Weekend Wedding!

Today I'm at the Baylor Sammons Cancer Center FREE Head and Neck Cancer Screening. Anyone who lives in the area can come by before 11:00am. No appointment necessary.

Last Thursday was Gloria's (some #) Anniversary, and they were celebrating with 25 cent margaritas. For some reason I thought it was a good idea to go, but after standing in the line at the Addison location for 1 hour and 15 minutes, I gave up! We ended up going to Blue Goose for some yummy frozen margaritas. They were only $3, so I didn't take it as that much of a loss.

Later that night we had the hailstorm of the decade! It was unreal. It looked like snow on the ground; quarter- and dime-sized hail! Crazy! I should have taken pictures.

Tonight is my college friend Lizzy Murray's wedding - I can't wait! It's at a country club in Lewisville, next to the lake. I'll be sure to take a ton of pictures. Stay tuned!

Whiskey Cake & Friendly Times

This past weekend was an intesnse one. Intensely fun!

I hung out with some old work friends on Friday at a friend's birthday party at Trinity Hall. Always good times at the Hall.

Michael and I invited a few friends (family, really) over for a fun night on Saturday. First, we went to Whiskey Cake for dinner. After waiting for a while, we were seated in one of the three huge rooms. (Huge for Plano dining.) We all ordered fancy cocktails and appetizers. I had the guava gimlet, which turned out to be an excellent choice.
We also ordered fried green tomatoes with remoulade, smoked salmon deviled eggs and hummus with pita bread. After devouring that, we ordered our entrees: the OMG burger (complete with spicy mayo and an onion ring), braised short ribs, ribeyes with white cheddar grits, and a roased chicken sandwich. Amazing! Then, for dessert...what else? Whiskey cake. I'd have to say, it was one of the best desserts I've had in a long time.

BUT
The highlight of the evening was the pickle that topped my cousin's roasted chicken sandwich. Yes, the pickle. (Side note: I have a serious love for pickles. I love them for their sour crunchiness, vinegary taste and briney snap.) When he tossed the obviously homemade pickle to the side, I hesitantly asked "Are you going to eat that?" (YES I AM A LADY.) It was delicious. So delicious, I stupidly asked the waiter if I could buy some to take home. Screw dessert, I'm having pickles for my nightcap! And yes, he came back with a to-go tub of homemade pickles! Thrilling! So, I've been rationing them since then. I could have asked for the recipe, but where's the fun in that?



Thanks, Jake, for ordering that chicken sandwich.

Be The Match: Baylor Healthcare National Marrow Donor Program

I ran across this blog, Sammons Says, which posts articles that speak to people with cancer or their families. It painted a very compelling and distressing picture. I discovered that Baylor has one of the eight programs nationwide (only one in Texas) to offer the National Marrow Donor Program. That's amazing. The program helps people with various blood cancers find their marrow match (almost 1 in a billion) in order to save their lives. Most people are only given 2 or less years to live once diagnosed, so that's a incredibly short time to find a 'needle in a haystack.'

This is the article I read about a film shown at the Dallas Film Festival. The film gives a closer look at three people's search for their match. Powerful.

Find out more about the program and how to be in the donor database here.

Back Patio Garden

For some reason, I'm giving a patio garden a shot again. This will be the third time I've tried, and I've only been minutely successful. I managed to kill gardenias, basil, sage, thyme and mums. My lime tree is the only thing I've kept alive, and it only produced 2 limes last year. Of those two limes, I only got to use one. A squirrel made off with the other one. The remaining one made a damn good cilantro-lime grilled chicken, though!

This year I mistakenly made a trip to Calloway's, where I couldn't resist the vegetable seedlings. I bought two plants:

Yellow Variety Zucchini Plant


Green Zebra Heirloom Tomato Plant

I hope they live.
I'm aiming to get one vegetable each from the plants. And for the lime tree my goal is 3 limes this year! (I'd love to have a zucchini gratin and a heirloom tomato salad with buttermilk dressing!)

Rainboots & Making Lists

Good morning, Thunderstorm!

I'm sure I looked like an idiot, but I donned my rainboots (from about 2-3 years ago) this morning for my walk from the parking lot to the office building. I tucked my black suit trousers into the black-and-white houndsooth Merona rainboots, and away I went. I had the last laugh because the bottom of my pants were dry!

As I'm sipping my green tea and writing my weekly 'To Do' list, I'm thinking about how very much I love making lists. And even further, crossing things off that list. I even list that in my small biography section of this blog. It's that serious. With that being said, I think I need to make a list of goals for April.

1. Blog More (At least 6 times before the month is through.)
2. Call my Sister & Mom (I need to check up on them more often.)
3. Go to the gym or spin class every week. (Both.)
4. Return Andrea's message on Facebook.
5. Utilize my pantry for this month's dinners. (So many rices, quinoas and lentils!)

I think I'll stop there. Considering I have a huge list here at work, I need to get started! More posts to come.

P.S. - I believe the new cat food is a go!

Cat Food!

Quick update -

We haven't had any yarking (yet)! I'd say this is a triumph, considering all that's happened this past week. Go Blue!

First Quarter...Done!

A quarter of 2011 is already over! It's amazing how time passes so quickly.

I'm still looking/saving for a bike, and I'll probably be making a purchase next month. I've been looking at hybrid and road bikes, but mostly at brands and features. I'll have something to report soon, I hope.

On the agenda today was finding a suitable replacement food for my cats. We've been going through a change with their digestion, and it seems that every food we choose for them either won't stay down, or isn't appetizing to them. PetSmart has a great return policy on pet food, thankfully; you can return the opened, half-eaten food if your pet doesn't agree with it. So, after trying 4 types of food, we're on try number 5: Blue Buffalo. (http://bluebuffalo.com/healthy-cat-food) It was a bit pricey, so we're hoping it lasts for a bit. For some reason the 'Life Source Bits' grabbed me. The actual food has a different, more compact shape. It just looks better. What food do you feed your cats? (Sorry, dog owners!)

The rest of the day will be devoted to grocery shopping, working out and a smidge of spring cleaning. Happy April!