Sunday, February 28, 2010

Book Club with Wine or Wine Club with Books?

I'm not really sure if we are morphing into a Wine Club with Books but initially we had intended to have a book club that would allow us to read books we wouldn't ordinarily read on our own. So far we've read Wicked (and hated it) and The Magician's Assistant (and didn't hate it) and next month we read A Long Way Gone (and hope to at least like it)

The place:
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Bin 555 in San Antonio, Texas a Jason Dady restaurant with tapas and wine selections. Everything we tried was fantastic. Not a place for a budget but an excellent beautiful place for a book club!

The people:
The ladies

The ladies and the book
Not everyone because my cousin was recovering from wisdom teeth removal, and others had alternate engagements.


The wines:
Spanish Wine Flight

Red Wine Flight
A fantastic mix to try a variety of wines. I'm loving the flights.

The food:
Picked over cheese plate

We were so busy eating,I forgot to take pictures. Cindy reminded me before I licked the cheese plate clean, to get a pic of the food.

The socks:

my drinking socks

Lessons learned at today's book club....avoid men nicknamed Horse, we all enjoy plot over character development, we have no shame in sharing personal information with waiters.

Oh and Stacy likes to look up freakish body parts on her phone.

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

It's a planetastic week!

I'm heading to NY in April and Denver in May and I needed plane tickets. This is actually cutting it pretty close for me since I like to plan out 6 back up plans a year in advance. But both are work related so I didn't have the luxury of actual schedules or knowledge until just this week.

Tuesday I looked at Denver flights to Delta and found one for $206.30 including tax! I couldn't pass it up! Now I just need to find something to do in Denver besides visit the Tattered Cover. Janet can't make it because her real life kicked in so I'll be going at it alone. I'll need to come up with some3 other ideas of things to see/do. I've been eying this Mystery Dinner Theatre but I'm not sure I want to go by myself. But what the heck why not?

I'll definitely have my choice of shopping at 16th Street Mall. Probably should start saving now LOL!

Tara Janzen had a series of books set in LODO so I'm also looking forward to wandering that area near Coors Field to get a better picture in my head about that setting. Maybe I need to reread a couple....checking now to see if she has a new one out soon...

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

If I could pay someone to shop for me....

I'd do it in heartbeat. I HATE SHOPPING. Any kind. From grocery, to shoe, to clothes, even jewelry. When I discovered qvc.com and internet shopping my wallet screamed because OMG I can click and click and have things delivered TO MY HOME without stepping foot in a store. Yeah Yeah welcome to 2010.

But even this method is tricky for me, because how do you know that it will match and the reds or blacks are just a bit "off" And then you have to send everything back and THAT gets expensive (although with gas prices today and me living 20 miles from a store it can be a trade off). Then in my mail box magic happened. I received a Spiegel catalog that was a miracle.

EVERYTHING WAS PLANNED TOGETHER!!!
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No worries about matching, no stress about colors. It was all categorized for me as well...Natural, Chic, Elegant, etc. So of course I looked at the prices. Nothing this organized comes cheap right???? The one peices above were $39. THIRTY NINE DOLLARS???? I haven't spent that little on a swimsuit since I was 12 years old! So of course I bought two :)

And the clothes are nice as well. I bought the off the shoulder blouse below but realized I probably don't have a bra to wear with it...we'll see how it fits when it gets here...can't wair!!!

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Monday, February 22, 2010

Cruise countdown....

Craig and I are taking a cruise in about 30 days to the Bahamas. This will be his first cruise and I have to say I'm a bit concerned. I wanted to list my concerns here so that when I get back I can address them and see if they were unfounded at all. His cousin wants us to take a 7 or 8 day cruise next year and I really wanted to dip Craig's feet in the cruising water before that big of a leap.

1. Breakfast food. This is our favorite meal and can easily make or break a trip.

2. Dinner Companions. Actually dinner in total. Sitting with strangers, the kind of food, the quality, I could go on....why are my top two concerns food???? Becuase that is the hell that is travelling with Craig. Food concerns.

3. Activities on Nassau.
It's pretty commercialized and we want to getaway. So I have the Frommer's guide to find the more secluded beaches. Here's hoping.

4. The size of the cabin. I chose a balcony this trip but for the longer cruise am hoping Craig will say it was a waste of money so we can get an interior. This way we can save money to spend on alcohol...which travelling with family is alwas required.

5. Tipping. this is amajor sore point for Craig and the basis of all money made by the people in the service portion of the ship. I need to prep him now so he isn't freaked out that the tips are so big.

I am fully aware of how large my list is, but we are really bad at first time travelling. We like to go where we know things. My first cruise was ok but not the best thing ever and frankly it was the company that made it fantastic. SO this time I am going in knowing what to expect and hopefully will come away happier for it.

Saturday, February 6, 2010

Rome in a day, leave with a purse

My friend Janet asked me a seemingly innocuous question that morphed into a 20 minute lecture on how I don't love any of my children more than another.

Seriously, having to choose what activities to do with ONE DAY in Rome was like asking me which arm or leg I would prefer to part with. I even tried to get Craig to help make my decision and it was a lively discussion for true.

No one should travel to Rome and not take a tour with Context Travel. In fact, if I had only a day there I would pack in two tours: Vatican City in the morning and The Forum and Colisseum in the afternoon. And while I was walking from tour to tour I would stop by the Spanish Steps and Trevi Fountain along the way.

Then I would sneak over to Campo di Fiori to Ibiz leather, a family owned leather shop I totally stole this from Lonely Planet:

Address
near Campo De' Fiori, Via dei Chiavari 39,
Centro StoricoS
Phone
06 683 07 297
Transportbus: Corso Vittorio Emanuele II


It's hidden really and the only way I foudn it was the open door to the men and women working inside hadcrafting the bags. I saw that and my wallet just screamed to purchase something. I went back twice. In fact I would even go back to Rome just for these bags.

If you are in Rome for a few days, you can stop in and special order a bag to be made for you. How cool is that?

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Craps table: 2, Craig and Andrea: 0

Wowzer. Luck has left us entirely. I mean we must have really pissed her off because she kicked us out somewhere in east Texas leaving us with our suitcases, empty pockets and no cell coverage.

We had a great time with the MIL and GMIL who are quite a pair.

MIL: So Mom when you travel on the bus to Louisiana do you always stay together?
GMIL: No not usually.
MIL: Then why am I following you everywhere?
GMIL: (Pausing and looking at MIL) I have no idea.

We had to hogtie and blind fold GMIL to get her to a $10 breakfast buffet and then stop her from packing her full purse with snacks for later (see also: Winnings, GMIL). I was glad the slut Luck had spent some time with GMIL but really she couldn't spread out her favors???

Notes on Shreveport/Bossier City:

All casinos are on boats.
Smoking is very heavy and your clothes and hair WILL smell like smoke if you step foot on the boats.
Boomtown was a great hotel and the 1800 restaurant was tasty, but the buffet and cantina were bnot so good. (Note to self, South Texans should NEVER eat Mexican food in LA)
Horseshoe is most like Vegas in style and offerings. If you want to feel like you are in Vegas stay and gamble there.
When it is dead they close all the tables and getting in a game is difficult (esp. if there are 2 of you). So be prepared to gamble none. Or mayhap that was just a sign from God that it was time to get our broke selves off that boat.

Also, comps are much better there than in Vegas. Overall it was entertaining. The drive was Loooooooong so I would want to do it with people I like for certain. We'll do it again and hope that slut luck (cuz she's no lady) will rub elboes with us again.
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