America!!!!

Cleaned apartment? Check.
Baked cookies? Check.
Watched at least 5 episodes of "Parenthood"? Check.
Worked out? Check.

Yes, folks, that's my version of "Hurrication" and I couldn't be any happier. As of right now, Monday at 10:30 PM, I still have power and internet. Yay! I've just been hunkered down in my little studio apartment, waiting it out. It is VERY windy, and I feel lucky. The internet tells me trees are down all over my neighborhood, cars are smashed, Connecticut Ave is flooded, and lots of people are without power. I'm crossing fingers that I stay connected to the world and that all of my friends and family stay safe!

Being trapped inside is kind of a blessing in disguise. I'm using this unexpected break and imposed solitude to catch up on all the things that have been lingering on the back burner. (My ironing pile, for example.) On that list of "to-dos" is this sad little blog. I've been wanting to write this post for a while, but knew this entry was dependent on photos. And editing and uploading photos takes time. But, thanks to a day off, and a gloriously lucky power grid, I am finally ready to write! Now to the real story...

___

As many of you know, I do a lot of traveling for my job. My trips are busy, but my hours are odd. I might meet someone for lunch one day, and then dinner. But what to do with that pesky 3pm-6pm time frame when I don't have a meeting? What about a day where I'm attending an event late at night, but the day is free? Well, as thrilling as hanging out in a Holiday Inn Express can be, I've decided to try and sight-see, no matter where I go, or how "boring" it is. I have been so surprised at all the hidden treasures I have found!

I started this process in the NYC suburbs of Connecticut. I was too far from NYC to play in the city, and had time to kill between a morning coffee meeting and an afternoon tea. So, after lunch, I pulled out my GPS and had it search for nearby attractions. It found something called the "Eli Whitney Museum." Somewhere in the back of my brain, covered in cobwebs, I remembered learning about this guy in AP US History. With nothing to lose, I hit "go," and found my way to a beautiful park tucked into the middle of nowhere in CT! There was a tiny educational museum, and better yet, this historical covered bridge. There were trout swimming below, and the sun and smell of the woods was wonderful. Such a lovely detour!

More recently, I had a trip to Cincinnati and Cleveland. When I told people about this trip, it was pretty uniformly met with sympathetic groans. "So boring, Cincinnati, ugh" people said. But this time, I decided to do a little research ahead of time. Unfortunately, a lot of museums are closed on Mondays, when I had a window of free time. One museum that WAS open, however, was the childhood home of President William Howard Taft. I decided to geek out and give it a shot. And lucky me! Since there were no other dorks trying to see a presidential childhood home at 3pm on a Monday, I got a private tour-- for free!! It was wonderful, and so fascinating, especially during election season. I can't speak highly enough of the hospitality and knowledge of the park ranger who gave me my tour.

You can't go traveling to a different city without learning what you MUST eat when you are in town. Friends told me about some freakish chili in the Cinci area that I had to try. To my surprise, this chili isn't to be found at one famous restaurant. It's actually available in a series of chains that battle it out for prominence in the region. The most famous is called "Skyline" chili, and it's more of a meat sauce than a chili in my book. Made with Greek flavors of cinnamon and chocolate, it's unlike any chili you've probably tried. Oh, and they serve it on spaghetti!

Now that I've got a little taste of all that is out there, hiding in the not-quite-off-the-grid nooks and crannies in America, I am obsessed. There are so many wonderful tour guides and joyful volunteers that want to share their time with you. There are so many beautiful gems to be discovered. It's made me wonder why, for example, I've never visited the Crane Paper museum in Dalton. Or why I pass by the countless historical road signs I see around DC. I'm making an effort to change that and learn about the amazing history (and hokey tourist traps) all around me. For example, I found this pumpkin cannon about 45 minutes outside of DC last weekend. I fired it for $3. It was worth every penny!

What is hiding in your neck of the woods? This weekend... go find out!

Food and Friends

Most of the time I think people who post pictures of food on Facebook are annoying, so I suppose writing a blog about it is even worse! If that's the case, this entry officially makes me a hypocrite. But, the adventures of my life this week have seemed to center around food, so, away we ago...

