And what a beautiful day it was here yesterday, for the first Saturday of the month!

The farmers’ market opened…

…and Carolyn and Abigail joined us for brunch at Charlie’s on the porch!  Definitely one of my all-time favorite places.  And only on the porch; inside is a little cramped when it’s busy.

Per my usual, I can’t NOT get the blueberry pancakes, but I also wanted some savory breakfast components, so I opted for a spinach and mushroom omelet, home fries and one pancake on the side.  (The cinnamon toast was forced on me…too bad I couldn’t have gotten fruit instead.)

I’ll have you know that half of everything (minus the toast–I nibbled on a couple pieces, though) went into a to-go box as soon as I got my food.  To-go box = more room on the table + more room in my tummy + more deliciousness to enjoy later = VICTORY!  Therefore, following the previous equation, a to-go box = victory.  (Obviously, the Chemistry is starting to go to my head…)

Speaking of Chemistry…  As my test is beginning to loom in the distance (May 14th!), there was some of that going on yesterday afternoon as well.

Mid-afternoon, we met Regina and her kiddos, Kevin and Vivian, on Elmwood in Buffalo for some walking around.  We’d thrown the idea out about getting margaritas (it was Cinco de Mayo, after all), but with the two angels that wasn’t going to happen…

We walked around for a bit, popped into Penzey’s Spices (I was in desperate need of cinnamon and powdered ginger–two of my staples–and also got some Za-tar spice and grinding salt).

Regina and I wanted ‘real’ food before we treated ourselves to ice cream (the kids and Andrew had already gotten cones at Watson’s, which serves Anderson’s Ice Cream), so she and I popped into the uber-crunchy (a.k.a super natural/hippie-ish) Globe Market for some bites.  I ended up with tiny amounts of an Israeli Couscous dish and an almond and cranberry chicken salad.

After a bit of a run-around, Regina opted for some blood orange gelato–I had a taste and it was amazing–I ended up BACK at Watson’s for the same flavor Vivian had, White Chocolate Raspberry Truffle, atop some Chocolate Chaplin (chocolate with coconut, marshmallow and cashew).

OK, bit of a rant here:  I definitely asked the lady for a small with two different flavors, but she obviously did not understand what I wanted, since I got a giant one.  Now, the old Holly would have been super excited and used this as an excuse to scarf the whole thing because, after all, I had at least tried to order less.  No, not the NEW Holly.  My first thought was, ‘OK, now there is no reason to eat all of this since I didn’t want this much to begin with.’  This is growth, people.

And I’ll share the victory:  I gobbled the top flavor–amazing, by the way–but realized somewhere half-way through the chocolate that I wasn’t enjoying it anymore.  Into the trash it went!  Hurray!

We got home around 6 p.m. and weren’t hungry for dinner, so back to Chemistry I went.  Below is a page from my study packet from last semester’s ACS exam…  Oh, did I mention THIS semester’s exam will cover both this AND last semester?  Yup, it’s cumulative.

Quantum numbers, orbitals, wavelength…  I don’t remember it all!

After just about pulling my hair out trying to at least get through a practice test, Andrew and I decided it was time to head out for some “dinner” at 8:30.  I wasn’t thrilled to be eating this late, but a walk from our house to the village to the new mexican place for margaritas was sounding really good right about then.  (I’ll say it again, it was Cinco de Mayo, after all.)

Well, long and sad story short: the mexican place was more than packed with no room at the bar and an hour wait (!!!), so with no where else to go, we walked back home, trying to brainstorm a solution.  I had no interest in waiting and having a full meal handed to me somewhere at 9:30 at night; the truth was, neither of us were that hungry.  This was one of those classic examples in which I have a definite need for a food “experience” and if that need isn’t getting met, filling it with anything else is pointless.

Sooo, I might have been a little grumbly on the way home.  And then, it hit me! We had margarita mix in the fridge!  I said I silent prayer that there was at least a little tequila downstairs… (gosh, I sound like a crazy person here…)

Three ounces of tequila (the last!) and nine of margarita mix later, Andrew and I were both enjoying drinks on the rocks (sad about no salt!) in front of the next season of Big Bang Theory on DVD.  I even assembled some nachos with sweet potato tortilla chips, a little melted monterey jack cheese and drips of salsa.

Overall, it turned into an OK night 🙂  I treated myself to a couple bites–literally–of the chocolate I got at Watson’s earlier (a sample to compare with Fowler’s) and ended it there.  Another victory, in my mind. I might have eaten later than normal, but I avoided going overboard by succumbing to a restaurant in desperation, or a popcorn-and-ice-cream-binge that would have been tempting had we not been in possession of margarita ingredients.

Happy May!