Dinner, walk, and loferl

Last night I went to dinner with some coworkers. Every year MilwaukeeDowntown.com has a dining week. The idea is you get a gourmet dinner, usually worth between $30 to $40 for $20. It is a fun way to experience gourmet food at a more affordable price. Now not all the places I would consider gourmet, like the restaurant "Rock Bottom Restaurant & Brewery", but most of them are pretty classy. Last year we went to a place called Yanni's (no relation to the musician) that was super gourmet and classy atmosphere. We were spoiled rotton, had a fabulous waitor and really really great food. Unfortunately in the last year they closed. So sad.

This year we went to a seafood restaurant called Rip Tide in the Third Ward neighborhood of downtown. They charge the typical high prices for their seafood, but of course we were getting the $20 deal. My appetizer was shrimp cocktail that was very delicious. The entree I had was the crab cake dinner. I LOVE crab cakes and theirs wasn't bad. The ramoulade sauce was very good and had just the right kick. They also had cooked vegetables, but they weren't seasoned and I am not really that into veggies. There were also red potatoes that were really yummy. I dipped my cut up potatoes in the leftover ramoulade sauce and enjoyed it very much. I wish I had thought of taking pictures of the food. My coworkers were camera shy so I didn't get a picture of all of us. Too bad, I was wearing a cute shirt, earrings, and eye shadow (though you probably wouldn't have been able to see the eye shadow). Even straightened my hair. I need to do all of this on a daily basis, then maybe I will be able to get a date. ;-)

Now for the restaurant itself. NOISY!!!! Then you get to hear over the loud speaker "Smith party of 2". Really super annoying. It is also over the loud speakers outside. Definitely a casual bar atmosphere which really isn't my thing so much. So I wouldn't half mind going back (if for no other reason, I LOVE seafood), but maybe when it is warmer out and sitting outside.

Here are the pictures I did take, of the sign of the resaurant and of the outside of the restaurant. You see how close we were to the river and to the Hoan Bridge.



Now, my favorite pictures of today's walk with my mom:




I had an interesting thing happen this week. Our company has like an online classified ads viewable only within the company system. Someone needed an experienced knitter. Her family is part of a Bavarian dance group that will perform at German Fest. They lost their knitter that made one part (the calf part) of their split socks I later learned is called loferl. She didn't have a pattern, but will be sending it to me, so I can try to figure out the pattern and hopefully my friend Nicole and I will be able to knit some for the group (Some of the boys need a bigger size and they wouldn't mind having some backups). I am mostly German, but I really don't know much about my German heritage. I don't know if our family is remotely Bavarian or not, but I really love learning more about it. I will keep all of you updated on what happens.

The plan for this weekend is to finish my Granny Daughters (the first round of a granny square) for a craft swap and do two rapunzel scarves for another swap. All of this should be fairly quick (I hope). Then I want to work on dishcloths for my aunts and a spider scarf for a personal swap. I will post pictures of things as I am able to. I still haven't taken any pictures of the art and photography I want to put on my walls. Sometime I will.

Have a great weekend everyone!!! :-D