Wednesday was a busy, busy day, with lots going on at work, plus lots of "social" events too. I had my annual performance evaluation at work at 10 am, so I knew I wanted to have a hearty breakfast that would keep me full enough so that my stomach didn't start rumbling half-way through the meeting (right about the time I like to poke around my office looking for a mid-morning snack). Luckily I knew if I sipped my morning protein shake slowly I could make it last and keep me fuller longer. Why don't I do this most days to keep myself from snacking? Good question ... 
Not long after my evaluation I headed out to meet a friend (or rather acquaintenace I'm hoping to turn into a closer friend) for lunch at Mexican Cafe in Annapolis. The place is a little dive-y and off-the-beaten-path (I even drove there even though it's not far from work ... 100 degrees = sweaty mess if I walk anywhere), but I thought it would be a place my friend hadn't tried before, and I knew they have a vegan burrito on the menu, so it would be easy to order. The burrito was delicious (as expected), and fortunately my friend said she really liked the place (even though their air conditioning didn't seem to be cooling the place much!).
Later in the afternoon I attended an interesting training on using the Maryland State Data Center website. If you use the interactive map, you can get median household income information for very small census tract areas. My address lists median household income as $36,712, but if you go one block south (into the next tract) it shows median household income as $9,458. Weird, huh? Not sure why there's such a crazy disparity, or how the other tract is so low ...
After work I headed to a book club meeting near Patterson Park / Canton. We originally intended to go to Yellow Dog Tavern, but apprently they shut down so we headed to Annabel Lee Tavern instead - an Edgar Allen Poe themed little place that looked cute (and most importantly was very close to Yellow Dog, so we didn't have to walk far in the heat).
The restaurant itself was quite small, and very crowded (even on a Wednesday?!). There are only a few tables towards the back, and a long bar where you can sit to eat or just drink cocktails. There were also tables outside, but given the heat we were not going to do that.
I started with an "Elizabeth" cocktail - Hanger One Kaffir Lime Vodka, Fresh Lime, Sour, and Sprite. It was delicious! Really limey, but also sweet and refreshing. For dinner I ordered the grilled eggplant and portabella mushroom caprese sandwich without the "caprese" (mozzarella) and subbed out the soup for jalapeno fries - which were amazing. In fact, I gobbled them all up until I had just one precious fry left before taking this picture. 
The sandwich was also really good and felt hearty and satisfying. I ate half and saved the other half for lunch Wednesday. In all, I was really pleased with the choice of Annabel Lee for our dinner.
... Until Thursday morning ... I woke up around 6 am incredibly nauseated and finally got out of bed to sit on the bathroom floor around 6:30 am. Nothing ever happened, but I felt truly horrible. And I think I can fairly attribute it to the sandwich because when I ate the other half for lunch Thursday, the same feeling came over me around 3 pm. Yup ... sitting in my office hoping I wouldn't throw up into the trashcan (which I didn't, thankfully). Not sure exactly what it was, but something was definitely wrong with that sandwich!
Sorry, Annabel Lee. Not even your wonderful jalapeno fries will get me to return now. Maybe I can figure out how to make jalapeno fries at home ... ?
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