36 Hours with Val and Brit (+Callan+Jordan)

I can't believe Thursday is almost here. The weeks just seem to fly by these days. This week has definitely been a good one, albeit active.

My weekly trip to the 300 block of Pennsylvania Ave. occurred on Friday last week with Val and Brit for our post work week dinner break. Val has ambitions of setting me up with Chef Spike (who I'm pretty sure already has a gf). She's a regular little Yente. So I suppose she was purposely late (45 minutes late) in hopes that he'd walk by on his way to the restaurant while I sat on the corner dinner patio reading my book, listening to street musicians, and minding my own business. Funny girl, that one.

However, he was not there, at least at the pizza place. And I have a new philosophy on why the food at Good Stuff was just mediocre the last two times I went, and the pizza this past time was also just mediocre. The philosophy: when the Chef is away, the sous chefs will play. Everytime he's been there, you can see him take extra care and attention to the details of the food, but when he's at the other restaurant the little details that make the food extra special... are left off the to-do list.

Needless to say, at the end of our evening, we still needed a little something extra to quench or appetites. And it came in the form or yogurt... sweetgreen yogurt that is! So tasty and healthy!

I've gotten to where I only eat plain non-fat yogurt. I can't eat Yoplait or any other pre-sweetened/flavored yogurt. And sweetgreen is made for people just like me. It's frozen plain non-fat yogurt topped with three selections from their fresh cut fruit, granola, nuts, and organic sauces/sweeteners. It was good to the last scoop with our compostable spoons, hence the "green" in sweetgreen.

I chose peach, granola, and blackberries, while Val and Brit chose peaches, mango, and strawberries. Yum!

Brit had been in the car all day on her way back to the city from her summer job in Atlanta, and I have to say, she looks a LOT more chipper and cute than I would be at this point in the evening after 8 hours in the car.

I have Kay to thank for the beautiful shining earring that reflected the light a little too much for this photo, but I do love the earrings. Thanks, Kay!

While at dinner we planned our proposed trip to the mountains/Charlottesville for the day on Saturday. Little did we know it would be such an adventure. We set our alarms for 7 am, and planned to leave at 8 to drive to Charlottesville, meet Jordan for brunch at 10, tour Monticello before 1-2, and travel the mountainous route back to the city with a pit stop at a hiking trail or winery. Sounds like a great plan, right??

Well, the GPS didn't seem to like us, and put us on I-95 Southbound a ways down the road, but smack-dab in the middle of the treacherous 20 miles to Fredericksburg that I ALWAYS avoid. It is one gigantic bottleneck that makes a 20 mile trip last about 1.5 hours on a good day. Stupid Sarah thought the GPS would take us elsewhere or at least Val and Brit knew the way, so we'd make it to Charlottesville by 10 for a big brunch and I'd be fine, but at about 10 we were still on I-95 and my blood sugar was rapidly plummeting. I thought I was going to pass out, and I'm just glad I was driving so I could keep my focus off of how hungry/lightheaded I was.

We finally arrived in Charlottesville around Noon, and promptly found a restaurant and a restroom. Starbucks coffee for all 4 of us... you can imagine the results. :) Arriving at noon meant we missed our opportunity to see Jordan, and we adjusted our plans to stay in Charlottesville all day instead of hiking. So, adventure to Monticello begins!

For a president's house, it was a good bit smaller than I imagined, but it was still so impressive. The detail that Thomas Jefferson put into the house is far beyond what a man of his time should've been able to imagine or create. It really is quite beautiful. The grounds are perfectly manicured, and the vegetable garden still kept fresh. The "dependencies" below the East and West wing of the house are equally impressive as they are seamlessly connected to the main house while being virtually invisible to the naked eye from the front or back of the home. Don McCracken was our tour guide into the house, and he was very passionate about the life of Jefferson and the home.

The peach orchard provided a small reminder of home, and the delicacies of southern cuisine. If only there were peaches on the trees for me to pick!

Brit decided to use the giant sunflower as a hat, but after seeing this photo, it looks more like she's singing in the shower of sunflowerness.

I was slightly amazed and intrigued by the "guinea bean" which was ehhh, approximately 3.5 feet long. There's a picture of me standing beside it, but I decided not to post it.

