Have Geek Will Travel

Ah, February 14th- the one time a year you can share #HappyVD with everyone on social media. 🙂

We had planned on heading up to Nashville to watch the Preds play at the Bridgestone Arena, but the hotel prices were double normal for this weekend. We decided to stay home and catch a later game. Was afraid I was going to have to work today (worked last Saturday), but will have to work late next week instead. Whew..!

This is how my Valentines Day (or Saturday the 14th) started off.

Slept in a little late, but our furry alarm clocks informed us we had slept long enough a little after 9:30am. I fed the cats and then my wife Nicki and I exchanged gifts before breakfast. I got a Batman bag with Bat-boxers, a Penguin hockey tee, dark chocolate, iTunes gift card, and an iPod nano! I was not expecting it at all. I recently had an mp3 player die on me so this is much appreciated. She was happy with her Agent Carter tee, Minion underwear, chocolate, and Funko Mass Effect POP! figures I gave her (had dropped off flowers to her at work earlier in the week).

When I asked her what she wanted for breakfast she said, “BACON!” Ah, a girl after my own clogged arteries.

I made us some French toast and bacon for breakfast and after watching a little hockey on TV we headed out to our local comic shops. I was pleasantly surprised to be greeted by the sun and warm weather! No need for seat warmers for the drive into Memphis today.

At Comic Cellar (3620 Austin Peay Highway #2 – Memphis, TN 38128) I picked up some Harley Quinn Valentines Day Special comics, including some blank sketch covers. Nicki picked up a Gotham Academy, Captain Marvel, Secret Six and Darth Vader #1 (Vader mask/Anakin variant cover). The shop was busy with a lot of gamers. The store has several tables set up for tabletop and card game tournaments. Most of its sales these days seem to be more from gaming than comics, but they do have comic subscriptions and do special orders. It’s on the far side of Memphis and about a 45min drive, but we try to get out there at least once a month to pick up comics in our hold box, and my Eaglemoss Batmobiles. It’s also the shop where Nicki’s “Fangirl Wednesday” was born.

Next stop was one of our other local comic shops- Comics and Collectibles (4730 Poplar #2 – Memphis, TN 38117) in East Memphis. It’s Memphis’ oldest comic shop. I picked up a POP! Poison Ivy figure, plus some Harley comics, Batgirl and Darth Vader blank sketch covers, and a new Phantom comic with a cover by Darwyn Cooke cover and Brent Schoonover interior art.

Talked to Donnie, the store’s manager a bit about the upcoming “Donnie-Con“, also know as the Memphis Comic Expo– June 6th and 7th at the Agricenter. I was there for the first one last year and had a great time. Going from a one day show to a two day con, and I’ll be back as a guest again this year- along with a BUNCH of other incredible guests! (Full line-up here.)

  

We made a quick stop at Target for my wife to pick up a new cast iron skillet to use for dinner tonight- and to keep me in line when needed! Then we stopped by our favorite local spot- area 51 ice cream (117 W Commerce St – Hernando, MS 38632). There was a constant stream of customers- some regulars like us, and some new ones. Nicki got a scoop of the Chocolate Almond Amaretto and I got the Blood Orange Sorbet. We also sampled the Coffee Toffee and Peanut Butter Banana ice cream. They make their own ice cream from scratch in-store, and use a lot of local produce. The flavors change each day and can be seasonal, but you can see what’s available each day on their Facebook page. You can also sample any of the flavors at the counter before you decide. If you can’t find a flavor you like you don’t like ice cream!

Once we got home Nicki started syncing up my new iPod and cooking dinner. I had worked a 12hr shift yesterday and had an hour+ drive home thanks to traffic (another great Friday the 13th!), and it hit me once I sat down on the couch- Zzzzz..! I was out in no time, and woke up to a smoke filled house! Nicki had seared the steaks for dinner in the new skillet and they had smoked a bit more than she had expected. Scared the hell out of me! We opened the windows and a few minutes later the smoke had cleared and dinner was ready.

It all turned out great- New York strips, salad with goat cheese, and roasted asparagus by candlelight. I did have to fight our cat Harley Quinn for my seat!

The searing gave the steaks a nice outer bark/crust and kept the meat tender and juicy inside. If you know my eating habits you know I put ketchup on just about everything, but not this time! The bit of sea salt and pepper Nicki put on the steak along with the searing made the steaks perfect. Nice job, Babe!

And if that wasn’t enough she made dark chocolate covered strawberries for desert. One of my all time favorites.

After dinner we both curled up on the couch to watch the Nashville Predators play the New Jersey Devils on Fox Sports South. Glad I dressed appropriately for her today. Nicki is a huge Preds fan, and apparently this is a sexy look for my wife.”Too sexy, too sexy!” While we watched the game she helped me get an iTunes account set up so I could use my new gift card, and then showed me how to download songs and podcasts. She’s the computer tech in our house.

BTW- the Preds won 2-1!

So to recap- my wife’s idea of a fun Valentines Day was bacon, comic book shops, ice cream, steaks, chocolate covered strawberries, and us curled up on the couch watching hockey together.

Yep, I’m a lucky fella. 🙂

Since today was crazy at restaurants around town, I’ll be taking Nicki and her mom out for dinner tomorrow night. Looking forward to getting back up to SMASHVILLE soon!

Hope you all had a Happy Valentines Day, too. It’s late, so I’m going to stop now and go sleep with my wife. 😉

Lin