Hermits

Ahh.. Monday’s over! I was kind of missing in action this weekend, but for good reason – Brandon was actually gone all week last week on a ski trip with his family. I didn’t want to advertise it to the whole world, but it was the longest time I’ve ever been alone in our apartment together, and it was actually kind of creepy! You know.. the kind of creepy where you get nervous to be alone for no reason and run around your apartment turning on all the lights until you feel better. No? That doesn’t happen to you? ………

ANYwayy.. I spent the week hanging out with my girlfriends and getting busy on week 1 of my half marathon training. On Friday, I saw the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. I’ve read all the Stieg Larsson books and thought the movie was pretty on-point with great casting, but I still like the Swedish film better! I was really happy when Brandon got home early Saturday morning, and we spent most of the weekend being hermits and getting the apartment back in order after his long trip. The Christmas decorations are officially down -

Wah. See you next year, Charlie Brown tree.

We had a good time celebrating our “anniversary” on Saturday night with an absolutely perfect meal at Café Lurcat in Minneapolis. We don’t go overboard celebrating an anniversary -  I mean, we’re not married so let’s not get too serious -  but we love any excuse to eat somewhere fancy and Café Lurcat is absolutely my new favorite restaurant. I shared a crab cake appetizer with Brandon, plus a pepper and goat cheese salad with shrimp and lobster pasta (with homemade noodles!) as my entrée. Brandon had a filet mignon and we shared dark chocolate profiteroles for dessert. Everything was seriously impeccable, even my dirty martini with two olives. Mmmm. Afterward, we headed out to a local establishment to celebrate the birthday of one of our very best friends.

It was a low-key, romantic weekend with lots of friends and good food, just the way I like it.

Today was my rest day on my half marathon training and I’m still not traveling (yes!), so the week was off to a pretty easy start. I have a lot to get ready for the rest of the week, but before I go, a few links to share –

#1 – We made Jenna’s Fire-Pot soup for dinner tonight:

So many new ingredients for me – I’ve never cooked with Thai basil, lemongrass, coconut milk, curry paste, jasmine rice OR tofu. Brandon hates coconut and is pretty questionable about tofu, so I’m thrilled to report the dish was a hit and is on our to-repeat list. Spicy, sort of creamy, and we made it with a legendary amount of shrimp, tofu and rice. Check it out:

And make sure to go get the recipe from Eat Live Run. I’ve also been eating Jenna’s favorite salad non-stop since my trip to Whole Foods last week. Good shiz.

#2 – Sweet Tater is a new blog find for me, and I just wanted to share the witty goodness. Plus, this post calls out blogging sins that I am totally guilty of (see: emoticons, calling my boyfriend a stupid name because my blog makes him nervous, crappy pictures). Her blog is evidence that you can be funny, random, talk about what you are interested in, and not be a total cheeseball – I bow down and I will try harder. Check out her blog if you’re looking for new reads and tell me which blogging habit I have is the most annoying (Dammit!)

Have a good Tuesday!