Seaside Meals, Donating Hair and Shabbat Dinner

Living overseas means when you visit the States you go all out and make your time there worth it.  Alright, that wasn't exactly the case last year with FNCE, but the flight from the Azores was just about 5 hours to Boston, and I had to get back for other commitments on the island.  That I could rationalize.  But this year, living in Japan,  just couldn't rationalize a short trip to the US just for conference.  Obviously I was happy to go to SD because one of my best friends lives there, but I was extra excited to know that my mom and Joe wanted to make a the trip out there too and we could have a nice family vacation.

Although the weather was not the best on our last full day together as a family, we still hit up some beach towns along the SD coast.

Check out my straight hair.  I had a Brazilian blowout while I was there (yes, I am aware of the FDA issues and OSHA concerns, and I am hoping that the salon used the newer product that claims to be formaldehyde free, and the salon advertised in their window).  

Lunch was at Sbicca in Del Mar.  This was a great little restaurant, and a perfect setting for a seaside lunch.

Bread to start.

These are little corn and shrimp fritters.  Every since I had those corn and shrimp cakes, we have been craving the combo.

I shared those with my mom, as well as these fish tacos.  When in San Diego, you MUST try the fish tacos.

After heading back to La Jolla for some more walking and shopping, we stopped at a bakery for a tasty afternoon snack.

Later on, but still early enough for Happy Hour, Amanda met up with us at Jose's for dinner and margaritas.

Joe was all about the tacos.

Amanda and I split the calamari strips and quesadillas.  Yum!

My mom had this burrito thing.  Yes, I really can't remember what this was exactly.  Shows how much I know about Mexican food. 

After some more walking dessert seemed like the next logical step in the evening.  Actually it was more like we walked by Aroma Cafe so many times that we just couldn't resist any longer.

My mom and Joe split Black Forest Cake and Amanda and I went with a Nutella and banana crepe.

Yum!  Great last day with my mom and Joe.

Before they left, they gave me this sample to try.  By far the best flavor I have tried yet!

While waiting for Amanda to pick me up the next day, I enjoyed lunch at The Brick & Bell Cafe.

I love a good veggie sandwich and a nice whole grain bread.  This definitely hit the spot.

After some more shopping, Amanda and I grabbed a quick bite from a Middle Eastern restaurant, which is our food of choice, especially when together.  We both worked at Al Pacino Cafe (Cafe Isis) in Baltimore, so we really like that kind of food.

We shared everything.  Starting with the hummus.  I love hummus!

We ordered a Greek salad, but Amanda is allergic to tomatoes and doesn't like tomatoes, so I made sure to get them on the side.  Couldn't pass those up for myself!


Of course we had falafel too.  It just isn't a complete Middle Eastern meal without the falafel.

After lots of catching up, we decided to hit up BJ's Brewhouse for a late night drink and snack (more like second dinner).  It was happy hour, which reminded me of the Las Vegas reverse Happy Hour's they would have.  This meant late night drink and food specials, so we stuck with that menu.

We started with the Ahi Poke.  It was really good.

Then we split a mini pizza.  It was just the right amount of food to go with our beer.

The next day we had a major task to attend to.  Amanda was getting ready to turn 30 and she had wanted to donate her extremely long hair to Locks of Love.  If you are not familiar with this, it is a charity donation of hair to create a wig from real hair for children who have lost their own hair due to an illness.

Since she had wanted to do this, she grew her hair out extra time because she did not want super short hair after they cut her own.  They need to remove about 10 inches, at least, in order to take the donation, so she wanted hers extra long to avoid a super short hair cut.  That is totally understandable.

Let's see the before shots:

Yeah, it's really long.

Here she is just before getting it cut.

The ponytail is made, and the length is checked.  Scissors are ready!

And cut!

There it goes!  All gone!

A whopping 15 inches for donation!  Awesome job Amanda.

Plus, her hair was still long enough to avoid a super short 'do after all that.

She looks amazing after!  Not only can she feel good about herself for doing this for a good cause, but her new hair style looks great, healthy, and perfect for her 30th birthday.

That was on a Friday, so that we night we visited with some of Amanda's friends for Shabbat dinner.  It was great because I really haven't had a nice, traditional Shabbat dinner in so long.  Her friend cooked a ton of food and even made sure there was stuff that was vegetarian.

We started with a delicious salad.

The challahs were homemade and amazing.  I haven't had challah in so long because we have been overseas, so this was a great treat.  I really need to make my own again.

Oh, and she made babaganoush too.  Heavenly!

This was a perfect meal and I was so glad to have had the chance to share this Shabbat with Amanda and her friends.

That was pretty much it before FNCE started, and I was pretty busy with educational sessions, networking, and catching up with old friends.  More to come on all of that.

QUESTIONS:  Do you like fish tacos?  Have you ever donated your hair to Locks of Love, or considered it?  Have you ever tried challah?

