I haven't spent much time on the computer during my few days off but I have had a most excellent time. Tonight, I'm a little depressed as work and stress and all the offal I left behind in taking my days off loom nigh, but I'm trying to work through it.
Friday we did something not unusual for us, visit to the bookstore and lunch, but to change it up a little we went further afield, to two different bookstores instead of the one two miles from our house and to a different, non-local restaurant. I bought some cool books and we had delicious burgers at Ted's Montana Grill, bacon/American for me and bacon/bleu for Alan.
One of the books I bought was a Batman graphic novel, which is very cool, Batman Chronicles. It's a reissue of the original DC Comics from May 1939 to Spring 1940. Sure, the drawings are a little...basic, rendered in primary colors and not nearly as pretty as a Dave McKean, and the storylines are a little cheesy, full of "It's YOU!", "SOCK!", YAA-A-A-A-A!" but the coolness factor of seeing the original comics as they were 70 years ago (seventy?!? WTF?!? Is my math off? No, 1940 was 70 years before 2010.), which include the first appearances of Robin, The Joker, Dr. Hugo Strange, and a very, very early version of Selina Kyle where she is known only as "The Cat"...this badassery totally outweighs the lamer elements.
Also picked up Top Gear Season 13 and a few other novels that look promising.
Saturday was mostly lazy, slept in and went to the vet's office for doggy heartworm remedy, nothing much.
Sunday we were invited to our friends Matt & Tammy's house, for a birthday party/cookout for their daughter Brooke, who is turning 3. It was really cool - they had a petting zoo! There was a pony, a donkey, lots of doggies (poodles, two Italian greyhounds, some mixes), two goats, some doves, bunnehs of all sorts and three little pigs! I held the smallest of the pigs, a tiny white one with pink on her snout. Her wee little hooves were adorable. Held a dove and a bunneh also, and scritched the donkey's ears. I wanted a piglet but Alan said no. I had a really fun time; every time I'm around them I wonder why we don't hang out more often. They don't live particularly far from us, just kinda cumbersome to get there. My brother Bo and his wife Sarah came down for the party, which it was great to see them, and also in attendance were some other friends, Adam and Gina, that I hadn't seen in some time. Great day.
Monday we went grocery shopping and then had dinner at Bone's, courtesy of my boss. My birthday was last month and he said, for a present, to go out to dinner with my husband and bring him the bill. He's done that a few times and it's a fabulous present, I've got to say (er - write). Bone's is consistently rated in Zagat's as the best steakhouse in America - not just Atlanta, America. We had a fantastic meal: I wasn't in the mood to fill up on salad so I asked about this "hors d'oeuvres board" appetizer. It varies daily but yesterday was these four pieces: a sort of flower made of the most savory salami ever, topped with shaved Parmesan, a prosciutto-wrapped asparagus spear, a deviled egg half topped with a sliver of smoked salmon and a small herbed crostini topped with foie gras. It was exactly what I wanted, some small savory noms of deliciousness without being half-a-pound of any one thing. Alan had their signature salad, featuring mixed greens, apples, pistachios and Stilton. I had a filet and he had a dry-aged bone-in rib eye, sharing side orders of onion rings and truffle-butter mashed potatoes. NOM. If you go there, though, order half sizes of the side dishes; otherwise they're way too much food and it's too fantabulous to waste. Warm pecan pie with ice cream for Alan's dessert and a creme brulee with fat blueberries, raspberries and mint for me. MMMMMMMmmmmm.
Today was very lazy, lying on the couch petting my puppies and kitteh, reading some of the books I'd bought and finishing off the bottle of Napa Valley Silver Oak 2005 from last night - you can order it at Bone's by the bottle but if you don't drink it all (because, say, your husband doesn't drink and you're not the type to down an entire bottle at dinner), they recork it and seal it in plastic so you can leave with it without violating Georgia's open-container laws and thereby are not constrained to the limited selection of wines by the glass. Aces.
It was a fabulous few days off: bookstores, good friends, delectable meals...I'm sad to see it coming to an end. Tomorrow's going to reek. But I suppose it's like the all-wise philosopher Butt-Head once observed, "Uhhh, well, if nothing sucked, and everything was cool all the time, then, like, how would you know it was cool?"
Friday we did something not unusual for us, visit to the bookstore and lunch, but to change it up a little we went further afield, to two different bookstores instead of the one two miles from our house and to a different, non-local restaurant. I bought some cool books and we had delicious burgers at Ted's Montana Grill, bacon/American for me and bacon/bleu for Alan.
