Friday, July 13, 2012

Nesting

I'm not even knocked up and I think I'm starting to feel nest-y. As in, "Oooh, I'm so glad it's Friday because tomorrow Haruki, David, and I can sleep in and eat pancakes and read the New York Times together."

David likes to make fun of me for sentiments like this one, since technically we could do this everyday because of our job flexibility. (David is a philosophy professor at CU Boulder, in case I haven't mentioned that before. Hence the robot-like rationality.) David also finds it mildly alarming that even though I could watch movies all day on a Wednesday, for instance, I choose not to, instead reserving Sunday (and let's face it, sometimes Saturday) for utter relaxation day: movies, reading, minimal stressors, etc.

I got to thinking about all this because last night David and I went out to dinner with our friend Bradley, who regaled us with his most recent adventures in dating. It doesn't seem like that long ago that David and I started dating (3 years), but my my how things have changed for us.

(*Sidenote: it seriously just occurred to me that this "nesting" is the opening stage of what may later be empty nest syndrome: me, at like 47, doing step aerobics at the YMCA, prolly drinking too much wine, and generally hiding from the fact that my life's purpose--i.e. raising my spoiled kids--has been nullified because they "flew the coop." In other words, I'm building a "nest" that is going to self-destruct faster than a college freshman.)

(Jesus. Speaking of which, there should be some kind of Lord's prayer for neurotics.)

Anyyyyyway, dinner was good. We hadn't seen Bradley in awhile, so it was nice to catch up over mediocre food.

We ate at Leaf Vegetarian Restaurant, which is one of the surprisingly few vegetarian restaurants in Boulder.

I started with a Spring salad, which had pickled onions (not on the menu but yummy), pepitas!, and some kind of tangy dressing. Actually, now that I think about it, I don't think that's what I actually ordered! Hey!


Not that you can tell, though, because I forgot to take a picture of it before I ate.it.all.

Same goes for the Blonde Ale I shared with David:




But, ta-da! My entree:


Mustard-crusted tofu with sweet potatoes, seared greens, and cherry reduction.

Actually, this doesn't deserve a "ta-da." The tofu was good but not great, the greens and sweet potatoes were "meh," and the cherry reduction was way too sweet--like cherry juice sweet.

David and Bradley got the seitan "loin" (puke, "loin"), which was much better:


I think I'm going to work on my photography skillz.
So, the moral of the story is: even when the restaurant's motto is to make vegetarian food appealing to all palates, sometimes even peeps with vegetarian palates have to gag down overpriced vegetables and soy products.

*Have you wondered how much a 1/4 block of tofu, 5 slices of sweet potato, and a mini-serving of chard actually costs? Yah, me neither. $%*#!

4 comments:

  1. I've never liked that place very much. Glad I am not the only one.
    Also, I am envious of your efforts to have a real weekend. Lately, my weekends have just been days on which I can get more work done, because there are fewer other errands that can be done on Saturday and Sunday. When I have a real job some day, I totally want a real weekend too.

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    1. Maybe it will curb your envy to know that I experience regular bouts of self-loathing because I haven't been doing enough work during the week to deserve a "real" weekend.
      P.S. Have you been making a test run of your wedding cake? (Your Facebook posts are tempting...)

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  2. My dear girl, you don't sound "nested" you sound "domesticated" . . . or maybe just happy. I like to think of nesting as more of a desire to scrub everything twice and organize your socks into a half dozen different drawers.

    Oh, and my guess is a buck fifty.

    Oh oh, and apparently if you get instagram and apply a vintage filter, all your pictures are magically better.

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  3. Ha--so true about Instagram! I liked to brag that my photos have looked like crap since I began this blog--not just since this instagram bizness took off!

    P.S. Thanks for the distinction, RE: nesting/domesticated. Given that I have yet to unpack all my things and we've been living in our new house for two months, I'd say the difference is a pretty big one!

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