16 Notes for 16 Days (and a few more than 16 photos) - Part I

This month has been one of the busiest I've ever experienced, with exception going to the second semester of my senior year. At least then I was a college student who could sleep in when absolutely necessary. Many of you have asked, "What happened to the blog," "Did you give up on it," "Did you decide you'd been in the city too long to still be writing about your experiences?" No, friends, I've just been SWAMPED. However, it's been a fun ride, for the most part. I'll start where I left you last...

1. Lucy and I had a fantastic weekend together. It was as if we'd never left each other. We visited her friends who said, "We don't walk one street over to the McD's for safety reasons," but then laughed at us when we called a cab to leave their house late at night and go ten blocks. We also had some of the most delicious food ever! Belga Cafe on 8th Street... I highly recommend it. Well worth every penny of the $75 tab for the two of us at brunch. Please let it be known you can eat for much cheaper... we just decided to go all out with entrees, dessert, coffee, drinks... the works.

2. We were delighted to have Christina join us out with Lucy's friends for an entertaining evening with cool people. One of Lucy's friend's friends struck me as the perfect fit for a job I know of, and I'm thrilled that he'll be interviewing this Wednesday. We need another southerner at the NRA, even if it is a few floors down.

3. I also learned that the Capitol is most glorious in the late evening when no tourists are around and the stark white dome shines brightly in the sky. However, Capitol cops are a little intense, so avoid going with crazy, loud boys.

4. After Lulu left town, I packed my bags for a work trip which was only 35 miles from my house that lasted 6 full 24 hour days (well pretty much) with 45 Juniors and Seniors in high schools across the nation. Talk about an interesting week. Remember this post? The Youth Education Summit is run by one of my colleagues, and it's a highly selective scholarship program involving a week of speech, debate, touring DC, and learning about the NRA's programs.

5. I have to say... I got to enjoy some touristy things I'd been wanting to do for a while, but felt I was no longer touristy enough to experience them. :) Like seeing a piece of the Berlin Wall and the World Trade Center at the Newseum. Although the kids didn't really remember life before 9/11, it was a little too powerful of an exhibit for Amber and I, so we left the area before the tears started pouring in front of the kids, hence, no pics. We headed up to the rooftop for a gorgeous view of the Hill.

6. The kids were treated to a mock Friends of NRA event hosted by my friend and PA Field Rep, Kory Enck. They had real tickets, real prizes (including a $200 pair of binos), and fake moolah. They had a blast! My game got sold out, which I say has something to do with my bright smile and big green eyes. ;)

7. We got to tour the Pentagon (awesome) at a speed of light tour behind an army guy dressed in formal uniform walking backwards without looking back once. I had to seize a camera from a student and delete the video he took after the navy lady behind me quickly informed us photos of the Pentagon were strictly forbidden.

8. Ok, so, newsflash that is finally no longer confidential: Friends of NRA has a new TV show coming out on the Outdoor Channel, and my department has been tasked with the marketing, development, and just about everything to do with the show, including creating the new logo. We've got two incredible hosts and they get to drive around in this awesome truck courtesy of the Friends of NRA Event Services team. :) We saw the truck for the first time at laser tag, where my team won once and I killed Jeremy a billion times

8. We had a special treat for the kids on "Life as a Marine" day at Quantico, when Sgt. Wesley Plummer joined us for MRE dinners at the Iwo Jima memorial and for the 8th and I parade on the Marine barracks grounds around the corner from my house. Sgt. Plummer is one of the few remaining men alive that saw the first and second flags raised on Iwo Jima. He was an amazing man, and I loved his wife. We flew them both up from Texas specifically to be with the kids as a special guest.

9. There were lots of other things we did with the kids, but I'm getting exhausted just thinking about it. Let's cap it off with me telling you about the way it ended... We let the kids stay up til 2:00 signing these portrait frames, taking photos, and just having some free time hanging out. Then, I got tasked with taking the first departing girl to the airport in the city for her 6:45 flight, which meant we had to leave the hotel at 3:50... making my wake-up call 3:15. UHHHHH.... NOT happy camper here. But, it did mean I got to go right home after. So I got home at 5am, put clean sheets on my bed, crawled in it, put on my eye covers (courtesy of Sarah or Danielle), and slept til Tina woke me up at 1pm asking when we were going to lunch/dinner.

10. And I do mean lunch/dinner... We sat at Lauriol Plaza for 2+hours slowly picking at our giant salads and catching up on the week's events. It's been so great having her here! We might be making Sunday dinner a staple, whether it's lunch or dinner. At least until family dinners at the Converse Alumni House of DC start back up.

At this point of the post I will pause to allow you guys a break from my life to get back to yours. I'll post the rest tomorrow. xo

Mississippi, DC welcomes you with open arms!

Lucy's in town!! Yay!

I'm so excited to welcome one of my dearest friends from college to the city for the weekend! Lucy made the trek up from Mississippi on Thursday, and did some touristy DC things for Thursday and Friday while I was at work, but in the evening... it's play time! Thursday was the first time I'd seen her since January of 2009, and it was as if I'd been with her just yesterday. Don't you just love those friends? :)

Thursday night we went out to dinner with some other friends of hers in Dupont Circle. I was haggard from a long day of work, so please forgive the unflattering photo. Lucy looks lovely as always!

