Shopping Saturday

Do you remember when the weekends were all about relaxing?  Sleeping in, rolling out of bed around noon, eating a leisurely brunch while kicking back?  Yeah.  Me neither.  Weekends are full of errands and runarounds.  This one was no different.

Except it kind of was.

It started out like normal - we headed to the mall to take care of about a million things that needed to be done.  We were there for hours but were incredibly successful.

I have a baby shower this weekend so first stop was a new outfit!  I ended up with a dress and shoes, and Macys paid ME $2.80.  Thatboy picked up some new workshirts.  Macys did not pay him.

Next came an exchange of baby clothes.  I forgot to check an outfit Thatboy had picked out.  It's a size Thatbaby fits in rightnow, but probably won't for too much longer.  So we got it in a bigger size with the hopes he'll be able to wear it more than once.

And then it was shopping for presents!  We took advantage of the Presidents' Day sales to get some really great deals on gifts for upcoming events we have.  I'll keep them under wraps for now since the recipients might stumble upon them.  Let's just say I ended up saving more than I spent!

And then we headed to the supermarket for the week's shopping.  By the time we got home it was time to tuck Thatbaby into bed.  And that's where our real weekend relaxing began.

For Valentine's Day Thatboy got me a "now and later" gift.  He gave me my favorite movie - The Big Sleep, with the promise that we would open a bottle of wine and watch it later.  And so Saturday night, that's what we did.  We opened a bottle of Malbec and sat and watched a movie.  We stayed up way too late.  I think something like 11pm.

Every now and then you need a break from the ordinary.  Like dressing up rice.  Thatboy grew up with rice as a side dish for almost every meal.  Plain white rice, topped with butter.  We usually only had white rice with Chinese food (or saffron rice with shrimp.)  So I don't have a lot of experience making rice side dishes and Thatboy doesn't have a lot of experience eating them.  But I love fancy rice dishes - great ingredients mixed in with a basic.  A little different from your typical boring rice.  This one is warm in both temperature and spice.  So very cozy and comforting.  Perfect for curling up on the couch beside someone you love.

Tomato Rice

1 Tbsp butter

1/2 onion, chopped

1/2 apple, chopped

2 tomatoes, chopped

1 tsp curry powder

1/2 tsp rice wine vinegar

salt and pepper

1 cup cooked rice

1. Melt the butter in a skillet.  Add the onion and cook until the onion is translucent.
2. Add the apple and cook for 5 minutes more. 
3. Stir in the tomatoes, curry powder, vinegar, salt, and pepper.  Cook, stirring for 5 more minutes.
4. Add the rice and heat through before serving.