"Strong am I with the Force, but not that strong." - April Dark Side Weekend 2018 - 5/15 Boma

Following! I so know what you mean about burnout! I don't think I've ever been on a vacation where I didn't have to work at some point. That D&B purse is adorable.

It does make me feel a bit better that other people deal with this. I will say, at least with this job, I won't get phone calls at 2AM like I would in my job prior to this. I need to cruise again soon. Thank you! I'm so happy with my new purse.

I'm fashionably late, as always, but here nonetheless!

Gantu is absolutely precious! Congratulations. Hope he did well at the kennel this weekend.

Loving all the Flower and Garden food already. Smart move to load up on food before the tequila :-) As someone with an immensely stressful job I can totally relate to work bothering you on vacation.

Can't wait to see how the races went. I think we've decided to do annual passes again so Jason can do the Star Wars half next year. He's also going to try his first Marathon in the fall. God help me I think that means I won't see him all summer.

Pshh..you aren't late! You are here for the first real update which is the perfect time!

I would say we got a decent amount done at the Flower and Garden festival for as short of a trip as we had. Work needs to stop bothering us on vacation. At least it pays the bill and lets us Disney or Travel more.

That is awesome he is doing his first Marathon! Is he doing Marine Corp or a different one? Usually its just 1 super long run a week with the rest being less than an hour depending on which training plan he does.

Yay! We'll be at Dark Side again next year. One of these days we will meet and drink lots.

Yes! That shrimp skewer was amazing and I thought it was a great portion size for the price. They gave me lots of sauce on mine so that made the rice extra yummy. I hate that Mexico has been trending toward overly sweet tacos. I thought the ones at Festival of the Arts were too sweet also.

Hope your babies did great at camp! Loved seeing your photos this weekend.

Glad you enjoyed it as well. I wish we had extra sauce but its ok. It did its job of lining my stomach for the alcohol that was going to be consumed. Hopefully the Food & Wine festival tacos will be spicy like they should be!

They did well at camp. Gaston always has done well. Gantu did well but they did say that he loves tennis shoes and has the sharpest puppy teeth ever. We knew both those things. He is biting less though and his bites have gotten less intense so I think camp and playing with all the other dogs did its job of teaching some manners. We still have some work to do but it was better than it was last week! I also know I don't have to worry about germs since all dogs have to be vaccinated to be there. He doesn't have his rabies yet (too young) but that wasn't an issue.

This looks delicious. That's too bad about the apple relish, but at least when you removed it the dish became good again.

And your puppy is sooooo cute! He looks like he has really soft ears (Love puppy ears they are always super soft) And how cute you name them after Disney villains

It was! At least it was a dish that was easy to remove things from to make it better!

He is really soft and he still has puppy breathe.

Ahh the puppy is to stinkin cute for his own good, ha! I hope you had a nice trip and free of work issues after that first day, I want to try the shrimp skewer this week, I have heard very good reviews on it and I love shrimp!

It was a nice time overall. I made a conscious effort to not check my email once as I deserved that. I did come into work this morning with 152 emails that couldn't just be deleted or filed for being off for 2 days.

Hope you have an amazing trip and you get to enjoy the shrimp as well!

Ok so I really like your new Dooney & Bourke! Love the color.
The shrimp skewers looked delish!

I love it to! I like black purses although with the size, I need to buy a new smaller wallet as my current wallet is too big.

I'm following along, I have serious FOMO missing Dark Side weekend :) I love seeing everyone's photos. And your puppy is so cute! I'm hoping for more photos of the dogs too.

Well if you have FOMO this year, that just means you have to sign up for next year ;).

I'll sprinkle in some more photos over the course. We have puppy class on Sunday so he's always cute then!
 
La Cava del Tequila

It was around 1:00PM when we walked into La Cava and asked for a table. We had maybe a 5 minute wait before we were led inside to a two top and allowed to review the menu. The queso was no debate as that was the best food option for us with their current menu (I still miss their larger menu selection with actual food options but thats been gone for years)

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Queso w/ Chips

We initially ordered a flight of tequila we had before plus one of their limited edition cocktails. I really enjoyed the cocktail as the cantaloupe made it really refreshing. The whiskey wasn’t too harsh despite being a corn white. I slowly sipped this over our visit since I was here for the tequila moreso!

