Great Day

Before 1pm today I accomplished quite a bit and had some random musings (mostly with help of my dear friend, Mr. Insomnia who wouldn’t let me sleep past 530am):

*Took Lincoln for a mile and a half walk

*Packed a bunch of stuff up that I am giving to charity

*Re-listed a bunch of stuff on craigslist and starting gathering clothes and purses to sell on Ebay

*Had breakfast

*Went through my mail and found that not only did I get a free drink from Starbucks but my parents sent me one as well.

*Realized I have no clue who Terri Ewing is and now curious as to how they got the free drink card to send to me.

*Start to think of crazy stories of how they know Terri Ewing, My favorite one being they knew Terri and killed him or her for a free drink coupon so they could make me happy.

*Wonder if Terri is a man or woman

*Realize it’s spelled with an “I” so most likely a woman.

*Thought about how much I hate unisex names 

*Thought of names for the made for tv movie about the murder and liked “Will Kill For Starbucks: All She Wanted Was Java” the best.

*Start singing “All That She Wants Is Another Java” to the tune of “All That She Wants” by Ace of Base

*Laugh about the notion of this whole idea that someone would kill another for a Starbucks drink

*Stop laughing since I’m sure people out there think that I would kill for Starbucks

*Think that I can ponder about Terri Ewing all day so I better go to the gym

*Had an awesome workout of 30 minutes on the Precor AMT along with upper body strength training

*Come home and attempt to run to shower first thing since I am literally a hot mess.

*Am stopped by Lincoln because he wants to lick the sweat off my face

*Wonder why dogs are so loyal and like gross things

*Finally get in shower

*Portion trail mix into single servings so I don’t go buckwild and eat the entire bag in two sittings

*Flip though Michael Chiarello’s book “Bottega” that I won over at All Kinds of Hungry

*Think that asking for a man who can cook, has a nice smile, straight, gainfully employed with no mommy issues shouldn’t be too hard to find.

*But then come to the conclusion it is

*Get sad about that

*Am hungry from flipping through Bottega

*Make a random lunch

*Wonder what was up with my intense protein craving for lunch

Indeed Paul.

How’s your Monday going?

What’s your story of how my parents got Terri Ewing’s free drink card?

Going back to Indy, Indy, Indy

After breakfast with Kelly on Friday, it was time to get back to Indiana. Yes, I’m a lady of leisure at the moment but a few reasons I wanted to get back:

*See my baby angel

*Get back on track with my eating and working out

*Go back to Eastern standard time, central time zone was just trippin me out

*Um, have some clean undies. I only brought enough with me to last for the number of days I’m here and was in desperate need of doing laundry

I stopped in gorgeous Lake County, Indiana AKA my old stomping grounds. Ok, not really. I was born in Munster and we lived there then up and left to Florida when I was seven but even so, I always considered it home. While driving through Hammond (if someone actually knows these towns, I will be quite impressed), I got a good look at the locals there. One word comes to mind: scuzzy. I always thought Indiana was so great and in a way resented my parents for moving us to Florida all of a sudden. We were in a place that was a complete 180 with people of different background, nationalities, etc. along with hot weather. Apparently, I’ve never been a fan of hot weather because I loathed it then but have gotten a little better about it. But then seeing these people who looked like life had not been kind to them made me wonder what would have happened if I stayed there. Would I have gotten involved with the wrong crowd, went to college, get married and have kids or what? So many questions, I tell you.

But my eye was on the prize. Literally. I was trying to win some dough at the Horseshoe Casino.

I just wanted to stop in for a few minutes to see if this place would actually be nice or not. There was a ridiculous amount of people there for Friday at noon, which kind of made me sad. In Vegas, it’s one thing for a casino to be packed but for Hammond, IN, is this all that people do? Do they just get their paycheck and gamble it away in hopes of winning big?

Good thing I know when to walk away from the slots

Or not. I started out with $20 and played the nickel slots and luck not be a lady at the Horseshoe Casino in Hammond.

While making my way back to the car, I caught this gorgeous view of the marina. If you look closely, you can see the Chicago skyline faintly in the background.

I stopped in West Lafayette for lunch at the Parthenon Grill. I went into the city looking for something local and non-chain. I was getting a bit discouraged since all I saw were chain restaurants. I finally started to make my way back to the highway when I saw this which was perfect since I didn’t have any Greek food while in Chicago.

Annnnnnd, I was the only person in there. I guess that’s what happens when you go into a restaurant in a college town during the summer time. It was kinda nice though, I felt like I ruled the roost! They have standard Greek food on the menu and I went with old faithful of a gyro, fries and a drink for under $10.

I hate when I go to a new restaurant and not sure what the protocol is. I ordered then they gave me a tray where I got napkins and condiments. I wasn’t sure if I just waited there or go to one of the many open tables. After a few awkward seconds of me just standing there looking at the cashier, he finally told me I can go to a table and he will bring me my food. Thanks dude. And look, they had toothpicks aplenty, perfect for my next stuffed chicken adventure!

The meal came out and I was overwhelmed with the amount of meat.

I could barely fold the gyro over because there was so much meat. That’s what I’m talking about!

I ended up taking a good chunk of the meat off and putting in a to go box for my pup and went on my way with wolfing down the sandwich. The meat wasn’t seasoned too much but it was cooked just right. The tzatziki lacked flavor as well so that was a bit of a let down. The fries were piping hot though so I’m happy everything was made fresh. All in all a good spot to stop if you’re ever in West Lafayette, Indiana.

By the time I got back on the road, I was spent. I woke up at 5am that morning and was around 4pm. I just wanted to get back to my sister’s house and crash. When I got there I saw this nice surprise……

Linky has a girlfriend!

So many questions, I tell you.

Do you go to casinos in your area? We don’t have any in Charlotte but I used to go to the ones in the Phoenix area all the time.