Communication Styles

Hello dear readers!  I apologize for my lack of blogging, but the past week or so has been one prolonged fire drill, so free time has been virtually nonexistent.  I will post later today on my weekend, but I wanted to talk about one issue that has been on my mind lately: communication.  I know that there are many communication styles, and no single one is necessarily the best, so I'll share my thoughts, and would love to hear yours as well about your personal communication styles, successes and failures.

I am the first to admit that I am very passive (but not passive aggressive!!! Passive aggression is such a pet peeve of mine that I try to avoid it at all costs!) when it comes to communication.  A huge piece of that is due to the fact that (not to toot my own horn), I try to be a thoughtful and giving person in my various relationships.  As a result, I tend to place the most importance on other people's happiness and well-being.  That is all well and good, but, so often, means that I neglect myself, invalidate my own feelings and don't necessarily insist on making my needs known. 

How does this selflessness manifest itself as a communication strategy in my daily life?  Well, even when things bother me, I tend to keep my feelings to myself rather than "rock the boat."  If something is trivial enough, it rolls right off my back and I move on with my life.  However, if something really upsets or bothers me, my tendency is to let those feelings fester, obsessing over whatever is bothering me to the point where I get absolutely hysterical and have to discuss it out of fear for my mental and physical well-being.  I justify that strategy to myself by reminding myself that I tend to react very emotionally to certain situations, so I tell myself that I should organize my thoughts and wait until I can talk about the issue somewhat more objectively rather than simply be reactionary.  Not healthy, right?  This is what happens when you are so concerned with ensuring that other people are taken care of that you don't make your needs known.  I would not recommend it!  Torturing yourself is no fun!

Ideally, my communication strategy would involve being more up-front with another person about my feelings, because, the earlier I confront an issue, the less urgently I would need to unload what I am feeling.  Nipping those feelings in the bud and confronting them in the moment, rather than letting them fester, is something I am working on, as is being okay with being a little bit more selfish and insisting on getting what I need and deserve out of life. 

I would love to hear from you, especially from those of you who might be more skilled at confronting issues in a timely manner than I am.  Teach me your ways!!!

A nip is in the air!

Remember how I was whining last week about the unseasonably warm weather?  Well, I can now say that it is officially fall here in the District!  The temperature dropped dramatically on Saturday, and it has been all heavy sweater and warm soup weather ever since :)

After the tough week that last week turned out to be, all I wanted to do this week was relax, which is exactly what I did.  On Friday night, keeping with the Mediterranean food kick that I was apparently on last week, Dan and I went to Agora on 17th St.  I really, REALLY love that place, and we liked it enough the first time that it made us want to go back!  There is just something about Mediterranean cuisine, the flavors, the freshness, and how freaking satisfying it is! 

After dinner, we went home and watched Goldfinger.  Being that I am trying to broaden my movie taste (to Dan's shock and sheer delight, I love the Bourne movies, so we decided to tackle James Bond next), I was trying to keep an open mind going into it.  Well, this one got a big thumbs-down from both of us haha, and my falling asleep during it was definitely proof enough that this was not a good movie.  I wanted to like it, I really did, because who can say no to watching a Sean Connery movie?!  I think we might have to try one of the newer, more action-packed options next (Pierce Brosnan or Daniel Craig).

On Saturday, we finally, wait for it......WENT APPLE PICKING!!!  At dinner on Friday, Dan said, "I have a proposition for you: If we go to a farm tomorrow, can we go to the driving range for a bit?" Ermahgerd, NO-BRAINER! "I accept your proposition," I answered.  So we went to a farm!  We chose Larriland Farm out in Howard County, MD, because it had the widest variety of apples.  I was like a little New England kid in a candy store, if you can picture that!  This was definitely not a small mom-and-pop farm, it had some serious bells and whistles, and there were a ton of people there.  We picked two bags worth of Staymen, Sun Crisp and Mutsu apples (strange names, I know), some of which were used for a pie that I baked yesterday, and others for just eating.  We also got a pint of apple cider (Dan was thoroughly confused when, later, at home, I insisted on microwaving my cider.  Clearly, the guy didn't grow up in New England, where you take your cider warm and with a cinnamon stick).  Seriously, people, think about all of my childish glee!  I had to restrain myself from going in the hay maze (which was actually meant for toddlers; my height alone would have given me an entirely unfair advantage), but I picked apples to my heart's content. 

