"Summer afternoon—summer afternoon; to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language.” Henry James

This has been a crazy summer so I have been a little haphazard in documenting my eats.  Hopefully things will slow down soon and I can get back to more consistent food musings, but in the meantime here's a (somewhat long winded) recap of July.

Another summer brought another summer associate class at work... which brought another excuse for summer associate karaoke at Sang Kee Noodle House!  It was just as much fun as last year, and the food was just as delicious.

 [note my favorite, peking duck]

 [boy band]

 [end of the road]

[the mcgraw family]

The firm also sends the summer class to Jim Thorpe for a rafting trip each year.  Although I've not been in a couple of summers, I was a summer associate mentor this year (and that means obligated to attend).  The weather could have been better (the water was freezing and it was a nippy 65 degrees out and raining) but we still had a good time.

This summer B and I finally made it to one of the Night Markets sponsored by the Philadelphia Food Trust.  Food trucks come from far and wide so the masses can sample tasty tidbits, and there are beverage vendors as well.

It is a great, and affordable, time - I would highly recommend checking it out!

The night after the Night Market, B and I left for a trip to my family's lakehouse in Southern Virginia for Fourth of July.  We had a great time roadtripping together despite driving through what looked like the final scene in Twister, and had an even better time with the family boating, jet skiing, cooking out, and bowling.

[no road trip is complete without Doritos Jacked]

[paddle boat]

When we got back I put myself on a veggie only diet to gear up for my brother-in-law's wedding.  In addition to my favorite kale chips, I found some delicious treats at wholefoods including roasted vegetable gazpacho and "detox salad".

One thing I had that was NOT so delicious was Columbia Gorge Organic Carrot Leafy Green Juice.

It tastes like you are drinking a pureed carrot stem.  On the up side, at week's end I was feeling great and was ready to celebrate AJB and J5.

 [my wedding party gift from the bride and groom.  love it!]

The rehearsal dinner was at my in-laws shore house.  They did a beautiful job setting up, and everyone had a blast.

 [B and me]

 [the bride and groom]

[clockwise from left: mini lobster roll, cole slaw, corn fritter, tomato salad, crab cake, mini pulled pork sandwich]

 [group hug]

[boom]

On Saturday we woke to beautiful weather, and the girls prepped for the big day.

[the bride]

 [all gussied up]

Because the couple wanted to miss as little of the cocktail hour as possible, they took a good number of photos in advance.  Before photos, they did a dramatic reveal (that all of the girls got to watch from the upstairs balcony of the hotel).

Once things got rolling I was having way too much fun to take any photos, save one adorable first dance shot.

Congrats to my bebies!!

The following weekend all of our pals got together for a Saturday Phillies game.  Good food, good friends, and good times.

I spent the final weekend of July in NYC for my friend MMA's bachelorette party.  We started out with cocktails at our favorite lesbian bar, the Cubbyhole.

Then we moved on to the Frying Pan for dinner and more drinks.

 [outside of the Frying Pan]

[the bride and her prized possessions, bling and pitchers]

For our final stop of the night we headed to Second on Second, a cool karaoke spot near our hotel.

[only shot I could steal was of us in the cab on the way there]

Saturday night was romper themed, so we spent some time trying to find HBK the perfect romp.  Unfortunately, no luck.

To drown our romperless sorrows, we got some cupcakes at Baked by Melissa.

[featured: chocolate peanut butter, peanut butter and jelly, mint chocolate chip]

These bite-sized gems are to die for - go there immediately, but beware you won't be able to stop at just three!

Saturday night we threw a little "shower" in the hotel, and then went to dinner at Supper for before hitting the town.

Dinner at Supper was fantastic, and we had an amazing night.  Can't wait for the wedding!!

"When you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible." - When Harry Met Sally

With so many weddings to celebrate this year (3 down, 6 to go), its nice to stop and remember our own journey.  Six years ago June 14, B popped the question.  We always remember the date fondly because when we called his grandmother to tell her the news, she exclaimed, "And what a lovely day to get engaged, Flag Day."  Although we don't do presents or anything like that, we always try to enjoy a nice meal out (shocker I know).  This year, we decided to try Ela, a relative newcomer to the Queen Village neighborhood.

We arrived a bit early to enjoy a couple of cocktails before dinner.  I started with the "Last Chance to Lose Your Keys", tequila with rosemary, kaffir lime, and "citruses", and B had the "Daisy", hendrick’s gin with rhuby, cucumbers, and lemon.

 [Daisy on the left, Last Chance on the right]

Both were clean and refreshing, but the rosemary didn't play as well with the rest of my cocktail as I would have liked.  Next I switched to champagne but B tried one more from the "Elixir" menu, the "My Nine Rides Shotgun", bulleit rye whiskey with amaro meletti, green chartreuse, and passion fruit.  I typically hate all things burbon but this cocktail made me regret my champagne order (that's when you know its serious).

Once seated, we ordered the oysters.

They had a nice brine but were small enough to still be sweet, and despite the creativity of the accompaniments, dill pickle bits and a bacon foam, the oysters remained the main event.

We also ordered the foie gras special to start.  For those of you who don't know, a ban on foie gras is set to go into effect in California starting July 11.  To pay homage to their Californian homies fighting the good fight, a group of Philadelphia chefs have instituted Foie Gras Friday, featuring a different foie gras special each Friday.  Ela being on the bandwagon, we were able to enjoy a foie gras and lobster panacotta with potato skin "chips".

