Alfredo's Italian Restaurant

Justin has mentioned Alfredo's Italian Restaurant several times since moving to Atlanta. He said it's his coworker Angie's favorite restaurant in Atlanta. About a month ago, we asked Angie and her husband, Travis, if they wanted to join us for dinner one night. We all had stuff going on so this past Saturday was the first opportunity we've had to eat there together.

There is decent parking in the lot, so no problems there. The building is obviously not new. The inside decor confirms this, but it was very pleasant. Angie and Travis also mentioned that the restaurant plays a lot of Frank Sinatra music, which is fine with me. We had reservations so we were seated quickly.

We ordered a carafe of the house chianti, which was pretty good and pretty inexpensive. We ordered and enjoyed some garlic bread while we waited. I ordered the Giulio Casare salad, which came before my meal and it was very delicious.

My entree was the manicotti. It was enough for two people! Yummy! It was cheesy and very flavorful. Mmmm. I'm getting hungry thinking about it. Justin had the special, which was sea bass. He had grilled zucchini as his side. Angie had the linguini pescattore, which she said is her favorite. She took half of it home. It was a lot of food! Travis enjoyed veal (I cannot remember which veal entree he ordered) with a side of linguini. For dessert, we shared a tiramisu. It was very good, too.

The owner, who reminded me of Martin Scorsese, visited each table to make sure everything was perfect. The people at the table behind us were talking about the Gambinos. The restaurant seemed more authentic after that. We will definitely visit Alfredo's again.

After dinner, we hung out at our house and played a game of Pictionary. Travis is an artist, so his drawings made everyone else's look pretty bad. Even his talent couldn't make anyone guess "test pattern". Seriously, how do you draw "test pattern"?

The Honda gets some new Kumhos (tires)

Since I drive so much, I try to keep my car in good condition. This mainly involves frequent oil changes and paying attention to my tires. About this time last year, my tires let me know they needed some love. I promptly replaced them. Aren't I mean? I purchased these tires from the Discount Tire near our house in Atlanta. I was pleased with the service and the price. They also offer free rotation and balance for the life of the tires.

Last Saturday, I had an appointment for a rotation and balance. The Honda was vibrating a little at certain speeds so I figured I lost a weight from one of the wheels. The technician inspected my tires and showed me that my rear tires were worn quite a bit. I was afraid of that, but I was still hoping a rotation and balance would fix it. He very gently informed me that the rear tires needed to be replaced. I followed him inside to get a quote to take to Justin so we could discuss it. I know. I'm wife of the year.

Since I purchased the tires from them, my information was in the computer. He informed me that I had a 50,000 mile warranty on these tires and had only gotten 42,000 miles use of them. He said he would give me a credit for this. I didn't admit that I hadn't had the tires rotated as frequently as I should. He didn't ask and I didn't tell.

I'm sure the following made Justin happy. He will haggle over anything. Drives me crazy. When I was getting the quote from the guy, I asked if he could get me any credit on the two front tires and I would buy four new ones instead of two. He said he could do that. He also mentioned they had a $100 rebate on the purchase of four new tires. I was sold. I said, "Just put them on. I won't need to discuss it with my husband." Bad wife. Since I had an appointment, they would begin work on my car immediately. I walked to Lowe's and killed about thirty minutes. When I returned, the Honda was nearly ready. After about five more minutes, I was ready to roll.

When I returned home, Justin and I had the following conversation:

J: Did your appointment go well?

K: Define well.

J: What did you do?

K: (sheepishly) I bought four new tires.

J: Were yours worn out?

K: Yeah. The guy showed me. The rear ones were pretty bad. I got some warranty credit and I haggled to get some additional credit on the front ones, too, and I bought four instead of two.

J: Awesome.

K: They also had an additional $100 rebate on four.

J: How much did you spend?

K: $336 before the rebate, $236 after the mail-in rebate.

J: Wow! That's a good price!

K: I know!

The Honda is happy again.

Meet Calle Cat

I'd like to introduce you to Calle Cat. She is my sister's cat.
Calle Cat recently got her hair cut. She used to have long hair all over her body, but she had a little matting, so the groomer gave her a lion cut. Calle Cat was very nervous and had to be sedated.

I promise she's happy now. She has big greenish-yellow eyes that are very pretty, but she blinked each time I tried to take a photo. Calle Cat is a very sweet cat and absolutely loves my sister. She does not like Pete and Annabelle or my niece.

The Painted House

The new and improved Painted House launched this morning! You should go by and visit. There are some great giveaways this week.

My "happy" picture

Sometimes I need something to help me be happy. My happy something is a picture of some bichon frises I found a while back online. This picture makes me smile each time I see it.

(source)

I don't know these dogs or their owner(s), but I love this picture. I can't get my two dogs to stand still for one picture. How did they get all eleven dogs to pose? Some of them are even smiling!

Justin says it's because these dogs are trained and ours aren't. That can't be right.

The Painted House

I mentioned a few weeks ago that one of my favorite blogs is The Painted House. Angela blogged for a few years and decided to stop blogging. My heart became happy recently when she announced that she will begin blogging again! Woo hoo! This makes me happy.

After I blogged about her website a few weeks ago, she left me a comment. I don't think a comment from the Queen of England would have made me any happier!

The new Painted House will launch on March 22. Only 11 days to go! You should really visit her site. She's so creative!

Carrabba's Italian Grill

One of our favorite chain restaurants is Carrabba's. The service is always top notch and the food is always delicious.

During our most recent Carrabba's visit, I ordered the manicotti. It's hard to mess up manicotti and it's so yummy! I used to order the mezzaluna, but they changed it a while back and started adding chicken. I no longer each chicken, so I don't order the mezzaluna now. I enjoyed a caesar salad and fresh bread with my manicotti.

Justin ordered the fresh fish of the day, which was salmon. He chose the caper and butter topping. I tried a bite of the fish and it was very good. He chose the asparagus (vegetable of the day) as his side and also had a salad and bread. He also enjoyed a glass of red wine with his dinner.

For dessert, we enjoyed the John Cole, which is Blue Bell vanilla ice cream with caramel sauce and topped with roasted cinnamon rum pecans. It was fabulous! So simple and so delicious. We debated ordering the bread pudding, but opted for the John Cole instead.

"What are you mixed with?"

I measured a building yesterday morning that is going to be a restaurant. A coworker and I usually measure buildings together, but this one didn't require two people. While I was measuring, the Pepsi people were there installing the new soda fountain. One of the Pepsi employees and I had the following conversation:

Pepsi Guy (PG): Ma'am, what are you mixed with?
Me: (minding my own business - I realize he is talking to me) What am I measuring for?
PG: No. What are you mixed with?
Me: What am I mixed with?
PG: Yeah. What are you mixed with?
Me: Uh...um...I'm caucasian.
PG: Oh.

I was initially confused and then shocked. Seriously. Who asks that?! That question is never appropriate. What was so odd to me is that the Pepsi guy was also caucasian.

This was definitely one of the oddest things that anyone has ever said to me.

What are you mixed with?