But on Friday the real fun began with girls night at jazz in the sculpture garden. My new friend and fellow DC blogger Maria came to join Valerie, Sarah, Lucy and I for an early evening of jazz music, sangria, and a great time. After that we left and headed for dinner at the famous Good Stuff Eatery, where former Top Chef finalist "Spike" cooks up the best burgers on the Hill. Although we lost Maria to her evening plans, my lovely cousin Christina joined us for dinner. Christina just moved up to the city from Mississippi, so she and Lucy had some common connections. It was such a wonderful evening, and I'm so glad to have Lucy in town for a bit and Christina in town now! My turn for the bathroom, so I'm off to get ready for another fun evening. More updates to follow tommorrow. :)

4th of July in DC, take two.

Well my dear ones, a year ago tomorrow, I got on a plane headed to Spartanburg with the knowledge that the next 4th of July, I would spend being the local in DC not the tourist. Did I know because I had a job, or a place to live, or the promise of a future in the city? No, I knew because deep inside my heart I had known all weekend that THIS, DC, was the place that I was supposed to be at this point in my life. And I am so grateful for the wonderful blessings of a great job, a beautiful new home, and friends that care about me. :)

Ok, now that I've gotten the sappiness out of the way... this weekend was fabulous! And last week was too, for that matter. (Sorry no blogs, I was super busy, and didn't have pictures to prove it.) I spent the whole weekend with my friend Valerie and her sweet friends that were visiting for the weekend. Be prepared, this one is long.

Friday night I jetted home from work to get ready to rush out the door to meet Val and the gang at Jazz in the Garden at the National Gallery of Art's Sculpture Garden. I thought it was just a hop, skip, and a jump away from me, but the walk ended up being a good 40 minutes in the heat. Needless to say I was a little wilted when I arrived! It was a packed garden, and the hot salsa music was keeping the crowd excited. Sangria pitchers were flowing, and all were having a fabulous time. Some folks (no one from our group) even ran through the quite wide fountain only to get escorted by security once they reached the other side. The hot salsa night at the garden looks like it might be a tradition for this little lady, but I promise it was just as fun the second time!

Val and I by the fountain

Sarah, Justin, Callan(Sunday dinner regular), Rebecca, Valerie, and I

Notice the folks running through the fountain? This was taken on our way out after about 10 people had already taken the plunge into the water. Hey, it was hot salsa... can you blame them for wanting to cool off?

After the evening of music we took a leisurely stroll (30 minutes) to a not-so-nearby sushi restaurant to fill our increasingly noisy stomachs. I will not eat there again, but the company was fun.

 The famous Chinatown arch by our metro stop for the evening

Saturday morning I woke up to rush off to kayak on the Potomac with the gang and meet the two friends that didn't arrive til late Friday night. However, the sequestered-cabin-on-the-river place that Val's crew chose to go to had me driving in circles on the Maryland side of the Potomac for a good 45 minutes. The blackberry and google maps gave me the exact same directions, but I promise.... the street sign they told me to look for did not exist. I even got out and asked someone to help me, and the woman offered to lead me there... but she drove me to the exact same place I ended up the other three times, the National Harbor NOT the Fort Washington Harbor. I had this feeling the whole time that I was within a stone's throw of the place, and Val confirmed today that we passed all the same landmarks and the same streets, but the last turn I kept missing was into a residential area that was not well-marked. Needless to say... I gave up and went home VERY disappointed that I did not get to go kayaking (which I enjoy thoroughly).

But have no fear, I got to meet everyone later in the evening at Valerie's cookout!

Derrick, Jacob (Sunday dinner regular), Josh, Justin, Trevor, and Ben

The boys are always the grill-masters. It used to be our friend Jordan's job at Sunday night dinners, but we unfortunately will be without him for the next little bit. He was always required to sport an apron, as it improved the taste of our food magically. :) So the boys wearing aprons are part one of the funny picture. Part two... Somehow I always get the kitchen task of making the margaritas, and usually only 2 or 3 people (girls) have one. But on this particular night we bought just enough for the girls and a little extra, and who decides they want one?! ALL the boys, except Josh who said he was too manly for a margarita. Needless to say, the margarita mix was all gone by the beginning of dinner and a picture had to be taken to document the momentous occasion.

 Me, Ben, Rebecca, Derrick, Val, Josh (nice one, Josh), Sarah, and Jacob

After the fantastic burgers we walked to the Dairy Godmother for some frozen custard. Some were a little excited they got to sit in this chair...

I was not one of them for obvious reasons if you know me at all.

Sunday everyone came over to my house in Eastern Market for another cookout and pre-fireworks fun. We had an easy meal of hotdogs, veggies, watermelon, slaw, and baked beans. Dessert got eaten too quickly for me to get a photo of my patriotic decorations. 

What's left of the lemonade pie courtesy of The Neely's on Food Network

We played some frisbee, ladder ball, and scattergories to pass the time until we made the trek to the opposite side of the mall where the Lincoln Memorial is to watch the fireworks. It was so worth it but I do mean long trek....

 We found a great spot with a great view and plenty of space for all of us (11) to eat our Subway dinner, play some Apples to Apples and stretch out for the fireworks. 

Happy Birthday America!

After the fireworks we avoided the metro lines by walking across the Memorial Bridge to Rosslyn to hang out there for a bit before braving the metro lines. On our way we saw a few sights I haven't shared with you before, and one I hadn't seen up close. Unfortunately it's also pitch black most places in DC at night, so the photos aren't so great, but I thought I'd share, then I must cut this off, because I know you're getting tire of reading. :)

 My future place of employment (one day). The Kennedy Center. 

The tradition view of Iwo Jima.

 

 The view that I like. 

It won't be so long next time, I promise. xoxo