So. I'm getting some much needed "me time" today. Vince is working from home both today and tomorrow (on his birthday, boo). Nicolas and Kyle are turkey hunting in SD with their dad and grandpa, Hope is getting ready for her first of three proms tonight. Not sure what Vinny is up to, but he'll be working later. I came to Rochester this morning - mainly to pick up our pieces from Color Me Mine. Last Saturday, Vince and I met Donna & Dave, Brittany, Bill and Rebekah there to do some painting and our pieces were ready today. They turned out SO GOOD!
We had such a good time! And I can't wait to serve some chips and dip in my new chip/dip platter :) I might have to do so tomorrow for Mr. W's birthday lunch. Shhhh, don't tell him. It'll be a surprise. One of the birthday traditions in our family is that the birthday person gets to choose what we have for their birthday meal, and what kind of cake they want. Vince always chooses steak and german chocolate cake. Since he'll be occupied on his work computer (dumb) he is going to have to trust me to properly season and not overcook his steak. I get to be in the "testosterone zone" all by myself, unless of course Trev helps me out. As far as the cake, I think Vince is the only one in the fam that likes german chocolate so I have an idea. I'm going to buy a chocolate cake mix (I think you use Devils food for german chocolate?) I'll have to google that. And then I will get different frostings. I am planning on baking individual cakes either in ramekins or the jumbo muffin tins that I have. Probably that. And then people can put different frostings on them. I'll get coconut pecan frosting for the birthday boy of course, and then maybe chocolate or cream cheese frosting for the rest of us. Ooooh, I'll see if they have a caramel frosting. Yum. I'm going to have to watch my carbs tomorrow so I can indulge!
So I just googled it, and it is Devil's food. In the process of searching I happened upon a recipe for "the best german chocolate cake you will ever have in your lifetime on this planet ever". So I guess I'm making that! It starts with the cake mix and also has pudding mix, sour cream and espresso powder. So ummmm, yea. That's what I'll be making. I'm buying the frosting tho. I have my limits. I'll let you know how it turns out.
Back to my "me time". I'm currently sitting at Panera, where I have been firmly planted for the past 2 hours. I had my favorite soup - broccoli cheddar - and a half turkey cheddar panini for lunch, and have been sipping on iced coffee whilst perusing facebook, pinterest, and some other blogs that I follow, updating my shopping and "to do" lists, and chatting with some of my people on messenger. I know I could do these things at home but there are always distractions, usually from my own brain telling me I should be cleaning and I do my best to ignore my brain when it tells me silly things like that. Plus I don't have broccoli cheddar soup with a french baguette at home, so.
It's quite interesting sitting at Panera for an extended period of time by myself. I've seen several people come and go from the tables around me, and I've heard some interesting conversations. One couple of retirement age sat next to me reading the newspaper as they ate their lunch and chatted...mostly the wife telling her husband about the various news articles she was reading while he nodded and made an occasional comment. Another couple arrived shortly after, and this time it was the husband/boyfriend doing most of the talking. At first I wondered if they were in a new relationship, but as I saw the wife/girlfriend sort of pay attention and make relevant comments here and there, it was obvious they've been together for a while and she's used to listening to him talk. A lot. They didn't look unhappy, but were not trying to impress each other either. The young couple currently sitting near me are quite adorable. Probably in high school or maybe their first year of college. Holding hands under the table, looking at her phone while smiling and laughing and leaning their heads together. It's pretty dang cute. I love love! I could sit here all day, except I can't sit that long and I have other places to go such as Trader Joes, Savers, Barnes and Noble (duh) and Target for the birthday stuff.
So, I suppose almost 3 hours is about long enough. Time to get going on my other shopping adventures and see what other conversations I can eavesdrop on along the way.
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