brunch – Get Elod(ie) of This

Barre x Brunch: [Solidcore] x Agua301

So I’m back at it. Taking a break from the bar exam to go do some barre only to go to a bar after that. Say that 5 times fast, everybody will be confused as to what you’re referring to. But don’t say it 5 times fast. Please.

[solidcore]: you love it or hate it. i love it. they hate it.

I’m trying a new thing, where I’m working out just to eat all my calories plus some right after, with my friends. I’m also trying this video thing again. Let me know what I should do (or not do, L O L). I was thinking whether or not I should add voice overs or have more of me talking. Or just scrap the whole video thing all together. But hey, enjoy the video. It turned out way better than I had wanted it to, #smallvictories.

Kinda cool, right? Oh, you didn’t watch it all? That’s fine. I think here is where I add I don’t own any rights to the song. It’s “Stars” by Marshmello. This isn’t for commercial gain. Just for the shits and the giggles.

But we all know what comes next: pics of food! But, to set the background for y’all… We went to [solidcore], a cute hardcore studio where it’s pilates reformer (using a machine) but on crack. Possibly one of the most effective core workouts I’ve ever done. Also, the biggest drain on my bank account. Yikes. Worth it? Yes. Honestly, I haven’t done it in 2 weeks and I know I’m going to cry because I missed a week. I wish I had before and afters for you. It was so fun to get my friends to come out and do it with me. I love working out with people, keeps me a little more accountable.

After, we yondered over to Navy Yard to get some food. I love to try out new restaurants, but I must admit, choosing a new restaurant for an event is a bold choice and it could have gone terribly wrong. We went to Agua301, a modern Mexican restaurant that faces the Potomac River in DC. The reviews were a bit mixed, but the consensus was: good food, bad service. I can live with that, as long as my alcohol cup keeps getting full.

I personally had 2 critiques: once you chose a bottomless drink, you were stuck with the drink instead of mixing and matching. I’d have preferred the mix-n-match, but beggars can’t be choosers. Also, as evidenced from above, my plate was the only one that didn’t photograph well. Albeit, a small thing, but, the whole point of this blog is to take pics of food to justify spending money on food. I enjoyed everything else and my friends didn’t seem to complain about the food either (they complained about the service, obvi). The food was GOOD though. Good taste. Good price. Would absolutely go back. But I definitely think I’m getting the crab cake benedict next because… you see how delicious that looks?!

People started trickling out and it was just me and the homie, Priscilla. Shoutout to friendship since Aug 2008.

we love girls who can pose. i, unfortunately, cannot.

We tried starting an IG page for brunch. Not a flop, per se, just trying to manage that, my own IG, and this blog is a lot. If only Priscilla could pull her weight *cough cough.* We tried to take pics (well, I tried and she succeeded) and then we went to Georgetown to eat all the ice cream at The Dough Jar. Why this cookie dough trend is a thing, no idea, but I am here for it.

So, au revoir, mes amis. Until next time. Studying for the bar exam is a TRIP. But almost there. When I do another public Barre x Brunch event, I have no idea, but I’m excited for it. But until then, stay cool. And of course, enjoy this picture of me.

model status. got my ‘fit from fabletics.

Bottomless Mims & Rooftop Reds: A Sh*tty Video Journey

Yes. You read that correctly. A shitty video journey. As in I tried to make a video by myself (my free subscription expired and if I don’t decide to pursue videomaking… well I didn’t want to pay for it) and the video, sucked. You can even say that the video is shitty. Trust me, you can see for yourself later. But hey, here’s a picture of the interior of Boqueria. Tres chic, oui?

Tres cool, non? Parlez-vous francais? Non? Ok. Back to me. What had happened with the video was… I forgot to take pictures. And videos. I forget I can just take a million and filter through them, instead of 5 and making them work for EVERYTHING. So, I apologize in advance for my “pictures.” It’s been stressful, y’all. If you cut me some slack, I PROMISE I’ll update more frequently. Pinky promise. I think this is the first promise I made, right?

Good food, shitty video. Welp.

