$6 Well Spent

This afternoon reminded me why I do NOT work in a corporate setting.

For the life of me, I just cannot sit still!!! I can’t even fathom sitting in a cubicle all day….I think I would pull my hair out! I know it works for some people quite well but if I don’t move around I start to itch and jiggle and stretch my legs into the air. Today I spent a solid three hours sitting “at my desk” (aka on the couch) writing and proofing articles, answering emails, writing blog posts and working on my little project, which is remaining Top Secret for the time being. Oh, and I may or may not have painted my toes and fingers, twittered a bit and dropped into random downward facing dogs. Isn’t working from home wonderful?! 😉

Midway through it all I snacked on one of Ange’s truly fabulous homemade granola bars straight out of the freezer. This must have been the end piece or something when I was cutting them because it was ENORMOUS. I felt quite full after eating it actually!

I got two fun packages! First, the truly wonderful and talented Alyssa made my mom and I matching bracelets to honor my brother! Blue was John’s favorite color because it was the color of the water and I think he would really, really like this. Alyssa, I can’t thank you enough!

And then, Julia sent me some of her gluten-free vegan baked goodies to sample! Holy mackeral, yall know how much I love my baked goods. I tried one of her maple cookies right off the bat.

YUM! It tasted just like a thick, chewy gingerbread cookie, which is my favorite cookie of all time. I can’t wait to try the rest!

And now I shall break up this regularly scheduled blog post to just GUSH about Fleming’s!!!

I mean, do they know how to treat a girl or what?! Tonight was phenomenal!

First of all, the outfit. I wore my new blue birthday dress and new gold Steve Madden sandals (on sale for $29.99 baby!)

I heart these new shoes big time. I mean for $30 bucks…really?! Love ’em.

Let me start by telling you guys a little bit about “5 for 6 till 7”. Basically, you can order five different cocktails, five glasses of house wine and five full sized appetizers all for only $6 each, every night from 5-7 pm. Its actually too good to be true! I also got to meet some very interesting food bloggers. Check out Dan’s blog called (and I love it) “Green Eggs”. He’s so personable and funny in real life….we had a lot in common!

I swear, if people knew about this the line would be wrapped up around the building. Where else can you get a signature cosmo for only $6??!! We compared prices off the regular menu and the calamari appetizer (which rocked, by the way) was about $16 there and if you go in from 5-7 you only pay $6. Seriously now. Go tonight. Hurry!

Right when I got there I was given a cocktail choice and I decided to play it conservative at first and order a glass of the pinot noir. Delicious!

And then almost immediately, we were brought out endless plates of food. To start, the crab cakes:

And I’m not just saying this to be nice. They were the BEST crab cakes I’ve ever had. I’m a harsh critic because I feel like most places puts a ton of filler in their cakes to sort of skimp the customer on the crab, which is the expensive part. Not Fleming’s. These crab cakes were HUGE, fluffy, and about all crab. The other food blogger at the table who lived in Maryland said these even rival the ones back home. They were that good. And only $6! I ate one whole crab cake by myelf….couldn’t help myself; they were so good!

Almost immediately after the crab cakes arrived, yummy ahi tuna was brought over. You all know how much I love ahi tuna! I was betrothed to the crab though and only managed about two pieces of tuna because I was so busy attacking my crab cake forcefully. 😉

Next, the calamari tossed in sweet chili sauce

Another winner! I adored the sweet chili sauce that the little calamari were dressed in. A very refreshing change from the typically  heavy marinara sauce. I’ll admit I kept on eating these because they were right in front of me! I have no self control 😉

Then came the carpaccio, which I’ll admit I did not try because I’m not a red meat person. However, I did have TWO slices of the warm cheesy toast that accompanies the dish (dipped in the red sauce from the crab cakes, no doubt) and it was just fab.

And last but not least the spicy cajun shrimp!! They were spicy indeed!

I had two shrimp and then totally mooched the hot piece of thick bread from the sauce. I think that wedge of sauce soaked bread was the highlight of my entire night….no day! It was amazing. Enough said.

Meanwhile, I was being peer pressured into having another cocktail….I chose the Basil Lemon Drop and it was super yummy!

Anywhere else a martini like that would be at least $11…..I can’t believe it was only $6! Ryan and I are totally going out more often now, that’s for sure!

When Keith, the manager, found out I had been to culinary school and am rather a bread snob, he just had to take me back into the kitchen to try their rosemary bread. Get this guys: EVERY SINGLE DAY THEY MAKE THEIR ROSEMARY BREAD FROM SCRATCH.

I know, I didn’t believe it either. I really didn’t. I made Keith actually SHOW me the starter that they used and only then did I accept the fact that they made their sourdough from scratch every morning. I don’t even know another restaurant that does that—I’m not sure if you are aware, but most restaraurants get their bread par-baked and then before service the chef will just heat it up. I am in shock and awe that Fleming’s makes their bread homemade and I’ll admit that I ate a nice wedge of it back in the kitchen. Keith was also so kind to send me home with a loaf + their special compound butter so you  know what I’ll be eating tomorrow!

I also got a goodie bag with wine glasses!

I love that quote!

Overall, it was a great evening and I think Fleming’s is doing something remarkable with their new affordable menu. It makes it easy for a date night or just a cocktail after work knowing you aren’t going to blow your budget! And, as I told Ryan, my birthday is next week: take me back!!! 😉

Now I am home, sipping Aveda tea in my jammies and heading to bed. After nights like this you sort of want to put the elastic waist sweatpants on and sip some water but tomorrow is a new day! As I tell everyone, everything is okay in moderation. Life is just waaaaay too short to only nibble carrot sticks. You have to live a little sometimes!