I'll admit it. I'm obsessed. With a hamburger joint. Smashburger is my new home. My new love. My newest indulgence. Okay, Jesus is my first love. Micah is my second. But if I weren't already married, Smashburger, I would marry you! I've heard raves about Smashburger for about a year now since one opened up in Fort Worth, Texas where many of my dearest friends live. Sometime during the fall semester, I noticed there was a Smashburger right across the street from ASU, but my crazy on-campus-for-only-an-hour-each-day schedule didn't really warrant a burger stop. But now I have seen the light! This semester I am often on campus for 4-8 hours a day, which usually necessitates a lunch break. I try to bring my lunch from home as often as possible (and married life has helped me to become very good about making dinner consistently and using leftovers for lunch), but every once in awhile I find myself lunch-less... and SMASHBURGER always saves the day! It's just soooo good! That juicy, savory burger on a potato bun! I am not really a huge fast food fan. I like a great burger occasionally, but it's rare to see me eat one more than once or twice a month (at the most). In fact, one time I went a whole year without eating fast food (somehow, I made certain restaurants such as Rosa's fit into a not-fast-food category, but it was still a pretty significant achievement). I also went without candy once for a year. I have a thing for year long challenges. But don't ever ask me to go without Smashburger for a year. I will not survive! If you haven't tried Smashburger, I encourage you to do so immediately. If you have one within a 30 mile vicinity of your house - go! Go now! It's calling your name. If you don't have one in your city/state, I suggest you book a much needed vacation in your near future and get yourself to a sunny city that has a Smashburger. If you can't think of anywhere else to go, you can always visit me. I would love to introduce you to the delights of the Smash. And if you aren't a huge meat eater (although I don't really support your meat-less eating habits), they also have amazing looking salads on their menu. I desperately want to try one, but that would involve NOT getting a burger, and I don't know if I'm ready to make that sacrifice yet. While I actually think Smash's fries are only okay (although they do have sweet potato fries for something different), they also have an excellent drink fountain. (For those of you who don't know me well, I have an obsession for a drink I call "The Mix" - mostly Diet Coke with about an inch of Dr. Pepper on top to take away the diet-y taste. It's amazing, which is why its name has become a proper noun and deserves its capitalization without a doubt. The Mix is sweeping the nation. You should try it today!) Anyway, the quality of fountain drinks at an establishment is very important to me, and Smashburger's fountain is right up there with the best (Chili's, Red Robin, McDonald's - Disclaimer: I do NOT eat at McDonald's. I only get their $1 fountain drinks occasionally). I sometimes find myself stopping in at Smashburger to get a Mix only, which is not budget savvy, since a fountain drink costs $1.86 after tax, but I make the sacrifice because Smash is a three minute walk from the English building on campus and I like Smash's fountain even better than QT's. Whoa. However, I will tell you what IS budget savvy. The Smashburger kid's meal! For only $2.50 more than my fountain drink, I can get a burger and fries and drink. It's an amazing deal for only $4.36 after tax! Often, in a small attempt to be health-conscious, I order the kid's meal, ask them to skip the fries, and just give me a large drink instead of a kid's size, which they have never once refused to do. Sometimes they even insist on giving me fries AND a large drink. And the thing about a kid's burger is that it's just as delicious, but it's only a 1/4 pound of beef instead of a 1/3 or 1/2 pound like their adult options, so it's way fewer calories and costs way less than a grown-up burger. Kid's meal for life! Anyway, you are probably thinking (regardless of the reduced calories) that this is a sick, unhealthy habit I have gotten myself into, but let me just tell you one thing. Every time I get a blood test, I have been told emphatically by various doctors that I have VERY low cholesterol. Like extremely low. I don't know why. I don't know how. I just do. I mean I do exercise very consistently and we do eat mostly poultry and fish at home, so I figure I have some room to work with here. If my doctors say it's okay, let me live in my Smash-burger obsessed state a little longer.... And it's really not quite as bad as I make it out to be. I'll admit last week I had Smashburger twice, but only because they made me sit through three straight hours of meetings on my Friday afternoon, and I didn't know if I could survive without a little Smashburger for sustenance. Usually, I only eat Smashburger on Tuesdays before my night class. It's become my happy little tradition to walk over to Smash before class and get a kid's meal before I sit in a windowless, basement classroom for three hours. In fact, it's Tuesday today! I cannot wait to celebrate #smashburgertuesday tonight!!! I know I should also post a picture of one of their savory burgers up here, but I'm pretty sure I always eat them too fast to snap a pic. Here is The Mix though! Oh Mix, how I love you! ... Read more