I drank sour milk today, and it was yucky

Well, I only had one sip, but it was still enough to make me gag. Bleh! I really needed it to go with my cake that I made. Boo! I felt like baking today, since it was a little chilly and I had no big plans, I thought baking would be perfect and a great opportunity to use my relatively new bundt cake pan. It's not exactly a birthday cake, but I guess some people might assume that's what I was going for.

Snickerdoodle Bundt Cake Oh it is yummy! It tastes very much like a coffee cake, but the bottom of the cake has this delicious crunchiness like a tasty snickerdoodle cookie. It definitely was in need of milk. Too bad my milk was sour. Sad.

In two hours, I'll officially be 24. Maybe I should've made two dozen cupcakes instead of a bundt cake. I spent this weekend exploring some new places in my neighborhood thanks to the October issue of The Washingtonian.

As I was in line at the grocery store, one of the headlines on the magazine caught my attention: "The Best of Capitol Hill." I made an impulse decision and purchased it to see exactly what they think "the best" of my hood is. Several spots they mentioned are right-on with things I know, but others were places I didn't know existed, or small places I've passed a billion times, but wasn't sure they would be any good.

One such place was 7th Hill pizzeria just a few steps away from the Eastern Market that I so often go to for fruits and veggies. I decided to try it for my birthday dinner on Saturday night. Although the establishment is quite small, the pizza is incredibly delicious. I only regret that I didn't get any photos of the food or the night.

This morning after I walked to church in the surprisingly chilly air, I stopped by Peregrine Espresso to grab a coffee to knock off the chill from the walk around the market. Peregrino was also recommended as a "best" by The Washingtonian. I got excited because the Macchiato was only $2.75, but then I found out that the macchiato was two shots of espresso and a splash of milk in a cup the size of a bathroom Dixie cup. I quickly realized that was not going to do the trick of warming me up, so I changed my order to a latte with a shot of vanilla. I've never seen a coffee that looked so beautiful.

It was different from my standard Starbucks grande skinny vanilla latte, but it was good! And, I discovered that they're vanilla syrup was legitimate vanilla syrup not that stuff that comes out of a squirt bottle. I'm most assuredly going back there to try the treats in their bakery counter including a spinach and gruyere scone. Mmm, so good. I think they're all-organic. If only I could have one of their lattes for my birthday tomorrow morning. Work crew is throwing me a shindig after work, I'm excited!

I'm going to continue checking out what they think is the best, and see if I agree or disagree. I'll let y'all know my thoughts. But in the meantime... Ironman 2 just ended, and it is bedtime! Unfortunately it's supposed to rain tomorrow, so I guess I'll have to skip my morning run. Good thing I walked so much this weekend my feet hurt!

Happy Birthday, Mom and Dad! Love y'all!

xo

On the Road Again

Seventh grade SC History class is a class I will never forget, although the subject matter may be a bit blurry and the teacher's name may or may not have been Mr. Corley. One of the things I remember clearly is this show we'd watch on Fridays that aired on PBS and had to have been made in the 70s. The premise of the show was this guy traveling the state in an RV, and the theme song was "On the Road Again" by Willie Nelson. Still to this day, that song gets stuck in my head.

I know for many people, being on the road for work is a way of life, and it becomes a thing they hate, but my weekend trip to Albuquerque, NM, was a nice change from the scope of my everyday job at 11250 Waples Mill Rd. The point of the trip was originally to observe and learn about the Clubs side of our division by attending their Club U, but when the normal Friends of NRA presenter for the state of NM dropped out unexpectedly, I was called on to fill in and speak about our program. It was a quick trip, leaving Friday morning early and flying back home Sunday morning early. Although it was short it was quite exhausting due to the time change and my encroaching illness. A larger selection of pictures can be found here, but I've included some of the highlights in this post.

The land was so desolate! Miles of brown with no house.

This is no river like I've seen before.

Friday afternoon we traveled into Old Town and saw some of the interesting shops that make up the historic portion of the city of Albuquerque. I was fascinated with the red chiles hanging, and when I first made the comment that they could be the focus of an artsy photographer, our professional photographer Lars laughed and thought I was kidding. Guess who has as many shots on his camera of chiles as I do?

