Living in a smaller space has significantly improved my quality of life. I always knew it was better to live in smaller quarters for the energy efficiency, but there were some of spillover benefits I didn’t realize until I actually started living in a smaller place. For instance, I don’t buy as much, and I appreciate what I have more. I’m more resourceful, efficient, and I save a lot more money because of that. When I had a lot of space to stash things, I could just keep buying stuff. Whereas before, I had a whole second bedroom to use as my closet of clothes and a garage of shoes I didn’t even remember I had, I now have three rods to hang clothes, and a few shelves and drawers. The limitations make me carefully consider what I have and what I need. Now that I only have so many items of clothes to choose from, getting dressed takes less time too. It’s either the pink t-shirt, pink button down, or pink stripey shirt with the black or brown pants. No more rummaging through two bedrooms full of clothes. There just aren’t the massive piles of crap that I know I’m not going to wear and yet still have to dig through. With the limited space, I’ve also stopped most of my shopping. And I don’t feel deprived because I dig out more of my previously purchased outfits that I had never worn and wear them! Imagine that. New clothes without the shopping. Even now having taken such a hiatus on shopping, I still have clothes I don’t wear or have never worn. Come this winter, I will be cleaning out my closet again. Last winter, I bagged up 6 or so trash bags full of clothes and accessories. That feeling of getting rid of stuff is very cleansing. I feel less weighed down by crap. And I don’t miss those items at all. I can’t even remember what they were really.

Now there was a time of adjustment that I needed to get used to smaller quarters. The kitchen was one of the challenges. With limited cabinet and counter space, I have to be better about putting things away and not buying too many kitchen gadgets or dishes. But it hasn’t kept me from cooking and entertaining guests. I’m also more careful at considering and reconsidering my needs versus wants. Now, instead of placing an Amazon order frivolously or whenever it occurs to me, I put things in my cart and leave them there for days or even weeks before I finally order, or not. The hairdryer in my shopping cart has gone down by $5 in the weeks it’s taken me to think about buying it. I’m still thinking.

I also live more comfortably. It’s easier to regulate the temperature of a small space. Also, my commute is ridiculously easy and I don’t have a car, nor do I miss it or the bills and the maintenance that comes with it. I don’t miss vacuuming big rooms either. A quick swish of a sweeper and the floors are done. And I’m even lazy about that, frankly.

Less really is more and I don’t miss the square footage.

Doesn’t it seem like all I talk about these days is food, food, and more food? It’s like all I do is eat. I guess it’s partly true, I do love me some food.

So I diligently packed my trusty point and shoot camera with me today and when I tried to take pictures I realized there was no memory card in there. I had taken it out during the Europe trip and never replaced it. No matter – lately, I’ve been blogging just fine without the pictures, though how can you imagine it without seeing it, right? I mean, a big part of the enjoyment of the food is the looking. That’s why we love buffets. Strolling through the displays and admiring all the wonderful possibilities you can shove into your mouth… ahhh.

Ok, I’m going off on a tangent. FOCUS! Lost Dog Cafe. Pizza. Mmmm…. We shared a large Rin Tin Tin (mushrooms, tomato, basil, cheese, and other herbs and greens on a whole wheat crust). The crust is crispy and thin and we both agreed it was tastier than John’s Pizzeria. Sorry NYC, apparently, burb yups can eat as well as the rest of you. The toppings were generous, cheesy, and we loved the uncooked basil leaves sprinkled all over the pizza. The two of us almost managed to finish a whole pie. Had I not had the gimongo lunch at Amina Thai today, I would’ve been able to have more. I noticed the other peoples’ dishes and sandwiches all looked equally delicious. I think this is definitely worth going to and it’s my new favorite pizza place.

This past Sunday, I joined a friend for lunch in Alexandria. Bombay Curry Company. Their buffet was small with very little selection, but what they had was fantastic. I ate EVERYTHING! Three times! I should’ve stopped at plate two though. A. I felt stuffed. B. They stopped taking my plate away after plate two. C. They stopped refilling our water glasses. Yeah if that wasn’t a subtle hint to stop eating, bringing us the check before we even hit dessert made it crystal clear. No matter, it’s a buffet. I wasn’t expecting top notch service. The food alone left me very satisfied. Usually I prefer the rice but their naan here was so good I couldn’t stop myself. I would come back – though I’m not sure they’d want me back since I eat like Sonia Thomas. After lunch we went shopping at all the little boutiques along the road. It was over 100 degrees and we walked about, ducking from one air conditioned shop to another. I don’t know how these businesses stay afloat selling some of the old-lady clothes and tchotchkys and trinkets. I guess folks are still unaware of the magic of Etsy. Still, we both enjoyed window shopping, appreciating the fun of just browsing random shops one after another. I did buy one useful thing – a lightbulb. Finally when we could take the heat no longer, we headed over to the Dairy Godmother. I got their lime mint sorbet. So refreshing! I like this little town, Alexandria.

Saturday night, we had a surprise birthday dinner for a friend in a downtown restaurant called Eatonville. It’s named after Eatonville, FL and the food is southern comfort. Hushpuppies, pork chops, fried green tomatoes, shrimp creole.

