Moments

This morning when I woke up, the state of the bed was this. I liked the look. It appears as a seriously slept in bed. Plus, there is the back story of the head board and how it got there, just last night. My new friend downstairs, GR, decided fairly at random while we were talking in her apartment that Craig and I needed to have this head board, which, incidentally her father made. She bent over in her seat on her couch and pulled it from beneath the couch. I kept insisting, Are you sure? and she kept reminding me, Did you see where I stored it? Truthfully a head board's place in life isn't beneath a couch. So, she and I proceeded to haul it up to my apartment, where we then rested it in place behind my bed, then pounced on Craig in the living room where he lay on the couch half-awake and informed him of the new bedroom development. There you have it, we've got ourselves a temporary and unattached head board. Thanks to GR for assisting us in furthering our interior design endeavors.*My week really flew by, what with AB in town for two days (I hope she really got a kick out of Richmond; we showed it off well, I believe). Craig and I were also made privy to some enchanting and exciting news, but it's premature for me to post about it just yet. In fact, it's premature for me to even mention it, much less announce what it is. So I will certainly cease to even talk around what it is. All I want to say is that if you live a clean and smart life, if you're a good person and do what you believe to be the right thing, life pays you back for all it has borrowed from you, sometimes with interest. Such is the case if the news turns into reality and Craig and I are given the opportunity we were told about this week.*So with AB in town, we managed to hit a couple of new hot spots here in Richmond. Tuesday we took her to 3 monkeys, where we've actually been before. I like the fact that this place is covered in monkey cartoons, and even Curious George makes an appearance on the back wall. We also went to a couple of other bars, ending the night at Accappella in the Hill, which is somewhat of a neighborhood pub but with a bit warmer appeal. I snapped photographs of AB and Craig, trying to record the moments that make up our later twenties so that we don't forget. Wednesday (the day we received The News) I drove back to the apartment for lunch with AB at Millie's. We had fantastic salads with Asian vinagrette and roast beef sandwiches with white cheddar and horseradish mayo. I returned to work for the remainder of my work day and then came home to get ready for Night Two with AB in Richmond. We took her to a place downtown called Capital Ale House, and frankly, our experience here left a bit to be desired. The service was haphazard at best, and even the beers (which are boasted to be World Beers, Best Taps in Richmond) were just so-so. But there was the mint jelly episode. I ordered a lamb burger for dinner. Lamb burgers are so good. The last lamb burger I ever had was in Bloomington, Indiana at the Irish Lion. This lamb burger, however, came with a side of mint jelly, which I would assume you'd spread on the lamb burger? But I passed. So after we had mostly finished eating, Craig decided to dunk a french fry in the mint jelly and try it out. If you haven't had mint jelly before, I wouldn't recommend running to your nearest lamb burger stand to try it, but I wasn't as disgusted by it as I thought I might be. It looks like green jello but tastes like an explosion of mint in your mouth. I dipped a finger in it, opting out of dressing up a fry in it. After all that we took AB to Rosie Connolly's, which is by far our new favorite. It's just so cozy. And following that, we returned to the apartment where Craig found bed and I stayed up with AB to be entertained by a few Friends on dvd. I was extremely excited to have AB in town. Visitors are always embraced by Craig and me. Specifically when they are of the Completely Cool Variety like our girl AB. It was so good to see her.*Last night before the head board incident, Craig and I experimented with the new slow cooker we bought (which, I'd like to note, is stainless steel and black so it matches our kitchen). It actually was an all day affair. We worked in the morning and then stopped in Ukrop's, which is Richmond's grocer, and picked up an eye of round roast. Craig invited our boss to dinner for some home cooked roast, mashed potatoes and green beans. The recipe I used is straight out of Southern Living (voted KB's Favorite Culinary Assistant) and called for mushrooms, onions, red wine, gravy mix, tomato paste and beef broth. Through most of the day we kept an eye on the thing as it slowly cooked (6 hours! slow cookers are such an enigma to me!) At one point, I was waking from a nap to find Craig was standing over me and he said, "The roast wants out." Sure enough, the lid on the slow cooker was hopping around and spitting juices onto our counter. The rest of its cook time, against advisement of Southern Living I took off the lid and ladled out the excess thin gravy that was causing the crock pot to jump. Nevertheless, our boss showed up and dinner was spread on the counter, cafeteria-style. The roast was, if I must say so myself, really excellent (and so easy, all thanks to Southern Living!) Craig and I might be riding the slow cooker train quite a bit now that we know of its convenience and end result.*In the meantime, today we worked out in the gym next door. Craig showed me all the weight machines and how to use them. I started most of them with 40 lbs. which is not too much, but enough to wake up my muscles a little. And tonight's menu is chicken tetrazzini, compliments of none other than Southern Living.*I wanted to note: today marks the first day we've been in Richmond that I have not made the bed. I'm trying to see if I can make it through without doing so. I'm a fiend for a made bed. But it's Sunday. Who is going to judge me if I don't make the bed on a Sunday?