Bacon ice cream and a long weekend...

All week I was planning on going to Muskegon on Saturday morning. By Friday night, I was just so spent that I decided to just drive there after my Happy Hour event for the Lansing Jaycees.

On Saturday, Eric, his mom, Nancy and I went to Mia & Grace. I could eat there every day if it were possible for me (since I live in Lansing...)

I had the Roasted Butternut Squash soup, and it was amazing - I dug into it before I took a picture.

I ordered the Chicken and Mushroom Ravioli with Roasted Yellow Pepper and Tomato sauce. It was amazing. The seasoning in the ravioli was great, and the pasta is made in house.

Eric ordered the Cornbread Stuffed Pork Tenderloin with a Molasses Blueberry Reduction...this might be my new favorite...the cornbread didn't overpower the pork tenderloin, which was seasoned perfectly. The reduction was soooo yummy.

Nancy got the Pecan Crusted Chicken...so good.

And of course....dessert! I got the carrot cake...

Nancy ordered the Fresh Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream - this was fantastic!!!!

And having this made me order the Creswick Bacon fresh ice cream...

The bacon was fantastic in the ice cream - the ice cream had rum in it also, so the sweet/salty combination was great.

And today, my day off, I'm relaxing, hanging out with the dog, catching up on the blog, and watching Countdown with Keith Olbermann from last week, Dexter Season 1, and I'll probably finish watching a disc of Weeds later. I probably have other things I should be doing, but oh well!!!

Oprah's Book Club

I've been reading The Story of Edgar Sawtelle for about two to three weeks. Then, last Friday, Oprah decided to announce her new Book Club selection. Can you guess what it was? The same book I've been reading.

I don't tend to read Oprah selections because she picked them - a few, like Middlesex and The Pillars of the Earth I read BEFORE they were Oprah selections. Otherwise, I haven't read much in the list.

I am really enjoying this book so far - it's a little slow going, because it's longer and more dense, but it's certainly keeping me interested.

What a weekend...

Eric came to Lansing this weekend, and we started Friday night out with sushi. I left my camera home for this weekend. After the Thursday night fried food fest, I was just in the mood to have some sushi.

Saturday, we ran errands. Eric decided that we would go shop for my birthday present, which I told him that I wanted golf clubs and shoes. After a trip to Dick's Sporting Good in Okemos, the Pro Golf Discount store in Okemos, and the Golf Haus in Lansing, we decided to pick up the Wilson Hope set.






I also ended up with golf shoes!





That's right, those are argyle accents...

Now, time to just learn how to play golf! We also both ended up buying bowling shoes, since we're on a league that plays at Royal Scot every other week until April. Before bowling league, we went with Runs with Spatula and Corky to dinner at Ukai West. Again, no pictures from me, but it was day two of sushi.

Today there was much less going on. Eric made breakfast of eggs, bacon, and toast, and then we got ready and went to Forest Akers for some golf. We were there about 2 hours. I did a lot of putting, and found out I'm not too shabby at it. But, of course that's the easy part! Now, at some point, I'll have to learn how to drive...

Then, came home, read a bit, fell asleep for about an hour, and then went to dinner at Emil's on Michigan Ave. Yay for all you can eat pasta!!!!

I need more days in the weekend...

The Michael Phelps diet?

Not quite, but definitely filled the calorie intake! Last night, 6 of us went to Joe's Gizzard City, including Runs with Spatula, CFreaky, Alex, Sheryl, and Angela F. I'm writing this as I eat my Friday breakfast burrito from Jalapeno's. I'm still in awe that I can eat anything this AM...

And so, our trip to Potterville, MI began.

Random bird cage with chicken....

We ordered mass quantities of beer battered, deep fried food.

Pub Pickles - had a little kick to them, and it was cool to have pickles that weren't the chip size...

The Blue Cheese/Buffalo Mozzarella Sticks - these were sooooo good:

The Gizzard Sampler Platter - with original, garlic and herb, and cajun gizzards. There were not super chewy at all, like most gizzards I've had, and the cocktail sauce was a great dipping sauce.

We also got the Veggie Sampler Platter - I didn't get a picture of it. But, it has fried asparagus, fried green beans, fried onion peels, and sweet corn nuggets (which were AWESOME).

This is the Fried Dessert Platter - including fried cheesecake, fried donuts, fried apple cake, fried Oreos, fried Nutter Butters (with grape jelly for dipping!), and fried Cookie Dough...mmmm. Served with chocolate sauce...

I would highly recommend Joe's - it was on the Food Network, featured on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives. All in all, I'm not feeling awful today, but not feeling too great either. This might take a few days to get over...

Recommended only once or twice a year, with full recoup time afterwards...

Wednesday Night Wind Down...

I've been looking forward to this evening since I woke up this morning. I got to leave work a little early, and come home and watch DVD's and read. The dog also got to spend some time running around. I'm sure it was good for her. Granted, she's been a little bit of a pain tonight so far.

This week has actually been somewhat productive - at work, outside of work, and just all around. I've been bringing my lunch to work, and have been mostly successful in not eating out. I feel a little more like things are coming together but there are still some things that are hanging out there that I think are going to hang around for awhile.

But, at this point, I'm off to enjoy my evening!!

