Sunday, February 22, 2009

A Fabulous Weekend Away

I hope to post pictures soon, but Chris and I just got home from a Fabulous weekend away. Just up to Cleveland, but it was a much needed break from our normally busy lives.

We took Friday off work, and make the trip up, stopping in Old Worthington on the way to visit my friend's new wine store, and checked out a couple of other shops in that area. Then we headed up to Cleveland and checked into our room and relaxed for a bit before heading out to dinner at MY favorite Cleveland restaurant to meet old coworkers of mine. 3 hours of dinner, catching up and great conversation later, Chris and I retired to the hotel bar, for a couple of pints of Conway's Irish Ale, from our favorite brewery.

Saturday morning we headed to the West Side Market. It was fantastic. What we thought might be an hour of wandering around and grabbing breakfast, quickly turned into three hours of a fabulous brunch, and photographing and looking at all the culinary treasures. We each indulged in a sweet treat (I HEART chocolate chip cannoli!), and bought some fresh pasta, pesto and cupcakes for our friends. It was SO hard resisting so many of the other treasures there, like the fresh salsas, the vegetarian delights, the asian foods and breads. I am STILL in shock that I never managed to visit this place in the 15 months I lived in Northeast Ohio. Shame on me!

Then we headed to a hobby store, before heading out to Chardon to visit our good friends Kelly and Frank and their 4-week-old baby, Addison. Addison was just the sweetest thing and she slept on my chest for quite a long time. It was a great visit with two of our best friends and so neat to see how this baby has changed their lives and how in love they are with her! We visited with them for about 5 hours before heading back to the hotel and retiring for the night.

This morning, we got up and went for dim sum. It was fabulous. I wish we had more than just the two of us so we could have tried more than 7 of the 30+ items they offered. It's making me want to try the place near us, but i'm so afraid of being disappointed. We'll see.

Now we're home, unpacked and relaxing. And I am SOOOO not ready for tomorrow or the crazy week I KNOW I have ahead of me. Here's to a few more relaxing hours before the madness begins!

Sunday, February 15, 2009

A Long Overdue Update

I haven't written here in a long while. I've fallen off the wagon, unfortunately, and haven't been able to get back on just yet. I am trying every day. I just need to DO IT. That's why I've been reluctant to write. Lots of things have been holding me up. I'm taking some medication that's really screwing with me emotionally, not to mention the headaches, the nausea and just feeling down about taking this particular medication at all. I can't say i've gorged myself too much, but I haven't been making an effort to plan my meals as much, and I certainly haven't been exercising.

This weekend has gotten off to a better start. I made whole grain blueberry pancakes yesterday and froze them for breakfasts over the next several weeks. Tonight I'm making a new asian dish from my Bon Appetít magazine. I bought the stuff to make my favorite turkey chili recipe today, baby spinach salad ingredients, along with some good grab and go snacks for work like baked tostitos and salsa, and yogurt. I know if I get back on track i'm bound to pop out of this mental fog that I have been in. I have downloaded two episodes of Flight of the Conchordes for working out either later tonight or tomorrow. Menstrual cramps be damned!

*****
The guy at the gym update: Thanks to everyone who expressed their concern and advice about the situation. A few days later, i went back to the gym, and the same gentleman was sitting at the desk. As I checked in and said hello, he stood up and looked at my left hand as I scanned in. He did this very deliberately but looked right at my wedding band and said "OH, Nicole! I'm so sorry!" He then proceeded to apologize saying that he didn't realize i was married, and that he shouldn't have said what he said to me. I told him I appreciate the apology, and that I thought he was aware that I was married (afterall, I have specifically mentioned my husband to him on more than one occasion). And I haven't been back to the gym in two weeks. I'm sure he thinks i'm avoiding him. Which isn't the case (i'm just lazy and well...see above:) ), but it amuses me to think that he may be fretting it.