The week in snapshots a la speedy gonzalez

Due to the speed with which I am writing this post, please disregard all grammatical errors.

I'm so sorry it's been a week since I posted last. I promised myself I wouldn't slack off... now I'm promising you that I'll do better. Much has happened since I last updated you, so I'm writing via snapshots as I think this'll speed up my writing so I can get some much needed beauty rest.

So, buckle up! I'm about to take you on the speed tour of my week.

Wednesday night I went to Happy Hour at Pentagon Row with some fabulous Converse ladies, Valerie and Amber. It was my first time meeting Amber, and it's always nice to expand my Converse network. Although our school is small, the bonds of sisterhood are strong (cheesy, but true). Because I arrived early, which is a habit I'm working on, I had time to browse a local shoe warehouse called DSW, and I found these shoes I just LOVED, but realized I had no use for, even if they were a good deal. I also did a brisk walk through the adjacent mall after our happy hour. My feet were SCREAMING at me by the end, since I had on appx. 4 inch heals that I wore all day. There were lots of fun shops, and I look forward to another trip with lower shoes.Thursday Kara, Amber and I went for my first Starbucks since arriving in DC (insert *gasp* from those that know me well). Skinny vanilla latte... Oh, how I've missed you!! :) While at Starbucks, I found this super cool camera case for $4 that has a protective yet chic shell for my nice new camera that now goes everywhere with me.


Friday I got to see my darling friend Sarah Walters who invited me out with her new colleagues who were super fun! We went to this great little dive called Galaxy Hut in Arlington, which feels like some hippy-trippy Asheville bar. They had pac-man games for tables and contemporary art everywhere. It felt like a college boys apartment met an asheville hippy's tree house. So fun! We had a little issue getting SW's car out of the work garage, so it ended up being a sleepover at my place. Hanging out with Sarah is always a blast!

Ebenezer's Coffeehouse

Rainbow Row of DC

For those worried about my safety, I promise cops and safety officers are not far away. There's one now! :)

Securities and Exchange Building's trellised garden which I'm sure will be beautiful come spring.

Sunday I had the opportunity to go to church with Allison (see Smithsonian entry). It's the same church I attended last week just a different branch/location. The first picture in this set is where I went to church. Yes... the "Ebenezer's" picture. Remember, church is the people, not the building. :) After the service, we went for a splurge brunch at Bistro Bis right past Union Station. The food was SO good, and we left without breaking the bank because we split everything but our coffee, which costs $3.75(It must have been Starbucks Limited Edition blend for that rate!). After brunch we went our separate ways, and I walked around the shops in Union Station. While I was there I picked up a cute little chinese takeout type box from Papyrus for Anib's popcorn gift. Her bday was Friday, and her bday request was that I blog(Happy Birthday, Amber!) and bring the caramel popcorn I blogged about last week.

Today felt like a tornado. It was 60 degrees out. The sky was dark. It rained and hailed, and the rain was so bad on my way home that I could barely see the headlights lined up behind me. This crazy man in his giant Tahoe was being so aggressive trying to squeeze into traffic today that I swear I heard his car squeak his nose in. I know our cars were touching, and I was SO mad. The picture above was taken at a stoplight, and through the water covered window. It's not great, but it shows how dark it was when it was supposed to be light.

Last, but not least, I had BodyPump class today. I'm getting much better about how much weight I'm using. I didn't take a picture of the weights... but I did carry this entire load of groceries in in one trip. Included in the groceries was .5 gallon of milk, 5 lbs. bag of sugar, 1 lb. powdered sugar, several cans, 4 lbs. of chicken stock, and much, much more. Aren't you proud?! ;)

Oh, and exciting news! Clay semi-surprised me with a trip up for Valentine's weekend. Guess who's excited?! :)

Midnight - WHAT?! I must sleep! Night!

A Day in the Past

Yesterday was such a beautiful day that I decided to scrap my original plans of Smithy hopping and go for a stroll(D.C. terms for power walking) in Old Town Alexandria. You've read posts about Old Town before, but every time I've been this winter it's been dark and frigid, and I can only window shop at all the cute little boutiques. Well, window shopping is all I did yesterday, but it was a glorious day! Small miracle: only my light spring trench coat was necessary!


