Latest Dining Conquests

Despite how often I eat out, I rarely post about it.  I really need to stay on top of these things because I feel like the “Charm City” part of my blog is lacking.

So here’s a blip about the last 3 places where I’ve dined.

Sabatino’s – Little Italy

I feel bad about what I’m going to say about this place because it seems a lot of people like it (or at least have fond memories of it).  But this place sucks.  I went for a girls dinner Friday night (there were like 15 in this group).  I’ve always associated Sabatino’s with large group accommodations but never could remember much else about the place.

While I will say that they accommodated our large gaggle of ladies, their service was ridiculously slooooow.  The waitresses were super nice but holy hell, they were slow.  And I was starving.  Since just about every lady ordered a drink (mostly wine… and Theresa and I split a bottle of champagne like we were toasting an anniversary) – it just prolonged the amount of time it took for them to take our food orders. 

They did bring out fresh (?) bread and it was delightful although I’m not sure if I liked it so much due to being SO!HUNGRY! 

I ordered the gnocchi with marinara sauce. 

Words cannot being to describe how much I did not enjoy this meal.  I ate half of it because I was SO!HUNGRY! Did I mention the ridiculously slow service?  But it was a bland plate of mush balls.  I took the rest home to share with Jeremy and he stopped eating once he injested 3 of them.

I’ve chatted about my experience with some friends and it seems that people fall into 2 categories when it comes to Sabatino’s: they love it or they hate it.  I’m now firmly planted in the “hate it” group.

Also – I was irritated with some of the other patrons.  Apparently people don’t understand that 15 people = a loud and boisterous bunch.  Jeremy  likes to point out that it was 15 women as though that makes a difference in decibels but there was a group of 3 people next to our table that spent the majority of their dinner complaining about the volume of our conversations.  I have to say, what a sad dinner for the 3 people if they had nothing better to chat about.  Shoot me if that happens to me.

Pasta Mista – Canton

After my sock monkey saturday fiasco, my friend and I stopped in here for lunch.  In retrospect, we should have stayed at the AVAM and eaten at Mr. Rain’s Funhouse (conveniently located in the AVAM and veg-friendly) but I was worried that my pal might have gotten a parking ticket (since I had only paid for 2 hours of parking not knowing that making a Sock Monkey is ridiculously laborious and it took us nearly 4 hours). Anywho – we left and I couldn’t think of where to eat and Pasta Mista is a go-to place for me and it was located near the Squidfire Art Mart.

I love this place.  My husband and I get pizza here regularly (the Zappatore with sauce).  It surprises me when people don’t like this place.  It’s delightful and delicious.

My favorite pizza (the zappatore) is comprised of: mushrooms and eggplant.  I don’t know what else is on there but it is like a flavor orgy in my mouth.  I love it.  And their prices are right on par with most of the other pizza places in the area (unlike some of the “fancy” pizza places I’ve patronized).

Indigma – Mount Vernon

I had the pleasure of dining here with some great pals (Geoff and Jamie).  Jeremy and I have eaten here for a total of 3 times now and each experience has always been great.  We love Indian food and this place does not disappoint. 

I’d categorize this place as fancy Indian.  Instead of regular ol’ Samosas, they serve “open face” Samosas.  They have fancy plating and their manager is on top of providing good customer service.

I can only speak to what Jeremy and I ate since that is all I sampled (but Geoff and jamie liked their meals as well).

For starters I got an open face samosa (coriander pods, flash fried spinach, potatoes, burnt garlic and mango chutney).  Delightful.  I actually prefer this as an open face app because it makes it easier to eat.

Jeremy got the avocado pakora (cilantro, amchur, sweet lentils and mango syrup).  He really liked it.  I had a bite and it was very light.  And good.

And of course we had to get naan (although jeremy got fancy and ordered garlic naan).

Sadly – I don’t remember what Jeremy got for dinner.  Or even what my dish was called.  My dish had cauliflower in it (no potatoes) and I ordered it mild.  It was so damn good.

Jeremy got some sort of vegetarian masala dish and ordered it very spicy.  I had a bit (and dipped my naan in the sauce) and it was good.  But I know that I could not have handled that much spice.

For dessert we ordered the caramelized mango (sweetened ginger, vanilla ice cream and pomegranate syrup).  Apparently we ordered this last time.  I think that pretty much implies that its a good dessert.

I’ll probably go back to this place again… and again… and again.

