Wednesday, December 29, 2010

The Skyway Sybarite

During lunch today, I was walking back to my building from Macy's, where I had just purchased an unreasonable amount of makeup, when I decided to stop in to the Greek Grill and get something to eat.

Check it. I never, like never, eat in the skyway system at lunch. I think I have maybe done this 7 times over the 4 years I have been employed at my current job. And at least half those times were from Chipotle. Generally, I bring something from home, or more often lately, eat at our building's cafeteria.

I used to love the cafeteria, because they have the all-around best BLT in the world. Hands down. I could eat it every day. However, I gave up pork about 9 months ago (believe me, whether or not I could live without the BLT was almost a deal-breaker) so I don't get to enjoy the BLT. And the rest of their options are mostly blah. They have good salads once in a while, and good soup occasionally. I like the turkey burgers and I make myself do the salad bar when I'm good. But that's about the extent of what I can eat there.

So, I need new places to eat.

Which brings me to the Greek Grill, and therefore, to my new weekly (hopefully) post detailing my adventures in skyway gastronomy.

And we're off!

The Greek Grill and Cafe is located in the City Center. It's a fair distance from my building on Washington, but almost everywhere in the skyway system is.

I ordered a falafel plate, which consisted of a falafel sandwich and Greek salad, for at total of $8.04.

The salad was delicious, with a pleasant amount of vegetables of the non-lettuce variety and the size was great. Once I removed my tinfoil-wrapped sandwich from my to-go box, the salad filled the whole thing. Sweet! My only complaint about the salad was that I got one measly kalamata olive with it. One! Although it's pretty hard to mess up a salad, I thought this one was top of the line.

The falafel sandwich, which I don't think I've had before, was also good. It was a little dry and I thought it needed some sort of sauce. The husband thinks it should have come with tahini, but mine did not. Other than that, the sandwich was great. The pita was warm and soft, and did not tear or fall apart. Beside the falafel, the pita also contained lettuce, cucumbers, onions and tomatoes.

All in all, I would definitely go back to the Greek Grill. The service was fast and friendly. I was in and out in less than 5 minutes, even though it was close to noon. Check it out on your next lunch break!

Monday, December 13, 2010

Songs of 2010

2010 is drawing to a close, so I'd thought I'd let you know what my most-listened to songs were this year. Not all songs are from 2010.

1. Heartbeats - The Knife
2. Missed the Boat - Modest Mouse
3. Puzzles - The Mary Onettes
4. Dog Days Are Over - Florence and the Machine
5. White Blank Page - Mumford & Sons

Honorable Mentions:

6. Teenage Dream - Darren Criss from Glee
7. Dance in the Dark - Lady Gaga
8. Red Belt - Tegan & Sara

I'm sure there's more, but these are the ones that stick out to me. What were your favorite songs in 2010?

Sunday, December 12, 2010

Dream Vacations

Minneapolis just had a huge snow storm this past weekend, and honestly, I love snuggling up in the house all weekend, but I got a little stir crazy.

Here are some places I'd rather be:


1. Neuschwanstein Castle, in southwest Bavaria. Honestly, could anything look more like a winter wonderland fairy-tale than this? I'd love to see this in my lifetime.


2. Ireland. Ireland has a rich history of all things fae. I'd love to explore the gorgeous country where so many folk and fairy tales come from, like the Giant's Causeway.


3. Bali. After reading Eat, Pray, Love, all I wanted to do was rent a cottage and ride my bike through Bali.


4. Nantucket Island. My whole life, I've wanted to spend a summer on a good old American island. I'd go whale watching, get a job serving at a local cafe, live in a little yellow cottage. Soon, I'd decide to stay and I'd no longer be one of the "summer folks," but a year-round resident who won the hard-earned respect of the locals over time.

Someday. For now, the frozen north!

Merry Christmas to me!


Just purchased a 50 piece set of our "wedding" china 50% off. I say "wedding" because for our actual wedding we only received two pieces, which was just fine with us, as we were living in a tiny one-bedroom apartment.

Now that we own our home and are looking to the future, I thought I'd buy myself a piece every few months. Then I found the set for such an amazing price, I could not pass it up.

I still need a few pieces, like the gravy boat, but I can get those at random. Our pattern is "Crestwood Platinum" by Noritake, I think it will look great for years to come.

Saturday, December 11, 2010

Pre- New Year's Resolutions

2011 is almost upon us and I've been thinking about my New Year's resolutions for a while. I try to pick things that are manageable and sane.

This year:

1. Buy at least three pairs of shoes that are not black. If you look at my shoe collections, I have maybe 3 or 4 pairs of colorful shoes. I think I will buy 1.) Bright flats 2.) Brown booties (I know, not much more fun than black, but I really need them.) 3.) Multi-colored heels. A co-worker/friend recently bequeathed me a pair of purple and pink heels, which I wore to work last Thursday for the annual Wine and Cheese event, and I received no less than 15 compliments on them. Thanks, A!

2. Floss daily. This is a no-brainer, I suppose, but when I'm good I floss maybe 3 times a week. When I'm bad I can go weeks without. Gross, I know. I don't know if all kids grew up like this, but it always seemed to me like flossing was optional. As an adult, I have learned that flossing is just as important as, if not more than, brushing.

3. Exercise daily. At this time of my life, although I would love to be doing Pilates and kickboxing and various other exercises, I am not allowed to. So, I will have to suffice with walking on the elliptical machine for 45 minutes a day.

4. Pay off debt. Luckily, I have less credit card debt than most people I know. Also, I really enjoy budgeting my money and planning how I will spend it. This year, I plan on getting rid of all my credit card debt, while still putting oodles of cash into savings.

So, basically I have one fun resolution and three responsible ones. Sigh, I guess I'm a grown up.