Get Low

I don’t know about you guys, but I’m all candied out. Too bad we still have a giant bowl of sweets on our dining room table! Busy weekend…

*FRIDAY*

I was up early Friday morning because we had an appointment with the chimney sweep. Sadly enough he did not look like Dick Van Dyke, nor did he have a cockney accent. He did, however, tell us that the chimney looked faaabulous and gave us the go-ahead to use the fireplace- which we’ve never done, nor did the couple who lived here before us. So that was exciting.

After the appointment, my mom and I headed out to run some errands. We were on our way to Costco in Rockwall when we saw a billboard for- get ready for it- The Jerky Outlet. That’s right. Every kind of jerky you could ever want or need. Though I wasn’t particularly excited by the dried meat (we did stock up on a few things for Brian and my brother), I may have squealed a little when I saw the giant display of PB Loco in every flavor of peanut butter you could ever want: caramel apple, banana chocolate-chip, white chocolate raspberry, even curry. Did I mention that they also let you sample any flavor?? They also carried PB2, which I’ve NEVER seen in stores. So I walked out with these:

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough PB Loco and Chocolate PB2.

Friday afternoon Brian called and asked if I wanted to have a “date night.” Ummm, yes. I’m usually the control freak planner in this house but every once in a while it’s exciting when someone else takes charge. So I actually showered, makeup-ed, and got dressed… here’s evidence:

(On a side note: HOLY CRAP. How the hell do I still have 4+ more weeks?? There is no more room for this kid… though he does look a little lower, no? So maybe that’s progress.)

We ended up at Cowboy Chow in Deep Ellum. We’d tried this place right after it opened and weren’t impressed, but so many people have raved about the food that we decided to give it another shot. I love the decor of this place, and the entire menu sounds delicious. I also like that they give you a giant bottomless carafe of iced tea (way better deal that the $2.50 bottle of soda, btw). We started out with the Navajo Fry Bread:

Basically a giant piece of fried bread, served with honey and black beans for dipping. Delicious. The bread is crisp on the outside and chewy/doughy (in a good way) on the inside- similar to a sopapilla, but without the cinnamon and sugar. It’s lightly coated in some kind of seasoned salt.

I had the brisket enchiladas with smoked cheddar queso for my entree:

Though the brisket was really good, the enchiladas came out cold and kind of tough. For some reason they don’t provide knives, either, so we spent the next 5 minutes trying to flag down our waiter to get one. I tried Brian’s grilled cheese and had immediate buyer’s remorse. Oh well- next time. I want to try the mash tater parfait, too. The prices at this place are great- most of the entrees are $10 and under.

After dinner we debated seeing either Paranormal Activity or Where the Wild Things Are. By the time we got to the theater, Paranormal Activity was sold out so the decision was made for us. I really, really wanted to love Wild Things… but notsomuch. Brian liked it. I’m usually a big Spike Jonze fan, but this just seemed way more dark and heavy than it needed to be. The beginning was depressing, the middle was visually interesting but plot-wise kind of boring, and the end was a little anticlimactic. Has anyone else seen this movie? What did you think?

*SATURDAY*

Halloween!!! We slept in then spent most of the day just doing random errands (Chloe nail trim, Target) then getting ready for trick-or-treaters. Brian carved our pumpkin and I made these:

I forgot how EASY Rice Krispie treats are to make! And how delicious they are.

We had some very cute trick-or-treaters, particularly a Dallas Cowboy, a disco girl, Princess Jasmine and Raja. Even Chloe and Patty got into the act:

Chloe recycled her pumpkin costume from a few years ago.

Brian and I were lazy and just hung out on the couch watching Elizabethtown. We actually had a ton of kids come by- we ran out of candy at one point and Brian had to make a quick Walgreen’s run to replenish. OH, and look!!!

I’m a little obsessed. It makes the house 100x cozier. The fire freaks Piper out, though. She probably spent an hour last night just sitting in front of the fireplace, staring at the flames.

*SUNDAY*

My parents invited us, along with Zach and Laura, over for lunch during the Cowboys game. As usual, my mom went crazy with the food:

Tons of BBQ (turkey, chicken, brisket, ribs, sausage), pasta salad, caprese salad, steamed veggies, fried okra, even creme brulee for dessert. Total food coma afterwards, though my mom and I did manage a short walk around the neighborhood.

Before we left, I snagged the leftover smoked chicken and tub of pesto… which made tonight’s dinner a snap. We just boiled some whole wheat linguine and tossed it with the chopped chicken, pesto, lemon juice and parmesan.

Gotta love the 10 minutes dinners.

Anyone else all off kilter from the time change?? I was exhausted by 8. Now that’s just sad. Maybe some M&M’s will perk me up…

-SURVEY-

Best costume you saw this year?