Good evening! And what a fun one it was 
I ran over to Bed, Bath and Beyond this afternoon in search of a new broom and garlic press, both of which snapped in half in the past month in this house. I was successful in finding them with my 20% off coupons
Then I went over to Target to check out the Swiffer Sweeper Vac. I bought a regular Sweeper earlier this summer and was NOT impressed. It is not for crumbs – dust only! Our kitchen floor is always covered in CRUMBS so we needed something better. Since the Sweeper had a money back guarantee, I figured I’d try it first. Well I sent in my rebate with the UPC and the receipt and got a letter saying my item was not “qualified.” WHAT!? It said right on the package! But I did get a $5 off coupon for the Sweeper Vac from the Swiffer website in the meantime, so I just used that instead. Tomorrow will tell if this guy will solve the crumb problem -
Annie, who was our host tonight for the Indian food festival, emailed me this afternoon and said she might not have enough food. So I gladly whipped up some insta-curry rice pilaf with these:
I added 1 tbsp curry powder and 1/2 cup raisins and it was delish.
Soon enough Caitlin and Jason arrived and we carpooled over to Annie’s for dinner. This is just half of the group – Annie’s labmates left before we could get a photo.
Annie and Dave had already prepared all of the food when we arrived. Please do not ask me what this is or for a recipe – it was all just served and I happily ate it! I believe the spread included tofu curry, Indian potatoes, lentil soup, spiced rice, spicy okra, my curry rice, yogurt, pita chips, hummus.
Matt and I shared this plate. It was pretty much served to us in a swarm of people!! Everything tasted delicious. I probably had half of this? The okra was my favorite!
I also snacked on some pita chips, veggies + hummus. I just had enough till I was satisfied, although I could have kept eating and eating and eating….
I also had three tiny glasses of red wine – probably a glass total.
For dessert I hate a single bite of almond chocolate biscoti
And a taste of these mint chocolate cookies
We came home with tomorrow night’s dinner!!! I’m going to a fun class tomorrow evening so this will be nice not to have to cook in a rush
Annie’s kitties were SO CUTE!! Peekaboo!!
But they were also scared of us and wouldn’t let me pet them 
I found out this evening that I am working from home the next two days! Sweet! But I need to get my act together and cross a bunch of stuff off my TODO list. Hope I might be able to sit in on some more clients on Thursday.
Can I say that I am already excited about breakfast!? I love the mornings
{ 56 comments… read them below or add one }
Awww that orange kitty <33 so cute
That one kitty has the funniest colouring I’ve ever seen! What a cutie!
WIsh I could make you some of my favorite Indian food. Let me know if you are in Dallas anytime.
Oh, those 20% off coupons – they get me into the store EVERY time!
So glad you had a fun night with friends! That tofu dish looks especially yummy!
I enjoy the Swiffer products, so I’m curious for your review on this one. I recently bought the Clorox Wet Mop and was less than impressed.
And yes, you can say you’re excited for breakfast in the morning! I am always motivated to haul my butt out of bed at 5, knowing that breakfast is coming. I only wish I could enjoy it on my couch instead of in my car or at my desk (that’s what weekends are for, I suppose…)
I love those Near East rice pilafs. They’re so easy and so good!
Another lovely evening! All that food sounds AMAZING! I’ve never had many Indian meals before, but it sure looks good.
Enjoy your time working from home the next few days. It’s always nice to have that option!
Aww, I love the kitties. They’re so cute!
I almost forgot – I saw this recipe on another site and thought of you.
http://www.tastypalettes.com/2008/09/vegetable-oats-upma.html
Upma is a light breakfast option made with cream of wheat generally.
The black kitty with the orange face is beautiful!!! Very interesting markings.
LOVE the cat pics, and the meal doesn’t look bad either
Awwww the kitties are so cute!!
I was literally JUST thinking the same exact thing – I’m already excited for breakfast! HAHA! Mornings really are the best
Hope your Swiffer Vac does the trick! I love your dress
I love your dress!! And I’m glad to know that I’m not the only one who gets excited for the next morning’s breakfast shortly after dinner!
I could make up a “these are a few of my favorite things” song using cats, curry and your cute little icons!
I’m glad you had such a fun night! The food spread looks delicious, and those kitties are adorable
i love indian food. the whole spread looks amazing!
I envy your Indian themed dinner party! I love Indian food – curries are my favorite
The kitties are adorable, too!
did you mean that you hated almond chocolate biscoti or u had? LOL
Lovely recap, as always! Maybe next time we can coerce the kitties to play with us?
I LOVE my Swiffer Sweeper…my only complaint is that eventually, my battery stopped charging
Have fun cleaning!
i’m sure those leftovers will taste even more divine tomorrow.
