A good start to the week

Mondays are blah. But I had a good start to the week

*Went to Lowe’s

*Was amazed by how many hot men are there are 9am

*And how many hot men work there. Perhaps I should go to Lowe’s more often?

*Went to Dunkin to get my free Wifi on.

*Was disappointed since it wasn’t working and I just spent $1.08 on an iced coffee

*Asked the DD employee if something was wrong with the Wifi, she said “No, it’s working” and pointed over at a guy and said “See, he is on” I looked over and replied “Ummm, he isn’t even on a computer”!”

*Thought I was being punk’d and decided to leave

*Wondered if Punk’d is still on? Probably not with Ashton going to Two and a Half Men

*Thought about what my favorite Demi Moore movie is, still going with One Crazy Summer

*Went to old faithful, Starbucks, to get my free wifi on.

*Met up with a friend for lunch at Table 274, a new restaurant in Cotswold.

Like I would actually pay full price for a meal!

I’ve been curious about this place since it opened a few months ago but heard mixed reviews. I figured I would wait a couple of months to check it out so they could work out their kinks. Because they are working out their kinks and what works and what doesn’t solely for me.

I ordered the Roasted Vegetable Wrap-Roasted artichoke and tomato, sautéed mushroom, goat cheese and arugula

All of that for only $7! The wrap was tasty as is anything with goat cheese. But I was expecting it to be hmmmm….not soggy. The inside was good but a tortilla was definitely not the ideal way to hold it together. It would have been better on a pita or focaccia, something to hold it better together because it started falling apart after awhile. The sweet potato chips were a bit of a disappointment, most of them were limp and soggy. But then when sifting through them, I would find a good, fresh one in the mix.

*Visited my second Starbucks of the day. Apparently, I will pay full price for the Bucks

*Wondered what David Lee Roth is up to these days

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*Didn’t bother to look, somehow I was assured that he is alive and well

*Went on a mile and a half walk with Lincoln. There were a few minutes were I didn’t think he was going to make it since he was dragging and panting in search of shade and water.

*Noshed on leftover tacos but this time added some Spicy Wholly Guacamole to them, always a welcome addition.

*Flipped through magazines and went to bed by 10pm. I don’t feel like I did that much but I was ready to crash.

Oh I left out one major thing I did on Monday:

Booked a trip to Italy!

Like you even have to guess what the question of the day is…..

Have you ever been to Italy?

Rolling with my homies

I tried a new to me Japanese place on Friday night thanks to Living Social

I am so team Groupon by the way. Living Social is alright but they never seem to have as good of deals as Groupon plus I feel like it’s more expensive. I may be a little bitter that I recently had a Living Social deal expire and they didn’t even send me an email letting me know. Groupon always has my back and gives me advance notice that I better use my Groupons or they will expire soon.

Shiki isn’t in my neighborhood so I haven’t heard anything about it. When I looked online, I couldn’t even find a website for them  and there were minimal reviews on the Yelp so I was a wee bit skeptical going there.

For being in a Wal-Mart shopping center, this place was hopping for a Friday night! It looked like it hasn’t been there too long, was clean, had high ceilings and lots of comfy booths. The host sat us and got our drink order at the same time. That’s what I like to see, use of time management skills. I hate when they seat you and you have to wait forever just to get a water so getting everything out of the way is welcome. We each got a glass of wine which was $3.95 each. Talk about cheap! Plus they were very generous with their pours.

We started off with edamame, it was piping hot and my friend asked how to do you eat it. I simply replied “Just bite and suck” which then led me to think of one of my favorite movies of all time: Clueless

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RIP Brittany

When I said “Just bite and suck” it reminded me of the scene at the party where they start playing Suck & Blow and Cher goes off on Elton “God Elton, don’t you know how to suck??” which led me to start humming “Rolling With My Homies”

I would keep going on and on about Clueless since it’s one of the best movies ever.

And anyone who wants to argue with me can go suck it. All I needed to know in life I learned from the movie Clueless.

Plus, it introduced me to Jeremy Sisto. 15 years later and I still love this man.

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Oh yeah, so back to the Shiki, right?

At Shiki, I figured with the hooch being cheap they would mark up the price of their sushi but oh no, this was cheap sushi haven! None of the rolls are over $10 and a majority of them are $5 or $6. They also have traditional Japanese hibachi dishes but I really didn’t even look too much into that since when there is sushi, I’m a girl on a mission.

We had $25 to spend on food so we ordered four rolls. And of course, I don’t remember the names because that would be too easy. But I remember the spicy tuna roll (second from left) and crunchy California roll (second from right)

Why can’t I remember the names?? Argh. The one on the far left was bomb, I think it may have been the Volcano roll?

All of the sushi was wonderful and we walked out of there only having to pay $12 due to the two glasses of wine which wasn’t included. Shiki was a great value! I thought it was going to take longer to get there from the Uptown Charlotte area since I’m spoiled and think anything that’s further than six miles is a long trip.  Also, they have awesome mints-just strong enough to wipe out the taste of wasabi. I would much rather go to Shiki and pay for sushi than go somewhere that’s overpriced where you’re paying more for the atmosphere than the sush. It’s nice being able to hear the person you’re with talking when you’re out for sushi rather than having to yell at them in a clubby atmosphere.

