Beer Week Ends But Bear Weekend Begins

I never I thought I would say this, but, I am in love with a Tuna Melt. Growing up, I never, ever, ate tuna fish. Unless, it was a tuna steak. Since my teenage years, I have expanded my horizons. So, when you see it on a menu, it seems so ordinary. Well, my feelings have changed due to Anchor & Hope. On numerous occasions, I have opted for theirs. Like at lunch a couple weeks back. Oh, I can't talk about the Drakes IPA that was Casked either. That would be bad. Or the fact that I had 4 coffee stops again that day. And bumped into the Pizza Hacker. All this in preparation for being chosen to share the gift of Contigo with Jennifer.

See, I was there when she won a gift certificate at the CAMINO company bash last month. I told her and everyone that were sitting at our table that they would win a raffle prize. And guess what, they all did. In fact my friend Carlo won the grand prize. Dinners at Chez Panisse and Commis. I am still waiting for Carlo's call.

Anyway, dinner at Contigo was splendid. I just love it there. They are so open and accessible to making you feel good. We sampled a few wines before we made a final decision. I like that. The aged hams are too die... We ordered a bunch of stuff like their gem salad, their oxtail. The brussels sprouts and some chicken. Oh, and that olive cake...yummy! Thanks Chris for sending it out to us.

The next day was fun too. It was a Friday (Feb. 12) and Jennifer was pulling one of her last shifts at Cento. God, do I miss her. Anyway, I had an amazing Cento after a grumpy workout with my trainer at Golds. So amazing, that I brought her back a Kobe Corned Beef Sandwich and a Miso Roasted Salmon Sandwich from Pal's Take-Away. I am making sure I call them Sandwiches and not Sandos. Hee hee...

Vytas was in on all the craziness too. We did our usual split of both sandwiches. And we did our usual drinking of beer after work. That day was the Panty Peeler and the Lost Abbey at City Beer Store. We even went to Sightglass Coffee before they closed and had mocha's.

This was all before having a date at Magnolia. Yeah, I convinced someone to meet on a first date there. During Beer Week, by the way. Nuts! Anyway, I not only completed a punch card, but ended up with not 1 but 3 Commemorative Beer Week glasses. I will tell you why. After nearly 2 hours of waiting for a table, I was pretty drunk and pretty hungry. I had had so so many beers. My date was holding the first Commemorative glass for me. He was also convincing them to give me another at some point during our meal because of the fact we had to wait so long. And then, to top things off, I stole a glass when we left.

Needless to say, it was a great date. And an interesting start to the final days of Beer Week and the beginning of Bear Weekend. Yes, International Bear Rendezvous was going on. And on Saturday night, I got to see my house mate spin at Slim's for Blowoff. It was pretty epic.

Earlier that day, I had gone to Pi Bar for an Old Foghorn and a Jolly Roger. And a cheese slice, of course. It was the reward for a day of shopping for red underwear.  2010 is the Year of the Tiger and February 14th marked the Chinese New Year. Being a Tiger, I wanted to represent and honor the year, daily, by wearing something red. I thought, what better way to remember. It is definitely going to be "My Year."