I turned the heat off when I left the house last night since I knew that I was going to be staying over at J's place and I don't see the point in heating an unoccupied house. The dog sure as hell doesn't mind--he loves this weather anyway. However that meant that when I got home this morning it was COLD in the house. I've been home for almost an hour now with the heater running non-stop and it's still only up to 58 degrees on the thermostat. My hands were absolutely freezing when I started trying to type, and it got so bad I finally gave up and ran them under hot water--gritting my teeth through the horrible tingly chillblains. I'm supposed to go meet Mike to workout in about an hour, but I intend to be a wastrel and leave the heat running while I'm gone. Nothing worse than coming home sweaty to a frigid house.

So, J and I went out again last night. He had some sort of computer class in Metairie during the day, so I met him over there and then he took me to one of the very best restaurants in New Orleans: Ruth's Chris Steak House. Anyone remotely familiar with New Orleans will know the place. (I about fell over when I looked at the menu and the cheapest entree was $23.95.) Some business-man mucky-muck met us there and had drinks with us while we ate--I've realized that J never misses a chance to network/politic/associate. (I also have a sneaking suspicion that he's showing me off.) This particular mucky-muck runs several of the larger theaters/concert halls in the New Orleans area and at one point in the conversation he mentioned that he was booking the band Nickelback into one of his halls. J had never heard of the band before, however that's the sort of music I listen to and therefore mucky-muck and I launched into a conversation about that type of music, the bands, the radio stations, etc, while J watched me with a bemused expression on his face. Then the conversation shifted to the upcoming mayoral race in New Orleans, and I was very glad that Mom and I had just been discussing a couple of the major candidates earlier in the day, because I was able to make some informed and cogent points concerning one particular candidate's chances of winning. So far I'm managing to fake my way fairly well in this new environment!

Anyway, dinner was fabulous. Ruth's has the absolute very best steak in town--and probably farther. I had the Petite Filet and it was so tender I could have cut it with my fork. Oh-my-god-marvelous food. The only drawback I've discovered so far to this new social life is that I'm having to obtain a new wardrobe. I have lots of "nice" clothes that no longer fit since I lost all the weight and so now I'm having to scrounge up outfits that are appropriate for the "nicer" places we're going. I'd originally planned on wearing a dressy pantsuit that I'd had in the back of my closet since I was previously slender, however I discovered that although it fit beautifully in the crucial areas like hips, waist, bust, etc... it was extremely tight on the arms. My biceps are too big--I was afraid I'd split the seams if I bent my arms!! Luckily I found a dressy sweater and skirt on sale at Lerners and managed to put together an appropriately dressy outfit for about $30. I think I will have the sleeves replaced on the pantsuit so that I can wear it at some other time--fairly simple really since the sleeves are a sheer material which could easily be replaced and redone. I'm totally capable of doing it myself, however I just don't have the time or energy so I intend to hire Kelly (who besides being a kick-ass personal trainer is also a kick-ass seamstress) to do it for me.

Speaking of clothing and sales, I got tremendously lucky yesterday and managed to pick up a huge amount of workout clothing at a sporting-goods store that was going out of business. Eveything 50% off! I snagged several pairs of the running shorts that I like so much, a bunch of nifty singlets that will be great when it warms up, a pair of running tights that will be great now while the weather is still Really Friggin' Cold, a stretchy tank-top-thingy, several more long-sleeved shirts, and some running socks. I think I am now set for quite some time for workout clothing.