I've been feeling sort of restless lately.
And it's not a bad thing. In fact, I usually become super productive at these points in my life! My restlessness may be because I have no flights booked for the foreseeable future (
for now). It may be that Christmas is only a sneeze away, and I want it to be here yesterday (story of my life). It may be because things are winding down at work as the year comes to a close.
Orrrr it may have something to do with the gallon of coffee I drank this morning. Yeah, now that I think about it...that's definitely what it is.
Oh, and while I'm being restless and all over the place, I have to derail for a minute to discuss three things. First, I told you I would report back to you on the
Montrose Halloween Pub Crawl. Being the elderly twentysomethings we are, my sister, bf, friends, and I drank wine and played Heads Up at my apartment, went to the crawl, stayed until midnight, then called it a night. But it was fun! And more packed than I could ever have imagined. If you go next year, definitely pre-game beforehand because it takes about 30 minutes just to get a drink anywhere.
The second thing I want to mention is that you really should check out
As Fate Would Have It and show my friend Melinda some blog love. Her stories are amazing! She wrote an exceptionally touching post about the
21 things she loves about her beautiful baby boy Elliot, in honor of Down Syndrome Awareness Month last month (sorry I'm a little behind here), and you'll definitely need a tissue or six for it. I got to meet Elliot last weekend, and I died of a love overdose.
And lastly, on this Veterans Day I want to say a big thank you to all of the brave men and women who have sacrificed so much in service of our country. We are so fortunate, and I am so grateful for these selfless, incredible people.
Okay, so back to my restlessness: These days, to calm my restlessness it would seem, I've started running again. To recap, I ran the Houston marathon back in January, decided my joints could take no more and completely stopped running 100%, and now have signed up to run the Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving with my mom and boyfriend, because traditions. So to continue where I left off in "Kim and Jon's Silly Running Adventures" ....
After a recent three-mile run around the Rice University loop, Jon and I decided to drink some brews, have dinner, and watch sports at
Little Woodrow's in Rice Village. I absolutely love the food at the
Little Woodrow's on Shepherd, so I was pumped.
(This is where my story takes a dark turn).
THEY DON'T SERVE FOOD AT THE LITTLE WOODROW'S IN RICE VILLAGE.
Fortunately for us,
Istanbul Grill stood next door like a beacon of light, with its beautiful Turkish aromas wafting over to us. Even more fortunate, the folks at Little Woodrow's were a-ok with us bringing our own food to the bar, so we were still able to game-watch! I placed our to-go order at Istanbul Grill inside with the manager, who is quite possibly one of the nicest, most friendly people on the planet.
We started off with the patlıcan salad, which is a roasted puree of eggplant, with hints of lemon and garlic, served with a side of what I believe was pide bread. This was outstanding. The tangy eggplant puree was light and flavorful, and the pide was fluffy and fresh. We had no idea what we had initially ordered, but we were not disappointed.
I was waffling between ordering the sebze (vegetable) kebab and the mantar (stuffed mushroom) as my entree. I discussed this dilemma with my manager friend, and he very confidently said I absolutely had to get the stuffed mushrooms. Done!
Sometimes it's nice when people make major life decisions for you, such as what you're going to have for dinner that night. ESPECIALLY when the end result is amazing. Served with rice and house salad, the mushrooms are stuffed with mozzarella and parsley, and are boiled in a tomato sauce. The side salad was underwhelming, but then again salads generally make me feel empty inside (worst vegetarian EVER). The rice was decent - Nothing exceptional, but it definitely served as the perfect backdrop to the shining star of the plate: the mantar. The melted mozzarella was bursting with flavor as it oozed out of the mushrooms, and the tart, borderline hearty tomato sauce was the perfect companion. I really loved this dish.
So it actually was a happy accident that we ended up at a bar that didn't serve food. We were able to walk next door and try something a little different, and a lot awesome!
This time next week I'll probably have a flight to Turkey booked.
Ahhh lady you're in my hood!! I was also at the Montrose crawl in my Mindy Lahiri get up...too bad we didn't run into each other!! Though that would have been a genuine miracle, given how many people were EVERYWHERE.
ReplyDeleteOkay, that didn't make sense--my hood is more like Rice Village. I LOVE Istanbul Grill so much!!! I think their bread is the best ever. Basically I just have a huge carb fest whenever I go there. Their pizzas are also so.freaking.good. So I always steal some of Erik's and eat all the bread and it's magical and...I really should start running like you. Such a boss!!
Erika, you do not know how much I LOVE that you were Mindy Lahiri for Halloween and how SAD I am that I did not get to see your costume in the abyss that was the Montrose Pub Crawl! And good tip on the bread, as if I needed an excuse to go back!! ;)
DeleteHi Kim,
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