ABC's "National Stay at Home Week"

Over the last couple of days, while watching college football and now watching NASCAR, I've seen commercials for various premieres of fall TV, with the ending talking about "National Stay at Home Week". Hm, it's obviously a ploy to get people to try and watch their shows, but it also got me thinking to my weekend.

Today is a stay at home day for me. I'm trying not to go anywhere that I don't have to, and eating at home. There are multiple reasons for this - I have lots of movies to watch that I got at the library, I have a book to finish, I don't want to spend more money on gas and food. The budget is pretty tight right now, and I have to try and make it until pay day on Thursday.

I love lazy Sundays...

Lazy weekend...

I'm enjoying my weekend thus far. Last night the Lansing Jaycees had a Dinner and a Movie night. We had a great turnout, and had dinner at Claddaugh Irish Pub in Eastwood Town Center. I had been looking forward to having fish and chips all day, and it was fantastic.







Afterwards, we went to NCG Cinema to see the new Coen Brothers movie, "Burn After Reading". I enjoyed it - Brad Pitt was hilarious as a gym worker, and there were quite a few moments that made me laugh. Some of the group didn't like it at all, some people liked it and there were also a few in between. The story was somewhat ridiculous, but that's what I tend to expect from their movies.





This morning, I went to the Localvore breakfast at Gone Wired Cafe. It was soooo good. They had pancakes that are so dense, eggs, sausage from AppleSchram farms, and bacon...







The rest of the day, I've been lazy. I did have to go to the Michigan Jaycees Meet the Candidates forum, but that was about an hour or so. I also signed a 6 month lease for my apartment, and picked up some books and movies at the library. Since I've been home, I've been watching college football, reading, and working on some of the things I need to do for the Jaycees.

Tomorrow is going to definitely a movie day...

I keep trying to write...

The last couple of nights, I've tried to write an entry. I felt like I had something to say, but once I pulled up the blank form, I just wasn't sure what to write about!

I've had so much that I've been thinking about, that if I were to write it all down, and all of the thoughts I've had, it'd take up way too much room. In a summary, we went back to session at work this week and boy was it difficult to get back into the swing of things. After not having the normal routine going most of the summer, it's taking awhile to get back to the grind.

In the process, I was reminded on Monday that I have to decide what to do about my current apartment by the 15th. Whoops - guess it slipped my mind. I have a few options, and most likely I'll be staying here, it is just a matter of how long I keep my lease for.

I've also been very busy with the Lansing Jaycees. After some down time in the summer, we're starting to get back into the fall projects, and elections are in November. We're also trying to come up with some PR ideas and some plans to get the organization out there. My brain has been stuck on this for a couple of weeks now - unfortunately, with everything else going on, I've been feeling a little overwhelmed with everything.

I keep telling myself I'll make it...

It's only Tuesday...

After a busy weekend, I'm not quite sure I've recovered. So far, this week has not been fantastic. I'm tired, feeling a little doubtful, and have a lot on my mind. Plus, session is starting at work this week, so my whole work schedule is changing up. But, I sort of feel like I'm just going through the motions, and in turn, feeling like I'm unable to handle everything that's coming at me.

Ugh, and it's only Tuesday.

Holy TV, Batman!

I used to only get movies with my Netflix subscription. I used to get TV shows from the library only, because you can get a whole season at once. However, recently, I started getting some TV shows through Netflix. It started with Weeds - we had heard it was hilarious from multiple people. And, having watched the first two seasons (season three coming up soon!), I can definitely attest to the good reviews. Mary-Louise Parker is fantastic as a drug dealing suburban mom. The whole cast is great all around.

Then, I started watching The Tudors, which is also on Showtime (like Weeds). I think it's keeping me interested because this period of time is fascinating to me. However, it does move a little slow, but there's a great cast, and it's visually stunning.

Up next is Dexter...I know, I know. Everyone else LOVES this show. I should be beginning Season One soon (like, this week).

Which also reminds me that I need to finish watching Season Three of Grey's Anatomy, and watch all of Season Four. Yup, I'm behind...

A change would do you good...

I'm not even close to being as frugal as Em - though I'm starting to pick up a thing or two from her (mostly eating at home). I'm certainly trying to eat at home more often (not as easy as a single), and also trying to stay entertained at home.

I've been frequenting the library a lot - for books, movies, music. It's a great resource, and I can get a whole season of TV for a week on DVD!

I also don't have cable (oh, how I miss MSNBC!!!!). I keep a Netflix subscription to make up for it (it's still half the price!), so I've been watching movies and some more TV shows.

Also, having the dog around makes me want to go home more often. It also means that going to and from work, I'm saving some gas (not a lot, mind you) by not going many other places after work. I'm also getting close to paying off a credit card, where that money from that bill can go toward a different one. Woo hoo! One of these days, I'll be out of debt...

Flashback...

Ah, Zell.

Again???

Yup, Mia & Grace was open for Labor Day. So, considering I won't be in Muskegon again for awhile, we decided to go.

Of course we tried something new! Eric had the 1/2 order of the Muffaletta:

I had a seared watermelon and tomato salad, with basil, yogurt and raspberry vinaigrette...

And a goat cheese and wild mushroom tart:

And, there was a whole carrot cake there! So, we got another slice...bigger this time!

Sigh...