Siesta

Last night, we went to Butterfield 9 for DC's restaurant week. I love restaurant week as I think it's a very economical way to try out some higher priced restaurants. I got a salad to start, roasted chicken for the entree, and a pistachio pudding cake for dessert. The chicken and dessert were awesome! I think the regular menu food is overpriced - but for restaurant week is was yummy. Just a note - the food is very rich. Even my salad and chicken tasted rich.

Our reservation was at 7:30 and even though we got there before 7, they were so packed that we weren't seated until after 7:30. It made me realize that going into DC for a nice dinner makes for getting home later than I'd like to. We got home at around 10, but by the time you do all the "getting ready for bed" stuff (walking the dog, getting the mail, sorting the mail, read note from dogwalker, brush teeth, wash face, etc.), we didn't get to bed until 11:30 or 12. Then this morning, I got up at 5:45 because I had physical therapy at 7:15. Why I ever scheduled appointments that early, I don't know!

But my exhaustion got me to thinking - where did naptime go? I miss the days in college of going out until 2-3am, going to a 9 am class and classes throughout the day, then coming back for a nap and then going back out to start the whole process over again. It's amazing how quickly your body changes - my body was telling me this morning that if I want to get up at 5:45, I better be asleep by 9 - maybe 10 the night before.

The hubby-to-be (HTB) always talks about how his body can't handle drinking anymore. If he has more than a few beers, he'll be hurting the next day. I sometimes feel tired the next day if I have had more than one drink the night before.

Some might think it's our bodies way of telling us to slow down. But personally, I think the big difference is the naptime! I partied more in my four months in Spain than I did in any college year. It's not to say I didn't drink or party in college, but rather to say how crazy of a time Spain was. We probably went out on average, 6 nights per week. And in Spain, you party until about 3-4am. But your body could recover because of siesta time! Contrary to most thinking, siestas are not used by the Spaniards to take naps. They use this time to have their biggest meal of the day and spend time with the family. However, all the Americans used this time not in the traditional way, but rather to recover from our nights out drinking. As much as I'd like for siestas to become a practice in the US, I somehow think that if I want my siesta, I'm going to have to venture back to Espana.