Monday, February 22, 2010

The DC JCAs Go Legal

Saturday night, a group of DC JCAs decided to gather for dinner, even though it was technically a few days before the next JC release. Plus it was Slastena's birthday (see her post here - I feel honored to be a part of the best birthday ever). And we do love to celebrate...

Let me say, first of all, major kudos to Legal Seafood at Tysons Galleria. I love them anyway because they have the best rolls and they are the *only* place around here where I can reliably find steamer clams on a regular basis - and they are probably my fave seafood ever from years of eating them at the Lake in CT when we would visit my grandparents. It was the Friday night standard...steamers out on the big picnic table, overlooking the lake.

But back to Legal...we had originally planned to meet at Coastal Flats at regular Tysons until I called and the hostess told me that they can't accommodate a party of 9 at 1 table. So we pretty much switched to Legal at the 11th hour. When Rosa and I got there at 4:30, they were able to give us a table for 9 at 5:00, our meeting time. Then, when Slastena arrived with 2 more friends in tow, they expanded our table - graciously and smoothly and without complaint.

Summerilla needed to be gluten-free. Not only did they have a gluten-free menu, they had gluten-free rolls, the manager served her food personally just to assure there was no cross-contamination, and she even had gluten-free croutons on her Caesar salad. (See her post for pics.)

Then Cleo had some issues with her fish being overdone, and they were actually, *gasp*, interested and concerned. Speaking of Cleo, she (finally) just started her own blog, which we are all very excited about. Check out Trousseau Adventures here.

And at the end of dinner....the checks...yes, I just said "checks." With an "s" at the end. The waitress, without us asking, gave us all separate checks (except for me & dinagideon, since we split the Dover sole). How easy for us!!!

So again, not to fawn too much over the restaurant, but steamers & rolls aside, that was one of the best customer experiences I've had in a while. Bravo! I'll definitely be back.

Outfit-wise...charcoal cashmere turtleneck, black TALL Minnies (how I adore thee), gray fireball beaded necklace (aka the Ugly Betty necklace), gray beaded bracelet, clementine pearl garden bracelet, and Born Lovely flats. Comfy outfit for the evening. And blah, blah, blah...back to the outing.

And what JCA meal is complete without a little shopping? After dinner, we headed right across the hall to J Crew, natch. Once in, dinagideon spied the Crystal Rock Necklace discussed, I mean dissed, on the mothership last week. (#26074, $128) Well, of course she had to try it on. Not only were the proportions *perfect* on her frame, but the colors were absolutely gorgeous with her outfit. Simply stunning in person, the picture doesn't even do it justice. Granted, if we put this on darling, petite Rosa, she might have tipped over. But don't let me talk you into it...dinagideon is hoping you stay far, far away so that this necklace will go on sale and she can scoop it up for a deal. Now shoo...all of you.

The canvas shopping totes were hot items for purchase this time. Me? I picked up an Anthropologie top on sale that I tried on when Rosa and I popped in there before dinner.

And of course, there's always time for a group picture after shopping...

From left, Cleo, Kelly, Rosa in DC, 3-Penny Princess, dinagideon, me, Summerilla, Drewablank.


Thanks for a great evening, ladies!!

Polyvore from Saturday:

21 comments:

Unknown said...

How fun to see you all together like that! Seems like such a great time.

Suburban Princess said...

What fun!!!

I love getting good service!

dinagideon said...

Love the write-up...will totally link to yours, Slastena's and Summerilla's when I mention it over in my post.

It was a great, great night.

And yes, all of you, go over to Cleo's blog and give her some blog friendship...and...stay away from the rock candy necklace. Heehee. LOL.

DaniBP said...

OMG how much fun is that?
I love the picture of Dina with the necklace! It looks fab on her.
Love your outfit, Heidi!
And Dover Sole? My favorite. :)

JulieStyles said...

Looks like you all had a great time and you all looked so pretty. I'll have to find some JCAs in the Bay Area! Love your outfit, Dina.

sparrowsandsparkles said...

