This weekend consisted of a lot of the aforementioned activity.
Michael arrived on Friday afternoon, via MegaBus {which he highly recommends might I add}. I am so proud of him for conquering the transit system: bus--> metro --> bus. Congrats!
That night my suitemates and I hosted a indoor barbecue of sorts. It was a total success, in no small part due to Hayley, who both conceptualized it and accomplished most of the logistics. We had a huge menu and hosted about 20 people in total. It did a lot to combat the reputation we had been earning as the anti-social room, or as Abby puts it "the old cat lady upstairs."
On Saturday, Michael and I woke early and ventured out on a long stroll down to Georgetown's waterfront and harbor. Then we made our way to Dupont Circle in search of the hotel my parents would be staying in, but our search was futile. We made it back to the apartment just in time to join the rest of my suite in going kayaking on the Potomac River. It was a very relaxing afternoon, but gave me a pretty funky shorts tan. Exhausted, we took the rest of the night easy until we headed out for dinner that night on Wisconsin. We settled on an Italian place called Paolo's. {{Did you know that Caesar dressing is made from fish? I didn't until that night when Michael informed me after our Caesar salad came garnished with a piece of fish scale--yuck!}}
Sunday, July 4th, Michael and I attended the DC parade which runs along Constitution Ave. between 7th and 17th. I must admit, the parade fell short of my expectations. Perhaps my frustration was due in part to attempting to fight the masses in order to make our way along the sidewalks. Not to mention the extreme heat which plagued the entire weekend. We cut out before the end and slipped into a Cosi to cool off.
{{Michael and I have started playing a game when we are out and about in the city: if you spot one of the following-a Cosi, a Starbucks or a CVS-you have to try to spot the other two. I'd venture to say that nine times out of ten you will succeed}}
From the Cosi, we WALKED to meet my family at their hotel on Connecticut Ave. Take my word for it, it's a long walk.
But, it was totally worth it when we finally arrived to my family. The Hilton Washington where they stayed was very nice, but we quickly departed in search of some grub. We stumbled upon a Thai restaurant called Thaiphoon (how cute!). The restaurant had actually been recommended to me by my boss Alissa, but we had no intentions of going there that night. In fact, I didn't even know it was there. My family was eager to try some new food, something that isn't readily available back home.
Dinner was fabulous! We practically had the place to ourselves and the bill only came to around $60 for 6 people. The whole city seemed deserted because everyone had converged on the Mall for the fireworks that night.
We opted out of that option though and watched the fireworks from their hotel window. Although we had a pretty good view of the main fireworks, what made the experience so neat was the fact that we could see all the fireworks shows across the city and suburbs. Literally the entire skyline was light up.
The next day consisted of traditional tourist ventures, trekking the Mall and visiting some Smithsonians. Much to my dismay, we succumbed to a tourist restaurant, but everyone was just so tired and cranky that we had lost all motivation to find something better.
After some sustenance, we stopped in the American Museum of Art to visit the Norman Rockwell exhibit which opened this weekend. I am by no means a connoisseur of art, but I have aways admired Rockwell. I find myself captivated by his vivid portrayals of people; his paintings are stories in and of themselves. I had been dying to visit the exhibit since I learned of its presence last week so I really enjoyed myself.
Yesterday, marked the end of the long weekend. I met my parents for breakfast that morning before work at a little place called Firefly. I walk past it everyday and had been dying to try it.
I miss everyone and it was really great to see them, but I must admit that I really like the transition back into routine. I was feeling a little behind in work and life (laundry, housekeeping, etc.)
Today helped out with that as I was able to report to work late, giving me time for much needed catch-up. In fact, I didn't even go into the office. We took a site visit to a BizCamp, basically a condensed version of the NFTE curriculum to be taught in the summer. Then we had lunch with the two students who have advanced to the National Business Plan competition to be held in NY this October. I love meeting the NFTE students! They are so inspiring. Take Nina for example, she has her own photography business where she makes $35 per hour! In the next weeks I will be helping to prepare Nina and Aisha for the competition by combing through their business plans, matching them with a coach and sharpening their presentation.
Tomorrow brings another site visit to another BizCamp to meet more kids. YAY!
Whew! Wow, that was a long entry. That's what I get for neglecting this.
I promise to write again soon to tell you all about my Ethics class and all the reflections I have been having about my stances on philosophical and political and social issues.
Good night for now. Abby and I are going to back-to-back spinning and yoga tomorrow. All I can say is, wish me luck...
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