"Dinner Diary" Week 3

Aug 8th, 2014

Today I headed home so excited for my weekend with Eleanor!  The weather was great, and we went right out for a walk to Whole Foods. This is always a fun little trip for both of us, and Eleanor looks forward to her chocolate milk when I strap her into the stroller.  I got a bunch of food for the weekend and beginning of the week.  For Friday's dinner, I picked up Rustico Romano chicken breasts from Whole Foods the deli, then just steamed broccoli and roasted sweet potatoes. Ellie ate everything with ketchup, of course! After she went to bed, I cleaned and watched some House MD.  Then I went too bed waaaay too late.

Aug 9th, 2014

Ellie's and my day started with a trip to the POOL!  She freaking loves swimming in the pool, and yells "Water!  Water!" between screams of joy the entire time.  She likes to both cuddle and feel like she is swimming free - so I put my hands under her chest and glide her through the water.  I love watching her joy!  We got spit-roasted chicken from Nando's for lunch on the way home.  It was deeeelicious!  I hadn't been there in a long time, but I am already craving it again.

For dinner, Ellie had a good serving of leftover lentil, chickpea, feta salad with extra cheese (havarti) on the side.  After she went to bed, Kyle and I shared a plate of prosciutto, fresh mozzarella, honey goat gouda, tomatoes, salty date hazelnut crisps, and melon.  We drank red wine, and then I drunkenly ate about a third of the container of hazelnut gelato...ouch.  I honestly don't even want to buy it again over that overdose.  We watched an episode of UTOPIA, which is probably one of my favorite shows EVER EVER.

Aug 10

What a lovely day with Eleanor - she woke me up BRIGHT and early, and I took advantage of the sprawling morning ahead of us to head up to the Zoo.  We both enjoyed ourselves so much walking around and saying "hi" to bears, all kinds of birds, small mammals (MEERKATS), and others. Eleanor did a lot of walking herself, and semi-happily rode in the stroller for the rest.  On the way home, we stopped by the Farm Fresh Farmers' Market in Dupont Circle.  I bought my first truly delicious peaches and tomatoes of the summer - it would have been sad to not get any of those this season.

Today, Ellie took her first SHOWER. I don't think she loved it, but it was fun to take one together. I couldn't really detangle our hair, though - I was too busy trying to get her to turn around and not get water in her eyes!  Dinner was yummy fish tacos from District Taco!  With tons of veggies, black beans, and a little cheese and sour cream.  Ellie loved these (we shared three small ones).

Aug 11

Ellie spent the night at her dad's tonight, so I went to Trivia Night at Ragtime with friends!  It was lots of fun - and we came VERY close to winning - I think we only lost by two points!!!  On Mondays, they have a steak dinner special that is really quite good. A New York strip steak with a grilled veggie kabob and a baked potato. Mmmm.  It's all very tasty! We metro'd home and watched an episode of UTOPIA and I think I fell asleep sitting up I was so tired.

Aug 12th, 2014

Getting through the day today was TOUGH. SO TIRED.  It didn't help that it poured poured poured rain for much of the day, but I felt like my heart was racing, I was short of breath - sleep deprivation really is incredibly bad for you. This experience prompted me to make a firmer commitment to get more sleep!!  I had plans to get a lot done after work, but when I got home I just wanted to collapse.  I wasn't even feeling hungry because the exhaustion just overwhelmed all other sensations.  I did make some buttered toast with heirloom tomato, fried eggs, and pecorino cheese. And then a second toast with hummus and tomato. I rounded out dinner with some blueberries, a peach, and a pear. Then it was time for a shower and BED.

Aug 13th, 2014

We had lovely, fall-like weather today, and so we went for a walk to the grocery store after work for some ingredients to round out dinner. Despite the cooler weather, we had a quintessential summer meal of lemon dill salmon, romaine+tomato+mozzarella salad, and corn on the cob. As always, Eleanor loved her mini cob (I cut one in half for her). I was happy to have some salmon and salad for lunch the next day.  For dessert had a pear with some cheddar cheese and blueberries. I also drank a small glass of beer and some half water/half lemonade.  I felt a lot better than the days before, but I could still feel some fatigue lingering.

Aug 14th, 2014

I had all of the ingredients for a simple dinner for me and Ellie, so we had extra time for a nice evening walk to Logan Circle!  Eleanor brought her ball and made lots of friends, including a sweet three year old girl with a French name that I never fully got...("oh! what a pretty name!"). We had a great time, and Eleanor let me carry her most of the way home while she held onto my neck.  Love that.  I cooked Cheddar cheese+black bean+veggie quesadillas for us, which we dipped into sour cream.  For dessert, we shared a pear! Oh and I did have some half water/half lemonade because it gets me to drink more water :).

At bedtime, the obsession with 13 Words by Maira Kalman and Lemony Snicket is still going STRONG. We read it twice (she loves to point the the BIRD on every page, and she points out every TABLE and HAT.), and then she crawled over later to start reading it again on the floor.  I had to pry her away! I love reading it with her so much.