But a side note – I think we were getting the stink eye from some other patrons.  Is there something about me?  I thought that we were pretty pretty quiet.  I noticed a pair of women constantly staring our way.  Maybe she didn’t understand the 1 woman to 3 men dynamic or something.

To summarize this post:
Sabatinos (Italian) – gross
Pasta Mista (pizza) – delish
Indigma (Indian) – awesome

Do You Want to Touch My Monkey?

Apparently my brain thought I was capable of following through with all of my Baltimore-centric plans more than reality dictated.

What happened?  Frickin’ Sock Monkey Saturday happened.  For some reason, I thought that I’d be able to stitch a sock monkey in about an hour.  Theresa thought she’d make at least 2 before we left.

Nearly 3.5 hours later… with the threat of the event closing, I finished my sock monkey.  Sadly – Theresa didn’t even finish hers.  Making sock monkeys is way harder than I thought it would be!  By the time we finished, we were starving (it was 3pm) and I couldn’t think of where I wanted to eat near MICA.

So we skipped the MICA Art Market and headed to the Squidfire Art Mart in Canton (at DuBurns) because it was located near Pasta Mista and all we could really think about was fooooooood. 

Anywho - I was hoping I’d not only finish a fantastic sock monkey, but that I’d be able to dress him in some fabulous attire.  Um… about that?  This is what you get.  Jeremy wanted a monkey with an eye patch and I really wanted to deliver.  I guess I could still follow through.

I thought the sock monkey could use another monkey friend.

Now I need a name for my sock monkey.

Btw – I realize that I’m closing in on 30 and I’ve got 2 stuffed monkeys on my wine tower.  And?

A Baltimore-centric Weekend

Despite the fact that I am now in the final stages of grad school and what I have left to do can only be equated to HELL… I made some plans over the weekend to check out various events around Baltimore.  And dammit, I am not changing my plans.

I guess I could argue that most of my weekends are Baltimore-centric since I live in Baltimore and generally stay in the city but I don’t always check out events.

Last night, I checked out the pop up shops in Harbor East.  There was some sort of party last night with champagne (champagne that was never offered to me and my pal… I was a little miffed).  I had read about these shops through some tweets and you really don’t have to twist my arm to get me shopping.

I picked up a pair super cute earrings from the DoubleDutch boutique pop up shop (their store is located in Hampden) :

My crap camera phone doesn’t do them justice.  I think these were made by an etsy seller and sadly I don’t remember which one (or I’d check our their shop online). 

After picking these up, I headed over to the Shine Collective shop (their main store is also in Hampden) and grabbed this Baltimore t-shirt:

Even though that was a Thursday night, I’ll still count it as my Baltimore-centric weekend extravaganza.

Tonight I’m meeting up with a bunch of girlfriends for dinner.  We’re eating at Sabatinos in Little Italy.  I haven’t eaten here in YEARS and don’t remember much about it.  But I know they accommodate large parties and it’ll be nice to get together with the girls.  I’ve been a social hermit for awhile.

Tomorrow morning, I’m going to check out the American Visionary Art Museum’s Sock Monkey Saturday event:
Saturday • December 12 • 11AM–3PM • FREE:  SOCK MONKEY SATURDAY!

Don’t let the holidays drive you BANANAS! Relax by making your very own Sock Monkey. A great last-minute gift! And something just fun to do! FREE, but you must bring 2 pairs of (clean) socks to get in! Instructions, stuffing, sewing needles, thread, visionary baubles, and camaraderie provided.

I love sock monkeys.

Afterwards, I’m hoping I’ll have time to check out MICA’s Art Market event.  Tomorrow is the last day for it and it closes at 6pm.  I’d really love to pick up some great artwork from local Baltimore artists.

When that’s done, I’ll be working on school stuff (hopefully).  I’m relying on my teammate to upload data online so that I can access it for my project.  I hate relying on people for this but I don’t have time to go by school today. 

Sunday, I’m checking out the Urban Chic sample sale.  They have a store in Harbor East.  My friend owns the store, one of my good friends is a buyer for the store and I basically wait for this sample sale every year.  Technically this sample sale is NOT in Baltimore but they have a store in Baltimore so I’m still counting it.

Afterwards, I’ll be studying for one of my final exams. 

So if you’re in Baltimore, you should check out some of these events.  And if you’re not – what are you doing this weekend?

Milk

So apparently none of you found my funny conversation very funny yesterday.

I think this just further proves that I think I really am the funniest person ever… and am the clearly only person that thinks this.  But I also think my friends are funny.

