Happy New Year ... Six Weeks After the Fact!

I have returned.

Hahahaha!!!

I should have posted all that holiday 2008 food porn here but I was trying to make things easy for my many food-friends on the DIS with the end result that the first review thread got closed out because someone objected. And thus I was reminded why I started this blog in the first place ...

While I'm still working on finishing the other reviews from October 2008, there isn't likely to be much activity here. Since I was lamed up with sciatica for two months and ate like an incredible sow during Christmas and New Year's I have gained more than 10 pounds putting my current mass at 153 pounds. I'm shooting for a total weight loss of 30 pounds by my 40th birthday (October 17) but will be satisfied with 25 pounds which would take me back to my wedding day weight.

In the interests of being less of a lazy-ass pig as well as saving money, we've severely cut back on a lot of our plans for this year. But the good news is this:

1) We have a gift certificate to a local sushi joint called Wasabi (thank you Anila & Tim) that comes highly recommended and we will be dining there once the weather turns to warm, balmy, spring.

2) We have some gift certificates from restaurants.com (thank you Michelle & family) and are planning on trying the food at the Scottish Arms ... again, once the weather thaws out and I've lost some weight.

3) We have reservations for a two-night stay at the Peabody Hotel in Memphis for our tenth anniversary at the end of May. If we do in fact keep that reservation we will have some reviews to share with you all, including a 7-course tasting menu from their 4-star restaurant Chez Philipe.

4) Although we canceled our planned 7-night cruise for this October in favor of a 14-night transatlantic cruise in September 2010 (hell yeah!) we still will be spending 10 nights in WDW come October 2009. Despite our current curious lack of interest in where we will eat while there, I know and you know that there will be plenty of food and booze to discuss in the months to come.

5) It is not set in stone, but most certainly the discussion of a repeat visit to Las Vegas in May 2010 for a certain husband's 40th birthday has taken place. In fact ... short of some kind of medical or fiscal disaster we're pretty sure to be there. And come hell or high water I'm taking Jason to Joel Robuchon's mansion for dinner ... 16-course meal here we come!!!

That's all I have for now ... I'll be sure to clean this place up once I'm finished with this latest batch of reviews on the DIS. I just don't have enough time to juggle everything ...not enough hours in the day, especially when you work for a bank.

I hope you are all well and wish you the best for a happy, healthy, and prosperous 2009!!

PS. I just remembered something else! The height of irony, which I think we'll all agree can be pretty ironic sometimes ... we received a letter in the mail from The Drunken Fish!!! Need a refresher? That's the last non-Disney review I wrote that just happens to be posted here for your reading pleasure. Anyway, they're offering us $10 off a dinner of $30 or more! I was all for tossing the letter in the trash but Jay stopped me and said it would be good incentive to try them one more time since the offer doesn't expire. So now it's stuck to our refrigerator along with all those Simpsons magnets. If we do end up dining there again I hope they've traded out the techo-babble music for something a little more appropriate.