The evening was HOT! I mean we walked from 16th Street, through Meridian Hill Park, to 14th Street – a short 15 minute walk left me hot and sweaty. I was hoping for a gush of cold air walking into the restaurant but it was hot inside too. I grabbed a menu and started fanning myself as we worked our way to the table. I thought, yuck, I can’t eat anything, it’s too hot.
Shrimp Creole

I guess southern food was made for hot weather. It’s so good, it brings your appetite back. The hushpuppy appetizer is one giant round of fried corn bread, served with a very delicious shrimp and tomato sauce, and the fried green tomatoes were amazing! And I’m so glad we decided to share an entree because their portions would make the Cheesecake Factory blush.

Giganto Pork Chop
One person joked after he ate all he could of his pork chop that it was now a normal sized chop. Our shrimp creole came in a bowl as large as a large pho. It was filled with rice, a tomatoey sauce, and a generous amount of shrimp and crawdads – I think those are crayfish. It was delicious and we were both stuffed to the gills.

In short, I would go back and I would recommend others to try it.

Months back I told a friend about Etsy, this website I love to browse. They sell handmade items, from clothes to handbags, to jewelry and paintings. Many of the sellers create the items at home as a hobby. I had never ordered anything from Etsy. I guess part of my reluctance was that it’s a conglomeration of sellers. I don’t know how reliable they are or the quality of the products. This friend I shared it with however went ahead and got addicted to Etsy and went on to actually buy things from there. She got these stacked fine silver rings and I saw them and had to have them. So here I got my own. They’re from a seller called buyhappiness. Indeed I’m happy. She even emailed me to ask me what my favorite color was so she could add the ring with stones as a bonus. How generous! I’m now hooked on this website. Uh-oh.

And I wonder why my pants are all too tight.

Last week, at Northside Social, I had the tastiest grilled cheese sandwich ever! It had 4 different kinds of cheeses and some tomato spread. The creamy tomato soup went perfectly well with it. I’m still smacking my lips. Next Friday I will have it again!!

Yesterday, because I had such a mind-blowing grilled cheese experience last week, I decided to order the same thing again at Luna Grill in Shirlington. It would have been an otherwise perfectly fine lunch except it was ordinary. They made it with one cheese – American. Northside Social has ruined me to the ordinary grilled cheese sandwich.

Work today was as crappy as ever any Monday could be. I wound up staying a bit longer which sucked as usual. But! BUT!! We had plans to go listen to a guitarist who was playing at a restaurant tonight so I had something to look forward to. La Porta in Alexandria. An Italian place – semi fancy but not to the point of schmancy. What I mean is, $30 entrees, but no tablecloths. Without a reservation, we were promptly seated. It’s Monday! The guitarist was wonderful. We enjoyed him immensely and so did a certain little 4 or 5 year old boy who came up more than once to drop money into the tip jar and even requested Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. If you’re ever free on a Monday or Tuesday night, they have $30 specials which includes 2 dinners and a bottle of wine. Can’t beat that! And if you can make it on a Monday night, live music. The music alone would make this place a worthwhile visit but even the food is better than say, The Wharf’s. We had a fish of the day and ravioli. Both dishes were simple, yet delicious. What a way to make an otherwise dreary day, better. I’ve had a headache all day today and still it was a wonderful, fun evening.

I spoke too soon about the Metro. Yesterday morning, my train broke down for no apparent reason. It wasn’t overpacked. It just went out of service at one station and everybody off loaded.

On a brighter note, we went to The Wharf Restaurant in Alexandria and had a very good dinner. We got horseradish salmon, crawfish crab imperial, and she-crab soup. The salmon could have used more horseradish but on the whole, the food was good. I enjoyed all the dishes, the service was attentive, but not too hovery and I would come back here again.

On the way home, we walked to the Metro, realized they were single tracking a lot of lines to the point where they didn’t even post how long our train was going to take to arrive. Tired and sleepy, we cabbed it back. With the price hikes, the cost savings from taking the Metro was too small to be worth the wait.

This is the break I needed after the vacation. A nice relaxing welcome-home weekend. The orderliness of American drivers and hearing American English everywhere just felt comfortable and familiar. (I don’t miss the sprawling parking lots and general inefficiencies of suburban strip malls though.) Yesterday we attended a cooking knife skills class to learn the basic skills of how to julienne, chop an onion, bell pepper, crack a coconut, cut citrus, and even how to hold a knife, hone it with a honing steel, along with what knives most cooks need and the varieties out there. It was a lot of information but very helpful as a basic class. At the beginning of class people went around to introduce themselves saying what they wanted out of the class. Several of them had fancy knives like Shun’s and Wusthof’s and didn’t know what to do with them. But they all knew never to put them in the dishwasher! Now I know. Since I have a Walmart knife, it goes in the dishwasher. And now that I know fancy knives can’t go in dishwashers I’m staying loyal to $15 knives. After the class we went grocery shopping and then Korean for dinner then more grocery shopping. Restocking the larder. We’ve missed some Asian cuisines like Japanese, Korean, and Indian not because they weren’t available during our trip, in fact they were everywhere, but we just haven’t had them in a while.