The Sunday after Thanksgiving, I had to get some work done at the office with Jonathan.  We worked from my office. Well, as we were getting ready to leave, Jonathan had to go into his office for something.  Interestingly, his office door is the only one that has a lock on it, and wouldn’t you know it - the cleaning crew had locked him out of his office.  

All I heard was, “Hey, can you help me?”  And all I could think about was the last time something like this happened.

So, at first I saw him moving a tall file cabinet. I honestly had no idea what he was going to do with the file cabinet. I was wondering if he was going to try to bust open his door with it.

But, no, he was going to get creative and use it to go through the tiles in the ceiling.  

Then, he asked me if I could find anything to help him open the door from the other side.  I was thinking that there was no way, that there was nothing that could do this for us.  But, then I remembered the coat hanger that Forrest had just obtained for the office.  So, needless to say, Jonathan was able to find a way and get his door unlocked.  Thus, these two photos will now have a lot more meaning to you.

Have you ever had to wear a head sock?  Have you ever even heard of a head sock?

Before yesterday, I would have felt pretty good about answering “No” to both of these questions.

However, when Kelli and I went to The Pit in Mooresville for some indoor go kart racing, we had to wear head socks underneath our helmets.  So, in case you are ever asked in a trivia contest what the heck is a head sock, here is a photograph to give you a visual representation:

Kelli and her mom each had Eggs Benedict with home fries.  Her brother Dan had the reuben with Nolen fries. I ordered their Vanilla Bean French Toast that came with powered sugar, fresh strawberries and vanilla maple syrup.  I also ordered some scrambled eggs and their Nolen fries, which the server stated were the best in town because they cooked them with parsely, parmesan, salt & pepper all together.  Those fries were indeed delicious.  (Sidebar: I was just telling Kelli the other day after brunch at Eddie’s Place in Toringdon next to Earth Fare that more restaurants needed to flare up their fries with peppers, onions and the like.)  I like fries that have an interesting kick or twist to them to flavor them up.

They also served some mini vanilla scones right before the brunch was served, which were perfect portions and quite tasty.

Even the coffee was very good and tasted like fresh french press coffee.  Our server stated that they grind their coffee beans right before brewing each pot of coffee.

A new trend with a lot of local restaurants that Kelli and I have been frequenting lately (such as Carpe Diem in Elizabeth) is that they source their ingredients from fresh local farmers, and Nolen Kitchen is no different.  This definitely gives the food a fresh, organic and flavorful taste.

I wanted to document our wonderful brunch today at Nolen Kitchen with a few photos - Enjoy!  

Vanilla Bean French Toast & Reuben sandwich

Eggs Benedict w/ Home Fries & Pancakes w/ Berries

Nolen

My last blog post was about my favorite smoothies at Smoothie King.  Now, I’d like to pass along four helpful tips that you may want to try next time you feel like getting your favorite smoothie.

1. Call Ahead - You may not realize this, but you can actually call ahead when ordering a smoothie.  I have found this to be very effective when I am in a hurry, when I know exactly what I want and when I want to avoid waiting.  This is especially effective during high traffic times like around lunch.  This tip can save you 5-10 minutes on each smoothie visit.
2. Split a Large - You can save a little bit of money by ordering a Large (40oz) and asking them to split it into two cups (preferably two smaller 20oz cups).  This is helpful when you are getting two of the same type of smoothies (such as Strawberry Yogurt D-Lite) for yourself and someone else or just two for yourself (one for later).
3. Freeze & Save - Given that smoothies are made primarily with ice, they can be easily frozen and saved for future consumption.  Sometimes, I may purchase 4 smoothies at one time and throw three of them in the freezer when I get home.  This saves me several trips to Smoothie King over time.  Also, I can take one from the freezer with me to work and by lunch time its thawed out just enough to be ready to drink.  Then, I’ve saved myself a ton of time from having to make a trip.
4. Punch Card for Frequent Buyers - You gotta use the Smoothie punch card.  Any time you go to Smoothie King, get a punch for your smoothie purchase(s).  Even if you forget your card, grab a new one and get it punched.  Later, you can merge your multiple punch cards to redeem a free smoothie.  With frequent purchases, you can get a free 20oz smoothie with every 9 smoothie purchases.  Something about getting that free one always makes it taste a little bit better knowing you earned it with your previous purchases.  I think Smoothie King may have been one of the first companies that popularized the frequent buyer punch card (i.e., buy x amount, get 1 free).

