Rained Out Rodeo

Having had so many adventures in Connecticut last weekend, BearFace and I had to make an effort to compete this weekend.  A bit more difficult here in New Jersey, but we tried our best.

Friday Night in the Big City

Friday was a bit of a scramble to get home from work, shower, and get to Philly for happy hour.  We met up with Drew's old boss's fiancee who is in vet school at Penn State.  Drew saw his previous boss, Ian, while in CT, and it was immediately obvious to Ian how much Drew was dying to socialize.  There have been times when I've been almost convinced that my dear boyfriend would prefer to be a hermit, so he must have been pretty desperate for him to notice.  Ian was nice enough to suggest that we hang out with his fiancee, Michele, in Philly.

We made it there just in time to meet up with Michele at the vet school happy hour.  A school-sponsored drinking event.  Weird.  But when I walked into the school and was greeted by 15 happy dogs and a SeaDog BluePaw, I began to think that perhaps I should go to vet school.  I kind of think studying at vet school is a myth.  I think they just drink beer and play with their dogs all day.  

At the end of happy hour, Michele gave us a tour of the school, and then we went to grab some dinner with her brother and a few of her friends at White Dog Cafe.  Caveat: this restaurant is not cheap!  The restaurant serves only locally grown, organic foods, which makes the menu items pretty pricey, but delicious.  Drew and I both started with the Wild Mushroom Soup, which was on the heavy side, but soo flavorful!  I ordered the Pan Seared Scallops for dinner.  They were cooked perfectly and served over Jersey corn, mushrooms, and bacon.  Excellent.  But I only got 3 scallops...for $26.  Ouch.  (I also do not have any pictures....I try to avoid taking pictures of food when meeting new people.  It's kind of awkward to explain).  Too full for dessert, but there was a Jersey Blueberry Bread Pudding on the menu that sounded heavenly.  I am a sucker for bread pudding.  

Saturday Night Rodeo?

Weekly grocery shopping in Vineland.  Boring.  Far away. Always makes me hungry.  We had to add a trip to Verizon to get Drew a new iPhone too, so the whole excursion took up a big chunk of the day.  I think I was more excited than he was about the phone.  He refused to FaceTime with me when we got home.  So what if we were in the same room??

Our big plan for the evening was to go to the CowTown Rodeo in Woodstown.  Pretty much the most exciting thing going in Salem County, and we haven't been yet!  A coworker told me to get there at 7 to make sure we got good seats before the rodeo starts at 7:30.  Well at about 4:30, I took Murphy for a nice walk down the road.  It was a bit windy and cloudy but I didn't think much of it.  During my walk I got this text from Drew's sister:

Kathy: You guys ok? Any tornado action by you?

I seem to have recently acquired a new hobby of planning activities in the middle of severe storms.  Or maybe I just attract the storm?  I'm not sure.  All I know is, it's about a 70/30 chance of rain every time I A) go hiking, B) go riding, or C) go out in the city.  Well, the same is true for rodeos.  About 30 minutes after I got home from walking= torrential downpours.  Very sad.  I actually downloaded a doppler radar app on my phone because of the multiple times I have been caught in thunderstorms this summer.  Apparently I need to use it more.

Instead of rodeo-ing, we made a quick and easy chicken salad for dinner.

Quick and easy chicken salad

•  Grilled chicken seasoned with garlic salt, pepper, and oregano (I let BearFace grill the chicken on the grill pan so he didn't have to go out in the rain.  I'm so nice.)
• Arugula
• Iceberg lettuce (Normally I am against Iceberg because of its lack of taste and nutritional value, but we had some in the fridge that needed to be eaten.)
• Radishes
• Celery (Yuck! Drew's choice)
• Baby carrots
• Shredded cheddar cheese

I used Paul Newman's Balsamic Vinaigrette, but anything works.  

Drew's side dish- microwaved sweet potato.  Good thing I'm the chef!

Not one to go to bed without dessert, I followed it up by making this delicious treat:

Berry Frozen Yogurt 

Super easy, healthy, and yummy.  The mint sprigs make it very refreshing.  You may notice that I put the blueberries on top rather than on the bottom.  I'm such an innovator!