Busy bee

There is a new cafe in Buffalo, Wyo., called the Busy Bee and I now love it.

My coworkers and I stopped in there a few weeks ago for lunch and we were not disappointed.

The place is attached to the historic Occidental Hotel on Main Street and is situated right over the little creek that runs through town.  You can't sit outside, but they do have big windows that allow you to look over to the water.

The place was packed too.  I guess everyone wanted to check out the new kid in town.

And this...this was my sandwich.  A grilled portabello mushroom with pesto and tomato.  It was delish!  Doesn't that mushroom look like a thick, juicy chicken breast?

So, the next time you are going through Buffalo definitely stop by the BB and see what all the buzz is about.

Can't wait...

This photo just might be of one of the most exciting things I've seen lately:

The new Indian restaurant putting their sign up in anticipation of opening next week!

It's called Monsoon.

And I just. Can't. Wait.

Wienies 'n Things

There is a place, actually a couple places, in Rock River, Wyo., I have wanted to stop in at for a long time.

This is saying something because if you've ever driven through Rock River you know it's a place you generally just drive through.  It's a tiny town.  But there is a bar and a little hot dog stand called Wienies 'n Things that I have been dying to go to.

I am completely drawn to these kinds of places.  I love the local dive bars and diners with their...local color.

My coworker Matt and I first came across Wienies 'n Things on a work trip over the summer, but we didn't have time to go in.

I wasn't going to let that opportunity pass me by today as Linds and I drove back from Casper, Wyo.

The wienie joint...

They sell t-shirts that look very much like this. If they didn't have the owners' names on it I would TOTALLY have bought one... 

Linds and I agreed these plates hanging on the wall were pretty darn cute...

Neither of us were very hungry so we just got an order of fries each.  We were the only ones in there and, who I'm guessing must have been Shawn, one of the owners, had to fire up the fryer just for us.  We kind of felt bad about him having to do that for our measly little order, but we couldn't leave there empty handed!

And because I have a love of all animated foods I made Linds take a picture of me with this.  Poor girl had to tromp through about an inch of snow to do it too!  

The "Suite" life

I am in love with the new martini/tapas bar Suite 1901 in downtown Cheyenne.

L.O.V.E.

Last night, Todd, Don and Annie, and I went to their jazz night. There was a live jazz band and a martini special - the JazzRazz.

The place is just so...not Cheyenne. You feel like you're dining in another city!

The music was awesome, and I think they've got their martinis right. I only had one JazzRazz (it's pretty sweet) then moved on to their Jet Black house wine, which is my favorite.

They have a different theme each night of the week including Cuban, big band swing, and more.

Suite 1901...bless you.

I don't think I'm in Cheyenne anymore...

A new restaurant has opened in town...so cool that when you walk in you kind of feel like, "you're not in Kansas anymore."

Suite 1901, a new martini and tapas bar (can you believe tapas...here??), had a soft opening over the weekend. Invitations for a night on them were emailed out with your meal and first drink to be taken care of. All they asked is you honestly fill out the comment card on the whole experience so they could learn what they needed to do to be better.

Well. How in the world can you pass that up?

I made a reservation and Brandon, myself, and Todd's parents all went down to check it out. (Todd couldn't be there because of work.)

Um...it's actually cool. Really cool. Inside it's all swank and decked out in a very 1930s Art Deco decor. It truly is done very nicely and it far surpassed my expectations.

I had heard horror stories about the martinis from a friend who had attended the event the night before, but mine - the Charles Berry - was done very well. Our service was also a lot better than what I had heard from my friend. There were a few little kinks - like the drinks take WAY too long to come out - but I think that will change once they get the hang of things.

And the food was awesome! Seriously, done just right. Between the four of us we were able to try one of everything on the night's menu. Everything was great, but the chocolate marinated steak was amazing. Holy crap!

The meal also included a starter and dessert. I really enjoyed the starter: a piece of crostini with a nice tomato chop on top and some grilled pita with black bean and traditional hummus (though the traditional hummus wasn't my fave).

The dessert was my least favorite part and typically is, since I'm not a dessert fan. However, I do know a good dessert and this was a disappointment after the rest of the dinner. It was panna cotta with chocolate sauce, but the panna cotta was kind of rubbery and the sauce tasted like nothing more that Hershey's drizzled on top. It hardly ruined the night though!

Their wine list is actually pretty nice too. Brandon and I ordered a Malbec that was just perfect then we toured the rest of the place.

The restaurant is in the refurbished historic Frontier Hotel. They kept a lot of the old, original fixtures, which was really cool. Projected on the wall behind the bar was a black and white movie, which I thought was a nice touch.

Downstairs is a room called the Casablanca Room which can be reserved for parties or meetings. There's also a wine tasting room where they will set up private tastings from, apparently, their own winery that they plan to start. Not sure about the details of this or how that will work.

Overall, I'd give the place high marks. There is absolutely nothing else like Suite 1901 in Cheyenne and it's about high darn time something like this made a go. I'm hoping they will be around for a while - and I will certainly do my part to make that happen!

