If you were going to order Chinese for take-out, where would you order from?  I am not picky about Chinese take-out, and in fact I prefer the greasy fast-food type.  When I go out for Asian food, I will always choose a fresh food Thai or Japanese place over fast-food Chinese.  Or my all-time favorite, real Vietnamese food (which I cannot find in ATL, help!) using fresh veggies and made to order.  But when I get take-out, that’s the time for grease.  Lately when this mood strikes us we’ve been ordering delivery from Dawa, which is actually fine, I have no complaints. If we pick up, we go to Rice Box.  But I’d like to hear some other options if there are any.  Close by, don’t give me any of that Tasty China crap.  I’m sure it’s good, but there’s no way I’m driving 45 minutes for Chinese.  And my final necessity are dumplings.  I LOVE dumplings more than many other things. Steamed, fried, veggie or meat. Dumplings!

The reason why I ask is because we don’t have enough money in our going-out budget to go out both Friday and Saturday nights, and since Dice has a bachelor party on Saturday night, that means we stay in Friday.  Dice has been talking about Chinese for, like, two weeks, which means that now I want it!  I am so susceptible to suggestion.  Just like Monday when I read too much about pizza (the local food blogs are freaking out about pizza this week!) and just had to go to Fritti afterwards.

But enough about food.  Since I’ve been a perfect angel food-wise since Monday night I’d rather not tempt myself until tomorrow.

In workout news, I’ve shaken up my routine quite a bit since it was getting soul-suckingly boring.  I’ve been adding some circuit training moves and while this has cut into my cardio time, I think I’m reaping more muscle-building benefits than I had been lifting weights twice a week.  One reason why I think this is because I’m so sore these days that I’m hobbled.  I am literally handicapped.  I wonder what my co-workers think of me as I hobble down the hall to the coffee station.  I’m sure it’s fun to watch, but it’s oh-so-painful on the inside.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m glorying in the fact that I’m using muscles I had neglected before and adding some variety to my workouts.  My next goal is to add a yoga or pilates class at least once per week.

Welcome to a new week in TEOTH-land.  A week which, technically, started two days ago, but I didn’t have time to post yesterday.  My weekend was really good, I have to say.  Friday evening I hit horrendous rush hour traffic coupled with highway construction, which made my arrival in Macon later than expected, but otherwise it was fine.  It was perfect timing, in fact, because as soon as I arrived we headed off to the pizza place for the traditional pre-race pizza fest.  We went to IVP right off the Mercer campus.  Although the service was incredibly slow, it was worth the wait for such a delicious pizza.  Ray and I shared the white pizza, which is one of those great pizzas with feta and other tasty cheeses on it.  Then early to bed so that we could all get up and run the race.

Saturday morning we got up early and headed to the race start.  We were running the Cherry Blossom 15K, and it has the distinction (hey, it’s still distinction!) of being the worst organized race I’ve ever run in my racing career.  So many things were wrong.  There were only 2 bathrooms and they were located more than half a mile from the race start.  Do they not know that runners need to hydrate?  Next, the 5K started at 8:00 am and the 15K started at 8:30 am, but the problem was that the start and finish were in the same place.  So as we waited to start the 15K, all the 5K runners were running into us as they finished their race!  VERY poor planning.  Next, the 15K course went along a couple of pretty busy roads, but there was no signage or cones or anything to separate us from the speeding cars that veered off to the left to avoid us, almost hitting on-coming traffic from the other direction.  Or they didn’t veer off to the left and instead almost hit US.  The worst part about that aspect was that if we were just running on our own, we would have taken more precautions, run on the other side of the road as you’re supposed to, and other things.  But we couldn’t do that since we were in a race so we were basically sitting ducks.  And then finally (as if all that weren’t enough) they measure the course incorrectly and it was actually more than a mile longer than it was supposed to be!  15K equals 9.3 miles, but the course was actually 10.25 miles, which makes it more of a 16.4K race.  As we came into the finish and I saw my time on the clock, my heart completely dropped because I could not BELIEVE that I’d run THAT slowly.  Such a horrible feeling!  I mean, I know I’m out of shape and all, but 1:36 for 9.3 miles is pretty bad.  But 1:36 for 10.25 miles is acceptably slow.  I don’t mind that the distance was longer, the other issues were much more important.  At least I got a nice long run in, though!

