!

Look at those eyes!

Here’s hoping that everyone has a great week and that I finally kick this cold!

Quote of the Week

Quote of the Week 9/16/13

September 16, 2013

Thanks to everyone who made my birthday special. It was a great weekend and I had so much fun! But now it’s back to the real world, which means getting ready to be a bridesmaid in 2 weddings in the next 2 months. Time to diet. Wooo.

This week’s quote comes from Jarod Kintz, author of “E-mails from a Madman.” Enjoy your week!

“I want to lose weight by eating nothing but moon pies, which have significantly less gravity than earthier foods such as fruits and vegetables.”
–Jarod Kintz

I know that feel.

Random Fodder

Happy Birthday To Me!

September 13, 2013

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME. I am awesome.

And so are you for reading my blog. So many things have changed since last year, and I really appreciate you guys sticking with me. You’re the best!

As a token of my appreciation I will be giving out free hugs to the first 15 people that accost me on the street, no matter what they smell like.

I’m off to enjoy my birthday, but I PROMISE I will be back with more restaurant reviews next week. I ate at 3 new restaurants just in the past week alone, so I have a lot of stuff to share with everyone.

Enjoy this picture of the birthday queen (that’s me, for those of you just joining us).

#narcissist

Quote of the Week

Quote of the Week 9/24/12

September 24, 2012

First of all, happiest of Happy Birthdays to one of my bestest best friends, Christine, who is WAY OLDER THAN ME today! Wooo! Check your mail this week, expect something awesome. But not too awesome. Moderately awesome. Wouldn’t want my present to be all anti-climactic.

Had a pretty chillaxed weekend, which was nice. Spent Friday on the couch watching movies with Ben. Saturday, I made these awesome apple turnovers that I brought with me to an oyster roast hosted by one of my coworkers. It’s against my religion to come to a party empty handed. The oyster roast was very fun, and I really enjoyed seeing my coworkers outside of work, and with their hair down. Woooo bonding! Sunday, Ben and Doug and I went to Lost Dog Cafe, and I finally remembered to take pictures of the Biscuits and Gravy, so expect that review sometime soon!

This week’s quote is about oysters and how weird they are. Enjoy and have a great week!

“He was a bold man that first eat an oyster.”
–Jonathan Swift

He was a bold man who thought that hairstyle was a good idea.

Quote of the Week

Quote of the Week 9/10/12

September 10, 2012

Wooo! College Football Season is finally here! GO COCKS! (That’s the University of South Carolina Gamecocks, for those of you who were wondering why my blog got very X-Rated all of a sudden).

This weekend Ben and I went to Columbia to tailgate with Cullen, Taylor, Lauren, and my parents at the USC vs ECU game (USC won, 48-10). We ate delicious burgers and pimento cheese fries at Rockaway Athletic Club on Friday night, and showered my brother with birthday gifts. I can’t believe he’s 20 already… WHY IS EVERYONE GETTING SO FREAKING OLD?!

Saturday we ate delicious Tina food, while sweating buckets in the fierce Columbia heat. Biscuits and gravy, sausage, fruit, couscous salad, grilled chicken, pan-fried chicken, chips and queso, goat cheese-stuffed tomatoes, caprese bites, goat cheese-wrapped asparagus, hot dogs, cupcakes… the list goes on and on. It was almost too hot to be drinking beer, so I stuck to drinking daquiris, mainly for the fact that they’re 90% ice.

Saturday night, we went to Huller’s Black Forest, a German restaurant off Harbison that is delicious. They have a buffet with traditional German fare and a station where they make schnitzel to order. We definitely over ate, but it was awesome. The owner is a really awesome guy who always has a smile on his face. He makes a bunch of different sausages in house, and was happy to let us try some at no extra charge. It was quite delicious and very gluttonous.

Sunday, before heading back down to Charleston, we stopped at Real Mexico Restaurant y Tienda for some delicious and fresh mexican food. I loved that all the food was made fresh to order, and everything seemed homemade. I usually avoid refried beans because they taste like they’ve been scooped out of a can, but here, I could tell that they were made fresh and with some pretty quality ingredients. I also got some killer tamales and empanadas that were quite delicious. I highly recommend stopping here!

This week’s quote comes from Mr. Homer Simspon, and pretty much sums up my feelings about College Football Season and why I love it so much. Have a great week!

“We’re not here for the game. The game is nothing. The game is crap. The game makes me sick. The real reason we Americans put up with sports is for this: Behold, the tailgate party. The pinnacle of human achievement. Since the dawn of parking lots, man has sought to fill his gut with food and alcohol in anticipation of watching others exercise.”
–Homer Simpson

If it wasn’t for tailgating, I wouldn’t even know football was a sport.

Quote of the Week

Quote of the Week 4/30/12

April 30, 2012

Today is a very special day. It is the day that my wonderful, amazing, caring, loving, awesome, hardworking, thoughtful, manly, handsome, smart, rugged, [insert other synonyms for “amazing” here] boyfriend turns another year older. Happy Birthday, Ben!

To celebrate his birthday, we had a culinary feast of a weekend. On Saturday, we journeyed downtown to the Farmer’s Market at Marion Square, and had chicken, bacon, and honey mustard crepes, as well as 5 spiced pork and ginger lemongrass chicken vietnamese street tacos, which we washed down with freshly squeezed lemonade. It was an amazing brunch, and a gorgeous day. It was really fun watching Ben be so excited by his first trip to the Farmer’s Market. And, as a totally unexepected plus, we both found birthday and mother’s day gifts for our respective parents. It was a fun and productive morning.

Saturday night, I treated Ben to dinner at 39 Rue de Jean (review to come), which I had never been to before. It was delicious, and our waiter was really great, serenading us with a verse from 50 Cent’s “In Da Club” as he brought us our desserts. Ben opened his presents from me at the table while we were waiting for our appetizers. I got him 20-sided fuzzy dice for his car (because he’s a nerd), Auburn University-branded golf balls, a mix CD that I made for him by channeling my inner DJ, and, the pièce de résistance, Game of Thrones: The Graphic Novel 1 which he was unbelievably excited about. I’m a really great gift giver (and totally humble, too).

On Sunday, Ben made me french toast for breakfast, which was a surprising treat. I can’t even remember the last time I had french toast. He then took me to dinner at Hall’s Chophouse, which is probably my favorite restaurant in Charleston. It was sinful and delicious, and it makes all other food taste like cardboard. After dinner, we took a romantic stroll through the streets of Charleston, and along the battery, which was adorable and wonderful. We finished up the night by watching the latest episode of Game of Thrones… it was pretty much the perfect way to end a perfect weekend.

Today’s food quote is in honor of Ben’s birthday, and I think it pretty much sums up how a good birthday should be.