The beautiful produce available at the farm!

Officially my new favorite picture of us :)

Afterward, as promised, we went to the driving range.  I had never watched Dan hit before, so it was really fun for me to see him hit a bucket of balls.  He was also less sore after this time hitting, so I think that means that we're moving in the right direction in terms of rhabdo-recovery!! I had been to the driving range once with my dad and Tim, but, so demoralized by my inability to make contact with the ball, I had resolved never to return to the driving range.  But, in the spirit of wanting to try new things and be good at everything, I couldn't resist trying it out.  I am happy to report that I did not whiff or completely shank the ball!  Granted, the ball did not go very high or very far (and I injured my arm in the process, obviously), but I made contact!  Maybe I will be paying the range a return visit sometime soon :)

Favorite golfer!

On Saturday night, we bought some movies at Best Buy, got takeout from Mellow Mushroom (Dan LOVED the BBQ chicken pizza, which I had told him he would) and watched O Brother, Where Art Thou?.  We are making the most of this rhabdo-recovery period, and Saturday was one of the funnest days we've had in a while, in my opinion!  On Sunday morning, I grabbed brunch at Policy with one of my closest friends, and, true to form, just talking throughout brunch wasn't enough.  She is one of those amazing people who you can talk to for hours, and it seems as though we have a lot of the same things going on now, so there was much to discuss.  We plopped ourselves down in a creperie for another few hours, armed with hot chocolate and tea, and gabbed away.  From there, I walked to the National Portrait Gallery, where I hadn't been in a while, and perused the new exhibits.  I should mention that, by this point, it was in the mid-40s and damply cold, so a museum outing was definitely appropriate.  On my way to Dan's, I couldn't resist picking up some festive cupcakes from Crumbs (I should never be allowed into a bakery close to dinner time haha).  We watched some football and baseball and had an overall relaxing night. Sadly for him, he had to work from home on Monday, but I had the next day off, so I was allowed to move a bit more slowly on Monday morning :)

Tell me those are not the cutest cupcakes you've ever seen!

I had planned to go to Pentagon City with a friend yesterday, but, since she was feeling under the weather, I took advantage of the extra day to organize my room, do laundry, catch up on projects I had been meaning to take care of, and COOK! As I already mentioned, I made a pie out of the apples we bought on Saturday, and made some vegetarian chili (part of which I had last night, and the rest of which Dan and I will be eating tonight.  Sorry to give away our menu haha).  Since it was so chilly, all I wanted was some nice, hearty vegetarian chili, and this recipe is my absolute favorite!  By the end of yesterday, I was feeling good, positive, and ready to tackle this week!  I have lots of fun things going on, so this is going to be a good week! I'm calling it now!

I hope you all had a lovely weekend (hopefully you got to spend it enjoying this lovely fall weather!)!

Go-to pick-me-ups

This has been a bit of a rough week, so I have used my time after work to be really selfish and do things that are going to make me the happiest (sorry, not sorry).  I am generally a very positive person, and refuse to let a bad week get me down!

First of all, I joined an organization called WIN this week (following the example of the roommate!), a network for pro-choice, Democratic women.  I'm really excited to get involved and meet some great ladies in the process!

On Monday, we had a birthday dinner for Molly at Zaytinya.  I have to admit that I was very skeptical, because, being the simple-palated girl that I am, I do not tend to gravitate toward designer restaurants, but all I have to say is, WOW.  For those of you who haven't been there, it is a Mediterranean small-plate restaurant.  We had such a hard time selecting plates to share, because everything sounded so darned good!!  Some highlights for me were butternut squash hummus, brussels sprouts in yogurt sauce (I previously thought I hated the things, but I think that, if they are prepared in that exact way, I can stomach them), tuna and a hard cheese with dates and orange slices...not to mention the bread, which we made the mistake of eating too much of before the arrival of our 18 plates of food (split between 6 people).  It was so incredibly satisfying, and I have already decided that I'm going back!

Tuesday was REALLY not a great day, so, even though I was supposed to go to the Nats game with some girlfriends, I decided to take a personal night.  It was one of those nights where I put on my pajamas immediately upon returning home, baked a cake and popped in a chick flick.  Since I was both in a cooking mood and in need of an uplifting story, I chose Julie & Julia.  Meryl and Amy, you two never let me down!