After the race we waited for Michael (who won his age group) to pick up his pretty pink ribbon, and then we went to the Mercer cafeteria for breakfast.  They had told me that the caf breakfast was good, and they weren’t lying.  I mean, it was a caf breakfast, but it was hot and there was unlimited food for $5.  I had crispy little tater tot thingies, sausage, french toast and two biscuits.  The crispy little tater tot thingies were like a cross between tater tots and mini latkes, and they were definitely the best thing going on the breakfast bar.  I would do a lot to have those again!

After breakfast it was time for me to head back to ATL.  I encountered similar traffic and construction issues on the way home, makin the trip almost two hours (usually it’s an hour and ten minutes).  I didn’t get home until much later than I had planned, and by the time I showered it was almost 3:00 pm and I was exhausted.  So I laid on the couch for a little while in an effort to store up my energy.

Which I needed because Saturday night the Commune went to Kevin Rathbun Steak for Baby T’s birthday dinner extravaganza!  We arrived around 7:00 pm and had drinks in the cozy bar.  The wine list is long and thorough.  Around 7:30 or so we were taken to our table, which is precisely when our reservation was for so points on punctuality.  The Canadians and R&Baby T all had the dry aged steak for two, which they all reported was delicous.  I can’t remember what M&K had.  Dice had the NY Strip and he was the only person at the table who’s dish wasn’t perfect.  I started with the asparagus wrapped in serrano ham, which was very basic and perfectly done.  Then I had the Tasmanian salmon with green beans and a lemon beurre blanc.  The green beans were perfectly al dente and the beurre blanc was very light, while the salmon was nice and salty with crispy skin.  Very good!  For dessert I had the special, which was a tempura carrot cake.  Carrot cake very lightly fried tempura style, with creme fraiche. It wasn’t hot, but just warm enough, and although I would have liked just a touch more spice in the carrot cake, it was an interesting dish which I enjoyed.  After dinner we all retired to M&K’s house to play pool and have champagne.  We didn’t stay too long but it was an enjoyable end to the evening.

Sunday morning Dice did yardwork while I tackled house projects inside that were long overdue.  In the afternoon we went to the Universal Joint for drinks and dunch.  I had a very subpar grilled cheese sandwich.  It was disappointing because there wasn’t very much cheese on it and the toasted bread had no flavor and very little char.  Plus, when it was brought to the table it was lukewarm.  The fries were crispy and hot, by contrast, so that was nice, although it made the sandwich seem colder by comparison.  This is especially troublesome because the U Joint usually has one of the better grilled cheese sandwiches in town, so I was expecting greatness.  But every place has an off day, I for one should know that.  Then we went grocery shopping and afterwards returned home to veg out on the couch.  Good day!

Yesterday was back to work.  I woke up with a slight sore throat, and I was very tired, so it was a low-key day for me.  Then I spent my lunch hour reading blog entries about pizza from various locations throughout Atlanta, and it made me STARVING for pizza!  So Dice and I went to Fritti for dinner.  It was bad because not only did it seriously cut into our weekly budget, but it was also highly fattening and all that jazz, detrimental to my personal goal of self-discipline.  But I don’t regret it for a second.  It was 75 degrees so we sat on the patio.  I had the bianca per usual, and I asked them to add some salame to it, which turned out delicious because the salame was crispy and salty, but for a normal person (i.e., not a salt fiend) they might find it a little too salty.  I, of course, loved it.  Dice had salame and olives, and he said it was very good.  The crust was perfectly crispy, too, and had good flavor.  There weren’t too many other diners and the service was excellent.  It was basically one of the more perfect dining experiences I’ve had.  Then again, it always is at Fritti!

Now it’s time to pay for my bad behavior, though.  Here it is Tuesday and we’ve already spent 2/3 of our weekly going out budget.  There will definitely be take-out happening this weekend!