Another day, you know the rest

It was quite lonely today. Really the only people in the office are the owner (who is on vaca) and receptionist who is “training” me and goes on vaca tomorrow. I use the term training very loosely since there isn’t a lot to learn. I answer the phone and take messages. Easy enough right? Not when they stick me in an office with no phone. That’s right no phone computer or even chair, good times. They finally brought me a chair and with that they gave  me some work. I was so excited to use this little brain o’ mine and was ready to give my all to the filing, stamping and places labels on files chores they gave me. Too bad that only took 15 mins to get through. At least I wasn’t alone, I had a rubber duck to keep me company.

Because every office should have a rubber duck yes? Don’t worry I haven’t gone Castaway-mad yet and started talking to him. But there is six more days left on this assignment so let’s not rule it out.

Hmmmm…what could I do next? I needed to me challenged and think a little so I contemplated if my shoes were really black like I thought they were to match my skirt or brown like the sole is.

After much debate (umm with myself) I decided they were black. Hope I’m right because I’ve been rocking them with black capris and skirts! Lunch was another lonely one….in my car. I don’t believe they have a lunch room here (or they haven’t shown me) and I wanted to get out of the office and possibly see the sun but not be in it so it was me and a salad.

Things didn’t get steamy between us however I added grated parmesan to the salad which made a world of difference. Who knew?

When I got back, I read  my latest issue of Ray Ray  in hopes of some inspiration for meals because my cooking been pretty much non existent this week.

It worked however it left me wanting to eat my own hand since I was starving.
And can we just say holy airbrushing skills batman? She is one of those people I can’t watch on tv but I love her recipe books, magazine, etc. Like Giada, she has become too animated and a wee bit obnoxious over the years and as her fame has risen.

(source)

When I got home, I was ready to chow down but remembered the whole lack of cooking thing going on. So with that, I had nothing prepared except chopped veggies and salad mix and today is not a day I wanted to double down on salad. My parents said they would go out for me if I wanted to eat out and I am not one to turn down a free meal so we got in the car and went to Pei Wei. I ordered my standard tofu pad thai and the portion size seemed a lot bigger compared to the one in Charlotte.

But something didn’t taste right. I am all about the peanut sauce but there was too much on this and the environment was throwing me off. This Pei Wei was one of the loudest I’ve ever been to. We were sitting a table in the middle and I couldn’t even hear my parents talking across the table from me. I kept saying “Huh? I can’t hear you” and tried to have a few bites before taking the rest to go. I thought I was going to drop by the time we got home, I was tired, cranky and had a headache but powered through and went for a 5.2mile bike ride.

Who’s your favorite celebrity chef? Rocco DiSpirito all the way!

Anyone have some fun, work appropriate websites I can go to? I finally got a computer but am trying to not overdue it with the websites.

Almost a free day

I’ve been getting into my normal routine of running around with entering crisis mode from moving.

On Thursday I went to Dilworth Coffee since I had a $15 Groupon to blow through. However, there was a catch, the Dilworth Coffee location was in Concord whereas I thought it was the one a few blocks away from me. Since Concord is about a 20 minute drive, I decided to make a day trip out of it (can you tell I don’t like to travel too far when I am in Charlotte?)

I started there and ordered 12 oz of their cinnamon hazelnut coffee. I Usually get their Morehead Estate ground coffee but wanted to try something different since it would be super cheap to. The barista there was awesome and took the time to ask me what I like and what the difference is between the different roasts they have. Since I was mixing it up already, I followed with my drink. I got an iced skim chai latte and it was delish and dare I say, the best I’ve ever had?

I brought my laptop so I could work on some internship stuff and parked it for about two hours. It was just the right level of volume since it was mid morning and no kids or hipsters were there, yay.

What I liked about this location was that it had a true coffeehouse feel to it. What is a true coffeehouse you ask? I’m not sure but if I were to think of one in my mind, it would be spacious with comfy seats, eclectic décor, local artwork, chill music with a variety of brews. And that was indeed Dilworth Coffee in Concord.

I saw some interesting sights on the road shortly after while heading to the next stop of the day:

What the hell is this, the Bob Marley Express?

And I love that the Charlotte Fire Department digs Shrek but what about Donkey?

The next stop was The Last Word, a used book/cd/dvd store that’s opened this past year. I have a bunch of books that I am giving away to the thrift stores but I thought I would check with them first to see if they would buy any back.

If someone could tell me why there is a Christmas tree in the bathroom,I  would love to know the story.

After what seemed like forever, my name finally appeared on the monitor. They put it on the screen when your order is ready instead of the traditional calling your name over the loudspeaker. I was about to reach my boiling point because the guy told me it would be about 30 minutes and when mine was finally ready it was over an hour. I’m very impatient, it’s one of my “flaws” (who are we kidding, it’s the only flaw I have!) however if you give me a realistic time frame, I can schedule accordingly and go somewhere else or go grab lunch. I went back to the counter and they only bought a few dvd’s and books from me which came to $19 in store credit or $9 cash. I found a couple of cd’s and a book so I took the credit and I still had some leftover for my next visit.

When that was settled, I went to Thai House for lunch. They have lunch specials for $7-$10 and I am always down for some chicken pad thai.

It was a huge portion for only $7 and with that you get a spring roll and soup. However it helps when the server greets you on their own free will and remembers the soup. Definitely not the best pad thai I’ve had in Charlotte but it did the job.

Do you go to used bookstores to sell or buy books? Do you have a Kindle/Nook or prefer old school books? 

