Sunday morning was bittersweet, for after a yummy brunch it was time to say goodbye to our darling Cleveland friendies. So after my morning boot camp class, I headed over to meet up with the ladies at Silver Diner.

I just love this place. It might look like a blah diner at first, but the menu is surprisingly delicious! A lot of the food is sourced from local farms and I think it really shows in both quality and flavor. Who doesn’t love a solid breakfast?

I was pretty much starving after my morning work-out and these were amaazing .

Sweet potato pecan pancakes with griddled bananas and a side of strawberries. Oh my!

It’s always sad to say goodbye but it was lovely to have them in town for the weekend. I just wish everyone I love could move to DC and stay here with me forever .

In the afternoon, little Louisa-Bell came over so we could go for a walk. Our location of choice was Manassas National Battlefield Park, the site of the first battle of the Civil War! This historical beauty is only 11 minutes from my house, so shame on me for not going before.

Our original plan was to do the 5.4 mile loop around but of course we got hopelessly lost. In the end we walked for about an hour and a half, in no particular direction .

It was a totally gorgeous hike, I must say! Sadly, my body has decided it suddenly has allergies and poor Louisa has always suffered badly from them (sister nerd alert). Hiking through the grass all afternoon did.not.help!! We both ended up back at the car with streaming noses and puffy eyes and itchy throats. And then I almost drove off the road about 50 times sneezing my face off while trying to get us to a pharmacy.

But after an emergency trip to Walgreens and showers we were de-pollinated and good to go . So in the end, a worth it trip to one of America’s lovely landmarks! Gotta take advantage of the area when you can.

See you soonnn.

And what a beautiful one it is. Friday was such a lucky day, for I didn’t have to work, Jackie took the day off work and our favorite Cleveland friends Amanda and May came in town to visit.

We went to a small all-girls school together, which sounds super lame but in reality was the very BEST. We had 12 best friends and never did anything cool. We’d just hang out with each other non-stop and listen to Spice Girls and eat too much food and giggle uncontrollably about boys we didn’t even know. I’d pretty much like to capture those carefree days and stay there forever .

But now we are grown-ups. Which has some perks too… like being old enough to go wine tasting. But first, a little Magnolia’s at the Mill patio lunch to absorb our vino. Well actually, first a little vino to absorb our vino. Or something?

Sunset Hills 2011 Viognier. Last time we dined here I enjoyed the delightful 2010 vintage which won many awards and was completely sold out in their tasting room. But now it’s sold out everywhere! So it was the 2011 instead. Good but not as memorably good I’m afraid.

And some fresh bread with olive oil.

Me, Jack-Attack and Amanda

To eat, I had the Poached Pear Salad with salmon. Included in this dish: greens, figs, almonds, prosciutto, gorgonzola mousse and a poached pear with balsamic glaze.

Delish! Light and flavorful, perfect lunch for the warm weather .

Well almost perfect. Of course there was dessert!

We ordered one of these molten cookies last time we were here and I thought I had just died and gone to heaven! It’s a half baked chocolate chip cookie, served warm with ice cream, whip cream and chocolate sauce. So ooey gooey good! We shared two between the four of us.

Then it was time for wine. First stop, Breaux!

I’ve tasted Breaux’s wines at several festivals but I’d never tasted actually at the vineyard before. We stopped by on a good day too, for they’d brought out some of their 2007 library reds. They had a Cab Franc that was to. die. for.

Oh Virginia, how beautiful are you. It’s always so fun showing the area to our out of town friends. I feel like VA wine is such a new thing, people often don’t believe we have this gorgeous wine country til they see it!

Next stop, Hillsborough. I love, love the view from Hillsborough and I think their wines are quite nice too. So it was a return visit!

May May, me, Amanda and Jackie.

And finally, Sunset Hills.

Sunset Hills just happened to be open until 8PM (wineries usually close at 5) so we were able to prolong the fun! And all of a sudden our classy day of wine tasting turned into half priced wine-a-ritas on the porch, which somehow landed us at a Mexican restaurant drinking margaritas the size of my head, and finally in bed by 10PM. Yikes.  

An absolutely fabulous day with my fabulous friendies. It was back to the other side of the wine counter for me today which is almost but just not quite as fun . Later alligators! 

So last night’s lucky dinner guest was…Jackie! We actually have friends arriving into town from Cleveland today so we figured a yummy dinner would be a good way to kick off our long weekend of Beth/Jackie and crew fun.

