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Sunrise

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When we moved into our new place last October, one of my favorite things was the view in the morning.  One year ago today, I started taking a picture every morning.  Sometimes I caught the sun at the right time, and sometimes I woke up a bit late.  I managed to catch 281 out of 365 mornings – missing whenever I was on vacation or got lazy and forgot to take a picture.  It was a bit of a chore towards the middle of the year, but started to pay off whenever the seasons changed and leaves and flowers would come and go.

Music is by the Foo Fighters – Ballad of the Beaconsfield Miners.

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January 1, 2010 at 12:00 pm

Posted in pictures, video

2nd Christmas Tree

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Amanda and I just put up our 2nd Christmas tree.  (not much different than our first tree!)

Written by jeff

November 29, 2009 at 7:16 pm

Posted in life, pictures

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Happy Slapsgiving!

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Hope everyone has a great slap-free Thanksgiving…

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November 26, 2009 at 12:00 pm

Restaurants in 2009 – The Promising (Part 3 of 3)

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I have gone through the improving restaurants and the declining restaurants.  The only ones left are the ones that  are new or my new favorites this year…

Notable or New:

Blue Duck Tavern: This year, this has almost been our go-to restaurant.  We have celebrated everything here from a graduation to our engagement.  That speaks to the trust we have in Chef Brian McBride. Every time we’ve been there the food has been consistently excellent.  I highly recommend the roast chicken, duck fat fries or the braised beef rib.

American Flatbread: This one actually falls  into the ‘new’ category.  American Flatbread is a small chain, but just opened up a hearth in Clarendon in our building.  So far the pizza has been good, though a bit on the pricey side.  The good news is the managers are very nice, and it’s close.  My suggestion, have a “$5 off pizza night” to lighten the sting of a $20-$22 pizza.

Cork: Easily my favorite winebar out of the bunch that I’ve been to.  Reasonable prices, good wine, and great food combine for a fun night out.  I highly recommend getting a cheese plate, the olives, pork loin and mushrooms.  If you’re okay waiting a bit and dining in a more noisy than usual dining room, then you won’t be disappointed.

Others: I haven’t tried these places out yet but here’s more that I’m looking forward to:

That’s it!  Thanks for reading and hopefully sharing what restaurants you’ve found to be getting better, getting worse, or always stayed awesome.

Written by jeff

November 25, 2009 at 9:00 am

Restaurants in 2009 – The Bad (Part 2 of 3)

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This is part 2 of a 3 part series.  Read the first post here about restaurants on rebound

We now have come to the most disappointing part of this series…restaurants that I once enjoyed, but in the past year – seemed to have lost their magic.  All of these restaurants I have eaten at more than 8-10 times each, so I feel as if I know if something has changed for the worse.

On the way down:

Tallula/Eat Bar: This used to be one of my favorite places to eat in years past.  Every time I’ve been there this year, Tallula has been empty, and EatBar was thriving.  Before last week, the last time I went to EatBar about 6-8 months ago.  It may have been an outlier experience, but this time the food wasn’t that good.  The mini-burgers tasted more like dried sausage and the steak tartare lacked character.  It was decent, but if I want to eat a good mini-burger, I’ll just go to Matchbox.

11th Street: Another watering hole that I used to frequent.  Sometime last year they changed the menu and removed almost everything that we went there for, and haven’t recovered since.  After talking to the manager, a few items have made a return, but somehow they’re not as good as they used to be.  For example, you can’t get just sweet potato fries anymore – they come with regular fries interspersed now.  Other items missing from the menu – mini steak frites.  Please, bring them back!

Liberty Tavern – I don’t know what’s going on with this place, but the last two times I have gone there have been some…umm….interesting odors.  The first time was a distinct vomit smell, and the second time (over a week later) was the overwhelming smell of bleach.  I actually do like the food.  Their Vermont Pizza is one of my favorites, but it’s hard for me to imagine eating it with so much going on in the air.

Any restaurants that have taken a turn for the worse?

Next up is the last of three posts about the new restaurants that I’m excited for as well as some restaurants that I’ve come to love over the past year…

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November 22, 2009 at 11:55 pm