On Wednesday, I finally got to see Dan, since I had been the mean one with so many plans earlier on in the week haha.  Even after the toughest of days, seeing him never fails to bring a smile to my face, and, without fail, I try to check whatever emotional baggage I have amassed during the day at the door so I can just enjoy my time with him.  Wednesday was no different, and I left feeling the happiest I've felt all week!  You know you've found a good guy when he has that effect on you :)

Yesterday, I decided to go over to my parents' house after work.  I never, ever turn down a home-cooked meal, especially since it usually involves some type of fish, which I'm too lazy to cook for myself haha.  Having a nice night with my parents is also something that I never turn down, so it was great to get to spend that time with them.

That said, I NEED this long weekend, as in, REALLY need it.  I can't wait to relax, catch up on sleep, and generally recharge.  Tonight, I'm spending some time with Dan (not really sure what we're doing yet, but that doesn't bother me one bit, because the important thing is that I'll be spending time with him).  Tomorrow, the plan is to make some pancakes (he can never resist them, so I'm glad I've found at least one thing I make that he absolutely never turns down!) and then go either to the Taste of DC Festival or go apple picking (being the non-New Englander that he is, he is somewhat resistant to the idea of apple picking, but I am determined to, at some point this fall, introduce him to my favorite fall tradition...even if that means I have to make him a pie out of the apples we find.  I can take one for the team).  On Sunday, I have plans to meet up with a close friend for brunch at Policy, which I'm really looking forward to, since I have only ever been there for dancing and drinks/dessert and I have heard their brunch is delicious.  Then, I will gladly weather an afternoon of football (okay, maybe I'll bring a book or something), especially since it's supposed to be a nippy day outside and I will probably feel like burrowing under a blanket and watching TV anyway.  Finally, on Monday, I have plans to do some much-needed retail therapy with a friend.  Gosh, how I love three-day weekends.

I hope fall is in full bloom wherever you are!  It is, disappointingly, in the 80s today.  WTF DC?! I may be taking a short trip out to the Shenandoahs next weekend, both to see my grandparents and to remind myself that it's fall somewhere haha.

So long, September!

It's no secret that I was not a huge fan of the month of September this year.  I learned more about rhabdomyolysis, CPK, AST and ALT levels, and what the inside of a hospital room feels like this month than I would ever have cared to know.  Dan has been such a trooper this month, but I think that he and I are both ready to put September behind us and hope that October is the month when he finally gets back to normal.  We're really hoping for good news after he gets his blood drawn again in a few weeks.

This weekend was an uncharacteristically social one for us, because, ever since we got home from the hospital, we have been laying low as Dan recovers.  On Friday night, we grabbed dinner at District of Pie, which, I think it's safe to say, is our new favorite pizza place (we have been there several times over the past few months).  Before we went, however, Dan had a little surprise for me.  He knows how much I love surprises, but, since I am almost always on the giving end of those surprises, he decided to do a little something sweet for me.  He had texted me on Thursday night to tell me that he had a surprise, and, I think, thoroughly enjoyed seeing me sweat it out a little bit.  When I got to his place on Friday, I found that he had gotten me Pawnee: The Greatest Town in America, which is a plotline (and actual book, penned by the show's writers) of Parks and Recreation, one of our favorite shows that we watch together.  He had been at Barnes and Noble, and couldn't resist the temptation to get it for me.  He really is the best, and I truly appreciated the thoughtful surprise :)

Then, I met up with my friends to celebrate Molly's birthday at Muzette, a karaoke place in Adams Morgan (side note: we had all gotten together to celebrate Lauren's birthday over dinner on Thursday).  This place was great, because we got a private room and, thus, controlled all of the songs for two hours.  You have no idea how fantastic this is, particularly since we have a lot of people in our group (myself included) who love to belt it out!  From Muzette, we headed to Dan's Cafe, which I had never been to before (I discovered why the moment I walked in, because this place was the diviest of dive bars that I have ever been to).  We ended the night at, you guessed it, Brass Monkey.  Sometimes a gal just needs a little bit of dancing!  I got to bed at about 2:30, which is easily the latest I have stayed up in a while (it's okay, insert grandma joke here)...only to get up at 7 to run before Homecoming.  I know, crazy.  I felt fine for most of the day, and then hit a major wall at 6 or so.

