Seeing the Light

This weekend was very busy...filled with great food, good drinks, and we even managed to fit a 4 am free pizza delivery in.  After everything that went on, I think a lazy Sunday afternoon is appropriate.

Did you know that Fridays from 5-6 pm Sticky Rice in the Fan does a half price sushi menu?  (They also do a similar deal on Mondays from 10:30 pm to 12:30 am).  They don't include all their sushi in this deal, but they do have a pretty good selection.  Adam and I ended up going there after I got off work and got a huge plate of sushi and some Sake.  

The sticky balls in the upper left corner of the photo (basically fried rice, crabmeat, tempura battered, and fried with a aioli sauce) were to die for.  We also tried the eel, octopus (too chewy for me), a spicy salmon roll, crunchy shrimp roll, and a yellowfin roll.  Oh!  I almost forgot, the house hot Sake is also half off during this time!  

Can you guess how much all this sushi and two large hot Sakes were? $27 + tip.  At any other time, this would have been double.  Such a great deal and so yummy!  

After dinner I peeked in the DT2 thrift store across the street.  It was closed, but I wanted to see if there were any neat things displayed in the window.  I saw a really neat lamp and an unfinished, all-wood short bookshelf for $10 that could have made a really great wine rack.  

I had all intentions of going to grab up these two neat items when the store opened, but we ended up going out to Shockoe Slip that night, and well, it didn't happen.  When I finally got out of the apartment and over to DT2, the bookshelf was gone, but the lamp was still there!  (This goes to show that if you see something you want while thrifting you should get it as it might not be there even an hour later!) Anyways, the lamp was originally $25, but with the 25% off coupon I referred to in an earlier post, it was $19.  The metal part of the lamp where the shade connects had some structural issues that made the lamp shade wobble, but I was able to fix it with a heavy application of Krazy Glue.  It's worked thus far, so hopefully it stays!  I also think using an extra washer would solve the problem too, so if the glue doesn't hold, the washer will be another simple fix!

I love how the lamp also doubles as shelves.  I plan on finding some really cute picture frames to put in each!   

We also celebrated Mom's birthday last night at award-winning Avalon in the Fan.  Adam and I went once before and I fell in love with this place! Soon after we went, I bought a Living Social coupon deal ($15 for $30 to spend), which we used last night.  I am a Groupon and Living Social junkie!  These websites are great because they allow you to try new places without paying full price.  They are also dangerous because the deals are only available for a day, so you end up buying them for fear of missing out.

Anyways, Avalon is a small plates/tapas-inspired restaurant, so the idea is to order a lot of plates and share.  I would have taken a picture of all the food we got, but I was so excited about eating that I forgot (I also had 3 glasses of wine at this point).  The standout dishes were smoked seafood chowder, grilled caesar, buttered brussel sprouts (signature dish...you must get these if you go), arctic char, and the cheese plate.  Avalon is great because there's so many different flavors in each of the small dishes!

So two questions: Do you like websites like Groupon and Living Social and have you purchased any amazing deals from them?  And what's your favorite restaurant in Richmond?  Maybe I'll go try it out!