All work, some play!

This weekend has been pretty awesome. I've gotten a lot of studying done for the inservice and I've also had a really fun time with Mechen, especially since he was gone during the week. He was at a conference in Panama City, FL which sounds like it went well AND he got to see his brother so that was great.

I've decided I'm only going to drink twice a week because even the "moderate" glass of wine or beer on weekday nights has slowly but surely caught up to my waistline. Since I'm not interested in that effect AT ALL, I've decided to drink only on the weekends at two meals- either two dinners, a brunch and dinner, etc.

So, Friday, we just hung out, ate a delicious soup that Mechen loves and split a bottle of 2007 Lake Sonoma Winery Cabernet Sauvignon. It was pretty tasty and a nice mellow evening.

Yesterday, I spent all day studying and, right at the point that I was hitting "crazy lady" level, I stopped, showered and got ready to go out with Mechen. It was one of the best date nights in awhile. Not that there are bad ones but the food was holy hell good.

We went to the Blue Ribbon Artisan Pizzeria in Encinitas. We walked along the beach to get there, although we had to go up the D St stairs since the tide was up to the rocks around the Swammi bend. We put our names on the list and grabbed a beer at the Lumbaryard. I had the beer of the month, an ale that was citrusy and flowery while Mechen had a Firestone ale. Both were good but it was mainly to pass time until we got our phone call. We were called about 25 minutes later and had seats at the bar. It is a tiny restaurant but the view at the bar was great since we got to look at the oven across the room.

We ordered the albacore crudo for an appetizer and it was delicious. Four pieces of perfectly ripened, diced avocado with a slab of tuna topped with a perfect, de-pithed slice of grapefruit. Olive oil and citrus vinegar were drizzled on top. It was amazing. We also got the truffle oil popcorn with Parmesan that was good, but really, just popcorn with lots of delicious oily goodness.

Then, we split the Californian pizza with tomato sauce, mozzarella, ricotta, parm and fresh arugula on top. I'm running out of superlatives at this point but I am STILL dreaming of that pizza and I am seriously considering ordering take-out tonight. We also had an Alagash Dark and Stormy Stout which was really delicious and filling. We finished by splitting the butterscotch pudding which was a beautiful balance of sweet, creamy and a touch of sea salt. Yummy!

But since we hadn't had enough beer, we finished up with a flight and a pint at the Encinitas Ale House that has some mighty delectable looking burgers- they're huge and even though I was beyond stuffed, they still looked pretty tasty.

So, that was my ridiculous sensory gorge-fest on Saturday! I had so much fun and felt fine this morning thanks to a middle of the night multivitamin and Ibuprofen with water. Now, I'm back to studying although a little less diligent than yesterday since I took a Lulu Lemon shopping break. But now, it's time to hit the books (again). I'm on target so I feel pretty good although there is still a lot more work to be done!