one where I talk about shopping and drinks

Monday, January 12, 2004

Mmmm... I have the house to myself tonight. James is at a meeting and I already feel accomplished because I cleaned out my gym bag. This is a task I've been meaning to get to for quite some time now. Every morning at the gym, I look into the huge navy pit that is my Land's End bag and wonder how much extra crap is in there that I am carrying around. How much stuff do I needlessly lug each morning to my car, to my gym, back to my car and then back to the house?

The answer: a couple of extra brushes, a pedometer that I only use out of doors, perfume that I never wear, countless safety pins and a few dimes, piles of dry cleaning tags, a broken Mach 3 razor, many dead batteries, a toy whistle (don't ask), a few Crest White Strips (that I never use), shredded Q-tips and the owner's manual that goes with James' Norelco shaver. Who knew?

It felt so good to pack my bag up with only the necessities. I even added a dryer sheet to freshen it up. I swear the thing smells like onions.

Once that was accomplished, I put on my pajama pants, applied a pore-refining mask to my face, put the new (fabulous) Beck CD in the player and poured myself a glass of mineral water. And here I am. It's hard to believe that I'm this relaxed on a Monday evening.

+ + + +

Over the weekend, James and I laid low. I think we were still sort of recovering from the holidays, not to mention the first full week back to work. We did join my supervisor and her husband out for drinks after work on Friday at the Sample Room. This great little restaurant has the most amazing baked goat cheese. To die for. I also had a Side Car and we chatted about last minute Christmas gifts, the PR industry and embarrassing moments. It was very pleasant.

Unfortunately, I didn't sleep well that night and by Saturday morning I was positive I was coming down with something. I felt slightly congested with a heaviness in my chest. I did load up on Vitamin C and echineachea extract. I also forwent Yoga because I didn't think my body was up to it. Instead, James and I lazed around reading until, around noon, I mustered the energy to run a few errands. We hit Ulta for various beauty supply stuffs. We also hit Target for staples such as Tide, toilet paper and bleach. Then, don't ask me why, but we found ourselves in the Mall. Actually, James took good advantage of some after-Christmas sales and scored a couple of wardrobe pieces at Banana. Then we stopped at the Marshall Field's Home Store where I picked out the Dining Set of my Dreams. And I also learned how much it cost. It is now time to start saving.

By the later afternoon, I had convinced myself that in order to thwart the cold, I needed to hit the gym for some mild cardio. Which I did. 30 minutes on the elliptical. 15 minutes on the recumbent. And then 10 minutes in the steam room.

When I got home, the lovely husband had vacuumed and cooked dinner. We then got dressed up to meet some friends for late night cocktails and dessert.

The highlight of the night (in addition to seeing our friends) had to be the most fabulous martini that Pazzaluna served me. It was a "Classic Blue," a classic martini made with Shaker's vodka (a Minnesota vodka made from wheat) and garnished with olives hand-stuffed with blue cheese. It was heaven in a glass. The blue cheese crumbled and made the vodka a bit cloudy. The tang melded just right. And the drink was also super cold which always makes a martini taste better. Kudos to that bartender, for sure.

James and I were home by midnight. We both cuddled up under the flannel sheets and read until we nodded off.

By Sunday morning, I was feeling much better. I swear, the gym session worked. I got a good night's sleep. In the morning, James fixed waffles, we read the NYTimes and, finally, around noon, I headed to the co-op for our weekly groceries.

After that, we took a short walk with the dogs. Only the weather didn't cooperate and the light snow turned into ice during our walk so we had to cut it short. I finished out the afternoon by putting our place back in order now that the Christmas decorations were gone. James had a class to teach as well as a bike meeting, so I cooked dinner by myself and then cuddled up on the couch with a DVD and some knitting.

And while we really didn't do much at all, I enjoyed this past weekend so very, very much.

+ + + +

I am obsessed with the Ice Palace that they are constructing for the Winter Carnival. I keep driving down to the lake where they are harvesting the ice (it's a couple blocks from my house). I also get to drive by the palace site every morning on my way to work. It is fun to watch the progress daily. I even volunteered to work the castle the last weekend in January. I think it was going to be very, very cool.

You can even watch the construction live on their Web cam.

+ + + +

I don't know what else to say except that I made the mistake at work and told everyone that my load was a bit on the light side. I offered help and once again, I am stacked to the brim with projects. I enjoy my job, but I do get overwhelms. This time, however, I asked for it. And I shouldn't complain because I hate not to be busy. At least my days fly by fast. I've also got a few print projects to work on which pleases me. For the past year, I've been so sucked into Web initiatives, I'm ready for something none-screen related.

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