Dinner...Resumed

Monday, January 7th was the first time my grandpa and I had gone out to dinner in a long while.  While we were meeting every 10-18 days or so for the majority of 2012, I put our meetings on hold back in August because of my dad.

We decided to start fresh again at the beginning of the year.  We went to our family standard, Yarusso's.  On the first Monday of the month, they celebrate all of the birthdays for the month.  If you have a birthday during  that month, you get a free entree with the purchase of one.  Being that my grandpa's birthday was the day before we met, he received a free meal.  My birthday is also in January but we didn't have anybody else along so I could get mine free. :)  M had an impromptu meeting with someone from the American Liver Foundation and my mom didn't want to go since she had been eating a lot of Italian lately.  (Yeah, I don't understand that either.)

They also have all you can eat Pizza and Pasta on Mondays for $7.99.  That's what I had.  The pizza was ok.  The pastas to choose from were rigatoni with red or alfredo, ravioli as well as huge meatballs in red sauce.  They're meatballs are pretty good and I had rigatoni with alfredo sauce, which isn't something I normally gravitate towards but it was really good.

I talked to the owner there and he asked me how my dad was.  It was hard to say that he had passed away. He was very bummed when I told him.  My dad and him along with my mom and others in our family used to go out and go see a certain band back in the day together.

It was nice to talk to my grandpa again, one on one too.  And I forgot to get a picture of us!  I hate when I forget!

Lovely Sunday

Last Sunday seemed to last forever.  It was perfect.  While football playoffs were on, I spent little time watching the two games and instead focused on other things.

Other things like:

Running errands in the morning
Visiting my mom
Cleaning the kitchen
Making homemade soup
Taking the Christmas tree down
Doing laundry
Putting new sheets on the bed
Cleansing with a facial mask
Watching Downton Abbey season premiere

I felt so accomplished yet relaxed at the same time!  I look forward to football-less Sundays in the off season just as much as I look forward to the start of the season in August. The games will only get more interesting in the next couple of weeks so I'm not off the hook yet but I can't wait until I am.

As for the soup, I made Curried Lentil Soup and I think it turned out great.  It's vegan and if you're interested, here's the recipe.

Have a good weekend!

Thoughts for Thursday - Toothbrushes

My dad always liked reading when I did Thoughts for Thursday (TFT). It was not my idea and I don't know where it originated from but a topic is chosen by the blogger and they write about it. Here's where you come in...you get to be interactive with the blog and leave a comment about the topic.  Other bloggers do the same thing with their topic of choice and bloggers can link up the other blogger's topics on their post.  Fun?  Bloggers...are you interested in starting this again?

Today's topic is really light-hearted and almost stupid but it's an easy one and one that all can relate to, that is, if you brush your teeth.

I write blogs in my head all the time and while I was brushing my teeth on Monday and thinking about writing a blog post, this happened.  Really?!  The whole brush part broke off into my mouth!

This post didn't start over broken toothbrushes.  It started based on feedback M received from the dentist about his teeth.  Let's rewind.

Both M and I wanted an electric toothbrushes a couple of years ago.  He bought me one for my birthday two years ago.  I hated it.  I could not get used to the vibration, the feel of it and me drooling all over the place.  I returned it.  

I bought M an electric toothbrush last year for Christmas.  He loves it.

M goes to the dentist once a year.  This past week, he went for the first time since getting him the electric toothbrush.  They raved about his teeth and knew he must use an electric toothbrush.  While I get good feedback from my dentist, I've never had rave reviews like he did.  

Do you brush your teeth with an electric toothbrush or do you do it "manually"?  

Have you had great comments from your dentist with either toothbrush?

Do you think it's worth investing in an electric toothbrush and the cost of the replacement heads?

Participate and leave a comment!

I'm starting to consider getting one again and trying it out.  If I just be patient and stick with it, the benefits seem to be worth it. 

I hope I can stick with a topic each week going forward.  They'll be lighthearted and heavy hitters alike.  If I get little participation from readers and other bloggers, I may discontinue at some point but we'll see how it goes.

Other TFT posts:

• Kristi --The Flu  (Her blog is password protected but I know some of you have the password.)

