Ski Pants!

On Sunday, when Pam and I had been wandering around before we headed to Cal to swim, we got some mochas from a local cafe called Local 1-2-3 and when we were waiting in line these donuts caught our eye.  They were really pretty!  I know pretty isn't what makes a good donut, but we asked what the flavors were, and one was cinnamon.  They had this tan icing with this slightly plaid pattern.  The fact that they were pretty AND there was a cinnamon flavor did me in, and we decided to split one.

Well, enter today, and I had a massive craving at work all day long for a donut.  Not a fancy one like at Local 1-2-3 but...a donut.  So on my way home from work, Pam and I met up at Happy Donuts to grab a few donuts.  It was yummy!  So bad for you...but ok for once in a while!  Then we headed to Target to stock up on a few things, and then we took a few photographs of a hat that she made for me after I complained too many times that no hats cover the bottom of my earlobes.  After that, I headed home, fed the dog, played with the dog, assembled some of the turkey leftovers in tupperwares for Tim, and headed out to meet him at REI.  We both had things we needed, and had plans to get dinner and play with Navi together, so it made sense that we would just go to REI together, too.  I needed to buy a new pair of ski pants, which I wasn't looking forward to.  I totally destroyed my ski pants that I had been nursing along for the past few years at the end of the season last year, and I knew that I wanted ski pants with the bib design, rather than pants that just end at the waist.  These are a lot harder to find because only people who ski a lot or backcountry ski seem to like them, so I was not looking forward to the possibility of having to blow 400 or 500 dollars on Arctery'x ski pants.  We got to REI and wandered in, and I immediately beelined to the women's skiwear section and was extremely disappointed!  Everything is so fashion forward for women, and not designed for use.  I had to go into the men's section to find a pair of ski pants like I wanted, but, I found a pair!  They are mountain hardwear, which is great because I like that company a lot better than Arctery'x, and they were only $190!  The only things "against" the ski pants is the zippers catch easily, but there is a great fix for that using silicone tent seam sealer, so I have to pick some of that up.  They are also "conduit" instead of "goretex" but the only difference is that conduit is slightly less breathable than goretex, but just as waterproof.  Since you don't really need breathable material on the legs, it works out perfectly, and I didn't have to blow $400-500 for them.  I was really stoked.  I also lucked out, and found some winter-styled boots for Navi.  She hates it when the snow gets stuck in the fur between the pads of her feed, and the boots I have for her never stay on.  These are a different design for the snow, and they go higher up on the leg.  I still need to do some alterations, but these are really great compared to what I was working with before.  So that's another score!  The final score of the night was a great light for Navi's collar.  It looks well designed, and it might be really easy to make extra-waterproof using silicone, so...yay!  Tim took that home with him to make it waterproof since he had silicone on hand, so we will see how that works!  I was really happy with all of the finds at REI, so the night had started on a good note!

Then we decided to take Navi to the beach, and let her swim so that she'd be tired out.  We headed over and played with her for about 45 minutes on the calm beach after sunset.  The waves were really mellow, and it was really soothing.  Navi had a blast.  After she tired out, we took her home, and then went to Zacharies for dinner.  I've really wanted to go to Zacharies for a while, so when Tim suggested it, I jumped at the chance!  It was great.  I really like their pizza, I just don't eat it often.  Everyone around here is crazy about cheeseboard pizza, and while it's good...it's not as incredible as everyone thinks.  It's not worth waiting in a line that extends along the entire block for.  It's thin...it's greasy...and while the flavor combinations can be amazing...the pizza itself isn't that good.  They need a better crust, and less grease.  Combine that with their ideas for toppings and flavor combinations and it would be great!  Oh well - to each their own.  I guess I really can be a food snob.  Thanks mom and dad, you raised a food snob well.  We ended up getting a pretty simple thick crust pizza with only sausage on top, and it was great.  Their sauce has these big chunks of tomato that I really enjoy.  It tastes really fresh.  We talked about current news, how frustrating work and school are, the latest fiasco with North and South Korea, and a lot of other things.  It was quite pleasant.  After Zacharies, we both split ways, and I headed home to play with Navi for the night.  It was a good day.