I like to go to used bookstores to sell my books (and cd’s and dvds if they buy them) because most of the time they are locally owned businesses. I am old school all the way, I don’t think I could do the whole electronic book thing…or could I?

Around Lakeview

Thursday was a free day for me since my friend who I stayed with had to work. I slept on their ultra comfy couch and played with their cute pup before making my way around Lakeview.

Seriously, how adorable is he? If I move to Chicago, him and Lincoln are going to be besties.

They had a french press but I’ve never operated one of those before and I’m always afraid that if I mull around other peoples homes, I’ll break something or something will catch on fire.so I got dolled up and made my way to stop #1 of the day.

Do I even have to say where that was?

If there was a Buckies, yo I’ll find it. Ok, not really difficult since there are everywhere but I used my Buckies Sense to find it.  I sat outside, people watched and tried to warm up since it was a bit chilly out. The view of Wrigley Field didn’t hurt either. I imagine there’s a lot more going on there during a game day but it was fun to see everything up close.

Even the field, it was right there.

Just me, the pigeon and Wrigley

 

I consulted Yelp to find somewhere for lunch and found a place with cheap lunch specials-Asian Mix Cafe.

 

 

 

 

 

When I read they had lunch specials, I was a bit skeptical. But turns out they do have cheap lunch specials. And I’m talking cheap—not only for my budget in Charlotte…..but also in Chicago! $6.50 gets you soup or salad, a mini appetizer portion and lunch entrée. I went with my safety dish of chicken pad thai along with soup and vegetable pot stickers.

I was the only person in this place and everything came out quickly. So quickly, the soup, vegetable pot stickers and pad thai all came out together.

Seriously, all that food for $6.50 and tax? Sign me up! Also sign me up to start reading signs by the cashier register that say you need to make a $10 purchase to pay with a card (which I later learned establishments aren’t allowed to do that hmmmm)  I had to bring my tab up so I got something completely new to me- a strawberry bubble tea smoothie

It was good but I was confused about the little dark things floating in it. I asked the lady and she said that they were tapioca pearls. Interesting. I chewed on a few and did not like it. I’ve never chewed on flesh but I imagine that is what flesh would chew like. If you have chewed on flesh, please do not comment, I really don’t wanna know.

I made my way around the area, taking it all in. I love the Lakeview area and with the El being right near me, it reminded me of a mini NYC.

Soon, I found my next stop at-Emerald City Coffee

No munchkins, sigh. I sat, enjoyed their somewhat slow Wi-fi, drank my coffee and watched the people go by. Breath of fresh air is the best term that I can think of. I absolutely adore the diversity of people here. No one looks the same, I haven’t seen one man in khakis, there’s handfuls of crazies, languages I’ve never heard before, people of all ages, nice people, not so nice people, etc.

And the men? GOOD LORD the men! I haven’t seen this many hotties in awhile and again-breath of fresh air.

Yes, Lakeview, I think we will be seeing each other very soon……

When on vacation, do you go out and explore on your own or like to have a set plan of things you want to see? I’m not one who abides by a schedule, I love to go out on my own and explore!

Have you tried bubble tea?

Why hello there Pennsylvania

Greetings from the Keystone state! Lincoln and I made it to our final destination (read: Pittsburgh, not death) last night around 830P and it was one long day!

I woke up earlier than planned on Wednesday so I packed the car, made sure everything was turned off (because even though I have an awesome memory, I can’t tell you if I turned my curling iron off or not) and were soon on the road.

I picked up a bagel + cream cheese from Brueggers with my free coupon and a Death charge from Caribou. A death charge is basically a redeye-a coffee with a shot of espresso also with it. Plus I like saying Death charge, I feel really bad ass when doing so (or feel like I am a Star Wars fanatic)

I love the marketing person for Caribou, their napkins and cups always bring a smile to my face

As soon as I knew it, it seemed like we were in WV, the border is only three hours away but I always feel like it should take longer. Lincoln was relaxed, I had some good jams playing and it was an all around gorgeous day.

Lincoln and I stepped out at the New River Gorge Bridge Visitors Center  to get some fresh air and take a look at the scenic view. I’ve driven by this a number of times but I’ve never stopped so no time like the present, right?

And it was a bit windy out

Soon, we were in Summersville, WV to meet up with one of my friends from college who lives there. Um, there’s not a lot going on in Summersville so when I suggested meeting up for lunch, she asked if Bob Evans was ok. I am not a huge fan of the chain restaurants but A) They aren’t too many non chain places in Summersville B) I haven’t been to Bob Evans since my college days and was excited to me reunited with Bobby.

I got the same thing I got eight or so years ago, the Wildfire Chicken Salad.

It was as delicious as I remembered it and I really like how they offer a savory size if you don’t want a full salad.

I got schooled in the bathroom

Seriously, how I am 31 and didn’t know this? You bet your ass I’ll be singing this from now on!

After that, we stopped by Wal Mart so I could find some WVU gear for cheap. I refuse to go to the bookstore in Morgantown and spend $30 on a t-shirt. That is just insane. So I stuck to my frugal ways and checked out Wal Mart but sadly, they didn’t have anything. I did find some nifty Nicholas County gear (the county where Summersville is located) and was nothing short of excited

Lincoln and I hit the road yet again after that and our next stop was Morgantown, where WVU is located and about two hours north of Summersville.

I went to Morgantown and was happy to see it was a ghost town. Hooray for them being out on spring break because I honestly could not deal with more traffic at this point. It was so surreal, driving around and seeing how everything had changed from the time I’ve been there. The old, crappy house I used to live in was finally condemned and driving down frat row brought a smile to my face. Oh to be young and very stupid again!

