The Beauty and the Mess

I just discovered Where the Locals Eat. It's a list of the top 100 restaurants in a lot of major US cities. Just for fun, here's our list. I will bold and comment on the ones I've been to. Feel free to play along!

( Top 100 Memphis Restaurants )

Time to check in with the LJ crew! Today has been a busy day so far, but for the moment I'm clear.

Weekend synopsis: Saw Prisoner of Azkaban with the gang. Maybe I'm not as in touch with the books as I used to be, but I really liked it. It's in an entirely different class from the other two movies, and the Trio actors have improved noticeably. The only big problem was the complete lack of explanation of the Moony & co. connection. That's a HUGE piece of the story, and I had to catch up the non-readers after the movie. Other than that, great job, Cuaron.

On Saturday I went to my boss's daughter's wedding. It was in a park and not like any other wedding I've been to. Since there was no other way to hide them, the bride and bridesmaids were brought to the area in a limo, and the groomsmen walked up to the limo one at a time to collect their bridesmaids. It was neat. The reception was fun and catered by our famous Corky's barbecue. I met a nice girl who works at Sweet Peppers, the new deli Danielle told me about awhile back. I hadn't heard it was open, so she told me where it was and our group went there for lunch after church yesterday. The verdict: I like it (I had the Peppers & Beef sandwich) and the tea is good, but it's not McAlister's. Of course, I was also influenced by the insanely large crowd. Crowds stress me out a little.

The rest of Sunday was wonderful. Evan and I had the whole day together, because- answer to prayer- his store just hired someone who likes to work Sundays. So now he only works one Sunday a month. Yay! :) It was an excessively mushy day with plenty of cartoon hearts. We got a little antsy in the afternoon, so we went to Target to get Friends Season 3. Yay again! Later we went back to church for the inaugural service of our new singles Bible study (I refuse to call it by its name because it's so cheesy). It was good, and we had a good-sized crowd for the first night. Casey showed up, which made me so happy since I'd just been thinking of her. Afterwards, a bunch of us went to El Porton and I had fried ice cream. A perfect ending to a perfect day. (Oh, and also I got to talk to admael for a while between services- I'd been hoping to run into her. :))

Now it's Monday and I'm overwhelmed by everything that's coming up. Especially in the way of gifts. I have a gift list a mile long right now- birthdays, weddings, Father's Day. Also I'm planning to get some new furniture when Kathy moves out (in only four weeks). Then I'll need money for the New Hampshire trip. All this money can come out of savings, but it's going to be a big hit. I don't have to get the furniture right away, but I want to. So I have no right to complain. :P I'm just excited about re-nesting and having things my own way.

Hope everyone's having a good day!

Happy birthday, Sara! Y feliz Cinco de Mayo!

Kathy's masters thesis is finished! She's turning it in this afternoon. I'm so proud of her, and so glad that she gets to return to the land of the living now. God is faithful!

For today's lunch I went to Wendy's for the Brenda Combo- chicken nuggets, a side salad, and a medium drink. It's a tasty and well-rounded meal for $3.25. I used to go there weekly, but haven't in a long time since I'm trying to save money. When I pulled around, the familiar drive-in lady recognized me and asked where I've been! That was funny and nice.

Have you heard that new song, "Broken" with Seether and Amy Lee? I like it. I really wonder if Evanescence is going to break up now that Ben Moody (the guitarist) is gone. That would be a shame. By the way, I realize that my journal has degenerated to an advertisement for various restaurants, musicians, and media. Sorry. I don't know why I'm especially shallow lately.

I've been wondering about some technical aspects of weddings and receptions, so I think I'll do a poll. Please answer only if you are or have been married, or answer what you plan to do if you're engaged. I'm curious. I'll include a "want to see results" option so everyone can learn. :) ( Da dum da dum )

About time I posted, huh?

( The Californians Visit )

I was so tired after they left that I just sat around the apartment for the rest of the day/evening. I had a feeling that I was coming down with some sinusey thing. Evan came straight from work so we could have some quality time, and it was nice to have him there. I went to sleep at 10! Today my throat feels awful and I could still go back to sleep. At least I don't have to do anything tonight!

I'm back! I'm very busy but thought I'd let you guys know I was alive. My conference wasn't so bad. We did a lot of non-business stuff, like personality tests. They were based on a program called Emergenetics, which teaches that your personality is deeply connected to the segments of your brain. Because my best friend is a cognitive psychologist, I was educated enough to sense that a lot of what the guy said was bunk. I repeated it to Kathy and she confirmed it. Oh well. At least it was more fun than a seminar on the economy. According to their system I'm a Structural/Social personality, which seemed right.