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La Cava’s Soul - Limited Edition - Ancestral Mexican Corn White Whiskey, Cantaloupe Puree and Aperol Liqueur

We got the premium flight again as it is a great deal at the $57 as I reviewed last trip. Our favorites were the Herradura and the Casa Dragones Joven again. My husband wants to spend some of his bonus money for passing his spirits test on the Casa Dragones Joven but we already have one expensive bottle of tequila - we don’t really need two.

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Premium Flight - Codigo Rosa Blanco, Casa Noble Reserva De Le Cava Joven, Herradura Ultra Anejo, Avion 44 Extra Anejo, Casa Dragones Joven

After we finished this initial flight, we still wanted more. That is when I noticed a different flight on the menu that wasn’t among the flight menu but under all the shots. It was a splurge but well worth it! We had to wait about 15/20 minutes before we were served for it because this flight came with a lecture and they had to get the Catadores to be available to visit us. He was the same guy who hosts the Mexican Tequila Lunch events during Food & Wine Festival. His lecture went through the various types of the tequila and how they were aged. Everyone at the tables around us were very interested in this but for my husband and I, we didn’t really learn much new information since my husband was just tested on this stuff plus I’ve done many tequila events in my life. Once we got him to break the speech, that is when we learned about some new things about the distilleries and stories about his journeys in Tequila. He had visited some of these distilleries back in February and my husband and him discussed those about the highlands versus lowland tequila. After our time with the Catadores, we got to finally enjoy the tequila rather than just smell it. It was a nice experience to really learn about tequila in an intimate setting. It isn’t a shock that our favorites were the expensive ones.

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Supreme Tequila Flight - Gracias A Dios Tepextate Mezcal, Codigo 1530 Blanco, Patron Roca Reposado, Milagro Select Barrel Anejo, Herradura Seleccion Suprema Extra Anejo, Casa Dragones Joven, Casa Noble Seleccion Del Fundador Extra Anejo, La Cava Souvenir Riedel Tequila Glass

So this tequila flight was an impulse purchase, but like I went over with the premium flight back in February, here is the price for these bottles at retail:

Gracias A Dios Tepextate Mezcal - $80 to $95
Codigo 1530 Blanco - $45 to $50
Patron Roca Reposado - $70 to $80
Milagro Select Barrel Anejo - $90 to $100
Herradura Seleccion Suprema Extra Anejo - $300 to $350
Casa Dragones Joven - $280 to $300
Casa Noble Seleccion Del Fundador Extra Anejo - $1300 to $1500
La Cava Souvenir Riedel Tequila Glass - $25 (Its $50 for a set of 2)

Not sure we would get this flight again since La Cava does have so many other tequilas to try. We may do it just to end up with 2 special glasses but I guess we could just buy the Riedel separately without La Cava engraved on it. We may end up making our own flight with some of the various options they have. They have a Vulcan Tequila which just lends itself for great Star Trek jokes. I just felt I shouldn't do that on a Star Wars weekend.​
 
Definitely in! I've been looking for some inspiration for our first adults-only trip, and I think I just found it on this last La Cava post. :drinking1
 
These tequila flights look delicious. I'm such a light weight I'd be beyond drunk after drinking all those. The queso with chips looks yummy, I love all things cheese
 


Love your Star Wars bag! Ugh on work bugging you. That happens almost every trip for me as well. Seems to be part of the culture now - we're all accessible 24/7. :rolleyes: Your F&G snacks look yummy. I adore Mexican food but I'm almost always disappointed in their festival offerings. Your afternoon at La Cava looks amazing!!!! I'd love to try one of those flights. And the tequila lunch is on my potential list for this year's F&W, assuming it returns.
 
Definitely in! I've been looking for some inspiration for our first adults-only trip, and I think I just found it on this last La Cava post. :drinking1

Hope you have an awesome adults-only trip! All our trips are adults only so we have lots of fun our way!