I hope that these tips are beneficial to those of you who may read them.

After speaking with friends Rob Kelly and John Palmer last night at Jason Bernd’s house, I got motivated to write this blog post on my favorite smoothies from Smoothie King.  See, I’ve been going to Smoothie King for years (I’d say at least 10 years and possibly 15 years) ever since they got them in my hometown of Jackson, Miss.  But a couple of years ago, I took a renewed interest in Smoothie King here in Charlotte to help me diet, lose weight and eat healthier.  In high school and college, I had smoothies after workouts and more as supplements for weight gain for an athlete trying to increase muscle mass.  Now, in my early 30s, I had to get smoothies as meal replacements.  To that end, I quickly discovered my favorites and have become a creature of habit where I generally have 4-5 smoothies per week from Smoothie King (as they have proliferated all over the city and even are in many airports).  

In my early 20s, my favorite was Power Punch Plus and I ordered it nearly exclusively.  I thought it was delicious.  But I rarely order the Power Punch Plus any more.

Now, my absolute favorite is the Yogurt D-Lite.  I typically get it with strawberries as my fruit. Oftentimes, I’ll get it with an extra fruit and select banana.  Strawberry banana Yogurt D-Lite is really tough to beat. I will almost always order it without turbinado and ask for Splenda instead (”make it a skinny”).  So, either Strawberry Yogurt D-Lite or Strawberry banana Yogurt D-Lite are my two favorite smoothies.  Occasionally, I will add Blueberries, but that (the topic of blueberries at Smoothie King) is another topic altogether that I will address in a future blog post here at iPosit.

If you want to lose weight, I think smoothies are an excellent way to replace a meal with a healthy alternative. But try to stick with the smaller 20 oz. smoothies and avoid the temptation to upsize to a 32 oz or a large 40 oz.

Two other types that I would like to mention are:

Blueberry Heaven - two years ago I frequently ordered this one and thought that it was pretty tasty.

Strawberry Hulk - ok, this is not the healthiest smoothie on the menu, but its so good.  Its like a treat in and of itself.  I think it has to do with its ingredients of Breyer’s Butter Pecan Ice Cream. I’m actually not sure if they still use Breyer’s brand ice cream for the Hulk, but they used to. This one will really fill you up and its higher in calories, but in moderation it makes for a nice treat every now and then.

Strawberry X-Treme - I honestly do not get this one often, but I think I had it in a DFW airport as a meal replacement a few months ago and thought it was pretty decent.  

I’m sure that there are many delicious smoothies.  Do you have a favorite?  If so, I’d love to hear what it is. I go with Yogurt D-Lite at least 88% of the time.  I feel that they’re too expensive to risk it on something that I’m not sure if I’ll like or not, and I know that I love my Strawberry Yogurt D-Lites.

Ok, so I’m finally back in the blogosphere.  Not from lack of blog ideas, I think just from lack of free time.  Focusing on my wife and work and trips and Twitter, etc.  But here’s a fun little post about none other than food.  Fine dining always brings it back, right?  So, I heard about Charlotte Restaurant Week a few weeks ago and have been looking forward to it ever since then.  Last night, before taking my wife to a surprise dinner treat at Alexander Michael’s in the Fourth Ward Uptown (Yes, I had Fried Pickles, Crawfish Burrito, Rogue Pale Ale Dead Guy MicroBrew from Oregon & Low Down Brown MicroBrew from Mooresville, NC).  I really enjoyed my crawfish burrito as well as Kelli’s pesto cream penne pasta.  Both dishes were very yummy.

So, back to my reservations for Charlotte Restaurant Week. The gist of Charlotte Restaurant Week is getting to eat at a fine dining establishment for $30 per person for a 3-course meal. Kelli only wanted to go 1 or 2 nights.  I’ve booked us for 4 nights, and I’ll just have to get by on lots of smoothies from Smoothie King during the day for lunch so that I don’t put on 20 lbs.

