The Angry Chocolatier's Wife

I finally made a friend here in Charleston...a fellow commander who has just as much stress on the job as I do and needs someone to talk to about it.  Plus, she's a great role model for eating healthy--but well!--and getting outdoors and having fun.

Tonight we went out for a chocolate-beer pair tasting at a brewery over in Mt. Pleasant:  Westbrook.  It's not exactly the appropriate "meal" for my low-carb, low-cal diet (in prep for my November PT test) but it was amazing!!  I've lived in Italy and have felt the magic of just the right wine with just the right bite of food.  It can make serious magic.  Who knew that a delectable little truffle could make a sip of beer sing?!  

It was so funny...with one little nip of sweets and a sip of pale ale, I was just smiling!  Sure, you can't go wrong with chocolate and beer, but this was a whole new way of looking at it.

To this post's title...The night started out with a piece of chocolate missing from each of our places.  The server (aka the brewer's wife) explained that the chocolatier forgot to bring the vanilla bean/dark chocolate piece to pair with the crazy dark brew.  She says, "the angry chocolatier's wife" is driving through rush hour traffic back to the shop to pick them up.  I stopped the girl and made her repeat the phrase, "angry chocolatier's wife" because it just sounded so awesome.  Seriously.  I want to make that the title of a book!  Alas, I'm using it here and that'll have to work.  

Such a simple evening...fun conversation, interesting tastes, meeting new people, and laughing out loud.  It was just a genuinely fun night. 

2.

I am...

I am...
making : my house into a home for two cats and a girl.
cooking : super-healthy dinners comprised of baked Tostitos and cheese with an occasional grape thrown in.
drinking : a cold beer, light of course.
reading : a great little Barbara Kingsolver novel, Pigs in Heaven, that I found on my shelf.
wanting : to like exercising more.
looking : around me and appreciating the little things, like dinosaurs in alleys.
playing : with a big-ass set of magic markers that I just had to have while hopped up on Benadryl after getting a big-ass wasp sting in my bootie.
wasting : energy on wondering what else I should be doing right now when there's really nothing more important than letting my brain wander.
sowing : inspiration and new expectations around my squadron.
wishing : that I can get rid of the house I own in northern Virginia without totally screwing up my security clearance so I can retire free and clear!
enjoying : every item I tackle on my little to-do lists stacked up here on notecards.
waiting : for my shy kitty to just walk over here and say hello.
liking : the promise of cooler weather in September and the ensuing outdoor napping opportunities.
wondering : why I can't become a morning person so I can get workouts in earlier.
loving : the sunshine coming in the workshop window now that I trimmed the crap out of the shrubs outside and threw the branches over the back yard fence.
hoping : my squadron fulfills its potential for awesomeness!
marvelling : at the arts and crafts supplies I have that are crying out to become messy, amazing, and loved.
needing : some social connections.
smelling : kitty breath and stale cereal.
wearing : my favorite pink butterfly pajama pants that are threadbare but perfect.
following : the news about Syria because it freaks me out.
noticing : how much I look like my mother.  
knowing : I can be considered an expert in some things. 
thinking : I need more time to just think. 
bookmarking : meetup groups and volunteer opportunities around Charleston so I can meet people and do good things.
opening : my dishwasher to see if I remembered to push "go" before I left this morning.
giggling : at funny internet cat videos...sometimes I just can't stop watching.
feeling : exhausted and exhilarated.

:)