I would like to comment on a trend I've seen emerging lately that I don't like one bit. I'm not sure if it's a trend so much as it is just general laziness. Over the last few months, I've begun to see several women wearing their dress/work pants WAY too long. We're talking like 2-4 inches too long. Dragging on the ground long. Sooooo tacky and just unappealing overall. I've been searching Google for the last half hour trying to find pictures of this disturbing development, but alas there are none. I suppose people don't want to take pictures of bad fashion. For example, the other day I decided to punish myself by standing in line at the UPS store in Buckhead. 6 days before Christmas. Yeah, I know, I am really smart. Anyway, the lady in front of me had a gorgeous sapphire blue velvet jacket on, with a pair of black/blue pinstriped pants. Her shoes were fabulous. She had great accessories. However, her pants were dragging on the ground. Ew! If you are going to go to all the expenditure and trouble of looking fabulous, take it the extra step and go to the tailor to have your pants hemmed. Thank you.

TAP that

My man returned home from a weeklong business trip on Friday night, and before retiring to the homestead for the evening, we wanted to grab a quick, casual, yet tasty meal. We wanted to try something new, but I didn't want to wait or be stuck in a restaurant for 2+ hours. As we sped through Midtown, we decided to try out TAP, one of the newer of the Concentrics restaurants. I'm definitely a fan of the Concentrics brands... they rarely disappoint. I was hoping TAP would be no different. Marketed as a gastropub, TAP is a boisterous corner spot that boasts a great patio. What is a gastropub? According to TAP's website, "a gastropub is a British term for a public house (pub) which specializes in high-quality food a step above the more basic pub-grub." I had visited once in the past for a quick drink and enjoyed the patio immensely. This time around though, we ventured inside as the weather was a bit brisk for dining alfresco. We were seated immediately, which was a surprise for the popular nightspot. I had expected at least a 10 minute wait. The table we were given, however, left something to be desired. We were sort of crammed in between two large parties of after-work revelers who had seemingly had several drinks already. I'm not sure about you, but I just love to have my chair bumped and shoved time and time again by servers and drunk, overgrown fratters. Speaking of servers, I was less than impressed by the service we received at TAP. Instead of politely greeting us, our server started our meal by saying, "They told me to take your table, so..." Um yeah, thanks. We went ahead and ordered beers anyway - I had a stout and hubster tried out the apple wheat. Both were pretty good. We also had an order of the Old Bay Chickpeas, which I thought were delish. Light and crunchy, they were a nice way to start off our meal. By this point I was rather anxious to order and get on with things, so I queued up the flounder with artichokes and oven dried tomatoes while Mr. Soup ordered the pub burger on english muffin. Our food arrived rather swiftly, much to my relief. It was getting really loud in there. I must say, our dinners were plated beautifully. My fish was a gorgeous golden brown and was flanked with beautiful red tomatoes and bright green italian parsley. Hubster's burger looked nice and juicy, and came complete with a nice pile of shoestring fries, my favorite. The best part was the tiny chocolate milkshake that came on the side... very Iron Chef, very Food Network! As beautifully as it was plated, my dinner was definitely missing something... it was just a little bland. In my opinion the kitchen should have added a bit more lemon or even a tasty beurre blanc sauce to accompany. It took awhile for our server to come back and check on us, and by that point we were both ready to sign the check and leave. I think if I were to go back to TAP, it would definitely be for drinks only or for lunch. Personally, I thought their lunch menu looked much more tasty than the dinner menu... I really wanted to try the grilled cheese and cuppa tomato soup, but it was not available at dinner time. I think we'll try one of the other thousands of restaurants in the ATL first and give TAP some time to mature before we go back.

Giving Credit Where Credit Is Due

The ultimate in class, the epitome of style, my FAVE Michael Buble has two Grammy nods! One for Best Pop Male Vocals on "Everything," and the other for Best Traditional Pop Album, "Call Me Irresponsible." Yay Michael, I lurve you!

Must Love Comfort

::sigh:: Not only did the Tigers lose on Saturday, but we also got hosed out of a really good BCS Bowl Game. We are going to the Cotton Bowl, which I suppose is okay. We're playing Arkansas. Not quite the challenge or hoopla I was hoping for, but I suppose it will have to do. ::another sigh:: Hubs is a graduate of the University of Kansas, the team in which we so handily beat a few weeks back. Kansas has accepted the bid to play in the Orange Bowl. Guess who has tickets. Guess who will be performing the most ginormous good deed of the year on January 3, 2008. It's me, it's me. Goooo Jayhawks, yay. Can you feel the excitement. ::last sigh:: So what better to soothe my disappointment than booze? Um, not much, usually. I've tried the booze route already and I don't know if I can keep that up for a solid month. So, let's turn to vice #2: edible scrumptiousness. As previously posted, life has been relatively normal around here, hence the reason for another food post. It should be noted that I only post recipes on Blog Soup that I believe are truly worthwhile... you won't find me tooting my food horn on here just because I happened to cook this or that one night. The following was hot, simple, flavorful, tasty crockpot goodness. Again no pictures, because y'all know that I am kind of too lazy for that portion of blogging. Plus sometimes crockpot stuff ain't the purtiest, but it shur do taste good. When I can wirelessly transmit photos to my computer, then you will see more food pics on Blog Soup. But on with the show! Slow Cooker Salsa Chicken 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts 1/4 c. chicken broth 1 c. salsa 1/2 packet taco seasoning (or make your own like I did: cumin, cayenne, oregano, salt, pepper, garlic powder, minced dried onion, chili powder - combine to your taste) 1 can reduced fat cream of mushroom soup 1/2 c. reduced fat sour cream 1 green pepper, rough chopped 4 servings brown rice shredded cheese, if desired Place chicken breasts & chopped peppers in slow cooker with chicken broth. In a seperate small bowl, combine cream of mushroom soup, spices and salsa. Stir until combined. Pour mixture over chicken and cook on low for at least 5 hours. At the end of 5 hours, the chicken should shred easily. Stir in sour cream and serve over hot brown rice (recommended: Trader Joe's Organic Brown in steam bags) and top with a small amount of shredded cheese if desired.