Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Splurge!

Tonight, Chris and I did something that we hardly ever do: he planned a spontaneous dinner out.  When he asked me what our dinner plans were, I told him that we would either have leftovers or he could get take-out on the way home from work.  He then told me to "make myself beautiful" (which is his way of telling me to wear something other than sweat pants) and he would be home in half an hour.  We ended up going to a restaurant one of Chris's co-workers recommended called Gravy in downtown Raleigh.  It is an Italian restaurant with a great atmosphere and reasonable prices.  While we were there, our waitress told us about Triangle Restaurant Week, during which certain restaurants in the triangle feature a set, three-course menu at a set price.  Given more time and money I would love to try some of the other restaurants participating in resaurant week.  I think it is a really cool concept, and I do love good food!

We elected not to order the featured set menu and instead got the portabello gnocci and chicken parmesan. Both meals were delicious and we both cleaned our plates.  It was so nice to sit an have a real conversation about our days and plans with no distractions.  We splurged even more and each got dessert too...tiramisu and pistachio cream.  I wish I would have brought my camera to take pictures of the presentation.  Everything was perfect. 

Of course, we came home to dog throw up on the carpet.  Back to reality...

Saturday, January 15, 2011

Ready for a New Year

Obviously I must have been super busy lately...too busy to blog!  Actually that's not true, I just haven't had much to write about.  To sum up the last month:

The holidays were...interesting.  This year, I spent Christmas with Chris and his family up in Baltimore.  This was the first year I spent Christmas away from my family and it was a little tough.  1) I got an email on Christmas Eve to tell me that I didn't get the job at Target that I was really hoping for.  I had applied and interviewed at the beginning of November and got lots of positive feedback.  Despite my best efforts, I had really gotten my hopes up that I would get it.  2) Due to the impending snow in NC, Chris's family left on Christmas Day to come back home.  We didn't really eat a meal together, which is my favorite part of the holidays.  3) We came home to this:


Our Christmas tree exploded with aphids while we were gone.  There were thousands of them, everywhere. So, needless to say, we took down our Christmas decorations that day and Christmas was over.

Anyone who knows us well knows that 2010 was a rough year for us.  New Years Eve was big because it meant we could start over and hope for a better year in 2011.  We are still dealing with some of what happened last year, but overall we are working hard to make this year a good one.  I have started my 5th rotation and I spend almost every evening applying for jobs.  So far I have sent out 18 resumes to pharmacies in the Raleigh area, 15 of which are not hiring.  I definitely had no idea when I started pharmacy school that finding a job would be so difficult.  We plan to stay in the Raleigh area because we like it, it's close to family, and because Chris has a job here that he loves, but unfortunately the area is already saturated with pharmacists.   Even though I haven't found anything yet, we are confident that eventually something will open up.

Last weekend I went to Statesville and Morganton to visit my family, which was awesome.  I am reminded every time I am around them that I am loved just the way I am, which was exactly what I needed.  I can only hope that I provide my family with as much peace and happiness as they provide me.

No matter what goes wrong in our lives, Chris and I know that we always have each other, and the one thing in our lives that will always be perfect:


Bring it on, 2011. We're ready!