Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Shopping and Eating Out (too much)

Yesterday (Tuesday) I spent the day at the courthouse for jury duty. Talk about a major snoozer. I was bored out of my mind. I took a book to read and was finished with it by 10:30 with many hours to go. Luckily they seated the last jury 2 jurors before they got to me. Thank goodness I had a high number. I was very relieved to not get selected this time since I normally do. I had intended to write a post when I got home but I was too tired and got into bed early since we wanted to be at the gym at 6am this morning. Here is what we were up to on Monday. I am going to post Tuesday separately since the number of pictures would make the post load too slowly.

Monday:

Dan took the day off and we ended up playing, shopping and eating out. It was good day but one that out of out of the house most of the day. We started with Dan responding to a few work emails and then we hit the gym. The gym is definitely busier at 10 am but still not too bad
Once we were running errands we started by stopping by REI to buy the Marmot jacket Dan had his eye on a couple of weeks ago. They had it marked down by $50 so he “had to” buy it. Dan loves a bargain as much as I do.

(Pictured:  Hunt Valley Mall from the second level outside of Jesse Wongs)

Since we were in the neighborhood we stopped at Hunt Valley Mall and went to Jessie Wong’s for lunch. Typically we stop there for dinner but Monday it was lunch. We found out that at lunch they have a hot vegetable bar that you get with the order of lunch. Hot veggies, sign us up. ;-)


I grabbed some spicy eggplant, mixed veggies and one tempura green bean. I had to try the green bean but didn’t want too much fat. It was okay, but I have been off oil so long it wasn’t as good as I expected. Darn it, LOL!


We ordered veggie sushi to split, like usual. This time we got the shitake and sweet potato.


Then we ordered the Hunan faux duck. I am sure that isn’t a surprise since we get it every time we go. I seriously need to try to make that faux duck.


I wanted something a little lighter and ordered bok choy, carrot, and mushroom. Fortunately we had plenty of food leftover which I packed for Dan’s lunch on Tuesday.


We stopped at Greetings and Readings where I saw this flamingo Christmas ornament. I thought it was the funniest thing I had seen in a while. I have no idea why I didn’t buy it. Hopefully they will have more when I get back there this weekend.

After lunch we went shopping for new running shoes for me. We ended up at Holabird Sports since they have an enormous selection of athletic shoes and gear. I had every intention of buying my normal New Balance shoes that I have worn since the late 1970’s. Yes I am that old. However I tried on a few pair and ended up with Saucony this time.



I saw these ladies shirts and loved the slogans on them.

Next we ran by Costco for bananas because we are right there and we are always out of bananas. Somehow we spent $300 and yes we bought more than bananas, LOL. I picked up two pair of Adidas running pants and a jacket. Dan got a Nautica sweater. There was also miscellaneous stuff, like a Christmas CD, avocados, nuts, cocoa powder, frozen fruit (wild blueberries, mixed berries and strawberries) and other stuff that I have now forgotten about. Costco makes a fortune on us, LOL.

Since we were close to Marshall’s I ran in to see if I could find a couple of sweaters and came out with four. It is definitely sweater season and I can always use more. ;-) As usual Dan helped me pick them out. He is very good at saying that isn’t a good color on me or I don’t like the shape or length. I am very lucky to have him shop with me.


I also bought this cute like reindeer dressed like Santa. It came with Hershey’s kisses which I immediately got rid of. Isn’t she cute?



I also had to have these Spode Christmas ornaments. One is a tea pot and the other a tea cup. As much tea as we drink I thought they were must haves. Hopefully my little 12 paw wrecking crew won’t break them too soon.

We took the perishables into the house and went to dinner. Ian wasn’t working tonight but dinner was still very good.


We started with a mesclun salad with raspberry vinaigrette, Granny Smith apple, apple and walnuts.


Next we had our favorite marinated mushrooms.


Dan had to have a little whole wheat pizza. We asked for marinara, artichoke, roasted red peppers, portabella mushrooms and onions and anything else they thought would be good. It also came with roasted cauliflower, carrots and fresh basil.

As always everything was great and we had a little leftover pizza to take home.

Happy Chanukah:

To everyone celebrating The Festival of Lights I hope you have a wonderful holiday with family and friends. :-) To my buddy Louis, be safe coming back from Atlanta and have a great time with your family later this week. Hugs!

Happy Thoughts:

We had a great long weekend that extended through Monday and an okay Tuesday. Here are my happy thoughts this morning:

• I got some new running pants, socks and running shoes on Monday. New exercise apparel makes me very happy. ;-) I love my exercise clothes and wore them to the gym this morning.

• My new running shoes seem to be working out fair well. They have good cushioning in the ball of the foot. The heel of the shoe will take some getting used it. I am accustomed to more stiffness in my New Balance. But I did a little running on track today and the shoes felt fairly good so these may work out well.

• We got in a good cardio workout two days in a row. Tuesday was a bust after jury duty and Wednesday was interrupted by a power outage. But overall it is still all good.

• Dan and I enjoyed having lunch together downtown on Tuesday since we don’t normally get a chance to do that. I also loved getting some new ideas for things to make a home. Going out to eat is always a source of recipe inspiration for me.  I will tell you all about it in the next post but it includes curried tofu and a fabulous beverage.

