Today was the day I’ve been dreading for months.  We had to say goodbye to Piper, the most perfect, adorable black Labrador Retriever that ever lived.  I never thought I would have to put my own dog down.  It’s just one of those things you don’t want to face so you avoid talking about it or thinking about it until your own dog has to tell you it’s time.  Piper’s little heart gave out and she had no more fight left in her.  She gave us many years of pure joy, love and happiness.  Here are a few pics to remember good ol’ Piper Diaper Woo Baby Woo Hoo.

Lettuce Pray.

Dear God, thank you so much for giving us Labrador Retrievers.  I’m still not sure what you intended with Poodles or even cats but you definitely had a plan with Labs.  What a brilliant species.  Amen.

Piper, in case you’re reading Foodgarbl in heaven, I love you baby girl.  I had to walk away from your lifeless body today and it was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do.  You were the perfect dog for me and for our family and you never let us down.  Thank you for pooping on command on the high school lawn.  It really made me feel better.  Thank you for barking when we said “Bill Clinton.”  It was a funny joke at the time and old people got a big kick out of it.  Thank you for being the On Video mascot.  I’m sorry we made you rip up all those boxes but the warehouse guy was lazy and you did a better job anyway.  Thank you for making Mamaw so happy.  She loved you to pieces and it was obvious you loved her right back.  She might go full Alzheimer’s on us but I don’t think she can ever forget you.  Thank you very much for helping train Enzo.  I know you weren’t ready for me to bring home another puppy and I think you never let go of that resentment but because of you, I have a curb trained Vizsla who carries my shoes around and bites my arm when I get home.  Enzo loved you more than you’ll ever know.  I came home today after leaving you and he smelled me all over and sensed that I was sad and officially took over in your role.  He’s got big shoes to fill, Pip.  Lastly, thank you for hanging on as long as you did.  I know it wasn’t easy but you gave us 14 strong years and we loved you every single day.  You made it as easy as possible for us to say goodbye and yet it was the most difficult thing I’ve ever done.  Please say hi to my Gramps up there.  He was allergic to you on Earth but I think now you guys can be whoa-di’s.  He’ll take you on walks if you help him with the crossword puzzle.  Piper, I can’t tell you enough how happy you made me.  We are all going to miss the heck out of you.  Dad’s having a pretty rough time so send him some love k?  See you on the flip side.

I ran into a former co-worker today on my walk with the dogs.  He was dressed in a business suit and on his way to a budget meeting – two things that didn’t happen at our last job.  Though we didn’t have to dress up and didn’t have budget meetings, both of us quit within weeks of each other because we couldn’t take it no mo.  We both talked about having those days where we kind of regretted leaving but then we have many more days where we are so glad we got the heck outta dodge.  I really do miss my co-workers though.

I miss my little cubicle overlooking the gorgeous traffic jams of downtown Dallas.

I miss shocking co-workers when I made it in before 9am.

I miss making it rain at my desk (don’t hate the playa).

I miss going to Albertson’s on my long lunch break to order confusing custom cakes to celebrate life events of co-workers.  Guess how many times I had to spell “Fidurple” for the cake lady?

I miss the pranks I pulled daily on the guy that sat behind me.  He ended up quitting too but while he was there I got him with bubble wrap behind his chair when he wheeled back, air canister spray to the head while on the phone with a client and calling him 127 times after he left so he had 127 missed calls when he got to work the next day…including the dreaded voicemail light.

I miss getting surprised with flowers at work.  They were always different and beautiful and colorful and they brought life to an otherwise dreadful existence.  I’M KIDDING IT WASN’T THAT BAD!  But kind of.

I miss having random challenges like a cupcake throwdown.  I won with these jalapeno cupcake beauties.  I beat a guy who candied his own ginger and made two different kinds of ganache.  We’re in Texas, buddy.  Don’t mess with the state fruit: the jalapeno.

