This crazy, pompadoured man walked into my life nine years ago.  And thank god, because that post-NYC,

Sex and the City

phase wasn't going to end itself.  This weekend, we celebrated our five year wedding anniversary.

My friend Christina was in town over the weekend, so I met her & Shanna at Rumour's on Friday night.  Did y'all know there's a Rumour's on Division now?  It's in the Icon building.  It's a good location, you just have to pay to park.

On Saturday night, John & I celebrated our anniversary at City House.  God, I love that restaurant so much.  We started with the salami & Wisconsin antigo cheese (omg!), then we shared the pork belly pizza (with egg - DUH) & the tri tip with smoked gouda cheese grits.  We finished with the chocolate stout & espresso ice box cake with toffee brittle crumbs, whiskey caramel & vanilla malt gelato.  Y'all.  So good.  That tri tip kind of blew our minds.

It hurt, but I got up early on Sunday & ran 5.5 miles on Belle Meade Boulevard with my Sunday lady running crew.  And I ran it kind of fast.  Who knows!  Afterwards, we re-fueled at Bread & Co, where I tried to be smart, but still ended up consuming around 800 calories.  Ugh.  I've got to figure this Sunday thing out.

It wouldn't be a real anniversary if we weren't dealing with squirrels in our attic.  At least we didn't have to spend this one driving back & forth to the abandoned Shoney's in Bellevue.

My friend Heidi is from Texas & on Halloween she made this Texas chili that her mom used to make every Halloween.  I've been obsessed with making Texas chili ever since.

I actually had a recipe in one of my old 

Everyday Food

 magazines, so I tried it.  You have to buy ALL THE MEAT & it takes half a day to make, but oh my god, it's so worth it.  Recipe

here

.