If your mouth is watering at the thought of delicious belgian waffles paired with local, craft beer, you're in luck.

Saus, the local Belgian waffle establishment in Faneuil Hall, and Slumbrew, the research/development brand of Somerville Brewing Company, are coming together to offer a tasting. The occasion? To celebrate the success of Saus, who recently hit their one year anniversary as a successful Boston business.

Seriously, who doesn't love an occasion to eat incredible frites, drink local beer and celebrate two, wonderful local businesses? Yeah, I thought so.

The tasting event is this Thursday, April 26 and 5 PM and is both free and open to the public. Check out the Facebook event invitation, and get more information on the Slumbrew event page.

See, I told you it was tastebud heaven.

When you work 40 hours a week, going out on Friday nights can be tough. You're exhausted from the week, and all you really want to do is curl up on the couch, watch your DVR recordings from the week and then go to bed early. I feel ya.

Last Friday, I had to practically force myself not to flop down on the couch when I got home from work. Instead, I made the trip down to the waterfront to the Capiz Lounge, located inside the Renaissance Hotel. The hotel has just recently begun a live music series, RLife Live, and every Friday night from 9 PM to 11 PM (and Thursday nights from 5 to 7 PM) local bands perform in the lounge, where Blue Ribbon appetizers and special cocktails are available all evening, in addition to the regular bar menu.

Forcing myself to spend the night out ended up being well worth it. When I arrived around 9:30 PM, Joe Fox & the Fourth Floor Band were well into a jam session, and the lounge was half filled with a wide range of attendees -- hotel guests (many who were in town to run the marathon), residents from the nearby Park Lane apartments, and a variety of couples and groups of friends, some in their 20's and 30's, others in their 50's.

I grabbed a spot at the bar and ordered a Hummingbird, made with Cava, St. Germain, and fresh raspberries, which has definitely made its way onto my list of favorite cocktails. A few minutes later, three of my friends arrived -- two of whom played copycat and ordered Hummingbirds, the other a vodka martini.

We got an order of the "Northern Fried" chicken wings, served with Mexican honey dipping sauce. Definitely not my favorite wings, they lacked the flavor I was hoping for, but the manchego and Mexican honey toast we got was delicious -- I would never think to combine honey and cheese, but it worked well!

RLife Live is being launched at Renaissance hotels across the country, but the Boston Seaport location is serving as one of the pilot cities for the program.

We spent the next two hours drinking and laughing, listening to the band during lulls in conversation. By the time we left at 11:30 PM, the band had packed up, but the bar was significantly more crowded.

It was a perfect, low key Friday night after a long work week. Convenient to the silver line, or an easy walk from South Station if it's warm out, heading to the lounge for some music and cocktails is a great way to spend a chill night out. Or, if you've got more energy than I do, make a stop at the Renaissance hotel after you've had dinner in the area, and before you head to another waterfront bar!

When I was a kid, I used to beg my mom to take my brother and I to Color Me Mine, a paint your own pottery chain less than a mile from our house in LA. We could spend hours choosing paint colors and decorating useless figurines that would then sit and collect dust on our bookshelves. I'm sure my parents thought it was a colossal waste of time (and money) but we had an absolute blast regardless.

Fifteen years later, I decided to relive my childhood and take a trip to Brookline's Clayroom, a similar paint your own pottery studio a few blocks from Coolidge Corner. This time, however, I was determined to paint something that was practical - not a fairy with 17 colors painted on its wings.

Meg and I made a date night out of it and went to Common Ground first, where I was anxious to try their brand new menu under new owner Bobby O'Guin. Craving something spicy, I tried the buffalo mac & cheese. Though I drank my Perfect Peach -- a perfectly girly drink made with peach Absolut, Amaretto, orange juice and soda water -- a little too fast to relieve my taste buds, the pasta was perfectly cheesy, despite its strong kick. I started with a Ceasar salad (a huge portion) and Meg got the fish and chips, which she said were moist and very tasty, along with her shoestring fries. We ended our meal with the chocolate molten cake, topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. As a chocoholic, I can say this with no hesitation -- absolutely to die for.

The new menu has a great variety -- beet and feta or duck salads, a homemade three grain veggie burger, and a Serrano and Fig Jam sandwich are among the standouts.

Though I usually frequent CG for 90's nights and cheap Miller High Life drafts, I will definitely be back to try some of their other new menu items -- most likely for their Tuesday night trivia with Geeks Who Drink.

After dinner, we walked over to Clayroom. I expected the room to be filled with screaming children and strollers, but there was not a single person under 21, which made me feel much more comfortable about my sudden, strange craving to paint pottery.

The pricing on pottery is very reasonable -- most items cost $10 - $20, and they have a variety of plates, bowls, canisters, and mugs amongst the classic figurines. Then you pay an $8 studio fee, which includes your paint, studio time and the firing of your piece.

The best part about the Clayroom are their specials: Monday night is half fee night ($4 instead of $8) and Tuesday night is pizza night, where the studio orders pizza for everyone at no extra charge. By far the best deal is Wednesday night wine and cheese night, which at $30/person includes wine and cheese, your studio fee and a pottery item worth up to $24. Every night at Clayroom is BYOB, so you can always bring your own wine (a perfect excuse for two buck chuck from Trader Joes down the street) or beer to sip on while you get your creativity on -- a perfect adult twist on a night of arts and crafts.

Meg and I had a blast -- I painted a mug with the words "coffee" and caffeine" emblazoned on every square inch, and she put adorable polka dots on a canister for her desk at work.

All in all, an amazing evening -- if you haven't had a chance to check out the Clayroom you definitely should, just make sure to call and make a reservation, they fill up fast!