Reservation #1 is tonight at The Palm: I made reservations for eight people tonight at 9pm. I hope to have some good friends join us.  I’m planning on the chicken parmigiana tonight and the chocolate molten cake.

Reservation #2 is tomorrow night at my new favorite steakhouse in Charlotte, Del Frisco’s: I made reservations for four people tomorrow night at 8pm, and it looks like Daniel Fogarty and his date will be joining us. I’m planning on the 6oz. Governor’s Filet. They were booked up for tonight and next Friday, so Sunday was the only night I could get Del Frisco’s.

Reservation #3 is Wednesday night at Zen Asian Fusion on East Blvd, because I really liked their menu for this event. I made reservations for six people at 7:30pm.  All of their apps look good. I’m planning on either chicken or shrimp hibachi for my entree’ and tres leches cake for dessert.  Should prove to be delicious.  I’m sure I’ll also indulge in their excellent Vietnamese coffee with my dessert. I’m not sure who will join us Wednesday night.

Reservation #4 is Friday night at Rooster’s Wood-Fired Kitchen, which Kelli and I really like. We have reservations for a party of eight at 8pm.  Right now, it looks like Chris Dulski and his wife will be joining us along with Jason Bernd and his girlfriend Tiffany.  That leaves a spot for one more couple.  This night is already shaping up to be a great night at a really nice place.  Right now, their fried squid (calamari), quarter chicken, pan fried corn and vanilla bean panna cotta are calling my name.  

One restaurant that I really wanted to try because I’ve heard its great, I’ve never been to it and their menu looked excellent is Zebra in SouthPark.  Unfortunately, they’re all booked up for Charlotte Restaurant Week, but they’re extending the menu and offer for two more weeks and suggested signing up for their email offers online.  I’m going to have to keep my eye out for this one, because I’m eyeing the lobster bisque and filet of beef tenderloin.

And, that’s my wrap up on Charlotte Restaurant Week.  I hope you get to go if you live in Charlotte and enjoy it.  If you do, I’d love to hear your feedback.  Feel free to post your comments here on iPosit.com.

Here is the complete list of participating restaurants: http://tinyurl.com/charlotte-restaurant-week

Ok, so yeah, the title is borrowed from Peter Griffin on a Family Guy episode, but I felt like it fit for this blog post.  Here’s a very minute topic, but one that I want to call attention to.

When you go to a restaurant, what is the amount that you base your tip off of (whether its 15%, 20% or 25%, etc.)?

You base the tip off of the total price, including sales tax.  

Think about it though.  Why should we have to tip on top of the sales tax?  Isn’t that like double taxation?  How is that fair?

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to stick it to the servers across the country.  I was once a server who worked for tips.  But I want to base my tip off of the sub-total, before the tax is calculated.  Is that so wrong?  I think its only fair, don’t you?

If I go to dinner and the sub-total is $50 for food and drinks, and I want to tip 20% for good service, then my tip should be $10.  And, that should be considered a healthy 20% tip. 

However, I don’t think I would get credit for tipping 20% in the above scenario.  The truth of the matter is that the sales tax is added before they bring the final ticket to you, which only serves to pad the server’s tip by roughly 7%.  So, instead of factoring my 20% tip off the $50 sub-total, I feel compelled to factor the tip off of the final price listed on the receipt (which would be $53.50 in the above scenario).  And, 20% of $53.50 is $10.70.  Thus, you see my point.

I think everyone is basically paying a tip on top of the sales tax amount.  Its not a big deal in isolated incidents, but I don’t think its fair.  Over time, this means we’re over-paying roughly 7% on all of our tips whenever we go out to eat.

And, as I’m typing this pointless little blog post, my wife shows me her tip calculator that she downloaded for her iPhone.  Go figure.

I have been driving Kelli’s car to work some the past couple of weeks, just to try to save some mileage on my lease on my Pathfinder.  This past Thursday was one of the days that we swapped cars and I drove her Honda Civic to work.  

