Stache envy

I guess working for the past week and a half put me into a routine and now I’m thrown off since I really have nothing to do. But that will change tomorrow…..for two days at least. My friend got me a two day gig doing some data entry at an office right near my house so that will get me out of the house for a bit. I pondered riding my bike over there but then I got images of Jim Halpert riding his bike to The Office resulting in a very sweaty (rawr) Jim.

I think I will take the car instead because I’m sure no one wants to see me in spandex. And you sure as hell can’t pay even me to look at myself in spandex. So yes, the car will be the best option for now.

Today, I’ve been keeping busy with lots and lots of tv thanks to the Boca Raton Public Library!

Check out all those titles! I went in there yesterday morning and they have pretty much every show known to man. I like to think of myself as a TV buff but there were tons of shows I’ve never heard of. And they have Alias and Lost, my need for everything JJ Abrams is now complete.

I decided to give veggie products a chance again after my “beefless tip” mishap on Friday night.

Morningstar has never steered me in the wrong direction and I thank them for that. I usually get their black bean burgers but have heard wonderful things about the Tomato & Basil Pizza Burgers. I cooked one patty on the stovetop along with some zucchini stripe then places over a bed of rice and my new favorite hummus.

I found a mustache while making dinner.

Dinner was sausage and peppers and while cutting the peppers, I noticed a few in mustache form ala Mr. Pringles. Nothing wrong with that for I am all for the mustache….on a man that is. I’m Italian so I don’t need any help in that department. And for you other mustache lovers out there, check out some famous mustaches, I love that they have a few of the characters from the Muppets on there. But I gave up the pepper and started to cook instead. I threw the peppers in a pan and let cook with some olive oil, salt and pepper.

Took the peppers out, let the sausage cook then added the peppers back in.

I added a jar of sauce to the sausage and pepper mixture and let simmer. I wasn’t a huge fan of this sauce, I found it to be bland. To compensate, I added some minced garlic, oregano and basil in an attempt to give it some kind of kick to the tastebuds.

Threw on top of some spaghetti and voila, dinner was done.

Great meal and there was a lot leftover for more meals this week! I usually only cook sausage to make meatballs so this was a simple and quick alternative to that (and less messy of course because rolling out greasy sausage in your hands is not clean kitchen friendly)

Since we supposedly have a hurricane coming later this week, I wanted to get a bike ride in since I wasn’t sure if I would be able to later this week. I say supposedly because they hype it up so much down here and most of the time it ends up turning or downgrades to a lower category hurricane. When Hurricane Andrew hit, we really weren’t affected too much but Hurricane Wilma did a lot of damage to our house. Thank God FEMA had finally gotten their act together for that one.

Oh yeah, the bike ride. I felt like Forrest frickin Gump tonight! Except that I was biking and I’m not slow (unless I haven’t had any coffee). I wasn’t planning on a long ride but ended up going for almost an hour through both sketchy and nice parts of Boca (yes, Boca Raton has a few sketchy areas)

Now for a daily dose of cute

You’re welcome.

Attacked!

Happy Monday! There’s not such a thing but one of these days I’m going to convince myself that a happy monday exists out there. I know I shouldn’t complain because I’m working a temp gig that isn’t challenging whatsoever but the sleep fairy was not on my side last night. I went to Barnes & Noble last night after dinner and read some magazines awhile because I’m cheap like that. I caught up on my celebrity gossip thanks to US Weekly —Jennifer Aniston is having a baby—whaaaaaa? And then I picked up an issue of Hello magazine and caught up on my British celebrity gossip. I recognized a few names here and there but others I had no clue about and couldn’t tell you who I read about if you paid me. But for some reason these strangers stuck with me in my dreams last night. I’m not talking some freaky freaky dreams, I’m talking violent-let’s-set-people-on-fire-and-shoot-people kind of dreams. All I recall is one of the rugby players I read about being the head honcho of some renegade hoodlum group. A renegade hoodlum group  who would go into banks and restaurants robbing people then murdering them. Pleasant right? The fact that they were all gorgeous, wore cowboy hats and had accents didn’t help either. Just another case of me liking the bad boys. Then I remember Bindi Irwin holding a koala in Outback Steakhouse while reciting a poem about how wonderful the Alice Springs Chicken is.

(source)

No, no thumbs up Bindi. What the hell is wrong with me? Why are my own thoughts attacking me in my dreams?

