The Highlight Reel: 11-17 January 2016

This is the first in a series of entirely self-indulgent posts, wherein I rattle off the (hopefully) somewhat interesting things I did this week.  It’s primarily intended to help me remember how I spent my time, perhaps with a bit of self-reflection and pontification thrown in for good measure.  It’s also a good way of helping keep to my “one blog post per week” goal for the year.  So without further adieu, here’s the inaugural Highlight Reel.

Booze

Attended a friend’s whiskey tasting / playoff party on Sunday.  Met some new people and drank a few whiskeys that I hadn’t tried before.  All told, a fun way to spend a Sunday afternoon.  Note to self: ask about the barrel number of that peanut butter Willett.

Finally got around to cracking a 1954 Seagram’s VO on Saturday.  It’s a bit funky, as one might expect after 50+ years in a bottle, but altogether a good pour.  Shame it’s such a small bottle, as it’s hard to sample out that way.

Food

When a friend hosts a bourbon tasting, I feel compelled to bring a dessert that fits the theme.  To that end, I made a bourbon tollhouse pie on Sunday morning.  It was, to say the least, insanely rich.  I barely had half a slice, and it was still chocolate overload.  That said, it was very well received, and I’d consider making it again, albeit in a more bite-sized format.

The pie was decidedly better than the slow cooker Hawaiian chicken dish that I made on Friday.  Even after adding a ton of spices, and even the next day, it was still decidedly bland.  If you want a sweet-spicy slow cooker dish that actually has flavor, try this instead.

Though our chicken dish was disappointing, our visit to Lil Italian Café was anything but.  The notion of an Italian joint that advertises serving halal food was too intriguing to pass up, and I’m really glad we popped in.  Merasi got a cheesesteak that was good enough to sate the occasional cravings for a taste of Philly.  I tried their spicy, Eastern spin on a chicken cheesesteak and was thoroughly impressed. We’ll be back!

Fitness

After a few days of bad workouts and generally feeling like shit, I was finally getting back to normal this week.  3 x 8 @ 600 lbs on the leg press is a new post-injury PR, so no complaints there.  Getting in two 11-mile runs this week at quasi-decent paces also assures me that there is yet hope for my running exploits.  The run-specific fitness isn’t coming back quickly, but it’s coming.  My bike fitness is still down a bit from where it was before I started working, but that’s coming back nicely, too.  I suspect I’ll be grinding out the watts like old times, in no time.

Life

This was generally a quiet week, spent focused on final preparations for my Series 66 exam on Friday morning.  I didn’t demolish it like I did the Series 7 a few weeks prior, but I also sort of phoned it in once I was sure I’d gotten enough questions right to pass.  With a four day weekend starting as soon as I left the testing center, it was hard to stay motivated.

Apart from licensing for work, this week was largely about doing stuff around the house. I hung decorative shelving, frames, and a marquee; framed out a new doorway for the bathroom; moved our new washer into said bathroom; installed our knife block; hung a new curtain rod; and generally put a hurt on my Honey-Do list.  With a housewarming party looming, I’m extra motivated to get stuff done.  That, and we finally had a weekend home together.  I think that’s #3 since we moved in November.  Don’t move right before the holidays, kids—it sucks.

See you all next week!