The tailgate was actually a lot of fun, although I am definitely going to have a hard time deciding whether or not to go next year.  My thought was that most of the people who were there were people that I already see.  It was still fun, though.  Poor Dan still wasn't able to drink anything because the doc hasn't cleared him for it, but he was still able to see a few of his swimming friends.  After the tailgate, Dan, Goran, Nicole and I went to Piola in Rosslyn, which has an all-you-can-eat gnocchi special on the 29th of each month.  We tried six different types of gnocchi (I was only able to eat three, because the other three either contained meat or ingredients that I am allergic to), and I think that it is safe to say that Goran and Nicole could eat Dan and I under the table.  The two of them do somewhat-regular food challenges, and neither Dan nor I are particularly big eaters, so we filled up a lot more quickly.  For the rest of the afternoon, we watched the Ryder Cup (we watched on Sunday as well), which is what I fell asleep watching at 9:30 (that's what 4.5 hours of sleep plus a packed day at Homecoming will do to you haha).

Yesterday morning, we got brunch with my parents at Metro 29, which was nice (Dan hadn't seen them in a while, and I hadn't seen them in a week or so).  I got my French toast, which made my tummy happy...until I went for a run three hours later.  I felt like I was going to be sick the entire time, so it was not such a pleasant run.  When I got back and Dan expressed concern at how sick I looked, I pointed out that at least I could run, which he agreed with.  Once I felt a little bit better, we grabbed some dinner from a sports bar in his old neighborhood (I smartly opted for a salad, because I was feeling very nutrient-deficient after last week) and watched the thoroughly depressing end of the Ryder Cup.  Damn it, 'murica!  Overall, I had a great weekend with friends, but especially with Dan.  I'm not going to get to see him until Wednesday, so I try to be very appreciative of the time that I do get to spend with him!!  I'm glad that we have a long weekend to look forward to this coming weekend, because boy, could we use it!

Pictures from this weekend to come soon! I got back too late last night to edit/upload photos...

I hope you all had fabulous weekends!

Wanderlust

'Tis the season for daydreaming, and, when the air gets chilly and all you want to do is curl up in bed with a cup of tea and a good book, you start to daydream.  I'm sure you all can guess what I daydream about...TRAVELING!!! That's right, my wanderlust is rearing its ugly (only not ugly, more beautiful) head again.  You may be wondering to yourself why I am already starting to think about my next trip, being that I just went to Europe with my family last Christmas, but the truth is, there is nothing I love more than exploring a new place and having things to MARVEL at (I think I stole that sentiment of wanting to marvel at something from Eat Pray Love).  I don't mean to have an expensive hobby, I just love immersing myself in new cultures and getting lost in new towns and cities.  There's something so romantic about it!

Without further ado, some locations at the top of my travel list (in no particular order):

Italia:  I have been to Italy twice (once to Sicily, once to Naples, once to Rome, twice to Florence, once to Pisa and once in the train station in Milan), but what kind of girl would I be to turn down a return trip?!  Dan has never been before and it is very high up on his list, so that is definitely a trip worth pinching our pennies for.  We are both part-Italian, and I, for one, always love visiting countries where my ancestors came from.  Add to that breathtaking scenery, bustling and historic cities, high fashion, and mouth-wateringly delicious food (pasta and gelato, I'm looking at you) and you have the makings for a perfect trip.  Is it too soon to book now?!?

Sigh...Positano. via art.com

  

Toscana. via me1ka

Bruschetta. via Clemmensen-Brok

Hawaii:  Those of you who know me will know that I am not a huge beach person.  I like going to the beach on a day trip, but there is something about going to the beach for a week or so that I dislike.  I think part of it is that, often, when I go to the beach, there is nothing to do in these beach towns besides going to the beach (the exception is The Cape...oh, how I long for New England summers...).  HOWEVER, I think that, if I were to be offered a trip to Hawaii, I would be hard pressed to find a good excuse not to go.  I love the idea of going to an island paradise and just indulging in pure relaxation.  Except, knowing me, I would want to be going for long runs, snorkeling (assuming that no sharks are within a hundred-mile radius of me), hiking up volcanoes to see the sun rise (Dan requested that we go at sunset instead, which I might be willing to compromise on) and doing other active things, obviously.  To counter that, though, fruity drinks and couples' massages sound positively peachy!