Not an ideal way to start off my Monday but at least I had a pleasing weekend. I took a stab at making green salsa. It’s been forever and a day since I made salsa so it was long overdue plus I’ve never made the green variety before but found a great deal on tomatillo’s at the swap shop. I picked out six of them and removed the husks and cleaned them off. It took a little longer than normal since they were sticky but once I did I chopped into quarters.

I also chopped up some cilantro, three deseeded jalapenos, one plum tomato and red onion. I threw that in my magic bullet along with some minced garlic and water and voila-green salsa!

I’m not sure why it came out so frothy but once it settled it was tasty and something different.  I made so much of it I wasn’t sure what to do with it. The original plan was to make chicken tacos but I really wasn’t feeling that. I racked my brain thinking of what I could make and brought back another oldie but goodie-nachos.

Oh cheesy nachos, you make me want to sing to the heavens. Nachos are the sole reason why I can’t keep tortilla chips in the house regularly since I could eat them every day without thinking twice. I attacked that plate as soon as it was done in the microwave, poor thing didn’t even have a chance. The next morning I spiced up my scrambled egg wrap by adding the green salsa to the wraps.

Saturday morning I woke up bright and early and ready to take on the day but unfortunately I didn’t have anything to do until the afternoon. I went to the gym and had a nice sweat session on the elliptical and some lower body moves.

I was shortly reunited with an old flame

 

I got the roasted pork with rice and veggies. I guess they consider the onions on top and peas in the rice veggies? Oh well, works for me. I miss Pollo Tropical so much and its one of the perks being back in FL. When I lived in AZ there was El Pollo Loco which doesn’t hold a candle to Pollo Tropical. Plus, cmon, I do not want to eat a crazy chicken. If I’m eating chicken, I prefer to think that he was a stable chicken with no mental problems.
Afterwards I hung out with the pool and that’s when the attack began. There were these nasty bugs in the pool. I am not completely afraid of bugs but once I see bugs with wings, I get freaked out. Pretty much anything with wings freaks me out and don’t even get me started on birds. When I see pigeons or crows, I cower away afraid that something out of “The Birds” is going to happen to me.

And I’ve never even seen The Birds but I can only imagine when it’s about and have visuals of crows pecking at my gorgeous face. Meh. And once again, ADD has taken over…..back to the story

I was in the pool, minding my own business when this creepy wingy bug swims over to me and jumps on me. I flip out, shriek, splash around and he is still on me. My dad was sitting on the patio reading and threw me a cup to get him out of the pool with. I finally get him in the cup, throw him on the ledge and kill him. I go back to where I was standing, reading my book in the pool. Bliss. No bugs and a good, fun read in my hands.

 

I’ve read this book twice before but love anything by Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez. If you haven’t read any of her books, please go out and read one of my favorite books of all time, The Dirty Girls Social Club. 

ADD, right……

Soon enough I  see another creepy crawly swimming in there but coming right towards me. I didn’t freak out as much this time around but I got him in the cup and had a repeat session of the first victim. And what do you know, again, another ones comes after me. I think it was their dad or something trying to avenge their death because he attached myself to their bathing suit and would not let go. I finally got him into the cup and put him onto the ledge to meet his demise. And the effer was smart because he got away. He played a game of cat and mouse for 10 minutes and then he escaped for good. I thought I was just being dramatic at first about the bugs following me but my dad even admitted it was a bit odd that they were going after me. I don’t know where he is or where he is hiding out but I have a feeling we will meet again. When I walk out onto our patio area, I keep scouring the pool for him. I am afraid of this little bug for some reason and the next meeting, I’m not going to be so nice.

 

Once the bug drama was done with, Mickey came in the pool to float around for a few minutes. Seriously, how cute is this dog? He’s not as agile as he once was but I’m hoping Mickey hangs in there for another year. He can’t hear or really see anymore but doesn’t appear to be in pain. I feel bad for Lincoln because Mickey is the OB (original baby) and I coddle him like there is no tomorrow. Whenever I walk in, I say hi to Lincoln and give him kisses but quickly pick up Mickey, hold him like a baby and rub his belly and ears. Lincoln has bigger fish to fry though, like avoiding being attacked by grandma. Lincoln goes in her bed every night to cuddle with her. But I walked in the other night and saw him pinned down, not being able to move from the force that is grandma’s thigh.

