Posts Tagged "Friends"

Crostini

Posted on May 15, 2012 | 1 comment

I can’t breathe! It’s been a while since I’ve had a cold and I forgot how suffocating it is! The upside is that I feel like all the sinus pressure that has been building up all spring is now being released, if ya know what I mean. The rest of me feels great though, so I’ve been itching to get out of the house. Luckily, Matt and I had a dinner date last night at the Italian sandwich shop, Toast. We’ve been making our rounds, saying goodbye to Fuqua friends, and it was nice to spend time time with Rachel + Ross over this fabulous meal. It’s so strange that we’ve gotten to know so many people in Durham who will be all over the country for internships this summer. Did I already say that? I’m excited for fall reunions!

I’ve obviously been really into soup these past few days, so I got a big bowl of spicy lentil. Lentil is always hit or miss, but this once was a hit. Kinda reminded me of refried beans.

My favorite thing at Toast is the crostini sampler – you pick three kinds with a big pile of greens. I tried the herb pesto, mozzarella, roasted tomato; the sicilian caponata, goat cheese, pine nuts; and the avocado with spring peas. All were totally unique and simple delightful.

Today has been simple – gym, babysitting, leftovers for dinner. And I’m aiming for a 9:30 bedtime. Sweet dreams.

Shard of Glass

Posted on May 13, 2012 | 3 comments

My weekend didn’t exactly go as planned. After all that talk of de-stressing (thanks for your comments, btw!), I totally de-stressed on Friday, and then woke up with a bad cold on Saturday. Sadly, I wasn’t up to doing all the things I had planned:( But I did eat soup and sleep for 12 hours straight!

Rewind to my relaxing Friday – I had given my Mom a coupon last Mother’s Day for a fancy lunch out in Durham, and she just got around to redeeming it! I took her to the cafe at the Nasher Museum of Art for lunch on the patio.

We shared:

the yogurt curried chicken salad with grapes and walnuts along with dill quinoa salad. The food was absolutely perfect – so fresh and bursting with flavor. Matt and I have eaten at the Nasher once before and I think it may be my favorite place for brunch/lunch.

After lunch, my Mom redeemed a gift card I had given her for her birthday for a manicure. I got my toes done for the first time since last year! It felt wonderful to be massaged. And then I took a brief nap before meeting one of my friends for live music at the American Tobacco lawn.

We watched the crowd of dancers in the front,

sipped wine,

ate fried pickles,

and saw a cat at the bar!

All night, I felt like I had food stuck in my throat and I just couldn’t get it out. I woke up around 2am with a horrible sore throat. It seriously felt like there was a shard of glass in there. Needless to say, I didn’t sleep well. When I woke up though, the rest of me still felt ok so I went out on a bike ride. I felt horrible by the time I got home, but I was too sad to cancel brunch with friends who were just in town for the weekend.

We tried the new Another Broken Egg Cafe and it was great! I had a shrimp omelette with pesto sauce and really enjoyed it.

I thought I might be able to rally for a trip to the pool and a fun girls dinner with my good friend from high school, but just couldn’t do it:( I watched Sarah’s Key (read the book this year) on Netflix and slept.

The shard of glass is thankfully gone today, but I’m still feeling under the weather. I got chicken noodle and corn bread from Whole Foods, which was fun. Matt just got home from his high school reunion in Maryland, and he’s gonna help me make a mother’s day meal for my Mom.

Happy Mother’s day to all the Moms!

Cinco, Derby, Q Shack

Posted on May 6, 2012 | 1 comment

Cinco de Mayo was a smashing success! We had a huge downpour right before our party, so all of our guests arrived wet, but after a few margaritas everyone was warm and cozy inside.

I made Cristina’s  quinoa black bean salad as well as sweet potato black bean enchiladas,

and some chocolate dipped strawberries. I also made classic red wine sangria with rum. I was busy drinking my friend Maria’s ‘get naked’ margaritas, but I tried some at the end of the night and thought the sangria turned out pretty well.