My photography isn't the best here, but a little peak inside...


By the bar. You can see the movie playing in the background...


The menu...


Some of the old light fixtures...


The Casablanca Room...


The wine tasting area...

Cinco de Mayo!

I just got off the phone with the Dupont Dwellers at their Cinco de Mayo party at Chris T's. I SO wish I could be there!

They were using the old Mimosa Monday pitcher to make margaritas, were having enchiladas, and inducting a newly-minted member to the group.

I went to a work happy hour at Guadalajara restaurant downtown Cheyenne. We also had a lot of fun, even though, as I think I've mentioned, I'm not actually a fan of the food at Mexican restaurants. I do, however, like the decor.

I took my first Spanish class in second grade and we learned about the culture. I wanted to live in an adobe (I figure only my sisters will recall the line from PeeWee's Great Adventure here, "Can y'all say adobe? Ado---be.) house with Spanish tile and a courtyard that had a fountain.

Yep. That was my dream.

This restaurant comes pretty close to replicating it.

The group...Don't ask me why Brandon (in the front) has that look on his face. He's weird anyway...



This is pretty much the house I envisioned for myself...


Every chair seems to have a different look. Suns, birds, flowers...it's endless...


Wet floor...ya' think? Here's my fountain and tiles all in one...

Tortilla tastiness

I'm not a big Mexican restaurant fan. Not because of the taste, but because it's bad for you.

However, I keep hearing about this place called the Tortilla Factory in Cheyenne and how amazing it's supposed to be.

A group of friends from work went for lunch last week and invited me to go. After another co-worker told me the green chili was awesome - and that's one of the things I really enjoy - I decided to join.

I love the decor of Mexican restaurants! Always so bright and interesting...


My coworker Matt ordered the burrito supreme lunch special. It was as big as a forearm - and there were two...


At the front of the place is a little market. I really liked this. I want to go back for some spices. I think Mexican pastries are so simple and pretty...


In case there's an enchilada emergency...


This cracked me up...


I've been wanting a couple cast iron skillets for a while now, but I have other priorities I keep diverting my money to. This grill was only $10 though! It's in my kitchen...

And the green chili? I have an abnormally high threshold for spicy food and the chili was just right. For once a place meant it when they said hot!

Chicago - Day 4

I spent pretty much all day Wednesday walking around the Bucktown/Wicker Park area. It was recommended to me by Nate and Linds M. the night before as a neighborhood I should check out.

You wouldn't probably think of going there from the looks of the train stop - it kind of looks like the sketchy hood. But remarkably, it isn't. It was very trendy in a boutique-y/artsy kind of way. For the D.C., readers I would say it looked like Adams Morgan with a U St./14th St. feel. I really wish I had been dressed a little funkier - you know, to fit in - but I'm telling myself that cowboy boots can be different and alternative too. I certainly got a lot of looks, anyway.

According to a Chicago magazine (of course I picked one up) the area is characterized by, "...trendy boutiques, coffeehouses, restaurants, galleries, nightclubs and storefront theaters are centered around the intersection of Damen, Milwaukee, and North avenues, and create a vibrant atmosphere."

I can see that.

But not until I walked the right way down those streets! After walking several blocks trying to figure out the area, I decided to turn around because it looked pretty bland. I thought, surely this can't be what everyone wanted me to see! So, I consulted some Starbucks barristas, who were helpful in giving me a lay of the land.

There were definitely lots of fun, unique boutiques, funky little stores and coffeeshops, and even an Urban Outfitters and a couple other more mainstream stores. Mostly, however, it was all pretty original.

I settled in at the Gallery Cafe, a cute little coffeeshop, for a latte and some free Internet - something the Marriott O'Hare didn't offer. Hungry, I went on a hunt for some food - specifically sushi. I wanted really, really awesome sushi. A shopkeeper told me to try Coast, also written up in this little magazine, but after walking forever trying to find it (which I eventually did and it was closed) I came back to the streets I "knew."

I decided to try the Earwax Cafe (that's for you Jonna... haha), which had a really fun vibe - like an old sideshow circus kind of vibe. I ordered the Earwax Garbage Salad and settled in.

I intended to go back to the hotel, change, and make my way downtown for dinner, but decided to hang out at the hotel bar and do some work. It is, afterall, a work trip, right?

The Earwax...


An interesting wall hanging...


The booths, which I think are fun. I was in a little side table though...


There were lots of other delicious things in here like dried cranberries, sunflower seeds and blue cheese. Who knew garbage could be so tasty?

Chicago - Day 3

After a second, and final day of social media “conferencing,” I went downtown again to meet up with a couple other friends who live here: Nate, who I went to college with, and Lindsay M., who I worked with at the PR firm in D.C.

It was so great to see them both! And it was fun to introduce these people from two different times in my life. I love doing that!

