A Return to Civilization!

We had a terrific day in the city yesterday. (For a long time, "the city" meant New York or possibly Philadelphia then, after our relocation north, Boston. Now, it means D.C. for us. We're recallibrating our systems!) On a cloudy Saturday morning, we set out for Alexandria, where we met our old pal Jordan for lunch in the sun. I managed to photograph *nothing* of our lunch at Vermilion, which was very good, or our dessert at Bread and Chocolate (home of Cupcakes for Change with Obama symbols!). I remembered I had a camera at the end of our visit, when Jordan took us to Balducci's, which is a true foodie's heaven.

Here he reluctantly poses with expensive grapefruit seltzer, which he later willingly shared. We can confirm that it was appropriately fizzy, decidedly grapefruit flavored, and pretty surprisingly delicious. I've entitled this photo JordansGrapefruit. Next time, we'll try another flavor and share some with him.

Outside of the Old Town Trader Joe's, Ben spotted this critter playing in front of some gorgeous condos with lovely brick entryways. We watched our new friend from the car for a good couple of minutes while he played his squirrel games. Then, we praised deities for a return to civilization and it's accompanying Trader Joe's, where we stocked up on non-perishables. TJ's, it had been too long! We missed you!


Picture here, if you will, wandering around Ikea, testing out couches and chairs, eating Swedish delicacies, greedily stuffing delicious cheap chocolate in my purse (after I paid, of course), and hauling boxes around the warehouse. We now own another Poang chair instead of a couch (it's a long story), and a lovely ottoman which Ben put together this morning while I worked. It's starting to look like people, rather than campers, actually live here!


We couldn't let the joy of our trip die too quickly, so we ventured to the downtown location of our favorite Charlottesville outpost, Bodo's Bagels this afternoon. Technically, this Bodo's is "on the corner," in a strip of shops at the edge of the University; we learned through Ben's UVa orientation that there is no technical corner, but we didn't learn why it's still called that. Anyway, the bagels. They're certainly not from the Bagel Street Grill, but they're boiled NY-style and appropriately chewy. Perfect for a sandwich with tofu, which is what I had today. They have great cheap iced tea, too. All in all, Bodo's currently reigns as our favorite local hangout. Cheap, clean, tasty, and veggie-friendly? Check!

Our lives are otherwise boringly filled with work, which has yet to become an interesting blog topic. Hope all is well wherever you are and whatever your lives are filled with.


Finally, a prayers/thoughts/vibes request: Ben's maternal grandfather, also named Don, will have major surgery for esophageal cancer on Thursday, unless news from a PET scan on Tuesday indicates a chemo-radiation protocol. Sue is in Florida with them now, so between her and the doctors, we know he is in good hands. Thanks for your good thoughts. <3