Hello, friends! It has been one very busy week.

Let’s backtrack to last Friday, why don’t we? It was Joe’s turn to do Secret Date Night and he definitely planned a great one.

First, we went to the Big Picture Movie Theater to watch Seven Psychopaths. I won’t give away the plot at all but must say that Christopher Walken and Colin Farrell were great in it.

The Big Picture is an excellent way to catch a good movie. It’s at the bottom of El Gaucho in the Belltown neighborhood though they also have a location on the Eastside. I love that they serve beer and cocktails in the theater and the best white cheddar popcorn ever. This Eugene gal got the Ninkasi Total Domination IPA. Yum!

The next morning we took Lola to the Boston Terrier Meetup at Magnuson Park. Believe me, it is crazy. It’s a monthly meet up of Boston Terriers running around like crazy at the off-leash dog park. Lola absolutely looks forward to it and luckily the weather cooperated. Look at the air she can get! Athletics runs in the genes. 🙂

After the dog park, we were famished and decided to stop at our neighborhood bakery/restaurant, Louisa’s Cafe & Bakery. Good choice as we decided that we needed the apple cinnamon roll. I kid you not… this was the size of my face and every morsel was devoured.

After letting our tummies digest just a bit, Joe and I suited up and set out for a quick 3-mile run from Eastlake down to Lake Union Park and back. I’m a big fan of any out-and-back route. I’m also a fan of my Oiselle consisting of the Start Line Tee (link to Amazon, no longer on the main site), Arm Warmers, and Lesley Knickers. I’m absolutely obsessed with my arm warmers. Since getting them, I can’t seem to go on an outdoor run without them. I get warm easily, so being able to easily pull them down when it gets too hot and back up when it gets too cool is awesome. Also love that the Lesley Knickers aren’t camel toe-y! No one likes that.

After going for the run, we got ready for the Great Pumpkin Beer Fest held at the Elysian Georgetown location.

Check out the lineup. In addition to beers, they had a few awesome food trucks including Skillet and Where Ya At Matt.

2012 ELYSIAN LINE-UP
Night Owl, Great Pumpkin, Dark o’ the Moon Pumpkin Stout, Hansel and Gretel Ginger Pumpkin Pils, Mr. Yuck Sour Pumpkin Ale (multiple vintages), Coche de Medianoche, The Gourdfather Pumpkin Barleywine (new!), Headless Horsey, Ursa Orange Pumpkin Berliner Weisse, Mulligatawny Moon Curry Pumpkin Ale (new!), Blight Pumpkin Ale (new!), L. Rauch Hubbard Pumpkin Rauchbier (new! – Pro-Am), and Puck’s Pumpkin Porter (new!).
GUEST BREWERIES (Partial List – There will be some surprises)
7 Seas, 21st Amendment, Black Raven, Slippery Pig, Silver City, Big Time, Rock Bottom, Ram, Pike, Fremont, Georgetown, Naked City, Elliott Bay, Two Beers, Reuben’s Brews, Epic Ales, Diamond Knot, Beer Valley, Laurelwood, Anacortes, Rogue, Puyallup River, HUB, Gigantic, Cascade Barrel House, Fort George, Bainbridge, Kulshan, Oakshire, Midnight Sun, 10 Barrel, Howe Sound, Uinta, Boston Beer Co., Woodchuck, Southern Tier, California Cider Co., Valholl, Nøgne Ø!

ELYSIAN COLLABORATIONS
Kick Sour Cranberry Pumpkin Ale (New Belgium), Avante Gourde (Lost Abbey), Hopsquash (Ninkasi), Oiseau de Nuit Pumpkin Gruit (Beau’s All Natural), and La Citrueille Celeste de Citracado (Stone / The Bruery).

Me as a strong woman lifting up this crazy pumpkin:

With the $25 entry we were given six drink tickets and a small tasting glass. As we made it in earlier than the majority of people, there were still some large beer glasses available for an extra $5 which afforded us larger pours per beer ticket. Score! They were pretty sweet glasses, too.

I enjoyed all of the pumpkin beers. The first one I tried was a curry pumpkin beer at 12%? Got me started quickly. I’ve never had a curry beer and felt that it was spicy and unique. Very heavy, though.

The rest of the beers:

In addition to all the beer vendors, the festival touted the Great Pumpkin, essentially a 200-pound pumpkin that held fermenting beer, sealed, and the opened at the festival. By the time it was time for the tasting, it was completely freezing outside, the lines were long, and we had finished out tickets. Unfortunately, no more beer for us. But I got a picture of the pumpkin. 🙂

All in all, the beer fest was fun, but it was very cold and the lines were way long. Would do it again if the setup was indoors.

The next day, on Sunday, we decided to start off with a lazy morning. I made us the most delicious breakfast sandwiches.

His:

Hers:

The rest of the day we spent mostly relaxing until it was time for a scenic run. We were thinking of running Green Lake but decided to go do Seward Park. It was my first time actually driving to that park to run. The other times I ran from our home to Seward Park as part of 20-miler long runs for marathon training. This was definitely more refreshing and leisurely; I actually focused on the scenery and enjoying it all!

In addition to running a few miles with my boo, we were able to enjoy some amazing scenery there despite the ominous clouds approaching us. I also got to, of course, sport my super cute Oiselle running outfit. It was my first time wearing the Easy Run Cap Tee and I was a big fan. Topped it off with my Arm Warmers and the Roga Shorts, the best shorts ever. So bright and cheerful contrasting the gray skies.

After the run, we just had to stop at the Oberto Factory Outlet aka Jerky Meat Heaven. Joe’s a big fan of jerky (me? not in love, but I’ll eat it from time to time).

So, that’s enough about the weekend! On Tuesday, I met up with my new friend Meghan at Latona Pub in Green Lake for a couple beers. We share a love for the Oregon Ducks and running and it was a great time meeting a new friend. I will definitely be going back to Latona again. The meatloaf/mashed potatoes that I had for takeout was phenomenal!! While there, I also briefly met Megan who was out celebrating her birthday. Fun night!

Last night, Wednesday, I had dinner with my friend Archana at my favorite veggie Thai restaurant, Jhanjay Thai in Wallingford. It’s a purely-vegetarian restaurant and, seriously, all I can say is that you must try it. It was definitely a fun time catching up.

Now it is finally Thursday evening. I unfortunately couldn’t make my planned visit to FlyBarre to meet up with Lauren due to work/travel time, but I’m definitely looking forward to next Tuesday night’s Fly By Night Flywheel event! If they get a packed house for the 7pm class, they’ll give away a 5-pack. Make sure to sign up on Sunday night when res opens!

Almost done. This weekend my bffs Becky and Christy are coming up from Portland for final wedding dress shopping. I cannot wait! A fun weekend of food, dresses, more food, and an 8-mile run on Saturday morning awaits.

Any big plans this weekend? Who’s going to Fly By Night??