beXnlog

Three VA Days and a Serenade

Friday 7/8:
Our drive to VA was fairly quick aside from some major traffic leaving New York. I didn't fall asleep in the car but that was mainly due to a constant sugary intake from too many Whoppers. (That large 12 oz carton is pictured under "trouble" in the dictionary.) After eating a billion of them, i read on the carton that a serving is actually 18 of them. That is sure a large serving!

Just as we arrived in VA we realized be forgot his suitcase in Queens! A late night trip for emergency undies, socks and whatnot also reaped 4 bottles of the new Limited Edition Mint Frappuccino from Starbucks. When my sister spied the bottles she asked, "So you're supporting the corporation?" and unfortunately, curiosity and the love of mint won out that time. For the record, the Mint Frappuccinos are really good. Damn you, Starbucks!

Saturday 7/9:
The big event of the weekend was the Jefferson Wedding of MK and MY. A wonderfully untraditional ceremony in the DC sun was followed by a vegan reception in VA. For favors, everyone received a 4-piece box of dark chocolates from Valentino Chocolatier, all vegan and all delicious! Definitely my most favorite wedding favor ever.

Sunday 7/10:
A brunch at Woodlands with 13 people was fun and yummy. Woodlands is a vegetarian Indian restaurant i've been hearing about for months. It's in Fairfax off Jermantown Road next to the K-Mart. For $8.95 each weekend, the multi-region buffet offered numerous dishes, appetizers, snacks and 2 desserts. I was pleasantly surprised to see so much Southern Indian fare; dosas, rasam, vada, uthappam and idlies were served next to mutar paneer (the paneer cheese was very fresh and creamy), "Manchurian" fried rice and chaats like my favorite: pani puri! The crowd was 97% South Asians besides our table, proving that the rest of NoVA still isn't quite ready for Indian food, although Thai seems to have made inroads in the past year. I loved the pani puri, most of the fried appetizers and the paneer, although i found the chaat too soggy and the lentils too plain. Overall i would definitely go back and i'm happy to know of something like it in VA.

After standing outside Woodlands for a good half hour - much like we did in high school - we broke off and walked to 7-Eleven for Slurpees. I didn't do this, but they offered a split plastic Slurpee cup so you could get 2 flavors and keep them separate. And happy birthday to Slurpees, which turned 40! We'll try to win one of those Mini Coopers.

be's been really into Red Bull recently. On the drive to VA it kept him quite awake, so on the way back to NYC he wanted one as well. At the DC gas station Red Bull was nowhere in site but i bought him a $2.00 can of Pimpjuice, the #1 Hip Hop Energy Drink from Nelly. It was a neon green color and it tasted much better than Red Bull, but since it didn't contain caffeine, be gave it a thumbs down.

Monday 7/11:
I's special lovely event, Serenade, was held at La Lanterna di Vittorio, where be and i shared a pizza. It was a larger than the plate, hanging over the edges, fluffy looking but with a crisp, thin delicious crust. I loved the pizza; it was good cheese, a nice fresh sauce and and an excellent brick oven crust. At $10.95 it was a little pricey, but very good. They have a fireplace downstairs AND upstairs, so we'll be making our main hideaway there during the winter: espresso, desserts and a toasty fire!

On the way to double dinner at Dopey Benny's with Shaptowicz for more mini tofu cheesesteaks, we stopped at a candy store and went mega nuts. I got some jellybeans and 2 large Sugar Daddy bars for a gift, while be got 16 PEZ dispensers! He talked the guy down a few bucks, somehow making such a large purchase okay. I'll post a picture when he arranges all of them - now he has the complete Simpsons, Hello Kitty and Sesame Street lines. That's a lot of PEZ to eat!

posted by beXn @ 10:07 PM