Getting Acquainted with Prince William

The last few days I've felt like I was in a fog. The weather has been cooler and rainy, and I come home every evening unsure of what to do with myself. Yesterday I made curried lentils and cauliflower. They came out really well; I could taste all of the tumeric. But I should have just eaten them for dinner and taken a break. Instead I ate them for dinner, then lunch today, and then dinner tonight. This was a poor choice.

Yesterday (9/10) driving to work I missed my exit and ended up in rural historic Virginia. I knew it was so because I passed the historic site of the Battle of Bull Run, and the historic brick building standing next to it.

Also, because the fences looked like this.


I thought it was pretty cool, but was soon extremely lost, so I called my boss and said, "I'm lost. I'm not sure where I am but there are these funky fences..." Luckily, she knew where that meant I was, so she gave me directions and I got to work only about 10 minutes later than usual.

Because gas prices are about 30 cents cheaper in Manassas than Bethesda, I figured I would see if the same was true with groceries. It was interesting to compare the Giant there with the Giant I shop at usually. I think the products in a grocery store can really reflect the demographics of the area--flavors of snacks, types of produce, and relative amount of devoted space in the "international" or "ethnic" aisle. In Manassas, the kosher section had about 2 boxes of matzah and some Kedem Tea Biscuits, while further down the same aisle was this extensive collection of Goya sodas. And this doesn't include the cans of fruit nectar. In Bethesda, there are 4 kinds of Bisli, but only coconut soda and Malto.


As a public health person interested in the demographics of the region, this reflected what I had been told about Prince William County. Few Jews, many Spanish speakers. It's my time out of the office that is helping me to get to know where I am working. It's really different from Bethesda, and I like it.

Friday, September 11: Today was a very busy day at work, but good. I got a lot done. After work I was feeling, as we put it in my family, "sad and lonely," so I went to downtown Bethesda for some coffee and people watching. It had been raining, so the number of people out and about was reduced, but the teenagers were out in droves. Not older, oh-so-cool teenagers, but 14 year olds in tight packs, lighting candles in a piece of cake and singing happy birthday in front of the gelato shop. And vaguely pubescent boys, skateboarding through pedestrians while warning, "on your left." This all reminds me of growing up in Pittsford and having nothing to do on weekend nights. At least these kids have somewhere walkable.

I popped by the grocery store tonight for some beans (not for me, for a potluck!), and found this gem of a cake. It's made of cupcakes and I think is a lion that ran into a wall.

Taylored Expressions Sketch Challenge 77 and Quickie Quiche

This card is for TESC77, and is another one of my Rosh Hashannah cards. Can you believe there are such cool Jewish stamps? The lighting is poor because I took it at 4:30am this morning, when I was up and filling out Rosh Hashana cards. I had a really restless night with little sleep, and finally decided I'd had enough a little after 4. Pretty much the only thing keeping me awake now is the large cup of Earl Grey tea I had at 1. I know, I don't like tea, but I was desperate. And heck, it wasn't too bad. Anyways, I thought you might be interested in what these layouts look like when I find them on the internet. Here is the sketch for this card: And here is my interpretation of the sketch:
I also made a fritatta/crustless quiche with spinach, sauteed onions, and feta cheese. It turned out delicious, and was surprisingly easy. Now I have breakfast for the rest of the week. Want to hear a joke? Two women were at a restaurant. The waiter came over to take their order. The first woman said, "I'd like a quickie." The second woman said, "I think it's pronounced quiche."Today at work I talked to a whole bunch of doctors' offices, and also to a school nurse at a parochial school. I was calling to see if she had all the info she needed about flu and she excitedly told me about the handwashing classes she had just completed for every class in the school. That's my kind of woman! So far the school nurses have been really enthusiastic. I just emailed them all a big list of hand washing resources and songs. They include the following, to the tune of "Twinkle Twinkle little star"
Twinkle Twinkle little star
see how clean my two hands are
soap and water
wash and scrub
get those germs out rub-a-dub
Twinkle Twinkle little star
see how clean my two hands are

The best part? It's about 20 seconds long--the exact time recommended for hand washing.