I miss going to important meetings with critical thinking and high level stats.

Man oh man do I miss lazy cake.  One of my bestest whoa-di co-workers, Serene, made this stuff and it rocked my world.  I’m drooling just looking at the foil.

I miss Asian Club.  If you only knew how hysterical this moment was when I took this picture.  I laughed the entire hour and 45 minute commute home.  This young girl was really there for Asian Club and I asked if we could take her picture and without hesitation she threw up the deuces.

I miss watching tornadoes take out parts of Dallas.  And by take out parts of Dallas I mean knock over a couple benches and traffic cones.  Danger!  Get on the flo!  By the way, when I took this picture the sirens and building alarm had been going off for 20 minutes telling us we were unsafe and needed to get away from the windows and take shelter.  I do what I want!

I miss my Quality hat.  I really did a good job when I had that hat on.  Ask my boss.

I miss pretend kicking people out the door when they quit.

I think the reason I’ve had such a hard time figuring out what I want to do next is because I am having a hard time letting go of the good times.  It was really like a breakup with an abusive boyfriend.  The boyfriend showered me with gifts but he also made me nervous and stay up late to give him reports.  His friends were cool though.

I have to remind myself that the job was just simply not right for me.  It was stressing me out beyond belief.  I actually broke out in hives at one point and took this picture because I was kind of in shock.  I never had hives before so I googled “stomach rash” and thought I was dying before I realized it was stress related.

I wrote this post to try to help me get the motivation to move on with my life.  I have to accept the fact that I made a difficult decision for the better and now I need to tackle my future, whatever that may be.  I feel rull bad too because I haven’t even been back to have lunch with my bestest buddies.  I’ve kind of pushed them away because I figured I needed to “move on.”  But moving on doesn’t mean de-friending people.  I’m dumb.  Please whoa-di’s, forgive me.  And please America, hire me.

Riley is typically the bone hoarder and will prance around Enzo like Sammy after breaking up with Ronnie.  Yesterday, however, the tables turned.  Enzo saw the opportunity to steal Riley’s bone and went for it.  Then he got up on the Ottoman Empire and wasn’t sure what to do with his new treasure.

It must have passed the sniff test because he bit in.

Then he was just showing off.

And ooooh Riley was mad.

While Enzo celebrated and Riley pouted, I made dinner.  To start, a simple salad of iceberg lettuce, carrots, onion and goat cheese.

For the main course I threw together the simplest shrimp ‘n grits ever.  In one pot I threw together some instant grits.  In a cast iron skillet I cooked some turkey bacon, removed it, then threw some garlic and pre-cooked shrimp in there to heat up.  I combined all of that in a bowl with some sharp cheddar and voila!  It was healthy because I used turkey bacon instead of real bacon.  At least that’s what I would tell my probation officer if I was on food probation.

Do you want to hear the saddest story ever?  My fiance had never had an artichoke until last night.  The end.

Seeing that he was a newbie, I offered three dipping sauces for the artichoke leaves: wasabi aioli, lemon juice and melted butter.  He liked the mayo the best.

We ate al fresco because we like to live on the edge.  Oh and we enjoy spying on our neighbors.

Dessert was a double secret surprise!  Jason’s co-worker gave everyone bags of Easter candy so he brought some home to share.  He actually told me I looked ridiculously thin and that he was worried that I would waste away to nothing so I should eat the whole bag.  He didn’t say any of that but in my head I was thinking it.  Riley tried to get her paws on some but I threatened her with the Pedi Paws and she backed away.

