Sunday, December 28, 2008

My Ever-Loving Husband

What you are about to read is a true story. It will give you a glimpse into my marriage and why I think Guy and I should have our own reality show, but if you're squeamish or afraid of TMI, do not -- I repeat, do not -- read on.

So, it's 1:00 a.m. in the Tarbert household. I have just gotten home from work, eaten a salad, and changed into pajamas to get ready for a long winter's nap. Guy returned home soon after I did from a poker game at the house of the Indian. He was standing in the doorway of my "office," wearing his new "men's sleep shorts" that I got him for Christmas. I decided to teach him a lesson and smack his butt as I walked into the room. Being the tit-for-tat kind of guy that he is, Guy smacked my butt right back. Here is the short conversation that followed:

Me: Guy, I don't have a nice butt like yours, so you're not allowed to smack mine.

Guy: Well, then get a nice butt.

Me: I can't. It's called ge-ne-tics. (said with much attitude and bitterness).

Guy: It's called pi-la-tes.

And there you have it, folks -- reason number 2,354 for my extremely high (read "extremely low) self-esteem. Anybody looking for a husband?

Thursday, December 25, 2008

Adding to the List

"Weapons, Ammo, Pants Seized at Plaxico Burress' Home"

Merry Christmas, one and all!

Friday, December 12, 2008

An Italian Evening

A new restaurant opened in Peters in the end of October, so tonight Guy and I decided to check it out. Here's what I thought of Franco's Trattoria.

Appetizers ( Or First Impressions):
When we walked in the door, I got an immediate whiff of seafood. Now, this is an Italian restaurant with quite a selection of fishy items on the menu, but to have that be the first odor we were overwhelmed with was a little off-putting.

The decor was very nice -- all cool blues and grays with dark wood tables and accents on the walls. It definitely made me feel like I was in a classy place.

We put our name in for a table for two and were told there would be a 20-to-30-minute wait.

The Main Course:
After a mere 10 minutes or so, we were led to an intimate (and by intimate I mean super-tiny) table in the middle of the dining room. While at first glance it seemed fine, as the meal progressed, I grew to hate our seating arrangement. The dining room was arranged with a bench seating along one wall with tables and chairs, then 4-person tables along the other wall, and an awkard column of 2-tops running right through the middle. Not only was there nowhere to set my purse or coat that wouldn't be in someone's way, but if I jutted my elbow out just a tad too far, I got slammed into by passersby (none of whom apologized or even stopped to take notice -- they must be used to it). Not only was the placing of the table poor, but it was way too small for dining in an Italian restaurant. There was barely enough room for the bread basket, let alone a candle, parmesan-cheese cup, and water glasses. But since I work in a restaurant and know the nuisance it is when people ask to switch tables, I decided to grin and bear it.

On to the food -- after Guy stopped flipping out because he couldn't understand the menu (the headings were in Italian), we ordered the fried zucchini appetizer. It was a hearty portion for seven dollars and was fried nicely without being overly greasy. My only complaint was that it was a little salty, but overall it was decent. For my main course, I ordered a bowl of minestrone soup and a Julianna salad. The minestrone soup surprised me by being chicken-based, but it was tasty nonetheless. For a $3 bowl of soup, it was a good size despite the fact that its lack of hearty ingredients (it consisted mainly of broth, carrots, potatoes, and cabbage) left me wanting more. The salad was the best part of my meal -- spring greens, feta cheese, red onions, pine nuts, and tomatoes topped with balsamic vinaigrette. Nothing new or extremely different, but still tasty. Guy ordered the meat ravioli with tomato cream sauce. I didn't get to taste it, so I can't comment on the quality, but one thing that struck me was the extremely small portion size for a $15 meal at an Italian place. Usually it's inevitable that you'll need a to-go box from the Olive Garden and Pasta Too. Not so at Franco's.

We chose not to even look at the dessert menu since neither of us were very hungry anymore, so after our meals it was time to wait for our waitress to return with our check. It took her what felt like an excruciatingly long time, but eventually we made it out with a grand total of $34 plus tip. Not too shabby.

Dessert (Or Final Thoughts):

I love the look of Franco's, and it's obviously popular with the townies so far, but the service wasn't excellent and for the prices, I think I'd rather get more for my money. I'd recommend checking it out at least once, but I don't think we'll be becoming regulars there anytime soon.

Monday, December 08, 2008

Feeble Memory

I've been going through the process of ripping all of my old mix CDs onto iTunes so I can reminisce on my iPod. I came across a song that, although I remember the tune and can sing along with a lot of the words, I have no idea who is singing it. I think it's one of my old friend's bands or something along those lines -- probably not something that was from a Billboard hit single, but I just can't place it.

If someone can tell me how to post music on my blog, I will gladly upload it and let you have a listen.

Sunday, December 07, 2008

Another One

"Giant Potato is Potential World Record-holder."


'Nuf said

Thursday, December 04, 2008

Oh, Headline Writers...

What will you think of next?

I always have a great time reading the headlines on Yahoo! news (my homepage). Here are some of my latest favorites:

"Woman swept to sea during proposal on Oregon coast"

"Strangers May Cheer You Up, Study Says"

"Ryan Seacrest Bit By Shark" (Yeah, that's an old one, but it doesn't get any less funny with time)

And if you haven't seen this, you should -- it's one of my favorite bits by Jon Stewart about the use of the question mark in headlines...

Tuesday, December 02, 2008

The Great Hair Debate

I have an appointment for a haircut on Saturday, and I really have an urge to get a little more than "just a trim." I've been trying to grow my hair long for some time now, but I'm getting tired of waiting for it to grow and also caring for long hair. It takes longer to wash, to dry, and it doesn't even really look all that great. So I've been searching for pictures of short hair that I like, and here's what I've come up with:

Short:

Shorter:


Shortest:

I like Katie Holmes' 'do, but I feel like I've had things close to that before. The last one is cool but it's definitely drastic. Or, maybe I should just resist this urge and continue on my journey to long hair. Any opinions?