'Twas quite good, yes.

Another issue I have in restaurants is the concern the server has about my uneaten portion of the meal. I assume that on the server's part, he/she is doing some kind of damage control, just asking if my meal was alright. I usually say "yes," then ask for a to-go box. Yes, it looks like I didn't eat even half of my meal, but it's all good! And, by the way, relative to the portion size...I mean, dang, what am I supposed to do?!

Well, what I am apparently supposed to do is clean my plate. You know that whole "clean your plate" thing? Taught to young children without the added warning that heartburn may be a side effect of the good practice of eating everything that is served to you.

Often noted as a factor in our national obesity, the ever growing portion control sizes of restaurant meals may have led to people feeling as stuffed as they do at Thanksgiving every time they went to Applebee's.

And you know what? I don't want to do that anymore.

It wasn't just about the servers. I mean, damn, it almost doesn't even matter if the server asks how my meal was because even if it wasn't the best, I would say it was fine (unless I suspected bacon, of course). For me, for a while, it was also about the company I was with. For a while, I was eating out a lot with my boyfriend's parents who would always pay the bill. I made the effort to choose something on the menu that I figured wouldn't be overwhelming, that I figured I could comfortably finish. I didn't want his parent's to plop down 10 or more bucks for me to just be picking at my plate.

I am totally not blaming portion sizes (aka, the restaurants themselves). You can do whatever you want with the food you (intend to) pay for. Even of the portion sizes were smaller, I have found that as an individual, I just can't eat a lot.

I sure don't look it, but I have a small appetite.

I had to realize this. After problems with heartburn, breathing, and knowing that I wasn't chewing effectively (which was even harder when I got braces), I decided that I needed to take a chill pill and start paying attention to my body. And responding to it.

I don't have to clear my plate. I don't have to eat until I feel 100% full. I am sure I have a pretty smart brain and my systems can signal me that enough is enough.

Again, I am totally not blaming portion sizes because I, myself, am often to blame. I do this thing where I indulge. I get a bit more than I think I want. I take a bit of this, walk on, then step back to take a bit more. I am terrible with this at buffets. First of all, I take a bit of everything which I know just ends up as a plate of vastly different flavors melding with each other; what's the point of that? Second, I don't trust my first instinct to stop adding to my plate. My survival mode is kicking in at the wrong time...

It's almost sad, but figuring out how much I want/need to eat at a given meal has made me focus more on breathing, too. Breathing. It seems like something we're all good at...or maybe not. Maybe it's something we just don't think about since we kinda don't have to. But as I try to pay more attention to all parts of my meal--looking at what I eat, chewing effectively, eating slower and stopping at the first feeling of satiation--I am more receptive of one of the basic rhythms of my body: breathing.

Yes, the meal was great. Excuse me while I step out for a breather.

CNN.com | Why portion control matters
Google "portion control"

Does the word "teenager" have a bad connotation?

The older I get, the older I sound when I talk about "kids these days"!

Teenspeak, genderspeak

Well, I'm a 20-something, and I know there are people who have their thoughts on that. Probably just about when I'm going to get married and have kids already. Ha!

Is the vegetarian option "just safer"?

Happy Earth Day!
(I love the Earth and I do what I can, but this is hilarious.)

Yesterday I was asked (for the third time this month) whether I was a vegetarian. Why? It seems that if you always seem to order a (or sometimes just the) vegetarian option, people make an assumption that you are not liking the bacon.

And I say: No, I'm a fake vegetarian.

Ok, probably not the best thing to say. I usually follow-up with some info to explain my selections though right now I'm thinking, why do I have to explain anything?

I usually follow up with:
"Well, I eat chicken, turkey and seafood sometimes, but not really."

I like to give the not-so holier-than-thou line that hopefully makes a stand:
"Oh, no, I order this because it tastes awesome."

Then I've said something awkward like:
"It's just safer."

You know, there are great dishes at restaurants (and made in homes) that are meatless or vegan.

I always choose the veggie option for work lunches or other catered events if possible and you know what? Especially at nice plated dinners, these veggie options are amazing in and of themselves and in comparison to the--what do they call it?--rubber chicken dinners. So much flavor that is often complex with...omg...vegetables and grains and nutrients and all that other cardboard-y stuff, right?

It doesn't always have to just be the vegetarian or vegan (if you're lucky) option. And often enough, that "option" doesn't have much thought put into it by the restaurant. Sad face.

I know allergies are a serious issue, but sometimes I get frustrated when I am embarrassed to ask about ingredients or feel awkward about removing feta cheese from my sandwich or making a meal out of sides because I don't want the restaurant staff to go out of their way to appease my preferences. Anyways, I assume that not meeting my preferences aren't that much of a liability to them.

Aside from sickness just because I don't usually eat meat and dairy (does dairy include eggs?), I won't get as ill as a person with allergies if I eat something that I say I "shouldn't" eat. Hopefully...

