Holidayapalooza 2010, Virginia Beach-style

Christmas season 2010 was a little all over the place.  Craig and I drove down to Virginia Beach on the 21st to spend some time with his parents, where I learned the following things...

The beach is always beautiful, even when it's freeeeeeeezing outside.

The city of Norfolk has mermaids everywhere.  EVERYWHERE.

Large, imposing battleships are much less scary when adorned with a wreath.

Water is alllllll around.  And it can come get you.  I'm still not totally comfortable with water.

I also learned that my future father-in-law is an exceptional board game player (especially one particular game involving military strategy), my future mother-in-law is a rather wonderful hostess, and some kitty cats actually do like Craig (ahem, Harrison).  Check out the pictures from the Virginia Beach adventures here.  More holidayapalooza to come...pretend I'm flying from Norfolk to DFW at this very moment...

The most ridiculous meal ever

That guy I'm going to marry (hmmm, maybe I'll just call him that instead of "the boy" or even "Craig") had a birthday last month, and because I'm such a delightful girlfriend-now-fiancée who wanted to plan a wonderful birthday dinner and eat dinner at this place myself because it's supposed to be basically the most amazing dining experience in the entire D.C. area and possibly of your life, I hit redial for the reservation line at Komi on November 18th from 12:00 to 12:45 until I finally got through to a human being.  You see, they open up reservations at noon one month to the calendar day before your hopeful-please-let-us-get-in dining date.  Ridiculous.  It's a tiny, tasting-menu-only, highly revered restaurant with only 38 seats, and yes, I managed to snag us a reservation.  Phew.  Craig's excited for this dinner...(trust me, that's his excited face - he's pretty even-keel the vast majority of the time)...

Dinner was...deliciously amazingly delicious.  And LONG.  We were there about 2 1/2 hours.  And we had five different people explaining and pouring and serving and taking care of us all night long.  My only other tasting menu experience was on engagement night when I was too "eeeeeeeeekkkk!!" to really appreciate it (and I'll tell you about it anyway, I promise), but this was pretty wonderful as far as dining experiences go.  Overall verdict:  1000x yum.

I "interviewed" Craig (less than a month later...not bad for the blog considering Spain hangs over my head) for some of his favorites from dinner, and here's what I got:

• spanikopita
• it was all good except for the brussel sprouts

What can I say - he's a man of few words and FAR LESS reactive/over-the-top crazy than I am about...pretty much everything.  Oh, the food...

I interviewed myself and found out I LOVED the following from the Greek/Mediterranean-influenced menu:

• the slightly-salty-but-in-a-good-way crudo course (pictured above), especially the one with the crispy caper berry garnish
• tiny, adorable lobster rolls
• the teensy half-smoke served with an IPA as part of our wine pairing - it was so D.C. and SO tasty
• mascarpone-stuffed Medjool dates - it sounds really simple, but it was kinda amazing
• our "main dish" - roasted goat with house-made pita and a host of garnishes, including tzatziki, hot sauce, and oregano sea salt that I couldn't stop sprinkling on every bite.  Yeah, and I asked for more bread.  It. Was. SO. GOOD.
• frozen, tiny baklava for a dessert tasting

And after all of that and much, much more...we were incredibly full.  With very happy tummies.  And we had a fantastic wine pairing with all of this, which only made it that much better.  Everything's better when you start with bubbles and finish with a dessert wine that's actually delicious and not crazy-sweet.

OF COURSE I had my camera perched in the seat next to me, discreetly sneaking in shots here and there so I could attempt to remember what we were eating since we ate about eight million things...and then I was politely informed by one of our many attentive waitstaff that Chef Johnny would prefer that I enjoy his food the moment it hits the table.  Basically - please don't take pictures.  Ok, that's cool by me, even though I seriously doubt the food loses any of its deliciousness in the two seconds it takes for me to capture it for posterity and memory's sake.  Upon voicing this ("I really just want to remember everything we ate!"), our kind waiter had Chef Johnny write up the evening's menu for us.  Which doesn't quite cover it when everything is described in one word, but it definitely helps.  Thanks, Chef Johnny!

I'm not on the e-reader bandwagon...yet

I LOVE books.  Actual books.  Not fake pages on a screen that you "flip."  I just can't get into that.  Although I probably will someday.  Sigh.  How long can I resist the iPad when everyone I know is singing its praises?  Craig's had the NOOK (or is it nook?  Or Nook?  I can't tell...) for about a year and is pretty much sold on it, especially when he saw how many books and magazines I hauled around over the holidays to provide myself entertainment.  I think he was a little shocked.  Hmmmm....

