Sunday, February 10, 2008

It's Too Cold Out For Penguins

Boy, did we have a full weekend. It was fun at the same time. Saturday we went out for a quick morning run, knowing that more than likely we wouldn't get out today. After that we went to get my haircut. Yep, the hair is gone. Not pixie gone, but it's back to being short. I'll post a pic at a later time. After that we decided to head out of town. We ended up in the Beachwood area. Our first stop was Legacy Village at their Dick's. I don't think we could ever leave Dick's empty handed. It's too tempting in there. I invested in a Nike Hood for the cold days. It kind of looks like a ninja type thing. Pretty cool and I'm excited to use it. After that we went to Whole Foods. I couldn't imagine getting all of my groceries there but we love to go there, browse, test, and just check things out in general. We purchased some fruits we had never tried before, that were also recommended by another blog I've read, and a few other odds and ends.

It's been a weekend of testing, research, and learning. With me having this upcoming party I knew I needed to supply some sort of alcohol. With the help of my coworkers we've decided on martinis. As you can guess I have little to no knowledge about alchohol, let alone mixing drinks. I'll leave the mixing up to my coworkers but I still have to provide the alcohol. This has lead me to the alcohol aisle and online to various sites for recipes. It's got me interested. I don't want to go wild and crazy, I just want to learn and try something different. In addition to mixed drinks, this has also lead me into the territory of wine and researching what is what. A little knowledge here....a little knowledge there. With that along with our trip to Whole Foods and Trader Joes I feel we're making ourselves more well-rounded. Maybe it's true, maybe it's not, but it's still been fun learning in the process.

After that we had an early dinner at Maggiano's. It was our first trip. We've wanted to go there for a long time now but everytime we end up in Beachwood we find ourselves going somewhere else. This time we had a giftcard so we definitely had a reason to go. At first we were slightly overwhelmed by the prices. However, when we sat the waitress explained the menu to us. The 1/2 portions are a good-sized portion for 1-2 people. Perfect! We ended up getting a 1/2 portion of spaghetti and meatball and got an appetizer of mozzarella and tomatoes (we knew we'd have more than enough on the giftcard). When our food arrived we were amazed by the portion size. Shoot, we each had good helpings and still had leftovers! Our bill was only $23 with a drink, appetizer, and entree'. We loved the dinner and were thrilled with the price. The atmosphere was great too....dark and home-like but in my opinion, a step up from Bucca De Beppos decor. Definitely a repeater.

After dinner we went toward the city. No stops, just driving, taking it all in. I took David through Ohio City, since he'd never been to the area, then we headed home. We spent the rest of the evening with the kids and started to talk about our next home project....the downstairs bedroom. Ugh. Bad idea, that gets my mind going, so when I woke up at 4:30am I couldn't go back to bed and was ready to go. I finally got back to bed and then we woke up at 8:30am.

It was bitter cold out today. Not only cold but windy. Take your breath away windy. I couldn't bring myself to go out for even a short run. It would've been impossible. The ground was a sheet of ice. Instead of running we took advantage of our time and started in on the downstairs bedroom/closet. I had taken the paneling down back in the late summer and it's just one ugly room. We weren't exactly sure how to attack the walls. Yes, there was a reason that paneling was on the walls. We're still not sure exactly what we're doing with the walls but with some reading we feel as though we're heading in the right direction. After a trip to Home Depot I worked on the walls for a bit. It's going to be a long time consuming project, but will be worth it.

In addition to that we also did some major purging of the downstairs bedroom closet. The downstairs bedroom is our "animal room". As of now it's an empty room and the closet is now a little "nook" for the animals. As with the walls we're not sure what type of room it's going to be....meaning what's going to go in there. For now it's nice just to have that space. Our coats (that were in the closet) are now hanging (on new hooks David installed) in the hallway going to the basement. In the process of purging I also organized what was left in the closet, put it in the attic, and even organized and purged things in the attic space. I went through my closet and drawers purging. We also purged some built up rubbish in our garage. Needless to say we've kept busy today. It's so great to feel like you've accomplished something.

As of now Sita and Alpa are here. The guys are watching the Pro Bowl. Looks like they have great weather in Hawaii. At least someone gets great weather when they go there. Oh wait, that's everyone but us. Me, still bitter? I think it's safe to say we'll be bitter for awhile. Ah well...onward to our next vacation planning....I think it shall be a cruise. Stay tuned for details.

It's time for me to do some studying. I've put it off all weekend. At this point I feel quite prepared for my video, just need some refreshing tonight and tomorrow morning and I should be great. Hope everyone had a fun-filled weekend and stayed warm!

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