We paid over 500/night for a tiny private room when we delivered. Granted, it was in a NYC hospital, but comparatively, 290/night sounds reasonable to me.

In reviewing our own budget, we also realized that our food expenses were quite high, and one of the steps we took was to limit the amount of meat intake. I find that we don't lack for satisfying meals without it, and it definitely helped our budget (now down to about 85/week for fam of 3). We also have a small fridge/freezer combo, so we try to limit long-term storage. In a way, it helps because it forces us to use up everything (nothing is hidden out of sight) and to limit how much we buy at one time. One thing that has helped me immensely with budget and time constraints is doing a bit of meal planning, so I can use up ingredients and not feel too stressed every night coming up with something (also, nce you plan it, you're more likely to follow through with the cooking). We try as much as possible to buy in season, and I find that to be cheaper than buying frozen or canned in most instances. The exceptions are beans, which I buy in cases whenever they are on sale (a PP asked what to do with beans; I make black bean soup, use chickpeas and lentils to make a stew; all sorts of curries, though my favorite is chickpea with spinach) and canned tomatoes, which I found to be very versatile (use them for sauces, curries, poaching eggs in them, several casseroles - lots of stuff).

Anonymous wrote:Anyone have suggestions for what kinds of things to purchase (and where that are already cooked? We have two other couples coming for lunch this weekend and I have no idea what to serve. I'm a terrible cook. Thanks

As long as you have a microwave or oven and some serving dishes to transfer food into, Trader Joe's is good for pre-made but tasty food. If the guests are into Indian fare, I would recommend a couple packs of the garlic naan to serve with eggplant curry as a starter. You could do any number of their other meat curries as mains, or switch to something like the heat and serve sesame chicken with a side of any of their veggie medleys/stirfries. If you're more of a cheese and charcuterie crowd, you can pick up the assorted meat pack with the Saint Andre in the deli section pared with a baguette, or even heat up one of their flatbreads and cut up for apps. They have several pasta entrees that are good for groups. They also have good frozen dessert options that are either heat and serve or serve as is. You could do sorbet with sliced fruit, or serve coffee/tea with their pastries. Lots of options there - we use them to stock up for when we don't have enough time/energy to cook but still want to entertain.

Maybe try doing bahn mi rolls? I got a great series of recipes from "Into the Vietnamese Kitchen", which the public libraries have here. Separately, you could do a cheese-free balsamic-tomato-garlic-basil bruschetta on toasted bread as an app, maybe cold shrimp salad or shrimp wraps? For low-fuss meals I get large filets of fresh fish from Grand Mart and bake for 40 min with a soy-ginger glaze or use Costco's Yoshida marinade. Incidentally, said marinade is good for all proteins and veggies I have tried, to include broiled short ribs.

If you don't have guests over, why not hang out in the house au natural and then the A/C doesnt need to be as high?

If you are planning on metroing in, take the red line down to metro center and dine at Tosca's. I haven't been in months, but dined there several times and always loved it. Also cast my vote to Rasika, but the are usually booked several weeks out. Though I haven't been yet, I only hear rave reviews of Thai X-ing - definitely worth a try f you're both foodies.

If you prefer staying in the US and are having trouble finding where to stay, have you tried airbnb.com? You have the option of narrowing searches to find a full house/apartment.

Anonymous wrote:NOT France, and especially not Paris. Too many places will be shut for vacation, too many other tourists, and can be sweltering (not always, but not rarely either) but AC is limited.

Quick plug for France - while it is true that August is traditionally when most French families go on holiday, it's also the month that museums offer extended hours. There are fewer international tourists around Paris during that time, but more French families from other provinces. If you do some searches now for projected closures, and try to see if the restaurants you want to visit are open/or not, you can mitigate the guessing game once you are there. There's also several fun festivals put on at the time. Anyway, there are lots of good recommendations on here - have fun wherever you decide to go!

Brunch at Bubby's in Brooklyn is good. It's in the DUMBO area, and just a block from a little park along the waterfront, which is great for a stroll with the kids. A great alternative to Bubby's brunch is going to the same area on a weekday, and grabbing coffee and pastries at Amandine bakery just up the street; then enjoy it at the picnic tables in the park. For dinner, we enjoyed Stanton Social - the two memorable dishes for us were the French onion soup dumplings and the beef wellington. Have fun!

I'm looking for an Alexandria stylist recommendation for someone who can cut/style thick curly hair, and won't leave me looking like I have a triangle head when I let my hair air dry. I found a good salon that does Dominican style blow outs when I want it straightened, but for the summer months when it's so humid, I'd rather not fight back the curls.

We have not turned on the A/C since late March. We open doors and windows when we are home, and have only recently brought out the fan for the baby's room and our room, but haven't used it every night. We're both from humid places, which might help. That said, we would turn it on if we had guests staying overnight (t's a four story townhouse, guestroom is on top level), or coming over for dinner on a hot night. Gas bill this month came in at just under $15.00, which is a bonus, but mostly we do it for comfort.