I resolve to read at least 30 books in 2011.  And I'm hard at work on this one since that whole "lose 25 pounds" thing is going to test my resolve more than I had hoped.  Sigh again.  So I'll encourage everyone else to get out there and read, too, if for no other reason than it provides an escape from the life of spreadsheets or call center questions or screaming children or whatever it is that's testing you these days.  To that end, here are my suggestions from a selection of the 32 books I read last year.  I kept a list.  That's why I knew how many I'd read.  What, you're shocked?  This is me we're talking about.  Of course there was a list.

I loved these, please read them as soon as humanly possible:

1. Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins
2. My Life in France by Julia Child
3. Wonder Boys by Michael Chabon
4. Travel Writing by Peter Ferry
5. Naked by David Sedaris
6. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows

These were pretty good, too, go ahead and add them to your list:

1. Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
2. The Reader by Bernhard Schlink
3. The Tenth Circle by Jodi Picoult
4. London is the Best City in America by Lori Gottlieb
5. Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf
6. Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult

Rereads for me, prompted by vacation and movie-viewing, that you should go ahead and read for the first time if you haven't already read them, or just skip Harry Potter if you have strong feelings about not reading young adult wizard fiction:

1. Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt
2. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling

Girly books that didn't make toooooo much of an impression on me when I couldn't bring myself to read the books I felt like I should read to enhance my knowledge and bucket of cultural reference but that are probably quiet sufficient for a lazy afternoon on a beach somewhere:

1. The Guy Not Taken by Jennifer Weiner
2. Barefoot by Elin Hilderbrand
3. The Other Woman by Jane Green
4. Firefly Lane by Kristin Hannah

Do not UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES read this crap book:

1. In the Kitchen by Monica Ali

Here we come a-caroling

Still playing catch-up on the blog, so hope you guys enjoy all of these holiday-themed posts.  At least they're making an appearance in January instead of May or something.  Phew.

My D.C. time is coming to a close rather rapidly, and did you know that while I have done A LOT over the last couple of years, there are still plenty of things that just aren't going to happen?  The week before Christmas, though, I got to check one more thing off the list - a visit to Ford's Theatre.  Now, while I missed the "live historic interpretations by professional actors and National Park Service Rangers" that go on during the day (here's hoping the actors do the acting while the Park Rangers provide info and not the other way around), I did get to do something pretty cool - see "A Christmas Carol" in all of its Christmas wonder. 

Craig and I braved the freeeeeezing temperatures and brutal wind for the short walk from my place to our wonderful pre-theater dinner at Poste, a nifty restaurant located in the original 1841 General Post Office.  We warmed up with some ridiculous French onion soup and other tasty things, then took a quick stroll through the lobby of Hotel Monaco to soak up a little Christmas cheer.

Christmas cheer in place!  Also, bundled up to face the elements

We froze our way over to Ford's Theater a couple of blocks away, where I managed to take my gloves off long enough to snap just a couple of pictures before my fingers froze and crumbled to the sidewalk in a pile of frozen finger dust.  Ok, I still have my fingers, or else these incredible robotic fingers that are fairly nimble when it comes to typing.

One of the randomly cool things you come across in D.C. - old call boxes all over the city that have been painted to reflect something of historical significance in the neighborhood.  It's a pretty cool project!  Obviously, Mr. Lincoln and his untimely end pretty much dominate this block of 10th Street NW.

We got there just in time to sneak in and unbundle ourselves before the show started, so I snapped a few pictures at intermission - the stage all decked out all 1840s London-style and the box where Lincoln was shot:

Just another night at the theater!  Oh, in a theater of great historical significance while being filled with Christmas spirit.  Pretty cool night.  Actually, it was very cold.  But you know what I mean.

Snuggie power!

I think the whole thing was intended for laughs.  But little did Dad know that he was actually planning one of the greatest Christmas presents ever...I mean, an impulse purchase at CVS doesn't usually yield this kind of enthusiastic result. 

I think I've even laughed at other people for declaring their Snuggie love.  I believe a certain Vaughn might have a pink one...but at any rate, I'm now a Snuggie believer.  See below for proof.

Thanks to my fellow Snuggie believer and model for demonstrating its awesomeness.  It's a BLANKET with SLEEVES.  Why didn't I think of this?!?

Double Snuggie-enjoyment by both sis and I (and yes, those are crazy-delightful Santa socks, courtesy of Mom) while I'm attempting to figure out how to actually focus shots with my WONDERFUL new camera lens that the parents gave me for Christmas.  Must learn to not depend on auto-focus...

Getting all geared up for the Tech bowl game the night before - and yeah, I realize I look really tired.  Woke up at 5:15 on New Year's Eve morning to fly back to the D of C, but also determined to make it past midnight.  I'm not THAT old yet.

Zach LOVES the Snuggie.  A LOT.

SOMEONE decided they were tired during the Tech-Northwestern bowl game and wanted to take a nap...which was just perfect for a sneak Snuggie attack.  Oh yeah, and Tech definitely won that game.
Goooooooooo Raiders!  Snuggie power!!