Tuesday, May 31, 2011

The Two Hundred and Second...

Number Two Hundred and Two:






El Nopal, Lunch, Fajitas






Busy day sneezing like an insane person, then knocking any sense I have out by taking an antihistamine. Ruins me for the day. If anyone has a better med that doesn't involve antihistamine and works for allergies, let me know!!!

Monday, May 30, 2011

Two Hundred and First...

Number Two Hundred and One:


















Last week on the Bookmobile, I saw Gina looking around the Virginia State Parks website, wanting to do some kayaking or something on Memorial Day. Lisa and I are always up for an adventure, so I suggested we all go. Group trip!

Lisa and I have kayaked on Taskinas Creek a few times before, so we knew where to go, all the way up till you could go no further. This is where the napstache was taken. A great little spot, not nearly enough shade, but still wonderful. A ton of great birds, particularly some Great Blue Herons that we kept interrupting on the way back and getting wonderfully close to, Osprey and their nest, and the Bald Eagle. After getting back to the mouth of the creek, we kept going out to the York River where it was surprisingly calm and allowed us to spend a lot of time out in the breezy area too. After 3 hours or so on the water, it was time to head back and have lunch in Williamsburg at Berret's Seafood Restaurant, then meander around Colonial Williamsburg for a bit before heading home. Great day!

Kayakstache!

Sunday, May 29, 2011

The Two Hundredth...

Number Two Hundred:
Mekong, Lunch, Spicy Crispy Chicken

So I thought I would do something really special or whatever for the 200th. Maybe while meeting friends the Goldens and Lundy Ryans for lunch at Mekong, I would have done some weird video P.O.V. 'stache. All I managed was this random P.O.V. I think Janet is making a pretty funny face in this one, while Mark and Lisa are kind of caught off-guard. Happy 200! Ha!

Saturday, May 28, 2011

The One Hundred and Ninety Ninth...

Number One Hundred and Ninety Nine:








Home, Dinner, Turkey Burger








Home tonight for some turkey burgers on the grill, chilling on the patio. A wonderful time of year between Spring and Summer that makes living here great! Later, watching the classic thriller Charade. Good times on a Saturday night!

Friday, May 27, 2011

The One Hundred and Ninety Eighth...


Number One Hundred and Ninety Eight:
Grandpa Eddie's, Dinner, Ribs

The Rainbow Minute celebrated its 1000th episode on the air with WRIR. There was a great ice cream social at Sprout to celebrate with nice some folks and swell displays and freebies!

(1000th Rainbow Minute Social at Sprout)

After we chilled out there a while, also inventing the Shoot Fire Yeah! drink (Laurie came up with the idea of drinks for bands they liked), we headed out to the loathing Short Pump to watch our friends' band Country Sunshine play some tunes. Lisa had a clever line for the nearly drunk white couple acting like they could dance across the restaurant to wherever the hell they went: "Hey lady: you can't two-step in flip flops."

Thursday, May 26, 2011

The One Hundred and Ninety Seventh...

The One Hundred and Ninety Seventh:







Moe's, Lunch, Burrito




What's more annoying at Moe's? The annoying way random people say "Welcome to Moe's!" even when clearly no one has entered to say that to. Or, some weird ass marketing campaign contest they recently had across the country where people enter as their favorite musical celebrity (note the Waylon Jennings or Stevie Ray V. on the left and Elvis near my head) for free chips and salsa for a year --oh, plus your celebrity imitating mug across Moe's chains around the world as seen here. The dumbest thing about this contest, is that below each photo was the winner's name, then in clear and legally ass covering wording that said something to the effect of the visual representation depicted of said photo does in no way represent the celebrity they are trying to imitate. So, if you are having trouble trying to figure out who the hell the guy on the wall on the left really is, they will NOT tell you on said photo. Great idea for a gimmick; have a celebrity look-alike contest, but in NO WAY be able to state the depicted celebrity be mentioned by name for fear of legal action.

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

The One Hundred and Ninety Sixth...

