To market, to market to buy a fresh pig...

One of my favorite things so far about D.C. is the Eastern Market.  Honestly there's nothing that's like OHMYGOSHYOUHAVETOSEETHIS! about it, but I just really like it.  For you non-D.C.ers, it's basically a farmer's market with one building that has permanent vendor booths in it (think refridgerated cases) and then on the weekends, lots of other vendors come and set up booths outside in tents.  The bonus is that there are also non-food vendors that have lots of fun stuff!  I made a quick visit last weekend and this morning L and I went together because he had never been.  Plus, on Saturday mornings, the lunch counter there has a good breakfast, so we were able to eat first and then shop.

I took some pics of the permanent counters inside.  Check it out: they have fresh, handmade pasta. 

If you look closely, you'll see some dark-colored ravioli on the bottom row in the picture above.  That's a dessert ravioli that is made of chocolate and filled with some kind of cream.  I have no idea how you cook it, either, but it was interesting!

And look at all these meats:

Some of the pretty flowers:

There was lots of seafood that I didn't get to take a picture of.  At some point I want to try some of the meat counters and pasta.  I also want to get some mussels and, if we can go back again while it's in season, some soft shell crab.  Never tried making either of the latter but it seems like they'd be fun to try.  And delicious.  We ended up coming home with peaches, blackberries, cherries, a cantaloupe, fresh garlic, potatoes, and 2 of the biggest carrots I've ever seen.  The best part of all is that all of the produce we bought is organic and fresh-picked.  Everything tastes that way it's supposed to taste.  I wish food from the grocery store tasted this good.

Completely unrelated: if you are like me and SRG and you don't love reading blogs in Google Reader, you can now sign up to get my posts emailed directly to you via the feedburner I installed this week.  If this is of interest to you, enter your email address into the "Become a Regular" field on the top right side.  Thanks for reading and have a great weekend!!

I Hope I Get It

I forgot how much job interviewing is like rush.

P.S. - When did leotards for adults go out of style?

I Get a Kick Out of You

Right in the shins.



Saw this on the news. And it's a real competition. Note the spectators.  I have nothing more to say.

Pink. It's my new obsession. Pink. It's not even a question.

When husbands go out of town for work for days on end, it's important to make sure you have your own life and activities to occupy your time, particularly when you are unemployed.  Also, given that last little factor, it's important that these activities be free or low-cost.  My Saturday morning was not free and it's not what I would call low-cost ($40 for basically an hour and a half, plus parking and Metro fare), but that gets overlooked because it's an important cause to me.  What was I doing?  The Susan G. Komen Global Race for the Cure! 

RFTC is something I've actively been a part of for so many years that I actually can't remember when I started.  My mom is a 17 year survivor (woo hoo!!) this year, so at some point along the way- either in high school or college- she and I started doing RFTC together as a way to celebrate each year that has passed.  Luckily she's never had any sign of recurrence!  Fingers are crossed that it stays that way forever.  In addition to my mom, my dad's mother lost her life to breast cancer several years before I was born, as did the mother of one of my aunts.  We always remember them when Mom and I walk together.

About 5 years ago, I found more reasons to support RFTC.  Tiffany (from Life is Glam & Fab) organized a team in Austin- Team Zsa Zsa- to support her mom, who had been newly diagnosed that year and was undergoing treatment.  Along with Champagne and Sprinkles, Pearls (from Chopsticks and Pearls), Liz (from A Joy-Filled Journey), and several others, we walked in support of Tiffany's mom then, and over the years, we've added more names to our list of women we honor and remember at each race.  As I type this, Mrs. Z, the mother of one of my friends from high school, is in surgery to have a double mastectomy.  Mrs. Z was diagnosed right after I moved here and has completed the chemo portion of her treatment.  After she recovers from surgery, she'll wrap up the remaining months of 2010 by going through radiation.  Not a fun way to spend an entire year, but she's one strong lady, both physically and spiritually, and she has such an amazing attitude about life! 

