Oaks and Derby 2016

Living in Louisville has its perks. Namely, Oaks and Derby!!

OAKS
We went to the track with friends on Friday for Oaks which used to be more of a local day but has gotten crowded over the years!  I was OBSESSED with my new dress that M bought me when we were in California recently.  We splurged on all you can eat and drink tickets which made the day so fun!  Lillies go down a lot easier if you're not paying $13 a pop!

Walking to Churchill!

Gorgeous day with friends.

LOVE my dress and my man :)

After a very long day we woke up super early on Saturday and made it to the track by 8:30am.  We were not messing around!!  We stayed in the Paddock all day with friends and it was perfect! And yes, this is the dress I wore to Oaks last year. Would you believe that I snuck in a whole bottle of wine under that dress?!  ;)

First Lily around 10am :)

Our little spot in the Paddock.

A storm blew through right before the KY Derby so M protected all our glassware!

Finally left the track around 8:30pm.  WHAT A DAY!

Until next year!!

Life lately...

READ

Just finished reading Watch Me, a follow up to A Story Lately Told.  As Mindy said, "I can't believe Jack is O.K. with this book." To which Anjelica responded "of course Jack is okay with it - It's a love letter."  Ugh, love her.

Next up, Purity for Babes and Books.

LISTENING
I'm really digging You Must Remember This specifically their season on the infamous Manson murders. Which is timely because Anjelica mentioned the Roman Polanski scandal in her memoir. After every episode I dive deep into Wikipedia to read up on all the crazy stuff surrounding that lunatic. It's fascinating and so sad.

Random Facts: Anjela Lansbury's daughter was once a member of his "family".
Charles Manson is only 5'2".
Beach Boy Dennis Wilson was affiliated with the cult for a long time. This took me down a Beach Boy bender where I discovered that Dennis' cousin, Mike Love is brothers with Stan Love who is the father of Kevin Love - currently playing basketball for Cleveland.
After mentioning my current obsession to my mom she mentioned that my aunt knew one of the women in the Manson family!!!
It's so good and scary... highly suggest!

TRAVELING
I'm going to Austin this weekend with Mr. Louisville.  He's working which means I get to play!  I've already made reservations at Parkside for a date night but I've been looking up all kinds of fun things to do and see in a new to me city. Timeline to come!

CHEERING
I went to a Louisville football game with M and a Bengals game with Ley.  Wins for both!

xo.

Thanksgiving Recap

Thanksgiving... success!  Now just counting down until Christmas.  But first, a recap.  Kind of like a timeline!

Thanksgiving Eve
Mr. Louisville and Squirt come for a visit!
We walk to Bar Louie for a drink and a snack then across the bridge for a Cyclones game at US Bank with 40 of my friends.
After the game (and a few dollar beers) we walk back to Newport and head to the Southgate House Revival for a little live music.
We were home by 11am for an early morning.

Thanksgiving
We wake up early for the Thanksgiving Day Race in Cincinnati.  It was a chilly morning but we finish the 10k (6.2 miles) in an hour and 5 minutes.  Not too shabby!
After the race we tidy up for my family's annual Thanksgiving lunch at Orchid's.
Oysters!  Crab!  Prime rib!  Cheese!  Desserts!
Naps.

Friday after Thanksgiving
I head to Louisville!
We meet up with Betas at the Beer Depot for drinks and dinner.  Special visitors Sean and Ellie are in town! Yay!

Saturday
Mr. L and I have another early morning.
We bike to Check's Cafe for chili and grilled cheese.
After our nosh we bike to the Stadium for the Louisville vs. Kentucky football game.

Good grief, the game was back and forth but Louisville pulled out the win.  Fine with me as we'll be seeing them on the basketball court later this month.
Finally, it's a holiday weekend get together at Shenanigan's in lieu of Mr. Louisville's annual cocktail party.
Shew, what a weekend!

Thanksgiving down, Christmas to go!

Good Eatin' in Louisville

It's no secret that I have been spending lots of time in Louisville as of late.  One of my favorite things about the city, aside from Mr. Louisville, are all the restaurants. There are so many and I just don't feel like Newport/Cincinnati compares!  I've listed some of my memorable food moments below.

I'm still thinking about the cornmeal pancake I had at Silver Dollar months ago.

North End Cafe is my favorite.  Maybe my most favorite?  I've only ever been for brunch but I am obsessed with their salads. I like to pop in by myself and chat with Andrew at the bar.  We even invented our own drink.  A Black and Rad.  Stiegl Radler on the bottom Guinness on the top and the perfect brunch beer.

I had the most amazing ribs at Doc Crow's and I really dug the atmosphere.

Cumberland Brews is my go-to when I want to grab a beer.  Also, their fried green tomatoes are delish!

I'm a sucker for some good Mexican food and El Camino is a fun place for it.  The atmosphere is the coolest!  I could eat chips and listen to the vintage surfer music all day. They were even nominated by Bon Appetit as one of their 50 best new restaurants for 2014!

Speaking of Mexican, we went to Wild Rita's before catching Bill Maher one night and I loved their cocktails!  WARNING: I LOVE spicy food so I was excited to try a sampling of their salsas.  However, their hottest, pinche caliente, was inedible.  TOO HOT!! Pinche caliente = Hot shit.