I met up with one of my sorority sisters who lives in town and we went to Lavender Cafe. This is a newer place and is located where a Chinese take out place used to be. It’s very unassuming but quite cozy when you walk in, decked out with a lavender door and all and was hopping for a Tuesday night in Morgantown while the area was under a tornado watch. Oh, I forgot that part, didn’t I? Yeah, we just won’t even go there with how the driving went. 

I liked their menu because not only was it one type of Asian cuisine–they had Thai, Chinese and Japanese food. My friend said their sushi was amazing and as you all know, I am team sushi all the way however I didn’t feel so confident about ordering sushi in Morgantown. I’m a sushi snob, there I said it! Not feeling like a gambler, I stuck with old faithful and got the Chicken Pad Thai.

It doesn’t look like much but the portion sizes were out of control–so much food in such a small plate. I ate every bite up and couldn’t have been happier. It was one of the best pad thai’s I ever had and they even listened to me when I said I liked it spicy. The spice was there but didn’t overtake the peanut flavor which happens most of the time with me.

My friend got the Godzilla Roll and I admit, when I saw it I had a bit of food envy. I tried and roll and again, it was fabulous. In the off chance one of you is ever in Morgantown, WV, I highly suggest Lavender Cafe!

About an hour and a half later, we were finally in Pittsburgh at my friend’s apartment and greeted with a much-needed glass (ok, three glasses) of homemade Sangria

The flowers on the glass matches her tattoo if you’re wondering about the picture.

And mimosa cupcakes! The way to my heart is via coffee, sushi or sweets so I had to try one. If I didn’t I would be a rude guest and I am all about the manners. Plus combining two tasty items like mimosas and cupcakes doesn’t hurt either.

They fantastic with a moist cake and sugary sweet frosting. My friend is an amazing baker and I seriously need to take some tips from her. She does birthday and wedding cakes on the side so if any of you Pittsburgh peeps need someone to baker some goodies for you, let me know and I’ll get you her info.

After I scarfed down the cupcake, I had to check on little Lincoln to see how he was doing with his surroundings. Lincoln is very skiddish (but not Yiddish) and gets nervous around new folks and places. I looked and found him prancing around sniffing the heck out of everything and getting used to his new home for the next few days.

As for this morning, even though it’s my “vacation”, I woke up at 5A. WTF? I couldn’t get back to sleep so figured I may as well roll with it and start the day. Lincoln was right by my side and did his early morning stretching to wake up

And then that is when my life changed forever thanks to this contraption.

*Enter in a choir of angels singing*

Ok, so I’ve heard about the Keurig, how amazing it is, blah blah blah but just thought everyone who told me that full of it. My friend showed me how to use it last night and I needed some coffee this morning and here we were. She had a nice selection of coffees o try ranging from Caribou to Kona to Emeri’s coffee but I settled on this

I waited for it to warm up, dropped the coffee cartridge in  (not sure if that’s the real name but I like how that sounds) and pressed the button and it started brewing

Less than two minutes later, I had a cup of hot coffee in my hands

Bottom line: I need a Keurig in my life. STAT!

Do you have a Keurig?
Is there anything you’re a snob about? For me, I am  definitely a sushi snob and kind of a coffee snob as well.

 

An update

Hey all–glad you all  are entering the I Love My Dog bumper sticker contest—I absolutely love hearing about everyone’s dogs so keep em coming! Lots going on so I am going to attempt to categorize this and make it light and easy

On the food front: A whole lotta randomness has been happening. With the weather getting nice out (you know, since it’s February and all) I’ve been craving less than stellar stuff….like nachos. However, it’s rare that I have tortilla chips at home seeing that I can plow through an entire bag in one sitting. So what to do when a girl wants nachos and doesn’t have tortilla chips? Make her own!

Instead of brushing with extra virgin olive oil like I normally do, I sprayed with vegetable oil non stick spray then sprinkled black pepper on them. I popped them in the oven and cooked for about 12 minutes at 350 degrees.

This was a terrific way to make nachos in a pinch and did the trick for me!

Friday was a stressful day at work. I was running late plus we had a two-hour training to get to from 10A to noon–who does that? What kind of masochist schedules meetings and trainings on a Friday? I just don’t get it plus Friday is my day to catch up on stuff and tie up loose ends. I turned to old faithful to relieve some stress—a gyro and crinkle cut fries from Showmars.

Oh Beatles even though I love you so, I beg to differ, sometimes all you need is grease.

A new sweet treat I’ve been having lately is a chocolate Vita Top topped with Pumpkin Spice topping from Smuckers.

I bought the topping some time ago on clearance and completely forgot it. When scouring my cabinets I found it but had no clue what I was going to do with it since I rarely have ice cream at home (their fate ends the same was as tortilla chips)

Do I need to say how delicious this is or does the picture do it justice?

Another sweet treat that I indulged in this weekend?

SHAMROCK SHAKE!!!!!

Can I get a holla?

Yep, that Shamrock shake didn’t live to see five minutes of life on this earth. I slurped it down in record time….and without brain freeze thank you very much. Last year, I didn’t have success with finding a Shamrock shake so you can imagine how excited I was to find one this year! When going through the drive thru, I told the employee at the window how happy I was about the Shamrock shake and he told me that he was happy for me and I quote “Your hair looks good, boo” Just what I needed to hear after getting my hair done. Love. Now the question is, when am I going to have my next Shamrock shake?

