Smiling Dogs

Since today was a free day for me, I was able to do whatever I wanted. I started out by not setting my alarm the night before. I was sure that I wound't sleep too late, and I ended up sleeping until 10. It could have been worse. Back in the day, I could easily sleep past noon. 

 By the time I ate breakfast and drank a quarter of the mammoth cup of coffee my mom bought for me from McDonald's, it was time to go to another wedding dress appointment. I can't give details, but I can tell you that it was a lot of fun!

Since I went to Panera for lunch after my first wedding dress appointment, I craved it again. It was cool and rainy, so I wanted soup. Duh. 

My mom got a whole grain bagel. We also got a free muffin. I can't remember why. For some reason, I was allowed to pick something from the bakery. I think it was because my mom bought a few bagels to take home (and then decided that it was a great idea to feed them to do the dogs when I would have been happy eating them myself since Panera makes fabulous bagels). 

I got French onion soup in a bread bowl. For a side item, I had a choice of a bag of chips, an apple or a bread roll. Honestly, why would I want a bread roll when I already have all of this bread from my bread bowl? Am I loading up on carbs for a race? I don't think so! I decided to go with the apple, although it's still sitting in my kitchen downstairs. 

As usual, I loved my soup in the bread bowl. Dipping bread in soup is always good fun, but there's something magical about bread bowls. The bread absorbs a lot of the liquid, so you can scrape your spoon along the inside and get a load of French-onion-infused carbs on your spoon. Really, it's amazing. When I really feel adventurous, I dip the lid of the bowl into the soup. If you look at my photos, you will see what I mean when I say "lid of bowl".  

Below was all that remained. My mom ate it. She has a half marathon on Sunday morning, so she is carbo-loading. She could have gotten the bread bowl with bread on the side, and it probably would have been a great idea for her. Maybe they offer that extra bread option just in case marathon runners go there a few days before their race. Hey, it's possible. 

When we got home, I had a very special package waiting for me. I can't show you what it is, but I can tell you that I have my cake top for my wedding in 14 months.This clearly means that you need to keep reading my blog at least until early August 2012 so that you can see what it looks like. I'm sure that the suspense is going to drive you mad.

 Now, I'm excited! Isn't that adorable that my box has a smiley face on it?

Smiling Dogs

My mom has a subscription to Bark magazine (makes me wonder if there is a Meow magazine), and they always have a section dedicated to smiling dog photos. How could I not share these with you?

Isn't it cute when dogs actually look like they are smiling? My brother Jon is moving back to Chicago from Houston next week, and he's bring his dog Libby with him. I talked about her here. She always looks like she's smiling, even when she's asleep. It makes me smile. I haven't seen her in over two years, so the time will tick by very slowly until next weekend comes. Of course I'm excited to see Jon, but I very, very obsessed with his dog. I cried that last time I had to leave her. Seriously. 

For the rest of today (or yesterday, since it is now a quarter past 12), I ate. I ate the free muffin. It was like a cinnamon bun with raisins and apples. It was both outstanding and messy. 

After that, I ate a plain corn tortilla. After that, I picked up my friend Meredith (home from Kansas for the summer) and we met Irene at Sushi Kushi Too in downtown Highland Park. 

When I sat down and removed my coat, I looked down and realized that I was wearing my shirt INSIDE OUT and UPSIDE DOWN.  After both laughing and watching Meredith laugh at me, I went to the bathroom to fix it. 

Then, Irene showed up with a really expensive camera around her neck. She got it for her birthday, and I am very jealous of her. I would love a big expensive camera like that. I offered her $100 for it, but she turned me down. Anyway, I only mention this because she was taking pictures with me during dinner. It was nice to have a photographing partner and not have people looking at me like I'm crazy. This time, people thought BOTH of us were crazy. 

At Sushi Kushi Too, they gave us the most spectacular green tea. It was boiled with rice, so the flavor was different from a typical green tea. 

Irene and I split our sushi meal, so we shared the appetizer ginger salad. It was great. These salads are always great. Irene liked it so much that she actually drank the ginger dressing when we finished it. 

We got the spicy sushi plate. It came with spicy tuna (left), crunchy eel and something else (top) and spicy scallop (right). All of it was good.

I could never get tired of spicy tuna rolls. 

We had a great time catching up. Meredith is a teacher in Kansas, so I didn't get to see her when I was home for Jessie's wedding in April. Luckily, we'll both be home all summer. 

I hope you all are enjoying your weekends so far!