Tuesday This and That

The Pub. I tried The Pub at the Greene (not to be confused with the Dublin Pub) Friday night for the first time. It was good but the portions are giant: I had FISH and chips. Seriously, it was the biggest piece of fish I'd ever seen. I'm not fond of heavy meals and giant portions. I liked the Tavern Crisps, though - homemade potato chips covered in cheese and bacon with a BBQ dipping sauce.

So, yeah, I thought it was okay. Beer is a bit steep, too - $6 for a pint. I had two pints and a Knob Creek while we were waiting for our table and our bar bill was a ridiculous $19.

Aha! Another portion of my list complete! Number 41. Try four new restaurants in Dayton - two down, two to go.

Friends. The best part of the night, though, happened as I was walking in. A close friend from college that I had lost touch with was walking out. Nikki was always kind of tough - after college she became a cop - so it was kind of funny to find out that now she's a stay at home mom with three kids and and MA in Literature. Anyway, we exchanged phone numbers but I'd be kind of surprised if we actually get together. Still, it was really nice to see her again.

Saturday night I went to Craig and Lisa's for a St. Patrick's Day party. It's been over a year since I'd been to one of their parties and it was so wonderful to connect with everyone again and feel that kind of...well, love. And who knew Skky Vodka and a green Hawaiian Punch could be so good....

Knitting. The yarn I ordered to make the Leaf Lace Scarf shipped today. I like to search Ravelry for info on online yarn websites that I'm thinking about using and I read nothing but good stuff about Eat.Sleep.Knit which I'd have to agree with since I just placed my order yesterday afternoon. Hooray for speedy delivery and a good chance that I'll have a new project to work on this weekend. I didn't notice until after I'd ordered it that I'd bought the exact shade they use in the pattern - I do love green. This'll be my first lace project and my first charted project as well but I've read that this is a good starter pattern. It looks easy enough.

I also started the Dream Swatch Head Scarf last week with some gifted Socks That Rock (thanks again, Bertha!) and am a little over halfway done. It would be a nice beach vacation project, too - lightweight and easy to carry but still kind of fun to work on.

Veganomicon. I heart the book Veganomicon and I'm far from a vegan. I picked it up at the library late last week after reading a review in Bust and have already checked to see if Books & Co. has it (they do) because I've already decided to purchase it. Heck, that was before I'd made anything from it. Last night I made a potato and greens soup that was wonderful and there's a tomato bisque a few pages away that looks good, too. Oh, and blueberry brownies...mmm. It's well written and a little funny and I think it will also help me explore the herb and spice world as well as open me up to new vegetables (if I can find them). It even has a few basics that would be handy to have as a reference as well.

Oh, and in the world of cooking - my parents bought a KitchenAid mixer (sigh, I'm so jealous) this past weekend and had to get rid of a few things in order to make it fit in the cabinet so I own a fairly nice steamer now.

The doll house. Sorry everyone was disappointed in the lack of a bathroom. :-) I'll admit that tiny tubs and sinks and itsy bitsy rolls of toilet paper are cute but it just didn't work with the layout. Plus I can make most of the craft room bits with things I have on hand - the idea of purchasing a lot more is a bit daunting right now (seriously, that wood was stupid expensive). I think I'm going to pick up some pinstriping tape and a little more trim wood tonight to start working on the windows. My biggest conundrum is the roof. I'm not sure if I should paint it or use the shingles I already have from the cheap kit I abandoned. And if I did use the shingles I'm not sure what color I would paint them either...or if I'd just use stain. Any suggestions?

Yikes! Holy long post, Batman!