First food adventure: Making Asian pork-filled dumplings from scratch. This was a real project, not for the faint of heart, and brought me back to the one time my mom and I tried to cook pierogies from scratch and ended up doing more cursing than eating. You'd be shocked how little filling you can put in each dumpling. I'm telling you, it was not even a teaspoon. And if you get a little too aggressive, they break and won't seal. Gah, so many wasted wrappers!  These came out delicious, albeit a little bit ugly, but in the end I decided that the frozen ones from the super market are just as good and don't take two hours to make.

Pork dumplings take over my tiny kitchen

Second food adventure: I traveled to the NYC area this past week for work and was lucky enough to hang out with my college roomie and dear friend Stacey! She always plays a great NYC tour guide, and this time we started our evening at the High Line, a public park in Chelsea build on an abandoned stretch of elevated rail road track. It was really cool and a beautiful night! But the real adventure was dinner at Stacey's pick: Max Brenner's Chocolate by the Bald Man. The restaurant blends chocolate factory and fine dining and we ate an embarrassing amount of food, and of course, chocolate! Check out the chocolate in action:

A beautiful evening to look over the Hudson!

Yeah, I'll have some of that.

Third food adventure: Today, I finally took a much-anticipated cooking class in downtown DC with a new friend from book club, Kate. We signed up for a gluten-free baking class, and although I'm certainly not a gluten-free eater, I was excited to learn about ingredients and techniques that I wouldn't normally use. The class was part of a series from Living Social, and if you have the ability to sign up for classes in your city, I highly recommend it. I was pleasantly surprised to see how delicious our treats came out, and how applicable the techniques were to non-gluten baking as well: for example, how to make a good meringue and fold it into a batter, or the right way to boil and peel fresh fruit to use in a tart. I had a blast and our food was so delicious! Many thanks to the instructor and chef, Emma, who owns the Happy Tart bakery in Alexandria.

Kate in the beautiful test kitchen

Finished product number one: peach and blueberry tart!

Baking project number two: almond chocolate apricot cake!

So, I didn't do a beautiful job spreading the ganache...

Well, that's about all I can muster to write at the moment. This food coma's got me dragging!

Peace and Love. 

August Rewind

Here are a few reasons why, despite some funny challenges and odd situations, August was one of the busiest, happiest months on record!

- I miss my family. Lately, DC and Massachusetts seem very far away from one another. But, this month, I did get to visit my sister in Boston, and spend all day with her. We had a great time. I feel the closest to her I’ve ever felt in my adult life, and I’m really, really proud of her.

- If you’ve met me, you know that I sweat. A lot. August featured the single sweatiest day of my life, despite about 1.5 lbs of deodorant and baby powder—but, it was with good reason. Singing the anthem at Fenway Park during the 100th Anniversary Season was worth every nerve-induced drop; because that’s something I’ll be able to tell my grandkids about!

- It’s sad that I can’t have a pet in my apartment, and if I’m realistic, I know I don’t have time to be fair to a dog anyways. But meeting and playing with Baby Bronco, the world’s most joyful Labrador puppy friend, helped ease my pain a little bit!

- My new neighborhood is literally NOTHING BUT HILLS. It is the worst for going on runs, and makes me miss the flat beauty of the national mall so much. But I haven’t quit my regime since January, and this month, I ran six miles for the first time, ever. The best part? It was with my healthy dad by my side!

- I bragged endlessly about the beauty of Berkshire County in the summer, so I was pretty bummed when it poured rain when I brought Jason home this month. But, watching him try Teo’s Hot Dogs, eat venison, and shoot a gun for the first time on his trip to my little town definitely made the trip worth it!

- It’s been an adjustment to pay for rent living alone in DC. But thank god for the discounts of DC’s restaurant week. This month, I tried literally 18 Mediterranean dishes in one $35 meal. It was quite a feast. My friend Kate put it best: “Dude, I got a cramp walking home from the metro.” See you in February, restaurant week, you glorious institution!

- My favorite babysitting family moved to the suburbs. No shock, considering the state of DC public schools. I’m going to miss babysitting those little munchkins! But, I did meet some fun new babies and lovely parents in my new neighborhood and am looking forward to watching a new batch grow up!