I guess we are all being attacked over here, physically and mentally.

Do you remember your dreams?  I tend to have super weird ones like last night or can’t remember anything at all. One of my favorites was when I came home drunk one night and dreamed that Alec Baldwin was the leader of a cult and tried to kill me. I tried to escape him but he was on the mission to have my murdered and tried to get me via speedboat chase, a run through the jungle and chasing me in a case on a winding road. Thankfully he never caught me but when I woke up the next morning, I turned on the tv and The Hunt For Red October was on. Freaky.

What’s your favorite salsa?  Do you buy it or make it? If you make it, please share your recipe!

Housesitting

In honor of Matilda, Neyal sent me a link about a monkey rescued from a thrift store, just like Matilda! well except the whole sadistic monkey thing like Copernicus. I read the post while at the library and had to leave because I was crying from laughing and fear of peeing my pants at the library.

And I know, there’s been a lack of Matilda lately (which you may be happy about since some think she is creepy) Although South Florida is a mecca for retirees, she doesn’t like the humid, hot climate here. While I’m in the pool each day, she just sits yearning for a dirty martini.

Maybe her shenaningans will ensue again, who knows.

 

Not a lot going on here though, I housesat for one friend this weekend. It was great-I got to enjoy HBO, wireless and be by myself again. After living alone for so many years, I’m used to silence and doing my own thing. I can handle other people but sometimes a girl needs her own space you know? I’m housesitting/dogsitting today for another friend while she is away for the day. She is coming back tonight but I get to hang with her cute pups who I am wining over with string cheese.

And she even gave me a nice gift for doing this.

She really didn’t have to but I will never turn down a bottle of wine.

Also, it’s been avocado madness lately!

The avocados my friend gave me are finally good to go so I’m starting to use those bad boys up. I made a salad yesterday topped with Tyson Grilled & Ready Chicken. It was on sale for $6.99 at Winn Dixie and I had a $1 off coupon so this was the perfect time to buy plus I haven’t had any since I used to make pasta salad.

Then at night I made a Mexican casserole with pork, black beans, onions, peppers, black olives, mushrooms, cheese and enchilada sauce. I was so excited to find El Pato since I haven’t been able to locate it at the grocery stores down here. I found this huge can of it at Big Lots so I used some in this recipe then froze the rest for future use.

I didn’t have enough tortillas to crisscross for the top layer but I made due. I then topped the vegetable, black bean and pork mixture with enchilada sauce and cheese and let bake for 25 minutes at 375 degrees

Avocado was the perfect topping for this! I mean really, how can someone not love avocados? The flavor, the richness, the fat—oh yeah!

There were still avocados to be consumed so today I made a guacamole knock off. I didn’t have my recipe with me so I just mixed the avocado with salsa and sour cream.

I’ve seen this chips before but I must go to Target and find them stat! Maybe all this Mexican food will boost my memory?

I finally finished The Girl Who Kicked The Hornets Nest today.

I felty like I’ve been reading it for awhile but it’s only been a week and a half, if that. If you haven’t read this serious, please go out and get the three books! This was the best series I’ve read in a long time and I can say each book was a true page turner.

I went to the library today to pick up some Italian cds I’ve been waiting on—holy crap-in just about a month I will be going to Italy! I need to learn the basics stat! I found this gem while perusing the titles in the new arrivals aisle:

Yet another reason why I love the library here. In Charlotte, it would have taken me months to get this book but here I can get it right away but only for two weeks. Perfect motivation for me to read it quickle! We’ll see how this book is. I wasn’t overly impressed with her last book but who knows, this is a different take so it may be worth reading.

I’m trying to limit my workouts at the YMCA since I can only go a limited number of times each year, instead of month but had a great workout yesterday

I’ve also been swimming which is going quite well. I’ve been doing anywhere from 50 to 60 laps on my swimming days along with some breaks to tread water for two to three minutes. I’ve also been doing lunges in the water and that has been kicking my butt. The best part is that I feel no pain in my knees which is a welcome relief since I always have pain in my knees after a workout.

And of course, hanging out with my pups

Linky is way dirty. I need to get him in the tub and give him a bath, especially since one of my parents dropped ketchup on his nose but they won’t tell me who did it.

Sigh, I love my dirty dog.