Or perhaps I just find a lot of things funny.  I toss around my laughter and amusement like a whore.  I am a laugh whore. 

So if you didn’t find that funny, perhaps you’ll find this funny because Jeremy has been making fun of me for it for the last month or so.

I have a problem with awkward silences.  I briefly mentioned yesterday that I hate talking on the phone.  I don’t know why.  And its not that I hate talking on the phone all the time… there are many times that I’ve chatted for hours on the phone with no problem.  I think I have issues talking with certain people on the phone.  But sometimes I just don’t feel like talking to anyone.

Back to the awkward silences thing though – I don’t know how to handle these moments.  Whether I’m on the phone, bumping into someone I haven’t seen in a long time or killing time before a meeting with colleagues – some really strange shit has come out of my mouth.  But not literal shit because if I could poop out of my mouth I’m pretty sure I’d die alone.  Who wants to hook up with poop mouth?  That reminds me of a terrible porn video clip I saw years ago…

Aaanywho – I really hate talking about the weather but it usually is my go to conversation topic.  However, this creepy conversation took place recently at the start of a meeting where only me and another guy were on the conference call waiting for others to call in.

Okay so I don’t remember the start of the conversation but I know it had to do with it being super early for this meeting…

Guy: “Well I’m okay because I got some coffee.”
Me: “Oh yes.  Mother’s milk.”  (said in a weird Montgomery Burns kind of tone)

What?!  I don’t even know what that means but somehow that came out of MY mouth.  I quickly backtracked and said, “OH MY GOD!  I have no idea why I said that.  That was so creepy.  I’m really sorry.”

And the guy just nervously laughed (or it was a pity laugh) and then other people dialed in.

But hello?  This guy must think I’m so creepy.  I’ve never mentioned this creepy conversation since that incident and I’m hoping he has long forgotten.    But who forgets that shit?  I wouldn’t.

And now Jeremy can’t see milk without thinking of how his wife spews creepy sayings like “Mother’s Milk” to coworkers.

How do you handle awkward silences?

A Funny Conversation

One of my all-time favorite people in the world is my friend Geoff.  He used to blog but hasn’t so much as typed a single work into a blog editor in over a year.  And it makes me quite sad.

While I consider us to be close, we don’t chat on the phone.  We’re bad phone people.  We both know it.

I hadn’t chatted with him in awhile so I sent him an e-mail yesterday.  And now I present to you, a funny conversation with my favorite person:

[after chatter about not talking in awhile]

Geoff: I’m just horrible with calling people… I’m not sure why … I HATE the phone, no lie … and I don’t even use it a lot at work.
Me:  I am the same way!! I think that’s why we’re friends… We both hate talking on the phone.
Geoff:  You are I are the same person, I’ve determined … except you’re trapped in a hot asian chick and I’m trapped in a fat white dude.

Me:  I think that’s why we’d make for good reality television.

Geoff: We really SHOULD look into a reality show deal … maybe you and I could sneak into Obama’s next big party … we’re be amazing! The news would plaster our images on the news …”Hot Asian Kim [Charm City]  and some white guy were found to have infiltrated Obama’s compound this past weekend and were said to have consumed copious amounts of champagne and spinach quiches. Friends and colleagues close to Obama stated that, “They appeared to have been guests at the party and everyone really enjoyed their wit … especially the white guy.”

It isn’t known at this time whether or not they are involved romantically, but one eye witness has this to say:

“The white guy was totally gay and gays always surround themselves with hot chicks and that Asian chick was DEFINITELY hot.”

 I’m Leslie Stahl and you’re watching 60 minutes.”

I love Geoff.

Too Much Flair

I’m nearing the end of my graduate school semester (and graduate school career). Words can’t begin to describe my excitement for finally being done something I’ve regretted starting in the first place.

I know I’ve bitched about my douch-y school teammate before, but I’m going to do it again. I could easily turn this entire blog into posts relating to why this guy sucks and why people like him make me question the value of my degree from that program.

All things aside, the one thing that makes me laugh and cringe are the terrible powerpoint presentations that other students put together.  I understand that Microsoft Powerpoint gives you an array of awful template designs… but it doesn’t mean you have to use them.  Or insert MORE awful pictures.

We need to do a presentation and one of my teammates shares my affection for simple and mostly plain template designs. 

I get that its boring but at least it is a clean looking slide.  When my teammate sent it around to everyone for EDITS (to the CONTENT…), this is what douchey teammate sends back:

This slide is one of the least offensive of the over abundance of color and images… but just shows my point.  He added no new content.  He just changed the template design, fucked up all of the bullets and fonts (so their sizes and colors are inconsistent throughout) and added these lame pictures. 