We discovered this cute shop filled with kaleidoscopes. I felt like a kid again, until I saw this beautiful piece of art. It's equipped with a light to shine on the balloon that makes the colors almost heavenly when you look through it. The photo is actually contraband, because after I took it while the shop owner was in the back, when she came to tell us more about it and Lars tried to take a snapshot, she refused to let him do so. Oops! I just had to share. The pricetag: $1400. Not a toy!

We then traveled up the 2.7 mile long cables of the Sandia Peak Tram to the High Finance restaurant on the top of the mountain overlooking the city. It is the highest tram in the US, and has played host to 270,000 people since it's opening not all that long ago. I must admit, that although I'm not afraid of heights, I did experience altitude sickness.

The scenery at the top was well worth it though. Here are just a few of the shots.

Saturday was work, and my speech went really well! Then we were off to dinner at Sadie's for traditional NM cuisine.

Carne Adovada Enciladas in blue corn tortillas

On our way back on Sunday, we flew over one of the Great Lakes as we descended into Chicago's O'Hare Airport. And the colors were just remarkable.

The trip was great, but I'm still recovering from it and the DC allergen that has been tormenting me for the past week. I'm actually in a hurry to get off here so I can stop dozing and actually fall asleep. It'll only be a few days, and I, like Willie Nelson, will be "on the road again." This time I'll be heading home, not away from it.

Welcome Isaac, Welcome Allen, and Helloooo Google!

Ello, loves! I hope you all enjoyed the glorious weekend weather and company I did! Friday, Saturday, Sunday... delightful.

My Friday morning was so unproductive as I awaited the arrival of my newest (now I know) NEPHEW, Isaac, and I was so happy to finally hear he and Brooke were safe, happy, healthy and beautiful.

We hope to have photos sans tubes very soon, but he is precious none-the-less, and I'm sure to be as proud of him as my other 4, wait, I already am!

Monday the event services team minus Jeremy traveled to googleDC in Northwest for the opening lecture of Advertising Week DC. It was not put on by Google, just in their office space, but Google's political sector dude was a panelist, although he looked as if he was either extremely tired and sad or partaking in the powder of addiction. The lecture, however, was uninspiring. We were thinking they'd address the new uses of social media, but they didn't, despite the deceiving title. While the lecture was uninspiring, the googleDC space was anything but.

Amber said it looked like a kindergarten room, and it kind of did with all the primary colors, but I was in my happy place: creative land!! The meeting space was ultra mod, and you should've seen the entrance to their offices. It had brightly colored carpets, yoga balls for chairs, giant flat screens, Andy Warhol style art, mod chairs, and globe lighting. Oh I would love going to work in an environment like that! We found room on their whiteboard of ideas for our mark. :)

Today's excitement: Allen arrived in DC! I haven't seen him in almost a year, and it so awesome to finally have him up here, even if this visit just serves as a tease until November, post-election. Allen is my friend who serves as a campaign manager, and he's been up to DC about 4 times since I moved, but everytime I'm unavailable due to work. The funny thing is... this weekend, while he's in town I'll be in NM on business travel. So, I promised him every evening this week.

Tonight's events: a battle of the receptions. Clemson vs. USC. I met up with Allen at Charlie Palmer for the Clemson alumni lobbying event (where all food was bite-sized according to ethics regulations), and then we headed over to the National Gallery of African American Art for the USC reception. It was fun to get a glimpse of Allen's world in politics. I admire his ability to speak so eloquently no matter the topic. Good thing I know how to smile, nod and look pretty, because I certainly didn't know about half the subjects discussed. It was fun to get out of my bubble though, and I so enjoyed spending time with Allen. Can't wait for tomorrow's busy agenda!

Speaking of busy agenda, I must shut this computer off so I can get sleep to run in the am. We'll see if that happens!! I know I can, I know I can, I know I can...

xo

PS... pardon the photos the last 3 photos, they're all from cellular devices.