friday adventure: part 1

This past Friday at work was a pretty hard one, so Molly, being the selfless person that she is, took my coworker, Lauren, and me to Georgetown Cupcake (even though her personal favorite is Hello Cupcake in Dupont Circle) right after!  She even left work early and picked us up right outside our office.  I seriously wish all of you could have a Molly!

Here's Lauren and me... to make it harder on our coworkers, we started at ICMA with the same name AND on the same day!  But she is wonderful and lets me distract her pretty much all the time.

I really didn't know that weirdo jumped in our picture on the other side of the window.  Well played.

 

Molly even talked her way into free cupcakes!  All she did was ask the cupcake packing lady how her day was going and if people were being nice to her, and BOOM.  Four free cupcakes.  Little tip from me to you.

Then, we said goodbye to Lauren, but Molly and I were still waiting on Clara to get off for her dinner break, so we played around at the National Cathedral!  I hardly edited these photos... the sky was really that blue!

Mom, any thoughts on what this flower is?  I'm in love with it!

That wasn't even close to the end of our Friday, so come back for the rest later!

ladies who lunch

We have some new girls in our office at ICMA (yes, even newer than me!), so I was given express instructions from HR to take them to lunch last week!  We had originally planned on going to Matchbox in Chinatown, but we ended up at Union Station's Pizzeria Uno because we were running short on time.  But the food was delicious anyway!

It's a little blurry, but from left to right, it's Brit, Lauren, me, Lisa, Lizzie, and Emily!

Brit, Lauren, and Lisa work on the International team, Lizzie (another UNC grad!) works at the front desk and in the customer contact center, and Emily (my new college football co-fanatic from Mississippi) works on Brownfields.  I absolutely love having such a wonderful group of girls my age in my office!  It makes everything ten times more fun!  And we are working on making this a monthly thing, so stay tuned for some good restaurant suggestions... 

don't believe everything you read... especially if the author has no idea what he's talking about.

For those of you who haven't heard that Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin are coming to DC this weekend for a "Restoring Honor" rally at the Lincoln Memorial, a) I'm impressed at your ability to avoid the news, and b) you've saved yourselves from a lot of mindless chatter.  Bravo.  We all know I'm conservative, and to a certain degree, I do like Sarah Palin.  But I cannot stand Glenn Beck.  In my opinion, he's a radical, uneducated, offensive stain on the Republican Party's name, and his general influence over people makes me want to shove a cactus down his throat.  As if I needed to back up my point a little more, he's holding a politically charged rally at the Lincoln Memorial on the anniversary of Martin Luther King's I Have a Dream speech.  Does he enjoy unpopularity?

Anyway, the buzz around town for the past couple days has been the following set of "recommendations" that some doofus named Bruce Majors (really?!  that's a name?!) wrote and the Maine Tea Party posted for out-of-towners coming to DC for the rally.  Take a tour of it with me.  The regular words are mine and the italicized words are stupid.

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DC's population includes refugees from every country, as the families of embassy staffs of third world countries tend to stay in DC whenever a revolution in their homeland means that anyone in their family would be in danger if they went back. Most taxi drivers and many waiters/waitresses (especially in local coffee shops like the Bread and Chocolate chain) are immigrants, frequently from east Africa or Arab countries. As a rule, African immigrants do not like for you to assume they are African Americans and especially do not like for you to guess they are from a neighboring country (e.g. Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia) with whom they may have political or military tensions. It's rare to meet anyone who gets really offended, but you can still be aware of the issue. Many parts of DC are safe beyond the areas I will list here, but why chance it if you don't know where you are?

What did he think people were planning on doing, shining a flashlight in the baristas' eyes and asking them, once and for all, where they're from?  Who freaking cares?  I just want my iced coffee, please... it's a million degrees outside.  And in my experience, the taxi drivers are the ones asking me questions.  I'd rather just read the paper, thanks.


If you are on the subway stay on the Red line between Union Station and Shady Grove, Maryland. If you are on the Blue or Orange line do not go past Eastern Market (Capitol Hill) toward the Potomac Avenue stop and beyond; stay in NW DC and points in Virginia. Do not use the Green line or the Yellow line. These rules are even more important at night. There is of course nothing wrong with many other areas; but you don't know where you are, so you should not explore them.

Under NO circumstances should you explore the capital of your country.  Really?!?  Here's a (little bit outdated but mostly correct) map of the Metro for anyone who is unacquainted (click on it to make it bigger):

First of all, it's not called the "subway".  This is not New York.  Second, you can stay between Shady Grove and Union Station all you want, but here's a picture of Silver Spring:

Not bad, right?  Also, don't ride the Yellow line?  At ALL?  Pretty sure I live on the Yellow line, everyone at the Pentagon works on the Yellow line, and here is a picture of Old Town Alexandria, which is, (you guessed it!) on the Yellow line.