Anyway, the odds of me being able to go back to Austin or Dallas this year for those races is pretty low, so I wanted to be able to make sure I represented Team Zsa Zsa (in spirit- I didn't have time to make shirts for us) by participating here.  I recruited a friend to walk with me since L was still out of town for his work conference, and off we went to the National Mall to walk.

I have to say, this might be my favorite venue for RFTC so far.  Austin's is nice- you walk through downtown and usually around the capitol.  Dallas's has been around Northpark Mall for years and years, which is nice because there's plenty of parking and you can go shopping afterwards (although I don't normally recommend wearing workout gear to shop at that particular mall).   D.C.'s route starts on the eastern end of the Mall, facing the capitol and in between all the Smithsonians, then goes west on Constitution, then doubles back and goes around the Washington Monument to Independence, and then back east toward the capitol.  I gotta say, the nerd in me loved seeing the streets and monuments so empty at that hour (well, except for the 39,999 other walkers and runners) with the sun shining low in the sky.  So pretty.  Also, this race immediately made me wish that every city had a Metro system to take to the race starting points.  SO. MUCH. EASIER.

So here's to the fabulous ladies in my life that I thought of as we walked.  The sign in the picture below was made in 2008 and includes names of the family members who had been diagnosed at that time.  For me, there are actually more names to be added to it, namely Stephanie Z., Carlin G., Nita P., Donna H., Sheron K., Mary Ella G., and my grandmother, Connie C. 

Clearly this something that has affected a lot of women in my life, which is why I am passionate about finding a way to completely erradicate it from our lives.  If you're interested in participating in a race near you, check out this site: http://ww5.komen.org/

I Think I'm Paranoid

For those who may not know, L travels quite frequently for work (for example, working in NYC for all of May, although normally he's only gone for 3-5 business days at a time).  Don't worry, I'm not paranoid about him cheating.  I just realized that if you don't know us, that might be where your head goes first.  No, after living by myself with pretty much no problems for 5 years, I have become the crazy lady who is paranoid about being at home alone. 

How so?  Well, I long ago adopted the policy of not answering the door when I'm home alone if it's someone I don't know.  It's not something that happens often, but when there's a knock at the door 3 times in one afternoon, as was the case on Wednesday, it starts to mess with my head.  I mean, I definitely hid.  Yeah, hiding was my first instinct.  And we're talking full-on crouching on the floor and duck-walking over to the front door to look through the peep hole in the door.  Also, I always feel like if you're at our door, you can tell if someone's looking through our peep hole, because ours is huge and a lot like a telescope.  You can aim it and everything.  Anyway, my door knockers never left anything, so it was probably the same overly persistant person but who knows.  Better safe than sorry! 

Our house is also very creaky at night.  That means I have to sleep with the bedroom door shut so I can't hear the noises out there.  In case you're wondering, I also have a highly active imagination and the first few times L went out of town and I was left here, I could have easily been convinced that we had a ghost.  Not the case anymore, but I was totally freaked out because it sounded like someone was walking through the back of the house on all the creakiest spots on the floor. 

Last night I hit a new low, though.  In addition to sleeping with the bedroom door closed, I also usually turn on a movie and fall asleep with it on in the background when L is away.  I didn't want to watch any of the ones in our personal library, so I decided to watch one on demand.  I should take a moment to explain what kinds of movies are acceptable for falling asleep.  I need something light that I've seen a million times.  Prime examples would be Legally Blonde, Can't Hardly Wait, When Harry Met Sally, Forgetting Sarah Marshall... the list goes on and on.  But nothing scary or even close to it.  As I scrolled through the available movies that we get for free through On Demand because of our HBO and Cinemax subscriptions, I had a hard time picking one.  There were lots I want to see, for example, I've never seen Fatal Attraction, but I'm smart enough to know that a movie about a crazy lady who cooks the family pet is not a good one for me to watch by myself.  Sleeping with the Enemy is really good but HELLO CREEPY!!  Again, totally out.  I paused on Home Alone and almost selected it, but then I ruled it out because it's basically about two robbers trying to break into a house when they thought no one was there.  Yeah, that's right, HOME ALONE WAS TOO SCARY FOR ME LAST NIGHT.  Houston, we have a problem. 