We went to a place called the Kerryman Pub, a giant pub downtown. We had a beer and split a couple bottles of wine since it was ½ price bottle night – another thing I love! We all had a really great time getting caught up. Nate filled me in on his job, told me about his wife, and pumped me for info on all our college friends. Linds M. gave me all the juicy details about our terrible firm in D.C., how she left, who all left after us, and what was happening there now. The awfulness of the place was really what fueled my decision to leave D.C., and I took an evil delight in hearing how the, ahem, poop, had hit the fan.

Then Nate and I left to find his wife who was having dinner with a girlfriend. She was awesome and I’m hoping we’ll all get to hang out again while I’m here.

Stupidly, I didn’t take any pictures. Not one! We were too busy talking for me to think of it, I guess! I’ll make up for it if we all go out again this week.

Korean cuisine

Yesterday Molly, Brandon and I went to lunch at the Korean House in Cheyenne.

It was the first time any of us had been there. It's a total hole-in-the-wall kind of place that in passing you might think twice about entering. It's usually these places that are the best though, and I had heard some good things about this one.

The little place was pretty busy. We each ordered something different so we could taste everyone else's choice. Molly and Brandon also ordered an egg roll of sorts that was kind of like a deep fried cabbage and meat roll. It was pretty good, I admit.

Overall, I would totally go back. It wasn't quite as good as the Korean buffet we would sometimes go to in Virginia, but if I'm jonesing for something "ethnic" this place will definitely do the trick.

Yeah, I know...we went in there?!


The fridge full of jars of kimchee (a pickled/fermented veggie side that's spicy. Sounds bad, but it's so good!), pickled radish, and pickled cucumber. The kimchee and radish were delish!


My bulgogi - a wine(esq) marinated beef plate with sticky rice. I LOVE sticky rice. Love. You can also see the fried cabbage roll thing...


Brandon's spicy chicken on the right and Molly's Be Bim Bop, which looked amazing. There's an egg on top...!


The scenic wildlife paneling is an interesting choice for decor, but somehow it just worked...

Ft. Collins frolicking...

Yesterday I went to Ft. Collins, Colo., to kill some time since all my other plans were canceled.

I figured I'd hit up antiques row and just really take some time browsing. I made it through one store when my friend Molly from work, who was also in Ft. Collins hanging out with her cousin and his wife, texted me to join them at the O'Dells brewery. Needless to say, antiquing went out the window.

It was uncanny that Molly mentioned going there because on my way down I had been thinking how much I would like to do just that.

O'Dells is a Colorado brewery and their beers are pretty great. I've been drinking pints of their Easy Street wheat since college. I'm also a fan of their 5 Barrel Pale Ale and 90 Schilling.

The tap room was packed! I ordered the "pilot" - their flight of seasonal beers - and a pint of Easy Street and hunkered down with the rest of the crew.

Other breweries to come!



Inside the tap room...

My flight and pint...

The cousins...


Me and Veronica enjoying our brews...

Molly and I crashed at Brandon and Veronica's and went to breakfast this morning at Choice City Butcher and Deli in Old Town Ft. Collins. It was awesome! The digs...


More of the digs...


Look how CUTE that squat pot of strawberry jam is! It was delish too! Lots of cinnamon going on in there...


My breakfast. Portabella benedict and fried tomatoes. Pretty darn tasty...

Cowboy radio

Since the beginning of the year, UW Athletics has been doing live radio shows with the Cowboys and Cowgirls head coaches at Altitude Chophouse in Laramie.

I've been really wanting to check it out, so last night I made the trek over to hang out with some old friends and see what it was like.

It was a cool event with lots of fans there, but also not exactly what I was expecting. I thought the show would be like a side activity to everyone eating and drinking. Instead it was the main event and when they were on air nobody talked, which made catching up with old friends kind of hard.

We talked anyway...

The crowd at the show...

Artemisia and A.

Cap Grille here and there

I went with my friend Brandon to the Capitol Grille tonight for a beer. There's a Cap Grille in D.C., that I never really warmed to, but I really like the (unrelated) bar here.

It's part of the Historic Plains Hotel downtown, which is full of cool old tiled floors and neat Western-y furniture.

The bar is seldom packed (unless there's an event like the Wyoming Press Association), and you kind of feel like you've got the place to yourself - and that you can really get to know the bartenders. However, my only complaint is the service isn't as stellar as it should/could be, given that there are rarely enough people there at once to overwhelm the bartender's time.

Here are a few pics from the bar and, while I'm at it, the hotel.

Walking in from the hotel lobby...


The bar and restaurant. Ok, not the best picture, but you get the idea. You can see Brandon in the red vest trying to pretend that I'm not taking a picture...


The cool old tiles and booths in the Grille...


If you look closely you'll see the address is 1600...my old D.C., apt. building number! It was meant to be...


A mural painted on tile above the salad bar...


The cool stained glass ceiling in the hotel lobby complete with buffalo chandelier...

Part of the hotel lobby...


The "branded" tables in the lobby and the piano that plays on its own. I'm sure there's an actual name for those...

The front desk in the lobby. You can see the restaurant entrance in the back. I have no idea who that man is...


Some Western window art...


Cool tiled picture on the sidewalk outside the hotel...