Breaking Bread

One of my favorite parts of my trip to Vietnam was the many meals that my family, Alex, and I shared together everyday. While having every breakfast, lunch, and dinner together could lead to squabbles as to where we would eat, sitting down together was a good way to talk about the day and other parts of our life. Good food, family style eating, and cheap prices were of course, icing on the cake.

Family dinners is probably one of the things that I miss the most from California. Even when I went to UCLA, I would have dinner with my parents at least once a month, if not weekly. And of course I miss the meals Alex and I shared, whether it be at a exciting new restaurant we wanted to try, a dinner that we cooked together, or even a dorm meal courtesy of his RA swipes. No matter how busy we were, we could always find time to share a meal together because everyone has to eat.

Lucky for me that even without family or the boyfriend anywhere nearby, I have wonderful new friends to share a good meal with. To kickoff the new semester (and perhaps to console our already overwhelmed selves), we went to 701. Although this swanky restaurant is normally out of the price range for we law students who have a negative income, DC Restaurant week made the delicous food slightly more affordable. It was a lot of fun, especially as we pretended to be "Top Chef" judges.

Finally tonight, I was invited to dinner but stayed in because I have felt slightly under the weather all day. Wanting to do something productive today, I decided to cook myself homemade spaghetti and turkey meatballs for dinner. Alex's first reaction was that no one should eat spaghetti and meatballs alone, I responded with the fact that people should take time to cook good food for themselves more often. I'm glad I cooked myself for myself because it made me feel better.

I think we have this societal notion that when you should just throw stuff together or order food when you're "just" eating by yourself. But I think having a meal is good nourishment for relationships, and that includes your relationship with yourself.