Year 3, Day 65: Date Night on Friday

Ordinarily a great day for walking, but meetings scheduled at 11:00AM and 1:00PM (that both didn't happen) precluded it. Don't you hate it when that happens? Instead it was a trip to Russo's. You might be wondering now if I'm bored of Russo's yet. Answer: no. Though I do wish they would vary the cold salad ingredients as they seem to vary the style of cooking chicken. Some days it's big pieces that are barely cooked, some days it is small, burnt knobs. And believe me, on the days that it is not those, it is every variation in between.

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

Lunch: Russo's ($5.51)
Romaine, red pepper, red onion, feta
chicken, broccoli, mushrooms
balsamic vinegar, pepperocini

Snack
4 Sticks Beef Jerky
2 Hard Boiled Eggs
1 Royal Gala Apple (not as good as Cameo)

Dinner: Chiara Bistro
1 Glass Sangria
Spinach & Frisée Salad
Fried Poached Egg, Bacon Lardons, Pommery Mustard Vinaigrette
Grilled Marinated Atlantic Swordfish Steak
Chick Pea, Cherry Tomato and Spanish Olive Salad
Harissa Oil, Greek Cucumber~Yogurt Relish

Dessert Bubbling Brook
1 Scoop of Turtle Ice Cream—Chocolate, Carmel, Chocolate covered Almonds

After a lot of thought and one false start, Emily and I picked Chiara Bisto in Westwood. Neither of us had ever been to Westwood before, but we thought it was just swell, if not really really tiny. We had arrived early and were going to do some 'site-seeing' but we realized Westwood has only one street and it's filled with tiny strips of general stores separated by your occasional very cool restaurant. Instead, we mozied in and took our seats. We were very excited by the atmosphere and we were able to get a quiet table in the corner. That didn't last long because the place filled up so by the time we left it was pretty crowded. In total uncharacteristic style, I ordered a Sangria- which may well be documented as the beginning of the end. It was so sugary that I had to ask that it be taken back and have some red wine poured into it. (In a similarly uncharacteristic move, Emily ordered a drink with lavender in it!) After shocking my system with that, it was onto some of the bread basket. The dinner was outstanding, one of the best we have had in a while.
It was a beautiful night, and as usual, we finished our dinner at it was about 7:30—no time to be going home to the kids, so we followed the north star to Bubbling Brook, an ice cream/fried clam shack we had heard about from a neighbor. The waitress told us it was just down the road. Though I usually eschew it all, the combination of a tough day, being on a date, a nice night and lots of sugary sangria sent me to order a scoop of Turtle Ice Cream (see description above). I ATE ALL OF IT except for what Emily had. It was fantastic and I loved it. On the way home I was already planning my next gym visit and cursing myself! But it was worth it.