Shortly after, I had plans to go day drinking so my friend picked me up and we had plans to go to Angry Ale’s since I had a Groupon for $20 worth of food

We thought it was a little odd when we drove up no one was out on the patio on such a beautiful day. I guess we didn’t hear about the fire that happened there back in January. Oops, sorry Angry Ale’s! And for those of you who know how frugal I am, don’t worry, I already contact Groupon and got a refund!

We ended up going down the street to Brazwell’s.

There is when we had some real nachos.

Those nachos but my mock nachos to shame.

I went with the buffalo shrimp as my main course. Why am I saying main course? It was 3pm on a Saturday on a patio where I was enjoying $2 Coors Lights. I guess I am too lazy to change it, yes, that’s what it is.

The crowd started to get a little too early 20’s, pastel colored popped collar crowd (i.e. the reason why I cannot date in this godforsaken city)  soon after so we headed to Dilworth Neighborhood Grill to let the day drinking commence.

I guess Coors Light is currently the “it” beer because there too it was only two bones. Or maybe they think Coors Light just sucks and they were trying to get rid of it. Lucky for them, I will drink cheap beer. I actually prefer Natty Light over some others.

I was just really happy to be back in dress-wearing weather. It felt nice not having to bundle up in layers and rocking some sandals.

I love day drinking, I prefer it over night drinking actually. Of course the sad thing is that day drinking must come to an end at some point unless you live in Alaska. I hate the transition from day-to-night drinking like when you’re at a bar day drinking, a couple of hours pass, you walk outside then boom, it’s night-time. It always catches me off guard as if I don’t know the night is coming or something.

I indulged in some shrimp pad thai with shrimp from Noodles & Company. I wasn’t too impressed with their pad thai, it was more meh than anything. But then again, I really wasn’t expecting anything authentic from Noodles & Company when it comes to Asian fare. I got the shrimp pad thai and there was some chicken in it–good for me, bad if I was a vegetarian.

I had some oats with Pumpkin Spice topping + baked apple+cinnamon+flax seed

Holy deliciousness!

Roast beef sub with potato salad

On Sunday night, I made an interesting new dinner!

First I cooked some baby carrots in the crockpot for five hours on low with water and 1/4 cup brown sugar

Then the main event–cooking a whole chicken

I’ve never cooked one before so this was a new experience. I took it out of the packaging and just stared at it—what was I supposed to do with it?

I quickly googled what to do with an entire chicken and realized I had to reach inside and pull out the innards. Gross. Don’t worry, no pictures of that b.c I put on some gloves, grabbed it then tossed it in the trash.

I patted the chicken dry then rubbed with extra virgin olive oil, garlic, parsley and green onions

I cooked at 400 degrees for a little over an hour. Having a meat thermometer would have been extremely helpful

Such a beautiful bird! Luckily, it was cooked all the way through just right.

Dare I say, this was one of the best chicken dishes I’ve ever made. Having the bone in makes such a difference with the flavor and makes it more succulent. The seasonings I added were simple but just enough to make my senses come alive!

Exercise wise: I went to the gym on Friday night and did 45 minutes on the Precor AMT then did some upper body exercises such as lateral pull down, chest press, row and deltoid row

On Sunday, I attended  a free  Combat Cardio class at Dick Harrell’s Martial Arts studio courtesy of Yelp.

I was a little nervous to go to the class after watching the videos–this looked like another CrossFit type of class. But I am always up for a free class and mixing it up from my normal regime.

We started out with a little jog then ran in a circle inside while people with in the middle individually and practiced kicks, jabs and crossover jabs.

Then we partnered up (I had the same partner at my CrossFit class so it was good to work with someone who I’ve worked with before) and there were five station rotations-burpees ,  sit up passes (with a 12 lb medicine ball), wall squats (with a 15 lb medicine ball) sprinting (with a resistance band while your partner pulls against you) and kicking. Not that that is exhausting enough but we did that set four times in a row which totally kicked my ass. I can say with certainty that I hate burpees and surprisingly enough, the sprinting was my favorite. I now have parts of my body hurting that I never thought could hurt but it’s a good hurt if that makes sense? Plus I had a pretty sweet calorie burn–thanks Yelp for sponsoring this–I am looking into going to more classes there!

Job wise: Work still sucks. Even though Monday was a bank holiday I went in for a couple of hours just to get stuff done. I will be putting in my two weeks notice in April so I can get a good reference (hopefully?) then ride out the rest of my lease. I have plans to check out Pittsburgh at the end of March. I have a bunch of friends who live there, hear it’s a fun city, near WVU where I went to college and is cheaper to live than Charlotte. I’ve been looking into what I will do financially and think I am going to take out some of my 401K–just enough that I will be able to live off of and then still have a nice portion left so I can roll over into a rollover IRA. Still working on paying off my one credit card I have and paying extra on my student loans and car loan.

So yep, that’s what’s going on over here–a busy and full weekend!

Have you ever cooked a whole chicken?
Anyone else having gorgeous weather?? I am confused how it’s 70 and sunny in February but I’m actually enjoying it!

Playing with aubergine

 The rest of snow day turned out to be a nice, relaxing day-just what I needed! My manager called me around noon to let me know the entire office may be shut down today since we have more snow and freezing rain coming our way so I had to call in today to see if I would have to go in or not.

The verdict?

We are on a delay but supposed to go in at 10AM but that may change.

