First I want to point out the new shirt that I will be buying as soon as my little post here is done and over with.
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| Stained Ash Window |
Since I have dropped a good amount of weight some fun shirts were the way I decided to treat myself. For the past 3 years I've pretty much wore the exact same outfit day after day after day. Kahaki pants with a button down shirt and generally a wife beater underneath (I know some object to the term wife beater to describe a plane white T, but that is what it has always been to me since I was just a mixture of sperm and eggs.) However now I'm accustomed to rotating between my collection of awesome new T-shirts under my button down shirt at work and then after work I wear something with personality. In an odd way I feel more in touch with who I used to be/who I want to be. Everyone needs to have fun and wearing a shit like this helps me feel a bit better about life. I've got my professional work apparel on the outside but I've got my personality waiting to spring forth the moment I punch out for the day.
This weekend I went to a friends Wedding and Reception. The wedding was on Saturday and the reception was Sunday. It was strange having them on two different days but when the place you want to hold the reception is all booked up then I guess you make small sacrifices like that.
The wedding was held at Caesar's Palace.and was lovely. Leaving work I thought I was going to run late because by the time I had put on my pants I realized a couple of things. 1 - They no longer would stay up by themselves. 2 - The belt that I wear for every day is not appropriate for a more formal dress outfit. 3 - I was going to have to stop somewhere and buy a new belt.
So, I made a quick stop at Walmart on the way to the wedding to complete my outfit. I parked at Caesars Palace on the exact opposite side of the place that I needed to be. For anyone who has casually walked through Caesars Palace you know that this place is about 18 miles long and getting from one end to the other is not something that will happen in a short time frame. I hurried my fat ass along the way stopping to ask for directions once or thrice and finally I arrived to the chapel area 2 minutes before it was supposed to start. Thankfully it didn't start for another half an hour and I had time to relax and view the chapel area.
I only knew a total of 4 people - Bride/Groom/Bridesmaid and one other innocent bystander much like myself. I took a seat in the exact back of the chapel so that once everything was done I would be able to escape unharmed.
Day two was the reception and I seriously debated whether or not I should even attend. Recognizing that the people at the wedding were going to be the same at the reception and understanding that I basically would only have one person to socialize with it was a constant debate during the whole thing.
However, I sought some sage advice from someone special and exactly like I thought she would she told me to show up and at least make an appearance because, after all, they invited me to it because they wanted me there.
So, after work I run home and change into my duds (I should have taken a pic so you all could see me snazzed up) and head out. Abused the open bar for the 40 minutes it was available to me and chatted with a former co-worker whom I have not seen for about a year and a half to two years.
Now, one of the main reasons I came to write today was the food.
Oh, the sinfully delicious food that has set me back a week or two.
Maggianos of Las Vegas
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| Regular eating section |
This fine little Italian place in the Fashion Show Mall is an exquisite place to eat. This was my first trip here and I'm really glad that it was. Being a wedding reception I had the chance to sample some dishes that normally might have taken several trips to be able to get to and the fact is that if you have eaten here once you damned well are going to want to come back again - the food is that good.
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| Formal eating area for receptions and other shin-digs |
The dinner portion of the meal ruined me. I cannot remember the last time I had eaten so much in my entire life. Everything was great and I felt like I had to try every single tray that was brought to our table because I'd be doing an injustice to myself and the restaurant if I didn't at least sample the dish.
There was a pasta with meatballs where the pasta was good (not great) but the meatballs were Divine. I at about 6 of the meatballs by the time they finally took the plates away from us.
Then there was the Lamb cooked slightly less than medium with an Orzo sauce. Wow, this lamb was amazing. Then there was the cubes of steak, cooked perfectly, warm and tender and juicy and causing me to salivate just thinking about it all again. Finally there was some sort of seafood concoction. Shrimp and crabmeat wrapped up in something with what seemed like a delicate Alfredo sauce. Not a big fan of things that exist in water I decided to try this anyway because everyone at the table said it was great and they did not lie. I nearly at the entire piece that i put on my plate and if it wasn't for those last two meatballs I think i could have done it.
By the time I stuffed the last meatball in my mouth I was literally so stuffed that I had trouble swallowing. My belly was fully, there was an out of service sign hanging in the back of my throat informing me that continuing to stuff food in there was probably a bad idea.
It's a good thing there was another round of open bar between dinner and desert because I needed time to let my body digest a bit.
Desert - oh sweet desert. There were two of them, a Tiramisu and a Cheesecake. The tiramisu didn't sit well with me as the coffee flavor was too dominant and I'm not a big fan to begin with. The Cheesecake however was divine. That's not a figure of speech, that's a literal use of the word. Divine. When I put the fork into my mouth the heavens opened up and angels sang to me while I was eating. These angels sang a song that helped create extra space in my stomach so that the entire piece of cheesecake could fit.
Afterwards, on the table sat two plates with extra cheesecake on it - everyone was too stuffed to continue eating it and until they were taken away I really felt that it was a sin to let them go to waste. I wanted more but could not physically eat more. It was painful to let it go to waste but it was the right choice.
I will be going back to Maggianos again on a date night or something as I want more people to experience the amazing food at this place.
And finally - because of the fact that I stuffed myself fuller than a Thanksgiving turkey about to be devoured by 30 hungry family members I experienced about a 2 week setback in my weight loss! This is no joke. I gained nearly 4 pounds from everything I ingested and now I'm going to have to get back into my normal, healthier routine again starting tomorrow and start working those pounds off.
Was it worth it? Hell Yeah!
I'll wind this down quickly because I'm approaching a Rob number of words here.
The rest of my week is going to be fun as well.
Tonight is a trip to Bonnie Screams for my final Haunted House trip of the season.
Tomorrow is Trick or Treating for the first time in over a decade.
Friday is open for interpretation still. I'm really looking forward to these next two nights and debating on making a quick costume of my own for tomorrow.
This is the part that really annoys me because last year as I was packing all my shit up to move I ran across my Halloween costume from 2007 (the last time I enjoyed an event) and threw it away because I didn't think I'd ever wear it again. Now, here I sit really wishing I still had it because I'd love to break it back out for the evening. So - here is a picture from that event and it was a bloody amount of fun.
I did not ask permission from the other two to post this but I don't think my brothers will have an issue with it.
We were the Champions! On the left is Crazy J and on the right is Andy W, in the middle is the grrouch you all know and love.
I essentially dressed up as Mosh from the old WWF days, complete with skirt and all, but the skirt doesn't show well. I wanted to dress up like Mic Foley (I had the long hair 2 hours before this pic to do it) but we couldn't find anything to make the outfit right - so I went with Mosh instead.
It wasn't until right before putting on make-up that someone decided to remind me "You know, Mosh never actually had hair. If you want to do this right you should probably shave your head."
Up until this point in my life I had never shaved my head before. In fact, during the past 15+ years I had always had long hair and during this Vacation my hair was starting to grow out again as it was about shoulder length again. I should also note that the day before this picture I also had a very disgusting lumberjack of a beard. So, from how I arrived in Philly PA to how I looked for this picture was an extreme make over.
Luckily the house where the party was someone had a pair of sheers and the hottest roadkill bunny I have ever seen shaved my head and thus you get grrouch mosh!
(Picture a time lapse here as I'm searching for 2 more photo's - one of the bunny and one of me arriving in Philly). I'll have to come back and edit them in later I guess.... bummer
To all my friends on the East Coast - Stay safe but not dry. Life is better wet!
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