Weekend Rewind

What a weekend. I'll get the big news out of the way right away... C passed the bar!

It all started early Friday morning, as many weekends do, at 7:00 a.m. We went to bed the night before feeling like it was Christmas Eve, ok, that was mainly me. C says he didn't feel any different. While C woke up to great news, I woke up to an upset stomach. Actually, it had been with me since before I went to bed Thursday night and at one point I blamed it on the pre-bar exam results anxiety. Then I realized I was confident C would pass, so that couldn't be it. Turns out it was just a bug. I stayed home from work to make sure I nipped the bug in the bud simce a bazillion different things seem to be going around lately. Had I not put off getting a now out of stock flu shot I'm sure this whole sickness debacle would have been avoided. I had grand plans to take C out to celebrate Friday night, but decided to move those to Saturday to make sure I was 100% for our celebration.  Instead of the yummy dinner I had planned we ended up with Bob Evan's to go (not Bob Eben's as used to think it was called) and Domino’s wings. What a way to celebrate such a momentous occasion!

Saturday morning, after 10 hours of sleep for me and 12 for C, we woke up and hit the ground running. I was insistent on getting a new shirt to wear for our celebration so we headed to Kohl’s, home of cute clothing that seems to always be on sale. We also came out with a wooden "E" for our place and some guys socks for me (a while back I decided C's work socks were way more comfy than mine). We then headed home to catch the end of the OSU game, which turned in to "check the OSU game when Iowa was on a commercial break." After we finished the game and showered we headed out for our hot date.

A friend of ours from church is the head chef at the Inn at Cedarfalls so we headed down south, through hills and valleys to taste his cuisine. Talk about a long, winding ride made worse by the fellow in front of us who thought the in thing to do was travel 20 miles an hour down 664. Needless to say we still made it with an hour to spare (I had planned on us looking around, but forgot it would be dark by then). We headed to the bar to kill the extra 50 minutes prior to dinner. I had been told by Becky from church to try the "Chef's Wife's Martini" named for her, but I didn't think it would sit well with my stomach - next time. The kitchen opens up to the bar so we were able to talk with Tony and ask him what he suggested we try for dinner. It was pretty cool to see him and his sous chef prepare the meals.

Once we were seated at our table we ordered the (chef recommended) filet mignon (for C) and pork tenderloin (for me) and enjoyed our soup and salads. While we waiting I decided to present C with his "passing the bar" gift.... a pair of cufflinks from Tiffany, just like the ones I gave him for our wedding which were returned to the tux store along with the tux while we were on our honeymoon.  I can't figure out for the life of me why someone at the tux warehouse would want to keep them and not return them to their rightful owner.

Side note... The Cuff Link Story....I had to go to the ends of the earth country to find these things. On a trip to Columbus for a meeting a few weeks ago I decided to stop in Tiffany and get a new pair. My new friend Jeremy (or whatever his name was) was able to pull up the pair I had originally ordered only to find that they had been discontinued (bad news), but that three stores in the country still had them (good news). So we he started calling the stores. The first store, in North Carolina, was a no go as their pair were a display pair that had been bent. by the way, who bends sterling silver cuff links while looking at them? Must have been that boy-girl from The Matrix. At this point Jeremy, who lives just blocks away at the Easton Commons but still drives to work, told me San Francisco was our last shot because New York, the flag ship store, was known for not giving up their last piece of anything. Luckily San Francisco had a sellable pair. They cleaned them up, boxed them up and sent them to my top secret location where C would not find them (my parents' house).  I'd show you a pic but since they are discontinued and I do not have access to Tiffany's private product database and they actual pair should be on the shirt C is wearing, I don't have one.  You'll just have to imagine a pair that semi-resemble a gavel thus looking a little legal like.

Back to dinner. As I said, we enjoyed our tasty soup and salad, then our main courses arrived. According to C this was the best filet he had ever had. Even better than those pricey restaurants we sometimes visited in Chicago. The sides were also to die for. Asparagus and mashed potatoes. Two of my favs. After dinner we ordered a flourless chocolate tart (for C) and pumpkin cheesecake (for me). Again, delicious. After dinner we gave our compliments to the chef and rolled up the hill back to our car.

Sunday was an ordinary Sunday. We had McDonalds for lunch, but this time from the one across town since the Elseas do not carry cash and the east side MickyDs wasn’t accept credit cards in honor of it being the Sabbath (or something like that). C went to work to get some work done while I made a much needed grocery trip. Sunday evening consisted of a semi-homemade (not a shout out to my non-friend Sandra Lee) meal of a (possibly expired) Campbell’s chicken and rice dish along with a test run of squash casserole (which I have been nominated to make for Thanksgiving this year). I managed to burn my wrist on the oven when getting dinner out.  I contemplated (and even took) posting a picture, but I'll spare you.  We then ended the evening by going to bed earlier than normal because by 10+10 hours of sleep and C’s 12+10 hours of sleep + 2 hour nap did not seem to be enough for us that weekend.

Next weekend C’s parents will be here. We’re spending this week cleaning and looking forward to their arrival.