Awww… I love kitties… but I really want a pup…
The same thing happened to me when I got that Swiffer vac… I contacted them and argued (nicely) my way into the rebate… My dad says that rebates are generally handled by an outside company, who often deny claims because it means greater profits, and they just hope that people won’t question the denial. It’s such a mess :/
I love the Near East couscous – it’s so good and super easy to make. Those kitties are too cute!
Wow kath. Your dress is gorgeous! Sounds like a really fun time. I love Indian food.
I love the photo of the orange kitty talking!
Looks like you all had a great time this evening.
Awww! I <3 the kitties
They look like 2 of ours! We have 10… no, not a typo lol.
Jenn
I looooove Indian food! My parents developed a taste for it when they lived in London back they had kids, so my mom cooked it a couple times a month at home. So delicious!
mmm what a great spread of food! that’s a really cute pic of u and matt!
I get sad when animals don’t let me pet them, I kinda take it personally…
Oh wow, that food looked amazing! May I invite myself next time? haha!! Cats and curry got my attention, but great blog! lol
Thanks for the pics. Oh, where do I get a recipe for the almond chocolate biscotti? Or everything else, for that matter!
Thanks!
~Angela
what a delicious spread!! I love trying other people’s signature dishes!
Lol that’s what my cat does when people come around, except he has no where to go because he is an inside cat, so he usually just hides behind the tv or under the couch, haha…looks like you had some friends and fun! A good mix on a Monday night
I have a cat that is not a people kitty either. He is an indoor cat but always hides when we have company. He was a rescue kitty from the golf course that I work for and is very sweet but just doesn’t like people. That is the funny thing about cats, you never know what you are going to get
I have the same issues with my kitchen floor but discovered my love for the Swivel Sweeper. If this Swiffer doesn’t work as well as you’d hope, give the Swival Sweeper a try. I swear by this thing!
Glad you had a great night with friends. Indian food sounds awesome.
don’t you have a roomba? is that no good for crumbs?
swiffer sweepers are pretty useless and generate a whole bunch of unnecessary garbage with the throwaway cloths.
Awwwwh sweet cats!
I have the following question: as far as calories and metabolism are concerned, does it make a difference if you eat only a certain amount of calories or if you eat more calories, but lose them because of exercice? What I mean: is it the same if you eat, say 1500 cal/day or if you eat 2000 but lose 500 through exercice? Is your metabolism also going to be slower in the second case?
Don’t you want to open a bakery in Zurich, Switzerland? ) ; We have a lake, mountains, great running trails and it’s almost always ranked in the first cities worlwide for quality of life…
I LOVE Indian food–I might have to fix some tonight, now that you’ve got my taste buds all primed. But I have to say, Kath…I was a little taken aback when I opened the page and saw “Cats” and “Curry” in the same headline–sorry, I couldn’t help it! ;-P
I love the Swiffer Sweeper Vac! I hope you have an equally amazing experience with it!
Kath~
Your dress is just beautiful. Sounds like a wonderful relaxing evening:)
B
I also love the swiffer vac! Hope it works for you as well as it works for us
Annie must be a great cook. I love Indian food. Looks like a pretty great spread!
Thanks everyone
keekee ,
Haha – HAD. I certainly didn’t hate it!!
Angela McKeller,
Good ol’ Trader Joes!
haya ,
Yes, but sadly the Roomba lost it’s oomph. And I need something that I can designate to pick up a crumb ASAP – Roomba is better for maintenance. I use him upstairs now where there is less dirt.
Sarah ,
In terms of weight maintenance, both scenarios should be equal. But I’d say in terms of speeding up metabolism, exercise always wins. The more muscle you maintain, the faster your metabolism will be. So for overall health and cardio fitness, go with the exercise
Kath
oh that is disappointing!
i will have to investigate this swiffer vac. lugging the big vaccuum up and down the stairs is annoying and i hate crumbs on the floor (and crumbs on the downstairs rugs)
That curry looked yummy. And the kitties were so cute. We just adopted an orange kitty
Oh my, I love Indian food. If you’re ever up in Chicago again, you should check out our Indian neighborhood, on Devon Ave. There’s a restaurant here called Tiffin, and it is to die for good! Lots of vegetarian options, and good Indian beer too!
I love curry and cats!!! 2 of my favourite things
such cute kitties!
I love love love your dress!
I love Indian food and have had such cravings for it lately. The kittens are adorable!
Kath, I love your sundress in that picture, so cute!
I’m honestly dying for Indian food now. That looks so good!
L-O-V-E the swiffer vac! With a dog in the house, it’s a must!
not sure if you already know this – but you can always use expired bed, bath, and beyond coupons….they have an expiration date printed on them – but store policy is that their coupons never expire! and to top that off – they accept competitor coupons too (linens and things used to have 20% off total purchase coupons rather than just 20% off one item coupons – and bbb always accepted them!)
Dang, I thought this post was gonna be about Davidson and Steph Curry . . .
Love,
Snake