Thursday, March 31, 2011

The week in review...food and fun!

This week, 'we' (bachelor #1 and I) had dinner with my best friend and her husband at our local family restuarant...and the food was good, the conversation was too and I was excited that they could meet each other and get acquainted! We chose the club with onion rings, lasagna, chicken fingers and spaghetti with meat sauce, sides of fried squash and macaroni and cheese and everyone went home happy!






We also made the trip to eat at Martino's italian restaurant, but he suprised me by making a trip up that way to check out a couple of places early, namely the Miss M's Sweets and he brought me back a selection of chocolates and a whoopie pie which were wonderful!!!  We then selected an Italian wrap and a penne chicken dish with mushroom, prosciutto and spinach in a cheese sauce that was way 'heavy' but very yummy! Cannoli's for dessert of course! And they were pretty good as well! I love the pastry on the outside the best! Always a bread girl!





We are headed to an art crawl this weekend and then I have a super busy Saturday planned, but looking forward to the weekend!

Blessings,
S



Have you noticed?

The Yelp! box on the side of my blog?  I joined this online review site this month and it's a pretty neat site for reviewing area restuarants, galleries, stores, you name it, you can review it!  I LOVE that you can add pictures of the places you visit (go figure that! any excuse to take a pic, right?) 

Every time I add a review it will be added to the listing popping up within the box.  Check it out...join yourself in your area if you're not in the Charlotte, NC area!  It seems to be a great community and it's a lot of fun!

So take some time to go to http://www.yelp.com/ and see what you think!  If you decide to join, message me with your screen name and I'll follow you... mine is Stephanie M on the Charlotte, NC site...I think you can click through the links in the box to get to me if you like.

So get to yelping! :)

Blessings,
S

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Guarding my heart while taking a risk?

Proverbs 4:23 says "Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it".  A commentary I found says this about that...the core of Christian existence is the heart. A heart right with both God and other people sets the stage for both a correct understanding of doctrine and a correct expression of one's faith in daily living. Without a healthy spiritual heart you are spiritually dead, no matter how well you understand theology or how much of the Bible you have committed to memory. It is the pure in heart who shall see God.  Lord, help me today to get my priorities right. Help me today to surrender my heart to You. Help me today to start seeing You better. [Walking With Jesus By Knight]

Pretty powerful stuff.  I have been often advised to 'guard my heart' by those close to me in the matters of relationships and I am wondering now if I maybe misunderstood what that meant.  Can I guard my heart? Really guard it from heartache?  Where does faith come into play here?  I really don't know the answers, but I am praying about this today because I had an interesting conversation about this very thing last night and it's gotten me thinking.  Taking a faithful step could definitely end in a broken heart when dealing in relationships with friends and dating relationships.  But by taking a risk, stepping out in faith, including with that faithful prayer, won't that make the reward that much sweeter?  It could, I certainly think so...not sure if I really thought about it like that before.  Another commentary I found by a pastor online says this...Proverbs 4 is filled with instruction on how to gain wisdom and have lives that are full and complete. Then near the end of the chapter the writer says, "above all else, guard your heart". Why is this so important? Because our hearts guide and direct all that we do. Every word that comes out of our mouth starts in the heart. All of our actions and choices are driven by the desires of the heart. We often spend large sums of money to guard our earthly possessions. The government spends untold fortunes to guard our nation. But God tells us that it is even more important to guard our hearts. If we don't it can lead to spiritual ruin! Who we are in Christ is being formed in our hearts. If we let them be filled with perverse or unrighteous things we live at odds to God's purposes.  Caesar Kalinowski, Pastor

Hmmm, I really am interested in understanding this verse.  The more research I do on this verse, the more I want to wrap my head around my conversation last night.  How do I feel about taking a risk with my heart, trusting God to protect me, and leaving the rest to Him?  I'm not sure the answer to that.  The more I read about it and think about it, I wonder if maybe I'm hiding behind 'guard my heart' to try and avoid heartache, but I'm not sure I can do that, or even if I want to.  I'm beginning to reevaluate Proverbs 4:23 in the context that it really applies to guarding my heart against sinful nature and actions, but does it also apply to emotional intimacy in a relationship?  I do feel that sincere emotional intimacy only has a place in a committed relationship and as someone who loves to share, communicate and work things out, almost to a fault, perhaps that's the way I should look at the verse and it's application to my life right now. 

Either way, I'm going to pray on this some more.  If you read my blog and have a comment or suggestion to better help my understanding of this passage, please don't hesitate to leave it.  I truly desire to grow and serve those around me by learning and digging deep into issues like this. 

Blessings to you all,
S

Monday, March 28, 2011

Monday perspective and Weekend Recap

It's a dreary, rainy Monday in NC.  And that is NOT helping with my motivation to get things done!  The kids had to play inside today, we did as many large muscle activities that I could think of trying to wear them out before naptime today...we'll see how that works for me!