Number One Hundred and Ninety Six:
Pad Thai, Lunch, Red Curry Tofu

Nice little hidden Thai place in Mechanicsville, that's right, I said Mechanicsville! Justin and I went, he had never been before and seemed to really like it. A solid cheap lunch deal with some great fried tofu as a choice opener with your meal. Despite a cockroach you might see on a wall every so often, the food is pretty decent and different for the area. I always make the mistake of getting a tofu curry, however, which is usually pretty uninspired tofu, but they grow their own peppers!

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

The One Hundred and Ninety Fifth...

Number One Hundred and Ninety Five:






Mexico, Lunch, Taquitos




Lunch with the Bookmobile crew: Me, Gina, Carolyn and Justin. Gina called the two girls in the background (with an elderly lady who is tucked against the wall in the booth) "Lunch with Grandma". Guess who's buying? I wonder what they called our group as they looked over after the flash went off? Maybe "Lunch with Grandma" too!

Monday, May 23, 2011

The One Hundred and Ninety Fourth...





Quick pasta dinner after yoga, Buitoni tortellini and side salad. Their website plays music, Lisa's toes are painted blue, and we don't have to mulch for a while. Whew!


Sunday, May 22, 2011

The One Hundred and Ninety Third...

Number One Hundred and Ninety Three:
Home, Dinner, Pizza

Last year, our friend Judd Proctor came to a cookout we had, our first entertaining in the new house. He is on the Bellevue Garden Walk committee and said we should be on it next year. We took him up on it. A lot of what we have in the back yard was thanks to the previous homeowner who took great care and love into making it an awesome oasis. We have maintained stewardship, with our own touches, and shared this great yard for others to view today. At least a hundred and sixty or so people came by our place on the walk and it seemed like everyone was amazed in one way or another about it. We had a great time repeating our stories about the places and things in the yard, then we enjoyed a well earned pizza from Arianna's and some wine on patio afterward!

Saturday, May 21, 2011

The One Hundred and Ninety Second...

Number One Hundred and Ninety Two:
Dots Back Inn, Lunch, Pigs in a Blanket

After putting some of the finishing touches on our yard for the Bellevue Garden Walk, it was time for some Dots. I kind of like the other dimensionality of this photo. Yes, the napstache is there; small, subtle, classy. Ha!


Friday, May 20, 2011

The One Hundred and Ninety First...

Number One Hundred and Ninety One:
Tastebuds, Dinner, Pan Seared Medallions of Beef Tenderloin,

Truffled Parmesan Risotto,

Baby Yellow Tomato, Vidalia Onion & Asparagus Salad,

Brandied Peppercorn Butter Sauce


We made reservations for 6:30 tonight which wound up dinner at the bar because the tables were moving slowly. That turned out to be a pretty great thing, I think I have been enjoying eating at the bar lately. The place was hopping tonight and we saw a few people in the neighborhood; the Yoga studio owner and her husband who sat next to us for dinner, Lisa's high school friend she hadn't seen in a few years, and a few others. Familiar faces in our familiar neck of the woods. Nice! Food was great, as usual.

Thursday, May 19, 2011

The One Hundred and Ninetieth...

Number One Hundred and Ninety:











While that place called Cookout, a regional chain trying to take over the town as the best place for burgers or BBQ, created hellish traffic on Ridge, Gina and I sneaked across the way to this great little tucked away Mexican restaurant in an old Long John Silvers. While the complimentary chips are cold and a little stale, they make up for it with the lunch carnitas and other specials. Easily shareable at lunch, but also makes a nice dinner later on! Good place and good price and just the right amount of popularity to keep them in business.


Wednesday, May 18, 2011

The One Hundred and Eighty Ninth...


Number One Hundred and Eighty Nine:

Sprout, Dinner, Pizza

Laurie and Jamie had a grand idea before Shoot Fire Yeah! practice tonight, let's go get some free coffee. Rostov's Coffee & Tea were celebrating something and giving away free espresso, cake and chip clips with their logo on it. The Happy Lucky Combo were playing in the corner, always awesome to see Barry Bless and company entertaining.