Well, coming back from a quick lunch break (just a drive to Smooth King) in Kelli’s Honda Civic, Ishee and I noticed some cars swerving to avoid something in the middle of the road.  As we approached, we realized that it was a turtle.  So, we put the car in reverse and picked up the little guy saving it from getting run over and crushed by oncoming traffic.

We were just a couple hundred yards from the office.  All was safe.  We were joking that we were lucky he didn’t get nervous and poop on the floorboard.  As if on cue, the little guy (I believe we named him Tommy T.) got a little nervous right when we were parking and starting peeing on the floorboard.  NOOOO!!!!!!!!!   NOOOOOO!!!!!   Turtle piss in Kelli’s car!!!!  

We got the little guy out and he continued to make a huge puddle on the sidewalk.  

I didn’t know how I could explain to my wife that on my drive to and from work, I happened to get turtle pee in her car.  That would be an interesting conversation.  ”Um, babe, the craziest thing happened today?  We saved a turtle!  Oh, and um, he may have peed a little bit on your floorboard in the process.”

Her priceless response when I finally told her of this right before we went to bed that night:

“Um, wh-wh-what the hell, man?”

Here are the photos to document this fortunate, yet unfortunate, incident:

Later that afternoon we had to let the Tommy Turtle go and release him back into the wild due to his non-productivity in the office.

I heard this new song on the radio Tuesday night after work and went home and downloaded it on iTunes.  I love the hook.  Its from Gavin Rossdale, former frontman for Bush.  What has he been doing since the Sixteen Stone album like from the early 90s and since he married Gwen Stefani?  This song is not his typical rocker sound.  Instead its more of a sappy love ballad, but I still really like it.  

Here are the lyrics:

a thousand times i’ve seen you standing 
gravity like a lunar landing 
make me want to run till i find you 
shut the world away from here, drift to you, you’re all i hear 
everything we know fades to black 

half the time the world is ending, truth is i am done pretending 

i never thought that i had any more to give 
pushing me so far here i am without you 
drink to all that we have lost, mistakes that we have made 
everything will change, love remains the same 

find a place where we escape 
take you with me for a space 
a city bus that sounds just like a fridge 
walk the streets through seven bars 
i had to find just out where you are 
the faces seem to blur they’re all the same 

half the time the world is ending, truth is i am done pretending 

i never thought that i had any more to give 
you’re pushing me so far here i am without you 
drink to all that we have lost, mistakes that we have made 
everything will change, love remains the same 

so much more to say, so much to be done 
don’t you trick me out, we shall overcome 
cause our love stays ablaze 

we should have had the sun 
could have been inside 
instead we’re over here 

half the time the world is ending, truth is i am done pretending 
too much time to love defending, you and i are done pretending 

i never thought that i had any more to give 
you’re pushing me so far here i am without you 
drink to all that we have lost, mistakes that we have made 
everything will change, everything will change 

i, oh, i, i wish 

this could last forever 

i, oh, i, as if 

we could last forever 

love remains the same 
love remains the same

The following sequence of events are based on a true story.  The following photographs provide verification of these events.  I couldn’t make this stuff up.

Tuesday evening, June 3rd, 2008 around 6:00pm EST.  I’m preparing to leave the office for the day.  I’ve just met with Ishee on various business related topics.  He assumed his usual seat in my brown leather arm chair in my office.  He is preparing to leave as well to make a dinner date that he and his wife have with another couple.  However, as he’s leaving, he realizes that he has misplaced his cell phone.

I suggest that he call his number, but he says its on vibrate.  Regardless, its our only shot of finding his cell phone.  So, he calls his number and I begin to hear a buzzing noise in my office.  Aha!  His cell phone fell out of his pocket in between the seat cushion of the arm chair.  Simple.  Open and shut case.  Right?  Let’s all go home and leave for the day.  Right?  Um…  Wrong.

The cell phone could be heard.  In fact, it could be heard 13 times from calling Ishee’s number.  Unfortunately for my arm chair, the cell phone could be heard but not seen.

These photos show the following course of events that transpired over the next 45 minutes.

Photo #1 - Just lift up the cushion and retrieve the cell phone.  Piece of cake.

Photo #2 - Something seems amiss.  He cannot reach the cell phone.  

