rainy A&A thursday!

Not that I mind the rain. :) It's really the only indicator around here that Spring is approaching! Already, we are having more and more "summer-like" temperatures, and the Texas humidity isn't disappointing, either. Sure would be nice to transition from the snow to a nice, mild Spring and actually enjoy the weather for a bit, but I am not holding my breath! ;)

Anyway, on to this awesome and awkward business! :)

Awkward:

-our view on Sunday afternoon. The dryer wouldn't heat, but ya still need clean clothes, so off to the laundromat we go. The hubby brought his work laptop, and I studied for my upcoming certification test. All in all, it was nice getting it all done at once... the awkward part was the smell of fried chicken. It wasn't very crowded in there, and I didn't see anyone eating fried chicken... we weren't near a place that serves fried chicken... but despite the smell of detergent and fabric softener, I overwhelmingly smelled fried chicken the whole time we were there. It was actually pretty gross.

-apparently our home is the place "where all electronics and appliances come to die". Seriously. Shortly after moving in, our washer went, our surround sound began acting up, and our Wii died. Friends would bring over their xbox for Rock Band evenings, and both of their game systems started acting up, so now neither of them do that anymore. ;) This past weekend the dryer dies, and no sooner than we drop the cash to fix it, I can't get the oven to heat anymore. Grr. You set the oven temp and press start, and 20-30 seconds later, it's beeping at you. So you go over, set it again, and 30 seconds later, same result. Sometimes we are able to manually light the pilot, but that doesn't always work. Sometimes after going through the setting and beeping process for several minutes, it will finally start to preheat. Yesterday while trying to make dinner, no such luck. I ended up having to improvise, and dinner still turned out great, but why is our home and appliance graveyard?

-going to a yummy yummy thai place with hubby and friends... and really not being able to eat anything b/c of those darn chopsticks. I know, it's easy, and plenty of people have tried showing me, but I just can't get a good grip on the food. All the others at the table weren't having trouble at all, so I just gave up. YES, I am 'THE' person at the table eating with a fork, sue me. The food was just too good to waste precious time with those sneaky chopsticks.

Awesome: I have lots more awesomes than awkwards this week. I consider that an "awesome" all in itself. :)

-staying home on Wednesday to get my dryer fixed... receiving packages I have been waiting for on the same day. :) I love being home when a package is delivered... I love getting the mail. :) Extra kudos if it isn't a bill.... and extra, EXTRA kudos if it arrives on the UPS or FEDEX truck. :)

-Speaking of my love for packages... I treated myself this month. :) I did a taste test that paid in cash, so I decided to join the Pretty Little Lovelies Club over at The Funky Vintage Kitchen Blog. So once a month for the next 6 awesome months, I will get a b.e.a.u.t.i.f.u.l. piece of handmade sweet little something. I am oh-so-very excited for this and cannot wait for my first piece to arrive! Check out her shop! She has the most darling little things!

-this absolutely amazing dessert at Coconut Thai. Fried banana (like flaky, delicate layers around the banana... not breaded and deep-fried), coconut cream ice cream (to die for), drizzled with honey and sprinkled with maybe sesame?? seeds. Anyway, it was amazing. They also make the strawberry iced green tea you see there in-house. It is sooo good. I can't even believe how much of it I drank that night... it's just so... fresh. :)

-we go bowling once a week, every single week. We've been doing it for at least a couple of years now, maybe longer. So, in theory, I should be getting better every week and should be amazing by now, right? Notsomuch. Out of our usual 3-game set, I will pull out one good game, maybe two, and then have an embarrassing low score for that third. I am oh-so proud to say that the past 2 weeks in a row, I bowled a turkey. :) Yes, 3 strikes in a row... and managed to get my average higher than it's been, really ever. It's great fun spent with my honey and his family, but that are all SO good, and so it really does make me feel good about myself to be among them in score, haha. ;) It's all about the little things. :)

-shoe shopping. :) I really can't remember the last time I did it... and maybe I went a little overboard. But aren't they all so cute? I had a 20% off coupon, I got an extra $5 off for "checking in" there via foursquare, and I bought 2 of the pairs on clearance! So, really, can it be totally acceptable that I bought 3 pairs of shoes?? I DID narrow it down significantly... one pair of flats, one heel, one wedge. Practical.... right? ;) It was fun. :):):) (Small funny thing: the denim wedges are "Dexter" brand and the dryers at the laundromat were "Dexter" brand also. Apparently our dog's name is more popular than we thought!)

What are your A&A's for the week?