Sadly, we got stuck in lots of traffic on our way into Shirlington, so by the time we arrived we were starving!! And Jackie was pretty much ready to kill me. But hungry tummies makes everything taste better, no?

To begin we dove right into the braised pork empanadas with cilantro, pumpkin seed salsa & crème fraiche.

Crispy, warm pastry surrounding tender, spicy meat. Jackie and I both adore pumpkin anything and paired with that cool creme fraiche, the whole dish was perfection! And just enough to keep us going while we awaited the main event .

What I loved most about the menu is that each dish shows a recommended style of wine for pairing and several wines to choose from under each style. The right pairing can really elevate both components so much and this makes things easy . We enjoyed a half pour pairing with each course. I was excited to see some local VA wines in the mix, along with the rest of the main wine regions of the world.

This 2008 Yamhill Valley Vineyards from Willamette Valley OR Pinot Noir was my absolute fave wine of the night. Light but so very flavorful and complex! Adore.

For my main, I had the pan-roasted sea scallops with black rice, bok choy & plum wine beurre blanc.

Although I LOVE scallops, I was unsure about ordering this dish because the sides weren’t sounding all that exciting to me. But they came highly recommended by our waiter and I’m so glad!! The rich/light flavors and textures were so incredible together and the scallops themselves, seared to perfection.

We’re not done yet! One of the restaurant’s kind partners sent out a mini cheese plate for us to share. Great cheese really is as complex as wine and it was great to hear a little of the story behind each of her selections.

My favorite cheese is down at the very end, Teahive (Utah) fruity, bergamot, aromatic, buttery, semi-soft cows milk.

And finally my friends, dessert . I was feeling rather full by this point, although Jackie was trying to convince me we clearly needed two desserts to share. I convinced her we’d try just one, but after enjoying this little beauty I suppose we could have splurged on two!

Strawberries and almond shortcake with white chocolate almond ice cream and rhubarb coulis

Oh my. The highlight was absolutely that gorgeous little scoop of ice cream, house-made with big slivers of crunchy almonds throughout. Kiss me on the face, it was good!

An awesome evening of amazing food, amazing wine and my bestest DC friend. A huge thank you to all of the lovely staff at Curious Grape for a memorable evening. We will definitely be back!

Bye bloggies. See you during/after our weekend of high school friendy fun .

Since my work week was Thurs-Sun, Sunday night was kinda like Friday! How exciting. Once I got home from the vineyard, I got some veggies roasting and then popped The Shred into my DVD player to get my sweat on while dinner cooked. Multi-tasking you see!

I made almond butter crusted carrots and red potatoes which, like everything nut butter-related, is pretty much the most delicious thing ever.

I just chopped up the potatoes, added a bunch of carrots and tossed them with 2 tbsp. of Justin’s Honey Almond Butter, a 1/2 tbsp. of olive oil and some salt. In the oven at 400F for 40 minutes. Easy peasy!

And topped them with a dollop of local Setter Mountain Cabernet wine jelly that my sis bought me a little while ago. Because what goes better with almond butter than jelly? Almond butter, jelly and wine of course .

Then my darling Jackie came over for our usual Sunday night wine date. In an effort to keep things exciting, recently we’ve been inviting cupcakes to the party too .

And with our cupcakes, some Rose from Stinson Vineyards. It’s a bottle I purchased during our trip down to Charlottesville a few weeks ago. It’s very unique, made with 100% Mourvédre – a dry wine with a hint of smokiness. I loved this!

Of course, it was a great night of catching up.

Then yesterday, it was time to get all of my neglected to do’s done, with a scattering of fun included throughout . I made it to an AM Body Pump class for the first time since before my half-marathon. I am feeling it today!! How I missed the burn. Then met my friend JoAnn for lunchtime salads at Sweetwater Tavern and met Joelle for our usual Monday dinnertime pho.

It was super rainy all day yesterday so a warm bowl of soup hit really the spot! Vegetarian pho with tofu this week.

So there you have it! See you again soon loves.

Saturday night I was invited to attend Chobani’s inaugural blogger dinner, held right here in DC! It was great to meet some of the friendly faces behind the yogurt company, spend time with local DC bloggers and of course, eat lots of great food .

We dined at The Federalist, near McPherson Square. I’d never been there before and was mega impressed! We sat in a private room that looked like a cozy little library, with rows of books lining the walls. Two tables of six made a nice sized crowd and good conversation.

The menu was so much fun! I knew each dish would contain Greek yogurt, but I had no idea just how creative the kitchen was going to get.

