It’s (finally) sweater weather!
There are two seasons I love more than any other — Spring and Fall. And for good reason. My reasons may or may not be entirely fashion-based. No judgment, right? But really, I’ve been waiting all September and October to start wearing my cozy layers and chic boots. (more…)
So one day, the day I was prepping for my dinner party and Ultimate Charcuterie, I was at none other than my favorite grocery store, wegmans. I was stocking up on all the cheeses, meats and goodies I wanted to feature on my board. And at the very last second I picked up what I thought was chunks of parmesan cheese. It wasn’t until I started putting the Charcuterie board together that I realized I had actually picked up parmesan rinds. Parmesan rinds are hard and practically inedible. Devastated, I just threw them into the fridge thinking I’d figure out what to do with them later. (more…)
‘Tis the season for short days, long nights, chilly weather, cozy layers… and lots of Pho!
Let me tell you about my very first Pho experience (it was awful, by the way). My friends had been raving on and on about Pho, which I quickly learned is pronounced, fah, and decided they wanted to plan a Pho night. It was Ramadan, and I was starving to begin with. The place was nothing to write home about. It included lots of basic chairs and tables, some Vietnamese décor, and of course only accepted cash. (more…)
When you think soup, you think a steaming bowl in a cozy corner on a chilly day, right? That’s what I generally think when I conjure up an image of soup, before discovered soup makers! Just check these ones and imagine next:
It’s 97°F, the day after the hottest day of the year, you have the chills, you’ve lost your voice, and you’re battling a stuffy/runny nose along with a hacking cough. Pretty little picture I painted there, huh? (more…)
It’s cold. Actually, it’s beyond cold. We were hit with snow early this week and it was terrible. Fairfax County schools, DC schools and the Federal Government all failed to call – at a minimum – a two-hour delay causing mass chaos during the morning commute.
Since Tuesday’s snowfall, the snow hasn’t melted. We’ve been seeing temperatures no warmer than 30 F with mornings at 8 F and afternoons hovering around 25 F. I’ve probably said this at least 10 times on the blog, but I am not a fan of cold weather. If it were up to me, I would hibernate all winter and come back to life when it’s no colder than 60 F, sometime around late March. The layers: sweaters, coats, socks, leggings, gloves, hats, ear muffs; it’s all too much for me. And to top it all off, the days are cut short when the sun sets at 5pm. (more…)
Let me just say that I’m a Northern Virginian, born and raised and I went to grad school at Syracuse. Did I mention the Northern VA part? For those of you who don’t know, it’s distinct enough from the rest of Virginia to require a prefix (but that’s a discussion for another day). What you do need to know is that NoVa and cold precipitation are not a good mix. Blame it on the location – an in-between zone where we don’t quite get fluffy snow and when it rains in 30 degree weather it usually comes down on us in a nice “wintery mix.” Snow, not for me. My favorite winters are the ones where we don’t get any snow. In Syracuse, I wasn’t so lucky. I didn’t understand the concept of Lake Effect Snow until I saw it in action… that is constant snow from October through April. (more…)