So yeah, that’s about it. Not a lot to write home about but just waiting for the days to pass until it’s time to fly off to Europe. One of my friends is a recruiter here so I’m hoping she can help find me some part time work……if not, maybe I will try some more housesitting?

Read any good books lately? Please share with the class!

Do you ever housesit for friends/family? I love how it seems like a mini vacation, even if I am just down the block!

Tempting Tapatio

Sup homies? So, the last few days have been anything but exciting. They’ve been pretty boring so here are the highlights:

#1. Operation eat leftovers is still in tact

Leftovers of enchiladas that I made on Friday

Taco salad with leftover chicken than I made on Saturday

I spiced it up by adding my homeboy Tapatio. At first, I picked him up the other night in Wal Mart and wasn’t going to take him home. But fate had a different plan. See, what happened was that I picked up one bottle and dropped it on contact. All. Over. The. Place. I’m talking my flips, capris, legs, toes-the Wal Mart floor was covered in Tapatio. It was quite nasty and I feared that there would be a midget who was craving the hot sauce around to lick it off my toes. So I walked up and down the aisles of Wal Mart searching for just one employee but couldn’t even find that. I found some paper towels around so I could de-Tapatio myself off but the entire night I reeked of it, even after showering, Even though he is a slippery bitch, I still got nothing but love for him.  I love the heat he brings to the table and how cheap he is. What more can you ask for in a man?

#2. I’m legit and got a library card here!

They have a huge selection of books plus I found these. When I lived in Charlotte, I would have had to wait a month or two for these. I’m especially excited about The Girl Who Kicked The Hornets Nest In since I’ve been searching for the free or cheap version everywhere but can’t find it. Plus I only have it for two weeks and it’s a little over 500 pages.

#3 The YMCA sucks here. I found out that I can only go 14 times in one year not 14 times in one month as I thought. They have the basics there but I am used to more variety in a gym. They have a small cardio area but older versions of machines and mostly treadmillsI went yesterday and had a less then stellar workout.

So I am going to attempt to the scam the system and go to the one here then go to the one in the county over since it’s only 15 minutes away.

#4. I’m going to start swimming. I used to be a huge swimmer and oddly enough, that was when I was in my best shape —a long, long time ago. My parents have a pool and even though it’s obviously not an Olympic size pool, I can do laps, not have to worry about bumping into anyone else and now feel like I can be serious about it since I got some goggles after the Great Tapatio Mess of ‘11.

#5. Operation make food at home is still going on as well.As mentioned before, my parents go out to eat all the time. I told them I would be more than happy to cook for them to save some money and eat at home. Tonight I make breaded chicken cutlets and Triple Tomato Sauce penne from Food + Wine. I didn’t have a few of the ingredients on hand so I used what I had and make my own sauce, my revisions are in red:

1. 1 pound penne
2. 2 medium tomatoes (5 ounces each), cut into 1-inch dice one can diced tomatoes
3. 4 oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, drained 1/3 cup chopped sun dried tomatoes
4. 2 tablespoons tomato paste 1/4 cup
5. 4 large basil leaves 1/4 cup chopped parsley
6. 1 garlic clove  about three tablespoons minced garlic
7. 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
8. Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

I mixed the ingredients in my magic bullet then put it on the stovetop on low and threw in some sautéed mushrooms. I pounded two chicken breast then made smaller cutlets out of them. Then dredged the chicken in flour, eggwash and breadcrumbs with oregano and pepper mixed in then fried on the stovetop in vegetable oil.

Only three of the four burners on my parents stove work and of course every time I try to cook something, I forget which one it is so cooking in this house is super fun. However, I was quite impressed that my parents had some organic whole wheat penne on hand

And they scored it for $.99-nice job parents!

I really loved the sauce and it took no time to make. In the past I have used diced tomatoes, extra virgin olive oil, wine and various spices but I haven’t used tomato paste all that often.

Another great thing about this recipe? It made a crap ton of food which means lots of leftovers-looks like I’ll be eating this the rest of the week.

#6 This living with my parents thing is not going to last long. I already had one freak out session so let’s hope I can make it to October without us at each others throats. I will be out of here for most of September however I have August and the early part of October to get through. I’m going to try to look for some temp work for the month of August so I can get out of the house and earn some money and of yeah, keep my sanity.

