Resolutions? My boss might be on to something.

A couple of weeks ago my boss says, "this year my resolutions are to use more cuss words, eat more fried foods, and start using tobacco products." Ha! (always laugh at your boss' jokes).

I absolutely hate it when you're right there on the edge of sleep, you think you've finally managed to get your thoughts to wind down, and then one of the little buggers creeps in? That happened to me the other night - well, it happens most nights - but this night, it was the thought of the impending pressure to make New Year's Resolutions.

Every resolution I've ever heard of or uttered - big or small, vague or specific - has been related to some personal improvement such as the health (exercise more, lose weight, eat/drink less, stop biting my nails), karma (volunteer, be more compassionate, donate to charity), finances (save more, spend less, invest), etc. of the resolute.

The resolute. The committed. Not so much. It turns out that about 88% of us are not resolute or committed to our resolutions. We make these resolutions with the intention of succeeding, but only about 12% of us actually do succeed.

I know myself well enough by now to know that I will probably not change my eating or exercise habits for the better. So why continue this? Why set myself up for failure? Again? Which brings me back to my boss being on to something.

This year, I resolve to make resolutions that can't fail. I will keep kissing my husband good night every night. I will keep scratching my dog in his favorite spot. I will give him treats whenever he asks for them. I'm not sure I can cuss much more than I already do, but I can eat more fried foods.

you can't beat a Fancy Steak Dinner

My very first post.

Andy and I talked one time about blogging about our Fancy Steak Dinners, and he did start one, but didn't really get off the ground. Fancy steak dinners? We started this tradition after we got married, but really we had already had a few fancy steak dinners before.

Andy took me on a date to Charley's Steakhouse in Orlando. The steak was melt-in-your-mouth fantastic. Several months later, we met in Chicago for the weekend. On the flight, I was reading the airline magazine and noticed that Charley's was listed as one of the Top 10 USDA Prime Steakhouses. Turns out there are a couple of top 10 steakhouse lists, and most of the steakhouses listed are not chains. Anyway, in Chicago, we went to the Chicago Chop House. Wow. This is in my personal top 2 so far.

We ended up getting married on Halloween in Raleigh, NC. That's a post for another time. It was our first day in town. Where to celebrate? We found an Outback Steakhouse and that's where we went for our wedding dinner.

On our first anniversary, Andy asked what I wanted to do. I suggested a steak dinner that was a step or two up from Outback. He said, "ooh ooh!" while waving his hands excitedly (his signature "I've got a GREAT idea" move - it reminds me a bit of Wallace & Grommit), and then disappeared to the office to work on his plan. Since he can't keep a secret, it wasn't long before he told me that we were going to fly to Denver to have dinner at another one of the Top 10 Steakhouses: Brook's Steakhouse.

That was the official start to our tradition. Each year for our anniversary, we go somewhere for a week or so to relax, renew and rediscover. And eat a Fancy Steak Dinner. We've been to the Oregon coast and Portland (Ringside Steakhouse); the north Georgia mountains and Atlanta (McKendrick's Steak House - the other of my personal top 2); and an island off the coast of Rhode Island and Boston (can't remember the name of the steak place right now). We just celebrated our 5th anniversary on the Florida Gulf Coast, and had a nice steak at Tio Pepe's in Clearwater.

I'm not a professional food critic or anything like that, and I don't work for or get paid by any of the restaurants/restaurant groups that I post about. I'm just your average carnivore.