We went furniture shopping this weekend and took advantage of the 0% financing until 2013 at Homemakers. This is hands-down my favorite piece we ended up with. This feature chair will go in the room I refuse to call the "sitting room," looking for other name suggestions?
I read in a magazine this weekend that using a bowl could serve as a speaker system for your ipod touch/iphone, so of course I had to check it out and it works! It's crazy how well it magnifies the sound, it's no Bose sound dock but it definitely works. Try it sometime.
Not going to lie, went over my grocery budget this week but my final total did include items for our monthly Hawthorn Hill donation and I was in a hurry- might have been record time in and out of Hy-Vee.
Here is what is on the menu this week:
Monday: Chipotle pork lion with black bean avocado salad
Tuesday: Half-price Jethro's wing night
Wednesday: Sesame chicken with scallion rice
Thursday: Chicken pot pie turnovers
Friday: Cosi Cucina Date Night (Don't worry, I have a gift certificate.)
Saturday: Potato soup with toasted bread
Sunday: Cajun rice and shrimp etouffee
I finally made it to Gusto last night, definitely worth the wait. We chose the "Aphrodite" pizza which had a red pepper pesto, red onions, goat cheese, fresh basil and a balsamic glaze. The goat cheese was super creamy and rich and the balsamic provided a nice tang and balance.
For a starter I went with the house salad with a homemade balsamic-romano vinaigrette. They had a variety of house made dressings to choose from, Jared went with the garlic-fennel vinaigrette. Homemade dressings are often how I judge a great restaurant from an average one, it's not that hard to make salad dressing people. The salad reminded me of a lot of the Centro salad which is my favorite salad in town.
It was a milestone day for N and I's relationship, we shared the beloved "Pick-N-Pair" combo at Applebee's. We had planned on hanging out and eating dinner at my house (steak was on the menu) but as life happens, J and I were running late from work and making dinner wasn't in the cards, so we jokingly decided on your favorite neighborhood grill. Using process of elimination we chose the spin-dip for our appetizer and for our entrees Nicole went with the three-cheese chicken penne pasta and I felt like a kid again and went with the chicken strip dinner.
As always it was a great time with great friends, even at Applebee's.
I was working away last night in the middle of the tornado warnings and storms, at one point J looked at the radar and decided it was time to head to the bathroom to camp out for a bit. I was right in the middle of something and didn't want to stop so I decided to bring my work with me.
I guess if it was going to my time to go, they could have put "Dedicated Worker" on my tombstone. Embarrassing.
While it isn't even close to Friday, maybe this video will hold you over until then. Rebecca Black has become an overnight sensation and her video now has more hits then Lady Gaga's "Born This Way." Tosh definitely had it right when he said "songwriting isn't for everyone," the lyrics are pretty terrible but this just shows the power of social media. One of my favorite lyrics might be: "Tomorrow is Saturday/And Sunday comes afterwards." Really??? The cost of this crazy video...$2,000, looks like it might have paid off for her. It is kind of catchy.
Seven a.m., waking up in the morning Gotta be fresh, gotta go downstairs Gotta have my bowl, gotta have cereal Seein' everything, the time is goin' Tickin' on and on, everybody's rushin' Gotta get down to the bus stop Gotta catch my bus, I see my friends (My friends)
Kickin' in the front seat Sittin' in the back seat Gotta make my mind up Which seat can I take?
It's Friday, Friday Gotta get down on Friday Everybody's lookin' forward to the weekend, weekend Friday, Friday Gettin' down on Friday Everybody's lookin' forward to the weekend
Partyin', partyin' (Yeah) Partyin', partyin' (Yeah) Fun, fun, fun, fun Lookin' forward to the weekend
7:45, we're drivin' on the highway Cruisin' so fast, I want time to fly Fun, fun, think about fun You know what it is I got this, you got this My friend is by my right, ay I got this, you got this Now you know it
Kickin' in the front seat Sittin' in the back seat Gotta make my mind up Which seat can I take?
It's Friday, Friday Gotta get down on Friday Everybody's lookin' forward to the weekend, weekend Friday, Friday Gettin' down on Friday Everybody's lookin' forward to the weekend
Monday: Veggie stir fry with a pineapple teriyaki sauce
Tuesday: Lemon Basil Pasta
Wednesday: *Steak and roasted asparagus with olive vinaigrette
Thursday: *Baked spinach and pea risotto with garlic crescent rollsFriday: Cheat Day!
Saturday: Cheat Day!
Sunday: Cheese tortellini with homemade marinara sauce
And yes I made it under budget, using a few items I already had at home, my grocery total for the week was less than $40.00.
*Revison. I already used my cheat days and it is only Thursday, so I will not be dining out this weekend. Friday and Saturday meals will be replaced by my menu items from Wednesday and Thursday. PS Thanks Cal for busting me.
What a crazy week or so it has been, I'll try to give you a quick recap.
Sunday: We went to an open house. We've been doing this for months, I just love looking for homes and getting ideas but this one was different. From the moment we pulled up, I knew I was going to love it. I loved it so much that about an hour after we left the open house we went back because I wanted a second look.
Monday: We went to look at the house again with our Realtor, Ou. Even though this house wasn't anything like we had looked at before, I loved the potential I saw in it.
Tuesday: Made the decision we wanted to put an offer on the house. It is pretty impressive that we decided on this so quickly, considering it usually takes me 20 minutes to decide what to order off a menu at a restaurant.
Wednesday: 2:30 pm - Offer was extended to the home buyer. 9:45 pm - Offer was accepted.
It doesn't even happen that quickly on House Hunters.
After signing lots and lots of paperwork, the house will officially be ours in less than a month!
A girl I went to college with stated on her blog that she and her husband spent $700 a month on food. That total was outrageous in my mind and I thought there is no way I spend that much, well after looking through my online bank statement I discovered in the month of February J & I spent $664.74 on food. This is an insane amount and my goal is to cut that number in half.
One way I plan on chipping away at that total is to plan out a weekly menu and to spend less than $50.00 a week at the grocery store. This meal plan should help on the crazy random spending sprees at Hy-Vee and the tendency to eat out because "I don't know what to cook when I get home."
Grocery total for week one: $51.46. (Closer than I thought I would get the first week out!)
Here is this week's menu:
Monday - Taco salad with black beans and corn
Tuesday - Tavern sandwiches (very similar to a Maid-Rite), sweet potato fries & cottage cheese
Wednesday - English muffin pizzas, jello with fruit
Thursday - Beef roast with potatoes and carrots
Friday & Saturday - Let's get real...I know I'll eat out at least twice a week.
Sunday - Homemade pasta with ricotta and graziano sausage
I've had somewhat of a love affair with Los Cabos for the past three years or so. This could be considered my "Cheers" spot, it was fun to walk in and for everyone to know your name, okay they probably didn't know my name due to the language barrier but they definitely recognized me.
There have been countless good times and fun memories, shoot I almost had to adopt a couple of children because of this place (so happy their mother finally made it back.)
But I think it's over.
No more Carlos, no more familiar faces, no more special treatment and the food that once tasted so good has been on the decline.