This past Sunday I got my butt out of bed early and ran a half marathon.  I even beat my previous time by 7 minutes.  However, Troy Aikman still beat me.  How did that happen?  He’s 44!  It is now my goal to not only run another half but beat his time.  I can’t be beat by an old retired football player.  It’s embarrassing.  So Chicago in August here I come!  (maybe, haven’t booked it yet)

I got to the race with about 10 minutes to spare so I snuck into corral 5 even though I signed up for corral 4 even though I realistically should have been in corral 3.  I never understood the point of corrals until this race.  Wait, you mean I don’t have to go around all these people?  Oh that would have been helpful.  I wasn’t really running for a specific time though so I didn’t care too much.  I had a secret goal of finishing under 1:50 but that didn’t happen.  I finished in 1:53:15.  There were roughly 14,000 people running this thing!  Damn dassa lotta runners.

Jason was best fiance ever and drove to multiple race stops to get pictures of me.  He said he had just seen the truck drive by that said the race had started when this dude came flying by.  Everyone was like wait where is everyone else?  That was the winner by the way.  He ran 5 minute miles.  Oh damn.  I don’t think I could run a 5 minute mile if I was being chased by a killer whale.  I guess that would be swimming huh?  This guy was obviously cheating with a breathe right nasal strip anyway.

Here I am along scenic Turtle Creek Blvd at about mile 3.  I was so excited to see Jason that I nearly started singing out loud to the Justin Bieber song in my headphones.

We strolled through Highland Park, went down Mockingbird, right on Skillman then right on Swiss Avenue.  Here I am on Swiss Avenue.  Hey how come the skinny blonde is in focus here?  JASON!  (it was a camera malfunction!)

From Swiss Avenue we made our way to Fair Park for the finale.  I wish I could have seen the finish banner so I could have started sprinting earlier (I forgot to wear my Garmin so I didn’t know exactly how much more to go) but we circled the Cotton Bowl so I didn’t see it until the very end.  That explains why Troy beat me by 5 minutes.  Minor technicality.

The finishers medal was pretty cool.  It’s a ferris wheel!  Get it?  Fair Park?  So clever!

I was excited to see the Big Belly solar compactor.

I had a bloody toe, a giant blood blister and a stomach ache from eating a Gu gel but other than that I felt like a champ!  After the race we went home and showered up and then my professional photographer fiance treated me to a huge breakfast at Little Gus Cafe in Plano.  Oh and then we went to Walgreen’s to buy old man compression socks, like you do.

I have to give my dad credit on this one as he is the genius mastermind behind the idea.  Here’s what you’ll need for an easy, awesome crockpot dinner of ginger beer chicken…

A package of chicken breasts.

2 bottles of ginger beer.  I started with one bottle but you need enough liquid to completely cover the chicken breasts so luckily we had another bottle handy.

Spice mixture.  This is a special blend my dad gave me of marjoram, basil, oregano and cilantro.  I don’t know the exact measurements but this is your chance to show the world how crafty you can be with seasonings.  Go crazy!  Just make sure you’re not using habanero seeds if you’re gonna go too wild.

Put the chicken breasts in a crockpot and pour the ginger beer over them.  Make sure they are completely submerged in liquid.  If they aren’t, add more ginger beer or water if you need to.

Mmmmm raw chicken.  Makes you wanna swim in it doesn’t it?

Next, add your spices.

Shake it like a salt shaker.

Yeah that’s right I poured the whole mix in.  Don’t worry, once you stir it up it doesn’t look like you just trimmed a tree into your dinner.

Let it sit on low for at least 6 hours until fully cooked.  Below is the finished product right before we served.

Throw it on a plate with some white cheddar mac ‘n cheese and a healthy dose of broccoli and DINNER JUST GOT DONE SERVED!

The chicken has a sweet flavor to it from the ginger beer but also has some earthiness from the seasonings.  This was an easy meal that tasted delicious.  A few more of these and I might just stand a little taller in the kitchen!  Probably not though because my spine is a little crooked and one of my legs is shorter than the other.

As you can tell from my most recent posts, I absolutely loved NYC.  I will go back for sure and I can’t wait to do so.  We couldn’t have had such a rockin time without the awesome suggestions from our friends so I wanted to share the rest of their recommendations with everyone in case you go someday!