It was like we'd gone back in time. No cell phones ringing, no iPoders, no horns honking or cars whirring by, just peace and quiet. I love my life in the city, but sometimes it's nice to relax in the peace and tranquility of the countryside.

This girl=happy camper. :)

We were getting this photo taken before our house tour when to our surprise we spotted Jordan Warwood, the very guy we'd come to the great town of Charlottesville to see!

 I had to take this photo so we could joke about the fact that we looked totally stalkerish, but it was hilarious when we discovered that his 12 o'clock commitment was a trip to Monticello with his MBA class. And J-Warwood is super hard to miss because he's like.... 12 feet tall. It's crazy!

This is our (very little make-up) stalkers face. haha! I realize I look ridiculous.. so no comments on that needed. Thanks in advance.

Callan found the reflection pond to consider her love for J-Warwood and TJ. Cool shot, right? :) After meeting up with Jordan for a quick hello, we walked to TJ's grave where visitors throw nickels bearing Monticello on the back onto TJ's grave for luck. I joined the tradition....

But my nickel bounced off. So I guess my wish doesn't count.

But I wasn't the only one disappointed.

Callan's didn't make it on the stone either. I guess we're both out of luck. Her sad face totally beats mine here, since I'm laughing while making the sad face. Those of you who've seen the real sad face know it's pathetic with a capital "P."

But we weren't sad for long when Jordan offered to show us around the Darden School of Business at UVA, which he lefts us for. All in all, we ended up accomplishing our main goal: a fun day trip out of the city, and our side goal: seeing Jordan. I just hope that next time... we can plan a little better and accomplish all of our goals.

More to post soon. Toodles!

An Elle of a Week

Another week has flown by in my life. Before we know it, Christmas is going to be here, and we'll be celebrating the dawn of 2012. Such a scary thought! I'll be 24 in just a few more short weeks. No longer allowed to compete in the Miss America system. hah! (Yes, that used to be a goal of mine.)

The field ops division (young folks) have started playing Trivia in Arlington once a week, and let me tell you... we need to stick to our day jobs. Most of you know trivial knowledge is NOT my forte, and apparently with all our smart heads put together we still don't have enough knowledge to compete with the trivia regulars that chant "G O Graph-y" and other random "call-backs" when the announcer says certain terms. But we have fun, none-the-less. Amber and I were excited to find this random tele booth outside of Union Jack's in the mall where we play trivia.

However, when Amber went to open it so we could get fun photos inside the booth, we were terribly disappointed to find that the tele booth doesn't open and it won't, in fact, transport us like all the magical tele booths in movies. Sad day! :(

Where would I have wished it transported me? Hmm... good question. Too bad your not allowed to tell wishes if you want them to come true. ;)

Wishing wasn't necessary for our next ladies theater adventure. We'd gotten seats way in advance, no need to worry about getting our pretty little heads or bottoms wet due to the nasty rain the day of our outdoor theater venture at Wolf Trap. Legally Blonde! We made sure to dress in our girliest attire (no, I didn't wear pink although I would've if my dress was clean) and got ready for a fun evening at Kara's darling new condo that would rival my old roommie Sarah Marion's Nantucket inspired dorm rooms.

After a tasty home-cooked meal we journeyed the short distance to Wolf Trap National Performing Arts Park, the only National Park with that designation. I took a photo of the front of the car too, but they asked that I not post it eventhough it's ridiculously cute!

This photo of the stage is contraband, so shhh, don't tell on me! We had a great view, for relatively inexpensive tickets, and the show was a blast. The singing was very musical theater (some of you will get that comment), but overall the performance was hilarious and fun.

We packed some food and bevs to go, and had a little snack picnic during the show. So fun! Oh, and I finally got to wear my Calvin Klein maxi dress that I bought for 4th of July, but took a month and a half to find time to hem it a full five inches to wear with flops. I felt very boho-chic.

Amber was the epitome of Elle for the evening with her pink heels, blonde hair, and pink chihuahua bag. And being the huge fan she is she bought a sweatshirt from the gift shop, and surprised us all with fuzzy-top pens like the ones Elle uses on her first day of law school.