One of the books I bought was a Batman graphic novel, which is very cool, Batman Chronicles. It's a reissue of the original DC Comics from May 1939 to Spring 1940. Sure, the drawings are a little...basic, rendered in primary colors and not nearly as pretty as a Dave McKean, and the storylines are a little cheesy, full of "It's YOU!", "SOCK!", YAA-A-A-A-A!" but the coolness factor of seeing the original comics as they were 70 years ago (seventy?!? WTF?!? Is my math off? No, 1940 was 70 years before 2010.), which include the first appearances of Robin, The Joker, Dr. Hugo Strange, and a very, very early version of Selina Kyle where she is known only as "The Cat"...this badassery totally outweighs the lamer elements.
Also picked up Top Gear Season 13 and a few other novels that look promising.
Saturday was mostly lazy, slept in and went to the vet's office for doggy heartworm remedy, nothing much.
Sunday we were invited to our friends Matt & Tammy's house, for a birthday party/cookout for their daughter Brooke, who is turning 3. It was really cool - they had a petting zoo! There was a pony, a donkey, lots of doggies (poodles, two Italian greyhounds, some mixes), two goats, some doves, bunnehs of all sorts and three little pigs! I held the smallest of the pigs, a tiny white one with pink on her snout. Her wee little hooves were adorable. Held a dove and a bunneh also, and scritched the donkey's ears. I wanted a piglet but Alan said no. I had a really fun time; every time I'm around them I wonder why we don't hang out more often. They don't live particularly far from us, just kinda cumbersome to get there. My brother Bo and his wife Sarah came down for the party, which it was great to see them, and also in attendance were some other friends, Adam and Gina, that I hadn't seen in some time. Great day.
Monday we went grocery shopping and then had dinner at Bone's, courtesy of my boss. My birthday was last month and he said, for a present, to go out to dinner with my husband and bring him the bill. He's done that a few times and it's a fabulous present, I've got to say (er - write). Bone's is consistently rated in Zagat's as the best steakhouse in America - not just Atlanta, America. We had a fantastic meal: I wasn't in the mood to fill up on salad so I asked about this "hors d'oeuvres board" appetizer. It varies daily but yesterday was these four pieces: a sort of flower made of the most savory salami ever, topped with shaved Parmesan, a prosciutto-wrapped asparagus spear, a deviled egg half topped with a sliver of smoked salmon and a small herbed crostini topped with foie gras. It was exactly what I wanted, some small savory noms of deliciousness without being half-a-pound of any one thing. Alan had their signature salad, featuring mixed greens, apples, pistachios and Stilton. I had a filet and he had a dry-aged bone-in rib eye, sharing side orders of onion rings and truffle-butter mashed potatoes. NOM. If you go there, though, order half sizes of the side dishes; otherwise they're way too much food and it's too fantabulous to waste. Warm pecan pie with ice cream for Alan's dessert and a creme brulee with fat blueberries, raspberries and mint for me. MMMMMMMmmmmm.
Today was very lazy, lying on the couch petting my puppies and kitteh, reading some of the books I'd bought and finishing off the bottle of Napa Valley Silver Oak 2005 from last night - you can order it at Bone's by the bottle but if you don't drink it all (because, say, your husband doesn't drink and you're not the type to down an entire bottle at dinner), they recork it and seal it in plastic so you can leave with it without violating Georgia's open-container laws and thereby are not constrained to the limited selection of wines by the glass. Aces.
It was a fabulous few days off: bookstores, good friends, delectable meals...I'm sad to see it coming to an end. Tomorrow's going to reek. But I suppose it's like the all-wise philosopher Butt-Head once observed, "Uhhh, well, if nothing sucked, and everything was cool all the time, then, like, how would you know it was cool?"
4 Comments:
Your description of dinner makes me drool! I'm glad you had such a delightful vacation. I'm sorry it has to end. And that you didn't get to keep a souvenir pig.
By
Anonymous Me, at 9:16 PM
Your dinner sounds like a cholesterol nightmare. I hope that is a once-a-year kind of meal.
By
Anonymous, at 9:09 PM
Yes, Nancy, drool was involved! And not over the piggy. DKZody, yes, it's an indulgence but more like twice a year, when The Boss buys. But it's worth whatever sacrifice it takes the other 363 days, it's just THAT good. :-) Also, the appetizer and the sides were small tastes of things, not like some places where a "salad" is half a head of lettuce plus fixings, the appetizers weigh two pounds and the steak and potato each weigh a pound. It's rich food, but reasonable portions.
By
Helly, at 9:34 PM
...and you have good genes!
By
Anonymous, at 9:34 PM
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