Please, make sure you dress up though.  New York is fancy.

Here is a list of places that were recommended to us but we never made it to. They are definitely on the list for next time.
Pastis
Morandi
Dell’ anima
The Spotted Pig
Bond Street
Café Noir
Minetta Tavern
Babbo
Balthazar
Artisanal
DB Bistro Modern
The Post House
The Porter House
David Burke Townhouse
Les Halles
Carnegie Deli
Gramercy Tavern

After brebrunch and brunch, we decided to walk all over town again and see where our little tenny runners could take us.  We passed by a bunch of famous NY joints including Katz’s!

We also passed a store where you could get turkish apricots for $6.99/lb!  Pricey dried fruit stores are the new black.

Somehow without trying we made it to the World Trade Center site.  You could watch 100 shows on the coverage of what happened that day but to actually be there and imagine the events that unfolded and the panic that resulted was truly mind blowing.  We didn’t want to be sad pandas so we kept walking.

We made our way to the New York Stock Exchange on Wall Street!  It was pretty historic yet boring – there wasn’t any food.

Here’s a shot looking up from Wall Street.  I’m practically the best photographer you’ve ever met, I know.

A different view of the NYSE.  I wish I had a twizzler or something to show you too.

We left the blah financial district and made our way to the Brooklyn Bridge so we could take some more pictures.  First we stopped and caught some ferries taking people from Manhattan to Brooklyn.  Can you imagine having to take a ferry, drive or walk/bike across a bridge every day to go to work?  At least they get good bagels.

Hey Brooklyn!  See you soon!  Manhattan, BRB.

We made it!  Here is a view of Brooklyn from the bridge.  It was awesome.  I highly recommend this if you want some cool pics or you like being awesome.  A bunch of bicycle commuters and runners passed us and it made me really want to join them.  A walk was fun too though.

Have a nice day.

Since it was a little over a mile each way, it started to get dark on us on the way back.  The looming darkness scared me.  Not because I was afraid my pictures wouldn’t turn out but because I wasn’t sure where we were going to eat next.

Here we are coming back into Manhattan after walking to Brooklyn and back.  We’re kind of a big deal.  Like the thousands of other tourists that did it that day.

I took a picture of Pier 17 because I figured it was famous.  Is it famous?  If not, cool pic!

Once we got back into Manhattan it was about 6:30pm and we had been walking since about 10:30am minus the two breakfast stops.  Needless to say, I needed Dessert Truck and I needed it PROMPTLY.  (please note: the last thing I needed was Dessert Truck)

Somehow between leaving Central Park and heading towards Rockefeller Center, we stumbled onto the Bad Boy Entertainment building.  I was rushed that morning and was not allowed the 4 minutes it takes me to smear clown make-up on.  So that’s me, 30 years old, no make-up, hoping to meet Diddy.  Become your dream.

We made it to Rockefeller Center just in time for sunset.  For $22 a pop, you get views like this.

And if you’re lucky, you might just get on the Channel 4 news weather broadcast like we did.  Become your dream.

If you look closely you can see people waving from the Empire State Building.  Wait, nevermind, I think that was just lint on my camera.

We traded photography duties with an Australian couple also visiting NYC.  They wished us a good holiday.  We said likewise, mate.

Go to the top viewing deck to get the best pics.  If you’re afraid of heights, man up and go to the Top of the Rock anyway.  It was pretty incredible and well worth it.

Inside they have crazy hypnotic light changing ceiling tiles.  I was like wow man.  Dude.  Stoked.

You know the famous tree lighting ceremony at Rockefeller Center?  Here tis!  Well, a little to your left and in a different month but you get the idea.  I would love to go back at Christmas time.  I bet it is incredible.

Being 850 feet above street level made me really hungry.  So we did what any hungry couple does and went to get a cupcake before dinner.

There are rats everywhere in New York City!  Just kidding, this is the only one we saw and it wasn’t even scary or big.

