Weekend (Food) Warrior.

I think I earned that title this past weekend. 

After a lovely dinner of mussels frites and wine at Garden Bistro 24, then drinks and dessert at dp on Friday, the Mac & Cheese Bowl on Saturday, and drinks at Cafe Capriccio followed by a ridiculously large dinner at Chez Mike on Sunday, I'm spent.

Yesterday was recovery.  I was basically non-productive all day.  The older I get, the more and more I need that extra day to recover.  Sad, right?

And true to form, I have almost no pictures from the weekend.  Even though my camera sat in my purse the entire time.  Fail.

I have a few from the Mac & Cheese Bowl, which was amazing, by the way.  dp and Yono's had a booth with their fabulous "Mac & Cheeks" (description in the picture below).  And I ran into Jen from Jen is Green!  When she walked up to the booth next to ours, I felt like I spotted a celebrity.  Guess that's what blog-stalking does to you ;)

Clockwise from top left:  Cup upon cup of mac & cheese... after about a dozen, I was done.  Nick and me behind the dp/Yono's booth.  More of the good stuff.  Chez Mike's cheddar -ale mac was my favorite of the day.  Mac & Cheese Bowl t-shirt.  dp/Yono's mac & cheeks. 

There were 30 restaurants at the bowl who were judged for best mac & cheese.  Sadly, we didn't win, although it was definitely one of the best there, in my opinion.  I ate some that I seriously couldn't force down.  More than one cup ended up in the trash after just one bite.  But some on the otherhand, were so good that I went back for seconds and thirds.  It was such a fun event... just please don't show me any mac & cheese for at least a month ;)

He's gonna live forever, right?

Happy 8th Birthday to my sweet boy, Miles Davis Purnomo.

AKA

Mr. Happy Pants

Pickle Face

Mr. Gray Beard

Monkey Butt

Bubba

Chicken Nugget

Mr. Smooshy Face

Etc, etc, etc...

We love this boy :)

Time to Get Creative. AKA What I Wore v1.0

Ooh!  A new feature! 

Well, technically the first and only feature on this blog.

Let's call it What I Wore.  Creative, no?

For the first edition of What I Wore, I put together a collection of my outfits over the past two weeks or so.  Not sure if this is how I'll continue to do it but it's kinda fun to see them all side by side. 

'Cause I have this problem.

Husband will concur.

I wear a variation of the same damn thing every single day.

This winter, that variation has included skinny jeans, skinny pants or leggings, a tank top, something to throw over said tank top and a pair of boots.  The other wardrobe of choice that you'll notice is my at-home attire... you know, fun pants and a hoodie.  Not sure why I felt the need to include these.  Maybe to see what my husband sees 90% of the time?*  Also of note is the world's cutest apron at the bottom center.  It's fun to look cute while cooking! 

What's even funnier than the matchy-matchiness of my day to day attire?  I just looked down and realized I'm wearing the. exact. same. thing. as picture #5.  I need more variation in my life. 

And also?  I swear I didn't pose for these.  Apparently I just REALLY like to stand with one knee bent and a hand on my hip.  And tilt my head.  Oy.

*Probably the reason I got a surprise package full of silky pretties from Victoria's Secret a few months ago. 

VDay in the Kitchen

Valentine's Day 2011 was celebrated on February 13th in my house. 

He's sad because we're about to pop the bottle of Cristal bubbly gifted to us over 2 years ago at our engagement party.  You know, Cristal.  The staple of every rapper or basketball player's fridge, according to MTV cribs. 

So classy.  Drinking $400 champagne out of a $100 Tiffany flute* while sporting $10 fun pants and unwashed hair. 

V-day was the perfect day to finally enjoy the bottle but I will admit that it's a little sad to open the fridge now and not see the pretty gold bottle in it's spot next to the 40 of Colt 45**. 

Husband, I mean Chef, kept careful eye on his well-thought-out meal.

I played Sous Chef.  And I made these delicious little balls of bacon-wrapped cipollini onions.

 

Quick pause to ooh and aww over the cuteness that is Bella.  And little Miles down there on the floor.  They are physically incapable of being anyplace other than the kitchen while we create culinary masterpieces.  Or microwave leftovers for that matter.  They're not picky.

Counterclockwise from top left:  Bacon Vinaigrette for the salad.  4 hour Syrah Reduction for the beef.   Um, beef... no idea what kind.  Err, cut.  Mushroom Risotto.

