diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index a4337dd..1db5379 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -2,12 +2,10 @@
 
 A [lightblue](https://github.com/lightblue-platform) client written in Javascript.
 
-Conceivably one day useful for:
+Write...
 - Node.JS apps talking to a Lightblue REST service
 - Client side apps communicating with a server that forwards requests to a Lightblue REST service
 
-At the moment this is really just a rough sketch of an idea and will change drastically.
-
 # Install
 
 `bower install lightblue.js --save`
@@ -18,18 +16,20 @@ At the moment this is really just a rough sketch of an idea and will change dras
 
 # Usage
 
-Use browserify `require` or commonjs `define`, or just include dist/lightblue.min.js and use the namespace `lightblue`.
+Use browserify `require` or requirejs `define`, or just include dist/lightblue.min.js and use the namespace `lightblue`.
+
+For frontend angular applications, use the `lightblue` module (TODO: document).
 
 ## Imports: 
 
 ```javascript
-// Plain old HTML
+// No module framework (use window.lightblue)
 <script src="lightblue.min.js"></script>
 
-// NodeJS or Browserify
+// NodeJS or Browserify or CommonJS
 var lightblue = require("./lightblue.min.js");
 
-// CommonJS and RequireJS work too but I don't have an example
+// RequireJS works too but I don't have an example
 ```
 
 ## Construct a find request:
diff --git a/lib/clientutil.js b/lib/clientutil.js
index c611019..caba278 100644
--- a/lib/clientutil.js
+++ b/lib/clientutil.js
@@ -22,12 +22,47 @@ exports.resolve = function() {
       .filter(notEmpty)
       .map(trimSlashes)
       .join("/");
-}
+};
 
 exports.isEmpty = function(s) {
   return typeof s === "undefined" || s === "";
+};
+
+function ifDefined(it, otherwise) {
+  return isDefined(it) ? it : otherwise;
+}
+
+function isDefined(it) {
+  return typeof it !== "undefined";
+}
+
+function isObject(it) {
+  return typeof it === "object";
 }
 
-exports.ifDefined = function(it, otherwise) {
-  return (typeof it !== "undefined") ? it : otherwise;
-}
\ No newline at end of file
+var assertArg = {
+  isInstance: function(arg, type, name) {
+    if (!(arg instanceof type)) {
+      throw new Error("Expected instanceof " + type + " but " + name + " was "
+          + isObject(arg) ? arg.constructor : "undefined");
+    }
+    
+    return arg;
+  },
+  isNotBlankString: function(arg, name) {
+    if (typeof arg !== "string") {
+      throw new Error("Expected a string but " + name + " was " + typeof arg);
+    }
+    
+    if (arg.trim().length === 0) {
+      throw new Error("Expected non-blank string but " + name + " was empty.");
+    }
+    
+    return arg;
+  }
+};
+
+exports.assertArg = assertArg;
+exports.ifDefined = ifDefined;
+exports.isDefined = isDefined;
+exports.isObject = isObject;
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/lib/data.js b/lib/data.js
index f3c7377..5749445 100644
--- a/lib/data.js
+++ b/lib/data.js
@@ -14,35 +14,43 @@ module.exports = LightblueDataClient;
  *     deployed under a particular context (like /rest/data), this must be 
  *     included in the host.
  */
-function LightblueDataClient(host) {
-  this.host = host;
+function LightblueDataClient(httpClient, host) {
+  this._httpClient = httpClient;
+  this._host = host;
+}
+
+LightblueDataClient.prototype._execute = function(request) {
+  return this._httpClient.execute(request);
 }
 
 LightblueDataClient.prototype.find = function(config) {
-  return this._execute(new FindRequest(this.host, config));
+  return this._execute(new FindRequest(this._host, config));
 };
 
 LightblueDataClient.prototype.insert = function(config) {
-  return new InsertRequest(this.host, config);
+  return new InsertRequest(this._host, config);
 };
 
 LightblueDataClient.prototype.update = function(config) {
-  return new UpdateRequest(this.host, config);
+  return new UpdateRequest(this._host, config);
 };
 
 LightblueDataClient.prototype.save = function(config) {
-  return new SaveRequest(this.host, config);
+  return new SaveRequest(this._host, config);
 };
 
 LightblueDataClient.prototype.delete = function(config) {
-  return new DeleteRequest(this.host, config);
+  return new DeleteRequest(this._host, config);
 };
 
