Feels Like Coming Home

Oh, I have so much blogging to catch up on!  I have 3 countries to write up for 80 Plates, I have a book review, and a I have an adoption bitch to post.  But Michael and I had such a nice night last night, I wanted to blog about it before anything else :-) 

Last night was T-Night.  Yup, it’s Tax Time.  We never get too worried, since we always get a good chunk of change back, courtesy of giving an interest free loan to Uncle Sam each and every year by not claiming all our deductions.  We met with our friend Cindy at H&R Block—seriously, if you need a tax preparer and are in the DC area, she is THE BEST there is, I can give you her info if you want to set up an appointment!  She went through our return with her usual thoroughness and got us the max cash back, which was pretty cool.  We are going to have some money to get some much needed crap done around here.  Maybe we’ll have a bonfire out back with the splinters from our POS doors that are going bye-bye!

Afterwards, we wanted to take full advantage of the fact that the amazing Colleen was babysitting—seriously if you are in the Fredericksburg area and need a babysitter, she is THE BEST there is, I can give you her info :-)  We decided to go out to dinner and I had looked up Joe’s Pizza and Pasta before leaving home because I had a funny feeling we would wind up there.  Indeed we did—Jane took us there like a shot!  Joe’s used to have several different locations and are now down to only 2, one in Arlington and one in Vienna.  We went to the Arlington place.

When we lived in Centreville, we would go to the Fairfax restaurant ALL THE TIME.  It was conveniently located right across the street from our doctor’s office and right nearby to where my sister was living at the time.  We had Michael’s birthday parties there, we had dinner with friends there a lot, always stopped in after doctor’s appointments or when we went to Wolf Trap for Christmas.  The managers knew us by name, and when we moved, they would always ask us how Fredericksburg was when we’d go in, and they would tell all the other customers that we drove all the way from Fredericksburg just to dine there.  The wait staff was exceptional—I remember one girl from Kosovo, and two of the other servers.  Because we tipped well, I suspect they fought over who got to serve us.

Well one night we stopped by after Wolf Trap and discovered a sign on the door informing patrons they had lost their lease.  DEVASTATION!!!!! 

So going to Joe’s last night, we were hopeful that the Arlington location would capture the charm of our original favorite place.  And we had nothing to worry about!  We were greeted warmly, the food was as great as ever, and we just both felt like we’d come home to a place we’d forgotten how much we’d missed it there.

What’s more, we found out that the former manager in Fairfax still occasionally stops by in Arlington—he has retired—and they said they’d let him know we were there and had asked after him.

Money, pizza, and friendliness.  What more can you ask for in one night?