Does that not look like a place you'd want to be?  And who does this Bruce guy think he is, anyway?  If you have a map, you can figure out where you are.  And believe me, the locals will be more than happy to tell you which areas are nice, you just have to ask.

If on foot or in a cab or bus, stay in Bethesda, Arlington (preferably north Arlington), Crystal City, Falls Church, Annandale, or Alexandria, or in DC only in northwest DC west (i.e. larger street numbers) of 14th or 16th streets, or if on Capitol Hill only in SE Capitol Hill (zip 20003) between 1st and 8th Streets, not farther out than 8th (e.g. 9th, 10th etc). (Or stay on the Mall and at the various monuments.) Again there are many other lovely places, from the Catholic University of America to Silver Spring, Maryland. But you don't know where you are so you cannot go, especially at night, unless you take me with you.

Oh, so now you admit Alexandria and Silver Spring are nice.  But Heaven forbid you should get there on the Metro.  And I happen to live in south Arlington, thank you very much.  Also, Catholic University?  Really?!  Here's what it looks like just a couple blocks away from there:

Not great.  And again, Bruce, with the humility.  Pretty sure even your robust knowledge of the disaster you know as the District of Columbia won't prevent some swinging knives.  Especially if you're that afraid of the Metro. 

I don't know if any of you are planning on coming to the rally or not, but personally, I'm planning on staying as far away from the District as possible this weekend, if for no other reason than fanny packs make my eyes bleed.  But if you do go, be adventurous, eat at a non-chain restaurant, and don't listen to Bruce.

bag lady

I can't remember a time in my life when my mom didn't make fun of me for how much stuff I keep in my purse.  I'll admit that it's usually too much, but I've made a lot of friends off of the endless supply of pens, craft supplies, and chewing gum I keep in there.  Plus, living in a big city requires a few unique things, so, without further ado, meet the contents of my too-big-but-not-really-best-bag-ever.

1. If you've ever watched DC Cupcakes on TLC, you might recogize this coffee cup sleeve!  It's from Georgetown Cupcake on the northwest side of DC, and if you ever visit me, I promise I will take you there!  Everybody in this town has a cupcake shop preference (and there are plenty to go around), but I have yet to taste any as good as Georgetown Cupcake's red velvet or carrot.

2. My SmarTrip card!  This is for frequent riders of the Metro buses and Metro rail lines.  It's supposed to save me money, but they raise the rates every three weeks, so I'm not really sure how much good it's doing.  But it's easy, and it saves you from being that doofus with all the change holding up the bus boarding line.

3. The welcome-wagon parking ticket I got from Arlington County after only living here two weeks.  They assumed my registration was overdue because the sticker said July, but they didn't know NC cars have a two-week grace period for renewal.  So thanks, government, in your infinite wisdom, for handing out parking tickets to out-of-state-cars under laws about which you have no knowledge.

4. The window marker I used to decorate Amanda's car before we headed off to her bachelorette party!  I'm not really sure why it's still in my purse, but if I ever find the car belonging to the cop who gave me that parking ticket...

5. My Wakefield Baptist Church pen!  Comes in handy on the ride home when I usually do the Washington Post crossword.

6. This book stayed in my purse for two days.  You know how after you've graduated and you have a real job you think, hmmm, maybe one of those textbooks I accidentally kept from college might be interesting to this new, more mature version of myself?  Yeah, it won't be.

7. My croakies from Julian's on Franklin Street!  Not a lot needs to be said about these... if you know how important they are, you probably have them. 

8. The birthday candles mom gave me to use on my actual birthday! Unfortunately, as candles do, they had crumbled in my purse by the time my birthday rolled around, and also we didn't have matches. But the cake was delicious!

9.  What?  You mean you don't keep three strands of pearls in your purse?  For those of you thinking, "Oh Lauren, you would," I can hear you.

10. I meant to stick this in whatever fabric that is that lines my cubicle.  As of today, it's done!

11. Remember those adorable shoes I mentioned a few posts ago that wouldn't be so adorable two blocks later?  Consider yourselves introduced.  They spend both halves of my commute in my purse.

And there it is!  Of course, I didn't pull out the boring stuff like my wallet and my glasses and my phone, but they're all there, making that little indentation in my shoulder deeper everyday.

Also, a very happy birthday to two of my besties, Rachel and Katharine!  I love you two!

visiting with the walkers!

My aunt and uncle (on my dad's side) live in Columbia, SC, so even though they don't live that far from Raleigh, their two daughters, Heather and Martha, are grown and living with their families in Miami, FL and Cos Cob, CT.  Talk about far apart!  They both welcomed baby boys into their families in the past year and a half, and since I don't get to see them very much, I decided it was worth the trip to NC when I found out they would all be at Atlantic Beach at the same time!  This was my first time meeting Joshua, Heather's little boy, and he is so precious!  Mom and Dad had the best time just holding and squeezing him!

And, of course, Aunt Nancy is just smitten with him, too!

