Bangs McCoy

Restaurant list

Bryan and I are not big foodies. We are not first in line for the newest, fanciest, most expensive restaurants. We pretty much just eat what is easy, fast, and tastes good. I’m not saying we don’t care about food (we’re both pretty good cooks ourselves), there are just other things higher on the list.

Bryan asked me a little while ago what my favorite restaurant was - I don’t remember now why he was asking. I had to think for a few minutes, but decided that Red Rock Brewery and Market Street are at the top. They are safe choices, nothing crazy, but just generally good food, not terribly expensive, and locally owned and operated (that’s important to me). We (or I) have eaten at the following restaurants (not including standard fast food and common national franchises ):

B & D Burgers (University)
Bajio (Sandy & Sugarhouse)
Biaggis (Gateway)
Big Ed’s (University)
Blue Iguana (Downtown)
Brookside Broiler & Grill (Sugarhouse)
Cafe Pierpont (Downtown)
Cafe Rio (several locations)
Carrabba’s (Provo)
Curry In A Hurry (Downtown)
Dodo (Gateway)
Este (Sugarhouse)
The Garden (Downtown)
Granato (Downtown)
Italian Village (Holladay)
Lone Star Taqueria (Sandy)
Macaroni Grill (Provo & Murray)
Mad Greek (S Salt Lake)
Market Street (Downtown & Cottonwood)
Mimi’s Cafe (Provo & Murray)
Milt’s Stage Stop (Cedar City, Hansen family tradition during Shakespearean Festival)
New York Subs (S Salt Lake)
Orbit Cafe (Downtown)
Original Pancake House (Sugarhouse)
Ottavio’s (Provo & AF)
The Pie (University)
Porcupine Grill (Cottonwood)
Red Robin (Provo)
Red Rock Brewery (Downtown)
Rubio’s (Sugarhouse)
Ruby River (Provo & Downtown)
Saltimbocca (Sugarhouse)
Sampan (Sugarhouse)
Smokehouse (Provo)
Smoky Mountain Pizza (Sandy)
Sports Bar (Gateway)
Training Table (Provo)
Tsunami (Sugarhouse)
Tucci’s (Downtown)
Vertical Diner (S Salt Lake)

I’m sure I’ve missed some, I’ll fill them in as I remember. Anyway, I was reading some restaurant reviews on the Tribune’s website today and have formulated a list of new places to try. They seem to fit our style of casual (or semi-casual) and not overly expensive.

Acme Burger Co (Downtown)
Bohemian Brewery & Grill (Murray)
Cafe Trio (several locations)
Cannella’s (Downtown)
Citris Grill (Salt Lake)
Club Tuscany (Holladay)
Em’s (Avenues)
Finn’s (Sugarhouse)
Franck’s (Holladay)
Michelangelo Ristorante (Sugarhouse)
Pine (Murray)
Pat’s BBQ (S Salt Lake)
The Robin’s Nest (Downtown)
Settebello Pizzeria Napoletana (Downtown)
Z’tejas (Gateway)

Add comment November 23rd, 2007

Many blessings

It’s been years since I worked a paid holiday at Verio - my coworkers usually volunteer and I don’t argue. This year my luck ran out and I was assigned to work Thanksgiving. My manager is flexible however, so I got my shift out of the way by starting early in the morning. I did get double-pay, so that helps.

By working I managed to miss out on Jamie hurling a few times at home. Seems like he hasn’t been feeling too well the last few days - extra sleeping, decreased appetite, generally fussy. He seemed to recover so we decided to proceed with our plans for the day.

In the afternoon we enjoyed Thanksgiving with the Hansens in Orem. My mom did all the usual stuff, Sarah brought cranberry relish, and I brought a plum-raspberry pie. My mom did a great job - it was all excellent. After dinner we played for a while and then headed home.

After the boys were in bed, Bryan and I had shakes (Heath for him, peppermint for me) and popcorn while we watched Transformers. Fun movie, I’m glad we watched it. If I were a bigger fan of the toys it probably would have done more for me. I’d be getting into it, laughing and enjoying the actors (they were good), and then the Autobots would start talking to each other and I’d lose my interest. I like to get lost in a movie and forget about everything else, and with this one I felt like I was in and out of it a lot. But the effects were cool and the actors did a nice job. Would have been even cooler in the theatre I bet.

I feel blessed every day of my life. I’m blessed with a great husband who does SO much more for me than I do for him. I have two healthy little boys and extended family in good health too. My mom and dad are great parents who really balance each other out as a team. I look up to my awesome Grandma - I’d love to be just like her. I have great friends, a warm house, and cars that work. We have jobs that pay well. There are so many more blessings that I could never name them all. I am most grateful for my faith. I have grown so much in the last five years, I can’t believe it, and there is so much more growing for me to do. Happy Thanksgiving.

Add comment November 22nd, 2007

Bangs McCoy

I got a new haircut today, with bangs. I had this conversation with Bryan beforehand:

Me: I’m thinking of getting bangs.
Bry: Sure you are.
Me: No, I really think I’ll do it.
Bry: I thought you were going to get dreadlocks.
Me: I’m still thinking about that.
Bry: When was the last time you had bangs?
Me: Junior high.
Bry: Exactly.

But I really did get bangs and I like them. Bryan has given me a new nickname, hence the new blog title. And if you don’t know what it’s from, then I don’t know if we can be friends.

1 comment November 14th, 2007

Rees’s first movie

Bryan suggested we take the boys to see a movie tonight. We decided on “Bee Movie” at the Century on 33rd South. I spent most of the movie in the hallway (still inside the theatre) letting Jamie crawl around and eat snacks, but I still managed to catch most of the plot. It had some funny jokes but I thought the overall story was lame. Bryan did not enjoy it, and thought Rees was bored quite a bit. But later that night when going to bed, he told me “I really loved the bee movie, Mom.” That made it worth it for me.

At one point Jamie and I left the theatre and walked around the main halls. We ducked into “The Darjeeling Limited”, which had just begun. From the hallway, we saw most of the prequel mini-movie starring Natalie Portman. Yes, I saw her naked bum (which has caused some controversy). But Jamie got too loud and we had to leave. Bryan and I are big Wes Anderson fans, and this one is getting good reviews. But these days with the kids, we have to choose our in-theatre movies wisely, and this one is probably a good candidate for at-home viewing.

Add comment November 9th, 2007