Beautiful day in the neighborhood

This morning I ventured to the grand opening of REI at North Hills. I arrived around 8:30 for the doors opening at 10. Why did I arrive so early? Because they were giving away water bottles with gift cards ranging from $5-$100 in them for the first 200 people plus Panera bagels. When I got there the line was already probably 50 people deep, but that was all good. Once the doors opened I got my water bottle and a $10 gift card. Can't complain about free food. What I'm kicking myself about now is that I was in line behind a cute college age girl that was there by herself. Why I didn't talk to her I have no idea. I kept trying to think of things to say but couldn't think of anything other than the lame, "So you go camping often?" or "Do you shop at REI much?" I guess I should have just introduced myself, oh well.

After wondering around the crowded, two story REI I went to the flea market at the State Fairgrounds in search of a desk and book cases. I didn't find anything this trip but I'll definitely go back.

Tonight I decided to be adventuresome in my dinner preparation. During my trip to Ft. Lauderdale at one of the receptions we had seafood and chicken paella so I decided that I can make it and went for it. I used chicken instead of the seafood and the traditional rabbit. It was definitely good and I'll be eating it for the next couple of days but I'm not sure if it's worth making for just myself. It took almost 2 hrs to make, which is why it's a communal dish in Spain. I also need a bigger pan. I went to Crate & Barrel this afternoon in search of a pan and a box grater. I ended up only getting a box gratter because they didn't really have much of a large skillet selection and what they did have was expensive. I also realized that Saturday afternoon is the time to go for people watching. There were probably 5 to 10 future brides setting up registries and flitting from section to section inputing what they wanted into the electronic registry. Another interesting thing were some of the reactions I got. I did notice that I was one of the only guys in the store and I guess I stuck out more because I was alone. When I checked out the lady asked if my grater was a gift and I said no so then she asked what I was making and she gave me a couple of tips about paella. It was kind of neat for her to be interested in that I was actually cooking for myself. Trying to make new stuff is a good excuse to get a new kitchen gadget just like when building something you can get new tools. When I get married I will definitely be involved in selecting the kitchen gadetry and accoutrements.



Overall a pretty good day made even better by free money, beautiful weather, and good food.