What woman doesn't love shopping? Not me. I've heard great things about World Market in West Des Moines. People told me it was a good place for furniture as well as wine, so I wasn't really sure what all I'd actually find in there. I spent 45 minutes wondering around. What a great wine selection! It also has fun stemware and plates, specialty foods, couches, handbags, and wall art. I need to go back when I have some extra cash laying around.
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The title may have been a little deceiving... you probably thought I was referring to my muscles as the gun show. Although my arms are sure toning up from all my Tough Mudder training, I actually went to a gun show at the state fairgrounds. Man, there were a lot of guns. There were also a lot of people that - based purely on looks - I didn't want anywhere near a loaded deadly weapon. I'm on my way to becoming a first time gun owner. Last week, my dad told me he found a .22 rifle I would like. I usually use my dad's .22 when we have target practice at my grandma's, but I think I'm ready for my own. There are so many styles though, I need to decide what gun best represents me.
I honestly believe I was a sniper in a past life. ...for doing a lot of new things in one day! My day started with my first piece of pizza... ever. I can't even type that with a straight face. Clearly, I've eaten pizza, I mean, I am an American. Today's new type of pizza though was goat cheese, spinach and grape tomatoes from Aldi. It was really good actually. I've become a fan of goat cheese, at least on pizza. Saturday night was a lot more exciting than just new pizza. I made new friends, partied at one of their houses, drank Shock Top for the first time while playing Nine Ball which I even won one game. I proceeded to drink corn whiskey for the first time out of a NASA glass while wearing my super sexy NASA socks I got in junior high. I also drank some sort of butterscotch rum. It was not very good in shot form. I was then informed I should put it in a mixed drink. I'm sure it's much better that way.
Let the bidding begin! OK, not quite yet. Save up your money for the next month so you can be one of the winning bidders at the upcoming Date Auction to benefit Variety The Children's Charity. A friend of mine on the Young Variety board asked if I'd be willing to be auctioned off for a good cause. I thought long and hard (about 3 seconds) and said sure. Besides, what else do I have to do that night that could be more exciting than being bid on?
Now, I'm helping recruit others to volunteer their time, talents, and personality to help out this great organization. There will be 10 guys and 10 gals on the auction block. Today I made calls to both the Des Moines fire fighters and Iowa Cubs to see if they could find one or two people to put up for sale to the highest bidder. I'm hopeful both will come through. Who wouldn't bid on a reporter at ABC5, I mean, an Iowa Cubs player or fire fighter? See, now you're interested! The Date Auction will be Saturday, February 25 from 6-9pm at Jasper Winery in Des Moines. See you there! Mmmmm... salad. As a meat and potatoes girl, some days salads are just not filling. I made sure to load this salad up considering it was all fruit: strawberries, kiwi, grapes, and bananas with balsamic vinigarette. Yes, I've had a different types of fruit salad before, but none like this. I used this special "artisan" lettuce from Aldi. I can't stand their bag salads; they taste dirty and plasticy. But this mix of lettuce came in a plastic container; it tasted fresh and clean.
I made spaghetti with whole wheat noodles for the first time. In fact, to my knowledge I've never had whole wheat noodles before. But it was just brought to my attention that a could have had them at a restaurant. I've never specifically ordered them though. Back to my spaghetti, it tasted noticeably different in a bad way. I eat a lot of healthy food and off-brand food, but this was not good. However, my leftovers the next day tasted much better. Maybe I was just that hungry anything would have been fulfilling. I still have half the box of noodles; I'll have to try them in a different recipe.
Swimming, biking, and running make up a triathlon. I've been working hard on the swimming and running parts and have been squeezing in only a bit of biking. It's much easier than the other two. I mean, you just sit there and move your legs. Whereas with running and swimming, you're carrying your entire weight. The sprint tri I'm doing requires biking 10 miles. This was the first time I've ever biked 10 consecutive miles. I did it in 47 minutes which is less than a 5 minute mile. That seems pretty darn good to me. I pushed myself though and went another two-ish miles in a full hour. Upon completion, I wasn't nearly as tired as after running for 20 minutes. Maybe I should just be a cyclist...
I really feel like Dory in Finding Nemo some days when I'm swimming laps. I'm still trying to get the breathing down and have a long way to go to get my endurance up. I literally tell myself: just 10 more laps, just 5 more laps, you can do this, you're not going to drown. I read through Swimming for Fitness to get more information on how to be a better swimmer. It had similar info as the previous book I read, Championship Swimming. It's always reassuring when two sources give you the same info.
For a second day in a row, I partied at a friend's house for the first time. We had a little football party with all the fixings aka chips, dessert pizza, and mushroom stuffed venison brats. While it's hard to watch football and eat brats without a few beer, I managed to do just that for seven hours. I just think about all the calories I saved by drinking water. Oh wait, I probably made up for that in the surprise dessert course: girl scout cookies. I tried the caramel delights for the first time. They were alright - ain't got nothin on my thin mints though.
It was an incredible Saturday. I got out of bed only once before 3pm. While I can't recall ever doing that before, I won't count that as my new thing of the day because that would be really lame. During my time in bed, I watched the movie Monster which I've wanted to see since it came out in 2003. The story line wasn't what I expected, but I actually liked it better than what I had plotted in my head. I'm a huge Charlize Theron fan. Once I was done being lazy, I went to a friend's house for his birthday party. I'd never been to his apartment. It was in nice shape considering two guys live there, and we all know what slobs men are. I also tried Lollipop red wine for the first time. It's made by Madison County Winery. The name is right on. In fact, it could be called grape juice or jolly rancher. It was very sweet, too sweet for me. I didn't even feel like I was drinking wine. This is one of my few negative reviews. Sorry, Lollipop.
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