Way too much food…

Every time I come to visit the States I am reminded how much eating is a truly social event and part of life.  When I get together with family members and friends it usually revolves around a meal.  So I wind up booked for lunches each day and dinners…and even second dinners.  Obviously I am having a great time and getting in some good eats at various local Baltimore eateries.  Below are some of those meals shared in great company with great conversations.

Day 4:

I couldn't resist this picture of my sister's oatmeal that she had for breakfast.  I had a chobani and then a few bites of this oatmeal.

My sister and I decided sushi would be great after we went for a mani and pedi.  We wanted something near the house because I had a webinar to attend in the afternoon.  We picked this place called Edo Sushi.  Good thing we did because we were pleasantly surprised. 

Could not resist starting off with edamame.  Not sure how long it has been since I had some, but it has been a while.

My sister started off with a seaweed salad.  So glad I tried it because I thought I hated it, but I was wrong.  It was really good.

I had a shrimp salad to start.

This was really good, and really thick sesame ginger dressing.

The lunch special came with 2 rolls and a miso soup. 

I had the philly roll and spicy scallop roll.  Plus, as a bonus, this place does brown rice sushi.  That was really cool.

My sister had a California roll and eel roll.

 

When they brought the check they brought these cute little strawberry rolls.

 

After running around and doing the ADA webinar, I met up with an awesome blogger, Beth, who is from Baltimore too.  Have you seen her blog before, 990 Square.  She is an awesome cook and baker, plus she is super nice in person too (like I would have expected otherwise!).

 

After running around a little more I was a little late to dinner with my dad and step mom.  They wanted to take me to a place they like called 7 West Bistro.

 

We started with bread and oil, but I didn’t want to eat too much because we had an appetizer coming.

 

My dad and stepmom both had a salad.

 

Here is a dip platter with many different ones, including some hummus and an eggplant dip.

 

I had the super giant crab cake.  Hey, this is Baltimore!

 

My step mom had a chicken gyro.

 

My dad had a gyro too but with lamb.

 

Now, here is where things get crazy.  After dinner I went to my friend Marie’s house.  I was having second dinner with Marie at Ocean Pride (check it out, they ship seafood anywhere in the US).

 

Marie had some soup, and then we split the crab pretzel (one of my fave MD treats) and a piece of PB pie.  Curious about the crab pretzel?  It is a soft pretzel topped with crab dip and then melted cheese on top.

 

Ok, I admit to an extreme stuffed feeling by the end of the day, but I am glad I got to see so many people and enjoy such good food with everyone.

Day 5:

We started our day with the hair salon.  Padma Salon is a cute little salon near where my sister lives.  My sister was having her hair cut, but I didn’t need a hair cut just yet, so I decided while I waited that I would have my hair blown straight.  She did a great job.  My hair is usually a crazy mess.

 

After this we picked up my grandmother and went to a place near her condo for lunch.  This is Mari Luna Latin Grille.

 

I love this place because not only do they serve my favorite salad, but they give these pop-overs at the start of the meal. 

My sister and I split a shrimp and garlic lime appetizer and a bowl of squash soup.

 

Then all of us got the crab salad.  This is the BEST salad ever.  It has lettuce, tomatoes, avocado, and a TON of lump crab meat.  It is so good and every time I come home I make sure to come here and get this salad.

The afternoon was spent shopping for, oh yes, food and wine.

I picked up these bottles of wine to take back.  I always bring Portuguese and Azorean wine back to the US and then I bring US wine back with me to the island.

Oh, how cute is this jacket.  I picked it up the other day at Target.

I also got this.  My husband will be happy (assuming it works).

Here are some of my Trader Joe’s purchases.  Have you tried any of these?

 

 

These I bought the other day at a grocery store.  This is my favorite PB.  I love Crazy Richards!

I also picked up some dog treats and dog food.  Can you tell at this point in my trip I was starting to pack everything up?

Dinner was at Zen West with my sister and my friends Meredith and Matt.

 

Mer pointed this fun sign out to me.  Yes, it made for a fun picture.

 

This place is actually Mexican, so we started with some chips and salsa.

 

My sister and I were splitting food again.  We ordered a veggie taco and a mahi mahi taco.  The server was kind enough to give us veggies on the side because the red rice was cooked in chicken stock.  They also gave us black beans instead of the refried beans because they had pork.  It is nice when servers take the time to check on food components and then finding substitutions.

I also got the dairy on the side.  My sister is lactose intolerant, so I kept this far away from her food.

 

Mer and Matt shared some empanadas.

 

Mer had an enchilada.

 

Matt had some crazy burger with some guacamole.  Looks really pretty for a burger.

 

Now, if you aren’t stuffed just from looking at the pictures, you have a much bigger stomach than I do.  I could barely get this post together and look over all the pictures.  I am STUFFED!  But, I am happy that this time was well went with my friends and family.  I still have one more full day and I am looking forward to all of the fun things that we have planned.

QUESTIONS:  Have you tried any of those TJs products?  What is your favorite TJs product?  Ever had brown rice sushi?