super busy day off together

Sunday was a great day, and a busy one.  We woke up at 8am but thanks to the time change we'd really gotten 9 hours of sleep!  We rarely sleep that much so we were feeling great.  We toyed with the idea of going for a run but breakfast won out.  I let Joe choose where to eat and he went with Howell's.  It's a little bit of a hike from our house but the place is super cozy and the food is great and by great I do not mean healthy...

I tried to behave and ordered a sandwich with egg whites, tomato, ham and swiss cheese on a kaiser roll.  But would you look at the size of that thing!  Joe had a creamed chipped beef skillet and it was out of control, I really should have taken a picture.

After breakfast we headed over to one of Joe's favorite places to look at on sale plants.  The place definitely looked a lot different from the last time I was there, they were practically cleared out for the winter.

I swear that man can turn shopping for anything into an ordeal.  Don't get me wrong, I love that he likes to get a good deal and the best quality product we must have walked 3 laps around the place comparing everything and then he still wasn't totally convinced and wanted to check another nursery on the way home!  Plus he's been out to both places doing comparisons numerous times before he even brought me!  In the end he could only decide on two peony trees that we're 40% off their listed price.

I made a friend during our trek through the isles of plants.  This long haired black cat was so sweet!  He followed me all around rubbing on my legs and when I bent down to pet him he was so appreciative.  I wish my cats loved me half as much as he seemed to!

After I said goodbye to my kitty friend we paid for our plants and headed to another garden center to check out the shrubs they had on sale for 50% off.  Joe wasn't impressed by their selection but we were intrigued by the sign out front for mums.

We ended up getting 8 plants for the front yard in hopes that they'll come back next fall.

By this point it was the early afternoon and I needed to get moving.  My friend Stephanie was having an At Home America party and I told her I'd be there.  We stopped home so I could fix my hair and put a little make up on and then Joe dropped me off so he could clean out and wash my car, it had taken quite a beating over the summer with all of our outdoor improvements.

I didn't think I'd be hungry but when faced with all the yummy treats Stephanie had prepared I had to try a little.  Well, a "little" turned into a lot more calories then I anticipated.

Especially when Lisa showed up with these bad boys.  They are from a bakery a little south of our town called Chocolate Face.  They were so fantastic!  I'm now trying to find a reason to get more.  Maybe my girl's night pajama party next week needs them?!?

It was nice to see everyone at Steph's house.  Her mother in law didn't even recognize me!  I mean it's been 5 years since their wedding and I've seen her sporadically but I guess the weight loss was really evident this time!  You'd think that would have kept me from eating so much junk, it didn't.


I ordered a couple of items from the catalog including an xmas card holder, some tiny glass bird candle holders and a delicious smelling candle.  The rep gave out great prizes and I would have been tempted to have her do a show at my house but she was a little too kind and sweet for my taste.  I called Joe to let him know I was ready to go and when we got home it was time to get ready for dinner.


We had reservations for restaurant week at 800 Bay with Kat & Mark at 7pm.  None of us had ever been there before so we were excited to try something new.  We met at our house for a pre-dinner cocktail which turned into a few pre-dinner cocktails and next thing you knew we were pushing our reservation back a half hour.  I didn't take any pictures at the restaurant, mostly because of those pre-dinner cocktails but I did snap this one of myself before we left.  I thought you all might get a kick out of my headband.

I ordered the gratin spinach and feta stuffed mushroom buttons appetizer, the egg dipped flounder francese in lemon caper butter over pilaf rice for my entree and we each were given an apple turnover with caramel ice cream for dessert.  The food was very good but I don't think I would have been happy if I had paid full price, except that dessert, I would have paid lots of money many times over for that dessert.  We headed home and tried not to think about the calories; Kat & Mark stayed to watch Boardwalk Empire but by the time the show ended we were all ready for bed.  We said goodnight and went straight upstairs; I don't think I last more then 3 seconds once my head hit the pillow.

1. 1000 fitness minutes - no exercise today = 0 minutes; 240 minutes total

2. 10,000 steps per day - 6956; 5 days total

3. 500 calorie burn - 586 breakfast + 0 lunch + 1487 dinner + 604 snacks = 2677 - 1835 = +842 (I don't even have words); 4 days total

4. 2 classes per week (or 10 total) at the LifeCenter - nope; 2 classes total

5. Geocache 3x - not today; 1 trip

6. 30 minutes of cleaning a day - I did a bunch of laundry before dinner; 4 days total

7. Dinner & a movie date night 3x - not today

8. Try one new food a week - nothing new :-(