Photo #3 - Maybe if he turns it upside down, that will help it fall out.

In retrospect, the flipping upside down of the arm chair proved to be a catastrophe.  It further lodged the cell phone within the nether regions of the arm chair.

Photo #4 - This photo is not blurry because of a shaky hand or a poor camera, I assure you.  Rather, its due to the fact that he is visibly and forcibly shaking the the arm chair.  It got aggressive.  

Photo #5 - Here lies the aftermath.  It got ugly.  Scissors got involved.  A miniature Louisville Slugger baseball bat was utilized.  Three people were involved in the search and rescue mission.  Many calls were made to the missing, hidden cell phone.  It somehow got itself perfectly lodged in between the wood of the arm so that it couldn’t be accessed.  Finally, after 45 minutes, Wes was able to retrieve the cell phone.

Needless to say, Ishee was late for his dinner party.  My arm chair got demolished.  Bruised, battered and beaten.  I got called a jackass (deservedly so) for insisting on taking photographs of Ishee while he was in distress.

But, as they say, a photo is worth a thousand words, right?  I think these photos perfectly tell the story.  

How do we get anything done during the day???

Yeah, this should be something that I post on Twitter, but oh well.  Its going to be a quick blog post.  Today, we went to lunch at Sante’ in downtown Matthews, a staple in our lunch rotation.  I’m a regular there and typically order the grilled chicken wrap without black beans and a side salad (half there and half to go).  It comes with basmati rice, which apparently is scarce now due to India’s elections (or so they said at Kabob Grill this past Friday), carrots, spinach and grilled chicken.  Its delicious.  But Rizzo our waiter told us about the specials and something compelled me to break rank from the regular order.  So, instead I got the special, which was Shrimp and vegetable cous cous.  The presentation was perfect (in fact, I wish I had taken a photo of it to provide a better visual).  And it was excellent.  Very tasty.  I must say that I highly recommend Sante’ of Matthews for lunch or dinner.  If its nice outside, take a date there for dinner and sit out back in the courtyard and order a nice bottle of wine to accompany your exquisite meal.  Go taste for yourself and let me know what you think if you go there.

  I’m a sucker for these sort of things.  Who can deny a free sample, right?  I love Kashi cereals, so why not give this free sample a try.  The only thing is that the feature to track my order doesn’t work.  They cannot find my email address, even though they show that I’ve already ordered.  They need to fix that glitch.

I haven’t yet received my free sample.  If you order one, let me know what you think. 

So Kelli and I were driving around yesterday and I made a comment about managing her expectations on some silly topic that we were discussing.  She doesn’t like it when I try to “manage her expectations.”  Her response cracked me up.  It was perfect:

“You can’t manage my expectations!  I will manage my own expectations.  I’m the CEO of my expectations.”

I love my wife  :)

- Chaz

Have you ever wanted to know which local fresh fruits and vegetables were in season?  Well, this interactive seasonal ingredient map is the perfect tool to help you find what’s in season in your state.  I love the tagline on the epicurious site - “for people who love to eat.”  I may have to start checking out their site regularly.  In looking at their site for the first time, I really like how they’ve designed the box to sign up for email newsletters, mobile alerts via SMS text, RSS feeds and their tastebook.  Very well done.  

While we’re on the topic of food (one of my favorite topics), check out this NY Times article on flavor tripping with this miracle fruit berry that tricks your taste buds into thinking everything is sweet.  Scroll down the page to watch the video from this rooftop party.

Thanks to all who left comments for my previous photo caption post.  There will be more opportunities to post captions and leave comments to life’s mysteries in the future.

I’m struggling to come up with the best caption for this photo.  Perhaps, you can post some suggestions in the Comments of this blog post.

Here are some that I’ve come up with:

A Day in the Life at Ashley Furniture HomeStore

Always Be Prepared

Practicing Safety in the Workplace

What Doesn’t Belong in this Photo

All Work and No Play is No Way to Work

Is it Football Season Yet?  (promo for ESPN’s College Football Preseason Special)

We Let Him Out to Play on the Computers on Sundays

Nothing Beats Gameday

Brains & Brawn - the Jonathan Ishee E! Hollywood Story