Blog & Reviews
This is a writing sample from Scripted writer Jan Werner
Blog & Reviews
LAS VEGAS RESTAURANT REVIEW
If you are a huge sports bar fan, you will probably enjoy this place more. I was caught off-guard that a "Mexican Kitchen and Tequila Bar" was really a spot for die-hard sports fans. A ticker tape-type machine hung along the top edge of the room like a frilly wall border and flat screens hung everywhere with some type of sport displayed ranging from college football to MMA. What stood out was that our seating was not a typical dinner or high-top table, but a black leather sofa with small accent pillows (perfect for placing at the base curve of your spine). The table was designed more like that of an oversized coffee table with a marble-like top. It was great for lounging and sipping Tequila cocktails, but a little difficult to comfortably eat.The service was quick, friendly and excellent. Cocktails were amazing. I would recommend a Tequila Sunrise--sweet, potent and cool, with a bite that is not overbearing. The food, however, was typical and unimpressive. While it struck me as big-box-type and over processed, it was edible and probably more designed to soak up excess booze than be impressive cuisine.
THE RELUCTANT GARDENER
I want to make a confession–I am NOT a green thumb. Never have been. I cannot grow anything to save my life, try as I may. The unfortunate thing about this fact is that the home my husband and I bought several years ago has a lot of beautiful landscaping we struggle to maintain due to my unskilled gardening tactics and lack of know-how. It has certainly been a learning experience. The proverbial trial-by-fire. The type of maintenance our yard requires is a torturous endeavor, especially considering I don't find this sort of labor enjoyable–not in the least.
Anyway, a number of years ago, I noticed a bunch of weird looking plants had begun to appear in the strangest of places. They were low-lying to the ground at first but then began to take the shape of what I thought looked like a young tree–eventually sprouting little berries. Because we were still pretty new to the home then, and I naive in the ways of nature's plants, I wasn't sure if it was something the previous owners had planted and were supposed to be there or if it was a weed of some sort. I waited and watched, until one day I decided that I just didn't like them. They were kind of menacing and seemed to take over everything! I began to pull them, making sure to be very careful with those auspicious-looking berries.
After the hard-fought excavation, I had not seen the "tree plant" (as we called it then) for quite some time. A few years later it popped up again. I wondered if, perhaps, it was a type of plant that only grows every couple of years. And then, I opened our city's newsletter.
Apparently, our troublesome plant has a name and it's called Buckthorn. Okay, I'll wait until the laughter has subsided. Yes, I had been growing Buckthorn and never knew it. And now it seems to be everywhere! Sigh. It is a never-ending battle. According to the newsletter, the berries can essentially lay dormant, but remain viable, in the soil for approximately…can you guess? Six years!
I may have won the first battle, but the war is still not over.
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