The Nation's Capitol

Here I am, 12 days before my wedding. Rather than accomplishing the daunting to do list, I am in an overpriced hotel room in DC. Overpriced because this property is in serious need of renovation in spite of me paying $185 per night. DC because that is where the conference is I'm attending. In my hotel room because I don't feel like making an effort at the ice breaker - the conference isn't for me or my career so I just can't get too excited about it. So, here I am contemplating where to go eat alone (wish I still had that Eggplant book!) and wishing I were home because Chris and I are getting married in 12 days. 12 days....

I'm also feeling just a tad guilty because I'm in DC and I'm not seeing anything that makes DC amazing. And it's Veteran's Day and I'm not even going to get into a cab to see the Wall or the new WWII monument which Tom Hanks so eloquently campaigned for. I have to admit, I did have that Capra-esque sense of wonder as I came in from the airport. Passing the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial does inspire a sense of awe in me. But still, here I sit in my hotel room.

New Breakfast Spot

Goodbye Bob Evans...hello, Tasi's Cafe. This little community bakery / diner / hangout has recently opened in the Short North. Chris and I met our travel agent there this morning. I'm not sure why the travel agent always wants to meet with us rather than just mailing us the needed information, but whatever. Tasi's Cafe turned out to be a good spot for this little meeting - which was really more of handing over the e-tickets and itinerary (Turks & Caicos here we come).

Chris and I had big mugs of hot coffee. The coffee wasn't really exceptional, but it was good. Next time I'll try a cappuccino or espresso because the Tasi gang uses Illy coffee. Mmm, real good stuff in cute little mugs. Chris had the Greek scrambled eggs which were very well done. They had lots of interesting things in them, feta (of course), tomatoes, zucchini and some type of spice I couldn't identify but kept me eating off of his plate. The eggs were accompanied by big hunks of toasted Eleni Christina buttered bread. Later in the afternoon, some cheese and wine and this bread and I would be happy. (Tasi's Cafe is part of the Rigsby's / Eleni Christina family).

I had Greek yogurt served just the way I like it - with honey! The granola it was on was really good, not tasting too oily and using big hunks of whole grain goodness. It also had sliced bananas on top. We both split an almond croissant. More dense than most croissants, this also tasted more bread like and heartier. Butter was still a large presence which was very tasty. The almonds on top could have done with a light toasting, but overall this was a hit at our table.

They also have lunch (can't wait to try the lobster mac & cheese) and have a wide variety of baked goods and various sundries (different imported olive oils, sea salts and pastas. I can see this being a good place to go to make gift baskets for those hard to buy for people, which seems to be everyone in my family. So I might have to visit again. For gift giving purposes, of course.

Flats for a Short Girl

I'm short. I'm somewhere between 5 feet and 5 feet 2 inches. Where in this range I fall, I'm not really sure. Sometimes I even say I'm five feet three inches, but I'm pretty sure this is just wishful thinking. I often find myself looking up to talk to people and asking for help in reaching the top shelf. The point is I'm below the average height for a woman, which is evidently 5 feet 3.8 inches or 63.8 centimeters (the metric conversion is for my Canadian readers). I've never really been bothered with being short. I had the advantage of dating whomever I wanted and not having to worry about how we would look dancing. I also love being able to rest my head solidly onto Chris' chest. What do tall girls do when they just want a good hug? Anyway, over the years, I've come to even better terms with being vertically challenged (as I was called last week at a bar). In fact, I've come so far that I don't always wear heels anymore. I used to love me some spikes for a night on the town, I had many pairs of ridiculously tall shoes. From time to time, I still enjoy putting these on and strutting around (there is no other way to walk in strappy heels). But, I have to admit these shoes just aren't as comfortable as they were when I was 25. For this reason, I was excited when these darling little flats arrived on my front porch yesterday. Yes, all 5 feet 2 inches (or something like that) of me has decided the time has come to embrace flats. Thank you, Steve Madden for helping to make this day possible.

And the UPS Man Delivers

We have been getting so many wedding gifts delivered to our house each day. It's been really fun. Even Prada likes to see what's in the box...

A Pesto Emergency Declared a Success

Last Sunday, yes a week ago, the weather people called for our first hard frost. And indeed, I did find myself scraping my windows on Monday morning. Sunday night around 10 p.m., however, had us scurrying around the backyard harvesting the rest of our garden. I sawed down the only remaining fennel plants (Earlier this fall, I had mistakenly thought they had done everything they were going to do, so I pulled out most of the fennel plants. Good thing I got sidetracked half way through the project and left a couple of plants.) We also picked our basil. All week the basil sat in our kitchen in a vase omitting the fragrance only slowly decomposing basil can (somewhere between that smells good and did the cat pee on the floor).

I finally got around to making pesto out of the basil this morning. During this process, I thought for sure it was headed for disaster. I was too lazy to get out the new food processor, so I made it in the blender. This was touch and go for a little bit and I think I ended up adding more olive oil than when I have it made in the food processor (the blender needs liquid to get things moving). Also, the pine nuts seemed suspiciously freezer burned, however about 10 minutes in a pot over low heat took care of that. Also, according to this place (really, who knew Gahanna, Ohio is the herb capital of the world!) you should always blanch your basil leaves before turning into pesto so to maintain their green color. I might have blanched about 35 seconds too long. Worst of all, the only garlic we had in the house was a little past its prime (horror) and I could only salvage one clove. On the plus side, I had real parmigiana reggiano on hand and some really good olive oil. We had pasta with pesto on it tonight and even had some leftover to freeze. Pesto is one of those things I think you have to just make, following a recipe just won't work. Once you know what is in it - fresh basil, good olive oil, cheese (which is optional), pine nuts (or walnuts if you want the Omega 3s and want the dish to be budget friendly), garlic - you can make a batch and bring back the taste of summer throughout the winter because it really does freeze beautifully.

* This whole heroic pesto scene took place on Saturday, but is just being posted now.

It is November 4...

...the end of Daylight Savings and I just picked my first raspberries of the season. How you like them apples, uh berries? Sure, global warming is just a facade. I just hope it holds out another 19 days.

21 days out

Not to worry, the social security situation worked it self out. Turns out the 2005 tax from my employer at the time had my social security number on it, and was an acceptable form of identification. So the marriage license has been procured without me having to resort to showing the clerk each photo album I have ever arranged. We also had our last meeting with the priest. Our compatibility "test" came back "positive" so he is going to marry us. That is actually quite a relief, the ceremony is a huge part of the day!

So otherwise we are continuing to enjoy these last weeks before the wedding. We're busy, but we're also really excited. For me, at some points over the summer, I just wasn't wanting to deal with wedding minutiae and wondering why we didn't just elope. Now that it's right the corner, I'm so happy we're having this more traditional type of wedding. I feel so blessed that so many of our family and friends will be there when we say our vows.