Yeah-- end times are here. Vandy just beat Auburn for the first time since 1955. First time they've gone 5-0 since 1942.

And yay, whirligigs and good boyfriends.

aw, whirligig!

couple-crushes on Andi and Daniel

So my folks gave us a gift certificate for our anniversary for this quite nice place in Salem called Sixty2 On Wharf (we'd gone there with them for our birthdays, and our server spilled a beer on me, but everyone was so nice and paid for drycleaning my jacket and also gave me a gift certificate) and we went tonight.

Really good food. Really really! It's awesome to have this kind of place in Salem. I have to write down what we had before I forget (also it was great to have this kind of nice meal after looking at all the SF places to eat)

Drinks upon arrival: Tom had a Chimay, I had a quartino of a pinot gris from Oregon.

nibbles/tapas/antipasti: we got cauliflower fritters, arancini, and chickpea fritters. I know, that's a lotta fried brown crunchy things, but they were very good and very different from one another. The chickpea fritters had a date compote thing to die for as an accompaniment.

We decided that rather have a main course, we would have two smaller courses. Mostly because everything looked so awesome and this was an opportunity to try more.

mid-course: I had a braised pork belly with yucca fries and spicy red cabbage relish/salsa. OMG. Tom had an arugula salad with prosciutto, figs, manchego cheese, and almonds. Also amazing.

Second round of drinks: I had a Chimay and Tom had this excellent organic belgian beer which was a "single" (as opposed to dubbel or tripel). Very, very tasty. And since this place is much more a wine place than a beer place, kind of impressive to see it on their beer list.

pasta course: I had papadelle with braised rabbit and green olives. Tom had angnolotti (which was like a ravioli thing with delicious creamy ricotta) with butternut squash, sage, and chestnuts. I could not finish my pasta because it was too good to keep eating since I was so full - the pork belly was pretty rich and the pasta looked like it would keep as a leftover quite nicely.

Dessert: Tom had the sticky toffee pudding and a cappuccino; I had a glass of 10 year old tawny port.

We got the bill and were pleased to find we came within $5 of our gift certificates combined! we paid our tip and left- it was such a treat to be able to indulge in that kind of meal without having to worry about the price. Thanks, mom and dad! And our server who spilled a beer on me last month enabling me to get an additional gift certificate from the owner!

We are drinking a crazy single malt now that we are at home- a very intense Islay single malt called Lagavulin. Smokey!

Moooooooooom! Nora's teasing again!

That sounds yummy!

I have a headache and my jaw is hurting (cleanching my teeth again) and my neck hurts. Not sure what is going on but my new couch has a chemical smell, which became really strong a couple hours in.

So I FEbreezed the hell out of it and opened the doors and turned ont he fan to try and get the scent to disapate. I think that worked.

Maybe.

I have a dentists appointment in November and hopefully they'll be able to help me with the teeth clenching thing.

Moooooooooom! Nora's teasing again!

Mooooooooooooooooom! Nora didn't bring any to share!

I also bought Windsparrow some grease fittings, sway bar links, and bushings for her car suspension.

Not so much romantic as whiligigs.

Oh, and a dome light lamp.

I have leftover papadelle with rabbit! Come on over, I'll share!

Not so much romantic as whiligigs.

true, but quite practical and very thoughtful.

I love the world tonight! God, that pork belly was a revelation!

Not so much romantic as whiligigs.

And it really isn't as romantic as spending your days sitting by the hospital bedside of my car-crash-comaed body after I lose control of the steering on an icy road, veer off into a ditch, have both front wheels fall off, and still have enough of the tail of the car sticking out on the road to be crunched by the Semi that couldn't stop in time. But I'll take what I can get.

I was fine until Nora mentioned one of my favorite single Malts.

Because we ate yummy stew that I made yesterday