Five Guys

Living in San Diego our favorite fast food burger joint, by a landslide, was In-N-Out Burgers. It seemed that wherever there was a Home Depot, there was an In-N-Out. We spent a lot of time fixing up our old 1930's English Tudor cottage when we lived there. Which means we spent a lot of time at Home Depot. Which means we ate a lot of In-N-Out burgers.

Living in Virginia, there is no In-N-Out. Our arteries were happy about this. Our taste buds were not. But then, along came Five Guys.

Five Guys is fast, fresh and fun. The burgers are huge and made with anything and everything you want on them. If you don't want to be served a whole cow on a bun you have to order the "Little Burger." BSD simply cannot bring himself to do that. He works hard to keep his burly image of himself alive in his mind. So either I order for him or he's forced to choke down a heifer.

The fries are made fresh from unpeeled potatoes. Massive 50 lb bags of spuds line the walls of the restaurant. One order of fries is enough to feed a small African nation. Half the fun is eating them right out of the bag.

While you wait for your order, there are peanuts to snack on. In the beginning, I swear you just threw the shells on the floor. But the floor has been clean the last few times we've been there. Maybe I'm crazy. Maybe I was having flashbacks of drunken college bars because of the 80's music they were playing. Or maybe they decided shell-covered floors was not the look they were going for after all.

Since the Little Ballerina does not eat meat, she mainly munches a few fries, gets her groove on to the loud music, and creates "art" for the bulletin board. Tonight she was humming along to Carry On My Wayward Son as I amazed the ballerinas with my ability to sing every word of this "new" song.

In-N-Out is still our clear favorite. They have killer milkshakes. Five Guys has none. :( But since California is too far for a drive-thru, we'll have to stick with Five Guys for now.

Oh, and if you want to be treated like royalty at a fast food joint, just pull out your camera and start taking pictures of their restaurant. The employees will think you're a mystery shopper and will all come running to wipe tables, sweep the floor, and remove your trash. And you'll be profusely thanked as you walk out the door. You'll feel like a rock star. Even if you don't have an extensive knowledge of Kansas lyrics like I do.

When I Grow Up: The Theme Song

On Sunday afternoons, the big ballerina has a swim clinic. While she works on her strokes, I wander around Trader Joe's alone checking out the interesting food packages, gorging on their gourmet samples, and tasting this wine and that one and that one. It is me time at its finest.

When her class is over, we pop over to Joann's Fabrics pointing out all the fabrics that catch our eye until we finally choose the one she will use to make a new creation for her American Girl doll. From there, we make our way to Skinny Dip where we fill our bowls with low fat frozen yogurt turned high fat by the heaping mounds of candy we ladle on top. We sit together, sharing our treats and conversation. Just the two of us. It is mother daughter time at its finest.

On the drive home, giddy from our sugar highs, we crank the radio and sing along to the songs we know. This Sunday we tuned in to HOT 100 (or WIFC - Wholly Inappropriate for Children) so we could really get down. I previewed the song, heard the words, "When I Grow Up" and thought, No Way! I have a theme song? How COOL! 

From the backseat the big ballerina squealed, "Yes, Mama! I love this song. Turn it up!" I turned up the volume and found myself head bobbing to the beat. A theme song AND a great beat! This is so much fun! I wonder what it's going to recommend I be when I grow up. I love this song! 

Big ballerina is grooving in the back seat too. She's singing along to the chorus. I ask, "How do you know the words?"

"Julia has it on her iPod." she replies quickly and goes back to singing. I hear her from the back seat....

When I grow up
_wanna be famous
_wanna be a star
I wanna be in movies

When I grow up
_ _____ ____ ___ world
Drive nice cars
I wanna have ______

When I grow up
Be on TV
____ ____ me
___ __ magazines

We shoulder roll in our seats through some random lyrics until the chorus comes along again. I listen to her more closely this time. 

When I grow up
I wanna be famous
I wanna be a star
I wanna be in movies

When I grow up
I wanna see the world
Drive nice cars
I wanna have boobies

WHAT?!?! Did you just say boobies!?!?!

This time I listen to the radio more closely. Sure enough I hear them say, "I wanna have boobies". I look at the digital display to see who the artist is. Of course, they said boobies. The song is by The Pussycat Dolls. I hate this song.

Guess I need to rethink this theme song idea...and this portion of our Sunday mother daughter bonding experience.

Sidenote: When I Googled the lyrics to post them here, I discovered that last line is actually... I wanna have groupies. Listen to the song yourself, and tell me they're not saying boobies! When I Grow Up  (Sorry it's a video. I don't know how to just post the music portion.)