Katie made ridiculous jalapeno and bacon wrapped shrimp,

and other friends brought loads of Mexican beer, taco dip,

a huge bowl of fresh guacamole,

homemade southwestern egg rolls,

chocolate pie,

and a wonderful key lime pie that I forgot to photograph. I was really amazed by the spread of food, as everything was really delicious and almost completely gone by the end of the night.

We also enjoyed watching the Derby and Matt actually won the $20 produced from the random drawing that he organized. I felt a little bad that the host got the winnings. Oh well – covered all the beer we bought! All in all, it was such a fun night with friends and I’m so glad we got to see everyone before we leave for the summer. It was so fun though, that I woke up feeling lazy and dehydrated and spent a lot of time today just sitting around. Matt invited me to go to the gym though, and I did a much needed upper body lifting session with him. We also took a stroll and later found ourselves at the Q Shack for some of Durham’s best bbq. We split a platter with brisket, pulled pork, hush puppies, fried okra, baked beans, and sweet potato tots (!). This plate was intense! And probably clogged my arteries for the third time this weekend, but I loved it and I’ll definitely need to make another trip there in the fall.

Did any of you celebrate Cinco de Mayo, the Derby, or just life in general this weekend?

Half Pours

Posted on May 1, 2012 | 3 comments

I had plans to cook a nice dinner this evening and then life happened. Good life – drinking wine with friends over at West End!

I love to sample, so half pours are perfect for me! I got my riesling and then some cava.

So delish on a hot night! I came home and was just too tired to cook. So I ate a good old sammie with avocado + bacon – one of my favorite combinations.

It’s late and tomorrow is the start of an intense month at work. Sweet dreams friends.

The Recap

Posted on Apr 29, 2012 | 1 comment

Spring weekends in Durham have been splendid. There’s just so much to do!
Friday, we enjoyed a Mexican fiesta at Fuqua Friday, and then watched many talented Fuquans perform on Fuqua Idol. I went to the event expecting to hear some decent singers/musicians and left absolutely blown away! My favorite performer (and the overall winner) sang a fantastic acoustic version of Gaga’s Poker Face. Her voice was beyond amazing. And the Fuqua musical was hilarious.

On Saturday, I joined my parents for the annual Durham Art Walk. There are many talented artists and sculptors around town and they were all showcasing their work for the public. I came across this neat mirror made from a truck spacer and my mom let me get it as a way to remember my time in Durham (hard to believe year one of two is over). If I could only find a way to hang it, I think it would look perfect against our exposed brick walls.

We stopped into the Old Havana Sandwich Shop for lunch, and I got the same pulled pork plater I had the first time we visited. Soooo good. Plantains are my favorite.

The gastronomic highlight of the weekend, though, was a home-cooked Israeli dinner prepared by two of our friends. I can’t even imagine how much time they put into the food prep because all the dishes were bursting with flavor and involved unique ingredients.

I tried everything and couldn’t pick a favorite: cabbage salad, spicy green beans with tomatoes, lentil salad, roasted tomatoes, chicken, lamb, and incredible hummus and yogurt dips.

And dessert, oh dessert! This was a chocolate mousse cake with layers of creme brulee and pistachio. I hear it took hours to create – the shells were made by hand in a mold!

Thanks to Afik and Liron for including Matt and me in this wonderful event!

Sunday was lazy and active at the same time – I took a walk while chatting with a friend, elliptical-ed, and went on a bike ride with Matt. The day ended with a picnic for two at Duke Gardens.

I picked up salads and cider at Whole Foods and we dined on a quiet hill.

What a great way to unwind and enjoy dusk! Gotta do this more often.

Sadly, a lot of my throat, nose, and tiredness symptoms returned and I had a bad headache Saturday morning, so I don’t think antibiotics fixed the problem. I’m starting to get even more frustrated and I’m contemplating doing a more serious elimination diet – at least for common things like dairy, gluten, nuts. I’d really like to find a doctor who could give me some guidance though and I’ve had no luck with any down here. There’s just too much conflicting information on the internet! Has anyone had IgG blood testing for food sensitivities before? Arggggg. Thanks for listening to my complaining through the last couple of weeks (months?).

Hope all is well. See ya.