I haven't seen Evan in two days (*gasp* *horror*) so I'm really looking forward to our date tonight. Our monthiversary is Sunday. Yay! :D People are still responding to our being together. I got an excited call from Lisa (formerly grace20) yesterday because her sister (carolinacrc) had told her the news. :) (Thanks, Carolyn!) It was fun. I'm so happy with him.

Oh, and one of our business dinners was at the Rendezvous. So, after living in Memphis for fifteen years, I've finally been to one of its most famous eateries...and it absolutely lives up to the hype. I don't even like ribs normally, but wow. The sausage plate was also delicious. I ate, like, my entire month's allotment of meat. :P

Now I have to work some more. I'll try to catch up on the friends list, but I don't think it's going to happen. Sorry.

Home again, home again.

My trip to Nashville was pretty good, but tiring. I arrived in town at about 9 pm on Friday. When I got to Debra's dorm, I met some of her friends, including her best dorm friend Meghan. We sat around and talked for a couple of hours and then went to bed. Debra's roommate was, ironically, back in Memphis for the weekend, so I was able to sleep on her bed instead of the floor. That was nice. :)

On Saturday morning Debs and I got up relatively early (for a Saturday) and worked out at the school gym. Then she had a ministry thing to go to for a few hours, so I entertained myself by walking to the Subway at the foot of the hill and getting some lunch. I ate my sandwich in a pretty picnic area on the campus. At around 2, Debs and Meghan and I went to the outlet mall. I was prepared to spend a lot of money, but I ended up buying two Old Navy clearance tank tops and a $4 Gap plain long-sleeved shirt. It was probably for the best. I've decided I'm getting a hoodie sweater this year, in a specific tan color. I would have gotten one I saw at the Gap, except it was a braided-type sweater and I prefer straight cable-knit. Anyway, after shopping till we dropped, we went to Debra's favorite Mexican restaurant, Mazatlan. It was fantastic. Our high-profile Mexican place, El Porton, is good but kind of heavy and greasy. This food tasted much more fresh. I had fajita quesadillas. Yum. Now I'm hungry, thinking about them.

After dinner we watched the entire Miami/Boston College game, even though we were leading 33 to 7 for most of the game and I pleaded with Debra for us to go do something. Finally we went to Dairy Queen with Meghan. When we got back I was tired, but she decided (at midnight) to do her laundry and then to study for her Bib. Faith class, so I had a hard time sleeping with all the lights on. :P The next morning we went to the church she's been attending. It's very charismatic, and she loves it. Half of her floormates went with us. One of them swore she saw Toby Mac in the back pew, but no one else saw him. (That's the cool thing about Nashville- go to a church function, run into a celebrity.) Then we went back to the dorm for a gourmet lunch of grilled cheese and ramen noodles (it was actually really good). After that I had to go home. No more hermana time. :(

On the way home I encountered a massive cold front, which made for a very nerve-wracking drive in the rain. However, when I came home and saw my cute cat and my brand-new Bissell vacuum waiting to be used, life was good again. :) I happily vacuumed the apartment and then made a big salad dinner for my tired boyfriend, who was working a 12-hour shift. It was a special salad with special tomatoes and nuts and stuff, so I was excited. I also made strawberry smoothies. Unfortunately, it turned out that Evan isn't too fond of strawberries or most of the things that were in the salad. But he ate everything anyway and was very sweet and grateful. Yay. :) We hadn't seen each other in four days, so it was a happy reunion. I try really hard not to be clingy or overdramatic about seeing him; I've seen enough of the "Oh my gosh we've been apart for four hours, I thought you were dead" approach to know how annoying it is. But I miss him when he's not there. He misses me, too, which is the most amazing thing. :)

Weekend football recap: All my teams (Hurricanes, Dolphins, Titans, and Steelers) won! The Tigers didn't play this week, but I'll be at the game next weekend.

Wow, it's past 2 and I haven't updated yet. Okay.

Well, my weekend didn't start out very well. My great-grandmother passed away on Friday afternoon. She was very old- early nineties, I think- and she was sick for a long time, so we had been expecting it for a while. I never knew her very well, so I'm not sure if she was a believer, but my grandmother visited her regularly and thinks she made a decision toward the end. Anyway, as I said, we were prepared, so of course it was sad, but not a major shock. I went to my parents' after I found out, to spend time with my siblings while my mom packed to go to Miami. Later in the evening my dad and I finally took some time to order my new computer (!) online. On the way home I had one of those sudden realizations that eventually my parents are going to grow old and die. I mean, you always know this, but it's one of those things you push to the back of your mind. I started thinking about the people I know my own age who have already lost a parent, and ended up really upset without anyone to talk to about it. It wasn't fun. It was one of those moments when I would have really liked to have a boyfriend to hug me, but we all know how that goes.