The pineapple toppings added the perfect amount of acidity to the creamy panacotta and the potato skin "chips" contributed the perfect zest and texture. 

For our second course we split the baby spanish octopus and the scallop "noodles."

The octopus had a nice charred barbeque flavor and was complimented well by a ramp puree, fava beans, and a cornbread crumble but the entire dish came out on the verge of cold.  For the scallop "noodles" the chef apparently takes diver scallops and carves each into one long noodle that is perfectly caramelized and served with a peanut sauce.  The dish was one of the most creative and flavorful I have tried in some time.

For our final dish we tried the skate.

It was fine, but nothing to write home about (whether because it was truly blah or because the previous courses packed such a punch I'm not sure).

My only true criticism came at the end of the meal when we received the check.  Yowza.  We had a great meal, but, given the hefty price tag we'll probably only be back for a drink and appys at the bar - Foie Gras Friday happy hour anyone??

"Because it’s summer and the memories are just waiting to happen." - Unknown

This summer has been off to such a bang.  The weekend before Memorial Day while B was in Miami at his brother's bachelor party, I celebrated one of my girlfriend's birthday with a late brunch at Amis...

 Followed by cocktails in the sun at Parc.

 [summer's best]

[a great pour]

The following weekend, my littlest sister was visiting me from South Carolina.  On Friday we went down to my in-law's shore house on LBI and we were met with cocktail hour and homemade shrimp and grits - yum!

The weekend was filled with relaxing on the beach, great eats, and fun family time.

One of the best things we ate all weekend was "corn mush" - a moister version of corn bread:

Mix the following ingredients and bake at 350 for 45 to 60 minutes (the longer you cook the more breaded it gets):
box of Jiffy corn mix
stick of melted butter
can of cream corn
can of regular corn rinsed and drained
8oz sour cream

The weekend after Memorial Day, I was headed down to Miami for my sister-in-law-to-be's bachelorette party.  Because I took Friday off for the trip down, we were able to celebrate a friend's birthday on Thursday night at Morgan's Pier.  Previously Octo, this waterfront deck bar has recently been given a face lift with fantastic results.  All of the menu items - including watermelon and feta salad, fish tacos, a burger, and corn and crab fritters - are under $10, and Morgan's has a great view of the Ben Franklin Bridge flanked by 2 bars, a craft beer bar on one side and a full ball on the opposite side.  They also have great music and a hot dog vendor and an ice cream vendor camped out on the deck.

[Happy Birthday!!]

The following morning I headed down to Miami.  The forecast was rainy, but, luckily Mother Earth didn't get the memo:

The first night we did a bar hop around Miami starting at Zeke's Roadhouse.

Since they only served beer and mini-bottles of not great wine, we only stayed for one drink.  Our second stop was at Kill Your Idol.  In addition to a more varied bar selection, they had fantastic margherita pizza - buffalo mozzarella, tomatoes, fresh basil and a balsamic drizzle.

Before leaving Kill Your Idol we played a little "how well does the bride know the groom" trivia - she did pretty well :)

After Kill Your Idol we hit up Club Deuce.  It was a complete hole and after a shot and a quick song on the jukebox we were out of there.

Our next stop was T-Mex for beers and Mexican food.  I highly recommend the bean "queso loco" taco (been taco in a hard shell wrapped in cheese and a soft taco).  It was just what the doctor ordered.

Our final stop on the bar hop tour was Mango's. 

It was perfectly cheesy and ripe with bachelor/bachelorette parties.  After a bit of dancing some of our party decided to head home to bed.  Those that remained went to Fontainebleu and ended up getting ourselves escorted into the VIP section of Club LIV to catch the end of LL Cool J's concert.

 [me and the bride to be]

[LL]

After an amazing beginning the weekend just continued to get better.  Again Saturday's weather defied the rainy forecast...

We spent the entire day by the pool and then showered and headed to dinner at Asia de Cuba.  The atmosphere was great, very Stephen Starr-esque with white and black mod decor, and the food was wonderful (the only low point of the meal was the service - plan to wait for-ev-er for everything).

 [at dinner]

[me and the bride-to-be after dinner]

[roomies for the weekend]

After dinner we enjoyed drinks/dancing at Lush.

 [gals]

[dancing to party rock anthem]

For our final stop of the weekend we stopped at the "hot new" club Bamboo.  We found the atmosphere lack-luster - there really isn't any dance space, mostly just tables for bottle service - but we had a great time nonetheless.

[end of the night]

Being invited to eight weddings in 2012, it was no surprise that J5's bachelorette weekend was followed by MMA's bridal shower weekend in Philly.  A bunch of my college girlfriends came into town for the festivities so Friday night B and I took them to our new favorite bar, Morgan's Pier.

[pi phis <3]

The following morning the bridesmaids hosted MMA's shower at Positano Coast.  I would highly recommend it for anyone who has a shower or other 25-30 people event to host.  The food was great, their banquet rooms are beautiful, it was quite affordable, and, best of all, the bride had a fantastic time!

 [the favors and photos of the couple and their parents and grandparents]

 [the flowers courtesy of Old City Flowers]

 [the bride and one of the most impressive bow-bouquets I have ever seen]

[most of the group]

To finish off the weekend a bunch of us went to Los Caballitos for dinner.  Gorging ourselves on delicious Mexican food was the perfect cap to a great weekend.

[beef nachos and veggie quesadilla - yummm]

I can't wait to see what the rest of the summer holds!