Déjà vu

Or should I say "Date ja vu?"

Last weekend, Jason and I went on a trip down memory lane- reliving our second date ever, a rainy day in February 2011, where we donned trench coats and umbrellas and headed to the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History. I said it then and I'll say it now: The Smithsonians are my favorite place in DC for for a rainy day-date, and even though I've been there dozens of times, I still love the Natural History museum best of all!

In February 2011, we simply wandered the museum and enjoyed the displays, but in 2012 we kicked it up a notch. Jason bought tickets to the IMAX theater at the museum, and we watched a beautiful, vividly-colored film about coral reefs. Between the glorious cinematography of this documentary and my continuing obsession with "LOST," I really am craving a tropical vacation! When the movie was finished, we decided to keep the "Date-ja vu" going and head to one of our favorite downtown happy hour spots near the museum, Chef Geoff's.

Chef Geoff's is famous for its monster beer mugs at happy hour, but their bar menu is nothing to sniff at. They have some of the crunchiest, saltiest, most satisfying pub grub around. We ordered fried plantains and guacamole and sweet potato fries with a delectable yogurt dip. The place is warm and homey, and the perfect escape after sloshing through the freezing puddles of Pennsylvania Ave! This time around, Jason didn't have to go to work after our date, so we took our time and made dinner plans with some friends. Saturday was a really joyful day and I wish I could say that my trip down memory lane continued to be just as happy, but, alas...

Déjà vu continued on Super Bowl Sunday, and 2008's devastating loss reared its ugly head in the memory of every Pats fan glued to the TV. I watched the game with a bunch of Giants Fans, and I have to say that most of them were very polite about my stomach-churning heartbreak. I won't say much more on the topic besides that I rely on Fitzy to ease my pain. Crude as he may be, that man is the only one who can make me laugh even when I'm down in the dumps of a Superbowl defeat!

The work week was a busy one, filled with events and meetings. I helped out with the Sower's Seed lecture, a series sponsored by some Trinity Alumnae that encourages Trinity Graduates who work in careers of service to come back and speak to current students about their life path. The speaker this time was Philonda Johnson, A KIPP principal here in DC. At 25, she was the youngest principal of a KIPP school in the nation and now, at age 28, gave a beautiful speech that brought me to tears. Check out a video about KIPP DC HERE. Yay Teach For America! Yay Trinity!

Looking forward to an exciting week. I'm going to take my first ever work trip this Tuesday to visit some potential donors in Pennsylvania, and on Friday it will be off to Los Angeles for my Israel trip reunion with Shana!!! I couldn't be more pumped for all the good things I have to look forward to this week.

Peace and Love, and reports from LA soon!