Since I�m heading to Houston tonight, Benito and I agreed to meet up last night so we don�t go two weeks without a salutation, snuggle, smooch, or smack on the ass. (Gotta love alliteration.)

A co-worker made a restaurant recommendation, so I booked a reservation for two on their outside patio after reading the brief description on Metromix (Chicago�s better version of CitySearch).

As always, going out with him was fun.

I wore a new shirt with a flirty front and back v-neck, a too-short-for-work skirt, and my favorite strappy sandals with two-inch heels. I also stopped after work for some hair dye and colored some semi-permanent red in there. A little mascara on the lashes did well for batting my lids at that handsome devil as we made our way to the restaurant.

On a side note, allow me to mention that I love putting on a change of clothes, spritzing on some va-va-va-voom perfume, and touching up the makeup when I get his eyebrows raised. He�s got no worries about me greeting him in a bathrobe unless it�s to throw him off when I reveal the oh-la-la silk and lace underneath or he�s wielding veggie soup to nurse any sickness I encounter.

We parked and trekked to the restaurant, and it was lip-smacking, drool-wiping good.

The restaurant�s atmosphere was shiny yet still laid back. Big comfy chairs adorned the bar area, the lighting was just-right, and the outdoor patio was perfect for a not-too-hot and not-too-cold evening.

We ordered martinis (how grown up!), the guacamole appetizer, and some excellent dinners. He got the chipotle BBQ salmon, and I got the black bean jalapeno raviolis.

Good food, good drink, good company, good fun. It was a nice way to spend my time with he who I share my time with.

Because hair dye slips out of my hair like monkeys in a pile of lard, I�m accentuating the red in my hair as much as possible for as long as I can.

Case in point, today I�m wearing a very blue shirt. It�s playing off the red nicely, as I�m sure you all care to hear all-so-much.

So, yeah. I�ll shut up now.

Today the damn Amazon.com Gold Box got me.

The Gold Box is a ploy to get you to buy their outdated items at a reduced cost and to gather customer preference information based on what items you choose. I usually flip through it a few times a week to give the portal software an idea of what kinds of items I want offered to me. It apparently can�t decipher that gold-colored jewelry is bad and that silver-colored stuff is good, and it thinks I�m all about CorningWare in ridiculous colors, but I�m trying anyway.

I once tried to get it to offer me a reduced-priced Roomba by searching vacuums like crazy. No dice.

Again I tried a similar strategy for getting a Weber Baby-Q. No dice again.

Although techbargains.com did me well with both of those purchases ($150 and no shipping for Roomba and $100 and no shipping for the Baby-Q), today I went to Amazon.com to look for a real vacuum. (Sorry Roomba, you just don�t cut it.)

The Gold Box glittered its booty, and I clicked as I usually do. However, instead of offering me another braided gold-colored gold necklace or a baking pan in chartreuse, there was a real vacuum cleaner at 60% off.

60% off with 58 minutes remaining.

After some serious googling, epinions reading, and Amazon.com review scouring, I now have a bagless HEPA vacuum that will take over the world.

[sheepishly] or at least my condo...

Is it wrong that a single woman in her early 20s is pleased with (and perhaps excited by) this?

I think not.

Today I started my regular day-of-a-flight consumption of two liters of Diet Coke. There�s something I like about giving myself the jitters prior to getting to the airport, drinking a couple beers to mellow it out, and then allowing myself to be launched in a pressurized cylinder a few miles above the ground at very high speeds.

However, I�m sitting pretty at only consuming one of the liters. I�m about to leave the rest in the break room and let it be.

I just got back from the bathroom (a result of drinking one liter of DC since 11 o�clock this morning), and I�ve got to say it again:

The red hair is a YES.

It�s spunky, sparky, and fun! Yay for hair dye that washes out (whether or not it�s supposed to)!

The Baby-Q grill I mentioned above is currently on its way to my place and is schedule to arrive sometime between next Monday and next Wednesday. Whoot!

In preparation, I�ve already gone shopping for spices since I know there�s going to be some good eatin� going on.

BBQ tofu of every variety! Whee!

Let�s not forget the giant mushrooms, the sliced squash, or the grilled peppers. Mmm!

All right. All this talk of food has made me hungry. It�s time to find something to help absorb the Diet Coke and make it so I don�t have to spend $8 for a side salad at the airport.

Have a great weekend. �