*If there are any other bloggers who plan on doing a TFT post too, please let me know and I'll link you up later today.*

Birthday Win and Loss

It was M's birthday on Saturday.  I asked him multiple times what he wanted to do for his birthday throughout the week and I never really got an answer.  I don't think he really wanted plans but had a few things in mind.

We woke up and he talked about going to White Castle for breakfast.  I interjected with the idea of going to Good Day Cafe instead.  I knew once I mentioned it there would be one thing that M would think of...glazed doughnut pancakes, and he would be sold.

We drove all the way out there to wait. (not sure if it's technically Minneapolis, St. Louis Park or Golden Valley.  I've seen it with each one of those cities in the address.)  The wait was ridiculous as it is every weekend but it's really worth it.  M had a Bloody Mary to kick off his birthday celebration.

We were seated after about 30 minutes of waiting and I ordered a large grapefruit juice.  They have the best freshly squeezed grapefruit juice, except they keep all the seeds in there so you have to keep spitting them out.  

I ordered something new and something really delicious.  It was called Iggy's Fried Egg Sandwich.  Fried egg, shaved ham, tomato and avocado on grilled brioche bread and good day potatoes with spicy ketchup.  YUM.

Bacon makes M smile

These truly melt in your mouth

We then drove out to Woodbury on our way to 'Sconie.  We stopped at a liquor store to see if there was any rare beer there.  M had told me earlier in the week that if he saw a certain beer on the shelf, it would make his heart flutter. I asked him if I even make his heart flutter, let alone beer.  He said, you always do.  He's not dumb, that Michael.  

Anyways, he saw two bottles of that heart-fluttering beer on the shelf and snatched them up.  I bought them for his birthday and we headed to Wisconsin to Casanova Liquors to look at what our Wisconsin neighbors are carrying.  

M found quite a bit and I picked up the tab for his birthday.  He's so appreciative that I did this and if beer makes him this happy, then I'm happy to oblige.  I will someday have to do a post on his beer cellar, AKA that space under the stairs.  Even if you're not a beer fan, it's quite impressive. 

After Casanova and checking another liquor store in Hudson quickly, M turned in his free drink coupon for a free Happy Birthday drink at Caribou.  

On our way back home, we saw the following license plate.  We figured it had to be a good sign for the evening's Vikings/Packers game, right?

Wrong.  We were pretty excited to sit down and watch the wild card game with low expectations.  And low expectations is what we received.  It was a game time decision that Christian Ponder would not start the game due elbow/arm injury.  That means Joe Webb would start.  At first, I thought this to be exciting and to see what he can do again since he hadn't thrown a pass in a game since 2011.  He stunk it up pretty bad.  I feel bad because I like him and really wanted him to succeed.  All of a sudden I was left with the thought, maybe Ponder isn't so bad after all.  Hmmm...  Vikings lose 24-10.  Packers advance to San Fran next week.  

The first part of the day was a birthday win for M and the second part of the day was a Vikings birthday loss for M.  He never let it bother him though and we continued to celebrate his special day through the rest of the evening.  You have to admit, it's pretty cool to have the Vikings and Packers play on your birthday if you're a Vikings fan, regardless of the outcome. 

Happy Birthday Michael!  I'm happy to have been a part of your day. 

Family Holiday Dinner

Last Friday, we met with my dad's side of the family for our holiday gathering.  Typically we would meet at someone's house to eat and mingle.  This year, we decided to go out to dinner instead.  My aunt chose Donatelli's in White Bear Lake as our destination.

Donatelli's just underwent an expansion which gives more room to the tons of people that wait to eat there.  We luckily had reservations, which you would expect for a party about 20 on a Friday night.  Multiple people in our party hadn't been there before but knew of the place since it's been featured on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives on the Food Network. They have great food so make your way there if you've never been.

It was fun catching up with everyone and seeing everyone for the first time since my dad's funeral. I know he was there with us in spirit though.  Actually, he really was there.  I brought of a pouch of my dad's ashes to give to my uncle.  We have different plans and ideas as to where we will scatter and spread some of my dad's ashes in 2013.  I hope my uncle's plan(s) works!  It wasn't until after I came home that I wished we would have had a toast in honor of my dad. He'd be happy to know we were all together that night.

Here's the picture our server took.  It's really hard to see everyone.  