Studying for the bar exam and job searching… and boy and friend issues? Whew. Alexa, play “Jesus, take the wheel.” Anyways. You’re not here to read about my life (I mean, you are, but who wants to read a sob story about my life? You? Oh, ok. Later.) But let’s be real, you want to look at subpar pics of food. And who am I to deny you such simple pleasures?

Did you watch the video… Hahaha. Haha. Ha. Yeah. I’ma work on it. Let’s break it down.

Boqueria:

4 tapas, 2 brunch plates or a paella, 1 dessert, unlimited brunch drinks. Yeah, sis, we talking about mimosas and red, white, and rose sangria. Uh, don’t try the white one. Please. Abeg. Don’t. It tasted like banana liquor. I just- Please don’t. I mean, maybe you’ll like it. Or maybe I had a bad batch. But… I can still taste it *frowny face.* But the mimosas were superior. But if you are looking for a good bottomless sangria place… I got you covered. Check out for my La Tasca post.

So our four tapas–
1) Albodingas: Lamb meatballs and goat cheese? You honestly can NEVER go wrong.
2) Pan con Tomate con Jamon: I don’t normally like bread, but man this bread slapped.

3) Pimientos de Padron: Haven’t had shishito peppers before. Would have switched it out for the meatballs, but my body needed some greens.
4) Tortilla Espanola: No. The garlic aioli was good though.

The Paella– thick, just how I like it :). Except could have done without the over medium eggs on top. But we were so full by the time it came out, we snacked on it. It made a great post-brunch-hangover snack though. The chicken and pork belly were just… *chefs kiss*

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The Dessert– OK I AM SORRY NO PHOTO AVAILABLE. I totally blanked. This is hard. How do real food bloggers do this? It was a sundae with churros and a sparkler. It was real cute. But. I forgot. So we’re just going to move on real quick.

Brooklyn Reds:

So first off, the hike to Brooklyn Navy Yard was not fun. The guard asked us if we had a barcode to get in. She must have taken pity on us because she let us in anyways. We had to walk around to find a weird lil building, go up a couple flights of stairs, and then we finally got to the top. Perfect weather, beautiful views, not even pictures. So enjoy one of me, say cheese.

Brooklyn Reds brews all of their wines on their rooftop. Let me just say, overpriced wines if you’re drinking it on the rooftop. Literally double. NY really is trying to get your money in any way possible. They have a hammock: I fell off. Swingy chairs: got a cute IG pic. Cornhole: my 4 years of training at a southern school went down the drain. All in all, would do it again*

*ask for tips though because those prices weren’t it, sorry not sorry.

So take away tips… More videos. More pics. Better quality. Less drunk? Thanks for checking in!

One Year Anniversary: The Sun Dial

Can you believe y’all have been on this journey with me for the past year? Through the ups and the downs… Climbing up and down the coast, and even going over seas. And yes, the disappointment of me not posting as often as I should.

BUT! I’m reinvigorated and I am here for y’all. Work (read: slavery trial) has been a little rough and I am in the process of signing up for the Bar exam. I even took the MPRE (multi-state professional responsibility exam… y’all know lawyers have ethics?? WILDT!). And to celebrate a couple of months of hard-work, I took a trip to Hotlanta to see one of my bestest friends. Yes, you can have more than one. And yes, I will fight you over my grammar usage.

Since brunch is my ~aesthestic~ and my friends know my oh so well, homegirl knew we HAD to brunch. AND we went to a cute place, The Sun Dial, with overpriced basic cocktails and food. $13 for a sticky bun? I didn’t buy it. But we were ~232 meters (if I remember correctly) off the ground in one of the tallest buildings in the southeast. This is what our waiter told me. No, I did not fact check.

They started the table off with 2 muffins: banana nut and chocolate. Uh. Chocolate wasn’t great but the banana nut was pretty good. Could have had a little but more moisture, but the butter (which my friend thought was ICE CREAM!!! I really should have let her eaten it omg) helped with the moisture. Could have done without the muffins, but since I wasn’t going to buy a $13 sticky bun, the muffins worked.