Multinational Cuisine and Office Space

Tuesday, September 8: While my Smithie friends started classes, I had my first day at the office without any meetings. I got a lot done, including calling many doctors' offices to sign them up to give people the vaccine. It was not nearly as scary to talk to these strangers on the phone as I had anticipated. People were generally friendly and well-informed. Also today I picked up 2 speaking gigs in the community. I like giving people information and talking in my phone voice. The above photo shows the magnitude of my office. The photo is taken from the opposite corner as my desk. Soon there will be other people in the space too, but I am enjoying the quiet for now. And that, on the coat rack, is the top half of the duck suit.
Every day as I drive down Route 28 to the highway (in Virginia), I pass this sign. Who would think that one restaurant would serve such a plethora of international cuisine? Latin American! Middle Easten! Italian! Philadelphian! and of course, that famous dish, breakfast. I stopped to get gas the other day, looked up, and was surprised to find that I was under the sign. Yes, folks, this sign advertises the culinary offerings of the gas station.

It's starting to feel like fall, and it's sinking in that I'm alone here now, with Sarah and Im gone. Right now I feel fairly peaceful, but last night I was missing Convocation dearly. I was remembering how it felt to be a first year, when everything was so exciting and every person I met was a potential friend. But the grown-up (?) life has its perks: no homework and good food.

Taylored Expressions Sketch Challenge 79

Here is a card for another sketch challenge. I am having fun making Rosh Hashannah cards this year.

Materials:
Paper: Cosmo Cricket "Fish in the Sea," Nichole cardstock
Stamps: Mazel Tov by Papertrey Ink
Ink: Fresh Snow by Papertrey

Weekend with Im! (A London-Sized Post)

I had an absolutely wonderful weekend with Im, my roommate from Smith (for 2 years and a summer). We hadn't seen eachother since we graduated, and we had some fun adventures over the few days.

Saturday, September 5: Im and I spent the evening at a get-together hosted by 2 Smithies from Morris House: Rowan, my friend, and Kelsey, who I know from lunches on Tyler lawn. We found Kelsey's apartment in Shaw, and it was just lovely. Shaped like an isosceloes trapezoid, the apartment had basically 3 corner windows that allowed a great breeze, as well as a modern open kitchen. The above photo shows Rowan sauteing veggie burgers (although there was a good amount of smoke, she did not burn the hell out of them) in the evening light.
It was so wonderful to be around Smithies all night. Even though not everyone knew eachother, and many of us were mere acquaintances, there was a base level of comfort from the beginning, just from being Smithies. The vibe in the room was so happy and comfortable all night, with many simulataneous conversations that switched participants frequently. There was laughter, talk of self-depricating women, and discussion of Julie and Julia and Commencement. There was even a read-aloud of a picture book about following dreams (a graduation gift with awesome pictures). It was called The Awesome Book, and was, indeed, awesome. Im and I left feeling really happy.

Sunday, September 6: For breakfast, I decided to try to make omlets for the first time. This resulted in Im having to recall a rule she learned at my house in Rochester: When the smoke alarm goes off, grab the nearest magazine and fan it vigorously.
Amazingly, the omlets also turned out beautifully. Actually, just one. The other one looked lovely in the pan, but had an unfortunate accident in the half-inch between the pan and the plate. Nothing quite as pretty as eggs shining in morning light.

Thus satiated, we walked down to the Central Bethesda Farmer's Market. There are 2 seemingly unaffiliated farmers' markets in Bethesda. The one we went to has lots of cheese, meat, veggies, and some prepared foods. And some beautiful tomatoes. I don't even like tomotoes, but they looked so cheery. Im doesn't have a farmer's market in Jersey, so she was really smiley about ours, and it rubbed off, increasing my already good mood.
We headed downtown to the National Gallery of Art. We visited our favorite impressionist paintings, and admired the architecture of both buildings. This one here is the East Building, which houses contemporary art.
We were feeling peckish, so we decided to go to Jaleo. Im had been there once 3 years ago, and couldn't wait to return, and I was not deterred by having eaten there 4 days earlier. We went to the branch in DC. Now you can see pictures of the foods I ordered the other night! These are the onions. At this branch, they also had sage on top, which nicely complimented the cheese.
These are the shrimp I described in great detail. These ones were spicier. Once again, we cleaned up every drop of garlickly olive oil with their crusty bread.
This dish was new: scallops with raspberries and pistachios, with a beet sauce. This was gorgeous and well-made, but just paled in comparison to the other dishes. The scallops were, however, perfectly seared, and the raspberries were a surprisingly tasty pairing with the mollusks.
And this is a very happy Im after lunch.
We waddled over to the Botanical Gardens, and poked around the cacti, orchids, and primordial plants. These fiddleheads really caught my eye. They were all over the primordial room, in different states of unfurling (the process is called circinate vernation), and some were quite large. Each leaf of the fern unfurls too, after the stem.
After we had spent about 15 minutes sitting in the jungle room on a bench, looking at basically nothing, we decided we were tired and it was time to be horizontal. So were called it a day and spent the evening reading, cooking the farmer's market kale we had toted to the museums, and watching Pirates of the Carribean 2.