Lisa and I dig some Rostov's and it was a nice walk up from the Sprout parking lot to get some orange flavored coffee beans; something we used to get more often when we lived in the Fan. Jamie managed to get a few minutes away from his work to walk up with us. Then Laurie and I came back to Sprout to wait for Jamie to get off work, why not a beer or two and some dinner? Okay! Laurie made a duck with her napkin which reminded me to do my daily and viola!

Ducknapstache!

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

The One Hundred and Eighty Eighth...

Number One Hundred and Eighty Eight:









Home, Dinner, Burger









Finally feeling better after 4 days of BLAH. Was tempted to go out for dinner, but decided on leftovers and guitar. I guess now is as good a time as any to plug the new band I am in called Shoot Fire Yeah! I know! I just threw in a My Space link! Isn't Myspace dead? I'm still looking for a better site to upload tunes we do, etc -for bands. We have a Facebook page, and am working on something in ReverbNation that might be promising. Feels real good, Laurie and Jamie are good band mates and we rock it! Anyway, blues punk garage dance fun we hope, yes!

Monday, May 16, 2011

The One Hundred and Eighty Seventh...

Number One Hundred and Eighty Seven:

Jason's Deli, Lunch, Soup and Salad

After gnawing on some salad, Carolyn and I had a few minutes to go to the Local Book Store Slaying bastard that is Barnes & Noble. We go there sometimes to get a gauge on what the masses want in terms of bestsellers and also to see what is out there. It's good for the Bookmobile, and keeps the library relevant to what is hot.

Speaking of the Bookmobile, we have a funny, pain in the ass automatic door called a Bode Door. If you ever have the opportunity in your life to get a Bode Door for a Bookmobile or other such vehicle, DON'T. This thing has been a monster for the 9 years I have worked there. The buttons hardly work and when they do, there is often so much air and demonic possession in the door that it will literally eat you or an innocent person coming aboard. We have a ton of tricks to get around the madness, but it always figures us out, then changes the game. Today it didn't want to let us in AT ALL after coming back from the bookstore. It's a good thing we have a side entry hatch, located about 4 feet off the ground toward the rear of the vehicle. Initially it was to be used as a convenient way to load bags of books when parked in the garage. Unfortunately this hatch sits right in front of the dock railing in the garage and is unaccessible. An utterly useless hatch. Unless, of course, you have a possessed Bode Door, then you get to take turns every few years seeing who gets to lunge into the vehicle like a drunken caterpillar.

It was Carolyn's turn.


I did offer, but I think she secretly wanted to do it this time.

Sunday, May 15, 2011

The One Hundred and Eighty Sixth...

Number One Hundred and Eighty Six:
Home, Dinner, Taco Salad

Watching Save the Green Planet with Hope eating taco salad while Lisa is at some Girl Scout awards ceremony. Great little surprise Korean flick that is part Misery, part Silence of the Lambs and part Plan 9 from Outer Space!

Saturday, May 14, 2011

The One Hundred and Eighty Fifth...

Number One Hundred and Eighty Five:






Home, Dinner, Spaghetti





Day two of feeling like crap, it might be a cold. :-( Lisa and I are home watching Wonderfalls, a mid season replacement show on Fox from the 00s, has a bit of a cult following I suppose. Pretty nice quirky show.

Friday, May 13, 2011

The One Hundred and Eighty Fourth...

Number One Hundred and Eighty Four:
Dinner, Sprout, Dragon Bowl, Meat & Cheese plate

Lisa and I had a great meal here this evening. Meat & Cheese plate was really rocking with some terrific flavor, then Lisa had a Salad and I had the Hoppin' John Dragon Bowl. Good stuff ya'll! Wanted to stay for their record party later, but I have been up since 3:50am today and allergies are kicking me in the face like that kangaroo cartoon boxer thing. I gave Jamie some rekkids tho!