I guess I feel like it's a hassle for the restaurant because it's not just that I don't want to eat a certain food sometimes, it's a certain ingredient that I don't want. At fancier restaurants, I feel like I don't want to offend whoever created the complex dishes.

Sometimes I feel like the dishes (wraps, for example) are already mixed or prepared and so the staff will just pull out the bacon and so there would still be meat grease in there! Gross. Something like that.

A psychological allergy? Is that what I have? That doesn't count...

Out of context?

I find that a problem with the adverb "religiously" is that people don't even seem practice religion religiously anymore.

Or something like that.

Wiki "Pisgah"

Yesterday I had a confusing lunch. I knew that after almost 6 months of procrastinating, I needed to force myself to take my nicely wrapped donations to Goodwill. And that was done and done. I was content to shuffle back to the office and nibble on a Clif Bar because, yum, of course, but I had this urge to drive down Pisgah Church Rd.

I mean, what kind of urge is that?

I always seem to forget how lengthy Pisgah Church is. I seem to have the periodic mis-memory of swathes of a road. I realize how long the road is when I enter that area of seemingly random and high-priced housing developments. It's sort of like what happens when you are driving down North Elm. away from downtown and right before you hit Pisgah Church. Now those are some big houses!

Anyways, I was looking for a bakery. Lowercase "d" delicious bakery that is. I've heard only two but two very strong raves about the place so I figured I'd give it a go. I couldn't seem to eye-ball it while driving but that ended up being because the bakery is actually on Battleground so, not much lost there. Since I was already way into my lunch break, I happily decided to swing by Fresh Market which was just around the area where I gave up looking for the bakery. I used to be obsessed with Fresh Market. Back in the day, I would WALK there in Cary, in awkward suburban traffic.

What I came to realize, after living in Greensboro, is that what I wanted from Fresh Market was really what I wanted and actually got from places like Earth Fare and Whole Foods. Fresh Market is what it is and is good at that (you fill in the blanks for whatever you think Fresh Market is good for) but I don't see it as my go-to grocery store for regular grocery shopping.

Not that I do "regular" grocery shopping. I buy a little here, a little there; it's not like when my mother made the stop at Safeway, Giant or Shoppers Food Warehouse and bought at least a hundred dollars worth of comida for a month or so. The only time I've spent that much money is, almost sad to say, when I buy ingredients for cupcakes. And some other unnecessary items. Oh, sheesh.

I picked up a couple of items at Fresh Market which amounted to plenty for a nice, light lunch. However, I am quite indulgent at times and when I saw Gnam Gnam Gelato a few doors down, I made a run for it.

How do you say...?

Yesterday was my last Arabic class at FaithAction International House. This past Thursday was my last Mandarin Chinese class, too. It seems like forever ago when I started those classes. I didn't learn as much as I would have liked to, but the circumstances involved with the classes allow me to be grateful for the foundation that I was still able to gain in the two languages.

I am planning on a series of posts based on my experiences in the classes. A lot of my motivation for writing these posts comes from the bloggers that have a home in my RSS feed and fulfill my need to read and think about language all the time! Check them out here:

I kinda like languages. (Twitter @ikll)
Language Log
Lexiophiles (Twitter @babla)
Lingosteve's place (Twitter @lingosteve)
The Linguist (Twitter @LingQ)
Spanish Only (Twitter @spanishonly)

I am so happy that I found these blogs and that I even discovered Twitter, where I follow others interested in language. The disappointing part is that I feel like I'm missing out on a lot of others out there talking about language learning. I get different feelings and perspectives from each of the above bloggers. Some of their ideas mesh with mine and some don't, but I am glad to see others think about languages as much I do!

Ok, I'm a nerd.

Immigrant Women in America (in Greensboro)

Every Monday I receive the "FaithAction e-News" email newsletter from FaithAction International House. This week's e-newsletter highlights one of the YWCA's lunch series on women's issues:

INVISIBLE BUT ESSENTIAL: Immigrant Women in America

An Asian face, a Caribbean accent, or the echo of Spanish reveals that millions of Americans entrust their most precious treasures--their children, their parents, their homes--to immigrant women. Are they invisible to us? Do we undervalue their contribution?

Tuesday April 27th, 12 noon (no charge)

YWCA of Greensboro
4002 Spring Garden Street, Suite E
Between Wendover and Market Streets
(336) 273-3461
Look for the balloons!

Invited Panelists for this topic:
-Kathy Hinshaw, UNCG Center of New North Carolinians
-Susan Feit, Executive Director, National Conference for Community and Justice (NCCJ)
-Marikay Abuzuaiter, Co-Chair, International Advisory Committee
-Laura Burton, Attorney, Smith Moore LLP

Learn more about this lunch series from the post I wrote here.

I plan on being there. I'll see some people I know and get the itch to join the discussion.