April 29, 2010 (Updated November 22, 2022)

Thai-ing One On

by Anne Mauney, MPH, RD

26 comments

Hey friends!

Great dinner last night — I met up with fellow food blogger Quinn! Love this girl.

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Quinn just got a new job in Baltimore, so sadly (for me) she won’t be working in D.C. during the week anymore! But I know we’ll still find time to meet up because we have such a blast when we do 🙂

I introduced Quinn to my favorite Thai place in the D.C. area — Sawatdee in Arlington! We started with the summer rolls at my insistence. They are soooo amazing — such an interesting combination of flavors, and so light and fresh. Way better than fried spring rolls!

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The summer rolls are minced chicken, lettuce, thin rice noodles, bean sprouts, basil, and cucumber rolled in a fresh rice paper and served with a spicy honey peanut sauce that is out of this world good.

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For my entree, I ordered my usual: the Pad Pak with chicken. It’s just too good to branch out! 🙂

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It’s chicken with lots of fresh veggies sautéed in a delicious garlicky brown sauce.

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Yum! We both ordered brown rice instead of white rice to go with our meals. I love when restaurants offer brown rice as an option!

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It was such a blast hanging out with Quinn, as always 🙂 She’s awesome, and we have a lot in common and so much to talk about — especially related to blogging! We finished dinner in an hour, but ended up hanging out and chatting for another two!

We both agreed that starting our healthy living blogs was one of the best decisions we’ve ever made. We’ve both made a number of great friends through blogging, and it’s amazing being a part of such a fun, supportive community. Not to mention, blogging is such a great outlet for lovers of creative writing! I feel like when I worked in PR after college and was trying to find a job writing for a newspaper or magazine — all I really wanted/needed was a blog! Writing whatever I want without having to go through bosses or waiting for client approval is so great.

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Questions:

Have you made friends through blogging? (whether you have a blog or not! I became friends with Jenna, Meghann, and Kath back when I was just a reader!)

How has blogging (or reading blogs) enriched your life? I’ve learned about so many great foods and tried way more creative recipes than I ever would have before blogging!

Poultry
- anne

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26 comments
  • Heather (Heather's Dish)
    it's helped me to learn how to live my life and have a healthier relationship with food! it's also taught me that there are amazing, strong women all over this country who love food as much as I do :)
    Reply
  • Beth @ Beth's Journey to Thin
    I'm still pretty new to blogging so I haven't made thaaat many friends yet but I love it, and I love reading other peoples blogs. I think it's helped me to be more thoughtful about the food I eat, experiment more, and be more creative. I also get tons of ideas from reading other blogs.
    Reply
  • Gwen
    OMG I used to fake bake by Sawatdee but have never been in! Have you tried their Drunken Noodles? That is my test for every Thai place, favorite is Busara, haven't found any as good yet! Blogging gives me a creative outlet that I do not have at work. It allows me to vent and dish, and even though I love that I have a few readers, it's really about me. I love readding other blogs, especially healthly living blogs because of all of the ideas I get - I've even had two green monsters this week!
    Reply
    • Anne P
      I haven't tried their Drunken Noodles! You'll have to go get some and report back :)
      Reply
  • Jessica @ How Sweet
    Love your creative title. I love thai food, but I love pad thai so much that I can never get the guts to order anything else. Blogging was seriously the best thing I've ever done. You bottom few sentences gave me chills. Rediscovering writing as a passion has been incredible for me!
    Reply
    • Anne P
      That's pretty much me with Pad Pak :) Blogging has absolutely helped me to rediscover creative writing as a passion, as well. Only writing for work all the time had me thinking I'd lost my love for it!
      Reply
  • Chase
    I work in a pretty "think inside the box" sort of industry and blogging has really allowed me to be creative! I love writing and because there's no expectation or deadline, it's perfect for me as a hobby. I love it!
    Reply
  • Anna @ Newlywed, Newly Veg
    I love her glasses! I wish I looked that cute in my glasses...sadly, I do not. :-) Blogging has definitely helped me appreciate a less formal kind of writing...it's writing with all the fun, but (almost) none of the pressure.
    Reply
  • Gabriela @ Fro-Yo Lover
    Awww - Quinn´s the cutest! Such delicious dishes! I´m quite sure you had a BLAST together :) Wish you a great day, Anne! Brazilian XOXO´s, Gabriela
    Reply
  • K
    I am the same way with "my" Thai place by work- Pad See Ew all the way! I've considered venturing out but haven't done it yet, haha. Sounds like you guys had a great dinner! I'm still new to the blogging world, but I "found" you through Quinn :o) And I love how Twitter can connect people so easily!
    Reply
  • Katie
    Those spring rolls look delicious! Glad you had a nice dinner. Ditto the previous commenter about how great Twitter is at connecting people. That's how I found your blog!
    Reply
  • Quinn
    Gateway drug bloggers!
    Reply
    • Anne P
      Hahahhahaha I forgot about that!!
      Reply
  • Heather C
    Agh, that looks delicious! Is that the place across from our blogger-lunch that you said you can never resist? heh, just wondering... Food blogs opened my eyes (mouth, kitchen, whateva) to SO MANY FOODS I had never tried! Something a Dietitian should know - what everything tastes like :) So, thank youuu food bloggers! plus I've tried TONS of stuff I would've never even considered!
    Reply
    • Anne P
      It is indeed! :) My faveee
      Reply
  • Becky
    I love blogging! I'm pretty new and haven't done meet-ups with anyone yet...planning to attend the Healthy Living Summit! I just enjoy being a part of a group of like-minded people. It's so nice to sit down at the end of the day and read stories that are so relevant to my own life.
    Reply
  • Cara
    OF COURSE I've made friends through blogging (ahem Fit Bloggin!), and it's been great! I've also learned about so many new food items (umm...chia seeds?! Love 'em!) and realized how many other people have the same passion for healthy eating as me. I didn't know all of you were out there! :)
    Reply
  • Evan Thomas
    I'd say I've made a few friends through blogs. I wish I could meet so many more in person! Blogging definitely has opened up a world of new foods to me. I don't think I ever touched tofu before blogging
    Reply
  • Nicole, RD
    I have met lots of friends (in real life and online only thus far) through blogging. It's such a strong community that I'm so happy to be a part of. I feel supported, stronger, and much wiser! Smart cookies out there! The food all looks excellent!
    Reply
  • claire
    I have only made online friends so far but I love the community so much and need to spend more time trying to meet others in real life too! maybe I will get to meet more at the healthy living summit! blogging is definitely a writing and foodie outlet for me...that I didn't have in my day to day life. I love it so much! love summer rolls! I keep wanting to recreate them but I can't find the rice roll wrappers anywhere...so upsetting!
    Reply
  • amanda
    Looks like a delicious meal! You always know the best places to eat around the DC area. I should start asking you instead of checking out Yelp. Unless....are you on Yelp??
    Reply
    • Anne P
      Haha I am on Yelp! But I'm totally lame on there... I think I've only posted one review, hehe. I mostly just read them :)
      Reply
  • Lisa (bakebikeblog)
    What a great looking dinner! And I too LOVE that you can order brown rice. I am yet to see it as an option in Aussie restaurants!
    Reply
  • Gracie @ Girl Meets Health
    Making friends through blogging was an unanticipated result, but it turned out to be my absolute favorite part. I seriously get so happy just thinking about all of the amazing ladies I've met! Ahem ;) And I totally agree that blogging is a great outlet for creative writing. With each post that goes by I find myself becoming more and more comfortable with my writing style, and I enjoy it so much!
    Reply
  • Lauren
    What a great dinner! Quinn is such a sweet girl. :)
    Reply