A Pretty Perfect Weekend

This weekend turned out to be a busy one, but, if this makes any sense, it felt relaxing at the same time!  My boss let us leave work ealry on Friday (yay!) and I used that extra time to peruse the book selection at Kramer's before meeting up with my dear friend/former roommate Colleen for a quick happy hour.  It was so nice to catch up with her, particularly since she had just returned from a trip to the West Coast, and I always enjoy the time I get to spend with her.  After that, I met Dan at home and we went to a Chicago-style pizza place (YUM) and then, deciding that we didn't want to spend the money to go and see 21 Jump Street, we finished watching Invictus, which we had started the night before (it was a great movie, for those of you who haven't seen it!).

On Saturday morning, we went on a nice little run together, only part of which I literally spent gasping for air.  My asthma has definitely been acting up when I have tried to run outside, particularly when running hills, which is frustrating because, while I am completely capable physically of running hills, I must not be breathing correctly when I do so, because it almost always ends in an asthma attack.  Dan was really concerned towards the end of the hill (we ran down Wisconsin and then down and back up Mass, which, for those of you who aren't aware, is a pretty steep hill).  Anyway, we rewarded ourselves after our 6-mile run with some Dynk's Pancakes.  These are a family recipe, named after the family friend who used to make them for us up at the Lake every year, and they are the most delicious Swedish pancakes (they very closely resemble crepes) on the planet, especially with some maple syrup and berries.  We plunked down on the couch in an exhuasted heap while we ate and put a good dent in The Godfather II (which, I have to admit, I like, to Dan's utter astonishment).

On Saturday night, we trekked out to Virginia to celebrate my friend Liz's birthday.  Her roommate threw her a surprise fondue (YUM) birthday party, followed by karaoke in Dupont.  Being that it is still Lent (only a few more days!!!), I had to abstain from the chocolate fondue, but the cheese fondue was delicious!  Liz was very surprised, and it was a good group of people as well.  I was not crazy about the karaoke place (it was small, which allowed us more mic time, but you couldn't really hear the music, or the singers), but it was still a nice time out with friends.

 Belting it out for the birthday girl

 Ann serenades Liz

Loves

On Sunday morning, my dad and I went for a hike on the Billy Goat Trail at Great Falls (MD), and boy, what a fun hike!  There was definitely some good up-and-down, what with all of the rocks, and there was a short portion of the hike when we were climbing up to a cliff.  I thought I would be terrified, but it was actually so much fun!  There were also blue bells for as far as your eye could see, and getting to see the falls at the end made the hike really worth it.  And, as always, it was nice to have some good daddy-daughter time.  We both marveled at the fact that such beautiful scenery and such a nice hike are available to us not far outside the city. 

The rest of my day was a good mix of productivity/laziness.  I went to Palm Sunday Mass before returning home to go to the grocery store and run to CVS.  Then, since it was such a nice day, I decided to go for a run outside, even though I was exhausted.  After that, I dove under my covers and watched Under the Tuscan Sun, which I had had a strange urge to watch all of last week.  Then, I made myself a nice dinner and Skyped with Kristin before hitting the sack early to re-set for this week.

I have lots of fun things to look forward to this week: I am anticipating that Dan and I will watch the National Championship game (men's basketball), I am going to a Red Sox game with my family tomorrow at Nats Stadium, Molly and I are doing a painting happy hour on Wednesday, and then I get Friday off for Good Friday!  Gotta love working for a Catholic school!  We are hanging around here for Easter, so I am looking forward to spending some quality time with friends and family.  I hope everyone had a lovely weekend!!