And this is the same guy that told us that we need to make “sacrifices” when it comes to dedicating time to this project when he hasn’t done anything of relevance.

I just felt like bitching about it is all.

Deck the Halls

In between our marathon watching of The Wire, we decided to put up our Christmas decor.

I love this time of year and I love decorations, but you definitely wouldn’t know it if you came to our house. We hang a wreath on the door, stockings along the stairs and a tree. I throw the extra tree decorations into vases around the living/dining room. But that’s about it.

We’ve done this same sort of look for the last couple of years and now I’m bored with it.

Here’s a little snapshot of our tree:

And yes, we have a fake tree. I found out this year that its not a very “green” thing to do. For some reason I always thought it was the other way around. I thought cutting down trees was a bad thing but then found out that for every tree cut down, another one is planted in its place and that the plastic crap fake trees are made of are terrible. Who knew? But I might as well get the most mileage out of this fake tree then.

Anywho – the majority of the decorations consist of ornaments purchased in bulk from Ikea, Target and Walmart. So – they’re very matchy-matchy and boring. I mean, I love our silver, red and aqua color scheme but I need something new.

I was inspired by my friend Theresa’s eclectic tree (although I haven’t seen it – I just know she has a hodge podge of ornaments) and decided that I want to start building a collection of ornaments from places we’ve visited. I kind of wished we would have started this back when we visited some very cool places like the Maldives (our honeymoon!) and Scotland. I actually picked up an ornament for Theresa in Scotland but didn’t think to get one for myself. I’m kicking myself over that right now. For any of my Scotland resident readers (okay – so I only know of one and she doesn’t read this often… hi Juli!) – want to send me a cute little Nessie ornament for my tree? I’d totally appreciate it.

I even wish I would have picked up a Philadelphia ornament! I guess that just gives me another reason to go back. I love that city.

I’m also picking up an ornament of my college (since I went there for undergrad and will be getting my Master’s from there shortly. Woop! woop! for it being my last semester!) and I’m making Jeremy pick up one from his law school.

I want our tree to consist of ornaments of places we’ve visited and things of significance during our marriage. Did you just gag a little? I can’t believe I’ve gotten so sentimental either.

The only current ornament of real interest on our tree is of one that Jeremy made when he was a little kid. I thought it was sweet that his mom kept it after all these years especially since my parents haven’t kept any of my kid crafts. Seriously – they’ve managed to hold on to their 8-track player but my totally cute and adorable kid crafts? In the garbage. Ouch.

How do you decorate for the holidays?

Thanksgiving Dinner for Two

Thanksgiving was flippin’ awesome. Why? Because it was just me and Jeremy.

I’m not trying to dog on my family here but you know how it is when you host dinner. It is stressful! The cooking, the pretty placement of stuff and the clean up… and then the worrying that everyone enjoys their meal. I hate it.

For the last few years, Jeremy and I have played host to my parents on Thanksgiving. It started the year my dad had heart surgery and then last year we just decided to make it a tradition. We go to my in-laws the following Saturday for a Thanksgiving makeup.

The first year we hosted Thanksgiving, I was a vegetarian and Jeremy was not. I bought a Tofurkey and Jeremy made stuffed turkey breasts. I found out later (the following year) that my parents weren’t crazy about most of the meal. Ouch.

The second year, I was a vegetarian still and Jeremy was not. And because our oven sucks, Jeremy figured that we could purchase most of the items pre-made from Whole Foods. It was worth the money and time. So that’s what we did (especially since my mom requested a “real turkey” that year).

This year, however, both of us are vegetarians. My mom still isn’t happy about MY turn as a vegetarian but was almost angry that I “turned” Jeremy. According to her, we are no longer fun to eat with anymore.

My gramps was recently diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. He lives out in Utah and my dad talked about going out to see him as he gets moved into a nursing home. That was the story my folks gave me about not coming over for Thanksgiving (and this was all kind of last minute).

Then I found out they weren’t going to Utah. I assumed this meant they were coming over but then my mom said, “no thanks” and made a comment about us being vegetarians. Ouch.

But you know what? It totally worked out. I enjoyed my holiday with just my husband and if I could finagle EVERY major holiday like this, I totally would. Jeremy is a great cook and we share the same affinity for foods and flavors (although he likes things a little spicier than I do).

