{"id":7573,"date":"2010-08-14T12:22:32","date_gmt":"2010-08-14T17:22:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.paulryburn.com\/blog\/?p=7573"},"modified":"2010-08-14T12:22:32","modified_gmt":"2010-08-14T17:22:32","slug":"friday-recap-aldi-mexican-gumbo-at-qdoba-celebration-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.paulryburn.com\/blog\/2010\/08\/14\/friday-recap-aldi-mexican-gumbo-at-qdoba-celebration-more\/","title":{"rendered":"Friday recap: ALDI, Mexican gumbo at Qdoba, celebration, more"},"content":{"rendered":"

At lunch yesterday, I visited an ALDI<\/a> for the first time ever.\u00a0 ALDI is kind of a unique grocery chain – they only carry one brand of each item, which they’ve negotiated at a substantial discount.\u00a0 It’s quality food though.\u00a0 If you want a shopping cart, you rent it for 25 cents, and you either bring your own grocery bags or buy theirs.\u00a0 By putting these rules in place, they can sell food for quite a bit cheaper than the big chain grocery stores.<\/p>\n

So I went to the one in Southaven yesterday to buy food for the Stumbling Elvis pub crawl tonight, since the goal is to raise donations for the Mid-South Food Bank.\u00a0 I’d planned to buy all veggies, but the prices were so damn cheap I got some meats too.\u00a0 Chicken and dumplings, corned beef hash, whole kernel corn, green beans.<\/p>\n

I also needed to eat, so I stopped by Qdoba Mexican Grill<\/a> nearby.\u00a0 I’ve been there a few times (enough to become mayor on Foursquare).\u00a0 It’s one of those build-your-own-burrito places where you pick the meat, the sauce, and the toppings.\u00a0 Yesterday, though, I tried something different – their Mexican gumbo.\u00a0 If you find yourself near a Qdoba (there’s one in Cordova too) you have got to try this.\u00a0 Like the burritos, it’s build-your-own.\u00a0 You pick the meat you want in your gumbo (most people get chicken, I’m told) and pick either pintos or black beans.\u00a0 They add in their tortilla soup, and you pick which salsa you want in it (most people get the corn salsa).\u00a0 Then they top it with cheese, sour cream, and tortilla strips.\u00a0 It was SO good.\u00a0 I’m sure I’ll be back next week for another bowl.<\/p>\n

After work, I went to the Saucer, then we all decided to move on to Calhoun’s.\u00a0 I did a John Cena-style “The champ is here” several times, referring to Thursday night’s poker victory, and I could see the steam coming out of Mikey’s ears.\u00a0 Met some new friends, which often happens at Calhoun’s, stayed until about 11.<\/p>\n

Then I went to Kooky Canuck with a few friends, because there was reason to celebrate: It was Meghan’s last night at Kooky.\u00a0 She’s moving to Southaven and going back to school.\u00a0 Meghan, I know we haven’t always seen eye to eye, but I cannot tell you how HAPPY your decision makes me.\u00a0 And I want you to know, seven and a half years from now when you finish your bachelor’s degree in General Studies, I’ll be right there to watch you walk across the stage and receive your diploma.\u00a0 Or certificate of completion or whatever they call it.<\/p>\n

Eating ice cream as I type this.\u00a0 Yarnell’s has a new flavor – Key Lime Pie.\u00a0 Downtown Walgreens sells it.<\/p>\n

So now I’m getting ready for the Stumbling Elvis pub crawl.\u00a0 If you want to participate, dress up as Elvis, get some canned goods to donate to the Food Bank, and show up to the Flying Saucer at 7 PM.\u00a0 Just got my costume out of the closet, and the first thought that occurred to me was, “Wow, sometime in the past 364 days I should’ve WASHED this thing.”\u00a0 Too late now though.\u00a0 It must be hand washed and line dried – it’d still be wet tonight if I did it now.<\/p>\n

I picked up the final component of my Elvis costume this morning at Walgreens.\u00a0 I’m adding to what I did last year.\u00a0 Only one person knows what I have in store.\u00a0 You’ll see it tonight.\u00a0 Hint:\u00a0 The costume addition did NOT come from the Elvis souvenir aisle.<\/p>\n

Checking what my friends are doing on Twitter.\u00a0 I’m so glad I’m not a girl so I don’t have to get manicures and pedicures.\u00a0 #wasteofmoney\u00a0 Also glad that Stephanie, Susie, Frank and Josh are sharing every last detail of their plan to visit Happy Mexican with the Twitterverse, because we are all so interested.<\/p>\n

Going to take it slow this afternoon so I can rest up for tonight.\u00a0 I need to hit an ATM to get cash to pay for my beers on the pub crawl – which reminds me – if you’re coming, please bring cash.\u00a0 The crawl will run much more smoothly if there aren’t 70 people tabbing out on credit cards at each stop.\u00a0 Other than that, probably I’ll get on PokerStars and see if the competition is as easy as what I encountered at Calhoun’s Thursday night.\u00a0 May run down the street to Cockadoos for lunch.<\/p>\n

Outta here.\u00a0 Time to apply the final element of my Elvis costume.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"