Bacon-wrapped cipollinis over Boston bibb lettuce with bacon vinaigrette. 

F-ing delicious.  I'm proud of this one.  All me, baby.

The finished product.  I, unfortunately, can take no credit for any of this.  Chef Husband is incredible.  Homemade mushroom risotto?  Amazing.  Beef with Syrah reduction?  Let's just say that I don't eat beef.  I ate beef this night.  Every last bite. 

So.  Spending a quiet Valentine's Day at home with my husband was quite lovely.  Cooking a meal together is one of our favorite activities.  As is drinking bottle after bottle of wine.  And tearing the living room apart looking for the shirt that mysteriously disappeared after being torn off during a certain amorous Valentine's Day act. 

Wait, what?  That's a story for another day ;)

*Another gift. If we had that kind of money to throw around I most likely wouldn't be sharing photos of myself in aforementioned $10 fun pants.

**I wish I was kidding about the 40. But you know, that's how we do it at Turner Lane.

The day I pulled a muscle blowing my nose.

Isn't that a lovely title for my 100th post?

100.  100!  Let's see... accomplishment or failure?  Accomplishment as in I've actually written 100 posts.  Failure as in it's taken over a year and I still have next to no readers.  Oh well. 

Back to the topic at hand. 

I really wish I was making this up.  I seriously pulled (strained?) a stomach muscle yesterday during a violent coughing, nose blowing extravaganza.  I walked around most of the evening holding my side.  And you know how when it hurts to laugh, all you want to do is laugh?  Yeah.  That happened.  Thankfully it doesn't hurt nearly as bad today. 

And ooh!  Today!  Boot camp started again today.  Much to husband's chagrin.  I compromised though... I'm only going to be going once a week this session.  Hopefully it will be enough to make my soft parts hard again (take that however you'd like) and motivate me to get to spin class and/or the gym two or three times a week.  I need to sign up for a few races.  That should get me moving.  I like having a goal... working out for the sole purpose of working out doesn't do it for me.  Knowing I could embarrass myself at a race I haven't prepared for?  All the motivation I need.

How's that for a completely random and utterly pointless 100th post?

ha.

Happy Two Thousand Eleven

If you read* last year's New Year's Eve post, you'll recall that I'm not a fan of the so-called appropriate way to pronounce the years of the new decade we've entered.  Twenty-ten drove me nuts and twenty-eleven makes me even crazier.  It just sounds silly.  So I'm gonna stick with my way of saying it til probably two-thousand-eighty-nine** or so.

Moving on.

My NYE celebration took place, once again, at Husband's fantastic restaurant.  'Cause you know, I'm kind of a fan of spending holidays with him and he kinda has to be there.  This year, however, I roped several friends into joining me and we had an amazing time.  Show-girl feather headpieces and all!

I think we make 'em work.  Next stop, the Bellagio.

Mr. & Mrs. P.  Note the champagne sabre in my hand.  Husband is pretty talented with that thing.

So.  Good friends, great food, a full restaurant, lots of bubbly (maybe too much, as my hangover was not pretty the next day) and I managed to stay up well past the ball-drop, til 3am.  I'd say that NYE 2011 was a success.  Or is it NYE 2010?  It's the eve of the new year, ie 2011, but NYE is technically still in 2010.  Ugh.  I think too much.



*Who am I kidding.  I have almost no followers.  After 15 months.  Sad.
**'Cause I'm anticipating super-advanced medical procedures and strong drugs to be a part of keeping me alive til I'm 109.  At least.

What's that winter-blah-disorder thing?

Seasonal Affective Disorder. S.A.D. Seems appropriate.

I'm in serious need of an entertaining post here.  Too bad I'm la-zy.  Again, I blame winter. 

But I am LOVING all the pretty white fluffy snow that's been falling!  (And am so thankful to the neighbor who plows our driveway everytime it snows more than a dusting.)

So, in place of a meaningless post about my phenomenal life, how 'bout we just look at a few pictures instead?

My pretty snow covered lane.

And my not so pretty snow covered trash receptacle.

 Silly Bella.  She seriously loves the snow.  Must get it from her momma.

Hard to tell, but Miles was running through the snow like a wild-man.

And that's Bella in the background, um, pooping.  

Regular posting shall resume shortly.  Or next month.  Is February too late to put up my Christmas and NYE posts?  ha.