thank you, no!
Not to brag but it is literally 77 degrees (!) and sunny in Charleston today. My therapist told me I should take more risks (something about fear of rejection or something fine whatever) so I got bangs which were fun until it got hot and now I will be wearing my hair in a bun for the next 8 years while they grow out. Unrelated but also fun, I started reading a collection of Shirley Hazzard stories this week and am now fully in love with Shirley Hazzard.
Thank you, no, is a good way to fix 99% of the things I am currently stressed out about, thanks Shirley!
Ok right, this is an email about snacks. The other day I went on a lunch break walk to Walgreens which is my favorite thing to do when I’m stressed. I like to look at nail polish colors and take deep breaths. In the checkout aisle they have an array of trail mix options which makes you feel like you’re eating something healthy even though it’s essentially candy with a few almonds thrown in. My personal favorite is the blueberry pie snack mix which, now that I’m typing this, doesn’t sound remotely healthy. That’s my hard hitting snack content for the week and I’ll even give you a really bad pic so you, too, can go take some deep breaths and eat candy that’s maybe not healthy but at least fruit adjacent.
restaurant salad
It is full on spring in Charleston which means that we have already had to turn the AC on once and it’s almost too hot to use the oven in our very cute and tiny apartment not that I love turning the oven on in any season as you might remember. The return of beach weather is making me crave vegetables and I’ve especially been really into salads lately. Chopping stuff up and putting it in a bowl in an aesthetically appealing way is extremely satisfying and not hard but I also think that there is nothing like a restaurant salad. We are starting to venture out to eat at outdoor restaurants and I think that a restaurant salad was one of the things I missed most in deep quarantine. I love a salad with a good dressing that’s gotten all soaked in the lettuce (is that weird) and because I love you I’ll tell you the three best salads in Charleston. In no order, my favorites are:
Caviar & Bananas- Gramercy Salad with extra grilled chicken. This one is so good and filling— it has quinoa and dried cranberries and gouda, things I never would have thought to combine— and it is the perfect thing to eat on a sunny day while sitting on outside on your lunch break but you have to get it chopped and with the dressing added, it isn’t the same if you do dressing on the side.
Mercantile & Mash - Chopped Salad. You can add chicken or salmon but I don’t because it comes with bacon and Mercantile & Mash does something magical to their bacon. Definitely get the avocado ranch dressing on the side so that you can also get a side of curly fries and dip it in the leftover dressing. This is a really good hangover salad which sounds counterintuitive but works every time.
Five Loaves - FLC Caesar. I could write a love letter to the downtown five loaves, rest in peace. This was the first place I ever went on a fancy grown up dinner date when I was like nineteen and I thought it was so romantic with the thick wooden tables and votive candles. I cannot remember the name of the person I went on a date with but I do very much remember the FLC Caesar which thank God is still available at their other locations and is pretty much a normal Caesar but with tortellini on top. Tortellini on a salad! This salad does travel well but the last time I ate inside of a 5 Loaves (lol remember indoor dining) they warmed up the dressing before putting it on the salad and something about warm dressing with the cold, crunchy greens really does it for me.
happy friday!
This week felt approximately 90000 years long to me wbu? Hope your weekend is full of mint choc chip milkshakes from ye olde, peanut butter toast, maybe an oyster po boy? xoxo see you next week!