Anyway, on to cheerier things. On Saturday I finally found a shirt to wear to the Clay show. Saturday night was Lawson's bowling party at Jillian's, which Debra and I attended. We were both in a dancing mood, which caused everyone else there to think we were very weird. But we had fun- thanks for inviting us, Lawson. After the party we (Debs and I) wanted to go to the dance club there, but couldn't find it, so we went back to the apartment and watched When Harry Met Sally, my favorite movie of all time. And I had a Frosty, because my bizarre craving for frozen dairy products continues. I have no appetite for hot food. (Alli's comment: "Gee, are you sure you're not pregnant?")

Sunday was typical Sunday (other than me repeatedly thinking, "Next week Danielle will be here and Evan's parents will be here.") We had lunch at American Cafe, where I actually ate some bread. I went to my friend Heather's apartment so she, Alli, and I could go swimming, but the pool was closed. I came home, took a long walk, read a lot, and went to bed early. Yay Sunday.

This morning Kathy and I did the intermediate Pilates workout for the first time. It didn't totally kick our butts, but it's going to take getting used to. While the beginner video moves slowly and contains a lot of talking, the intermediate video is efficient and businesslike. :) I'm already feeling the difference, but I'm glad for a new challenge. The beginner video had gotten really boring.

That's all.

TGIF! Today I'm having lunch at Fino's with Nina and some other work people. Fino's is Kathy's favorite restaurant, so much so that she tried to convince me to move to the apartment complex next door to it. (Like I would leave my location across the street from McAlister's. Please. :)) It should be a fun lunch, but I'm worried because I know it's going to take more than an hour and I already took an extended lunch yesterday. I can make it up, and my boss doesn't mind, but I never like to look irresponsible.

My massive, nauseating headache returned last night, almost as soon as I walked out the doors of my work building. I spent the evening lying feebly on the couch with a heating pad under my head to ease the pressure. MaryElaine came over and took care of me- it was really nice of her. I can feel the headache coming back, but I took an Allegra this morning, so hopefully that'll keep it at bay. Everyone in my office is feeling the same, which is really unusual for summer. This morning on the Today show they had a special report about all the weird weather - record highs in Europe (I feel for you guys, Fraser), cold temperatures in the Atlantic, droughts and fires in Texas. As the Ghostbusters would say, real end-of-the-world type stuff. :)

Okay, now what you've all been waiting for...photos ( of redheaded me )

I am going to California!

Yes...in June I will be going where I have not gone before, to visit jessecho et al. :) I talked to my parents about it on Friday night. It was not a pleasant exchange. After enduring half an hour's litany about how I couldn't possibly know this person and how no one online is who they claim to be and how mentally disturbed I was to even want to take a trip to meet somebody, I had an urge to delete my journal and never talk to any of you again, because hey, you're all actually 50-year-old pervert Jehovah's Witnesses pretending to be other people, right? :P Thankfully, they finally agreed that as long as I stayed in a hotel and was able to get around independently (translation: escape from impending doom), they would be okay with my going. But they've made it clear that I am not of sound mind. :P This sort of casts a pall over my excitement. I mean, I have this great opportunity to hang out with awesome people and accomplish two of my life goals (see San Francisco and see the Pacific). :) I don't know why this makes me a nut case.

The rest of my weekend was better. My mom and I went up to Jackson on Saturday for Debra's All-West performance, and had a great time. David Holsinger, the famous composer, conducted the Wind Ensemble (the best high school musicians in the state). Having played his pieces all through high school, I was in awe watching him. He was incredible. It made my whole month. :) Before we went home, Mums and I went a little nuts at the Dunkin' Donuts, and went shopping at Goody's, right across the street from salemgirl's alma mater. I got a nice skirt for 5 dollars. (I have pictures of all these things, but couldn't get them onto a disk, so I'll post them later.) When we got back, I had some of my dad's amazing chicken soup for dinner, and then went to Kathy's parents' house to watch the Tigers kick Cincinnati's butt. It was a very satisfying game. :)

Yesterday was such a nice day. After church, Ryan, Matt, Alli, and I had a leisurely lunch at Mozzarella's (in which Ryan found a piece of his plate in his pasta pie and received another one for free). In the afternoon, I burned a great workout (translation: ghetto :)) CD that I'd been trying to burn for a month, and then took a walk. While I was walking, the sun came out!!! For two hours! Thus, we have doubled our sunshine amount for the month. :) In the evening I went to Bible study at IPC- apparently Jean Larroux has been teaching on Sunday nights as well, and no one told me. Of course, it was a great lesson. Afterward, Ryan and I and Myla and her boyfriend went to dinner. It was fun and relaxing. Then I came home and Kathy and I watched half of Sense and Sensibility. Yay!

This was really long and I should have cut it. Oh, well.