Somewhere Over The Rainbow, There Is Beer

Tonight it was time to cross some more beers off our Brew Week list! We headed to The Pub to try the Rocky River Brewing Co. Oompa Loompa Chocolate Stout. It was great! Megan got the Blueberry Trails Blueberry Ale, which came served with fresh blueberries floating inside. Nice touch!



For dinner, I got the Yuengling beer-battered fish sandwich and the black & tan onion rings. Mmm.



Next we went to the Cat's Den to sample the Marietta Brewing Company beers. Megan and Bob got a sampler platter to share.



And I got samples of my two favorites! McLaren's Scotch Ale (rich and malty with toasted caramel notes) and Kelly's Red Ale (rich amber ale with a light caramel palate). They were AWESOME. Kelly's Red might possibly be my favorite YET this year! I put my hand in this shot to try and show actual size of these beers but they still look sort of huge. I swear, they're little!



When we headed outside after drinking these delicious beverages, we stepped into a bizarre weather situation! The break in the rain had left an eerie yellow glow in the sky.



Then we turned around to find a RAINBOW!! La, la la la!!!! Brew Week is most definitely a magical experience.

5th Annual Ohio Brew Week!

Tonight was Ohio Brew Week Kickoff Night! A few of us met up at Jackie O's to start sampling the delicious beers.

I was especially excited, because my favorite Jackie O's beer of all time, Sweet Chocolate Love, was going to be making an appearance. This beer originated this past winter, and is supposed to be one of their wintertime beers only, but for brew week they brewed a special batch. IN A BOURBON BARREL. Whoa!! Bourbon - another of my favorite things! It has been a long, lonely stretch of months without this beer in my life, so needless to say I was excited to taste this new version of it!

Here I am with two delicious goblets of the delicious Bourbon Barrel Sweet Chocolate Love. One for me, and one to share.



It was delicious, OF COURSE!!! Quite different than the original, but I could totally taste it in there. The bourbon was a nice touch. It's simple math, really. Take something awesome, put it inside of something awesome, and you get something double awesome!

Here is Summer with her assortment of sample-sized beers. Doesn't she look like a mother duck protecting her brood of little baby ducklings? Peep peep peep!



Yumi smelling the beer like a true pro.



After awhile, we moved outside. I ordered one of my standby favorites from Brew Weeks past, the Cornerstone Brewery Angry Gorilla Hefeweizen. Delicious as always!



CHEERS!

Heart Chunks

I recently bought this new flavor of ice cream, Kroger Deluxe Churned Blueberry Pomegranate Chocolate Chunk. Notice that it doesn't indicate that there is anything special about the chunks, nor is the chunk featured on the front of the carton anything but a regular old chunk-shaped chunk.



But then, we dish it up, and lo and behold! Heart-shaped chunks!! How cute is that?!? And how odd that they don't feature them on the box!? You'd think they would want to capitalize on that cuteness! Anyway both the ice cream and the chunks are delicious. I recommend.

Poolyball

Another hot day, another HOT afternoon of Poolyball at Summer and J's! Mr. Studlyhunk got things off to a great start by fixing up a round of drinks for everyone.



He makes a mean strawberry daquiri. He also just happens to be the new spokesmodel for Blendtec blenders — keep your eyes peeled for their sexy upcoming ad campaign.



You can always tell Ralph's had a few too many when he starts wearing the Smirnoff cap as a hat.



Brad and Carl brought a cooler of Bud Light Lime to share.



It really hits the spot on a hot day!



Emily and Carl.



Time for Poolyball!












Emily checking out the goods.



We spent the rest of the afternoon just floating around. Those boys sure know how to make floating around look good!



Ah, summertime.

Fourth of July Potluck

Mer, Pete, Baby Kate, Mom, Dad, Ben and I met at Mom and Dad's house this evening to walk down to Emily and Marc's Fourth of July Potluck.



It was like a parade!!






Yum, look at all that food! And everyone is wearing white!



Summer made these amazing chicken nuggets.



Mr. Studlyhunk showed up with a gorgeous bouquet of tulips!



He drank a little bit too much wine...



...and ended up getting pretty frisky with Hilarie!



So naughty!



Mom!



Baby Kate!



Mr. Studlyhunk's plate of potluck food. Everything was super delicious.



Look at my new sandals! They are so comfortable, it's almost more comfortable to wear them than NOT to wear them!



Kate's new friend, Sophia. Showing Kate a sparkler!



There were a couple of birthdays this week, so we got to do candles and singing.



The hostess with the mostest! And definitely with the best hat.



Mmm, dessert.

New Couches!

Meredith and Pete got new furniture this week, which means that I get to have their old couches, which I LOVE!! I've ALWAYS loved them (for like ten years!) and I'm super excited to have them.

Dad, Ben and Moss worked together to fit the couches into Dad's truck.





Whee! Here they come!



They fit into my living room perfectly, and they are super SUPER comfortable.







The kitties love them too!







Charlie looks EXTRA HANDSOME sitting on them.