For our first course, White Gazpacho with sustainable shrimp and minted yogurt. I just adore mint! It added a real freshness to this creamy dish. The soup was also garnished with slivered grapes, almonds and olive oil. So many unique flavors that really popped together. 

I was so torn over what to have for my main! In the end I chose the Ricotta Agnolotti because I love, love, love fresh ricotta . In this case, it was made with Chobani! The dish also included wilted arugula, radish and preserved lemon butter. The house made pasta had just a touch of chew, the ricotta was creamy smooth and that preserved lemon butter – so fresh yet so rich! Oh my.

And finally, a Greek Yogurt Panna Cotta with preserved strawberries, shortbread cookie, and pepper syrup. Of course I loved it! How could you not? My favorite part of the dish was the pepper syrup which was spicy, sweet and so very unique. Really took the dish to a whole new level!

A fabulous evening of delicious food and wine and great company. I was already a Chobani devotee but now that whenever I crack open a yogurt it will remind me of this supper, I might just have to have one at every meal . Thanks Chobani!

See you tomorrow bloggies.

Never gets old to me . I’ve got a 4 day work week this week, Thursday through Sunday. If only the weather stays this nice, I think we’re in for a treat!

So after work yesterday, I came home and whipped up a nice little dinner. I feel like it’s been a very long time since I’ve cooked anything at all, being out of town, going out with friends and eating leftovers! So it felt nice to be back. When I’m only cooking for myself, I keep things very simple, basically cooking together whatever I find in my fridge and calling it a meal .

So please don’t make fun of me for last night’s dinner which looks really hippy dippy. It tasted yummy to me!

A 3 grain tempeh, carrot and tomato stir-fry topped with hummus and nutritional yeast. Oh my. I bought that nutritional yeast back when it was all the rage in blogworld but after trying it once, I decided to stick with real cheese forever. But I can’t waste what I already bought! So after months of neglect, I added it to last nights supper. It’s not exactly bad, but given the choice I like to stick with the real thing .

Since I don’t have to be at the vineyard til 11:15 every morning, I usually work out beforehand. Today however I was feeling extra lazy and opted for breakfast and The Today Show in my pajamas instead. Oops!

A smoothie made of 3/4 cup vanilla soy milk, 1 tbsp. ground flax seed, a scoop of vanilla whey protein, a frozen banana and 1/2 cup of frozen tangerine slices. How delicious are smoothies in the spring? Seriously. Some Kashi Vanilla Island on the side since I often worry that if I don’t have carbohydrates at every meal I may die.

Now I’m at work in my yoga gear (classy), hoping to feel more inspired this evening . Later alligators! Have a fun weekend.

Last night Louisa and I had the pleasure of dining at La Forchetta, close to the Cleveland Park neighborhood of DC. It’s a newly opened Italian restaurant, specializing in Neapolitan pizza and other traditional Italian fare. 

As a disclaimer, I was invited by the restaurants friendly PR group and our meal was complimentary. The opinions however are of course, all my own. (And my lovely dinner guest’s too ).

Let us dive in! I loved the atmosphere inside La Forchetta. The new, trattoria-like space is open but intimate, with a big wood burning oven in the middle where you can watch pizza chefs work their magic. Black and white checkered walls and ornate black chandeliers mixed with colorful furniture make for a great space.

We began our meal with some vino, Prosecco for Louisa and a glass of Italian Chianti for me.

I thought the wine was okay, not great, although little Louisa Bell loved her glass of Prosecco very much.

We shared some foccacia bread and an order of imported buratta to start, which I was excited to see listed under the evening’s specials! I do adore buratta and this one was very good, although not quite as oozing with creaminess on the inside as I most prefer . I loved the whole roasted tomato served alongside, an excellent contrast to the cheese without overpowering it’s delicate flavor.

Our mealtime strategy was to order two dishes and share – I had rockfish with olives, capers, tomato and polenta, which I really enjoyed. Louisa’s dish was the real star though!

Soft shell crab sautéed with house-made spaghetti. Louisa absolutely raved about her dish and I enjoyed several delicious bites. You just cannot beat a simply flavorful bowl of fresh-made pasta. And what’s better than soft shell crab?

Well, this .

We were a bit torn on what to have for dessert. We wanted to share as we were getting quite full, but there were so many delicious options! Luckily the manager recommended this tiramisu dome, served with hazelnut crunch and hot chocolate sauce. I mostly loved the hazelnut crunch scattered around the outside, while Louisa said the cream inside was like eating the inside of the most delicious doughnut . Oh dessert! I love you.

