Dogs are so weird. Chloe has just spent the last 10 minutes licking the same spot on her leg. It’s a really awesome sound… not disgusting at all. I hope she keeps this up all night long.
Ugh.
Well we had a productive weekend! And by “we,” I mean Brian. Leaves raked, carseat installed, nursery clean, even a few Christmas gifts were purchased. Not too shabby!
I cleaned out our junk drawer on Friday and found multiple Brinker gift cards. While Brinker used to own a ton of restaurants around here, now I think it’s down to just Chili’s, On The Border and Maggiano’s. The gift cards were pretty old and still listed Macaroni Grill as an option, so we called the restaurant and asked if they would accept the cards… yep! So that’s where we headed.
I think the last time I’d been to Macaroni Grill was in high school. I was pleasantly surprised by the “build your own pasta” menu, especially since whole wheat penne was an option. I had that with arrabiata sauce, spinach, broccoli, mushrooms and Italian sausage:
(Oh, and the bread was really good, too.)
The rest of the evening was spent reading magazines (me) and watching our latest Netflix delivery, Overnight (Brian).
On Saturday we vegged on the couch and watched the Kardashian wedding on E!. Don’t judge. Then my big, strapping husband headed outside to take care of the leaf issue in our front yard. We have a giant oak tree that is just gorgeous, but in the last 2 weeks has dumped an ungodly number of leaves on our yard… and our neighbor’s. Oops. He raked nine Hefty bags worth of leaves. NINE.
Later that afternoon Child Life Specialist Julie came over (along with Kelly, Molly and Gabe) to show us how to install the carseat, which was awesome because we would never have figured it out on our own. And now the Prius is rocking a sweet Graco Snugride, which freaks me out a little every time I look in the rearview mirror.
Saturday night we had a hot date to Tukta Thai, where I had the crazy noodles with veggies and tofu:
My weird fortune…
I HOPE so!
And then we headed to Northpark to try and get some Christmas shopping underway. It was a semi-successful trip, though we still have a long way to go on that front.
Okay, I’m a little embarassed to tell you where we had brunch today. Once again, don’t judge. Behold my Old Timer’s Breakfast… from… Cracker Barrel.
I know, I know. I’m not proud of it. But c’mon, they really do have the cheapest breakfasts around- AND they serve turkey sausage and apple butter. Brian just happens to be a Cracker Barrel alumnus, too, though apparently he was only a 1-star employee. Our waitress today had 4 stars on her apron. Just saying.
I spent all afternoon working on a very exciting recipe sent to me by a blog reader- but you’ll have to wait until tomorrow to read about it!!! It ended up simmering on the stove for several hours so we’re going to have it for dinner tomorrow night. I can’t wait!
My parents asked us to have dinner with them tonight, and I was secretly thrilled when my dad suggested Bobo China. It’s this old, super kitsch Chinese restaurant near our house. I remember eating there a lot as a kid on “special occasions” (birthdays, first communion, etc.), and LOVING the decor. Think lots of red velvet and gold. Apparently I told my parents that it was, “The most beautiful place I’ve ever seen!!”- which they find hilarious and remind me of all the time. Also, what kid wouldn’t love this???
Plastic food! The owner caught me taking photos of this and came by to inform me that the “food” was actually 33 years old and purchased on a special trip to Japan. So beat that, PF Changs. Unfortunately they’ve classed up the place over the years and gotten rid of the gold and red theme. Sad.
We ordered the Family Dinner for Four. It starts with the awesome Sizzling Rice Soup and Dumplings:
Then they give you four big entrees to share- Garlic Chicken (my fave), Mongolian Beef, Sweet and Sour Shrimp and Vegetable Delight:
Just as good as I remember it! And the waitstaff is so sweet.
Okay, that’s all I got. Hope everyone had a great weekend! It’s supposed to get *cold* here tomorrow, which I’m pretty excited about.
- SURVEY -
What was your favorite place to eat as a kid?
remember the year that Bobo china caught on fire? I rode there on my bike to look at the firetrucks. I think this is when they changed the decor perhaps?
My two favorites restaurnts as a kid were Next Door and Mario and Alberto’s.
great eats!
jenna
That chinese food looks awesome. And a 4-star employee? They must have thought you were food critics or royalty, haha
I love Cracker Barrel breakfast! Their pancakes are the best!
My favorite place to eat when I was a kid was on a corner and was shaped like a triangle. I have no idea what it was actually called since I always called it the triangle restaurant. I loved it because they had hotdogs and mac and cheese on the menu.
Hi Heather. Brinker does still have partial ownership of Mac Grill – at least for the next couple of months, then it’s up in the air. So, use those gift cards now! My favorite place to eat as a kid was actually Furrs. We went there every Sunday with my grandparents and it was the only place I was allowed to get multiple desserts!
You know that’s the best fortune ever right?! Ha love it. My favorite place used to be the scary hole in the wall Chinese place…only now realizing how scary it actually was.
I loved this fast-food Chinese place – super greasy and deelish! Plus Jim’s – hamburger stand. That shit is for real.
We used to go to this place that had melted cheese sauce at a hamburger bar. My fave. True story!
Heather, I died at your intro. I know what you mean – that dog licking sound – ughhhhh!