It's hard to believe we're in the last couple of days of March and April is right around the corner!  My April is super busy already and I'm still adding things to the calendar...which is kinda where my head is at today...Perspective ~ and priorities.

Looking back at some earlier posts from the month of March, I am SO blessed by what the Lord has done in my life in such a short time.  It also reminds me that in order to keep from completely going insane...my 'no' has to be exercised regularly and I'm not doing so well on that.  My boundaries are being tested by my busy schedule and I just need to remind myself about the balance that I have to maintain for myself, in my own 'yard', to have healthy relationships with the many facets of my life.  I can't be everything to everybody and I just need to respect myself enough to say so.  Even when it's not easy!

This is not a negative post by any stretch of the imagination, although it seems to be heading in that direction, so I'm going to redirect...I am feeling very excited and encouraged by all of the opportunities in my life right now to try some new things and meet new people.  I am enjoying spending some time dating and being able to taste new foods, learn more about my dates and enjoy their company.  I want to balance this new area with the craziness I already had going on because jumping both feet into a new relationship can be super exciting, but can also head towards a burnout quickly too and I definitely don't desire that.  I'm just going to pray and attempt to pump the brakes a little and slow down the runaway train so that I can enjoy the ride and take it all in! 

This past weekend I got to enjoy Thai food for the first time and it was WONDERFUL!  We had chicken satay for an appetizer with a DELICIOUS peanut sauce that was divine!  Our entrees were red and green chicken curry and both were yummy, but I prefered the red myself.  Spicy enough to make my nose run, but oh so worth it!  It was served with jasmine rice which was different but a wonderful complement to the spiciness of the main dish.  Our dessert (of course we got dessert! LOL) was mango sticky rice, which was a sweetened warm sticky rice topped with ice cream and served with fresh mango pieces...strange combination but absolutely delecious!




 We also went to a local pizza place and an Indian resturant on Saturday night, and both were okay, but neither were over the top delicious (I included pics anyway though, you're welcome)...but we tried out two more places none the less and the garlic naan was yummy as was the red onion chutney!  The main dish was Bhindi masala which was a vegetarian dish using okra and was pretty tasty!  We also sampled masala chai tea, eh..it was not too good, and some samosas, which were yummy on the outside, not so much on the potato and peas mix on the inside.  You can check out my full reviews by checking out the Yelp box on the side of my blog -------------------------------------------------------->>>>
Until next time, enjoy the pics and blessings to all of you who read this blog,
Stephanie










Thursday, March 24, 2011

What a Whirlwind!

I feel like I'm on a roller coaster ride with everything that is going on around me right now.  Dating is fun and exciting, but adding it to my already crazy schedule has shown me I'm really not as young as I used to be...meaning, I can't get everything done, there aren't enough hours in a day and I'm really behind on the everyday things like dishes, laundry and paper clutter.

But I'm having fun, and that is SO refreshing.  As tired as I am, as many nights as I'm up waaaay past my bedtime on the phone chatting...I am really feeling blessed.

I have about lost count of what dates we are on, but I'm thinking it was 6 and 7 so far this week...and they've both been lots of fun too.  Bachelor #1 is proving to be quite the gentleman, in everything from chairs pulled out for me, car doors opened and rarely lets me pay for anything, although I really wouldn't mind doing it...and hope that he would let me if I asked.

But I did get to treat him to SoHo this week and it was very yummy! Jack (the owner) let him create his own stir fried beef in black bean sauce which made my date very happy...we actually did not have dessert this night, but I did enjoy a wonderful chai latte at Rocky River Coffee Company





Last night we drove to Statesville and tried to go to an Italian place he really wanted to try, only to find out it had apparently changed owners and he was not so impressed with the way the place looked, so we ventured down the road a ways and went to another Italian spot call Mayo's...I had a wonderful stuffed chicken breast that had goat cheese and and spinach inside it and was served on a bed of risotto and green beans...yum!  He had bolognese which didn't interest me enough to try, but he said it was okay.  We had a cannoli and a slice of a chocolate tart which was super delicious...but the cannoli and the REALLY LOUD music from the lounge adjacent to the dining room left much to be desired...nonetheless, the company was great, so I enjoyed myself.

  





I'm sure things will slow down, but right now I'm along for the ride...tomorrow night I'll have my first Thai food...let's just see how that goes.   Then I have a Saturday full of housework and yardwork and I actually think no date...yet anyway..lol.  I am very thankful for the experience and where the Lord leads I will follow, even if I don't quite understand all of it just yet.