As cheesy as the show was a little wine was necessary, and we found the perfect amount in the to-go mini bottles many grocery stores carry these days. I think this photo is a little ridiculous, but Amber thought it was the cutest ever, so... Amber, this is for you. :)

Our lovely front seat crew, Kara and Melissa!! Yay for a fun night to round out a wonderful week!

Brooke comes to the big city

I'm hoping that maybe, just maybe I can finish this blog post without throwing my laptop from the third floor window of my home. It has become painstakingly slow. And I've wiped virtually everything off of it. The time from window to window, link to link, or photo to photo is so broken that I keep a book by my side to read in between the breaks. By the end of August, I will have a new computer, and that is a promise! According to this, I have an extra day, since in ThinkPad time it is currently 9:01 PM, August 08, 2010, as opposed to 9:24 PM, August 09, 2010.

Happier news though... I had my first family visitor of 2010. YAY! Brooke came for a visit Thursday through today, and when she drove in I was giddy with excitement. She arrived after the heavy rain storms on Thursday night in the hot and sticky night air. I gave her the option of pizza or burgers as our options were limited due to the time and our grumbling stomachs. She chose burgers so we headed to Good Stuff for a burger, fries, and a toasted marshmallow shake. And there began the calorie/fat/grease rollercoaster that had my stomach flippin' more than Top Gun does.

Friday she headed off to the metro after I left for work on her first metro trip ever... alone. And, she did WONDERFULLY. I mean, who would've ever thought she was capable of any less. She got to see almost everything she wanted to see while I was at work, which worked out perfectly, leaving us with relaxing "hang out" time mostly sightseeing free the rest of the weekend.

Christina joined us for a Young family brunch around the corner from my house at the fantastic Belga Cafe. <3 We had a delicious breakfast feast before heading to Eastern Market for an afternoon of shopping where Brooke and I picked out our dinner for the evening, grocery-store-free. Once Brooke and I arrived home we rested weary feet while watching some movies and starting some homemade bread and dulce de leche (recipe courtesy of my friend Maria at Capital Chef).

The photos are mostly for the kids enjoyment, and I know some of them are a little funny, but they make me smile thinking about the kids making the same bread the week before.

I look like a caricature here, with a giant head, big eyes and a small body. Makes me laugh...

Brooke's awesome action shot that makes it look like the whole cookie sheet is spinning.

I wish you could smell it...

Can you believe a can of fat free sweetened condensed milk could yield such ooey gooey goodness after a 2 hour boiling water bath? Both recipes are incredibly easy and delicious. They were perfect for our lazy Saturday afternoon.

Sunday was a bit more active as we journeyed to church, the Iwo Jima Memorial, the Netherlands Carillon, NGA, and the Kennedy Center. We swung in Iwo Jima and Netherlands on the way back to the house from church.

I hadn't actually walked up to the Netherlands Carillon before, I'd just seen it from afar and above. It certainly yields some beautiful views for such an industrial looking monument.

After grabbing a quick bite at the house we hopped the metro to the National Gallery of Art for where one mother saw a unique chalice that was used in the early Catholic church and told her children it was "The Holy Grail." Brooke and I just looked at each other and laughed. Some people aren't worth correcting in those situations. Speaking of the holy grail, can you name this biblical character?

And Converse ladies, can you name this famous sculpture that bears the same name as something we all hold dear?... NOT a valkyrie (don't you DARE guess that)!

I'm so delighted Brooke and I share common cultural interests, since I've been here almost a year and no one has ventured into the NGA with me. Thanks Brooke!

Brooke did her research and found us a free Latin Jazz concert at the Kennedy Center, which I did not have high hopes for, but I do enjoy occasionally being proven wrong. We were treated to a toe-tappin' and shoulder shakin' good time by Christopher Washburne and the SYOTOS band with special guest and 89 year old living legend Candido Camero. It was fantastic (and I don't say that often about music especially when admitting I'm wrong)!

Stealing a view of Georgetown's waterfront

Thanks for coming to visit, Brooke! It was a wonderful, relaxing weekend visit, with just the right amount of exploring, bonding, and vegging. Who's my next visitor?