How fun! You look great and glad you had such a great time. I'm impressed with how well Legal Seafoods did with the gluten-free. Dina looks fabulous in her ensemble too :)

JulieStyles said...

BTW-Heidi - thanks for your so helpful reviews of the Minnies. Since they look so great on you I tried them on last week and I might just be able to make them work without ending up like and ice cream cone, but it will take some doing. Loved your chic JCA dinner outfit too!

Jayna Wallace said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Jayna Wallace said...

What a lovely evening! And you girls all look so particularly fabulous (always!) all decked out in J.Crew! And yes, that necklace DOES look perfect on Dina!

Pamela said...

man, you guys always seem to have so much fun!!!!!! I am so jealous (in a nice, not nasty, mean spirited way). I've eaten at Legal Seafood once when I was out east and loved it!!!
What a difference those tall minnie's make. the regular length seemed fine, but compared to these, you can really tell the difference. These really seem like they just skim your ankles. Very cute.

What top did you buy at Anthropologie?!?!

melissamolasses said...

I love the "are you taking my picture?" look on Dina's face!

Anonymous said...

Heidi, this is such a great recap of out wonderful evening. We had such a fabulous time. And yes, Legal Seafods totally rocked.

And that necklace looked so good on Dina, I hope she gets it because it is so her style! And yes, that thing is so heavy, I think I pulled a muscle when I tried to pick it up. Hahaha.

And I second Dina, Cleo's blog is going to be awesome as she is a lingerie expert.

ashley said...

how fun for you all!

Drewablank said...

Thanks for sharing and recapping the evening for us, Heidi! I truly had fun - which is so superfluous to say, since I always have fun with these fab ladies!

And I never did have the chance to let you know that I loved your simple yet oh-so-chic outfit! Always so classy and comfy at the same time. :)

Alexis {J.Crew Aficionada} said...

As usual, you all look fantastic! The DC JCA should be featured in the next J.Crew catalog. I am serious too! :)

Jen said...

Wow - what fun you guys had! I agree Dina looks awesome in that necklace. Maybe the stars will align and the next event you all have will coincide with one of my irregular jaunts to the DC area.

Anonymous said...

It is always fun to read what a great time you ladies had.

HeidiG said...

Thanks, ladies! the DC JCAs are such a great group of glaydies, I feel fortunate to have gotten to know them all!

And I think we all agree that dina rocks that necklace!!

JulieStyles - so glad you are hopefully boarding the Minnie train with us! My I find that they work best on me with slightly longer tops. My figure does NOT accommodate tucking into the Minnies as some other people do - but let's be honest, I never tuck!

Pamela - thanks for noticing - yes, I am so happy with the longer length in the Minnies - now I just have to decide which color to get next, the tan or coal. And I'll post the top soon - don't know the name, maybe you can help me out??

melissamolasses - actually, dina's look was "quick take the picture before we get busted for taking pictures out in the open". Not that they could possibly object...after all the blog hate heaped on that necklace last week...dina made it look good!

Alexis - thank you for really bringing us all together!! Yes, we would definitely be up for a catalog...if only they'd call. dina & I have a couple models to volunteer for crewcuts, too!

Jen - let us know when you head to DC - we'll take any excuse to get together!!

Cleo said...

HeidiG, great recap. We had such a fabulous time as always. Thank you for telling me about the Born flats. Love 'em and am totally going to check them out in person.

Thanks, ladies, for sending friends over my way. Blogging is fun (and addictive). :)

Summerilla said...

I was just relooking at this post and I don't see my comment - did I forget to hit comment? My brain's all over the place today.

Loved seeing you and everyone on Saturday, it was so much fun and I can't wait to do it again.

Thanks again for the nail polish and I hope Emma enjoyed the mini ones!

prashant said...

OMG how much fun is that?
I love the picture of Dina with the necklace! It looks fab on her
designers video