Blessings,
S

Monday, March 21, 2011

Weekend in Pictures of Food, Fun and Fabulous Company

Well dates number 4 and 5 with bachelor #1 definitely did NOT disappoint!  Friday night we went to NoDa, an arty, gallery and restaurant filled neighborhood in Charlotte and enjoyed walking around, chatting with gallery owners and street vendors and just enjoying a wonder 80 degree evening in NC.  We then made our way to Amelie's bakery and it was just delicious!  We had a flourless chocolate cake that was kind of a cheesecake consistency and just rich enough to really savor each bite.  The bakery is filled with eclectic furnishings, fixtures and people and was a wonderful date night atmosphere!  Here's a picture of our dessert and a cool decoupage saying on the table.  I also enjoyed a fantastic chai latte! Yummo!

   


Saturday proved to be a dream date from start to finish!  We met at 3 in the afternoon and headed north to an even smaller town than I live in to visit a gallery, eat dinner at one restaurant and enjoy dessert at yet another location!  The Green Goat Gallery had wonderful architectural charm and a really cool variety of paintings, artwork, sculptures and jewelry.  The owner and her family were there and were super friendly and their son was too cute!  I would definitely like to check it out again and would be a great place to shop for an unusual gift or special art piece!

Next we went next door to the gallery to Pinocchio's Italian Restaurant.  It had an 'old world' charm to it that was so quaint and the waitstaff was super friendly!  We ordered minestrone, chicken cacciatore and pizza with Italian sausage and all it was yummy! Not sure if I'd make the trip if I was in the mood for Italian back to this restaurant, but if I was in the area, I'd go there again for sure!

   

  


 


We then drove not too far away to La Cava to have dessert, not sure if we could even be seated since it was Saturday night and we didn't have a reservation.  But they gladly let us come in for dessert and oh my goodness did we have dessert!  The restaurant is in a restored early age church and the stained glass window and decorations were just beautiful!


  

  




Our waitress came to the table with the dessert cart and told us about each one...each sounded absolutely divine!  Here's where any girl's dream date comes into play...our conversation:

Him: "what do think about the lemon?"
Me: "that sounds yummy, I love lemon."
Him: "really? I would have chosen any of them but lemon"
Me: "they all look good to me, so you pick"
Him (to the waitress): "we'll take a piece of each"
Me (to myself): "I'm sorry what did you say? One of each of EIGHT desserts? I must've heard you wrong!!!"

So we proceed to sample all eight desserts that were being offered that night.  Here's a picture of our table....I mean seriously? Who does this????? Oh man, I could so get used to this! Might not be able to button my pants, but gee whiz..a man who loves food this much!  WOW!


So here they are individually with their names...and each one was heavenly!


Torta della Nonna - lemon custardy dessert...omg good!

Frutta di Bosca - with raspberries, strawberries and currants on top

Profiterole - custard filled puff covere in chocolate icing

Chantilly Napoleon - flaky pastry and omg good light fluffy filling

Tartufata - my date's favorite, a light cake with creme and dark chocolate shavings

Tiramisu - not usually a favorite, but this one was very very good

Chocolate fondant cake - oh so rich and yummy

Profiterole again - chocolate filled this time with fluffy creme on outside

So as we are demolishing our favorites, saving a couple for me to bring home later...my date says...I think I want to order something else...I look at him like he's crazy and ask him where in the world he's going to put it...mind you we've already eaten supper and sampled EIGHT desserts!  So he has the waitress come back over and tell us about the appetizers.  He glances over at me when she mentions the escargot and the calamari...ewwww I mean really?  But I hesitantly agree to try them both, never having had escargot and not a fan of seafood in any fashion, I was extremely underwhelmed about trying them, but excited none the less because he really wanted me to try them in this restaurant...so I did...the escargot came in a piping hot dish and if I can compare the snail to something it would be a super well sauteed mushroom....they had so much garlic, melted butter and cheese around it that was all you could really taste.  It was served with bread to scoop out the snail, cheese, butter and garlic together and was actually quite tasty!

Escargot...you can see the little dish insets...each had a snail, butter, garlic and cheese in it
Then on to the calamari, which I'm pretty sure I've had before, but since I kind of have an aversion to sea food, not because of allergies or anything, just because I'm not a huge fan, but this was very tender and had a perfect amount of breading and the homemade marinara sauce it came with was awesome!!!!
Calamari
I can't think of a more perfect date than this one to date, with bachelor #1 or anyone else!  Just wonderful adventure from start to finish and the conversation was just as pleasing!  He's winning me over quickly with his love for life and especially for food, his conversation and wonderful listening skills (he actually pays attention to what I say AND remembers it!!).   It will be hard to top this date, but I'm anxious to see what our next adventure is...We have date #6 tonight, but it's my treat at our local Chinese restaurant SoHo and I can't wait to see him again!

Until next time, Blessings!
S