The water was nice too. I’m only saying this because they charged $1 for the water automatically, so I feel the need to comment on the water quality. But the peach iced tea (not mine, but my friend’s) was good too. Now, it would have been bomb with some champagne… or tequila… but at $18 a cocktail? Like a basic basic cocktail? Like a moscow mule but with peach or whatever? And not even at a cocktail bar to get fancy drinks? Y’all got my lack-of-income ass really confused. But anyways. Enough of my complaints, you’re here to read about food!

Remember when I said I was going to try to incorporate videos? Wellllllll, here you go. Somebody please PLEASE remind me to start taking my videos horizontal because vertical is not the move honestly. Don’t hate me. But uhm, look at the food??? Delicious??? Non??? By the way, I got the Surf and Turf Burger, cooked medium rare (which, was definitely more rare than medium, but alas).

These videos WILL get better, once I have more time whilst I study for the Bar exam (yes, you did read that correctly). They will also get better once I upgrade this site plan AGAIN to incorporate legit videos. Until then, you’re stuck with me, kid.

Ok ok ok, let’s just look at the burger definition… again. My goodness gracious. The cheese over the lobster, sitting over some sirloin beef burger? And crispy parmesan fries? *mouth watering* My friend ate the bun and she said the bun wasn’t the best, so I’m glad I skipped that part, even though I rarely ever eat the bun. 2 reasons: 1) I have a personal vendetta against burger buns and 2) I’m actually gluten intolerant and if I’m going to f- around my intestines, trust me when I tell you it’s NOT going to be over a burger bun.

As per ushe, I didn’t finish my food (this is why my friends hate taking me anywhere), so it’s packed up, waiting to be eaten as I waste my time away at the airport. My dumb ass thought taking a 9:30 flight would be the move. Well, it wasn’t.

I’m looking forward to 2019. It’s been good so far, and I can’t wait to keep you guys updated here on out :).

Champagne in my Membrane — BrunchFest ‘19

Hello friends, fans, and others. Miss me? You missed me. I really won’t boggle you down with my “Oh my goodness, my resolution is to be more attentive to my blog!” madness because… what’s the point of empty promises. I don’t like them. You don’t like them. Let’s skip alladat ;). Hey, but enjoy a picture of me in front of a mimosa bar sign, drinking what I believe is a mimosa (I ended up mixing all the liquors). What a great way to herald in February, right?

So first post of the new year??? BrunchFest 2019, hosted by Drink.Eat.Relax.

Yes, the sign was crinkled as hell, and I suck at taking pics

Too lazy to read the whole thing? Not same, but I’ll throw you a bone anyways.

+: “free” booze: champagne, rose, spritzers, ales, henny. bloody mary’s, boozy coffee bar, mimosa bar.
+: “free” food: eggs, sausage, bacon, mini-quiche, mini-poptarts, mini chicken biscuits, ham biscuits, bagel bites, donuts.
+: unlimited booze: well this is self-explanatory
-: the price: $77 with service fees? hahaha. for the lack of food there was… and long lines for alcohol… humph.
-: the food: continental breakfast, nothing from local food places (except the chicken biscuits lol)
-: the layout: take a rectangle square and put up awkward dividers.

Would I do it again? Only if I get the tickets on sale. Read on for a slightly longer (not by much) explanation. Or better yet, watch the video I tried creating that gives you no insights on the cons of the event.

I tried… I really did. No idea how to shrink the video. Bear with me as I figure this out. I might just have to download to YouTube and upload here… So much extra work, but I guess you guys are worth it (right, y’all are worth it…?) So stay tuned. For now, apologies.

So the video is kinda cool right? I did none of the work except provide the pictures and videos, thanks to Magisto App. So one thing I CAN promise you is that I will try to incorporate videos into my blogs. Let’s look forward to how my video “editing” progresses.

First of all, there should have been directions to the location because we, and others, walked around looking like that Swaggy P meme where he is confused as all heck, okay. But eventually we found it. ID check. Wristband. Security eyeing you. Ticket check. Plastic BrunchFest cup. Mimosa line!!!

The whole venue was explored in about 10 minutes, walking every square inch of the place. We scouted before we pounced. And by pounced, we meant alcohol since there was no food we were dying to try. And we had a lot of alcohol. I also tried Henny for the first time. Mixed it with champagne and orange juice. Talk about a turn up brunch.