Monday, September 7: Labor Day. Kim spent the night last night (she had spent the rest of the time with her friends), and we all went to the Tastee Diner for breakfast. Here Im is pouring Kim's milkshake into a glass, chemist-style. Notice how the liquid pours down the spoon and doesn't splash or spill. We spent the rest of breakfast singing "My Milkshake Brings All the Girls to the Yard." I have frequently been informed that it is, in fact, the boys who are brought, but whatever.
We returned to the apartment for some caffeinated tea before Kim and Im hit the road. Look at the hip white couch my roommate bought. Im and Kim decided to drink their tea on the floor, and the couch is still white. Sidenote: I do have other furniture that can be eaten upon, but there is no accounting for preference ;)
And a nice roommate picture.

Special Dinner

Wednesday, September 2: Jaleo. To celebrate a wonderful summer and the start of my new job (and to keep our minds off Sarah's impending departure), we decided to have a nice dinner out. We don't eat out very often, and when we do it's often falafel, or with other friends. So going out just the two of us felt special. We headed to Jaleo, a tapas restaurant that my parents and I discovered when we lived in DC. It's one of those places where you eat slowly and deliberately, savoring each surprising flavor. We had grilled onions with picon cheese and pinenuts, pickled mussels, the traditional shrimp and garlic tapa (is one a tapa or a tapas?), and a small salad with beets, grapefruit, pistachios and picon cheese. The onions came as thick slices, glistening with a sweet vinegar and olive oil marinade, and paired with the really strong blue cheese and toasted pine nuts, made Sarah smile with every bite. The mussels were presented pre-shelled in a sardine tin, and were wooey and refreshing. While the shrimp in the Gambas al ajillo were quite tasty, the draw for me of that dish is the cruet full of garlic-and-shrimp-infused olive oil that sits under them. I gleefully ate most of that, using the accompanying bread as a sponge of deliciousness. And the salad was the perfect dessert, drizzled properly with a sherry dressing that contrasted perfectly with the nuts and fruit, and had enough salt. By now you're probably either drooling or nauseous. I myself am mopping the saliva off my keyboard to type this. Luckily Im is on her way to visit me, so hopefully we can eat some delicious things to take my mind off of meals past.

Since there is no photographic record of this lovely meal, I have provided you with something even lovlier.

Bethesda Row

Wednesday, Sept 2: On Sarah's last night here we went out to a delicious dinner (more about that in another post). Afterwords, we walked in one of our favorite areas in Bethesda: Bethesda Row. It's a small walking street that's only been around for a year or so, and is full of posh shops that don't interest me. But oh the people-watching! There is a gelato shop to the right of these neon lights that had interesting flavors like basil-lemon, and peach processo. So there are many cute kids to watch eating gelato (the tamer flavors), and many people strolling.
These lights remind me of the Neilson public safety arch. Back when public safety was easy to find.
Also on this street is a large upscale restaurant with patio seating. I like to walk by and see what people are eating. My parents and I had drinks and appetizers there once--sitting there is just as fun as it looks! But my favorite thing is looking in this window:
It's the front of the restaurant, and there are table right against the windows. I like to walk really close to them and peer at the diners' plates. Everyone really appreciates it.

Many nights this summer when Sarah or I was feeling squirrely after dinner we would walk down to Bethesda. There is something soothing about this area to me. I always leave feeling better.