Al and Joe, Henry and Ro

A girl wearing a great outfit: flowy tunic top, ballet flats, Longchamp bag, tousled ponytail, but nothing on the bottom half. She was entirely without pant.

A girl walking down Peachtree in an open-backed hospital gown, dragging her IV alongside, and smoking a cigarette with not a single care.

Lots of butts today. I love this city.

I’d estimate that 85% of my meals in the last two months have been consumed in a restaurant or drive-thru line. Yes, in a drive-thru line because waiting until you get home is for people who don’t enjoy fries that burn off your fingertips.

I very much look and feel like that percentage would indicate.

These are a few very bomb meals I have made in recent history that are worth discussing: 

• Beef Bulgogi- I did not even know what this was until seeing it on V’s Instagram and was basically a rabid dog until I could get to the grocery store. I went with her tweaks and added edamame and piled it on Soba noodles. It was a 10 out of 10 and I’m making it again tonight. 
• Chicken Tikka Masala- this is an old favorite that, to me, works for every season. If you only have one Indian dish in your arsenal, this should be a candidate. It makes enough for the entire week and re-heats beautifully. I like to keep the meat mixture separate from the rice for leftover purposes. 
• Maple Mustard Glazed Pork with Balsamic Brussels Sprouts and Mushroom Risotto (cheated and used TJ’s box version and added a pound of ‘shrooms)- Joe and I brought this to his former Manager and his wife a few days after the birth of their second child. It received rave reviews but that may have been because the alternative dinner would have been Mini Wheats. I will say I was shocked at the amount of flavor the pork held between the rub and the glaze. Note: use 100% real Maple syrup when making the glaze or you may be disappointed. This is also two-year old approved. Their toddler ate all of this which gave me hope that it is possible to teach your kid to have a palette that extends beyond Kraft Mac & Cheese.

On my “to make” list is this parmesan bread pudding with broccoli rabe and pancetta. I hope it doesn’t disappoint, though I don’t think anything with “bread pudding” in the title ever does.

We are staring down the gun of putting in an offer on a house we saw last night and we have to move quickly, as there is already one other offer on the table and it has only been on the market since Friday. But we’re still unsure.

I was in the shower weighing the pros and cons of this [lovely, wonderful, price-we-could-stomach house] and Joe yelled in “UM, AL…I WRECKED MY CAR”.

It’s been an eventful twenty-four hours.

We were scrambling around calling AAA, trying to secure a rental car, trying to move Joe’s car, which we presume to have a broken axle, and I was trying to blow dry my hair in the time frame that keeps me from looking like a poor man’s Tina Turner.

Once I finished throwing myself together, Joe told me it would be another half hour before the tow truck would arrive.

Internal dialogue: “A half hour you say?”

*turns on Mad Men*

On Friday night, we looked at two no-go houses with our realtor. Though both had potential, they both had their tragic flaws. (Three-sided brick and then round the corner to see brown metal fake-shake? Girl, no. Beautiful craftsman style home with a neighboring home that appeared—and this is just my guess—condemned, set on fire, eaten by termites and then partially fenced? Try again.)

We got trapped in hideous traffic between viewings and wound up with enough chat time to discover that our realtor will be playing Owen Wilson’s sister in a movie this summer and that the writer of her comedy troupe’s sketches is a brilliant man with Aspergers who has made his wealth creating fetish porn. She leads a fascinating life, but doesn’t seem to be all that aware of it. At the second house, we collectively set off the alarm and had to answer some questions for a very skeptical police officer. That should sum up how the home buying process is going thus far.

Saturday morning was for a charity bowling event with my co-workers at which I ate 3 pieces of pizza and promptly split my pants. I had to cover it by tying my bulky jacket around my waist which made me look like a mom at Disney World or a girl who’d just gotten her first period, take your pick. I could get over myself enough to be excited that Big Brothers Big Sisters walked home with a big check that afternoon thanks to a packed alley and lots of donors.

We ate oysters (still in split pants) with friends and thankgod went home to change before going to a friend’s St. Patty’s day party. I really only own one kelly green piece, so thank you Atlanta for working with me on the weather because I was wearing that dress regardless, so it was nice to not look like a tights-less asshole. The highlight of my day was being asked if I want to participate in a mock jury to gage public opinion on the Jodi Arias trial which is basically my dream come true: the opportunity to be a “juror” with no real impact on anyone’s life! I couldn’t say yes fast enough. Like maybe it was too fast? Too desperate? I might never hear back from that friend.

I don’t even know what happened yesterday. One minute I was eating breakfast working on our taxes, the next minute the sun had set and I’d nearly completed season one of Mad Men and I don’t even know if I did daily hygiene things. I think I’m going to refer to all time before Sunday, March 17, 2013 as BMM and today onward as AMM; it’s that serious. I’ve been meaning to start this series from the beginning for years, but since I just learned to use our Netflix account (all I watch is crime and therefore thought I had no need for Netflix), it’s game on to catch up to present before the new season starts. At my current pace, this should be no problem. Last night we watched “Survive and Advance”, the ESPN documentary on the 1983 NC State men’s basketball team, and my heart has basically been ripped out of my body. It was really, incredibly moving and well done.

Good weekend.