Good afternoon everyone! How are you doing today?
I’m doing well today, really well, and I have a lot to fill you in on as far as last week and last weekend. Now, all the festivities basically started on Friday, but I wish I could say my week was boring before Friday.
It was not.
The day after I posted last (Thursday, Feb. 13), there was an SUV fire. Two fires in two days. I’m telling you, there have been a large amount of fires close to our area in the last week or so. Granted they are accidental, but still — everyone really needs to be careful.
But anyway, so there was an SUV fire. Now I was already pretty cranky and frustrated on this morning, because:
– There was another fire right after I finished an 8 hour shift, and after I’d just covered one the day before
– I had plans for when I got home
– My phone died when I was trying to cover it and communicate with my boss/friends, resulting in miscommunication
– It was incredibly cold and I had no gloves, so my fingers were going numb
– No answers. Nothing. No information from the cops or firefighters about the fire at all — nothing. So in those situations, as much as I’d love to have immediate answers, all I could do it observe and report on what I saw. To be honest I don’t like having just these observations, I’d rather have the whole story, but what can you do?
Anyway, so I go back to the studio in a huff — I’m not sure what time but I got a good amount of overtime that morning — plug my phone in to charge, give my boss what I could for the Midday Show, finish the Morning Show things that need to be done, and go to my car.
Now I couldn’t go home just yet; I had originally planned to go to the gas station after work so my tank would be full for the weekend. And I did! I stopped by the gas station, I went inside to pre-pay, and when I came back out, someone recognized me! They said something along the lines of “Hi! We watch you in the morning, you do a good job!” and that felt really good, especially after a hectic morning like that.
When I got home, that’s when the fun started: so last Friday was Valentine’s Day, so I thought it would be cute to bake a batch of brownies for Weekend Friend (after he specifically told me he loves brownies, because they are the shit). So I did! I made a batch of brownies with red and pink sprinkles inside the batter and then made a homemade frosting (butter, vanilla, powdered sugar, red food coloring) to put on top! I topped them with more sprinkles and put them in this lovely Valentine’s Day container!
I stuck them in the microwave to set for the day after!
Now Friday, Valentine’s Day, was a real adventure; that whole weekend was. Initially I was terrified there would be another fire to cover that morning — but there wasn’t! I hurried up and did what work I could and what pre-producing I could, and then promptly clocked out and got the hell out of there.
I went back to my apartment to finish packing, grabbed WF’s brownies, turned off the heat and the lights, stopped for a Starbucks coffee to drink on the way ( a Smoked Butterscotch frappe) and was off!
I actually found an app that lets me listen to free audiobooks, so on the drive down I listened to a reading of “Uncle Tom’s Cabin,” which I has glanced at before in high school but didn’t remember much of.
I drove on home to go through some of my old belongings in my old room and then went over to WF’s house!
First, he loved the brownies! 🙂 He thought they were adorable and very yummy (I was afraid they wouldn’t make the trip, but they did!), and then we went back to Haveli’s for their amazing Indian food. Service was understandably a little slower due to it being Valentine’s Day, but honestly it was no big deal at all — I won a bet, but it was no big deal.
Oh my god, and then WF and I exchanged VD gifts (he loved his, and I got some chocolate and bath bombs); he made me overnight oats; we walked the dogs on Saturday; we hung out and talked; we had a really great time!
But honestly the biggest story is what happened Saturday night: dinner at the White Chocolate Grill to celebrate my birthday with WF and my family. It went so well; my family got on just fine with WF. I had a blue-cheese-crusted steak with mashed potatoes and brussels sprouts, then a chocolate souffle for dessert. It was a very nice evening, very good food.
But my present? My present broke me. WF’s birthday present to me left me so speechless, I was inconsolable and crying for a good few hours after the meal. What he gave me was just so caring, and thoughtful, and he put so much time and effort into it; I didn’t think someone could care about me that much. But he does, he did, and it was glorious.
Sunday morning WF and I went to brunch and back to his house for mimosas, and we just hung out before I had to head back up to NE. Naturally listened to my audio book again on the way back — but to tell you the truth? I didn’t want to drive back. I didn’t want to go back. I wanted to stay there and in that happy state forever.
But, alas, I had to. I had to, and I had to follow-up on another fire. This one was heard about before the 10 p.m. show and I followed up on it the morning after. Basically just me calling around to see what I could find. Naturally there wasn’t a lot of answers (again), so I left messages for them to call the studio back. But I couldn’t go home — I was tasked with finding where the fire was (we only has a road name, not a certain address) and videotaping footage of the aftermath.
Hooray.
Now of course this wasn’t going to be interesting footage because the fire was already out, but nonetheless I got into a car (because hey, overtime pay, right?) with the equipment, found the house (which was on the very far end of the road), and took what footage I could in the cold.
Afterwards I made mac and cheese and baked it in the oven with a breadcrumbs crust — that was it all better lol.
The other big story from last week? I had my birthday! These are a big thing in my family, so the day before I had it all planned out:
Birthday Breakfast: after leaving work on time, I cooked some eggs and turkey bacon to eat alongside mini eclairs. This also included a glass of local white wine.
Birthday Afternoon: for context, my birthday gifts have been sitting in my living room for at least a month. But I waited to open them! I loved what my family gave me, most of it was things I really needed for my kitchen — thought there were a few things I just wanted for me. But what I needed (both for now and for later) included: cocktail shaker, meat thermometer, kitchen shears, cooling racks for baking, large glass measuring cups, etc. This unboxing also included an Apple Pucker cocktail.
Birthday Dinner: I had to eat dinner earlier than normal since I had work the next morning, but I cooked (white drinking) a pan-seared steak with butter, garlic, rosemary and thyme; a roasted potato and brussels sprouts. And then, of course, a mini piece of birthday cake and Halo Top peanut butter cup ice cream scoops for dessert!
It was a good birthday 🙂 I also got these new cookbooks from an old college friend of mine….
In other news, I quickly made us of my new mini muffin tin and make these muffins from pancake batter with cake batter/vanilla extract and chocolate chips! I made a lot of them so I can save them as work snacks. I bought a new red dress from Khols which arrived, and a new cookbook which arrived, and this weekend so far has been great!
So, yeah, I would say I’m doing okay! I do admit at times I wish I could stay in Colorado for longer on Sundays, but I can’t — unless, of course, I didn’t sleep. I supposed I could always take time off, but I want to save those for special things, like maybe a trip with WF to the east coast.