#7 As frustrated as I am, I still have the fur babies to keep me company

If you’re a fan of the heat-what’s your favorite hot sauce?

Have you ever lived with your parents as an adult? If so, how did you keep the peace or was that not an issue?

Home cookin’

So, I’m home alone.

(source)

Sans red bib, although I’m not opposed to it. Thankfully I’m not fighting off burglars (and hopefully no peeping toms). When I got home on Friday I thought my parents were going to be there that evening from traveling to the west coast of Florida. But then they told me they wouldn’t be in today and was instantly elated. I had the house to myself, could do whatever I want, throw a party (not so much) and just have some me time. After living alone for five hours, I’m used to being alone and have my own schedule. However the last month has thrown a wrench in my normal schedule since I’ve been crashing with my friends the entire time. Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing but love for them but by the end, I just wanted to get back home, to somewhere familiar and have some me time.

And another thing I was looking forward to? Some home cooking! When I pillaged through my parents kitchen, I saw not only was the entire thing a complete wreck with items in random places and no real order but there was also no food. My parents are notorious for going out to eat just about every night so I wasn’t surprised. I already told them that we are going to have a talk about that and then told them we are going to take about the organization or lack thereof of the kitchen space. But I soon realized that I’m now in South Florida which means I don’t have my go to supermarkets that I had back in Charlotte. I did a search online to see what we have here and then soon realized that none of the stores offer double coupons. I’ve heard that before but figured that there has to be one right? Um, no. None of them do, thumbs down friends.I scanned the weekly ads and ended up at Winn Dixie since they had a decent BOGO sale going on. I saw that they also offer Fuel Perks just like Bi-Lo in Charlotte, so for every $50 you spend, you get $.05 off your gas bill. Doesn’t sound like much but it definitely adds up after awhile. I picked up a bunch of groceries including my staples such as chicken, cheese, tortillas, frozen veggies and greek yogurt.

Ok and some new-to-me beer

All my parents have on hand is Baileys and other after dinner drinks. I’m sure I could make some kind of interesting concoction but when it’s near 100 degrees and humidity like no other, I just want a cold one.

The first thing I made was black bean and spinach enchiladas. But of course I forgot the key ingredient-enchilada sauce. Perhaps it was because I was distracted by the fact they didn’t carry El Pato enchilada sauce and I didn’t want to pay $2 for Old El Paso sauce. So like I do with anything, I winged it.

I mixed chopped onions, black beans, cooked spinach, jalapeno seasoning, salt and pepper with shredded cheese

Then I nuked half a block of cream cheese and added the melted goodness to the mix

Spread on a tortilla. I usually dunk the tortillas in chicken broth but, surprise, I forgot that as well.

Due to the lack of enchiladas sauce, I spotted some diced tomatoes in the pantry. I added garlic, red pepper flakes and pepper to them then spread over the enchiladas and topped with cheese.

13 minunutes later, my belly was growling and I had an audience that was apparently hungry as well

Sorry Lincoln, you are half Chihuahua but no enchiladas for you!

Ah, how I miss a home cooked meal!!!

Saturday night I made bbq chicken with shelled edamame and roasted red potatoes

I had a coupon for Stubbs BBQ Sauce and being the bbq lover I am, was excited to see if it lived up the much heard hype. I tried a bit before I smothered the chicken in it and I really like it. It has a tangy kick to it that gave it a little bite but also a bit of sweetness.

I marinated the chicken in that for three hours then cooked on the stovetop while the roasted potatoes cooked in the oven. I made a random little mix of pepper, salt, ground mustard and jalapeno seasoning to coat the potatoes with and it was excellent! The best part is I have leftovers of both throughout the week to nosh on instead of going out for something and spending more money than I need to.

So, yes, even though the last few months has been restaurant fest, you are going to start seeing less on here. I’ve been spending way too much money on going out and we will see if I can change my parents spending habits at all. I love to go out to eat but it is not doing anything for my figure. Plus, cmon, who doesn’t love a home cooked meal?

Do you make meals at home or go out to eat the majority of the time?

Reunited and it feels so good

I picked Lincoln and Mickey up on Friday morning and I seriously thought Lincoln was going to have a heart attack when he saw me. He wouldn’t stop convulsing or hyperventilating and after about five minutes, he finally calmed down. I’m so happy to be with my pup again but it’s weird having him right by my side since I’ve been Lincoln-less for the past month. He looks smaller then he did before and it’s just great to see him again! So this weekend I will be spending some quality time with the pups and tackling this hot mess

Happy weekend everyone!