I have to stay up (since there’s no way I am going back to bed now) and call back at 8AM to see if that still holds true. I am watching the news and they are saying how the Department of Transportation is recommending everyone stay off the road but I guess the bank wants us to risk our lives and go in. Yay.

Blah.

As for yesterday–I was starting to get a little cabin fever around lunch time. I’ve stayed in the house for that long before it’s just when I feel confined that I start to go crazy and what to do something. What better to do than a strength training session to get some blood pumping?

Kettlebell-20 lbs

Upright Deltoid Rows (13 reps, 3 sets)

Shrugs (13 reps, 3 sets)

Bentover Row (13 reps, 3 sets)

Lateral Bench Press (13 reps, 3 sets)

One Armed Swings (12 reps, 3 sets)

Swings (13 reps, 4 sets)

Around the worlds (25 reps, 3 sets)

Dumbbell-15 lbs

Front Lateral Raise (13 reps, 3 sets)

Reverse Fly (13 reps, 3 sets)

Curls (13 reps, 3 sets)

Shoulder Press (13 reps, 3 sets)

Misc.

Push Ups (15 reps, 2 sets)

I haven’t used my heart rate monitor in awhile since it was acting funky on me this summer. But since I am started to track my calories again, I put it on and turns out I had a fabulous workout!

I refueled with leftover pad thai afterwards.

I could seriously eat pad thai every single day. And what is it about pad thai that makes it even better leftover?

The official plate cleaner was on hand to assist with little scraps that I didn’t get to.

Target was so kind as to send me this lovely gift card in the mail. I thought the Postal Service would’ve been shut down but they really hold up to their neither rain nor sleet nor snow creedo.

You’re so sweet Target. Even though I am in your demographic of people who should be having kids, the only way one’s popping out of me is if it’s an immaculate conception. If anyone is preggers or is planning on it in the near future -let me know, I’ll send this over to you. The mailman also brought me over the latest issue of Food Network to redeem themselves for the baby registry gift card

Then,  I baked. As many of you know, I am not a baker but felt the urge to bake with it being cold and snowy out. It just seemed right. I have a surplus of coconut on hand and went to Allrecipes.com to look up recipes. I love that they have a page that allows you to put in items you want or don’t want in your recipe and generates recipes for you! I came upon this recipe for Chewy Coconut Cookies and figured it seemed quick and easy and got to baking!

I halved the measurements since I only wanted a few cookies so I made six then froze the rest (thanks Mo for the tip!). I am sure they were supposed to look prettier but let’s be honest, I really don’t care what a cookie looks like–I only care about how they taste. These were soft, chewy and full of coconut. The only thing that would have made it better was if it was dipped in chocolate. Hooray for cookie success!

For dinner, I wanted to get my eggplant on.

(source)

When I get an eggplant, I usually make lasagne, mix in with pasta, use as a topping on pizza or eggplant parmesan but I wanted to try something different. I remembered a recipe for stuffed eggplant one of my former co-workers told me about some time ago. I didn’t write it down but made my own little creation of stuffed eggplant with mushrooms, onions, pepper and quinoa.

I gutted out the eggplant then chopped the inner into pieces

Then chopped 1/4 onion, one cup mushrooms and orange pepper, sprinkled Spike seasoning on the veggies then cooked with extra virgin olive oil until soft (had 1/2 cup quinoa cooking at the same time)

Once both were done, I mixed together then scooped into the eggplant pieces.

 I thought it looked a little lonely so I sprinkled  shredded mozzarella on top

Then placed in a casserole dish coated with extra virgin olive oil and bake for 30 minutes at 400 degrees

Up close and personal baby

Chowed that sucker down! A nice veggie alternative for another round of meatless Monday.

Hope everyone has a great Tuesday. At least I got yesterday after work, you can’t beat two four-day work weeks in ar ow! Any time I can not be off at work is a good time!

Ps–I  added a new page for Frugal Friday! Please check it out if you have missed my Frugal Friday posts in the past, it offers some tips and finds that I have found in the past month.

Big on the Pig

So, I feel if I eat anymore pig at this point, I am going to explode. But it may just be work it with the good eats I’ve had the past couple of days! Work has been super stressful the last two days, we have had one person out for the past week and a half. On top of that, I rolled into work yesterday and another girl was sick and my manager came right over to my desk when I walked in and told me she was leaving because her mother in law passed away the night before. Oi Vey! It’s like one bad thing keeps happening to our team plus we have some of our highest volumes EVER so it’s a tad frustrating at this point.

Good thing I can now sleep in later, have my morning cup of joe and make breakfast at home instead of scarfing it down at my desk. I present, pig eat #1

Egg, cheese, ham and avocado sandwich on a whole wheat bagel thin. Talk about a filling and somewhat nutritious meal. This kept me full for a while and I am a fan of that

Leftover pad thai from Monday for lunch from Thai Thai. It was actually good this time, much to my surprise. I think it had to do something with the sauce , when I got it on Monday it was super soupy and think it overrode every other flavor.

A peach that did not come from a can…..that was put there by a man….in a factory downtown. Sheesh, I remember seeing Presidents of the USA in concert when I was 16 and now that I think of that, I feel old.

Work dragged on and I felt like it would never end. However, I did get everything done and left in time to meet up with some other ladies at the Cajun Queen, a New Orleans themed restaurant here in Charlotte that I’ve been wanting to check out for a long time!