Thursday, May 12, 2011

The One Hundred and Eighty Third...


Number One Hundred and Eighty Three:
Home, Breakfast, Cereal


This one is late due to Blogger being hacked or screwed up or just plain negligent of the service they are to provide. Anyway, this is me with my Mailart 365 that I received a while back. I guess maybe a landmark post here for this blog, for now I am MORE THAN HALF WAY through the project! YAY!!! Where is my book deal, damnit? Ha ha! Or at least why not an offer for a Page-A-Day calendar? Wouldn't YOU pay 8 bucks to have a Napstache a Day calendar? Yeah, probably not.


Wednesday, May 11, 2011

The One Hundred and Eighty Second...


Number One Hundred and Eighty Two...
Casa Grande, Lunch, Taco salad

Note to self: the lunch taco salad with ground beef at this place is kinda lukewarm, watery and with very little lettuce. It might turn you into this guy above. On a brighter note; Gina was happy with her own little 'stache today.

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

The One Hundred and Eighty First...

Number One Hundred and Eighty One:
Mekong Restaurant, Dinner, Spicy Crispy Chicken

After a missed attempt to get some decent video of a guy at Panera (Yes, I went 2 days in a row and got the same thing both times) during lunch today that culminates yesterday's post, Mekong for dinner is always good time! There was a nice beer event going on, and An has ideas about a WRIR Event. I like that!


Monday, May 9, 2011

The One Hundred and Eightieth...


Number One Hundred and Eighty:
Panera, Lunch, Greek Salad


Carolyn and I went here for some salad today. Firstly, there are always business assholes at Panera. You know the type; collared shirts, sometimes ties, rarely a jacket and hogging every bit of booth property they can get their laptops on. Some were behind me in line, talking all 1st quarter shares, marketing strategy, percentage quotient bullshit talk. And no, they didn't sound cool to me at all. They sounded like they would love take a business call while on a vacation because they can't stand their families, or something. It sounds like guys like this really get off on it. That is sad and what is really wrong with a lot of the world today. Business over caring. Decisions based on business, not what is right or thinking of others. Anyway, digress time!

Behind me while we ate, sitting in a booth, were two women in their late forties or early fifties. Over the length of our lunch, it sounded like a job interview, or something. Far more interesting than the business assholes. One of the ladies was talking about cooking, and preparing meals. Was it a cafeteria? An old folks home? Then the other lady pulled out some paperwork with a bible in the stack. Ah, a church thing. Okay, that's interesting. After they were done with their business talk, they then had a long ass prayer with each other. I was confused at first, asking Carolyn, who had the better view, if they had eaten yet. Nope, they had already eaten, empty plates were on the table. So, this was a post meeting prayer? Kind of weird. Funny. But I guess if it's all church related anyway, that's what they do.

Meanwhile, behind Carolyn, sitting at a table were an older mother and father with their college age son. Everything was pretty quiet and uneventful there. The parents sat almost uncomfortably next to each other while the son played on his iPhone or whatever; totally self-absorbed. After they were finished, they all stood up; the mother went to throw away the trash, the son just kind of lingered there, and the father walked away and out of the building. When mom came back, asking where dad had gone, the son replied disdainfully, "I dunno where he went, he is a selfish son of a bitch." Whoa! At the Panera! Straight up talking smack on daddy! As if this kid had room to talk, he was totally plugged in his little text bubble world the whole time they ate! Nuts!

Some interesting people at the Mechs'ville Panera today!

This napstache has none of the people mentioned, to protected their craziness!



Sunday, May 8, 2011

The One Hundred and Seventy Ninth...