These tequila flights look delicious. I'm such a light weight I'd be beyond drunk after drinking all those. The queso with chips looks yummy, I love all things cheese

We have a decent tolerance. I'm not going to say I was 100% sober but I also wasn't completely drunk. I was at a happy medium.

Like this forum.
Greets from the Netherlands where we don't have a Disney theme park.. but our neighbour's do.

Welcome! Hope you have enjoyed Disneyland Paris since neighbors!

Love your Star Wars bag! Ugh on work bugging you. That happens almost every trip for me as well. Seems to be part of the culture now - we're all accessible 24/7. :rolleyes: Your F&G snacks look yummy. I adore Mexican food but I'm almost always disappointed in their festival offerings. Your afternoon at La Cava looks amazing!!!! I'd love to try one of those flights. And the tequila lunch is on my potential list for this year's F&W, assuming it returns.

I'm happy with my new purse. Just need to get a smaller wallet. Cell phones are a curse and a blessing.

We had so much fun in La Cava! It's my husband new favorite place!

Yay for doing the tequila lunch if it still occurs. Its been a stable of the festival for a few years now so I think it is a safe assumption it should happen again. Maybe we'll end up at the same one! Its almost ADR day for that trip - I need to plan our what we are going to do!
 


EPCOT Flower & Garden Festival

Feeling little pain, we headed to the boat ride in Mexico. After said boat ride, we were fine to start walking and eating again. I knew I needed food so I stopped at the next booth that looks good to me which was China! Fried Dumplings are perfect buzzed food. I really enjoyed the peanut sauce and wished there was more of it to enjoy! Hopefully this comes around next year for Flower & Garden!

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Fried Chicken Dumplings with Peanut Sauce

After eating my dumplings, I impulse bought myself a stuffed Orange Bird. I guess that is an improvement over buying Disney artwork like I usually do when I’m buzzed at Disney. He then got to be apart of our photos for this trip around the World Showcase, such as my husband making his decision for some food to soak up the tequila. He loved his potato pancakes with the apple sauce. As I only like applesauce when I’m sick, I passed on trying any.

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Potato Pancakes w/ House-Made Apple Sauce

While he was enjoying his pancake, we ran into 2 people I know through these boards, although they aren’t as active as they used to be. We chatted for a bit (although I was probably super giggly and obsessed with my orange bird but we did just have 2 large flights of tequila) but they were on their way to use their Frozen FP+ and then head to the race expo so they could get their bibs as one of them was running the 5K in the morning and the other was running the 10K on Saturday.

As we hit Italy, we explored the wine store and I got a glass of white wine as I was thirsty. I remember the wine being enjoyable and refreshing on this hot day. I don’t remember what type of wine I got though.

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Italian Wine

We continued onto America where I got my favorite dish of the Flower & Garden Festival from the past few years. When the beef brisket ends are done right, this is such an amazing dish. When they are overcooked or undercooked, it isn’t. Unfortunately, today, I had a bad version. I get why it can be so inconsistent because of the method of making the burnt ends but it makes me sad that it wasn’t good.

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Beef Brisket Burnt Ends Hash with White Cheddar Fondue and Pickled Jalapenos

My husband wanted the beer. I wasn’t a fan of this beer as it was too heavy and I was in the mood for light, refreshing drinks so it has nothing to do with the beer and more so my mood. He really enjoyed this as it was hearty and tasted like what you fully expect a maple bacon stout to taste like.

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Shipyard Maple Bacon Stout

We also took a nice people watching break here while he had his beer and I ate the potatoes out of the hash. I love people watching around EPCOT!​
 
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Fried Chicken Dumplings with Peanut Sauce
This looks good, it's interesting to be paired with a peanut sauce, I feel like that's not normally with dumplings?

Which country are these from? They look good.

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Beef Brisket Burnt Ends Hash with White Cheddar Fondue and Pickled Jalapenos
This look delicious! I don't know why I torture myself and read these food reviews when I'm really hungry.
 
