Four day weekend

Hello everyone! Hope you all had a great weekend. Jim had a four day weekend off for Columbus Day, (I should get a government job!) so we took advantage. Thursday night we went out to this awesome Italian restaurant downtown called Perricone's. They have $10 pasta on Thursdays, and a bunch of friends came with. It was yummy! I just wish I took some pictures of my dish. I did get a few pictures heading downtown though.



Heading down I95 with the sun setting :D

I need to go downtown more. It's just the traffic is so bad and I'm one of those people who doesn't really like the city much. I like visiting on occasion, but unless I have plans, then I'm not one to just go adventuring in the city. Actually, that might be a slight lie. The only city I'll do that in is New York, because who doesn't love New York City? :)


This is a picture of the Freedom Tower, designed by Schultze and Weaver. It was originally the headquarters for the Miami News newspaper. Now it serves as a memorial for Cuban Immigration to the US, since back in the 1960s the government used the building to process and document those Cuban refugees who fled Castro's communist regime. Now it is owned by Miami Dade College, and they hold lots of art exhibitions there. It's a really cool building when you first see it, and if you're into art and architecture, its Mediterranean Revival style. They light it up different colors at night. Thursday night it was this color.

Onto some more fun, I baked homemade brownies this weekend. I've never done so before, and I was really excited. Jim loves brownies, so of course he'll eat them even if I don't! I was pleasantly surprised how they turned out, and very proud! My first attempt, hehe.


Melting the baking chocolate and butter


Looks kinda icky, right?




The finished goods! In case you couldn't tell, I suck at cutting in a straight line. They were pretty yummy for my first attempt. Here's the recipe if you're interested, but since Jim requested regular brownies, I ditched the chocolate chips on top. I also used a 7x11 baking dish.

Double Chocolate Brownies

3 1oz. squares unsweetened baking chocolate
6 tbsp butter
2/3 cup all purpose flour
1/8 tsp salt
1&1/3 cup sugar
3 eggs, beaten
1 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Melt together unsweetened chocolate and butter in a small saucepan over low heat. Stir until smooth; remove from heat and let cool slightly. Stir together flour and salt; set aside. Gradually stir sugar into cooled chocolate mixture. Add eggs and vanilla; stir just to combine. Fold in flour mixture. Spread in an 8x8 baking pan sprayed with non-stick vegetable spray. Sprinkle with chocolate chips; bake at 325 degrees for 30-35 minutes. Use a knife to spread melted chips over surface. Let cool; cut into squares and serve!

Nom noms.

One more thing before I go. Since I've lost weight(32 pounds!), I haven't been wearing any jeans because...well I have none. I have two pairs of VS yoga pants and two pairs of jean shorts that fit me. It's been pretty depressing. That being said, I decided to head to Target and grab at least one pair of pants to hold me over. I'm happy where I am. And even though I do want to lose a little more weight, I'm tired of not having anything to go out it. With my limited income, I managed to get a few good items.


A pair of green skinny jeans, because they were $15!



And these two sweaters because I've been dying for some fall clothing, even though its still getting up to 88 degrees here. Sigh. I just want seasons back!

Anyways, take care gals. <3