Number One Hundred and Seventy Nine:











We picked up some bagels, Lisa really loves their bagels, and decided the self serve buffet for lunch. It was about as close to Carytown on a Mother's Day we wanted to get, and not that crowded...yet. There was a sidewalk plant sale too, kind of nice to see through the window. We snagged the corner booth and there was some pretty good people watching. Nothing of note, well this one dude who looked completely bored here with his wife, twirling the small basket cart around like a 10 year old, not minding much of anything around him, suddenly appearing randomly around places in the store. Then there was the Mom and Dad in their expensive exercise clothes and their "oh isn't she the most precious thing in the world" daughter who would probably have liked more time outside. Then the white girl with dreads who worked there that had a nice smile on her face as she wiped up tables and got them ready for lunchers. She left the straw wrapper on the bar behind me, intentional it seemed so I don't know what that was about.



Saturday, May 7, 2011

The One Hundred and Seventy Eighth...


Number One Hundred and Seventy Eight:
Arianna's, Dinner, Pizza


It was the first time ever eating at the new one on Lakeside. They have beer and wine now, as well as a ton of wait staff meandering around chatting. Nice people though, friendly whenever we pick up. Our waitress seemed a little cranky or on a short fuse with us, but the giant older man and his wife seated at the booth behind us was getting her life story. Odd how she shared, maybe she knew them. Anyway, the pie was great.


Friday, May 6, 2011

The One Hundred and Seventy Seventh...


Number One Hundred and Seventy Seven:

Dots Back Inn, Dinner, Famous Amos

Before the burger and three beers after a long productive day at WRIR 97.3 for the Spring Fund Drive, above. Below, after the burger and three beers and waiting 30 minutes for a table. Totally worth it. And the blur is our first post waitress in fast action!




Thursday, May 5, 2011

The One Hundred and Seventy Sixth...


Number One Hundred and Seventy Six:

Chicken Fiesta, Lunch, Taco Salad

Gina and I on the road today, so Chicken Fiesta was the plan. Surprisingly uncrowded for 12ish. We noticed a woman pull up to the Bookmobile in the parking lot across the way while we ate. She got out, she got her baby out, and tried to get in, then walked around and shrugged. Lunch Hour. Sorry. Catch you at the next stop!

Anyway, they had a special at the restaurant today....
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SEAFOOD!!!
HA!

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

The One Hundred and Seventy Fifth...

Number One Hundred and Seventy Five:
Panera, Lunch, Greek Salad

One of the cool things about lunch today was the lady in the background of this napstache reading a book to her kid while they ate. Bookmobile people like to see that. A funny thing, toward the end of the story, the kid must have either been bored or the lady was getting way too into the story, for she kind of turned away from the table to finish it herself.


Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Monday, May 2, 2011

The One Hundred and Seventy Third...

Number One Hundred and Seventy Three:










Home, Dinner, Spaghetti








Last night, after posting my napstache, I began a horrendous fit of sneezing and itchy face. Allergies. Had to have been from playing in the mulch all day. Anyway, it really wiped me out, and I always dread taking any allergy antihistamine because it really screws me up. I get all bubble headed and slow and just feel like I'm hungover the next day. It's awful, but sure enough I broke down last night and took some 24 hour thing and yes, it messed me up today. So I wasn't up for yoga or dinner afterward as Lisa suggested. :-(
Maybe tomorrow!


Sunday, May 1, 2011

The One Hundred and Seventy Second...

Number One Hundred and Seventy Two:







Home, Lunch, Pizza, Coconut Cake











Mulch Party was today! Basically we had a HUGE, seriously, HUGE truckload of mulch thanks to Laura & John. So we threw a party, offering Arianna's pizza, beer, candy gifts and this Coconut Cake from Michaela's Quality Bake Shop, a great spot we got turned on to by our friend Judd.

So, yeah right, like people would want to mulch all frickin day. Plus, people have their own stuff to do so I didn't really sweat it over people not being able to come. I knew Lisa and I were going to have to do it no matter what for the Northside Garden tour, so I was planning on busting my butt. I was surprised and thankful that we had some friends actually show up, so that was a really good feeling. Pals Melissa, Deanna, Kate, and Paul all came and contributed. Mulch Mountain was reduced to Mulch Mound by the time we called it quits. Thanks to Mulchunkers (Mulch Spelunkers) for sure!

Mulchstache!