Welcoming 2014

  Happy New Year!! We had an awesome time saying goodbye to 2013 and welcoming in 2014 at the Horseshoe Casino and most importantly we stayed within our budgeted amounts and came home with money in our pockets. The dinner buffet is absolutely fabulous and GF's brother and sister-in-law had enough rewards points built up that we got a free dinner! (GF and I both received coupons in the mail for a free dinner ($25 value) for Friday January 3rd. We are considering another evening out, perhaps dinner, a short time with the 2¢ slots (maybe $20 each) to get the parking comp-ed, and then home. We've been meaning to get together with friends (actually the parents of youngest son's lady friend) and this might just be the answer. )  I chose to try small helpings of several salads: Waldorf, an arugula shrimp salad that had a fabulous dressing, smoked salmon, and the Horseshoe salad which is ditalini with celery, walnuts, and dried cranberries in a light oil and vinegar based dressing. Then I moved on to a small helping of mashed potatoes, a slice of prime rib, two small lamb chops with a mint julep sauce, a piece of roast turkey, and half a dozen of the largest shrimp I have ever seen. Dessert ended up being two tiny samples of a delicious raspberry mousse, a mini almond cupcake, and pistachio gelato. Having had nothing to eat all day prior to this I had minimal guilt.
GF and I stuck to the 2 penny and 1 penny slots and I actually played for over an hour on one machine with my original $20, up to $84 at one point before gradually cashing out at 34¢. I didn't expect and certainly didn't  plan on bringing money home with me. Just playing the machines is fun for both GF and I.  $1 flutes of champagne and free party hats and noisemakers and we celebrated in the New Year. The one drawback is finding out I am not as young as I used to be and the 3 a.m. bedtime isn't as easily done as it once was.
We are in the midst of getting more snow that began sometime before midnight (the Horseshoe is located in an historic building in Cleveland that used to house a department store, one actually seen in A Christmas Story..Higbee's...and the original windows are all still there and GF and spent some time enjoying the view of Public Square and the party going on there about 10:30 and noticed the snow then) so today's plan of going to the matinee may be put on hold until the weekend. It may be a comfy clothes kind of day.
I have a large package of country style ribs that I will put in a roasting pan on a bed of sauerkraut for dinner, mashed potatoes and carrots to accompany this. Looking forward to having a nice slow start today.