Rena's Birthday with Mezza Lebanese Food

When we lived in Massachusetts, I discovered the Ninja Turtles. I used to pretend to be a turtle, fighting evil with my neighborhood friends. At Pamela's house, we'd steal her brother's figurines and play with them, too. I guess you could say I was on the brink of tom-boyhood. Really, I just wanted to be a strong girl who could kick butt one minute, and be a lady at a fancy dinner party in my dress-up clothes the next.

I guess things don't really change a whole lot as we age.

When we moved to Atlanta, my parents enrolled us in popular Southern sports. They attempted golf, while I did an embarrassing job on swim team and made descent attempts at tennis. When all of the Brownie troops were full and a re-attempt at ballet seemed uninspiring, my mother had me signed up for my first free karate lesson. I was hooked. We did a little shopping around for karate schools in our area, and settled into dojo life at a little school in Alpharetta. The people here became my second family, and life long friends.

After 15 years in and out of a few styles of martial arts, I decided I was a bit burnt out. I decided it was time, at 24, to try a few other things. Since then, I've dabbled in various types of dance lessons, taken up running (and by that I mean jogging), restarted jewelry making, yoga, and taken various types of gym classes. Some of my karate buddies are still practicing the art. One of my dearest friends, Rena, now hikes with the Trail Dames on weekends and belly dances during the week. Her belly dancing is so inspiring, that belly dance is my next class to tackle.

For Rena's birthday, she chose a Lebanese restaurant in Decatur called Mezza. Mezza features small plates and belly dancing entertainment on weekend nights. We were a large party, seated across the floor on low benches and cushions; Rena was surrounded by people who have come to know and love her over the years from karate, dance, drumming, and social circles. Instead of family style service, we all decided to order individually. The waitress was very helpful in identifying the GF items, and informed me they only cook in olive oil. Narrowing the list down to what I could actually eat was a tad difficult.

By the time the waitress got through the group and over to me, I blanked on what to order. Trying not to take too much time, I started with one I did remember "goat balls." The waitress gave me an expression indicative of stifled laughter. I realized I had omitted the word "cheese" from my order.

"Goat cheese balls?" the waitress asked, straight faced.

"Exactly," I replied. "Goat balls. The bigger the better." My table mates laughed.

I went on to order a few other dishes. My favorite things (mine, and samples of other people's food) were the potatoes, goat (cheese) balls, olives, and grape leaves (non-veg). I found the lamb to be a bit too vinegary for my taste- I'm not a fan of vinegar. I loved the social aspect of sharing the small plates and socializing in between watching the beautiful belly dancer memorize us with her fluid movements. I supposed to go tip her politely (by throwing money over her head) during her final routine. Only, I was so distracted by the sword balancing on her head and hip, that I just could not move from my seat.

We even snuck in an impromptu belly dance lesson in between dinner and coffee, thanks to Rena's belly dance teacher, Fox, being there and providing us with fun scarves.

I highly recommend going to Mezza for a fun evening.
GF Accommodation Skills: check.
Good Food: check.
A Fun Environment for Social Interaction: check.

He's 70! Boston, MA and Milford, NH Trip

New England's weather was definitely rainy, cold, and windy this past weekend. Only, the elements did not affect me greatly. The company I was in was much more important. This past weekend was my father's 70th birthday weekend. Instead of celebrating here, my father, his girlfriend, Nick and I all joined our family up in New England for a wonderful weekend of family fun.

With distance, jobs, homes full of kids, social lives, and other pieces of life, we all find it hard sometimes to stay connected. I love my family dearly, and what is lacking in face to face or on the phone communication is supplemented with warm thoughts, the occasional visit, and the magic of Facebook. I am always thankful that when we are given an opportunity to see one another, we all come together as a whole family unit. The distance between us closes. I know for my dad, this weekend of family time was refreshing and grounding. He was the happiest father, grandfather, and great grandfather that could be.

***

Nick and I chose to go up on Thursday, a day ahead of my father. I thought it would be nice to have some uninterrupted together time, without schedules or to-do lists. We ended up making an earlier connection-less flight to Boston, getting us to vacation-land 3 hours earlier than expected. We checked into the hotel and wandered the Commons before meeting my brother up for dinner at Meyers + Chang.

Meyers + Chang is a hip little restaurant in the city with a diverse menu. The GF menu is printed on the back of the "regular" menu. Food at Meyers + Chang is meant to share. Since my brother and I were eating GF, we shared the omelet (okay) and the fried rice (spicy, rich, and delicious). We even downed a few GF beers. I enjoyed the ambiance as well as the food. Since I am more limited than some, I would return to try the fried rice again. For the rest of you soy-eaters out there, the page long menu has plenty of exciting choices to offer.

Friday morning we ate at the hotel's restaurant, the Boston Park Plaza's Pairings. I had a delicious scramble of eggs, lobster, green onions, and bacon. I mean, wow. Lobster for breakfast.

Friday afternoon (and Sunday afternoon) we ate at Durgin Park. This restaurant is a Boston trip staple; it is simply Yankee cuisine. Durgin Park has both surf and aged-to-perfection turf. Despite my love for meat, both times I ate a steamed lobster. Lobster is my favorite seafood, and my lobsters were caught off the New England coast. The seafood can be fried or steamed, and they use real butter to dip foods in. They were sensitive to my family and I's allergen needs. Also on their menu is Stewart's root beer, a GF soda.

Friday night we met Nick's brother up at Elephant Walk near the Green Monster. The ambiance was classy yet earthy. I particularly loved the muted amber lighting across the blue cieling. The gluten-free menu was impressive. My brother and I had trouble narrowing it down to one dish a piece. I ended up with the trout, a whole fish fried with a spicy and sweet sauce. I ate off of Nick's plate- he ordered the Nataing with crispy rice for dipping. I loved the creamy peanut flavor with an edgy after flavor. I'd love to go back and try everything on the menu, right down to the GF brunch.

Saturday our major eat out was Amigo's in Milford, NH. Milford has a suprisingly large GF community, so we had plenty of places to choose from. The Koranda clan descended on Amigo's for party day. The staff were all gracious hosts to our huge gathering. While waiting on dinner, I snacked on GF tortilla chips and salsa. Nick and I started walking down the expansive list of fabulous margaritas. My favorites were the Mi Amigo John and the Millionaire's. The GF menu was rather expansive. The food is just fresh, good Mexican food. I tried the tostadas and loved them. For dessert, we ordered Dad a piece of GF carrot cake. It looked amazing, but I was too busy socializing to try a bite. I had every intention of getting my own, but I was so stuffed from the goodness of dinner, that the closest I got to the birthday cake was dreaming about it later that night. My brother is so lucky to have a great GF place to eat within walking distance to his house!