Exploring, and not just escaping.

I am getting a little frustrated with one too many of my travel plans falling through thus far this year: St-Lucia with Manfriend; an all-girls' trip to the Caribbean islands; Vanuatu with my cousins and brothers, to visit our ailing grandfather.

All those plans are now scratched, scratched, scratched.

It is misleading, you know, to think that you must work more in order to save more money, all so that you can travel more. Because the truth is, the more you work, the more work they give you in return, because you are such a hard worker. And because you have so much work to do, who has the time to take a week-long vacation far, far away?

Such a Catch-22 it all is.

A little trip down memory lane, if only to help me escape the daily drudgery of working in an office right now:

June, are you here yet? Manfriend and I will be traveling to each other's hometowns, to show each other where we were born, and where we spent parts of our childhood. We will be spending a weekend in Columbus, Ohio, and then, later that month, we are planning on renting a convertible to zip down the East Coast, and across the Canadian border to go to Ottawa and Montreal (Toronto will hopefully be later this year, on Halloween weekend, for my uncle's masked ball-themed wedding). Asia in December, perhaps? I heard parts of Korea and Japan are absolutely beautiful when blanketed in white, winter snow.

I can't wait!

One regret.

One regret,

dear world,

that I am determined

not to have

when I am lying

on my deathbed

is that I did not

kiss you enough.

- Hafiz, Sufi and Persian lyric poet.

My Sweetheart Salad

Manfriend woke up at 5 a.m. on a rainy Sunday yesterday morning to run a 10-miler, and I wanted to do something nice for him, since I knew he had been training pretty relentlessly for this race and deserved a little extra TLC.

He has been waiting very patiently for me to cook something for him for a while now, and I decided that this past weekend was going to be the weekend I finally surprised him with something homemade by yours truly.

Except, after being on a strict no-carbs diet for the past few weeks, Manfriend already had his stomach set on pizza, and between my non-existent culinary skills and Pizza Hut's any size, any topping, any crust, any pizza for only $10 (which you can order online and have it delivered to your door in less than 30 mins), guess what we ended up having for dinner last night?

That didn't stop me from feeding him a healthy (and savory!) appetizer, though. I call it, "My Sweetheart Salad":

Ingredients:

spring mix of arugula, spinach, baby lettuces
(I picked up Nature's Promise Organic Spring Mix)
grape tomatoes
seedless red grapes
clementine
strawberries
slivered almonds
crumbled feta cheese
raspberry vinaigrette

Directions:

1. Peel clementine. 2. Wash all fruits and vegetables. 3. Slice clementine, strawberries, and grapes in halves or quarters.

6. In a mixing bowl, combine the spring mix, fruits, and grape tomatoes. 7. Lightly sprinkle the slivered almonds and feta cheese. 8. Top it all off with the raspberry vinaigrette according to taste!

Tip: This salad went wonderfully well with a glass of chilled pinot grigio, and you can have the leftover fruits for dessert. (I'll admit, it was a little strange pairing this all with pizza...but it definitely gave our taste buds an unpredictable little kick!)



And, despite the fact that making a salad doesn't technically count as "cooking", the main point is that Manfriend absolutely loved it, and that's all that matters!

Happy Monday!

Happiness comes from spreading happiness.

I've had a most miserable day at work earlier today, but taking a few minutes to write a quick thank you card made me feel SO MUCH BETTER -- so much better, actually, that I ended up writing a few more cards to a few more people at various points throughout the day.





Seriously. The emotional transformation -- my going from being unhappy, to happy -- was almost an instantaneous one.

In fact, the act of sitting down, slowing down your thoughts, and putting your heart and soul into how to best express your gratefulness towards someone really gets the happiness factor going.

Because once you remember to count your blessings, and start thinking about all the most wonderful things and people you are thankful for, not being happy suddenly becomes... well, quite silly, really.

Speaking of silly, I love reading my friend Sahar's design and art blog. She always has the most amazing finds! One of her most recent entries features PostCarden, a quirky card company specializing in pop-up cards that turn into mini-gardens.

Yes, you read right, my friend. Pop-up cards. That turn into mini-gardens. Hence, its name, "PostCarden". How witty, yes? Pure genius, I say!