M took this picture and it's the better of the two.  It's a little easier to see everyone and they're easily identified.  There will be a quiz at a later date.  

John, sorry we didn't get a picture with you in it.  Jen/Lainey, we missed you two! 

Special thanks to my aunt and uncle for the homemade vanilla extract.  I'm excited to use it!

My cats may have chewed and played with the raffia a bit

Dog or Cat?

Do you think this video pretty much sums up the personalities of dogs and cats as acted out by humans?  I think so!  Which do you prefer in your life?

Happy Monday!

Grand Avenue Thursday

I picked my mom up to go to a financial appointment on Thursday, January 4th but afterwards, we went to Grand Avenue for dinner at Punch Pizza.  Punch is one of my all-time favorite places and I've been wanting my mom to try it for awhile. The restaurant is always busy with a line that most often heads towards the door but we got there early evening and there was no line at all.  

We ordered our pizzas and a salad to share and it was at our table in just minutes.  My mom really liked it  (which made me happy) which means mostly likely we'll be back there together again.

After dinner, we walked down and across the street to the Golden Fig.  I love browsing this store but I had something specific to buy this time.  M's birthday would be Saturday and I needed to pick up him one of his favorite spices, basil pepper.  He's blown through the entire jar since last April.  I ended up giving it to him that night.  

Today's the Day - *SKOL!*

Today is the day where the Vikings have been given the chance to play the Packers for a third time in six weeks.  I think both sides are nervous about the outcome but we're also both excited.  The lead up to the game has been pretty fun with both sides of the border razzing each other.

I thought I'd show you the GIGAPIXEL in honor of the Vikings today.  This picture was taken on Sunday, December 30th for the Vikings/Packers game.

The first picture shows tons of horns in the crowd.  That is everyone who has tagged themselves in the crowd, including myself. Click on all of these photos to enlarge.

The photo is incredibly clear and fun to play around with.  You can zoom around for a 360 view or keep double clicking in any area to zoom in on people in any section of the stadium with great resolution.  Here's our section.  Can you find me in section 211?

How about now?

Ok, now can you see me?

Good luck today, Vikings!  

Mad Men

On the day that we buried my dad, that evening, I started to watch the TV series, Mad Men.  If you've seen the first episode, it was quite ironic that I decided to watch the series on that day. Mad Men would be a comfort to me during the next six weeks that it would take me to watch the entire series spanning five seasons.

I have wanted to watch the series for quite some time but from February through July this year, we watched the series, Lost.  From there we had to catch up with Breaking Bad's latest season and then Dexter was released on DVD so there was no additional time for Mad Men.

If you don't know what Mad Men is, it's about advertising executives in the 1960's on Madison Avenue in New York City.  How accurate it is?  I don't know, but there's a lot of drinking on the job, cheating on wives, men putting women "in their place", politics and current events and women trying to make their mark in the world.  

Then there's Don Draper, Jon Hamm's character.  I never thought Jon Hamm was attractive.  After watching the series, I no longer can make that statement.  Don Draper is sexy, an asshole, sensitive, a drunk and charming all wrapped into one.  

A lot of critics and people say it is the best show ever.  I think the story lines are decent and there are several great actors in the show which I enjoy but I can't say it's the best show ever.  What do you think?  Have you watched an episode or the entire series?

Via

I watched more television than I thought I would in 2012.  I enjoyed it but I don't think 2013 will be a repeat, however I say that on the heels of season three of Downton Abbey, which starts this Sunday.  Mamamouse, are you going to watch?

New Year's Eve

M and I along with our friends Chris and Tanya went out to dinner at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse on New Year's Eve.  M and I went there last year as well and it's become our thing to go out to dinner on New Year's each year, AKA, we're getting old. 

Our reservation was at 6 pm, which gave us a couple of hours to eat and enjoy the company before T&C had to pick up their son Asher and before Tanya had to work overnight at HCMC.  I'm sure she saw a lot that night.

Dinner for me started with the chopped salad, followed by filet mignon and potatoes au gratin.  Everything was fantastic as it is always is there and everyone else agreed as well.  No desserts for any of us as we were too full.

After dinner, we headed back to our house with T&C with just enough time for Chris to have a quick beer.  M and I got in our comfy clothes, turned on the music, plugged in the Christmas tree, I mixed a drink while M cracked a beer and we parked ourselves on the couch for the night.  