 /**
  * @param {Object} config The config object for the request.
  */
 function FindRequest(host, config) {
-  var url = resolve(host, "find", config.entity, config.version);
+  var url = new Url(host, {
+      path: resolve("find", config.entity, config.version)
+  });
+  
   var body = {
     objectType: config.entity,
     version: config.version,
diff --git a/lib/http.js b/lib/http.js
index 50a8c2f..c9b0b30 100644
--- a/lib/http.js
+++ b/lib/http.js
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+var assertArg = require("./clientutil.js").assertArg;
+
 /**
  * @constructor
  * @param {String} method Http method, case insensitive.
@@ -5,12 +7,14 @@
  * @param {String=} body The request body.
  */
 exports.HttpRequest = function(method, url, body) {
-  this.method = (typeof method === "string") ? method.toLowerCase() : "";
+  this.method = assertArg.isNotBlankString(method, "method");
+  this.body = (typeof body === "string") ? body : "";
+  this.url = assertArg.isInstance(url, Url, "url");
+  
+  // derived properties
   this.METHOD = this.method.toUpperCase();
-  this.body = body;
-  this.url = url;
   this.href = url.toString();
-}
+};
 
 /**
  * @constructor
@@ -22,14 +26,26 @@ exports.HttpRequest = function(method, url, body) {
 exports.Url = Url;
 
 function Url(host, options) {
-    this.host = host;
-    
-    if (options instanceof Object) {
-        this.port = options.port || 80;
-        this.path = options.path || "/";
-    }
+  if (!/https?:\/\/[^\s]+$/.test(host)) {
+    throw new Error("Invalid url host syntax: " + host);
+  }
+
+  this.host = host;
+  
+  var port, path;
+  
+  if (options instanceof Object) {
+    port = options.port || 80;
+    path = options.path || "/";
+  } else {
+    port = 80;
+    path = "/";
+  }
+  
+  this.port = port;
+  this.path = path;
 }
 
 Url.prototype.toString = function() {
-    return this.host + ":" + this.port + this.path;
-}
\ No newline at end of file
+  return this.host + ":" + this.port + this.path;
+};
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/lib/metadata.js b/lib/metadata.js
index d9be7cd..1e84579 100644
--- a/lib/metadata.js
+++ b/lib/metadata.js
@@ -1,5 +1,8 @@
-var util        = require("./clientutil");
-var RestRequest = require("./rest").RestRequest;
+var resolve = require("./clientutil").resolve;
+var http    = require("./http");
+
+var HttpRequest = http.HttpRequest;
+var Url = http.Url;
 
 module.exports = LightblueMetadataClient;
 
diff --git a/lib/node_http.js b/lib/node_http.js
index a75beed..14ca8eb 100644
--- a/lib/node_http.js
+++ b/lib/node_http.js
@@ -11,26 +11,80 @@ function NodeHttpClient(options) {
   this._execSsl = https.request;
     
   if (options instanceof Object) {
-    this._auth = ifDefined(options.auth, null);
-    //this.
+    this._auth = ifDefined(options.auth, undefined);
+    // TODO: Support ssl certs
   }
 }
 
 /**
- * @param {RestRequest} req
+ * @param {HttpRequest} requestOpts
  */
-NodeHttpClient.prototype.execute = function(req) {
+NodeHttpClient.prototype.execute = function(requestOpts) {
   var deferred = q.defer();
+  var promise = deferred.promise;
   
-  // TODO: Lookup how angular does this for reference
-  return {
-    success: function(callback) {
-      
+  var exec;
+  var hostname;
+  
+  if (requestOpts.href.indexOf("https") === 0) {
+    hostname = requestOpts.url.host.substr("https://".length);
+    exec = this._execSsl;
+  } else {
+    hostname = requestOpts.url.host.substr("http://".length);
+    exec = this._exec;
+  }
+  
+  var options = {
+    hostname: hostname,
+    port: requestOpts.url.port,
+    path: requestOpts.url.path,
+    method: requestOpts.METHOD,
+    headers: {
+      'Content-Type': 'application/json',
+      'Content-Length': requestOpts.body.length
     },
-    error: function(callback) {
-      
-    }
+    // TODO: Does this work?
+    auth: this._auth
   };
+  
+  var request = exec(options, function(res) {
+    var responseBody = "";
+    
+    res.setEncoding("utf8");
+    
+    res.on('data', function(chunk) {
+      responseBody += chunk;
+    });
+    
+    res.on('end', function() {
+      // TODO: resolve with more than just body?
+      // TODO: error on lightblue error?
+      deferred.resolve(responseBody);
+    });
+    
+    res.on('error', function(error) {
+      // TODO: what is this resolving with?
+      deferred.reject(error);
+    });
+  });
+  
+  request.write(requestOpts.body, 'utf8');
+  request.end();
+  
+  request.on('error', function(error) {
+    // TODO: reject with something consistent
+    deferred.reject(error);
+  });
+  
+  promise.success = function(callback) {
+    return promise.then(callback);
+  };
+  
+  promise.error = function(callback) {
+    return promise.then(null, callback);
+  };
+  
+  return promise;
 };
 
 function ifDefined(it, otherwise) {