La Cava’s Soul - Limited Edition - Ancestral Mexican Corn White Whiskey, Cantaloupe Puree and Aperol Liqueur
This looks very interesting! I like that La Cava adds some rotating specials to their menu. It's a refreshing change to see new options!

My husband wants to spend some of his bonus money for passing his spirits test on the Casa Dragones Joven but we already have one expensive bottle of tequila - we don’t really need two.
I mean, "need" means so many different things to different people :rotfl:

It was a nice experience to really learn about tequila in an intimate setting.
That does sound fabulous! Although it better be, at that price. Funny that he was trying to give the canned lecture to your husband. I would have loved to be a fly on the wall for that...

Fried Dumplings are perfect buzzed food. I really enjoyed the peanut sauce and wished there was more of it to enjoy! Hopefully this comes around next year for Flower & Garden!
That looks yummy! My friend got this a few weeks ago but I don't remember hers having any sauce. :confused3

While he was enjoying his pancake, we ran into 2 people I know through these boards
You know EVERYONE! haha

We continued onto America where I got my favorite dish of the Flower & Garden Festival from the past few years. When the beef brisket ends are done right, this is such an amazing dish. When they are overcooked or undercooked, it isn’t. Unfortunately, today, I had a bad version. I get why it can be so inconsistent because of the method of making the burnt ends but it makes me sad that it wasn’t good.
Dang. I finally had a good serving of this a few weeks ago, it was bad last year. Like you said, I sort of get why, but it seems like they could work on consistency a little more.

Yummy sounding reviews, as usual!
 
This looks good, it's interesting to be paired with a peanut sauce, I feel like that's not normally with dumplings?
You are right! It isn't something normally with dumplings but I feel like it should be.

Which country are these from? They look good.
It was from the booth near Germany!

This look delicious! I don't know why I torture myself and read these food reviews when I'm really hungry.
If it makes you feel better, I"m pretty sure we all do that.

This looks very interesting! I like that La Cava adds some rotating specials to their menu. It's a refreshing change to see new options!
It is nice! I thought all the specials were going to be gone after having seen them posting on instagram. Guess they were keeping them until they ran out of the ingrediants involved!

I mean, "need" means so many different things to different people :rotfl:
#firstworldproblems

That does sound fabulous! Although it better be, at that price. Funny that he was trying to give the canned lecture to your husband. I would have loved to be a fly on the wall for that...

Well, he were very polite. No point in not being polite! We are special people.

That looks yummy! My friend got this a few weeks ago but I don't remember hers having any sauce. :confused3

That's so sad! The sauce was the best! She missed out.

You know EVERYONE! haha
Well, I've been around the boards awhile ;) Most of these people have moved to a small facebook group since they don't actively post here anymore.

Dang. I finally had a good serving of this a few weeks ago, it was bad last year. Like you said, I sort of get why, but it seems like they could work on consistency a little more.
I'm glad you got a good serving! I've gotten more good servings than bad so I"ll still keep getting it.


Yummy sounding reviews, as usual!
Thank you! Hope you get around to posting your reviews from your most recent trip!
 
Les Artisan Des Glaces

Before we left EPCOT for the day, my husband wanted to have one more snack before we headed to Disney Springs. His favorite food in the world is ice cream and the french ice cream is his favorite around Walt Disney World. I didn’t want a huge ice cream or really any ice cream. I wanted something refreshing so I had the lemon sorbet. This was perfect as it was the right amount of tartness without the richness of milk weighing it down.

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Lemon Sorbet

My husband went all in with his ice cream and got a double cone! He went with two flavors he knows he loves. As he was finished with this cone before I was even half way through my single scoop of sorbet, I think I can attest to how much he enjoyed it.

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Ice Cream Cone w/ Salted Caramel and French Vanilla
 
Amorette’s Patisserie

We were full and ready to head to Disney Springs before our ADR at 6PM for Enzo’s. We walked to the Beach Club to take the bus there to Disney Springs. While waiting for the bus, we ran into my friends again from earlier as they were going to catch the expo bus from Beach Club. Upon arrival at Disney Springs, we headed somewhere for me to get more alcohol as well, I hadn’t had enough for the day. I had seen on the Disney Parks Blog that they had a fun instagram worthy drink at Amorette’s that I really wanted to try. My husband wanted a diet coke.