Dog Friendly Dining: Cool Beans

This post is inspired by my favorite doggie blogs out there—According to Gus! If you like cute dogs, you definitely need to check out their site. Gus is one of the most handsome dogs out there (excluding Lincoln of course) and I visit their site on the regular to get my daily dose of cute. Plus we have a similar story to share-they recently quit their jobs and are traveling around the country exploring! One of my favorite features on their site is called Dog Friendly Dining. Even though a majority of the places they visit are  in Texas and the midwest, it’s fun to see different establishments that cater to dogs as well as humans. Plus, who wouldn’t want a dog like this at their restaurant?

(source)

Ah Gus, I heart you!

When Lincoln and I were driving back from Indianapolis, we stopped in Knoxville, Tennessee for lunch. Knoxville is home of University of Tennessee, I’ve wanted to stop there a few times before but never had the time to so what better time?

As any college town is in the summer time, Knoxville was a ghost town that afternoon. We  drove awhile for 10 minutes looking for a non chain establishment that had a patio and soon came across  Cool Beans

 

Bar and Grill? Sold. When I walked in, it was a bit gritty inside. Completely dark with a few people in it, I wasn’t really sure it was open or not. I walked up to the bar and asked them if I could bring Lincoln out on the patio and they said I could and I could even bring him inside if I wanted. Hmmm….dogs in a bar? Ok. I got Lincoln and we went to the patio because it just felt weird to have Lincoln in a bar with me and a little light never hurt either.

They have a pretty huge patio complete with a corn hole station to play.

They brought Lincoln a huge bowl of water which he ignored. Sometimes getting him to drink water is a task and a half. Most of the time I have to reach over, stick my finger in the water then he will come over to see what it’s all about and know that it’s safe to drink.

I ordered the cheeseburger and fries since it was the special of the day for $2.99, they also had $.35 wings on Sunday—I miss college town prices!

The burger was quite tasty. I’m not a huge fan of well done burgers but it hit the spot and I finished 3/4 of it while Lincoln had the remainder. He had been such a good boy in the car he deserved a little treat.

All in all, a solid spot to stop at if you’re in Knoxville with your pooch. The only thing that would have made it better was if I had a human co-pilot with me so I could enjoy a cold beer.

Even though we were in the shade Lincoln was a hot mess when we got back into the car

We walked out of Cool Beans for under $4, not too shabby! I’m happy we drove around for awhile instead of settling for a chain place that I can go to anytime.

What kind of blogs do you read? Do you read blogs focused on one subject or a variety? According to Gus mainly focuses on dogs and traveling and I love that it’s a different focus than most blogs I read. I read health focused ones but also frugal living and travel blogs.

Killing time

 The last few days I’ve been killing time. A majority of my furniture is gone and I am without cable so I keep watching the same dvd’s over and over again. I have two dvds on me and it’s getting quite old. And not like it’s movies or anything, it’s old Seinfeld dvd’s that I’ve already seen a million times. I’m just waiting for Thursday to get here so I can move the last of my stuff out of my house and be done with this place. That being said, prepare for an ultra boring post. I’m so bored, I don’t even want to think and attempt to be whitty…..the horror.

And you know what?

I  miss my dog.

It’s so lonely here without him, I can’t imagine not having a dog. I will be sitting on the couch, playing with my laptop expecting to see him right by my side. I even reach down to pet him but end up petting the couch which is a bit weird. But it my defense, it is microfiber and quite comfy.

Sigh, that was his last time on the blue couch. I’ve become crazy dog lady in the fact that in the past few days when I’m out and about I stop and want to pet and say hi to every dog I see the continue to tell them how much I miss my dog. Wtf am I gonna do when Linky goes to the other side?? I’m a wreck right now. They *may* have been incident at the DMV this morning as well. I was renewing my registration and the employee helping me had a picture of a white chihuahua in her cube. I asked her if her dog was full chihuahua, she said yes and I told her about dropping Lincoln off this weekend. She was all “Oh you poor thing” and I started to tear up and felt the tears coming. I held them back but I was that girl at the DMV—the girl crying about her dog because she misses him. Not crying about the fact that I don’t know where I’m moving. what I’m doing with my life, the fact that I’m going to be living with my parents for a few months but no-crying over Lincoln.

