The Roundup: Busboys & Poets
Happy happy Saturday once again! How did you start yours? I just finished making a brunch of pretty epic proportions: chicken salad wrap and a bacon, cheese, and tomato omelet. How can one person eat so much, you ask? I finally got a chance to go back to my Saturday morning kickboxing class. That, combined with the intense muscle work from Friday night barbells makes for protein cravings! Now I haven't forgotten my promise from last week: I did, indeed, go to Busyboys and Poets with my pals - and the food was amazing! My friend ordered nachos (deliciously cheesy) and I tried the grilled chicken panini with a side of fries, which was also excellent. The ambiance, though, is what really sells the place. On the menus there's a brief "about us" section that explains why they're named Busboys and Poets - drawing inspiration from Langston Hughes, who himself was a busboy and poet. The Busyboys and Poets in Arlington hosts Poetry Slams every Friday night, as well as a slew of other special events that they announce on a weekly basis. The menu was great and the selection of books in the mini-library inside the bistro was great - if you make a trip for it, you won't regret it!
The rest of this week has been spent restrategizing for MCAT studying. I condensed my content review so that I could finish it today (rather than at the end of September) and have opened up two extra weeks to get in practice exams and practice problems. I think I struggle more with test-taking savvy than anything else, so I'd like to focus on that weakness than continuing to review content at the pace that I was reviewing before. This is, of course, not to say that content isn't important, but I find that oftentimes the questions I miss are not because I don't know something, but usually because I'm not making a connection between the question and the passage (which is right in front of me). Earlier this week my mom and I decided to make some Mediterranean shrimp linguine - a very simple recipe that we across in a cooking magazine. First we threw together some garlic, lemon zest, sun-dried tomatoes, shrimp, and parsley. Then, we tossed in the cooked linguine, topped with a little bit of lemon juice, and added feta cheese. The Mediterranean spin on a classic was delicious and I can see a bunch of ways to switch it up - adding different seafood, maybe adding some olives, the possibilities are endless!
Finally, I wanted to tell you guys about a new book that I started reading. It's called Working Stiff and is written by Dr. Judy Melinek and her husband, T.J. Mitchell. Dr. Melinek is a forensic pathologist who works for the Medical Examiners Office in NYC - the first two years of her job took her through countless investigations and corpses, none of the details which she's forgotten. She tells her story in a frank and terse tone without coming across as callous. She's succinct, but there is an art to the way that she weaves all her stories together. More often than not, they have to do with the living and how they (do or don't) move on after losing a loved one and receiving a death certificate from the folks in Dr. Melinek's field. I'm about one quarter of the way through the book and hope to get through a decent chunk of it this week, but no worries! I will also be grabbing some classic frozen custard later tonight with two of my pals to celebrate one of them starting work at Glen Echo Park. I had never heard of GEP or all the wonderful programming that they make available for kids, but I'd certainly like to pay it a visit after my friend starts up her new job as a gallery assistant! To learn more about Glen Echo Park, visit their website here to learn about all the events they host! Hope everyone has a wonderful Saturday and enjoys the rest of their weekend!