We were full of vegan power so we walked over to Central Park to see what all the hoopla was about.  Unfortunately things were pretty dead looking and some of the lakes were still frozen over so it wasn’t “gorgeous” like I’ve seen in pictures before.  It was still pretty cool to have a huge park in the middle of a big city.

Hey something in bloom!

Trees are cool.

Someone left their cowboy boots behind.  There was no one around.  Just a random empty bench with a nice pair of boots.  So I stole them.  Kidding!

Oh anonymous chalk messages, why are you always so inspirational?  Because of these three words, I went into a severe food coma the next day.  Keep reading for that fun recap.

Over the bridge and through the woods to Doughnut Plant we go…

I LOVE CENTRAL PARK RRaaaaaaaaWWWWWRRRRRRR!

I would not walk through Central Park by myself.  Nor run.  It definitely had a creepster vibe.  Okay more like a picturesque creepster vibe.  Like if creepsters were hip.  I bet it’s not as creepy in the spring/summer when things are in bloom.  I’ll let you know when we go back.

Upon exiting the park, we came across these rad statues.  Is he doing the Thighmaster?

Would you rather have a highway named after you or have a semi-nude statue of you in Central Park?  Highways are lame, sculpt me up.

We left Central Park and headed towards Rockefeller Center to go to the Top of the Rock for picture time at sunset.  This idea came to us compliments of my former co-worker and NYC fan, Mandy.  She had some great suggestions which I’ll share with you guys on my wrap-up post.

I’m in NYC!  Why have I never been here?  Who raised me?  We got up bright and early this morning and finished packing while Enzo caught up on Foodgarbl.

We flew into Newark and then took a bus to the Port Authority in NYC which was only blocks from where we’re staying, Distrikt Hotel.

Once we got to our room we had a little surprise waiting for us.  AN ALL NATURAL BROWNIE!  Oh, New York, why you so good to me?

The room is very small but that’s just because I’m used to Super Walmarts and wide aisles in Texas.  It’s very modern decor and pretty fancy but actually I wouldn’t even care if it was a cot on the floor with a pop up toilet because I’m just so happy to be in FOOD HEAVEN!

Fancy walk in shower and ToTo brand toilet.  I wish it was BoBo brand.

After dumping our bags, we headed out to walk the city.  We must have walked about 7 miles today.  I don’t know how these chicks in the heels do it but I give them mad props.  Oh also, everyone here is dressed fancy.  I am the biggest n00b walking around in my Juicy jumpsuit.  Did I mention it’s Juicy?  Kidding it’s from Kohl’s and it’s not a jumpsuit.  We walked through Koreatown on our way to find some grub.  We were going to grab Korean but we got scared with Yelp reviews so we headed to a close BBQ restaurant (garbl to come).

There is so much people watching here.  I could stand on one corner and just watch people for an entire day and not get bored.  Plus, it’s totally cool if you just start yelling at the top of your lungs for no reason.  Everyone is accepted here whether you’re schizo or not.

It’s like there’s a surprise on every corner!

Plus, where else can you get buns all day?

If you already have a buzz going, you can head to Mumbles!

Jason had to pull me away from the bakery windows a few times.  I can’t help myself.  I don’t get 24 hr donuts in Dallas.

Yes, we bought this outfit.  When in Rome…

After hitting up Blue Smoke for lunch and Max Brenner’s for lunch dessert and walking around all day, we were wiped so we headed back to our hotel for a phone charging/Garbling break.

The lobby is small but very welcoming.  The bellmen are extremely nice too and they made sure my pictures came out.  I might add them on Facebook before the trip is over.

They even offer us hot apple cider when we come in!  I love it!

We’re hitting up Times Square tonight and there is probably some true New York pizza in our very near future.  Turning 30 RULES!  Looks like I’ll be running the Rock ‘n Roll Half Marathon at the end of March again!  Unless it’s cheaper to join Jenny Craig.