“You matter as much as the things that matter to you. And I got so
backwards trying to matter to him. All this time, there were real things
to care about: real, good people who care about me, and this place.
It's so easy to get stuck. You just get caught in being something, being
special or cool or whatever, to the point where you don't even know why
you need it; you just think you do... The thing about chameleoning your way through life is that it gets to where nothing is real.” (John Green)
“There will come a time when all of us are dead. All of us. There will
come a time when there are no human beings remaining to remember that
anyone ever existed or that our species ever did anything. There will
be no one left to remember Aristotle or Cleopatra, let alone you.
Everything that we did and built and wrote and thought and discovered
will be forgotten and all of this will have been for naught. Maybe that
time is coming soon and maybe it is millions of years away, but even if
we survive the collapse of our sun, we will not survive forever. There
was time before organisms experienced consciousness, and there will be
time after. And if the inevitability of human oblivion worries you, I
encourage you to ignore it. God knows that’s what everyone else does.”
(John Green)
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| Cream silk top from Top Shop; royal blue skinny jeans from Hudson; Louis Vuitton Deauville bag; turquoise suede pumps by Steve Madden; jewelry from Cultus ChiChi except for the necklace which my sister bought me 5 years ago |
Aside from finishing several John Green books, thanks to the influence of JL and Domz, I had a really nice weekend celebrating Restaurant Week. I went to Vinifera Wine and Bistro at the Westin Hotel in Reston, and I will definitely be frequenting this place after an amazing dinner. Executive Chef Bo Palker is an excellent asset to their culinary team. A lot of people have stated that Restaurant Week causes most establishments to compromise the quality of food and service, but I fortunately did not have to experience this. I had a lovely time drinking several glasses of 2006 Chateau Montelena Estate Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa, and pairing it with a series of pintxos, a delectable piece of Angus steak, and finally a rich chocolatey dessert. It was a very relaxing time and a lovely cheat meal break from my normal paleo eating regimen.
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| Entrance to the restaurant at the Westin Reston |
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| Modern and sleek ambiance |
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| Enjoying my cabernet sauvignon |
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| One of my pintxos (small plates blending to start) Sea scallop with celeriac puree and carrot chips. I also had a Lobster Cohiba, Pork Habana, and Steamed Mussels. |
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| Seared 1855 Angus strip with zinfandel sauce |
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| Dark chocolate symphony with pistachio ice cream and grilled plantains |
My last favorite excerpt from The Fault In Our Stars
“Without pain, how could we know joy?' This is an old argument in the field of thinking about suffering and its stupidity and lack of sophistication could be plumbed for centuries but suffice it to say that the existence of broccoli does not, in any way, affect the taste of chocolate.”(John Green)
Ponder on that, and I hope you all enjoyed this short post. Wishing you all the love in the world this Valentine's Day. If you're feeling sad because you don't have a valentine on Thursday, get some perspective. Imagine those who have no mothers on Mother's Day or those who are have to scrimmage for food on feasting holidays. If your heart is broken, you'd be dead, so shut up. Tee hee ;)
Soundbite: CATCH MY BREATH - Kelly Clarkson
For more information on the restaurant:
VINIFERA WINE & BISTRO
703.234.3550
11750 Sunrise Valley Drive, Reston VA
www.viniferabistro.com