Although our waiter could have been a bit more helpful, all in all, it was a very yummy experience indeed. On the way home, Louisa and I gazed at all the giant houses in the neighborhood and longed for the days when we can afford to live there (or in an apartment bigger than my thumb). If you are lucky enough to be one of these residents, I recommend to you this swanky little neighborhood spot .

See you soon!

Joelle and I hadn’t seen each other in almost a month by the time we met up last night, so we had LOTS to catch up on! I’m sure on this blog it appears that my life has been pretty dull lately, but really I’m just not at liberty to share the goings on at the moment! It has in fact, been insane. But very soon I hope to have some news…and when I do I promise I’ll catch you up just like I did Joelle.

And it’s never a dull moment in that little lady’s life either! So we talked and talked long past dinner time. Oh – and we did a bit of eating somewhere in there too .

We dined at our usual Pho spot in Clarendon, only this time I went totally wild and didn’t order pho. It was also the first time we’ve met up for pho post-marathon training, so I did not have to crush such an impressive amount of noodles this time . Instead a lovely colorful dish of tofu and vegetables in a coconut curry broth.

Holy yum. I think my body has been missing veggies in the past few days so this was just what I needed!

Just the usual stuff for me today but tonight promises to be exciting for I am meeting my darling old co-worker Sara for a drink or two. It’s been a long time and I’ve missed her cute little face! See you tomorrow friends .

When I last left you I was in Cleveland, visiting with my best friend Emily and that Baby Wyatt. Sadly, we only had a very short time together before I had to take off for work back in VA, but I have a job and therefore no complaints . I did my best to soak in every second!

So I worked at the vineyard Friday through Sunday, taking some time to catch up with my long lost Virginia loves in the evenings. Friday night Jackie and I met up for supper and wine and last night I saw Louisa and Grantaferd. Louisa and Grant are OBSESSED with Bob’s Noodles (still) so last night we made the trek from VA->MD to get their fix. I was told I was only invited so they could order more food and I’m 100% sure that’s true .

Beth’s fave, Taiwanese stir-fried flat noodles. They are so doughy delish!

Louisa’s favorite, pork noodles which Grant could not even wait to dig his grubby little chopsticks into.

And a new-to-us soup, which was not quite as delish as the one we usually order. Now we know!

I’m not sure what Mr. Bob puts into his noodles to make them so yummy and as our bill was less than $25 for all of that food, I’m quite sure I don’t want to . But it’s a now and then treat!

Back to the grind for me today, but first I enjoyed a yummy pancake breakfast. Stonewall Kitchen makes the best pancake mix and my mum brought me some of the new blueberry kind when she visited. It was delightful! Topped with a bit of maple syrup and some cashews.

I’ve got quite a few exciting job prospects on the go this week! I’ve also got two press dinners to attend, one Wednesday night and one on Saturday. And a Pho date with the lovely Joelle this evening. If nothing else, there’s always good company and good food . See you soon bloggies.

I’m back in town Mon-Thurs this week, as my best friend Emily and Baby Wyatt are in town visiting from Florida. They didn’t arrive until today, so up til now I’ve been spending time with the others I love to come home and see .

Like my mum and dad! I was staaarving by the time I arrived home Monday night so this dinner was a treat.

Pork stuffed with goat cheese and sour cherries, roast potatoes, red cabbage and salad. And what would that meal be without a glass of vino.

Yesterday, my mum and I did our usual girls day things, went for a run in the park, did some shopping and then headed over to meet my dad for Heartlight Yoga, taught by my darling friend Stephanie. Is it totally weird to go to yoga with your parents?? The Phillips fam pretty much took over her whole class .

After a lovely session, Steph and I headed over to 56 West to meet our friends Amanda and May for supper. Amanda was just married this weekend and because I had my interview and work in VA, I was very sad to miss it! But it was great to hear all about the festivities over supper.

56 West was new to me, a cute little restaurant in Lakewood serving  a menu full of all of those popular buzzwords: organic, local, sustainable, fresh. I had the Club Med – Applewood grilled salmon, baby arugula, applewood smoked bacon, oven-roasted marinated tomatoes, garlic aioli, with sweet potato fries.

Which would have been totally delicious if it hadn’t been drowning in garlic aioli! Boo. On the other hand, I am a little too obsessed with sweet potato fries lately and these were divine. My hips say it’s time to get that craving under control .

So there we go! A bit of food from the past few days. I’m off to meet Emmy and Baby Wyatt at the park now, where our 24 hours of best friendy time will commence . See you later alligators!