Spent the day enjoying ourselves. Had to get out of the house for two appointments, so we figured we might as well make a day of it. And what a gorgeous day it was, too - sunny and probably near 60 if not over it. Chilly in the shade, but absolutely splendid in the sun.

I started the day with a noon appt under the care of a local coiffeuse, who sliced and diced my overgrown Ringo do back into its more tamed and trim pixie cut. I was way overdo for a cut, but I hate finding a new hairdresser because the texture of my hair requires cutting with a razor rather than with scissors in order not to look like I got mugged by a Flowbee, and good razoristas are hard to find. Luckily, the local budget chop-shop just happens to have such a treasure, and so noon thirty found me back at home showering off the remnants of my winter fur down the drain and luxuriating in the light and airy feel of a freshly shorn head.

I always feel so much better after I get my hair cut. Even the migraine I've been tiptoeing around all day can't put a crimp in my joy at no longer having to continually push my bangs out of my eyes. Thom likes it too. He usually spends the week after my haircuts running his hands over the short bits, like petting a cat. :-D

Next on the list was a trip to the doctor's office for my 6 month checkup and prescription renewal for my heart meds (no big thing, just a pesky murmur that slips from a sedate waltz into a jerky cha-cha when I drink too much caffeine - annoying, but harmless). Nicely enough, I discovered that the health department pharmacy charges a third what it costs me at the drugstore for my prescription, so I'm all ship-shape and ready to go for the next half-year on that.

Since we had to be downtown anyway, hubs and I decided to walk around downtown a bit and have a recon lunch at the Jack of the Wood pub where we were thinking about spending New Year's Eve, to check on the food options. Survey says - we have a winnah! He had the "pub burger" with grilled onions, mushrooms and blue cheese, which he proclaimed to be damn near perfect.

And I, after 15+ years of fasting, finally found a vegetarian Rueben that seemed worth trying - and I was not disappointed. They have a tempeh Rueben that is divine, with just enough crisp, salty saurkraut to season the tempeh, all cheesy-melty between two slices of real, quality rye bread. Mmmmmmm...washed down with a Hornsby's hard cider, it was quite a wonderful meal.

For afters, we walked around town a bit, browsed the local craft goods store and stopped by the Chocolate Fetish (voted best in America by the LA Times, no less) for dessert. He had a puddle of white chocolate that had been poured over freeze-dried berries and I had two pieces of dark-chocolate covered buttercrunch.

And of course, all the time we're out we're stopping occasionally to oggle the mountain views and give each other verbal high-fives for making the decision to move here.

We wrapped up with a leisurely walk back to the truck then a quick stop on the way home at Home Depot, where Thom spent some of his Christmas gift card money to pick up a nice tall Dracaena marginata for our living room. Actually, there are four of them in the pot, kinda like in the picture at the link above, so it looks really nice. Thom really likes playing around with plants, so he's looking forward to working with this one.

And now, here I am, safe at home with a steaming hot cup of spiced cider, winding down the day. It's good to be me. :-D