• I was thankful that I was at the courthouse as a juror rather than as a defendant  ;-) and to not have been selected as a juror this time around. I was great to leave the courthouse Tuesday evening and know I wasn’t going back on Wednesday. I still have so much Christmas stuff to do at home I really didn’t want to lose another day at the courthouse.

• It was wonderful to have Dan leave work a little early on Tuesday since he didn’t want me to have to wait long (we drove downtown together). We had a nice long relaxing evening together Tuesday night.

• It was good to not be in the pool this morning when the lights when out at the gym. I am not sure what happened but it was raining hard and windy so a tree might have come down. The gym is really dark at 6:40am when it is raining hard and the power goes out, LOL.

Signing out:

Time for me to get some things accomplished around the house and get my strength workout in. Then I am back to Christmas decorating and catching up of my blog reading. I also plan to try out my new Christmas CD. I will let you know what I think of it tomorrow. I hope everyone has had a great week so far. Talk to you all again later today and will fill you in on Tuesday.

16 comments:

  1. I agree, you need to make that mock duck! Sounds awesome. Glad you got to skip out on jury duty and had lots of Dan time in the last few days.

    PS. 12 paw wrecking crew, LOL!

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  2. I saw those exact same Spode ornaments when my mom and I went to Replacements Ltd. this past weekend! If you've never heard of it, they sell china, silver, glassware etc. But they also have a great selection of Christmas ornaments. I'm not a huge shopper, but I find that store always interesting.

    have a good day!

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  3. I'm so happy you got to spend the whole day with Dan AND got in some shopping too. I'd say that was a bargain on the jacket. Love those shirts. I've seen those slogans on shirts at the Little Rock Marathon Expo a few years back. I ended up with one that said "Will Run for Beer" LOL ;-) They had it for wine and chocolate.

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  4. Sarah,

    I really do need to start experimenting with the duck. We love it so much and always order it. ;-)

    Dan and I a great long weekend and then lunch together yesterday. There was lots of family togetherness, my favorite thing.

    I am sure you completely understand my 12 paw wrecking crew since you are also a cat mommy. We are convinced they can break anything. LOL

    congratulations again on your engagement, hugs,
    Ali

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  5. Neca,

    I have not heard of that store so I appreciate you telling me about it. Needless to say I always think I need more Christmas ornaments, LOL.

    I hope you are having a good day too,
    Ali

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  6. Heather,

    Dan was thrilled with the jacket particularly at $50 less. ;-) We had a wonderful long weekend together.

    Will Run for Beer, that is a great, LOL. I would have had to gotten the Will Run for Wine version. ;-)

    I hope you are having a good Wednesday,
    Ali

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  7. I have a 24-paw (28, if you count the dog, but he's not destructive) wrecking crew at my house! So I know all about broken ornaments, knocked over Xmas trees, and the like. Good luck keeping those cute little ornaments intact.

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  8. I enjoyed reading about your shopping excursion and your happy thoughts!

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  9. hahahaha I want that shirt that says "Does this shirt make my butt look fast?" That's awesome.

    I love veggie sushi! Yum!

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  10. Bianca,

    Wow you have a lot of fur kids are your place. I am so jealous. I really want another one but Dan thinks we have our hands full with these three.

    Honestly the ornaments probably don't stand a chance. My felines have never grown up and they are all 9 years old. *shakes head* My plan is to take the ornaments down when I am not home or sleeping and see if that helps since the felines are more active at night. We will see if that works. ;-)

    Ali

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  11. Jenny,

    Glad you enjoyed the shopping adventures of Monday. Dan and I tend to do a lot of shopping in one day for some reason. I guess that is because we have to drive to the 'burbs to hit the malls.

    I was a bit freaked out this morning when the power went out at the gym until I realized how much worse it would have been to be in the pool. When I was fretting jury duty I realized was better than being on trial. In case it isn't obvious I am a big believer in happiness is all a matter of perspective. But you probably realized that about me. ;-)

    I hope you are having a great Wednesday,
    Ali

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  12. iheartvegetables,

    You picked a great name, I love that one!

    Both of those shirts made me smile. I am not sure why I didn't buy one. Holabird has a big on-line business if you want one.

    Veggie sushi is one of my favorite things too.

    Ali

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  13. I like seeing pictures of the books on your shelves :-)

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  14. Aimee,

    I took pics of some of the cookbooks a while back, the ones I refer to more often. I can locate that post if you want to see what is on those shelves. ;-)

    I hope you aren't buried in snow where you are. I looked like you could be getting more snow.

    enjoy the rest of your Wednesday,
    Ali

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  15. I really enjoyed this post! I felt like I was there with you!
    I am all about that pizza at Ian's and asked Kait if she would like me to make that, she said YES! I want to know what marinade Ian used on his mushrooms, they always look sooo good! I definately think you should get the flamingo ornament and I love the Spode!!
    Hugs!

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  16. Brandi,

    I felt a bit like I was cramming too much into this post and even left a lot out. I am glad you liked it.

    For the pizza the veggies were roasted first before they went on the pizza.

    Ian uses white wine, soy sauce (just a little) and truffle oil (again just a little) and he also adds garlic and shallot. I will pay more attention the next time we order them. Or I will just ask for the recipe. But trying to figure it out is more fun, LOL.

    I will probably be back to the mall on Friday. If they still have the flamingo I will NEED to get one. LOL

    talk to you later,
    Ali

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