more city stuff

H and I were just talking Friday night, at the Porcupine over a pitcher of Full Suspension and some dinner, that the frequency of posts has really died down here.  When we first got out to SLC, everything was So New and Exciting and we were always out doing stuff, even on the grey and rainy weekends.  Now, two years in, we've slowed down a bit, not frantic to go out and find something new to do.  Part of it is because we've settled into a life routine, going places we know and enjoy, like the Porcupine, where the bartenders know us and save empty wine bottles for us to use to bottle our homemade wines; part because we like our house and don't mind hanging out there, working on hobbies and reading; partly because we've become such total Utah weather-snobs.  There's still plenty unexplored stuff to go out and do and see - the brand new Natural History Museum building, the Salt Lake City roller derby, Aristo's Greek restaurant, winter elk herds up near Logan - we just don't feel compelled to be out doing it and seeing it every weekend now.  (Of course, ski season starts soon and we'll be doing that every weekend.)

So this past Saturday, it was stormy again and we opted to not be adventurous again.  (For the record, we would much rather it be storming during the week and sunny on the weekends so we can then tromp around in the week's storms' leavings.)  We went up to Alta in the late morning to pick up our season ski passes: there wasn't a ton of snow up there but there were plenty of people, hiking up the ski trails and skiing down, building kickers and little jumps next to the Wildcat lift, hiking around on snowshoes among the trees.  People are ready for winter sports to begin in earnest and now that we've got our passes, so are we.

Our next stop was the Beer Nut where we picked up the ingredients for another batch of IPA and some corks since we should be able to bottle the batch of red wine in a couple of weeks, provided it's clear enough.  We then stopped by a couple of furniture stores (the loveseat in the t.v. room is starting to show its age).  The first place we went to was Civilizzation (2900 South 300 West, SLC).  We didn't like the furniture at all - it was all enormous and mostly ugly, looking made for McMansions, and even though they're claiming big sales because they're closing, nothing was marked down very much - but the old building the store is in was incredible.  It's an old meat packing plant, "Joe Doctorman & Sons Meat Packing Company," built in the 1920s, and they've left most of the interiors intact, with huge wooden beams, metal tracks along the ceilings where the carcasses would hang, and thick freezer doors - very cool space.

Even tho' H was getting antsy, I made him go into another store (Eldredge Furniture, 4750 South 900 East, Holladay) where we liked the furniture much better: more classic and less overstuffed, with beautiful fabrics. I think the only reason H agreed to go in there was because it was just around the corner from a pub and grill we hadn't yet tried, the Leprechaun Inn, and after we cruised through the showrooms, we stopped in for a beer.  The Leprechaun Inn is a rather local establishment, sports bar-ish with comfy new booths, at least twelve televisions (all showing various college football games) and reasonable prices.  We got a pitcher of Full Suspension ($9.50) and a couple of grilled bratwursts (the Saturday special at $2.50 each, served with potato chips).  We were just finishing the brats when my phone rang.  But that's the next post.