If we’re being honest… there really isn’t much to talk about. There were vendors there who were trying to sell you clothing in your drunken stupor. There were also representatives from banks trying to get you to sign up for their bank? There were sweepstakes people also. Honestly, I would have enjoyed the whole thing more had there been no vendors. It would have been better if they were replaced by more food or drink stations, or even places to sit and high tables to eat at, but beggars can’t be choosers.

I did enjoy tasting samples from local distilleries and wineries, but not worth the full price paid. In the end, I did have fun. It is what you make of it, but unless the layout is changed, probably will not be going back (unless tickets are cheaper). I’m hoping to go to NYC’s BrunchCon. So long as it isn’t on my graduation (holy shite, yes, I’m GRADUATING from LAW SCHOOL), you’ll catch me there.

As always, hugs and kisses. I’ll catch y’all on the flip side. Enjoy some more stills with my friends from the day.

selfies are life esp w/ a selfie case, yw
my fav bar……. no lie

Bottomless Mimosas: Lago

Wow, hey. Did y’all miss me or did y’all miss me? Because I def did NOT miss myself. But shout out to the wonderful souls who kept harassi–checking in on me. This post is for you ;). Look at the G L O W. Anyways.

So, let’s take you through my life from June all the way through now: nothing. Whew, glad we got caught up! Well, in all seriousness, amidst the boy drama, academic struggle, mental breakdown, friend drama, and food relationships, I’m still standing and going strong. I’m down weight and feeling healthier than before. I’ve also been switching in and out of vegan-seagan-keto etc. Not sure what I’m doing but I’m eating foods I like when I want. I am mainly plant-based. I don’t eat gluten (slight allergy). I avoid things with lactose (intolerance). And… that’s it really. I’m doing HIIT, yoga, barre, cycling, and strength training, too! Oh, and being natural is getting easier, thank GOODNESS.

And now, I’m back. And I know last time I said I would be better with this, so I’m not going to promise such a thing, but I will promise to try harder. As for the other updates I did promise… The travel diaries (London) will be up soon. During winter break (I know, 2 months from now) everything should be up and ready for your viewing pleasure. But, we’re gonna try to get it all up and running smoothly before then.

But! You’re here because you saw the title “Bottomless Mimosas” and if you’re a Clevelander or Cleveland-visitor (student, friend, etc), you’re probably thinking “They have such a thing?” (I’m from the East Coast where we speak in bottomless brunch).

After HOURS of searching and calling different rumored restaurants… Ya girl FINALLY found a bottomless mimosas place. And, ya girl finally just recovered from that Olympic sport.

Let me present to you: Lago (Bireria, Cucina, Enotecca).

Service was a little… slow. We sat down for 15 or so minutes without anybody checking in on us. We started off with the bottomless mimosas right away. We were going to make the most bang for our buck. It was $15 for the bottomless, so truly, even 3 would be cost efficient. 5 would be better. But 10?! A steal! 15 would have been… hospital inducing honestly.

I am used to mimosas being like at least 75% champagne, but these were a good… 50%? Or something like that. But I don’t really eat grains, so alcohol hit me H A R D.

So mimosas are mimosas. But the food? So, listen. I asked for the wagyu steak and eggs… $64. My eyes popped out of my head. I don’t mind spending money for some good steak, but for breakfast? Am I made out of money? I was literally just there for the bottomless mimosas. Whew, chile…

We ended up getting the burgers. Mine sans buns and a side of tater tots. The burger was goooooood. And the house chips were very good too, but the tater tots were AMAZING.

One got the Avocado Benedict. And… It pictured well. It was literally guac on toast with an egg. Not sure what we were actually expecting, but it wasn’t that. We don’t recommend it (even though it was recommended to us). So we were able to sub it out for the breakfast burrito and that tasted amazing.

The waiters we had were pretty cool. Lots of jokes and was pretty quick on the refills (the most important part).

The interior was very nice and I would love to come back at night for their dinner menu. If you’ve tried it, do let me know!

We showed up at 11am and didn’t leave until almost 2? And we all had takeout boxes. I ended up snacking out of it while sobering up when walking around.

