Lunch with CCS, Laundry, and a Living Spreadsheet.

 

There was only one "Must Do" and one "Should Do" item on the docket today: Lunch with CCS, and Laundry.  And, believe it or not, I took care of both things.  But, doing laundry threw me a curve ball - one of the dresses I was to launder was labeled "Hand Wash, Dry Flat."  And this made me wonder about two other dresses from Universal Standard that found their way into my laundry basket.

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I woke up early enough to catch part of "Morning Joe" on the vidiot box. But it took me another couple of hours to get dressed and drive to the Italian restaurant in town to meet CCS.  When I got dressed, I put on a tunic dress over leggings, as I couldn't justify a dress with hosiery on a slightly rainy winter's day.  And, I got to the restaurant before CCS for a change.  During lunch, we talked about family events, our upcoming cruises, and politics - the usual stuff.   And, all too soon, lunch had to end.  Both of us had leftovers to eat another day.  So we scheduled our March lunch, and went our separate ways.

After lunch, I drove to Briarcliff Manor in the vain hope that I might stumble into the acquaintance I met at last night's meetup.  Of course, I did not stumble into her.  I guess she may have realized that I couldn't be the travel partner she seemed to desperately want.  (I also wonder if she wanted me as a lesbian partner.  But that's another reason I had to tell her that I have a long term partner in RQS)   Since she did not try to contact me, I'll write her off until the next time (if there is one) I stumble into her.

Once I was back home, I started work on my spreadsheet of cruising costs.  Finally, with enough experimentation, I was able to get the computation down for one of the nine cruise lines.  While doing this, I had two baskets (should have been three) of laundry in the washer and dryer.  So, after everything, this was a very productive day.

Lunch with a friend, then some retail therapy

 

I had almost forgotten that my friend from the census, CCS, and I were scheduled for lunch today.  Luckily, she contacted me to confirm our get together.  And I was glad to have a clean and comfortable dress to get into for one of my last days as Marian until mid July.

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CCS and I have known each other for 5 years, and we try to see each other every month..  She chose a new restaurant in Briarcliff Manor serving a Mexican/Italian menu.  Surprizingly, she loved her Quesadilla, and I loved the Linguine Carbonara - and both of us will likely be going back there soon.  We talked about today's political situation, and why I'm hedging my bets on America by applying for a second passport.  She had a bit more to say, including supplying the name of the man who will be running against my congress critter next year.  (My congressman is a coward, and refuses to tell people where (or if) he plans to hold town halls, as he supports the Orange Snowflake's attempts to destroy America. But I digress.) 

Once we left the restaurant and went our separate ways, I stopped at home for a bit, and then drove to Poughkeepsie to see if the above garment was in stock at Lane Bryant.  Once I got there, I found it, bought it, and took it home with me.  Could I have spent more in the store?  Yes.  But I'm in the process of purging excess stuff from my closet and don't want to add any more dresses to my collection.

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One thing I can say - I'll likely be wearing this late one evening when RQS is next here....   

Happy Birthday! to someone special.

 

Life is short, and so was Mickey Rooney.  When I saw him perform with Ann Russell in Sugar Babies, I remember him staring into her luscious breasts and saying:

Who wants to be tall?!?!

Well, someone special to me is another year older, and I wanted to celebrate her birthday with a nice dinner out.  And that I did.  I made reservations at a local restaurant with the mistaken thought that we'd be dining during Hudson Valley Restaurant Week (HVRW).  It was not as expensive a mistake as it could have been, but more on that later.

We had several things we wanted to do during the day, but didn't do them because we wanted to relax.  So it was a jammie day for us, both of us lounging around in clothes we wouldn't want anyone else to see.  Since RQS has to watch her diet, she was saving up all of her delicious calories for the meal we'd be eating later.  As for me, I wasn't worried about anything I'd be eating, as I knew not to stuff myself before going out for dinner.

Eventually, 4 pm came around, and it was time to get dressed.  RQS put on one of the dresses she has stored at my place, and I put on a royal blue dress from Lane Bryant that I had never worn before. Although I am several sizes larger than the model above, I feel that the dress looked good on me. RQS said so too. And then, it was off to Briarcliff Manor to eat.

Just as we were going out to the car, the heavens opened up.  So we ran as quickly as we could, and got into the car.  Luckily, we budgeted more than enough time to reach the restaurant, as I was not comfortable driving in this weather.  When we got to the restaurant, I dropped RQS off at the door, and found a parking spot open up right by the same door.  At least we wouldn't get too wet going to the car after dinner.

We decided to split an order of calamari for an appetizer, and then had the lobster and crab lasagna.  The calamari was an unexpected treat, as it was done perfectly - tender, not rubbery.  And, to use an overused ethnic phrase, the lasagna was to die for!  Yum!!!  Both of us were pleasantly surprised that the seafood flavors stood out in this dish, when they could have been easily overcome by the other ingredients in this dish.

Although we both enjoyed dessert, it paled in comparison to the main course.  But then, after this main course, an excellent dessert would have a hard time against such a main course as we had.  So I paid the bill.  If we had waited 2 days, we could have gotten a similar meal for $120 that included 2 appetizers, 2 mains, and 2 desserts (with tax and tips).  But I was drinking a little, so make that $150.  Our meal with 1 appetizer, 2 mains, 2 desserts, and 2 drinks (with tax and tips) was $170 - and worth every penny.  We will be going back there again - we just don't know when.