Great Things Go Together

... like amazing food made by great friends. And I'm not just talking about your run of the mill good meal appreciated by a friend's not-so-amazing palate.

My good friend, Sheila Dalton Neal and her husband, Matt, started Neal's Deli in Carrboro, NC (The Paris of the Piedmont!) a couple of years ago. They make tasty seasonal and locally sourced food that anyone would love. Including, it seems, the food critic from the The New York Times. Yes, THAT New York Times!


So, the article seems to conflate Durham, the headlining Southern town, with it's neighbor (and my old stomping grounds) Carrboro - two very different locales - but it's still plugging gourmet Southern/homestyle food so I can't complain too much.

I just love it when my amazing - and deserving - friends get what they deserve!

Oh, and this isn't Neal's Deli's first literary mention. Take a look at their previous mentions in Gourmet Magazineand Bon Appetit as well.

Now, if only I could get me some of dat right now!


Photos courtesy of New York Times

ROFLMAO!!

You know those people who are just too funny for their own good? The ones who make you cackle like a witch with laughter because their snarkiness makes you forget there might be people listening?!

I have a friend like that. LoRay, you know who you are!!

If she wrote a blog - after deciding to chuck the Orange County country life and go live in Sudan of all places(!) - she would be Facts Are Strictly Optional.

Stop making me laugh, damnit, I have a stitch!

Spring Has Sprung!

Sexy open-toed sandals, a pretty patterned top and my new "boyfriend" jeans were the wardrobe of the day today as I lounged on the river balcony of the French wine bar with a friend enjoying a lovely dessert and a sparkling drink under a cloudless blue sky.

17 gorgeous degrees Celsius (63 F) after our bitter winter made this just a gorgeous day. I even had to take off my light jacket because it was too warm.

It was niiiice and, as a result, I'm feeling pretty full of myself as you can tell :-) Watch out, the sap it is arising!

Easter Goodness

I did it. I ate the chocolate bunny.

He had to go. Better to be consumed as a baby than to hide in the depths of my kitchen cupboard taunting me.

I know I'm weak. Fine, I accept my fallen nature. But you, you were empty inside. Mwahaha!! I mock you for your lack of substance and character!

An empty shell you were, but sweet and tasty!

Yikes!

Keep Your Distance

Or Death could be closer than you think

Sign on the back of fuel truck I passed on the commute home*. Needless to say, I drove very, vewwy carefully as I went past and for the rest of the drive.

Nothing like a warning about imminent death to raise your alert levels!

*The picture wasn't actually on the truck but it adds a nice touch don't you think?

Girl Alone in the Dark

So I get a call from a friend saying "hey, wanna catch a movie?" Well, in somewhat less American terminology. I'm leaving the gym feeling virtuous and tomorrow's a holiday, so I release my spontaneous side and jump on board.

Of course, since this is my life, she got irrevocably delayed (reasons very valid), so I end of watching Shutter Island by myself. In the dark.

Now, this is NOT a movie you really want to see by yourself. I felt kind of silly doing the fingers across my eyes thing with no one else familiar beside me to get the joke... and share the fear.

Suffice it to say... freaky movie. Really good and not at all horror, which I was afraid it was going to be, but freaky. I won't tell you what other freaky but good movie it reminds me of - I hate spoilers - but once you see it yourself you'll know exactly which movie I mean.

Just don't see it alone.

Dark Places

I still find myself being blindsided at times with grief over my Aunt Pearl's recent death from cancer. It's been just over a month and I'll go long stretches without consciously thinking about it. But then something happens to let my usual walls down - a certain song at church, watching Extreme Makeover: Home Edition (always a tear-fest), it could be anything really - and it washes over me again.

Christine Sine's post, "Nouwen on Lent: Strength In Dark Places" on the God's Politics blog just really spoke to me today. Especially this quote which reminds me that grief is as much a part of life as anything else:

the hard dark places strengthen and give shape and form to the soft and vulnerable places of light and laughter

This is only the second major bereavement I've had in my life that I can really remember. I know, I've been very lucky. Still, I think I'd prefer to avoid any more "hard, dark places" for another good long while.