The drink is a glass of Fairy Tale Cuvee with Hibiscus Syrup topped with a pink white chocolate Minnie Ears. This drink is super fun looking and the hibiscus syrup doesn’t affect the quality of the champagne. It was kinda hard to eat the white chocolate ears without getting the rose gold all over your fingers which was a little disappointing.

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Millenial Pink Champagne

As we both were a little hot, we sat inside for a good 30 minutes, played on our phones and watched the bakers decorate various Mickey Mouse cakes. My husband was also talking to a friend to figure out when he would arrive at Disney Springs as he would be joining us for dinner later that evening since he nearby training for his job.​
 
I love hearing about the tequila flights. I can't wait to order one someday.

Sweet!! Excited about the rose gold cuvee!! Did it taste of hibiscus at all? I love that flavor.
 
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Ice Cream Cone w/ Salted Caramel and French Vanilla
I'm with him, ice cream is my absolute favorite! I once ate it when I was in Baltimore and it was about 5 degrees out. Locals were looking at me like I was crazy. I haven't had ice cream from there in so long, think we'll need a visit soon.

This drink is adorable and I love white chocolate. That's a shame the rose gold comes off though, I'm a messy eater as it is. I think I'd struggle with this.
 
Ah, tipsy shopping. I am well acquainted with that phenomenon. :rolleyes1 The orange bird is adorable and was a great addition to the photos. People watching at Epcot is so fun. I have not yet tried the ice cream in France or that bakery in Disney Springs -- love that there is always something new to try. That drink is adorable! You guys really like Maria and Enzo's!! I have to put that on the list as well. I was trying to plot out ADRs for my F&W trip and there's just not enough time to do everything I want to do.
 
I think I've finally caught a couple of your TRs early on!
I have read some of your older ones. I saw where you've mentioned you're in Naples- we are neighbors (Well, I'm about 30-45 mins north of you.)
We are AP holders too and are at Disney about once a month.:smickey:
 
phenomenomQUOTE="Dis_Yoda, post: 59128974, member: 192051"]That is awesome he is doing his first Marathon! Is he doing Marine Corp or a different one? Usually its just 1 super long run a week with the rest being less than an hour depending on which training plan he does.[/QUOTE]
He's doing the Marine Corps. He couldn't get in online but ran a race last month fast enough that he got in. He definitely seems to be doing the training plan you mentioned. He typically gets a long run in on the weekends and then some shorter runs during the week. God help me he ran 15 miles yesterday

It was around 1:00PM when we walked into La Cava and asked for a table.
We love La Cava but the wait is always crazy when we try to go so its been years!

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La Cava’s Soul - Limited Edition - Ancestral Mexican Corn White Whiskey, Cantaloupe Puree and Aperol Liqueur
This looks and sounds amazing and refreshing. I don't think I've ever had a cantaloupe drink.

My husband wants to spend some of his bonus money for passing his spirits test on the Casa Dragones Joven but we already have one expensive bottle of tequila - we don’t really need two.

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Congratulations to your hubby for passing his test! Love how you two celebrate.

It was a nice experience to really learn about tequila in an intimate setting. It isn’t a shock that our favorites were the expensive ones.

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What a cool experience, though Im not sure how you could walk out of there :P

Fried Dumplings are perfect buzzed food. I really enjoyed the peanut sauce and wished there was more of it to enjoy! Hopefully this comes around next year for Flower & Garden!

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Oh they so are. Dumplings are my go to tipsy food and also one of my favorite comfort foods. Funny how that works.

After eating my dumplings, I impulse bought myself a stuffed Orange Bird.
Was it an impulse or the tequila :confused3

Unfortunately, today, I had a bad version. I get why it can be so inconsistent because of the method of making the burnt ends but it makes me sad that it wasn’t good.

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Sorry this was a bust. Its been a few years but I still remember how good this was.

Oh no, poor orange bird passed out!

