Year 3, Day 43: Date Night

Trying my hardest to move beyond political failure, I keep things in perspective by noting that Imus has been kicked to the curb by CBS. It's hard to understand if this is the right thing to be done. It doesn't necessarily feel like the punishment fits the crime, but in America there are second third and fourth acts, especially for those in the public eye. I thought a lot about Bill Maher, whose show Politically Incorrect, was ironically cancelled after remarks he made about the 911 Hijackers. He remarked that they were "stupid, but not cowardly" for staying in the planes as they hit the building. For my part, I ate nearly 500 calories of chocolate and a glass of wine and hope that tomorrow is a better day.

Breakfast
2 Slices of Jane's Whole Grain Bread (3 oz.)
Super Chunky Peanut Butter
3 oz 50% Jalapeno Cheddar

Lunch: Won Ton Kitchen
House Special Egg Drop Soup
Chicken & String Beans

Snack
4 sticks Beef Jerky
1.5 oz Boston Lite Popcorn

Dinner: Vela (Wesley)
Beef Short RIbs
Bib Salad with Pistachios and Raisins
Tuna with Whipped Cauliflower
Broccoli Rabe

Dessert
15 Squares of Milk Chocolate with Almonds
About 20 Chocolate Chips

Vela was an excellent restaurant. Emily and I split a few appetizers and then I ordered the broccoli after the entree had hit the table. Since we generally go out at around 6pm on a Thursday we are often the first, only or one of just a few people in the restaurant. So far this is really good in terms of staff attention (except for Sabra, where they didn't seem to care that any customers had shown up) but it makes for really quick dinners—when you're younger and go out on dates on the weekend you have no idea how much time is wasted just waiting for things to happen, like waiting for the salad course, or the sorbet course. Upon my return home, I broke open a chocolate bar I had foolishly purchased at whole foods. When I found the strength to put that away, I took out the chocolate chips. Really the sign of a desperate man.

Year 3, Day 37: Date Night on Friday

Went for a fast walk today; it was so cold that we thought we weren't going to make it, but we shined it on for the first dark half of the walk which was bone-chilling. By the second half we were sweating and ready to take off layers. We thought about lunch all throughout the walk but ended it up at the diner because it was the best, nearest, and most efficient alternative.

Breakfast
Kashi Go Lean!
Heritage Flakes
Strawberries
Blueberries
Banana
Unsweetened Soy Milk
Coffee

Lunch: Talk of the Town Diner
Bacon, Feta, Tomato and Spinach Omelet
8 cut pieces of lettuce and two tomatoes

Snack
4 pieces beef jerky
1 Fuji Apple

Dinner: Isabella's
2.5 Slices of Whole Wheat/Raisin/Walnut Bread & Hummus
"Red and White" Caesar Salad
Mussels
Swordfish with Pesto-Polenta

For so many reasons, we could not have our regular date night on Thursday, so we opted to go out tonight (Friday). The contrast between Thursday night folk and Friday night folk was sharp, and obvious. We went to Isabella's in Dedham, which was surprisingly good for being in Dedham, though Emily deemed that the water was undrinkable due to its high chlorine amount. When asked the waitress said it was same 'anywhere in Boston' which was a flabbergasting statement based on its high untruthiness factor. While our eyebrows were raised, she concluded "if you go to the four seasons, it's the same thing." She was lucky that the meal was so good, or this whole post would have been about that preposterous statement.

Year 2, Day 349: Two Meals Out

Thursday has become our defacto "Date Night" and tonight though we have continued to try and get to the movies, it is just too big a time commitment and it takes too much planning. So we opted for dinner and the mall, which is a low-speed, low commitment exercise.

Breakfast
2 Eggs
2 Slices of Iggy's 7-Grain Bread
3 oz 50% jalapeno Cheddar
Coffee

Snack
1 Large Fuji Apple
5 STicks Beef Jerky

Lunch: Town Deluxe Diner
Greek Salad with Grilled Chicken
Balsamic Vinaigrette

Dinner: Olga Sushi
Edamame
Salad
Miso Soup
1 Shumai
Sashimi Deluxe Platter

I like Sashimi—for those of you who don't know, that's the version with just the fish and no rice and no seaweed wrapper (which by the way, is very high in carbs). One of the problems is I don't really like to pour over a sushi menu, but the Sashimi special is often like 25.00, which is the price I think about when I think about ordering lobster at Legal Seafoods, not just getting some plain, uncooked fish! So far, though, it hasn't stopped me.