I didn't drink very much at all.  I didn't even finish two mixed drinks and M had a few beers and we had a glass of champagne at midnight.  We did have the best beer in the world though.  No, really, it was rated as the best beer in the world.  The monks in Belgium brew it and there are only 60,000 cases available worldwide and the US had it's first chance at it this year.  It was fun to taste an incredibly rare beer.  It wasn't my style but I thought the beer was very complex.

Do you like my shirt?  Have you heard of Smokin' Jay?  It's about Jay Cutler, the Bears' quarterback.  I was introduced to this website by a coworker and I love this website so much that M bought me this shirt as a joke for Christmas.  I hope you understand the humor in it otherwise I don't want to be your friend. And don't stop at the first page...there's tons of smokin' photos.

Back to New Year's...I fell asleep on the couch probably around 2 am and then went up to bed around 3 am.  The good news is I had no hangover the next morning.  That's a pretty good way to start out 2013, isn't it?

Taking a picture of Frank through 3D glasses

What did you do for New Year's? 

New Years Resolutions - 2013

Here are my resolutions from last year.  How did I do?

Blog Makeover:  SUCCESS.  I changed my blog layout in 2012 to one that I enjoyed for the year.  I have already changed my layout for 2013 as I get bored with it and need to change it every now and then.

Health:  SUCCESS.  I accomplished a lot in the eating department and how good I eat.  I did eat unhealthy at times during the year, particularly when my dad was sick and taking care of myself wasn't a priority from me.  My eating lifestyle has changed quite a bit.  While I don't consider myself a full-blown vegan, I do enjoy a mostly vegan lifestyle.  I started exercising in the Spring and going to Zumba multiple times a week but then again, when my dad got sick, I didn't care about myself anymore.  I have since started going back to the gym since December 3rd.

Not Weigh Myself:  FAIL.  I'm too curious and it's always been an obsession.  I think it always will be.

Facebook:  FAIL.  I was supposed to be more interactive on FB but I'm going to give myself a fail on that one.  I guess I don't enjoy FB that much.  So much drama, bragging, bitching, politics that I choose not to participate much.

See a Broadway Play:  FAIL.  I failed on purpose on this one.  There were a couple of plays in May/June but I didn't have much interest after all.  It wasn't until December that the next Broadway play I had interest in was here and with the holidays and a very short run, it was too hard to make the commitment.

Birthday Cards:  SEMI-FAIL.  I started off good and you'll see there's a theme going on.  When my dad got sick, I probably didn't even realize when someone's birthday was.

Dinners with my Sister:  FAIL.  I'm going to give her the blame for this one.  We did make it out a couple of times without kids or partners though.

Organization: SUCCESS.  I love organization and while I have a lot of stuff, I'll always be organized and constantly getting rid of stuff and organizing some more.

What are my resolutions for 2013?

• Go to Chicago.  It's ridiculous that I haven't been there in over 9 years considering how much I like that city and how close it is.  
• Take an out-of-state road trip.  The longest road trip I've ever been on is to the Black Hills in South Dakota.  I want to take a road trip or equal or longer length.  This will be pending on M's PTO schedule.
• Spend more time with my nephews Keith and Colton.  Keith is at a fun age right now to interact with and Colton is getting older where he's starting to talk more.  
• Try not to be a backseat driver.  This one will be really hard and I really think I'm helping the driver and it does come from a good place but apparently I'm not helping.  I know this because M seemed to want to punch me in the face recently while in the car and it's not the first time it's happened.  Sorry, M. 
• Introduce my mom to new things.  I can only do as much as she wants to do but I'm hoping she'll get to experience some new adventures this year.
• Get engaged.  I know I have no control over this one but I feel like it's now time that I care about it more than I have before.  
• Take care of myself in every.which.way.

I wish you all a wonderful 2013. 

2012 - Year in Photos

2012 is behind us.  I'm happy about that.  It was a sad, sad year which unfortunately for me, all the bad that happened outweighed the good. I'm ready to move forward though into what can only be a better year.  Before I do so, here is 2012 in just 12 photos.  I have one theme this year in each photo:  FAMILY.

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December