Random Return

Oh, hey guys.

I have had a request to resume regular posting. Shuttup, it was from my Mom, OK? But still. A request is a request.

I finally have a few minutes (hours?) and I'm not dead tired. Lately I've been excited to formulate a post, only to be too tired to hold my body up on a computer chair, so instead I just collapse in bed and watch tv or read for like 5 hours. Doesn't make sense I can't take half an hour to post, but can stay up all nite, but I go with it.

The difference now? I still barely slept, however it's day time, and I'm not going into work today until like 3 (my Dad and I typically go in together and he's with my mom at the dr as a last minute semi-emergency...more on that later, she's OK I think, but her blood pressure keeps shooting up and down, so I'm a little nervous...), so I decided to just hang out at home like a lazy beyotch!

Funny how things happen sometimes. Last nite before bed (well, more like 2 am), I was thinking mannnn I REALLY don't want to work all day tomorrow...and it turns out I'll only be working like 2 and a haf hours. Bad for the wallet, but good for the spirit, ha.

Sooo, yeah, sorry 'bout that whole mini hiatus thing. Nothing new, right? Sad. I keep saying I'll do better, but I think from now on I'll just leave that to the whole age old actions speak louder than words thing....

So, besides being tired, busy, the usual, another excuse = right after my last update I ate some frozen yogurt with a crushed whonu cookie (basically a vitamin enriched oreo, so you can pretend it's healthy) and then ended up puking my guts out. Gross, I know. So food or talking about food wasn't too appealing for awhile there. I wonder if I developed lactose intolerance or something, but most of the time I'm fine, so who the heck knows what the dealio is (was?).

I've still been mentally planning posts as always, then deleting some of the pics when said posts don't go up, but here's some photographic evidence that hasn't been cut yet.

Let's start with Sutra.

My friend Sam gifted me a $40 groupon voucher to Sutra, a new indian restaurant, for my birthday back in April. I've been meaning to use it since then, but somehow never got around to it. Seeing as how it expired on October 26th, I used it...on October 26. Naturally, I ate a late lunch that day and wasn't hungry at ALL when it was time to go. Doesn't it always happen like that? But I went anyway, duh.

Truth be told, I was a little anxious about it. I read pretty mixed reviews online, many saying the service was horrible (especially if you weren't indian yourself), yet also that the food was crap, not at all authentic, etc. But they had peshawari naan and I had $40 to burn, so clearly I had to brave the bad reviews and see for myself. I've never seen peshawari naan on a menu here before. In fact, I never would have heard of it, except the one time my friends and I went to eat indian in Atlanta they ordered it and it was awesome. It's slightly sweet, which seems weird to eat with curry, but it's soo good and actually works well together!

So, my experience? Not bad, not bad at all. I don't think I'd go back without a coupon of some sort because the area it's in (Shops of Legacy) has lots of other options I'd probably go to first, but it was still a pretty positive experience.

Actually, I have been there once before on a weekend when my friend was MCing their lil club they turn the place into. It wasn't my thing (too dark and loud and I'm an old lady lol), but couldn't comment on their food that time, obv. It was way different as a restaurant tho. For one, they actually had...tables. LOL. ANYWAY.

To start, they had these awesome red screens along the back of the restaurant that I couldn't stop talking about. Aren't they pretty cool?



Just me? Well, I liked them.

Upon perusing the menu, I noticed it was slightly different than what was shown online, however surprisingly everything was a couple bucks cheaper! I had been considering the curried duck with fois gras (fancy, no?), but it wasn't on this menu, so I stuck with my boring, tried-and-true, chicken tikka masala. After it arrived, I vaugley remembered the reviews saying it tasted like a can of Campbell's tomato soup with a shake of curry powder. After taking a sample I realized I could kiiinda see what they were saying, however I still thought it was pretty darn delicious. And definitely tasted like indian food. The naan was awesome too. Success. I did think it was a little weird they didn't ask what spice level I wanted for the tikka masala, and it wasn't spicy at all, but it still had nice flavor.



I also heard the portions were tiny and expensive, but I found them to be adequete. In fact I took half to-go. I know I said I wasn't too hungry in the first place, but I think I could have made two meals out of it regardless.

The service did leave a little to be desired, but our order was eventually taken by who I believe to be the owner and he was awesome. We did have a lil snafu when we ordered dessert and it took forEVER to come (and forever to find someone to order it from, for that matter). The whole experience was pretty slow actually (though our waters never went even close to empty), but when it came to the dessert, if I hadn't wanted it so badly (panna cotta guys, hard to find, but oh-so-good!) we would have just left the estimated tax & tip and left (we'd already given our groupon). Then, the dessert came out to-go? We said we had wanted it for there, but by then we were ready to leave anyway, so we just said no big deal and left.



It was a cardamom panna cotta with caramelized peaches. At first I thought the peaches were canned and was like wtfguys? But I'm not so sure. It was really good though! I was sad I offered to share-haha. I'm glad I didn't let the voucher expire due to other people's poor experiences. Thanks, Sam!!

What's your fave Indian dish to order? Fave naan?

Um. Yeah. Looking through all of the pictures I uploaded, they're basically all from restaurants. No wonder I feel so weighed down lately. I haven't gained weight; in fact, I keep losing it (and regaining lol, but never above where I started), but I just feel like I need lighter, healthier options back as the majority! Good timing, you know, with the heavy food & treat holidays coming up, huh? :-P.

Right now I just REALLY need to focus on less red meat. I rarely eat it usually. I never have. But lately I seem to have steak of some sort for practically every meal. WTF? ENOUGH!!

And has anyone else noticed this blog seems to be turning into a restaurant review blog, not a healthy living blog? Need get back on the wagon, stat! After I finish my restaurant updates, that is :-P. I have SO many posts I neeed to make. I still never finished recapping my JULY trip lol, didn't recap the Wedding last month, etc. I never even posted about LAST Halloween I always meant to lol. Not gooood.

OK, well I uploaded like 30 other pics to put in this post, but this seems long enough for now. I may update 204044 times today though. Or at least one or two more.

OH YEAH, one last bit of kind of exciting news. I haven't uploaded a video to Youtube in over a year I don't think, but randomly yesterday or the day before I got an e-mail asking me to become a partner. I've been wanting to make videos again anyway, so hopefully this will be some incentive. I just don't know where to begin, what to make, blah blah. But kinda cool! Any video requests?

OK, talk to ya soon, loves.

xo,
Amanda