Martha and her husband, Suneet, welcomed little Andrew into their family in May 2009, and the last time I saw him, he wasn't even walking.  But he is now, and he is SO hard to catch!  I don't think I've ever met a more curious one-year-old in all my life!

He tried to fit into Danny's shoes (Danny, Heather's husband, is 6'8")!

The long and short of it...

He does slow down for one thing, though... Elmo!

And, of course, his Aunt Liz and Uncle Bo love him very much, too.

A Solo cup and a nap... Dad was on vacation.

I can't wait until we can see them again!  Maybe by that time, Josh will be walking, and then there really WILL be madness.  FYI to my family... if any of you want to save these pictures, just click on them to make them bigger, then right click and "Save Picture As".  Voila!

an ode to bekah

So, this past weekend, I was lucky enough to be able to go home for three days and spend some time with family that I don't get to see very much!  I'll update on the Saturday I spent with them tomorrow, but first, I got to spend Friday with my sister from another mister, Bekah!  We've only known each other well since March (she became the Children's Minister at my church and the rest is history), but since then, we've discovered we're pretty much the same person.  Not only do we creepily write on each other's facebook walls at exactly the same time and listen to exactly the same music (hip hop and Hanson, obvi) and abbreviate colloquial conversation whenever possible, we actually did go to the same elementary school (Walnut Grove) for one year and never knew it!  Yes, ladies and gentlemen, a few yearbook pages after my hot mess first grade picture sits Bekah's hot mess third grade picture.  But it took us fourteen more years to become friends!  It was so, so, so sad to leave her after we shared things like flower headbands...

...and the freaked out voicemail she left me after she met this fine young man (Taylor Hanson, for those born before or after years 1981 and 1991)...

...and the 13-hours-in-the-car road trip she took with me just so I wouldn't be alone as I signed the lease to my new house, which was an absolute nightmare of a drive and put us on backroads of Virginia that had recently been ravaged by a severe thunderstorm.  Also, Bekah had gotten carsick and had to drive my mom's Jeep in order to feel better...

...and then she threw me the mother of all going away parties, complete with food puns and Scattergories.

So, when I realized I had all day Friday free before our beach trip Saturday, Bekah invited me to come to Seminary with her before going to our favorite movie theater and accessories boutique!  Do you think I said no?!?  I especially wanted to go to class with her because one of my old pastors, Steve McKinion, was teaching!  It was a great class for more than just him, though...

a. I drew Bekah a stunningly accurate picture of T-Pain that I should have taken a picture of...

b. Some guy let out one of the biggest farts I have ever heard in the middle of class, and even though everyone heard it, Bekah, me, and "that guy" who always outs the farters (even though he sits forty feet away) were the only ones immature enough to have to spend the next ten minutes stifling our laughter.

c. this picture, sneaked by Bekah's webcam:

 

Afterward, we went to see Dinner for Schmucks, which we highly recommend!  So hilarious!

After joining my mom and me for dinner, we had to say goodbye to Bekah, and it was so sad!  But I love you, sweet friend, and I'll see you again soon!

(Seriously, Braves @ Nationals.  September.  Be there.)

for all that is good and "right"...

I HAVE BEEN TO THE MOTHERSHIP. 

I am especially blessed to have a roommate who works at the Republican National Committee, and this past Thursday, Clara gave us a tour!  I'm pretty sure I spent half my time there with my mouth wide open and muttering, "I can't believe I'm here."  I grew up listening to Rush Limbaugh and Neil Boortz (admittedly Libertarians, but you know, close enough), and I lived in Tallahassee when Gore and Bush were fighting over Florida for wayyyy too long back in 2000, so it's still hard for me to believe I've been inside this building!

Clara works in a special room called the War Room, which is set up with a bunch of monitors and computers, and basically she watches the news all day (including the Colbert Report and the Daily Show, which are not really news but create waves nonetheless) as the first line of defense (and offense) against the liberal machine.  She's responsible for making sure the Republican congressmen and their staff members are up to date on all relevant political news so that no one is caught off-guard.  It's a stressful and tiring job, but she does it so well!  Here she is in front of her office:

The reason I was able to see it was because Molly and I decided to meet her on Capitol Hill for dinner one night.  So, of course, we didn't leave without taking a decent number of pictures.

And for some reason, they have a LOT of posters of Justin Bieber all over the walls.  I'm going to go ahead and admit that Molly and I know more of his songs than we should, so this picture happened:

Yeah, he's 15.  But his songs are so irresistibly catchy. Some of them feature Ludacris, and we've established how I feel about hip hop music.

After the tour, we went to dinner at The Good Stuff, which is run by one of the chefs on Top Chef DC!  It was SO good, and I definitely recommend their rosemary fries.  After that, we went to Sweetgreen for some frozen yogurt (I know, I definitely had a food baby afterward), but that was delicious, too! 

I'm keeping this sticker forever.  I still can't believe this is my life.