So cute! Though I must say I'm not sure I get the whole rose gold phenomenon
 
I love hearing about the tequila flights. I can't wait to order one someday.

Sweet!! Excited about the rose gold cuvee!! Did it taste of hibiscus at all? I love that flavor.

Yes! I love tequila flights! We're going to have to do them again or make our own.

There was a real slight hibiscus flavor but not enough to really affect the taste of the champagne.

I'm with him, ice cream is my absolute favorite! I once ate it when I was in Baltimore and it was about 5 degrees out. Locals were looking at me like I was crazy. I haven't had ice cream from there in so long, think we'll need a visit soon.
He did the same thing when we lived where it actually used to get cold. I always found it crazy but if its what makes him happy, so be it!

This drink is adorable and I love white chocolate. That's a shame the rose gold comes off though, I'm a messy eater as it is. I think I'd struggle with this.

I probably could have avoided the mess if I got a napkin or two. I didn't think to grab napkins for a drink and I was too lazy to go back up and get them.

Ah, tipsy shopping. I am well acquainted with that phenomenon. :rolleyes1 The orange bird is adorable and was a great addition to the photos. People watching at Epcot is so fun. I have not yet tried the ice cream in France or that bakery in Disney Springs -- love that there is always something new to try. That drink is adorable! You guys really like Maria and Enzo's!! I have to put that on the list as well. I was trying to plot out ADRs for my F&W trip and there's just not enough time to do everything I want to do.

Hopefully I remember to bring the Orange Bird along in November for F&W Festival Photos! At least this tipsy shopping was cheap this time around!

It is great there is always something new to try! We're hoping to try Wine Bar George in November. We've just done downstairs. I won't try upstairs (Maria & Enzo's) until September with my mother. I need to plan out November soon - our ADR date is next Saturday. I'm going to have to guess on some events to make sure we have open availability for the special events.

I think I've finally caught a couple of your TRs early on!
I have read some of your older ones. I saw where you've mentioned you're in Naples- we are neighbors (Well, I'm about 30-45 mins north of you.)
We are AP holders too and are at Disney about once a month.:smickey:

We are in Naples! Welcome neighbor! I wish we made it about once a month but I think since getting Gantu - my chance on the last minute trips over the next year are gone. I can't really leave him alone for my husband's 11 to 12 hour work days (between driving and his 10 hour shift) I'll get to that point again though in a year!
 
He's doing the Marine Corps. He couldn't get in online but ran a race last month fast enough that he got in. He definitely seems to be doing the training plan you mentioned. He typically gets a long run in on the weekends and then some shorter runs during the week. God help me he ran 15 miles yesterday

I was always lucky with my husband since he did his long runs during the week when he had his day off and I was working. Made my life easy! He did only run a max of 15 before WDW Marathon though. He should get better about training as he's slacked a lot lately.


We love La Cava but the wait is always crazy when we try to go so its been years!
I think stopping by during the middle of the week in the middle of the day has been our saving grace to get in. No way would I wait longer than 10/15 minutes for a table - at that point we would head to a different bar!

This looks and sounds amazing and refreshing. I don't think I've ever had a cantaloupe drink.
I hadn't had one either before then! I'm glad I tried it!


Congratulations to your hubby for passing his test! Love how you two celebrate.
It is fun! I'm glad he's finally really enjoying liquor so we can celebrate like this now!

What a cool experience, though Im not sure how you could walk out of there :P
We have lots of training ;).

Oh they so are. Dumplings are my go to tipsy food and also one of my favorite comfort foods. Funny how that works.

It is a great tipsy food! I almost got dumplings last night at this Asian place but I got the Chicken Skewers instead as it had peanut sauce.

Was it an impulse or the tequila :confused3
Tequila. Definitely Tequila!

Sorry this was a bust. Its been a few years but I still remember how good this was.

Yes, usually its great! At least I've had the good to know to try it again next year!

Oh no, poor orange bird passed out!
He just couldn't keep up with my husband and I ;).

So cute! Though I must say I'm not sure I get the whole rose gold phenomenon

I guess because its pretty and pink? I like pretty although I want it to taste good too!
 

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