Today was the debut of the frying pan. What a wonderful way to start off a Sunday! Nancy and I made over-easy eggs and toast, an-oh-so-fresh change of pace from the microwave oatmeal. The kitchen on our floor was empty, not surprising, considering the early hour. I am beginning to think that Nancy and I must be abnormal college students to wake up before 8 everyday, or maybe we just don’t have neighbors. This whole dorm is really a palace for just us, the two princesses. Oh! If only that were true…to be told, oh that’s it, you can stop right now with all that work, you have a kingdom in need of you somewhere in the middle of a land long forgotten. Well, I can always imagine.

Eventually, reality sets in when you remember all of the little assignments and daily chores that need to be completed. I’ve been good with that so far. Of course, my sister has made it her personal mission to ensure that no one in the family succumbs to weakness this Lent with her dire text message warnings: NO MEAT TODAY. Only I think this is unfair – I’m enduring the worse temptation because the meatless days are always a Friday, the day Nancy and I go out to eat. We went out to La Fogata, the most disappointingly expensive restaurant I have ever eaten at and it even deigns to call the cuisine Mexican! Really, the only thing ‘Mexican’ about it is the appearance, the food was so bland and the spices were all wrong, but let’s not go there. That was last week. This week we were going to P.F. Chang’s (they have a meatless marvel called tofu). By the time Nancy and I arrived, the place was packed, swamped, an absolute crush, no getting in whatsoever. Never mind, we would go to Piatti’s, the next best place to heaven (oh, how I adore their appetizer bread!). But, yeah, you guessed it – others discovered how amazing it is and there was a one and half hour wait. We were getting desperate; it was already 7 o’clock and we were starving. Thankfully, the Quarry doesn’t lack for restaurants; across the street there was a place called 20nine. We decided to chance it because it was already on our list of restaurants to try.

I guess it was too good to be true; there was no line outside the door and we were seated immediately. We just weren’t so sure we wanted to be seated. Looking around we realized why they called it a wine bar. Everyone had about ten glasses of wine on their tables and there was no food to be seen. Oh dear, why did they let us in? Nancy and I can’t possibly look old enough for this. I mean, she was wearing a bright yellow baby Gap sweater with an apple on it. Hardly the attire of the mature sophisticates we saw around us. But there we were, handed two wine menus each. They were menus of just wine. Where was the food? How embarrassing would this get? I was even considering going to McDonald’s I was so hungry at this point. When the waitress hurried over, she was pleased:
“It looks like y’all already know what you want! What will you be having tonight?”
“Um, some menus of the food please?”
“No wine tonight?”
“No.”
“Okay…”
Was she not going to card us? Maybe she just wanted us to blend in more or something. We really were the only ones in there without wine. Ewww, how awkward, I could hardly taste the grilled tuna and mixed greens I had while Nancy was playing devil in disguise by offering me duck. I had never tried duck before. Was it considered meat? It doesn’t really walk the earth, it waddles…

What a relief to be finished. Looking back, I don’t know how we missed the signs, but hungry people aren’t as observant as they should be, they see only their main goal—food. Still, I hope I don’t ever have to sit through another such dinner where Cat Stevens is the musical entertainment. Time for going back to classes, where I belong.

Favorite Quote this week:
"Love is the irresistible desire to be irresistibly desired." Robert Frost