Thursday, January 29, 2009

WOOT a deal!


i have been wanting a flip video recorder and Ron was going to buy me one for christmas this year.  which meant, he drove around the day before christmas to shop for me, and everyone was out of them.  
today, on WOOT.com, there was a great deal for the Flip recorder.  we knew it was coming up because we know all the right people, thanks barb and dave.  ron got right online and now, one is coming my way. 
look out for future posts in video.
you can link on the woot deal of the day on our blog.

Friday, January 23, 2009

pre- Fabulous!!



npr ran a story this morning on pre-fab housing, it's slowly catching on. i think i want to live in one and i know ron would love it too!
the houses are beautiful inside!! and very reasonable with pricing starting around 36.
i can't help but laugh at the comparison to a double wide, but in comparison, they are very modern and clean looking.
they can withstand winds up to 150mph, does that sound good enough?
only problem, floor length wide-open windows. great for a view, but walking around "freely" would be an issue.

Thursday, January 22, 2009

sunny day

st. louis weather is so quick to change. after snow flurries on monday, today is bright and sunny with a high of 58.
i am so glad to get off of work early to enjoy some of the warmth.

the first bottle of wine

This was the bottle of wine ron and i split for our 4 year anniversary at Revival.
on the nose: tobacco, vanilla (from the bottle) you can smell for yourself.
Claire says, "Med. bodied, fruity and peppery wine with light berry and cherry flavor."
Ron's note on the smell, "I smell cookies, yeah, seriously, like, lemon creams, animal crackers." 
let us know what you think.

Saturday, January 17, 2009

4 going on 40



As you may or may not know, last night was the 4-year anniversary of our first "official" date. We had not really had a chance to plan anything super-special, because work has been so busy lately for both of us ( I think my next day off is in mid-February). We decided that the perfect evening would be just having a good dinner, something a little special, and just relaxing at home together for the rest of the night. (With this in mind, Claire came home with a nice bottle of champagne.)

For dinner, we settled on Revival. We had been there once before with Claire's family, and had been thinking and talking about it a lot recently. It has a really cozy and somewhat romantic feel to it. Plus Claire's favorite mac-n-cheese in town.(Somehow, our dating history is deeply connected to macaroni and cheese.)


See, cozy and romantic.

Another great thing about this place is that the menu is set up in such a way that it's really easy to get several things to share (or split, as we like to say). In fact, or waiter informed us that the chef encourages that type of behavior. We split several things :


1)Mixed salad greens with Missouri goat cheese, green apples & spiced peanuts


MMMmm...apple..


2) A rioja that I can't remember the name of. Claire is supposed to post our "review" of it, the first such post since she started this thing by saying that we would do one once a week. Oops.


MMmmm...wine. Not sure what's going on with my eyes here.


Plate on wall...nice to look at.


Plates on table, nicer to look at. Let's eat!
 
3) Tilapia with sweet potatoes, plain and simple
(So good. The fish is perfectly cooked. A little seasoned and crispy on the outside, but not greasy at all. Firm and tender on the inside. The sweet potatoes kill and are not too sweet like the dreadful concoctions I have spent a lifetime avoiding at Thanksgiving. And just a little bit of greens to balance that. Yum.)


4)Wood roasted cauliflower and tart apple
(I can't get enough of roasted cauliflower, and this might be the best. It tastes like sitting by a campfire, if that makes sense. A delicious, rustic comfort.)


5)Baked "Mac & Cheese"
(This is Claire's favorite and she could probably make a meal out of just this. It would be easy to do because there's enough here to fill you, but you're still gonna want more. Her only complaint is that the plate underneath should be bigger to catch all the delicious breadcrumbs that fall off of the top when you dig in to it.)


Clean Plate Club.


6) Contentment

What she doesn't know


I don't think she knows it (and I'm not going to tell her), but when she
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ I feel loved like I never have.


Happy anniversary, Claire. You continue to make me happier every day.

Love,
Ron