stay in the shallow end

stay in the shallow end suffered 6+ months of silence due to school. One of my classes first semester dramatically increased my workload. As a result, writing fell below the threshold of getting done. After that it was just overcoming the inertia of not having written for so long.

In any case, now that school is winding down (more on that later), and I at least think I’m blogging again, I need to figure out what to do with last week in food. I went back and looked at the last batch of them that I wrote, and it got pretty damn boring reading about me eating the same lunches at the same restaurants on the Corner. I’ll be subjected to Corner lunches for a few more weeks, and then the variety should pick up again.

In any case, I welcome comments and suggestions with regards to this feature. I enjoy doing it, but at the same time, I’d like it to feel fresh.

Monday: Dinner at Chipotle: Monday was free burrito day at Chipotle, so we braved the line and for the first time ever I did not get the pork. The barbacoa is spicy, braised, shredded beef, and while it was good, it was no pork.

Tuesday: Lunch at Just Curry: A never before reviewed restaurant! Almost exactly a year ago, I raved about Noodle Bar. It met a quick and untimely demise, and I held a grudge against Just Curry, which replaced it. When I finally made it in there, I was blown away. Just Curry is delicious. I’ve had every curry there, including the elusive Goat Curry, and they are very spicy without being overly hot and incredibly rich. I can’t say enough good things. Factor in their Curry Card which lets you prepay for 10 curries for $40, and it’s the best bang for the buck on the Corner. One word of advise, skip the red beans and rice… the basmati is much better.

Tuesday: Dinner at O’Neill’s: Tuesday’s at O’Neill’s means $2 Blue Moon Drafts and a $2.99 Cheeseburger and Fries. The burger is your standard sit down restaurant burger: thick, juicy, and delicious. Skip the fries and go for the homemade potato chips. They are thin slivers of artery clogging goodness.

Wednesday: Lunch at Bodo’s: For the first time in I don’t know how long, I got something different at Bodo’s. I got hummus, onions, mustard, and horseradish on everything wheat, and it was delicious. I don’t know if it’s better or worse for me than the avocado that I usually get, but it sure was tasty. I also got some of the Jerk Chicken Soup which I’d never seen before. I’d describe it as a “cream of jambalaya” although that makes no sense. I doubt I’d get it again.

Thursday: Lunch at Cafe Europa: Rob and I went halvsies on the Majorca and the veggie lasagna. I’ve spoken of the Majorca many times and consider it one of the best sandwiches in Charlottesville. The veggie lasagna was above average, but paled in comparison to the Majorca’s spicy goodness.

Friday: Lunch at Lemongrass: I ordered the Mungbean Noodle lunch special with Chicken. This was my second visit to Lemongrass, and it may be my last. The food was decent, but it is drowned in so much oil that it was completely unappetizing. The big problem is the service: In my two visits, I’ve never made it out of there in less than an hour and a half. Combine that with completely inattentive servers, and it’s really hard to want to go there for lunch.

Friday: Dinner at Bizou: Wow. I mean, wow. The last time I went to Bizou was probably over two years ago. I’m an idiot. We started with the Calamari, which came out in an instant, and was fried to perfection. The asian slaw with peanut sauce topping the calamari should be it’s own side dish. I ordered the grilled pork loin with jambalaya risotto and was blown away. The only thing I could possibly fault the meal for was that half the incredibly large hunk of pork was a little too dry for my taste. I also got a side of braised kale, which was fresh and tasty, but given the enormous portions, I could’ve gone without it. Highly recommended, and I’ll definitely be making it back more often.

Saturday: Lunch at Chick-Fil-A: I’m only mentioning this because when I order milkshakes I either get mint chocolate chip or cookies and cream. For a limited time, Chick-Fil-A is serving a mint cookies and cream milkshake which is pretty much the greatest dairy product ever invented. I need another one.

All done! I hope you enjoyed it. Please comment if you’d like more or not since my emotional well being is dependent on your approval.

…but I still love her.

I just dropped a check in the mail for a half-share subscription from Horse & Buggy Produce. The first pick up of the year is Wednesday, and I am pretty damn excited.

Everything I know about produce I’ve learned at the grocery store, so it’ll be interesting to learn about when things are in season. It’s actually pretty depressing that the furthest back I can trace any of my produce is the truck that brings it to Harris Teeter.

After weeks of gorgeous and warm weather…

Really, I just wanted to play with this new way of making screenshots of windows I just found

Mornings are slow for me. Really, really, really slow. I generally get up, check my email and news feeds, take a long shower, take my time getting dressed, and eventually make it out the door between an hour and an hour-and-a-half after my foot hits the ground each morning. I’ve been so busy lately, I can no longer afford myself this luxury. I’ve decided to get it down to twenty-five minutes.

Last night I ironed all my clothes and laid them out, packed up everything I needed for work, including my laptop, set the alarm for 7:30, and left myself a note that said 25 Minute Mornings! The good news is that this morning I made it from feet on the ground to out the door in twenty-seven minutes. The bad news is that it took me until 8:15 to get my feet on the ground. Getting that fixed might be a good goal for next week…

I ran the Charlottesville Ten Miler, which didn’t seem that big of a deal at the time and in the aftermath, but when I think of my level of fitness a year ago, it’s absolutely amazing. In January I has set my goal pace as 10:30/mile but as I got closer to the race, my runs had been going well, so I thought I could make it ten minute miles. I ended up at 10:08/mile for my chip time. I’m pretty pumped.

In the last six months of training, my body felt like it has fallen apart due to the preceding ten years of no strenuous physical activity. As my runs started to get longer, everything on me felt loose, like my joints didn’t fit tightly together anymore. Thankfully, that is no longer the case. My mom likes to point out the long term wear and tear that your body endures when running, but given the history of heart disease in my family, I’ve decided that it’s a lot easier to get a new knee down the line than a new heart.

I would be remiss not to mention Ragged Mountain Running Shop. Their training program was awesome, and while it kind of sucked having to roll out of bed at eight in the morning, it’s much easier to push yourself on the long runs when you’re with a group. Definitely check it out if you’re interested in getting started.