On Saturday, I felt like my day was shot since I had the Salvation Army thrift store coming over to do a large pick up of stuff. And they pulled the whole cable company act like we-will-be-there-between eight and four so I was just sitting around waiting for them. I was paranoid about going anywhere for long because with my luck they would decide to drop by when I left. What also sucked was I got an invite early Saturday morning to go to a restaurants soft opening on Saturday afternoon but couldn’t go because of the pick up.

My friend came over and she had a Groupon to use for Pisces Sushi. I love the sushi but my last experience at Pisces was less than desirable. I was with a big party, the service was horrible, food took forever to get out and when it did, the portions were so little. I swore I wouldn’t go back but when someone has a deal, I am game. Apparently, Saturday afternoon is the time to go to Pisces since there were only four other tables seated.

So stoked I got hygienic chopsticks this time! Now what was I using last time?

We started with the Vegetable Spring Rolls, the dipping sauce that came with it reminded me of Chick Fil A’s Polynesian Sauce but with a kick. I’m totally ok with that.

Xoxo roll on top and Bobcats Roll on the bottom. Both of the rolls were fantastic however the Xoxo roll was out of this world! It’s topped with  grilled scallop and a honey eel mayo sauce. The scallop was grilled to perfection and I don’t even want to know with hot much butter because it literally melted in my mouth.

Filet M roll on top crab crunch roll on the bottom. I’ve never had sushi topped with steak before so this was something new to me. the horseradish on the Filet M roll gave it a little extra zing. I liked it but don’t think I would get it again, the concept of filet on top of sushi was just weird to me (this coming from a hardcore carnivore)

Nothing like some sushi on a Saturday afternoon!

Do you like the movie Clueless? Please don’t answer if you haven’t seen it because I really don’t need help feeling older than I already do.

When dining out-what would you rather pay for, ambience or good food?

 

My shrooms

I really need to remind myself not to buy tons of fresh produce before I am set to leave town. I went to Trader Joe’s on Sunday night and got some staples for the week such as bananas, apples, onions, oranges, kiwi and mushrooms. I’ve been able to eat all of them except my beloved mushrooms. And to make it even more annoying when I cook with shrooms I always sing “My Shrooms” to the tune of “My Humps”

“My shrooms, my shrooms, my shrooms, my shrooms

Cooking baby bellas bellas and even shiratake”

I can’t help it, I turn everything into a song.

I made crock pot chicken the other day using Hawaiian marinade. I mixed the sauce with chicken broth then threw in leg quarter and cooked for seven to eight hours.

While that was finishing, I cooked red onions and pineapples with two tbsp of low sodium soy sauce and garlic then laid on top of the chicken

I had rice on the side then added a huge pile of shrooms on top to make a very filling meal.

The next day I enjoyed a heaping portion of mushrooms with eggs

On Wednesday, my friend and I went to Icehouse for lunch to use up a $20 Groupon I had. I need to start burning through all of these Groupon and Living Social deals I’ve bought before I leave so it’s go time. When we walked in, we saw this lovely sign. Game on.

It was only appropriate for me to get a beer. Because it was Wednesday, sunny and half off of course.

I got the Thai Noodle Salad with chicken and ate the whole thing, it was flavorful and refreshing, which was much needed since it was 90 something degrees out. Plus I’ve been craving pad thai like whoa lately so this subdued the craving for a few days.

Afterwards, we stopped by Not Just Coffee. I was in serious need of java. This is a new coffee shop and I keep meaning to go even though I’m a tried and true Starbucks gal.

But the thing is they have weird hours. They open in the morning, break for siesta then open back up at night and are closed on the weekend. I dig the siesta concept as I love an afternoon nap but closed on the weekends does not work well for me.

 

It’s a small joint with a couple of stools set up at the bar. We wanted something cold and both went for the iced mocha. The barista was friendly, took his time making the drinks and you could tell it was made with love.

Topped with some of the best whipped cream I’ve ever had and cocoa. Suck that baby down and go straight to my hips, well worth it.

And check out this beautiful mural right next door! Can we say love?

When I got home, I was out for the count. See above where I said I love afternoon naps, there is just something enchanting about them. I tried to wake up to go to a Yelp event but it wasn’t in the stars. My head was pounding and opening my eyes even hurt so I took some Excedrin and waited for it to pass. I wasn’t even hungry when I finally got up and running again so dinner was a bowl of pineapple and kiwi.

Ok, I lie, I killed the last of the cupcakes from the wedding.

The picture almost didn’t happen because it was that delish. Oh cupcakes, I can’t quit you. I’m glad you all enjoyed hearing about papi chulo and the meat parade. Maybe our paths will cross again and thanks for the mad compliments on that dress-I felt so pretty in it and scored it for $20 at Ross (originally $100) I think I will cry if I move somewhere and they don’t have Ross.

Oh yeah, I’m a brunette now!

 

I feel like I should be on Real Housewives of New Jersey with this hair color and surprisingly enough, this is my just near my natural color. But more to come on that later…

Do you like mushrooms?

Should I go back to highlights? Be honest, I can take it.