Old Town, Alexandria is situated on the Potomac River and served as a port city for centuries. The waterfront marina is quite nice, and the Woodrow Wilson Bridge connects the quaint community to the bustling city life of the District.

Portions of the road are paved with cobblestone, and all the sidewalks are treacherous bricks, even worse for the heeled female than Converse's difficult walkways. I learned this the hard way when I took my parents for dinner in 5 inch stilettos and had to hold on to someone's arm for dear life as we trekked the 7 blocks to the restaurant. But, that being said, with comfortable shoes, the sites are quite worth the walk. The few architecture pictures I got were the chances to take pictures without moving cars of herds of people, so they aren't the most amazing structures, but they do depict the character.





The Old Town theater is a place I hope to go soon. It's a one theater movie house where you can eat dinner, have a beer or glass of wine, and enjoy the movie. They play current movies, and all their profits are based on vending. From what I hear, it's not uncommon to have to wait ten minutes while the film strip is being changed or the sound comes back on, etc., but it's all about the experience.


I would've stayed to watch Sherlock Holmes, but ... the looming 5 o'clock traffic hour kept me on a tight schedule. Although I was in a community that seemed to be in the past, the fast pace of the 21st century city was never far away, evident in the zooming cars and the people that never slowed or yielded.

I was really looking forward to going inside the Stabler-Leadbeater Apothecary Shop, but unfortunately, they observed the holiday as well... This shop has served the likes of George Washington and Robert E Lee. It operated as a drugstore from 1792-1933 and is today a museum and gift shop. From my peak inside the windows, it seemed to have some neat period items.

There was a bake shop I walked 8 blocks to sample a cupcake at only to discover that from one glance at their cupcakes, I would not enjoy them. Let's put it this way... their gourmet cupcakes looked like the ones at Barnes and Noble that starbucks sells. Pretty on the outside, boring on the inside. So, I'm still on the lookout for a bakery that rivals the likes of my cupcakes, and yes, I know I'm a food snob. :)

As an aside, it made for interesting discussion at lunch today when I declared that I'm pretty sure this is the first MLK day I've ever had off from school or otherwise. After all, I am from South Carolina, where some people believe the Civil War was the war of northern aggression... That being said, I was thankful for a holiday. :) So happy belated MLK day!

Movie Night

In case you were wondering, yes, I have a roommate, and yes, we get along quite well, when we're in the apartment together, that is. Saturday was one of those rare nights where we were both in the apartment at the same time, and we decided to have "girl movie night," which we called "fat kid nights" in college. I know, I'm so not PC.

I took it as the perfect opportunity to make this recipe I've been drooling over for the past week or so. And let me tell you... it was (and still is!) so worth the effort! It tastes like home made crunch n' munch, and if you get just a blob of caramel and some peanuts... it tastes like my favorite candy bar: PayDay!

It was a little bit of a mess to make, but it was super easy, and I was so proud of myself for making my first "candy." It wasn't nearly as scary as I'd always thought. Butter, sugar, and water in a pot on high heat for 10-14 minutes, no stirring, then throw a tsp of baking soda in right at the last minute to thicken it up then pour immediately over your cooked popcorn and salted peanuts. I'm still working on photographing food... I have lots to learn from the cooking blogs, but my blog isn't all about cooking, so no one expects me to be perfect, right?


We chose "Fame" which I so wanted to see in theaters, but couldn't because of the big move and timing. I must say... I'm glad I didn't spend the money or the time. For all the hype, it was quite a disappointment. I almost think the previews were better than the movie itself. There was very little character development, and the plot had no climax whatsoever. Overall, I give it a C. The best parts about the whole movie were the audition montage in the first 5 minutes and the graduation production in the last 5.

The movie wasn't so great, but the company and the snacks made it a night to smile about. Try the popcorn! Or let me know, and I'll send you a tupperware of it. Yum, yum!

Stay tuned for my evening post on the events of my day off thanks to MLK day.