- I wish she didn’t live all the way across town, but the return of Kate Pennington in all her glory to Washington, DC has been great. I’m so happy to have one of my best friends back, and thanks to her amazing brain power, we’re going to the Nats game tonight with tickets won from a Trivia night at a local bar!

- Weddings are so expensive, and it feels like there’s so many on the horizon. But, there are rare times when I get to dance the night away with great friends. We went to one this month at the historic Hotel Monaco in DC, and I had a blast!

Feeling that first creep of coolness in the night air means that August is definitely over and fall is on its way. I’m noticing the days getting shorter. The beginning of September brings more weddings, dinner parties, and the return to work trips. Updates soon! Peace and Love.

The tooth, the whole tooth and nothing but the tooth.

Yesterday, I had my wisdom teeth removed.

Yeah, I know... it seems a little late in the game. Why? The doctors and dentists in my family have always advised against slicing and dicing when it's not necessary. But this spring, my dentist down here told me that yes- the time had finally come. My teeth were erupting, one was coming in crooked, and with thousands of dollars of orthodontia at risk, it was time to take the plunge.

Before the surgery, I asked my friends to recount their surgical stories. Most people said things were totally fine. One guy even told me he had all four teeth removed, and then hopped on his motorcycle and got back to work. Another girl said it was 10 minutes in and out and she was fine by the next day. What I've since learned is that every person- in fact, every tooth- has a different story to tell!

I like my dentist here in DC. She's got a nice office in a row house that reminds me a lot of my home dentist's office. The equipment is shiny and new and the service is wonderful. So when she referenced me to the oral surgeon I used, I trusted her. I even Googled him a bit, and read all positive things. So, I went there with confidence, sure it would be fine.

Sure enough, the people there were very kind- from the receptionist to my actual surgeon, everyone was very pleasant and comforting. But the office itself looked like a relic from the 1960's. I think I was in a Mad Men dental set, or maybe a forgotten Dharma station in the heart of DC. Here's a picture snapped of me pre-surgery while I waited. Look at that chair!!

* Gulp *

When it was time for my surgery, the dentist explained to me that he would be using local anesthesia and laughing gas to keep me relaxed. I signed my "You might die, and you enter this surgery willingly," papers, and off we went!

First, the surgeon stuck on a mask and asked me to breath through my nose. Almost instantly, I was in la-la land. It was like I had two brains- the brain that was aware of what was going on, and then the brain that was letting all these weird things come out of my mouth David-after-dentist style. I've never felt anything like it. I'm so glad I had the laughing gas on board though, or else I would have been a very unhappy camper for what followed!

The next thing the surgeon did was numb up my mouth locally. I have to say, it's incredible that they can find a way to avoid you feeling pain in your deepest of root canals. He gave me a few quick injections and suddenly I couldn't feel a thing. Before I knew it, he had one cheek pulled back and  starting pulling. The first tooth came out so quickly and easily I didn't even realize it was over. "Did you get it!?!" I asked incredulously. Yep, it was gone. But the second one was going to be a little more trouble.

The second tooth was impacted pretty deep and took a long while to wrestle out. I was so gassed-up that I'm not sure how long it took, but I do know I was asking some ridiculous questions along the way: "Is my jaw broken? Is it stuck? Is everything normal? I have to go to the bathroom!" I also have some hazy memories that freak me out, now that I think back about it. First of all, my surgeon wore glasses, and I was definitely watching parts of the surgery in the reflection of his lenses. Advice to future patients: Don't do that. It will panic you. Secondly, I was totally unprepared for when the saw came out. He had to saw the tooth, which must have been bent or buried in my jaw, three times. The sounds of that high-buzzing saw is terrifying, and the taste and smell of sawed tooth is utterly foul. I remember thinking at the time that it reminded me of the smell of my dog's feet-- like stale corn chips. But more bitter. Anyways, I was not prepared for that!

Then, without much warning- pop. It was out. And I was sitting up, without the gas mask, ready to go- silly state that I was.

The post-op recovery has definitely not been a walk in the park. One thing everyone likes to joke about is the awesome "free Vicodin" you get out of the deal. My body doesn't do well with narcotics, and apparently this has only gotten worse as I have gotten older-- they make me sick to my stomach. After two pills, I decided to quit them and try my luck with Motrin and Tylenol only. And the swelling, as you probably know, is comical. I feel like it will never go down. How gorgeous is this:

"I'm ready for my close up."

