San Diego, Rumchata, a Turkey Recipe, and Procrastination

Welcome to my randomness again!

It’s Thursday night and I should be working. I have 11 days until my organization’s annual convention week starts in Minneapolis and I have a litany of items on the to-do list that still need tackling. So. Many. Things.

But here I am procrastinating – and proudly so. 

I work better under pressure anyway. Or so I tell myself.

I actually want to be watching Mamma Mia for some weird reason. I don’t even know where that came from, except that I found my old ABBA album (real, actual album or “LP”, my friends) a couple of nights ago and now I’m obsessing.

I’m also enjoying a glass of wine. I fasted from alcohol for three days after attending the National Turkey Federation’s annual convention in San Diego last week. 

It’s not like I was a crazy wild drinker or anything – but I’m not used to big meals and open bars every night. Okay I may have been involved in this particular photo. Have you ever tried Rumchata with a splash of Fireball? It’s actually very tasty!

And then there is my love of the sidecar:

This particular cocktail was enjoyed with work friends at the top of the Hyatt Hotel and was an interesting twist on the drink. This one had bourbon instead of brandy, which is more traditional.

Anyway, I got home Sunday and felt like a few days off would be good for me. But then the reality of my convention to-do list set in last night and 3 days seemed like quite enough time to swear off wine.

I mean, c’mon. A girl has to have a vice or two – especially during her busiest work season. 😉

By the way, San Diego – while gorgeous – was windy and cold. (#FirstWorldProblems, I get that.) Case in point:

I’m poolside wearing a turtleneck sweater, for Pete’s sake.

But I had a blast seeing all my poultry peeps – and one of my favorite activities (besides the whole Rumchata thing) was touring the USS Midway, an aircraft carrier. That ship was ginormous and so incredibly cool to see and learn more about!

One more thing on San Diego … let’s talk fashion for a moment. My two favorite outfits:

LuLaRoe Amelia with leopard print Mary Janes. Be still my heart.

Not LuLaRoe (gasp!) but a new dress I found on GarnetHill.com … with a very flattering wrapped waist, I might add. And my favorite red ankle strap block heels from The Gap. I don’t wear these beauties enough.

Clearly I have a dress obsession that is slightly out of control. 😉 

Back to present day and randomness: the award for the dumbest question of the day — and quite possibly the week – goes to the person who emailed me this: “Do you have a list of presenters and topics for the convention?”

Hello. We have something called a website now and that particular information has been posted since November. So many people still take no responsibility for actually finding information themselves. 

Good grief. You really can’t make this stuff up.

Okay, I have to tell you — before I make myself get back to real life and actually get some work down on my annual reports (which I can’t stand doing, by the way) — I made the most amazing recipe last night. 

I should’ve taken Joe to Lenten services at church because he needs sermon notes, but I couldn’t do it. I just couldn’t. All I wanted to do was go for a run and then make an actual, homemade meal for my family. (If you don’t know me by now, let me clue you in – I love cooking and it can be a good stress reliever for me. Which is also why I baked banana chocolate chip muffins at 10 p.m. on Tuesday night.) Anyway, so that’s what I did – I stayed home and made Philly Cheesesteak Bake Ziti from A Farmgirl’s Dabbles blog (which is always fabulous by the way). 

I swapped out turkey tenderloins for the chicken breast, which I highly recommend you do. I mean, seriously — chicken gets a lot of love in America which is all well and good. But turkey could use you right now. And I only wish you could get these turkey tenderloins everywhere! I find them at my local Walmart but no other grocery store in Buffalo carries them. Annoying, I know – but keep watching for them. They are a perfect cut of turkey to use in so many dishes!

And did I mention the provolone sauce in this recipe? Oh my goodness. Brenda at A Farmgirl’s Dabbles told me it was amazing and she was spot on. You MUST try this recipe.

Alright back to work for me … did I mention how much I dislike doing annual reports? I literally dread looking back on the year and trying to remember everything we did. I’d much rather look forward. But alas, annual reports are a fact of life in a nonprofit association so I will suck it up and get them done.

Thank goodness for wine. 😉

Have a fabulous Friday, my friends!

xoxo – Lara