You can watch how it all happens here:


The imaginative minds of some people out there never ceases to amaze me -- and, quite honestly, their talent also leaves me with a teeny tiny pinch of envy, at times. If only I had more free time on my hands!... I'm pretty creative, if I do say so myself. A few cards I've made for loved ones a few months ago, when the entire D.C. metro area was snowed in with nowhere to go:





And, just in case you were wondering, NO pre-cut letters or stamps, the penmanship and drawings are my own, and YES, I really am THAT cheesy and corny in real life. *CHEEEEEEESE*.

HAPPY FRIDAY, lovelies!

DC Eats: Las Canteras

My partner-in-crime, Christine, came up with a brilliant idea recently.

"Let's have a ceviche-off!" she said. I enthusiastically agreed, mainly because I lovelovelooooove ceviche.

Ceviche (also spelled as cebiche or seviche) is a citrus-marinated seafood, its birthplace is disputed between Peru and Ecuador.[1] Although it is a typical dish of both countries, many other countries in Latin America have adopted it, with variations. Both fish and shellfish can be used in the preparation of ceviche. - Wikipedia

Our first stop this week: Las Canteras, a Peruvian restaurant and bar in Adams Morgan.

We entered through the bar located in the basement, where the bartender redirected us to the seating area on the second floor for dinner. A decor of mostly red, orange, and yellow colors immediately made the empty place feel warm and inviting. The waiters were attentive, and service was prompt. Both C and I were absolutely famished, and we couldn't wait to dig in.

We started off with orders of the Cebiche Mixto and the Duo de Cebiches.


The Duo de Cebiches comprised of two versions – the cebiche classico, made of white fish, as well as the shrimp cebiche – served side by side. Absolutely delicious, and I thought the sweet potato provided a nice break from the tangy, fruity citrus juice.

The Cebiche Mixto, however, was not quite as satisfying. While the menu denoted that it was "made with white fish, shrimp and other fresh sea food", someone definitely forgot about the "fresh" part in "fresh seafood" that night, and both C and I bit into some foul-tasting clams and mussels. Yuck!

As I was still hungry, I had high hopes for the lomo saltado. Prime beef tenders, stir-fried with onions and tomatoes in a wine and soy sauce, served with rice and fries? Sign me up, I thought!... Alas. The beef was dry and chewy, and I bit into a few undercooked fries. What a sad ending to our meal.

So, SKIP IT or HIT IT, you ask?


My foodie buddy C is wrinkling her nose and saying, "SKIP IT!"

I say skip the sit-down dinner, and if you happen to be in the area and craving for a quick ceviche fix, hit it up for drinks and a quick bite at the bar.

Speaking of drinks, we always stop by Cafe Citron on Wednesday nights, where our friend Jeffy J never fails to whip up the most tastiest concoctions for us.




Thanks, J!

And for the rest of you, go visit him, and tell him Kim and Christine sent you!

***

Las Canteras
www.lascanterasdc.com
Ste 4, 2307 18th Street Northwest
Washington, DC 20009-1862
(202) 265-1780

Cafe Citron
www.cafecitrondc.com
1343 Connecticut Ave NW
Washington, DC 20050
(202) 530-8844

***

PS. One more day 'til Friday! I'm excited.

DC Eats: Founding Farmers

I finally got to check out Founding Farmers with some work colleagues earlier today, courtesy of my firm.

Considering I have been working right across the street from them for almost a year and a half now, I find it hard to believe that I have not been to this place a lot sooner (but only because I heard the wait is usually abnormally long, even with reservations)!



Located in the International Monetary Fund building, Founding Farmers is DC's self-proclaimed "greenest restaurant": everything about this place is organic and eco-friendly! The food -- meats, fish, and produce -- arrive daily from various family farmers who collectively own the restaurant (hence, its name!), and the interior design focuses on employing natural, sustainable materials (menus are made from recycled paper, lots of natural, low-voltage lighting, etc).





From other people's reactions and face expressions, the rotisserie chicken and steak seemed to be a hit or miss.

Lucky for me, I opted to try something different. Whereas the salad was dull and unimpressive, the corvina fish with sea salt and cracked black pepper was a very pleasant surprise!

I am far from being a fish person -- but all I did was squeeze a little lemon on that thing, and, combined with a side of mashed potatoes, this was a truly tasty entree! The triple layer chocolate mousse cake was also a nice finish to the meal. Yum!





***

Founding Farmers
www.wearefoundingfarmers.com
1924 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest
Washington, DC 20006
(202) 822-8783

***


SKIP IT OR HIT IT: Definitely hit it!