Blackened Catfish with garlic mashed potatoes and broccoli. Go me for keeping it kinda healthy! I was proud of myself for not getting A) Pig or B) a dish with a cream sauce because I love me anything roux. This was good but nothing out of this world. I personally like stuff really spicy and it has a kick but no distinct flavors popped out. One of the other girls, got the Diane Chicken (Mushrooms, garlic, butter, green onions, parsley and Queen’s Magic spices) and it was fabulous, I would try that if I was to go there again.

Pig eat # 2 was this morning

Omelet with cheese, avocado and ham. Another satisfying breakfast……and Chris Cuomo was on GMA this morning!

I don’t know what it is about this man but he just knocks my socks off, rawr

I am not into spiders at all but am really diggin this spider web in front of my place

Catfish with quinoa topped with mushrooms, peppers and zucchini. I am loving the quinoa (so much more than brown rice at least) and can’t wait to make more creations with it!

I was supposed to meet up with one of my girlfriends to go walk our dogs after work but after the day I had, two words came to mind.

DRINKS

NOW!!

I had a Groupon for $30 for Icehouse South End, a relatively new restaurant near home. I’ve heard mixed things about this place off of Yelp but already had $30 worth of food and drinks (yes you could use this Groupon for liquor—score!) so why not try it out?

Carolina Strawberry for only $2? Sign me up. I’ve had the Carolina Blonde before but never this one and was pleasantly surprised. A subtle, refreshing strawberry flavor with it that went down nicely. I guess the fact that it was only $2 helped it go down easily as well.

My friend already ate and as much as I wanted to, we didn’t think we would be able to drink $30 worth of beer because I am not 21 anymore and have this little thing called work in the morning.

Chips and Salsa with queso dip. The queso was out-friggin-standing. I joked around that I wanted to just take my straw and slurp it up (I was joking but 75% serious!)

Pig eat #3

Large pulled pork plate with fries and cole slaw. It was like a little baby pig on a plate—-sorry to any vegetarians but look at the size of it! I got the large plate so we could get up to the $30 mark and so I could have leftovers. I had all of the fries because if I ever have a meal with fries, they are the first thing to go. I can’t start on anything else on my plate until they are gone since i am weird like that. The cole slaw was great—it wasn’t mayo based at all but a vinegar based one which I am a huge fan of. I had a few bites of the pork but boxed pretty much all of it up so I can enjoy this wknd.

 

Saranac Pomegranate Wheat. I feel like I’ve had my vitamins for the day through my strawberry and pomegranate infused beer-go me! And who doesn’t love a beer that has a bear juggling pomegranates? That right there? Is just fun.

All in all, I really enjoyed this place. The service was good, fairly priced food and I believe they had a beer selection of over 200 beers. Word on the street (ok or their website) is that they have some pretty good drink specials also like $4 Margaritas on Tuesdays, which I would totally check out. More so than $1 Margaritas at San Antonio’s, blech.

I looooooove the view of the Duke building from South End!

On that note, I am outta here—hope everyone had a fabulous thirsty Thursday like I did!

I’m back!

If you’re expecting a post with healthy alternatives to road and vacation food, workouts, etc., keep clicking. This weekend was one of indulgence, laziness and stretch capri’s 🙂 I left for Indiana on Saturday and got back this afternoon and am completely wiped. The drive turned out to be 10 hours each way instead of 9 hours but on the flip side, Lincoln was a good boy the whole  way. 

I am currently going through a love/hate thing with Google Maps. I just got the application on my phone and love that you can see where you are, map things out (duh), etc. I use my phone for texting, calling and Internet but use the applications once in a blue moon. But no more–I am completely addicted to the Google Maps app. However at the same time, I really want to write a rude letter to Google Maps. I put directions into Google Maps on Thursday before I left and put in “give me fastest route” and that one was taking me through VA, WV, OH into IN. Perfect. I’ve driven into WV thousands of time and am comfortable with it. My past experience with Ohio driving though hasn’t been so great. Anyways, that’s another story for another time. What happened is, Google Maps brough me into Ohio on a non interstate road that was also a local road and had a business route. It didn’t connect me to a major interstate or tell me where to pick up the closest interstate highway so I drove on this road the entire way across Ohio. I thought I was going to murder someone. I saw I could pick up I-70 in Richmond. Indiana and was so excited-yay civilization!

I didn’t take too many pictures of food this wknd but will give the highlights of the wknd.

 

Anytime I go to Indianapolis, I have to go to Cafe Patachou. We went to Petite Chou this time in Broad Ripple (my fave area of Indianapolis). If you’re ever in Indianapolis, please check this place out. They have locations throughout the city along with one in the airport. Their breakfast and brunch is amazing (although I’ve always wanted to try their dinner but never get there for it. But maybe Ashley has tried it?and their coffee is to die for.

Animal made an appearance

I had the Broken Yolk Petite Chou on Sourdough Bread with sautéed mushrooms, brie and a fruit cup

I’ve been to Costco a few times in my life and always see the picture of the berry sundae at the food stand but am always too full from a hot dog and soda. Sunday was the day to finally try it

OH

MY

GOD

I think I may join Costco just so I can get these on the regular!

Coming back today, we got stuck in a bit of traffic right near the Kentucky/Tennessee border. Lincoln woke up and  hopped in my lap to drive for a  bit while it was bumper to bumper.

hehe

 I had Wendy’s for lunch. I haven’t gotten one of their real burgers in forever. If I do go there, I get the Jr Bacon Cheeseburger but I got the single with cheese and it was absolutely amazing.

Mamma Jamma in front of me? That’s what I like to think at least.

Who knew Tennessee was so pretty?