I bring you our Thanksgiving meal:

I made a Vegan pumpkin pie (the non-tofu kind):

The crust was made from scratch!

We had a ton of veggies from CSA as well as just stuff we randomly grabbed from the grocery store. We realized we were on the verge of making TOO much food (is there such a thing?) and decided to write down what we’d make that day vs. what we’d save for another night.

I finally convinced Jeremy that brussels sprouts are good:

Jeremy’s “must have” item was Pilsbury rolls from that tube thing. So gross.

Sparkling wine – delightful. I am on a champagne/sparkling wine kick lately and I don’t see it going away anytime soon.

Dinner! Roasted acorn squash (with maple syrup), roasted brussels sprouts, mashed sweet and red potatoes (Jeremy doesn’t like sweet potatoes but this combo worked out really nicely) and the bowl contains a vegetarian goulash that Jeremy made up. It contained red potatoes, roasted tomatoes, chickpeas and tofu. So good.

See – being a vegetarian does not mean eating boring and bland food. Although I know a lot of people will argue that brussels sprouts are disgusting.

Petie – Male Model

Although Black Friday shopping was a bust, I did score this pretty sweet item:

What the hell? My dog is the spokesmodel for dog Snuggies! Maybe he needed the cash to buy Christmas presents this year. Seriously – look at the resemblance. It’s uncanny.

As if the fact that it looks like Petie is modeling an oh so plush Snuggie wasn’t enough to make me buy it, the back of the box brilliantly markets the Snuggie as something that only the smartest and most laid back dogs wear:

Your dog will watch TV and control the remote!
Your dog will be able to play a rousing game of backgammon!

How could you NOT want to buy the dog Snuggie?

Still Here

Despite the long hiatus from blogging, I wasn’t really doing anything super fabulous that would have kept me away from the computer.  In fact, I spent a good chunk of my holiday weekend watching Season 1 of The Wire.  That show is addicting!  I had several random dreams all involving The Wire last night.  And I now find myself looking at Baltimore and its residents in a new light.

And can we talk about how ridiculously attractive Idris Elba is?  And did you know he’s British?  I died when I heard that.  Now I need to hear an interview of his so that I can die again.  Oh my, the hotness.  Seriously – if he tried to mug me in Baltimore, I’m pretty sure I’d just give him everything and then a long awkward hug. 

Moving on…

I took a bunch of pics of my Thanksgiving dinner so I’ll save that for another post (maybe tomorrow).  Thanksgiving was spent with just Jeremy and it was awesome.  No travel.  No stress. 

I had a very disappointing Black Friday shopping day so there isn’t much to report on that front.  The company was fun (hey Theresa!) but overall, the sales were lackluster.  I hesitated on a pair of boots in the store and then looked them up online (for a slightly better deal).  But hesitated to buy them last night online.  I went to buy them this morning and they are sold out of my size on the site with the REALLY good deal!  That’ll teach me to wait on purchasing super cute grey boots. 

I tried to run yesterday after taking a week off and my knee starting to hurt after 1 mile and now it STILL hurts.  UGH.

I have restarted p90x as of this morning.  Jeremy wanted to do the program again and convinced me to do it with him by telling me just how much he enjoyed working out with me in the morning.  I’m a sucker for a compliment.  I’ll try not to blog about the program again since I think it bores the majority of readers!  Just know that I’m not following the diet closely because hello?  It’s the frickin’ holidays and I want to drink champagne (I’m currently obsessed with champagne and sparkling wines).

Lastly – I have my ears pierced twice.  In the second hole, I have a pair of 1/4 karat diamond earrings.  I hardly ever mess with these earrings but noticed that one of them was looking extra crusty yesterday.  So I thought it was a good idea to take the earrings out, clean them thoroughly and perhaps give my ears a break from wearing earrings.  I totally forgot that I had replaced the backing (the original ones screwed onto the post) with a cheapo plastic backing from one of my other earrings.  And now I can’t get the son of a bitch off. 

Jeremy pulled out pliers and I sort freaked out.  I envisioned him ripping the entire earring out of my ear.  But today I’m really freaking out.  I can’t get the backing off!  I broke 2 fingernails trying to pull the backing off and it didn’t budge.  Someone suggested I try baby oil or vaseline.  Any ideas?  I don’t remember the plastic piece being that difficult to put on the earring post.  But seriously – I am a dumbass.  I should have just gone to the store for the appropriate backing. 

So there you have it.  I’m alive, super boring and freaking out over my ear.

How was everyone’s holiday weekend?