Mr. L's favorite restaurant is Ramsi's.  The service was too terrible the time I went there for me to take it seriously but they have a very eclectic menu so I'll definitely give it another try.  It reminds me of my Newport favorite, York St. Cafe, but 10 times the menu.

Monday night is wing night at Shenanigan's and I could drink their mixed BBQ/Hot wing sauce.  They also have my favorite kind of jalapeno poppers filled with cheddar cheese.  Bar food at it's best!

I've mentioned the burgers from Grind before.  So good!  But they've recently added a permanent location in addition to their food truck that I can't wait to try.

We stopped into Baby D's Bagel and Deli before a bike ride one day and I was seriously impressed.  Their bagel sandwiches are so good!   I crave a good veggie sandwich so I loved their Hogan's Fountain with cream cheese, avocado, lettuce, tomato, cucumber, sprouts, cheddar and brown mustard on a bialy.

Sapporo for sushi and hibachi has always treated us right!

Mr. Louisville loves his steak.  We've been to Jeff Ruby's and Morton's.  Jeff Ruby wins, obviously.  I'm not much of a steak snob but the service was amazing.

There are some places that are on our list like Mussel and Burger Bar, 610 Magnolia, Harvest, Bahn mi Hero, Sergio's, just about every new restaurant opening up on Bardstown Road and so many more!

What am I missing, Louisville?  Any other suggestions?

Forecastle 2014

I went to Forecastle for my 3rd year in a row this past weekend. My first year I went for just 1 day in 2012, last year was a blast and I was looking forward to doing it again.

This year, the festival got turned into a little Bachelorette weekend for my friend, Abbey.  We stayed at the Galt House which was a few blocks from the grounds which worked out perfectly!  I was in for the whole weekend but there were a few girls that came for just a night or two. 

I love live music and was excited to check out some new-to-me bands and some old favorites.  Below is a list of everyone we saw.  Sometimes we stayed for the whole set, other times we just plopped down and listened to a song or two.  Outkast was definitely my favorite show of the entire weekend!  I didn't think I'd see a show as good as Beyonce and Jay Z this year but Big Boi and Andre 3000 gave Bey and Jay a run for their money.

Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings.

Friday:
Gary Clark Jur.
Local Natives
Nightmares on Wax
Twenty One pilots
Spoon
OUTKAST!! 

Becca, Julie, Abbey & Kristen.  Waiting for the elevator after night 1.

Saturday:
Spanish Gold
Lord Huron
Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings
Jason Isabel
Kygo
Band of Horses
Dwight Yokam
Jack White

Abbey, Jenn, Kristen, Becca and Jamie chilling on day 2.  We did a lot of lounging on the Mexican blankets!

Sunday:
Brett Dennen
Trampled by Turtles
Jenny Lewis
Nickel Creek
Tune-Yards
Ray Lamontagne
Beck

I'm already looking forward to next year!!

The bachelorette.

Fun Fact:
I puff about lot of good shows I go to but I am an equal opportunity concert goer! 
Mr. Louisville came to town last week with a few friends and I tagged along with them to the Def Leppard and KISS concert at Riverbend.  It was interesting!  I knew 2 songs the entire night.  Pour Some Sugar On Me by Def Lep and Rock and Roll All Nite by Kiss.  But hey!  KISS is in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.  So, there's that.

Derby

Two years ago I went to the Kentucky Derby for the first time.  I made a five dollar exacta box bet with Yep, I'll Have Another and 2 other horses, I can't even remember their names.  I had no idea what I was doing when the teller told me I owed her $30 for the bet.  What?!  I thought it was only $5.  Anyway, I paid because I was too embarrassed to ask what I did wrong.  I ended up winning $766.50. I've learned a lot about betting since then and this year I went to the Oaks AND Derby.

On Friday, first, I met Mr. Louisville's Italian BF!
Then it was off to the Oaks with Diva B and his fiance, Heather.
It was FREEZING but we had a good time.
Saturday, Mr. L and I were at it again and made it to the track before noon. We had a sweet set-up with a co-worker of his and some others in the Paddock and it was a perfect day!  Didn't win big like I did a few years ago but it was definitely more fun.

Derby fun had by all!  How about you?

At Derby!  I had quite a few of these guys.

Mr. Louisville, me and BF Casey before Oaks.

Mr. Louisville and I. OMG.  That stache...

March Madness

Have I mentioned how much I love College Basketball?  Particularly, University of Kentucky basketball.

#8 Kentucky beat #9 St. Louis, #1 (and undefeated) Wichita State and last night we beat #4 Louisville.  I won 2 bets from picking KY over Louisville which made this Sweet Sixteen win so very sweet. 
I will say that if Louisville had won I was going to root for them all the way.  I've grown fond of that team since I went to a few of their games this year. 

We are now down to the Elite Eight and have a tough game this Sunday vs. #2 Michigan.  But I have the Cats going all the way! 

Ohhhhhhh. C! A! T! S! Cats!  Cats!  Cats!!!

Go Cats!