I even had some time tonight to get to the supermarket, buy some veggies and make a couple of salads for work this wk. I need to pick up some extra veggies when the hippies are out tomorrow because I ran into a co-worker when I was there. I think it’s so weird to see co-workers out in the real world and realize they too have a life. That threw me off a little bit and was kinda out of sorts after that. Anyone else like that?

Despite going to the supermarket, I was really craving some pad thai and gave Thai Thai another chance. I tried Thai Thai for the first time a few weeks ago and didn’t have the best experience but I am one of those people who gives people….and places a second chance. Last time  when I ordered from there, I got it spicy so this time I tried a spice level of 1with tofu (which killed me since I like it hot) and it still wasn’t good.

The best I can explain is that the peanut sauce tastes chalky and void of the regular flavor I’d had when eating the pad thai. But still, since I am frugal, will be eating the leftover this wk.

 And with that, I’m off. I am about to drop from the drive today and getting back into my normal groove of things. Thanks everyone who emailed to check if I was alive 🙂 Hope everyone’s weeks are off to a great start and as always-staying cooler. People who say global warming doesn’t exist can officially go suck it.

PS-Anyone see this video Pennsylvania Guys? It’s a take off of California Gurls, which I officially cannot stand after hearing it 538 times this weekend.

Muffins In Your Bag

Happy Hump Day! I am in a great mood because it feels like a Monday for me so excuse me if I am so happy. I took a new bus line to work and I was a little nervous. 1) Because it’s the local line as opposed to the express line. On the express line, we had cushioned seats, A/C and heat and looked like a charter bus. The local line? Well, it isn’t a charter bus, I can tell you that! Plastic cold seats with some sketchy characters on it so it gets an A+ for people watching. And the driver looked like this guy!

I love celebrity lookalikes. I almost wanted to start singing to him”Where would I be without youuuuuuu?” Well, I know the answer—the bus stop! Hahahahahah!

 When I got into work today our systems were down so that definitely was NOT the way to start the day for me. And I hate when people send out an email saying our systems aren’t working then when you walk in and haven’t even had a chance to set your stuff down, they come over to tell you it’s not working and they sent an email letting you and others know. WTF. Really? So you’re coming over to tell me what you emailed me about already? And after I am coming back to work after being off for four days so I probably have hundreds of emails to answer before looking at yours? Hello frustration, it’s nice to see you again.

At least I had Animal with me

Apparently, I had Animal sitting around in my old apartment and I threw him in my purse so that’s his new home. I think he is going to start going with me everywhere so look for him in pics. He may even become little a hidden Mickey and you will have to try to spot him in pics!

Lunch was leftover Pad Thai from the other night

One of my older co-workers came over to my desk and just said “I put some muffins in your bag” and I looked at her very perplexed as to what she was talking about it. I thought she was doing a little drug deal or something and got the wrong person and that was the code phrase. Little did I know she was talking about my lunch bag in the break room and muffins she made this wknd. She’s so sweet—she knows by the size of my butt I love the baked goods and made some lemon cream cheese muffins this wknd. 

 Inspired by Ja Rule earlier this morning, I got up and started breaking it down and rapping it “I put the muffins in your bag, put the the the the muffins in your bag” and even dropped it like its hot. She laughed at me and I love her for that b/c she is what I strive to be like when I am older. She’s in her mid fifties but has a garden, loves cold beer and wine, wears her funky jewelry and cusses. I always tell her I want to be like her when I am older and she almost smacks me each time I say that.

Oh yeah, guess I should show pics of the lovely muffins

 Another celebrity lookalike on the way home! This chick looked like a younger Frances Conroy (the mom from Six Feet Under)

Dinner was Black Bean, Mushroom and Pork Tacos topped with Avocado and Tomato

I broke into my Goya Recaito Cilantro Sauce. I saw this on Bikini By 30 last month ago and was intrigued since I love the ethnic dishes and love sauces.

I cooked both the black beans and mushrooms in it along with some chili powder and garlic and cooked the pork in Recaito sauce alone

Topped with Trader Joe’s Salsa Authentica…..love this stuff! I prefer their pineapple or mango salsa but seeing that I can down a jar of it in one sitting, I try not to buy it too often.

Delicioso!

Before I end this, I forgot about a perturbing part of my day. I have really funky dreams sometimes which I am used to by now. But last night was a really weird one involving another blogger, Mari.

Looks sweet and wouldn’t hurt a fly right? In my dream—big WRONG! I dreamed she was a serial killer but it was more like a Dexter-esque situation where she was taking out the bad guys. I remember that and how I was talking with her in a parking garage (which I hate parking garages because they are creepy and someone always gets murdered in them in the movies) and she was telling me how she wanted to stop but couldn’t. So thanks for not killing me in my dream, Mari! When I told her this morning that she was a serial killer in my dream, she asked if she had a theme song! I was like “WTF?” when I read this but she said that if she were ever to be a serial killer (not that she would ever choose to be one nor do I believe it’s in her genes if that’s your school of thought) her theme song would be “Itsy Bitsy Spider” and that just made me laugh because I never really thought what  my serial killer theme song would be. And a question that I have never asked in my life—–What would your serial killer theme song be?

Tonight was pretty quiet. Lincoln and I headed out for a walk and I wasn’t expecting us to go too far but we ended up going on a two-mile walk and getting our cardio in. Poor little guy was lagging on the way back but he was a trooper and kept prancing. I just love my new neighborhood, they were so many people out running, walking their dogs, cycling, etc. We even got a few honks and I will be nice and say they were for Lincoln haha.

