sometimes i eat like no one is watching

I'm still a few weeks away from the beginning of Lent, but I'm already looking for reasons to be enthusiastic about giving up eating out (I'm not sure about the grammar in this sentence, but let's not talk about that). 


Today's reason?  Sometimes I eat like no one is watching.  No, really, it's (sad but) true.  This can happen for a variety of reasons...time constraint, excitement about the food in question, or sheer ravenousness being the most common. This worked out a lot less awkwardly for me when I sat in the back corner cube of my office at Pentagon, and could tell long before anyone rounded the corner.  Now that I sit in what I refer to as the Bermuda Triangle in my new office, I have to be a little less demonstrably enthusiastic about my love and hunger for, say, breakfast potatoes (I have a well-known addiction to said breakfast food, but that's another story).  


Luckily I managed to stave off ravenousness until tonight, though, and could eat in the privacy of my own (currently very disorganized) apartment.  That Subway "turkey on oat with peppers and cucumbers" didn't stand a chance.  And yes, I got a foot-long.  At least I put it on a plate first.  The only time in recent memory I ate with less decorum was my very late (very solo) Valentine's day lunch at Chipotle.  And that happens pretty much every time I go to Chipotle.   


Anyways, as I'm prone to do, I digress.  The reason I worked myself into such a state of hunger was a lengthy trip to Pentagon City after work.  (I'm sure my "meal" of rice and trail mix for lunch didn't do me any favors).  I was on the hunt for a few birthday gifts for a certain mother of mine (happy belated birthday, Mom!).  Somehow I ended up at World Market at the end of the adventure, despite my (pretty frequent) pledge to rein in my spending.  


I decided that if I'm going to be cooking most of my meals, I'm going to need some spices.  And World Market is all about some bargain spice prices.  So I may've been a little heavy handed in my purchasing, but in my very limited culinary experience, it's incredibly frustrating to find a recipe that both sounds good and seems feasible, only to realize I'm lacking in one (or more) of the required ingredients.  The picture above is of my World Market loot--check out all that good stuff!  Olive oil (I'm almost out), curry powder, beef rub, thyme, rosemary, cumin, and paprika.  And the packaging is charming, especially the olive oil.  Side note: I am a marketing department's dream customer.  Package it up nice and pretty, and I will buy it.  Cliche, I know. 


I'm particularly excited because my cashier was fantastic.  Possibly I was still a little bitter over the bad customer service experience at Nordstrom Rack (my mental rant went something like this: I'm sorry, but who doesn't do an extra discount for damaged items? You want me to buy this dirty pair of suede shoes for the same price some other girl is going to pay for clean shoes just because the dirty pair is THE ONLY ONE LEFT in my size? I think you're just jealous I have tiny, cute feet, you rude sales lady, you). 


Anyways, I get to the register at World Market and the lady starts ringing up my many, many items and when she pulls out the "Herbs de Provence," she says "have you tried this?" and I said "nope." She proceeded to warn me that the lavender overwhelms all the other herbs, and it tastes "like you're eating a flower."  I mean, the herbs were only $2.99, but I'm still grateful that she spared me the money and the eventual disappointment.  AND she gave me $10 off.  Shopping karma.  Take that, Nordstrom Rack.  


Now that I've bored your socks off, I'm going to go watch Gossip Girl and dream about the Girl Scout cookies in my freezer (I'll stop dreaming and start eating when I get back from Miami and no longer have to wear a bathing suit).