charity and dating and muscovy duck, oh my!

so! hi! it's been a while, no? we have a lot to discuss!

first off, go visit pseudostoops and leave a comment. i'll wait for you to come back, it's ok. because for every comment you leave, she donates $$ to charity. and if enough people comment today, a private donor will match her contributions. so go! all you have to do is leave a comment! it can just say "comment" or "hi" or "alice is annoying and sent me here." just go :-)

next up, and the only real update anyone has truly been waiting for: eagles boy. (he's morphed from Eagles Fan, sorry. eagles boy it is. uh, despite the fact that he's 3 years older than me. WHATEVER.)

anyhoodle! we had date #2 on sunday night, when we went to go see the national christmas tree on the ellipse. i've lived here for 6 christmases so far, and had never gone to see it. (i may have been accused of being a Bad American because of this. it's probably true.) and i didn't know there were wee trees for each state, too! NJ's was hideous, of course. way to propogate the stereotype, nj. of course, nothing could match the majestic heinousness of the national tree itself. holy bats on a cracker, is that thing ugly. the white house is right there, looking all tasteful and elegantly decorated, and then there's this... this monstrosity on the lawn. ick.

so we went to the ellipse and walked around, strolled downtown for a bit, then metroed on back to the east falls church metro stop, where he lives and where i'd parked. he walked me back to my car, and we're standing there... doing the awkward goodbyes yet again... and just when i'm about to give up on him, he goes in for the kiss (mid-sentence. my sentence, i mean. it was kind of cute). but it was still a pretty chaste little mini kissing session.

finally, last night i headed to his place for date #3 - pizza + beer + movie - and after the movie, i basically forced him to make out. i'm no expert in men, but i'm pretty sure he didn't mind. :-)

so! you are now officially caught up on Alice's World of Dating. there have been depressingly few viable prospects these past 2 weeks from match - and by depressingly few, i mean zero - so eagles boy is getting my full attention at the moment. maybe dating picks up again after the holidays? i have no idea.

lastly, i'll leave you with the menu my mom just emailed us that she is making for our christmas day dinner. i cannot freaking WAIT for this meal:

Truffled Quail Eggs

Lobster Salad with Champagne Vinaigrette

Muscovy Duck Breast with Pomegrante-Wine Sauce
Potatoes Roasted in Goose Fat
Green Beans with Cherry Tomatoes and Shallots
Crusty French Rolls

Chocolate Rum Cake (from Bermuda, courtesy of our neighbors)
Caramel-Terhune Apple Ice Cream from Bent Spoon

that last one - the bent spoon - is a local ice cream & cupcake establishment in princeton that is freaking FANTASTIC. they try and keep their ingredients organic and local (like - within 20 miles, when possible. terhune is an orchard just outside of princeton, for example) and their ice cream is out of this world. typical flavors run the gamut from dark chocolate sorbet to heirloom tomato to violet to gingerbread with real ginger. if you're ever in princeton, no matter the season, i recommend a visit.

i also recommend a visit to my mom's house on christmas day, because OH MY HOLY HECK DO YOU SEE THAT MENU.