But I know he is having a  good time at grandma and popi’s house. He is a bit skiddish though so I’m hoping their yelling and screaming isn’t scaring him.

I took this picture when my dad and I  pulled into Starbucks the other day in Georgia. My mom stayed with Lincoln while we went to lunch since she wasn’t hungry. I was about to pee my pants from laughing when taking this picture, they look like a duo on the run or something. My mom doesn’t look that crazy usually so please disregard.

On the way home from dropping him off with the parentals, I cried and cried. I would stop, someone would call and ask me what I was doing then I would start crying again. But it was my shortest drive I’ve had in awhile compared to my trips to Florida and Indianapolis.

I reconnected with my old friend, Twizzlers.

I used to be addicted to these things and all of a sudden had a craving for them when we were at Wal-Mart in Commerce, GA on Friday night. The Wal-Mart was the place to be and we even got to see some drag races (with way too many confederate flags for my liking) in the parking lot.

I marveled at the goodies I snagged at the buffet at the Comfort Suites. Snagging stuff is one of the many reasons why I insist on carrying around a big purse everywhere I go. You never know what you’re going to run into it.

Also marveled at the price of gas in South Carolina

I’ve been cooling down with fro yo. When did TCBY get all trendy and jump on the self serve bus? I love it. My friend got mini chocolate raspberry truffles. I could have had an entire bowl of that alone. I got the orange crème and tar flavor and it was a great combination for a hot day.

I’ve been packing my balls off…..I don’t even know if that makes sense or not? I’ve been cleaning out my kitchen and going through the rest of the contents in my kitchen. Which has led to some interesting concoctions like this meal of raw cabbage and red pepper tossed in red wine vinegar, extra virgin olive oil, garlic, black pepper and salt topped with cooked pork loin. Funky? Yes. Surprisingly tasty yes? All this cabbage have me worrying that my bm’s are going to turn purple? Double yes.

I’ve been hitting up the gym each day mixing up cardio and strength training. I wish I could love cardio but I just don’t. I’ve been struggling to do 30 minutes consecutively while when I lift, feel like I can do it for hours on end. I was missing Lincoln last night and went for a  2.5 mile walk. I don’t know what I was thinking since it was sweltering outside but it felt good and it was a peaceful night. I got to walk through areas of my neighborhood I rarely walk through and check out the houses. Who knew walking burned as many calories as the elliptical?

And because I don’t have enough stress of moving cities, missing my dog and giving away all my stuff, I now have to deal with a damaged car. It was all my fault and just happy I didn’t get into an actual accident.  I was pulling into my friends driveway on Sunday and hit a metal squirrel sitting on a tree stump. The squirrel flew about six feet and that little db tore this part of the car apart (I have no clue what the technical name is since I’m not a car person). What gets me though is that I put in a claim to my insurance company and I have a $500 deductible for collision. I went to a few different body shops today and turns out it will be less than $200 to fix it so I canceled my claim as soon as I found that out. My insurance company was going to cover a rental car while it’s being fixed but the place I found with a reasonable rate told me that can get it done on Wednesday morning so I won’t have to postpone my trip. Hooray! Damn you insurance companies and your scam!

Meh. On one hand I’m happy I got my car inspected last week but on the other hand I’m not too excited with having one more thing to deal with on my last week here. 

Oi, this was a boring post, apologies friends. I keep waking up at 4am, am without dog, cable and tomorrow will be without furniture so I’m sure I will be a real treat for the next few days.

Please tell something exciting going on in your life!

Do you prefer cardio or strength training?

Around Athens

Attention all four legged friends and the people they own—Athens, GA is a very dog friendly city! Perhaps it’s the memories of penny pitches, fake ID’s or unhealthy food at your disposal any time of day…. but I love college towns. Especially college towns in the summer time when it’s not insanely packed and you can get a chance to walk around and check it out. A majority of restaurants/bars on Broad Street in Athens have patios right along the sidewalk where you can sit with your pooch. I guess I wouldn’t expect less seeing how University of Georgia’s mascot is UGA, the bulldog.

(source)

While looking for restaurants where I could bring Lincoln, I saw a few  places but when I looked at their menu, nothing popped out at me especially not at the prices they were offering. I read about De Palma’s and didn’t get a chance to check out their menu beforehand. When we stopped by there to check it out, we saw they had a lot of tables open on the patio with very reasonable prices.

