Yesterday afternoon I had a lot going on at work, I didn’t feel very good, and somehow over the course of the afternoon, I ate an entire 70% cacao Lindt bar. Part of it was necessary, part of it definitely was not. I’m moving on now.
After work I picked up Rascal, dropped him off at home, changed into running clothes and dashed off to Common Market in the Plaza Midwood neighborhood to run with my running group. I’ve been a member of this group since I moved to Charlotte and used to run with them every Thursday night. I’ve slacked off on my involvement with them, but still try to meet them when I can. Brittney and I took it easy on the extremely hill four mile run. As I said before, I was feeling kinda “blah” all day (I’m sure the copious amounts of chocolate didn’t help) and it was nice to just chat and not push myself too hard. It was majorly hot, but not too humid.
My friends Jessica and Leigh met me afterwards to hang out. Jessica is quite the local celebrity after appearing on the local Fox affiliate morning news show to discuss being a thrifty fashionista.
After guzzling some water, I started with this Ballast Point Calico Amber Ale. I love Ambers, but I’m not very practiced in describing beer. I sampled this review from Beer Advocate.
Initial hop bitterness is tamed by malt and ends with a nice clean finish. Taste bounces between bitter and sweet to keep the beer interesting but without spinning out of control.
Anyone can submit a review on Beer Advocate and there are many reviews for each, if you’re interested to see what other people had to say about this particular beer. I just chose the most recent review because I figure anyone who would put forth the effort on Beer Advocate is way more well-versed in beer tasting than I am.
Brittney’s husband Greg met us after the run and brought Clyde to snuggle and charm everyone. He also enjoys a good open mouth kiss…no matter how hard you try to resist. He’s sneaky like that.
I knew I should eat something or I was going to crash and burn later, so I grabbed a small black-eyed pea salad with veggies and a light vinaigrette. I also tried another beer. What does Beer Advocate say about this one?
Graininess, rye spiceyness, grassyness & mineral hops up front. Breadyness with honey malt as this warms along faint pear notes. Finishes crisp, dry with a touch of pear & some rye spiciness.
In other news…
If you’ve been watching the news, you have probably heard about Hurricane Earl that is soon slated to hit the East Coast, particularly the NC coast. My in-laws (Wally and Joy) live on the Currituck Sound which is only protected from the ocean by a small chain of barrier islands that run almost the full length of the NC coast, called the Outerbanks.
This was the view from my in-law’s house at noon yesterday.
And this was the view at about 7 a.m. this morning. Notice how choppy the water is now? Also, Wally and Joy’s power is off and winds are 45-50 mph. They say they’re doing fine and enjoying coffee made from their gas-lit oven. Hopefully, Earl will pass on by and any damage at all will be very minimal.