Hi Friends!

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 .

Good Afternoon! Hope you’re having a happy Monday.

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.

Hellooo from Cleveland (again). My little CRV and I are getting to know each other quite well!

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!

Hi Friends! What a gorgeous Sunday it’s turned out to be .

On Friday, I met up with Louisa-Bell. Since I’ve been out of town, we hadn’t seen each other in like 2 weeks! Pretty unheard of. We had lots of catch up on so we enjoyed a little drink and some Amelia Bedelia time at her place before heading out to dinner.

Louisa lives super close to a yummy pizza/beer place, Lost Dog Cafe. Not only is the food good, the cafe’s foundation sponsors lost dog and cat rescue, so you know my animal-obsessed sis loves that! She’s ordered us pizza from there a couple of times but on Friday we decided to drive over and dine in the actual restaurant.

There was a bit of a wait for a table, so we enjoyed a drink at the bar first. They had lots of variety on their beer menu but once I saw this, it was no contest!

I had this Brew Dog Hardcore IPA a couple of times in England this summer and just loved it. Although I’ve seen the brand one other time here in the States, I hadn’t seen my favorite variety! It was just as good as I remembered. I even bought one extra which is now sitting in my fridge, ready for a special occasion .

Then we shared some pizzas. This one was excellent!

Great Pyrenees – A white pizza with sliced portabella mushrooms, spinach tomatoes, smothered with fontina and mozzarella cheeses topped with fresh basil on top of our housemade whole wheat pizza crust. We shared another as well but I thought it was lame-zo compared to this yummy number and made Louisa eat most of it . So now we know!

A fab dinner indeed. Saturday and Sunday I spent my days wine pouring at Hume…Sunday being much more busy/beautiful than Saturday! And tomorrow it’s all the way back to Cleveland for a couple days longer. Then I’ll settle back in Virginia for a while, I promise .

Back in beautiful Virginia!

On my last night home, it was requested that I cook. Usually I only cook breakfasts when visiting, as dinner is totally my Dad’s thing. So it was kind of exciting! Of course I can’t match his level of skill but I did hope to at least make something kinda delicious .

I’m totally obsessed with slow cooker meals ever since Louisa bought me a cooker “large enough to hold a 6 lb pot roast” for my apartment of one. She’s so cute. So given a few extra mouths to feed, I like to put that enormous appliance to good use! (My parents have one too.)

I made this sweet potato chili once before and really loved it. It’s got all kinds of yummy flavor, with a little kick from secret ingredients like cocoa and cinnamon that compliment the sweet potato so beautifully. Served on a little bed of rice with a dollop of creme fraiche. I think it was a success! We all had seconds so I’ll take that as a yes .

And so now me and my own giant slow cooker are back together in VA. I had an interview today, work at Hume Saturday and Sunday and have another interview Monday. Then I mayyy head for home again since my bestest friend in the world will be in town from Florida. Can’t pass up on that! But since life changes by the second lately, we’ll just have to wait and see .

See you from who-knows-where shortly!

Hi Bloggies! Here I am, still in Cleveland . It feels like I’ve been here FOREVER and actually this week and a half is the longest I’ve been home since I moved to DC three and a half years ago! It’s been really, really nice.

I’m lucky to still have quite a few good friends here and of course it’s always great to see my darling mum and dad. And eat lots of delicious food with them!

On Saturday, my dad returned from his trip to Europe in the afternoon. Since it had been my parents anniversary and their dear friend Kate’s bday was Sunday, we all dined at the yummiest of all establishments, The Flying Fig. We ordered much more than what’s pictured here but please enjoy some highlights .

According to the wine man in Heinen’s, 2007 was the year for California Cabernet and Merlot. I know only a little about California wine (mostly that I like it ) so that’s a helpful little tidbit! We enjoyed some 2007 Robin K Cabernet Sauvignon with our dinner.

And the most amaaazing appetizer of deliciously creamy burratta cheese with olive tapenade, dressed greens and crostini.

I know that I’m not much of a meat person but sometimes I try to convince myself otherwise. Like when I decided to order seared duck for dinner. Of course it was delicious (it’s The Flying Fig!) but I’m afraid it was much too meaty for my taste (duh Beth).

And of course you can’t ever go wrong with a little molten chocolate cake to round out a meal. With fig ice cream! Delightful.

Another helpful tip from our friend at Heinen’s was the purchase of this bottle of 14 Hands “Hot to Trot” red blend. He said it’s the most flavorful $10 wine on the market and tastes much more expensive than it really is. Who doesn’t love the sound of that!? It was an excellent addition to our Sunday night meal.

Which my Dad cooked while my mum and I shopped. Haddock, new potatoes, fiddleheads and ramps in a parsley cream sauce. How I missed some good Dad-cooking while he was away! (And my Dad too, of course).

Last night, my mum and I ventured over to the very adorable town of Vermillion to meet up with the above mentioned Kate and her daughter Maura for supper. It’s strange because although our mum’s have been best buds for years and Maura reads this little blog, we’ve never met in real life! So I’m very glad we had the chance to last night .

We dined at a really lovely little martini bar/restaurant called Touche.

A bottle of Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc for the table. And then we all enjoyed the prix fixe menu for supper.

Mushroom soup cappuccino. How adorable is that? And we all know how much I love mushrooms. It was very decadent…and of course very yummy!

Then some wild Alaskan halibut with potatoes and mushroom sauce. Seafood is always the way to go in my world .

And finally this!!! I’ve pretty much been waiting this whole post to arrive here . How beautiful is that dessert? And it was SO delicious! If I could eat this plate every night, I would die of a chocolate comma as a very happy girl.

And so, this somewhat lengthy trip to Cleveland has come to a close. Tomorrow I head back to DC as I have an interview on Friday and return to work at Hume on Saturday and Sunday. As always, onwards and upwards!

I’ll see you back in Virginia . 

Happy Weekend!

Last night I met up with my high school friendies in Little Italy. There’s 12 of us all together, so we rarely get to see each other in one big group anymore. But it’s always a success when there’s at least 5 in the same room!

Me, Stephanie, May, Kristen and Amanda. I’m sad that pic came out a bit blurry because otherwise, I just love it! We had a somewhat unconventional experience as we went to all-girls Catholic school, but we all agree that it was probably the most carefree, fun years of our life . And it’s nice to have people who get that!

We met at La Dolce Vita. I’ve eaten here once before, before I moved to DC. But that’s so long ago now, it was kind of like trying somewhere new all over again .

To drink, a glass of Tempranillo.

I’m trying to get into Spanish wine more as I’ve just learned that Spain is the third largest producer of wine in the world! Sounds important. This glass was big, smooth and delish.

And to eat, gnocchi.

The sauce was a parmesan cream, with tomatoes, gorgonzola and pancetta. Gnocchi is one of my favorite foods in the universe, so I’m always interested to try it out in different restaurants. This one was good…but not the best I’ve ever had. I like my gnocchi like soft little pillows, this was a bit denser with more chew. Ah well!

And then we spent way too long after laughing our heads off and remembering what cute little nerds we used to be. (Friday night leg waxing party anyone??) I think the couple next to us was happy to get back to their romantic evening when we finally left .

Great evening! Tonight promises to be even better as I will be dining at my favorite restaurant of all time, The Flying Fig. Good thing I like eating so much . See you soon with the delicious details!