Coffee, beer and taxes

If you have to do taxes, might as well make the most of it, right? That's why we decided to set up shop at Aster Coffee Lounge in Ballard. We started with a foamy latte and eventually moved onto a cold brew. Combined with the Al Green soundtrack, taxes have never been so much fun!

Brave Horse Tavern

On Sunday night, Joe and I met Gary and Kate for drinks at Tom Douglas' new place, Brave Horse Tavern. This is his first venture in a more casual atmosphere and not surprisingly, he aced it. The menu of local craft beers and tasty treats is enough to keep you coming back for more. We shared the two pretzels with pimento cheese, sour cream & crispy onion and peanut butter and bacon spreads - they were all delicious! Next time I'd like the try the smokey BBQ brisket dip! Yum.

pic/glkaiser's flickr

Dad meet Buckhunter. Buckhunter meet Dad.

Last Friday, my Dad and I went on a date. For Christmas 2008, I gave him an "experience gift" which meant that I would take him to dinner and a Jazz Alley show. He really likes jazz. It's taken a looong time to get this on the calendar, but we finally found a date. So we did dinner at a Brewery, then headed to Jazz Alley to enjoy the music of the Soul Queen of New Orleans, Irma Thomas. Great voice, but she also was a hoot. I like it when performers bring a little sass to their act.

After the concert, we decided to get a drink somewhere. It didn't take long to decide that we'd head to my local watering hole, 4bs, to have a beer and play one of my fave games - Buck Hunter! Some of you may know, but my Dad is an AVID sportsman. We're talking hunting, fishing, crabbing, you name it. He'll score. (Evidence of his skill here. Isn't that fish GIANT?) But anyway, we went on three safari treks and I'm proud to announce that I kicked his butt!

Now I think my Dad is in negotiations with my mother about purchasing his very own Buck Hunter for his new and improved shop. Or should I call it man cave? I'd support this as long as the man cave allows lady hunters!

pic/via

Beer.

Good beer. Check.
Good company. Check.
Good food. Check.
Good weather.... no check.

For Father's Day, my mom and I took my dad to the Washington Brewers Festival. While the weather didn't exactly cooperate, we still had a blast.

My dad had some "connections" so we basically had unlimited tokens for tasters. In other words, after mom said she'd drive, dad and I tasted our little hearts away.

My favorites were:
Iron Horse hefeweizen
Lazy Boy pepper beer (so odd tasting, but still good)
Rock Bottom raspberry wheat
And a blonde and an oatmeal stout that I can't remember the names of. But really good.

Cheers, Dad!

The brew crew.