We sat outside and thank god the patio was covered began the clouds were rolling in.

After sniffing out the patio, DePalma’s was Lincoln approved

We ordered right away since we were hungry and got some wine. A perfect way to spend a Friday afternoon.

We got some fresh bread out to us before we got our meal. There is nothing like fresh bread and olive oil!

Lincoln got a whiff of the bread right as the server brought it out. He wasn’t pawing at me or anything but you could tell he was intrigued.

Since it was June in Georgia and we were sitting outside, pasta or pizza was the last thing on my mind. I ordered the Insalata Cecilia-grilled shrimp, scallops, pineapple & tomatoes with feta over field greens with jalapeño–citrus vinaigrette

My mom and dad got a medium pizza with pepperoni and green peppers. As you can see, there is only half here. They brought it out that way. The reason being because my mom, Lincoln and I sat outside while my dad sat inside at the bar. No bad blood or anything, he was just hot. So was I but I had a fur baby to deal with. I guess he had prime seating location since he waved over the server when he saw them bringing out the pizza. So they gave him half and then brought out the remainder to my mom. This is how my family rolls. I tried a sliver of the pizza and wasn’t too impressed. The pizza was bogged down with sauce and make it soggy plus the sauce was very sweet.

Lincoln began to pout once he realized he wasn’t getting any food and wouldn’t respond to me when I called his name. So I did what any good dog mama would do and fed him a few pieces of pepperoni from the pizza. His admiration for me set in right away until yet again he realized he wasn’t getting anymore.

Torrential rain hit just as we were leaving so we walked Broad Street trying to find a patio to sit in until it passed. We ended up in the stairwell of a bar and watched the rain….and watched….and watched. 15 minutes later it finally started to let up and I saw something with the letters “YOG” I gave my mom my dog and bolted over there in hopes that it was fro yo.

Indeed it was fro yo, it was Yoguri.

I dug this location since it was a historic building just sooped up. However, I soon found it wasn’t my beloved self serve kind of place, it was a traditional fro yo kind of joint. Boo. It reminded me of a Pinkberry knockoff and I’m not a huge fan of the Pinkberry. But once I saw the fro yo, I had it on the brain and needed to get something there. I ordered the small green tea with blackberries and strawberries.

Ok, so they hooked up with the strawberries and blackberries but I definitely didn’t want all of that. When I have a fro yo craving, I want a little portion and craving gone, which is why I dig the self serve places. This SMALL portion cost $5.30. Mind you, it tasted wonderful but I could get a meal for that much (at a seedy place or the supermarket deli, not Ruth Chris of course)

I hope I get to go back to Athens one day…..with Lincoln of course!

If you went to college, did you go to a small or big school? I went to WVU, it has around 25,000 people when I went and the fact that it was voted #1 party school may have swayed my vote to go there just a little.

So long, farewell

Happy Friday all! No Frugal Friday post since I am getting ready to drive to Atlanta this morning to meet my parents. Atlanta is about four hours away from here and I am going to give them a bunch of my stuff to store in Florida while I’m traveling.

Including this

You all know how much I love Lincoln. He’s my little baby and my PIC (thanks Leila for the term I love it. That’s partner in crime for those who don’t know what it means!)

Originally, the plan was to travel around with Lincoln by my side but the more I thought about it, the idea of him going with my parents is the best choice. He won’t have to sit in a car for hours each day and be in environments that he is not familiar with. Plus my parents have an older dog who does exceptionally better when Lincoln is there since Lincoln keeps him on his toes. As my dad said “My you giving us Lincoln, you’re helping keep Mickey alive” Touche, pops.

Lincoln definitely knows somethings up. I only got four hours of sleep and just packed up the car and now he won’t even look at me in the eye.

I don’t know when I will see him again but it will be sometime in late July. So a month…..without my dog. I’ve cried enough this week because I will miss him so much but this is going to be the best for both of us. Besides, he gets to go party in Boca Raton, FL with another dog, a pool and a house with people who are there to rub his belly. It could definitely be worse.

I’m not the only one who’s going to miss him, the paparazzi will!

But more to come on that later, I got to hit the road.

Hope you all are having a better Friday than I am, I’m a wreck right now. I’m going to miss my pup