I've known for years it's never a good idea for me to get sucked into TV shows on TLC and A&E about supernatural/ paranormal activity if it's dark outside.  My mind will run away EVERY time.  But Home Alone??  Yeah, apparently I'm a huge scaredy cat who hides from people at the front door and who gets scared by G-rated movies.  I really don't even have anything to say in defense of myself.  Please feel free to ridicule.

Underneath Your Clothes, There's An Endless Story

Random topic to address: the white bra. 

I don't understand the point of them.  I actually don't own one and haven't for several years.  You might be wondering why not.  Well, you don't wear them under white and you certainly don't wear them under black.  Plus, it's not 1950. There are better options out there.  I suppose they are the equivalent to a "fun" colored bra, i.e., the hot pink one that I got at my bachelorette party, but white bras are just not fun.  At any rate, nude (oh, how I loathe that word) bras have long-since replaced my white ones.

Also, let's address white bras under white clothing and why that's a no go.  I'm not talking a sheer top or dress that you can see any bra or tank underneath; I'm talking about a regular white top that, when you put it on, you can see your bra underneath.  You can totally see white bras under white clothing.  It's not fooling anyone.  I'm all for everyone wearing bras, but I'm also all for leaving something to the imagination.  Kathie Lee and Hoda discussed this very topic with a bra expert a couple of days ago during that 4th hour of The Today Show, and I was so glad to see the segment because I wholeheartedly agree!!  It's just too bad that so few people ever see that 4th hour.

Should you disagree with me or just not believe me, I'm supplying you with a link to some experts.

http://www.ehow.com/way_5215006_wear-under-white-dress.html

I tried to find a clip of KL & Hoda but was unsuccessful.  Sorry!

One final note about bras: why the clear straps on strapless bras?  I was at a wedding over the weekend and saw at least 3 offenders in a group of about 80 guests.  That seemed high to me.  Those don't fool anyone and to be honest, in many cases they call more attention to the issue than if you were wearing no bra or a bad strapless.  We all know strapless bras aren't that great, but there's always NuBra chicken cutlets!!  Or go buy a strapless that was made in the last 5 years- they are infinitely better than the ones from back in the day.  More structure and they stay in place better because now they all have that "stay put" rubbery stuff.  OR, you can really blow some minds and double up on the NuBra and a strapless. 

Since I don't have a relevant picture to post, I'm adding a pic of the peonies that are on my dining room table, courtesy of my backyard:

Aren't they lovely?  I think I may have to grow peonies at every house I live in from here on out.  I just love the texture and richness of the petals.

New York State of Mind

Part 2 of the NYC trip:

Met up with BK and his fabulous boyfriend for drinks and bar hopping on Friday afternoon and due to our hopping of bars, I got a tour of the Lower East Side, part of SoHo, some of Nolita, and part of the East Village.  Loved it all.  Might be my favorite areas I've been to in NYC.  BK is just so great- in the 13-ish years I've known him, he really hasn't changed.  Aside his sexuality.  L and I ate dinner at S'mac, an all macaroni-and-cheese establishment in the Village. 

Very good but definitely the kind of thing you only want once every so often.  After that, more drinks at McSoren's (oldest bar in NYC) and bar hopping. 

