Sabbatical

I have many adventures to write about! Unfortunately I only have Internet at work until Friday...stay tuned for the most amazing D.C. adventure yet!!! (yes it really is that amazing!)

Three Clicks of My Heels

I want to go home.

Jaleo: Birthday Dinner

Traditionally I take Alex out to dinner someplace fancy for his birthday. (Years past: The Metropolitan Grill in Seattle, Grey Stone in San Diego, and my memory is lapsing for last year) but this year Alex chose Jaleo a Tapas bar. There are a few locations in the D.C. are but we headed to the one that was a short drive away in Crystal City. The restaurant is fairly large and we had no problem with getting a reservation. We did get seating in a corner which had a large curtain hanging to separate us from a till, however you could still hear all the beeping and the constant coming and going of the servers was a little strange and ruined some of the ambiance.

Alex had really wanted to try the paella, so we ordered their seafood version. They recommended that we order some tapas in addition so we started off with three delicious tapas:

Trigueros con romesco Grilled asparagus with romesco sauce and two from their specials menu. We also each ordered a glass of their sangria

The Paella was a lot of food for two people with the additions of the tapas but it was amazing! There was tons of seafood and the flavor was amazing.

We topped the meal off with a tradition flan that was incredibly creamy and silky in texture.

I would definitely go back, probably not order the paella since it is a bit pricey for your average night out to dinner. But our meal was fantastic!

A word of warning... don't wear slippery shoes. I had just bought a new pair of shoes *see earlier post, and the bottoms are supper slippery. Needless to say I almost took out a table in the bar...awesome.

Birthday Celebration

Alex's 24th birthday was yesterday. It was a pretty low key birthday, but I think he enjoyed the day. After work I went to his place of employment to join in on a happy hour event they were having, and then Alex and I ventured to the Mat Hatter bar a few blocks away to have some bar food and drinks. We then headed to Crystal City to watch the Huskies...boo that they lost!! We then came home and Alex opened his second gift...Top Chef the computer game. We have both been playing non-stop since last night. It is very addicting even if it isn't horribly complex. We also are both such big fans of the show that the "Judges Table" and characters make us laugh. Glad I made a solid birthday investment!

To back track, Alex's other gift is opening day tickets to the Nats. I am pretty excited for it...hopefully Obama will throw the opening pitch!

Re-visiting

I always read things about how it is important to revisit your goals to make sure you are progressing. I also thing it is time to evaluate how practical and realistic my 23 before 23 is. Here is the list with my comments! I still need a 23rd thing to do!

1) Lost 10 pounds- getting there
2) Get hired full time- I think this is out of my control and self-defeating (think of something new)
3) Make my 100th posting- this will be my 61st post---39 posts to go!
4) Start 52 Card Pick Up-- need some more inspiration
5) Start volunteering somewhere- got to get my act together
6) Stop biting my nails- maybe if I wasn't so damn stressed out (must think of diamond that will grace my fingers at some point!!)
7) Only drink 1 soda/week- Change to only drink 1 regular soda per week, diet is okay
8) Do not check facebook for 1 week- need to buckle down and do it!
9) Turn my cell phone off for three days- not sure if I will survive
10) Donate my hair to Locks of Love (completed- December 2008)
11) Take one photo a day for a month and make a photo album- need to set a start date
12) Go to the top of the Old Post Office Tower (November 2008)
13) Complete a scrapbook
14) Only drink water as a beverage for 1 week- lets scale back and say 5 days, weekends are hard!
15) Read 20 books- easily done, probably already done but I haven't tracked
16) Do not eat meat for two weeks- need to do it
17) No alcohol for one month, ummm scaling back to two weeks
18) Host a dinner party- too embarrassed by my apartment
19) Start studying for the LSATs- not sure I want to go to law school anymore
20) Take a trip somewhere I haven't been before- does Maryland count?
21) Send 5 friends hand made greet cards- V-day cards!! DONE!
22)Go to dinner and a movie alone on valentine's day---done
23)