Overall, the pain has subsided a lot in the last 48 hours, which is good. But I'm definitely relegated to bowls of bland mush- yogurt, scrambled eggs, apple sauce, chicken and stars soup. Chewing seems a long way off! But- it's an excuse to eat ice cream as a form of sustained nutrition, so I'll take it!

Thanks to everyone who has been calling and wishing me well the last two days. It means the world to me. And a super special thank you to Jason, who has been a wonderful driver, nurse, chef, entertainer and comforter through this whole ordeal!

Peace and Love. 

Summer Summer Summer Time

This past week was just one of those perfect, epic summer weeks that you dream about all year. Man, summer is the best- there is just such a joy and a magic to this season…the days are so long, and everyone is happier, even if it’s a sweltering hot and humid 100+ degrees.  I just love it- I love summer clothes, summer food, summer music, summer smells, summer everything! Here is why my week was so good:

Monday evening we said goodbye to our good friend JinSoo over a Mexican feast at local hotspot Alero. JinSoo is a TFA bud who is off to bigger and better things in New Orleans- starting a new school in fact, and bringing his love of technology in the classroom to a place where he’s going to be given the freedom to implement it throughout the curriculum. Good luck JinSoo, we’ll miss you!

Bye JinSoo!

Tuesday night I had book club. Book club is one of the more delightful additions to my life this year, it’s brought a whole new group of friends into my world that I never would have met before. We just finished the read “I Suck At Girls,” by Justin Halpern of “Sh*t my Dad Says” fame. It’s a light, fluffy summer read- perfect for the beach! And let’s be real- book club isn’t really about the book. It’s just an excuse to get a bunch of hens together to eat, drink and gossip. Fun!

Wednesday was the 4^th of July, one of my most favorite days of the year. This year was super lucky. Jason had the day off of work so we just got to play, play, play all day! We started out bright and early on our friends’ rooftop for a little celebrating before walking down the street to the Nationals game. What’s more American than baseball on the 4^th of July in Washington, DC? Later that night, we went to a different friend’s balcony in Arlington, VA with a spectacular view of the national mall. In fact, the local network puts their cameras on top of his building to film the fireworks for the TV special, so I guess you could say we had a good view. To top it off, we chowed down on catered BBQ from the best BBQ joint in town. I could not have ended the day more full or happy!

Our view, through the hot and haze as it was getting dark

Baby, you're a firework. 

Thursday I finally took a little rest and used the time to cook a fresh, delightful summer meal. Thanks to Shana Fisher, I found this blog, which is ironically appropriate. It’s called “The Shiksa in the Kitchen” and it’s about a not Jewish girl named Tori who likes to cook Jewish food. Her Israeli salad recipe was delish and I munched it for days! Mmmm!

Friday Jason and I had date night and went to Jazz in the Smithsonian sculpture garden on the national mall in DC.  They sell pitchers of sangria, and everyone likes to sit around, dip their feet in the reflecting pool, and enjoy a relaxing Friday evening of free music. This was an especially fun night- a note got passed around encouraging everyone to flash-mob the reflecting pool at 8pm. (yes, this is the naughtiest thing that DC nerds can think of to do on a Friday night.) We plodded out and danced with the rest of the crowd in the knee-high water! It was silly, but so fun and such a happy date!

Splashing around with some Jazz. 

Saturday, the festivities continued with Meredith’s birthday celebrations. More food, more music, more fun. By Sunday, I was completely caput- and yet, if I could have every week go like this one, I’d be the luckiest girl in the world. Cheers to summer!!

Peace and Love.

Holy Derecho

By now, everyone reading this blog has probably watched the news and seen that the entire mid-atlantic region is in a total state of chaos as a result of the "DC Derecho," a super-violent band of storms that rolled through our fair city Friday night.

The Derecho is a storm type that they say occurs annually in the midwest, and is more like a 1 in 4 years occurrence here in the mid-atlantic. However, the weather guy on TV at the gym today said that DC hasn't seen a derecho of THIS capacity in close to 20 years.