Saturday L and I got up and hauled it all the way up to Harlem to try Dinosaur Barbeque.  Good but not great.  Then we hauled it all the way down to the West Village to watch BK in action on the trapeze (he teaches at a trapeze school on the Pier) and then we were off for day drinking.  I swear to you that L and I are NOT alcoholics.  At any rate, I (okay WE) was THISCLOSE to having drinks with Lance Bass (he and BK are tight) and a large part of me is disappointed that it didn't work out (he was on the way and decided to bring friends but we didn't have room for them all, so BK told them not to come.  Boo.) but on the other hand, I am afraid I might have TOTALLY geeked out and been a huge nerd.  I have no idea.  I don't often meet celebs and I loved N'Sync, so that could potentially be a recipe for disaster.  Anyway, BK promised another time, so we'll see.

Sunday was off to NJ again to spend the day with my aunt, only L came along this time.  No pics to share or details anyone else would find terribly interesting.  We had dinner that night at the famous Grimaldi's pizzeria and stood in line for about 45 minutes to get our table.  Totally worth it!  The only thing that made the wait somewhat intolerable was this gross guy:

In that pic, he's lighting up his 4th cigarette (that I counted; I may have missed one or two.  Or twelve.)  Anyway, GROSS.  And P.S. - if you're going to smoke in public, BLOW YOUR SMOKE AWAY FROM THE PEOPLE STANDING AROUND YOU. 

Moving on.  Monday was working out in the fab hotel gym (seriously, it was pretty awesome), and eating lunch at Forty Carrots at Bloomingdales and shopping.  Lunch was so simple but so FANTASTIC.  My order:

Quite possibly the best chicken salad sandwich I've ever had.  Seriously.  And the dessert that came with it:

The yogurt looks pretty ordinary, but I promise you it was some of the best I've ever had.  Apparently they have a small selection of flavors that changes based on the day of the week; I picked peanut butter on the recommendation of my waitress, which is weird because normally I don't love pb-flavored ice cream.  Loved it.  Then it was off down Lexington and over to Rockefeller Center.  I could have done a lot of damage but given the current unemployed status, I was good and only looked.  Gold star for me!

Tuesday started out with another workout in the gym, followed by lunch at Shake Shack and a day of reading outdoors because the weather could NOT have been prettier.  Shake Shack is a lovely establishment in Madison Square Park that has burgers, hot dogs, shakes, and various other ice cream-based treats.  I stood in this line behind a lovely European couple that couldn't stop making out:

 You can see the corner of the building on the left.  The line is a little hard to make out because of the people walking through the park.  This is what the line behind me looked like when I was much closer to the front:

And here's what my lunch was:

Wasn't a fan of the gross cheese on the fries, but the burger was great and the perfect size (4 oz).  Being the nerd that I am, I also loved that it's a green establishment!  They have tons of little tables set up outside in the park for patrons to eat at.  So lovely.  After that I moved over to a grassy patch in the park and read for a while, then headed off to the piers on the west side to grab a drink and continue reading at Frying Pan.  My afternoon view:

Tuesday night, L and I managed to get stuck on the subway between Brooklyn and Manhattan (read: UNDER WATER) on the way to dinner, and while we missed our reservation time by half an hour, the awesome wait staff at Cara Mia was so accomodating and said they would hold a table for us when I called to explain where we were and why we were so late.  They got us in and out and fed us well, all in time to make our show.  If you're in the theater district and looking for a good meal, I highly recommend visiting them!  Very charming and good, plus it's also very reasonably priced.  L and I scored 2nd row orchestra seats for Lend Me a Tenor prior to my afternoon adventures, and it was so great! LMAT is a play that opened this spring and stars Anthony LaPaglia, Tony Shalhoub (aka, the guy from Monk), and Justin Bartha (Doug from The Hangover).  Incredibly funny and entertaining. 

My final morning was spent having brunch in Brooklyn at Apartment 138.  Not as good as the dinner L and I had there a few nights prior but I love their back patio, and the weather was perfect for breakfast al fresco. 

After that, I did a little window shopping and then it was off to the train station to head back to D.C.  All in all, a fabulous way to spend a few days! Hopefully the opportunity will present itself to do the same again sometime.