Don't you dare try and get saucy with me about how arbitrary this image is.
Everything in it, together, exemplifies the perfect summation of the meaning behind HerThreeCheers.
The beer in the upper left is one crafted by yours truly (and her lovely husband, Chris). It is an American pale ale style of beer we brewed for one of our recent homebrew club competitions. Its delicate balance of slightly sweet malty flavors, moderately heavy bitterness from the hops, and just all-around damn deliciousness earned it First Place in the competition! Not all of our beers have reached this level of near perfection, especially not in the beginning stages of our homebrewing craze (I'm sure I will post about our streak of beer bombs—literally—at some point, but let's not spoil the moment just yet). No matter how totally delightful or nasty a craft beer may be (homebrewed or otherwise), I will never regret giving it a chance. Unless it makes me vomit. Or deathly ill. Neither of which have happened yet. And I hope to heavens never do.
The slice of pizza chock-full of yummy toppings is from one of my favorite new local eateries called Noli's Pizzeria. This place does it right—New York-style pies with eclectic ingredients. Pictured here is the Liguriano, which comes with a hefty load of locally-source sausage, Kalamata olives, goat cheese, Portobella mushrooms and pesto sauce—YUM! Served right out of the 900-degree wood-fire oven or refrigerator-cold on a napkin (as pictured here), this pizza is molta deliziosa and represents a small taste of my appreciation for house-made, artisinal and completely imaginative food creations.
Hogging the other half of the image is my brand-spankin' new bicycle helmet and semi-new running shoes (you've got to replace these puppies fairly often, especially when you're as accident-prone as I am). More often than not, one of these two items is on me when I leave home. Weekday mornings, I rise at 4:45 a.m. and am out the door by 5 a.m. to start off my day with a brisk three- to five-mile-long run. A typical Saturday morning begins with a 10 to 12-mile trek through my midtown neighborhood. There may be no greater feeling in the world than finishing up a long, hard run and having a cold shower and hot cup of coffee waiting for you at the finish line.
My husband, Chris, and I are also currently trying to fit in some serious bike rides once or twice a week. Our 30- 60-mile-long rides are excellent training for us as we gear up for the the Register's Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa (RAGBRAI). Many relatives on my husband's side of the family are diehard RAGBRAI riders, boasting more than 30 years of participating in the annual week-long bicycle extravaganza. This year, the ride takes place July 20–26, and it will be my second time participating. On average, each day is about 65 miles-long, and there's always one day tossed into the route that gives riders the choice to complete an extra loop that will bring the total mileage for the day to 100. It's a grueling challenge, but, man, what a feeling of accomplishment when it's all said and done. Oh, and i this case, there's typically a cold shower and a cold beer waiting for you at the finish line.
This weekend, my husband and I will be visiting some friends in St. Louis, Mo. You can expect some tasty blog posts from our many planned (and unplanned) biking, beer-tasting and food-devouring adventures.
Cheers to life's simple pleasures!
Mikaela
Three cheers for your blog! This is fun to read-- though it's making me feel really, really lazy (52 mile bike ride?!).
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment, Valerie!
DeleteI must say, it did get rather treacherous toward the end. However, the yummy eats and drinks along the way provided me the fuel (physical and mental) to keep on pedaling! Oh, and I also kept thinking about the Race Across America cyclists. The record holder literally biked from coast to coast in 7.5 days. I've got nothing on that guy!