Thank you, Anonymous....

I posted a few days ago about an upcoming trip to DC and about my concern over not being able to find some allergy-friendly restaurants ahead of time. I reached out to you, my blogosphere, in the hopes that someone out there still would be reading after all these years and could point me in the right direction. Ask, and ye shall receive....

Thank you, Anonymous. Your recommendation of AllergyEats.com is a load off my mind. Of course, a little conversation with my darling husband last night that went a little something like this didn't hurt either:

I'm really concerned about our trip to DC. It's four days of restaurants and takeout and trusting waiters/chefs, etc., and I cannot seem to find allergy info for the city. This won't be like Disney, and I'm worried.

You do realize we went to school there for four years, right?

Yes, but do you remember the attacks? And the medicines? And some of those horrible nights?

You know far more now than you did back then. We have a host of places we ate at successfully all those years ago. I checked; a bunch of them are still open. You're making too much of this.

Normally, a comment like that would upset me greatly, but the truth of the matter is, he's completely right. I can say that here because I don't think he's among the faithful still reading. If you are, dear, I apologize. YOU ARE RIGHT. See, I know what questions to ask. I know what precautions to take. I know that if all else fails, I'm with a man who will get up and leave a restaurant if there's nothing i can eat and/or if the waiter/chef fails to make me believe I can eat there safely...and that's no small thing, trust me.

However, Anonymous also came to my rescue, and for that, unkown reader, I thank you. AllergyEats (I am not affiliated, I am not being compensated for this review, I simply am an allergic patron in cyber land) is pretty damn impressive. Even though the site appears to be new (relatively speaking), I already found a list of places that he and I can eat with a little less anxiety on my part. Heck, I might even see my way to having a cocktail!

Your Allergic Diner

On saying yes...

So, my trip of last month was postponed, and this past weekend I packed myself up and drove south to see my friend. I pushed my reservations and my memories aside, and we had a wonderful, spirited, hilarious, endearing girls' weekend, one that ended in a promise to see more of each other. She is none the wiser to the reason I never pushed harder to be a part of her post-college life, and we had a fabulous time together, allergy-free, hospital-visit free, and spent most of it on her couch, catching up. I am so very thankful for the good friends in my life, and this visit only solidified that. We did, in fact, eat out at different places, only this time I knew to ask the pertinent questions before digging in. I even had a cocktail, which may not sound like much to my readers, but those who know me know that I only do this when extremely comfortable.

Next up? An anniversary trip to DC with NAH. I'm already perusing menus, and I logged in to The Washington Post only to find that they have removed their discussion boards. How's a girl to find allergy-friendly good dining in the city without the help of other DC natives? Ugh. If anyone is out there and still reading, I'd sincerely appreciate a list of allergy-friendly restaurants when you have a moment. My only bright spot in this is the realization that the world of dining has come a LONG way in the past 10 years, and waiters no longer scoff when I explain an allergy. Heck, a couple of weeks ago, I was comparing allergies with the waitress!

Living. Learning. Eating.
Allergic Diner