Beauty Is In The Eyes Of Me

There are so many beauty products out there, both for men and women, that tell the consumers that wrinkles are ugly, that gray or white hair is not attractive, stretch marks make you undesirable, and so on.  But who are these people to tell me that I need to hide these changes that time has etched into my body?  Why do I have to be ashamed at the passage of time? 

While I understand wanting to keep your body looking attractive for yourself and others, but why can't the wrinkles, the gray hair, the stretch marks be beautiful too?  They tell a story about your life, how you've grown and changed.  I have started develop white hair in place of my natural dark brown locks and wrinkles have started to become more noticeable around my eyes and my forehead.  The white hair speaks of how I survived childhood (which is still a tough feat, even today).  My wrinkles speak of how often I have laughed, smiled, and cried.  Even the scars on my body tell the story of what I have survived and recovered from. 

So while those companies continue to pedal $100 face creams that say that they will get rid of all the wrinkles and give you baby smooth skin, I will continue to live life.  I will spend time with friends, eat new foods, try new things.  I will not spend money on a temporary beauty fix when I can appreciate the new beauty that I have been given and continue to create new tales to tell.

(Picture found: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/148267012704637278/)

Pre-Game Pub & Grill: The Deliciousness Has Arrived

I enjoy finding new places to visit and new food to try.  I also enjoy supporting local businesses and the place that Lee and I discovered today is definitely worth supporting.

After picking up some mail at the post office, Lee and I decided to stop for lunch.  We had decided on one restaurant but when we pulled in, we saw that a new place had opened up: Pre-Game Pub & Grill.  Open for trying a new place, we changed our minds and went in.

The place was nice and clean and we were greeted by some friendly staff members as we sat down.  Looking over the menu, we decided to get an appetizer: the BBQ pulled pork tater tots.  Holy cow, what a great choice.  Loads of cheese and bbq pulled pork just smothered the tater tots with a sprinkling of chopped onions.  I so did not want to put my fork down but I needed to when our meal came.

Did put down the fork briefly but not for long

My choice for lunch was the grilled cheese and pulled pork sandwich.  I chose to have it with a basket, which meant that I got a choice of coleslaw, fries, side salad, applesauce, or baked beans.  I selected the coleslaw and it did not disappoint.  It was creamy and full of flavor, with the cabbage still being nice and crisp.  The sandwich itself was also a tasebud tingler.  They used Texas toast and the cheese was very nicely melted, oozing in between the tasty pieces of pulled pork.  The pork was super tender and just seemed to melt when you put it in your mouth.

My yummy lunch.  Jealous much?

Lee had the Western burger with the basket as well.  He picked french fries to go with his burger.  His burger was HUGE!  Lee took one look at it and said that he was glad that he didn't go for a double patty.  The burger was also served on toasted Texas toast with lots of bbq sauce and3 large, crispy onion rings and bacon.  The burger had a big pile of fries that were very lightly seasoned with with salt.  

So much tasty goodness

Our meal was so very good and we almost went into a food coma right at our table.  LOL.  Lee was so full that he couldn't finish off his fries, which is a rare thing for him.  When our check came, it was lower than I was expecting.  We were full of great food and it wasn't going to break the bank.

Not too bad for all the food we got :-)  

We also found out that it was the pub's grand opening and we got to meet the owners, who both came over to our table to make sure that everything was good for us.  They are so nice.

Meet Michelle and Jim, the lovely people who own 

and operate Pre-Game Pub & grill

While we did not get the chance to have a dessert (we were too full), the menu offers a few, including root beer floats (which are made with A&W Root Beer, which is the best root beer for a root beer float in my opinion).  You can bet on our next visit, we will be trying the sweet as well as more of the savory.

Visit them in person in the Metro Shopping Center in Peoria, IL and see their full menu on their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pregamegrill/

or on their website: http://pregamepub.com/

You can also follow them on Twitter: @pub_pre