Jason has been harassing me for not "weather watching" this huge event and telling him ahead of time that it was looming, but in my defense, checking the weather forecast that morning at work told me nothing. This bad boy began brewing at about 1PM in Chicago and bowled its way across the country in 9 hours. Derechos are often called "land hurricanes" because of their intense wind power and widespread damage, but there's one important difference- real hurricanes give you days of warning and TV hype to get ready. (cough hurricane Irene cough.) I just hope everyone in the area still had their unused hurricane Irene supplies ready to go when this storm came out of nowhere!

As for me, I am safe, have power, and thankfully, a fully intact vehicle. Seeing everyone's cars mashed to bits on the streets has probably been the worst part of the aftermath. There are still massive trees and branches surrounded by caution tape everywhere. Electric poles were bent over like twigs.

"Free Firewood. You Haul." At least they kept their sense of humor. 

Where was I when this massive storm struck? Of all places, at a pool party. We watched the horizon flicker with lightning far away for a long while before I finally got out my phone to check the radar. When I saw what was coming, I FREAKED OUT. I could see how fast it was moving and how close it actually was. I shouted for people to get out of the pool and started scooping up all of our food and garbage. My apartment building was a short two blocks away.... I figured Jason and I could make it safely back in time.

About one block into our retreat home, the storm struck with brute force. I've never been outside in wind like that. We began power walking as fast as we could, dodging small branches and other debris that was starting to swirl around. It was very scary! We jumped into the lobby of my building JUST as the rain arrived. Not a drop hit us, but the torrential downpour was amazing. All I could do was stand at my 10th floor window and watch the almost incessant lightning flash and the wind gust.

But it wasn't until the next morning that I realized just how bad of a storm it actually was. Jason texted me on his way to the hospital, reporting the downed trees and crushed cars. When I crept out myself, around lunch time, I was appalled at the state of the city. All of the traffic lights were out, entire neighborhoods were (and are still) without power. It really looked like a true natural disaster.

Bit by bit things are clearing up, but the roads were pretty empty today as the government gave their employees permission to stay home. I am thinking of and praying especially for the elderly people who are struggling with no A/C during 100 degree heat. Thanks so much to everyone who has texted or called in the past few days!

Peace and Love.

Makin' Moves

Have any of you ever purchased a lemon? Not the fruit, but the "used car" kind of lemon...something that looks so good on the outside: amazing, can't be beat, too good to be true! Well, I did...and it was one of the more expensive mistakes I've ever made. Listen to me now, readers: NEVER, EVER live in a basement-level apartment!!

When Mer and I found our last place, we thought we had died and gone to heaven. And to be fair, there are a lot of great things about where we used to live. We were super close to everything awesome on Capitol Hill, and just two blocks away from a great Metro stop. We had free, abundant parking, big windows and tall ceilings. And the place was super cute! New floors, stainless appliances, an adorable back patio... but the honeymoon phase started wearing off the first time I saw something scamper across our floor...

I don't know why after two years of DC living my basement-dwelling friends didn't warn me about the dangers of living below ground. I wish I could tell you how many pill bugs, spiders, and THESE THINGS I've had in my bedroom, but I'll spare you. Then... the cockroaches. Oh, the roaches. They invaded the old place too. Finally, I discovered termites. At a certain point, you just can't take one more thing crawling across your ceiling.

There were other problems too: leaks, robberies, and dealing with all the noise from upstairs. So, it was with mixed feelings that Meredith and I decided to go our separate ways and leave Capitol Hill all together, for the wide world of Northwest DC. This past weekend I moved to my very own studio apartment in Cleveland Park, and so far it's the best choice I've ever made. Now I'll be much closer to Georgetown, the Kennedy Center, the Zoo, and the nightlife.

The "before" shot

Below are pictures of my new place, which thanks to a lot of help and design sense from my mom, is the "big-girl" apartment look I've been craving for years. I know I've seemed like an insane person moving each year for the last 7 years, but I'm hoping that this one will finally be a place I can settle for a little while. Besides the lovely layout of my new studio, the building also has a gym, steam room, sauna, and jacuzzi, dry cleaners, parking, and in-house masseuse. It's across the street from the metro and a million restaurants and a movie theater, so cross your fingers that I'm not in for a lemon part two!

Pics of new place:

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10100615918416406.2602266.5515657&type=1&l=fe7c17d421

Peace and Love.