Farewell to Evel Knievel

I was so bummed today to hear about Evel Knievel's death. I used to love him as a kid . . . he was very cool.

Photo courtesy of AP Images.

Thanksgiving Update

I just realized it's been forever since I've made a post. Outside of work, I just haven't been getting on the computer as much as I used to. I think cause work has been really busy and computer-intensive, and I'm just burned out and sick of work.

Our Thanksgiving was very fun thanks to NOAAgirl! Hands down, the most tender, delicious turkey I've ever eaten. She apparently rubbed the outside of the turkey with butter and herbs, and stuffed the inside with more herbs and fruit. Just divine! The side dishes were equally as delicious. I brought a green bean casserole and a cranberry sauce that turned out pretty yummy. Overall, it was a fun group of people and very lively. Jeffro's mom even joined us for the fun, and we got a great tip off about terrible traffic before leaving for NOAAgirl's house, so that was nice not to have to deal with that.

Friday night we had a party for my mom and her boyfriend, who both have birthdays in November. We ate at Bazin's on Church in Vienna, and it was just wonderful. I couldn't believe how crowded it was the day after Thanksgiving! I highly recommend it unless you're strapped for cash.

Yesterday we had brunch at Bob & Edith's before Jeffro's om headed back to NJ. So needless to say, I never want to eat again after all the eating I did this weekend! Then Jeffro and I went to see Lars and the Real Girl, on recommendation of my yoga teacher. Jeffro really liked it. I didn't dislike it but it was very, very strange.

Today is just hanging out and doing grocery shopping, things around the house, etc. And not eating!

Christmas Carols?

Believe it or not, this week local radio station WASH FM 97.1 started playing Christmas carols all day, every day! Hello, it's not even frickin Thanksgiving yet. I'm thoroughly disgusted, between that and the malls already all decked out. The holidays suck.

A Weekend of New Restaurants

This weekend Jeffro and I decided to go to Bebo Trattoria for lunch after our classes on Saturday morning. It was perfect, cause my class is Italian, so I got to continue the experience a little longer. It's owned by Roberto Donna, acclaimed chef of Galileo, probably the best and priciest Italian restaurant in DC. Bebo is a more affordable option. We got sucked in by the lunch menu posted on the outside of the restaurant, but unfortunately when we got the menu at our table, it showed about 1/3 of the food they normally serve for lunch. We still enjoyed ourselves immensely, splitting the culatello (proscuitto), condiglione, and carciofini pizza. Check out the Saturday menu here.

Today I finally got a chance to go to Busboys and Poets, one of the newer restaurants in Shirlington. They have an awesome brunch menu, and really good French Toast. It's a neat, artsy vibe, kind of like a library, bookstore, coffee shop, and restaurant all rolled into one.

Other than eating "molto" this weekend, we got a lot of work done on the basement. I have two huge bags of trash ready to go out, and four bags for Goodwill. Yeah!

An Interesting Week

I laughed, I cried . . .

This Wednesday was the annual CMAs, and I have to say it was a pretty good show, except for Martina McBride not getting a much-deserved award for either song or single of the year.

I got a $1,000 bonus (sadly, the largest bonus I've ever gotten) and a 5% raise this week, so that was some good news.

Bad news . . . I had a doc appointment and that didn't go so well. Last time I went she was concerned about my blood pressure. Apparently this time was much better, but we discovered a potential new problem--short pr syndrome. One of the associated risks is sudden cardiac death. Boy does that sound like a good time.

Jeffro and I tried to buy tickets during the presale for Bon Jovi/Christ Daughtry, but those bastards were putting us in nosebleed seats for $65, so we might wait till tomorrow's regular sale or scalp the night of. We'll have to see. Boy does that piss me off.

So now I'm having some wine and that's fun.

Affordable Places to Live Well

For many years now I've had this crazy idea to get out of the DC rat race and move somewhere where the dollar actually goes a little further and I can afford to purchase something more than a 1,400-sq. ft. condo. This list shows the top 10 places to be able to do that. Now of course, I really wouldn't consider most of these places because they're too cold or too Midwest, but there are a couple good options here I would think about. You'll just have to guess which ones.

Hard to Believe It's November

I just don't know where these past few months have gone. With all the warm weather we've had this fall, it doesn't seem possible that the holidays are almost here. So as we're all frantically making our Thanksgiving plans, thinking of recipes, anticipating all the great food we're going to eat, and struggling not to pack on the holiday pounds, here are some great tips to keep in mind to ward off the seemingly inevitable holiday weight gain.

Top DC Chef?

In the tradition of Iron Chef, DC is having its own competition, "DC Capital Food Fight" to benefit the DC Central Kitchen. There will also be tastings from 40 top restaurants, including my personal favorite Farrah Olivia, and a silent auction with great prizes like a "Year of Dining" (dinners for six plus wine at each of 12 restaurants) and a stint as production assistant on Jose Andres's new PBS series. How cool is this? If you had an extra $175 sitting around, and if it wasn't sold out, you too could go.