After, we just goofed around in the Flats, one of my favorite places in Cleveland. I got a pic with a Rolls Royce (yes, I’m annoying).

Walked around by the water and I pretended to be an IG model. Then I ate a hot dog as we played some corn hole. Then when I got home, I drank some electrolyte water and took my sweet sweet drunk booty to bed. And woke up at 7pm. And went straight back to sleep.

Ah, the joys of day drinking. Overall, I do recommend Lagos; if not for their food then for the bottomless mimosas. If not for that, then because I told you to.

Brewnuts

Woke up and it was raining. Now if you know me, if I can even sniff the faint scent of impending rain, I will cancel all of my plans. I’ll fake sick. I’ll actually be productive with cleaning or doing homework. I’ll even blame it on the dog, “Oh, Chessie is needy, sorry.” But, honestly, if I don’t have to drive, then I care less. I did wake up, staring at my phone, “If Celena texts me within 10 minutes, I’ll get up and go to Brewnuts,” I said from the comforts of my thick and heavy comforter, having no present intention to move. Lo and behold, 9 minutes later, I get the glorious text from Celena. So off we adventured…

bn4365 — i havent evolved from the awkward kindergarten poses sorry

Enter Brewnuts, love child of two Clevelanders who apparently loved doughnuts (seriously… is it donuts or doughnuts?) and decided to infuse craft beer into their baked goodies. 100% here for it. I have not been to this area of Cleveland, but I always did want to try out the infamous Brewnuts. If you know me, I’m not really a beer or doughnut fan, but the combination of the two just sounds almost too good to pass up. Ask me about the time I went to the Urban Winery with their wine doughnut holes. I’ll even buy you a drink at the Winery while I tell you about it. Very Meta, right?

Now, I really should have gotten the Dark Chocolate Coffee and Strawberry… but I realized I can’t do the “-egan” lifestyle anymore, unless there is a “not” right in front of it. So I’m back to Paleo-ish. Yes, -ish. I make exceptions for speciality items… like beer infused doughnuts. Check back Lent 2018, I’ll be back on my Seagan/maybe plant based Vegan lifestyle.

bn5492 — #NiceForWhat You’re welcome, Drake

But first, we had to get the mood started. Who doesn’t love Drake’s “Nice for What?” Popped in that dollar and got to play Drake AND Nicki’s “Barbie Tingz” all at 9:45 in the morning. It’s never too early to jam out while drinking a beer. Maybe except in the Bible belt… Eh.

What I did get though… Key Lime Pie Filled and the Hibiscus Limade. Celena and Sam got the Reeses Puffs with Nutella and the Coff Toff.

bn8176 — cuckoo for coc… wait, reeses puffs!

Sometimes I wish I was a chocolate person, but I prefer floral and fruity, but not too sweet. The Hibiscus Limade was PERFECT. Not too sweet but still full of flavor. The Key Lime was great for the first bite, but all of that sugar… Of course, I was full within 3 bites. I’m not a sugar person, but I can shamelessly eat a bag of kettle cooked salt and vinegar chips with popcorn without ever getting full. Now, what would be great, are craft doughnut holes. Then I can try 5-6 different flavors before my sugar migraine kicks in.

I really only bought two doughnuts just to take this picture. That’s really it. I still have my other doughnut sitting right next to me as I’m writing this post. Saving it for my post-thesis breakfast. Yes, because my thesis will be done in the morning. I hope this sugar rush will get me through the remaining pages I have left. Oh, didn’t snap a pic, but I was drinking the Rose Ale Cidergeist. It is now my new favorite beer/cider of choice. It was a “Bubbles-Mosa” so just the beer with some orange juice. Nothing special. But still great.

Until next time! If you have any suggestions on where I should venture next, let me know.

Inn on Coventry

inn 4

I’ve been here once before, so I had a friend over for the weekend, so I decided to take her here. It’s yummy, it’s close, and it’s popular.

inn 3

Last time I came, I got the Maryland Style Crab Cake Benedict. Like I said, I’m seagan-ish. Not gonna turn down some poached eggs. Fun fact though, this was the first time I’ve had eggs in about 2 months. Not as good as I remember them, though. I used to eat eggs like 3 to 4 times a week: over medium, over medium omelets, hard boiled, regular omelet… It’s just so easy to make with a side of fish.