Refueled with some M&M’s, damn you Valentine’s Day clearance candy! I don’t know what’s up with M&M kick lately but it needs to stop. These are a comfort food for me and take me back to childhood and having BOGO coupons for them is not helping me….or my booty.

Sidenote-why does fake ex con Leonardo DiCaprio look so good but normal Leo doesn’t do anything for me?

Do you have weird dreams?

 I used to have weird dreams alot but then I stopped drinking diet coke before bed and it stopped but still have some weird ones from time to time

 

Movin’ On Up

So exhausted! Thanks all for your warm wishes on a good move. I am settled in but still moving some stuff around and figuring out where things are so I think by tomorrow I should be all set. I have today and Tuesday off as well so that will be some extra time for me to clean, unpack, go find a pool to play in and such 🙂 On Saturday, I woke up at 630A to start moving stuff and really didn’t get a chance to sit down the whole day but I did fit in an hour nap in the late afternoon once my friends who helped me left and the Time Warner guy stopped by. Speaking of which, I’ve had basic cable for the past year but now I have TBS, Bravo, VH-1, Food Network, Comedy Central and many others. Thanks Time Warner dude? I didn’t look cute at all and was in a crabby mood but apparently that’s what the men like. I have so many shows to catch up on, it’s not even funny. I need to just sit down and enjoy it because I keep thinking one day they are going to discover this snafu and then it will go bye-bye.

 I met up with some girlfriends at Nikko’s, an awesome sushi restaurant in South End area of Charlotte. I absolutely love this place—the atmosphere is more clubby than restaurant with modern decor, lighting and fist pumping music. I only frequent Nikko’s every now and then since it can be pricey (or suggest it when I have a date  and am confident the guy will be paying, I’m a brat I know :)) but when I do go, I enjoy it immensely.  I had the Tuna Crunchy Roll and Rainbow Roll along with a Sake Bomb and Sapporo Light

After that, we headed Uptown to go to the Dandelion Market but once we were a block away we heard it was dead so we ventured into The Attic. I pass by that bar every day since it’s right near work but never been there…..and now I know why. It was full of 23 and 24 yr olds who were just so happy to be out–which is cool, really it is. I was loving their enthusiasm mostly because I was like that—six or seven years ago. I have to be in a “Let’s go out and get wasted” kind of mood to enjoy scenes like that and truth be told, that’s just not me anymore. I would rather go out, be able to hear people I’m with, not have some youngin dry hump me multiple times (not making that up), have a few drinks and go home at a decent hour. Plus, with the fact I had been up so early doing manual labor and such, I was ready to go home.

Yesterday morning, I walked over to Dilworth Coffee and got a large cup and stopped at Harris Teeter for some random items

I feasted on a blueberry bagel with light cream cheese and sliced banana pieces

Let’s not even talk about the mess I had to conquer…..oi vey. I don’t have a lot of storage so that was the main issue. I did make a lot of it work though and only have a little bit to get to still but I ended up going through my stuff once again and putting some away to donate to the Salvation Army.

While I was getting through that monstrosity, Lincoln was pulling out his ninja moves and exploring his new pad

Lunch was a Mardi Gras Salad from Harris Teeter. The name intrigued me, I think it would be cute if they added beads for decoration but nothing nipple related please.

Oh, have I mentioned that I don’t have gas until Monday so I can’t make anything hot?

I went back to my old place in the afternoon and got the most of everything out of there but I keep forgetting about all of my cutting boards, pans and sheets under the oven so I need to make a mental note to pick those up next time. Besides that, I just need to clean the place out which I’m dreading.

I’ve been craving Thai and ordered takeout from Thai Thai because I’ve heard good things about it. One of these days I’m going to try someone other than Pad Thai but today was not that day. I got Chicken Pad Thai with a Medium Spicy sauce.

The portion size was ridiculous—I think it could be three servings which isn’t bad at all for $9 but I wasn’t too impressed. It had a hint of spice but the spice overtook the peanut flavor so it was good but not the taste I was expecting. Maybe that’s my sign to try something different next time?

Lincoln and I went for a walk last night and when we made it to Freedom Park (the halfway point), it started downpouring. 20 minutes later with littler coverage, we were still there but found a commercial building near and waited it out. It was still sprinkling by the time we started walking again and we were completely drenched. Poor Lincoln, he looked like a drowned rat 😦

Sigh, my little homeless looking dog.

Today has been pretty boring—got some laundry done, unpacked some more, gas turned on so I can start cooking again and found the Trader Joe’s in my area. I was so out of sorts when I was there but the TJ’s employees were super nice….unlike the ones at the other location. Don’t get me wrong, they weren’t rude but they would never chat me up when I checked out like they do with everyone else. Seeing that I think I’m pretty effin personable, it kinda annoyed me. I talked to some nice ones at my location and chatted with a cutie for a few minutes and he asked if I moved here from Caliornia…..maybe b/c I talk like a valley girl? Who knows. Anyways, I love my new one and got the lowdown on when their not so busy hours are. I stopped at Target and Harris Teeter afterwards and yet again, it started downpouring. I am really over this rain but it’s perfect whether to sit at home in and catch up with these ladies

I have so much to catch up on. I was never really a Real Housewives fan b/c the other cities have been pretty boring with no drama but NJ I totally love.

Lunch was a turkey, cheese, spinach and spicy hummus wrap with Grandma Gibble’s Popcorn 

I feel like I should go do something or clean but screw it, I’m sitting here on my butt watching trash tv! Hope everyone is having a great start to the wk!