Anyways, this time around, I got the same exact thing. Mainly because that was the only fish option on the menu. But this time, I got a side of avocado.

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Now, does this look like fresh avocado to you?

Here’s a funny story: I once bought non-ripe avocado and I had a serious urge to make some guacamole. So, I decided to google “how to quickly ripen avocados.” First thing? “Put avocado in microwave for 30 seconds” or something like that. So what did I do? What Google told me to do. Do you know how it turned out? More or less, just like that picture above. It was okay when I was making my guacamole. I put some spices in that. But these avocados up there? Not spiced and you can taste the weird mushy, not- butter, kinda-plastic texture of it. The nice waiter noticed that we did not like (we had taken a bite out of it and, whew, our faces) the avocado, so she stuck it from our bill.

Besides for the avocado, the food was good. I love crab cakes, even outside of Maryland and the east coast, so no complaints from me.

Market Garden Brewery

Happy Easter, friends! Decided to hop on over the Ohio City to get some yummy tummy brunch. I had wanted to go to Cleveland Chop, since they have $7 “pitchers” (maybe like 12 ounces or so) of mimosas and margaritas. BUT, it’s Easter Sunday, and I did not make my brunch reservations in time (aka a week or two ago), so I did not find a time at Cleveland Chop. I also wanted to go to Urban Farmer… But guess what? Also full! This is what happens when you underestimate Cleveland. But, by the glory of God, Market Garden Brewery had available times.

I’ve been here once before for dinner. Then, I got the buffalo cauliflower tacos (highly recommend!) and this cocktail drink with St. Germaine (one of my favorite liquors). My friend and I also split this tray of different mustards and meats, and a scotch egg. This was my first time having a scotch egg, and I really did enjoy it. But, this post is about the brunch we had! It was delicious. First, we started off with a flight of mimosas. From most favorite to least, it was passion fruit, strawberry, blackberry, and white peach. I LOVE passion fruit. LOVE. LOOVVVEEE. Every day when we were in Haiti, I would have all the passion fruit cocktails. Breakfast, lunch, dinner, I don’t care. I had it.

MK 4 — From left to right… blackberry, strawberry, passion fruit, white peach.

So naturally, since we all loved the passion fruit mimosa (I love my cultured friends with good taste), we got a carafe of it.

MK 13 — passion fruit, it’s like i’m back in haiti

I’m not really an egg person when it comes to brunch. If I get eggs, it’s usually with some steak, or on top of a burger… But, I’m seagan(ish), so could not opt for my burger with a friend egg on top for brunch. Instead, I got the crab cake tacos. At first, I was suspect. I normally don’t eat crab cakes outside of Maryland, let alone the true east coast. But since I became seagan(ish), I had to let that curtain fall. Ohio has pretty good seafood. Where it comes from? No idea. Was it tasty? Yup!

MK 8 — not maryland crab cakes but yum nonetheless

So the crab cake tacos were topped with hollandaise sauce (hence the “ish” in seagan-ish), red cabbage, cilantro, tomatoes, and red onions. The dish came with a side of guacamole and pickled jalapeños. Uh, I would not have picked jalapenos again, but Market Garden’s guac? Definitely better than Chipotle’s, but not as good as mine. Stay tuned for posts about my guac.

My friend got the egg burrito with potatoes and chorizo, and her boyfriend got the same thing I did (honestly, the crab cake tacos were very VERY yummy, and I honestly would get it again, no shame).

I really do enjoy the vibe of Market Garden, and Ohio City! If it wasn’t too far away from my school, I would probably live in Ohio City. The other places (Porco, Bier Market, Bar Cento, Speakeasy, Townhall, Bakersfield…) are so cool, and I would just love to walk downstairs from my apartment to grab a craft drink or a paleo entree at Townhall, or a pitcher or margaritas from Baskersfield… Unfortunately, I’m in University Circle. Sucks. But, I will be doing more outings, most likely when I get back from summer vacation.

MK 6 — Oh! Dress by Elizabeth and James. So cute.

Until next time, Ohio City!