I think I could be okay with this. via flickr

Cali: I was telling Dan about dinner with a friend and the friend's mother from earlier this week, and, when I told him that Mrs. H had traveled from San Diego, he said, "I want to go to San Diego!".  He knows how badly I want to go to Northern California (a.k.a San Francisco and Napa), so we compromised and said that we would do both.  Now that that's settled, we just have to pinch our pennies and save up our vacation time!  An interesting question came up during this conversation: are there an inordinate number of DUIs in Napa from all of the tourists who go on wine tastings at the many vineyards there?  Inquiring minds want to know :)

Lovely San Fran.  via UCSF

Napa. I want to go to there! via Travel Guide

Chicago:  I absolutely fell in love with Chicago when I visited last year (even though I visited at the end of February, when it was bitterly cold and windy to the point where I barely removed my puffer coat).  I am beyond thrilled to be going back again for my college friend Kristin's wedding at the end of June!! I can't wait to see the city in the summer, since I have heard so many amazing things about it!  If I love it as much in the summer as I did in the winter, we may have a serious contender for cities to live in in the future!

<3 chicago.="chicago." href="http://trendytraveler.tumblr.com/post/7102650528" target="_blank" via="via">Trendy Traveler

France:  I know, I'm such a broken record, since I have now traveled to France three times and lived there for nearly four months.  But, for those of you who have never been to France before, there is something indescribably wonderful about France.  I mean, American expats went there in droves in the '20s, so there must hav ebeen something special about the place!!  All of the sights, smells, sounds, tastes, and the beautiful language leave me walking on air my entire time there.  A coworker recently moved to Paris to teach English to Parisian high-schoolers, and I have to admit that I am insanely jealous of her.  I am so fortunate to have had the study-abroad stint in Strasbourg that I did, but France is so addictive that you never stop wanting more of it.  My ideal French vacation?  Driving through the French countryside (first roadblock: neither Dan nor I can drive stick shift cars, which might prove to be a major complication) and staying at quaint little mom and pop B&Bs, eating cheese and bread and drinking wine with reckless abandon, and hitting some cities too along the way.

I am literally in heaven sitting outdoors at a French café. via Yanidel

Musée d'Orsay.  LOVE.  via bippityboppityboo

The twinkling lights on La Tour are indescribably magical :) via Erin Ever After
 
With unlimited funds (and vacation time), there are many other trips that I would take (namely, to South Africa, Australia, and the parts of Europe I have not been to- Germany, Austria, Croatia and the Czech Republic).  But for now, the aforementioned trips are the ones that are most on my mind.  In any event, I am going to start doing some more work travel soon (I'm taking a three-day trip to Philly and Pittsburgh in November for events, which I'm really excited about!), which will hopefully satisfy my wonderlust, however temporarily!

However, since literally none of those big trips are in my budget right now, what I really want the most is to do a trip to an apple orchard or farm near DC.  Again, you can take the girl out of New England, but not the New England out of the girl.  I was telling Dan the other day how some of my happiest fall memories involve going to a farm that was near our old house in Massachusetts and picking our own apples (Macouns were our absolute favorites).  We would pick our sack of apples, peruse the fresh baked goods and vegetables at the farm stand, and then bring the apples home to make applesauce or apple pie.  Just thinking about it brings a smile to my face, and he was only being somewhat sarcastic with his "Awww" reaction haha.  In fact, if you really want to hear an "Awww" story, my freshman and sophomore years of college, my dad sent away to an orchard in upstate New York (where Macouns are primarily grown) and had them send me an entire box of my favorite apples.  That father of mine, so sweet and thoughtful :)  Anyway, my goal for this fall is to find an orchard or farm somewhere relatively close to the city.  I have been itching to do it for years, and this is going to be the year.  It's a fool-proof plan, because Dan LOVES apple pie, so he'll have to go with me, right?! 

Sorry for the long post, everyone.  I let my travel excitement get the best of me!

A nip in the air :)

It is FINALLY officially my favorite time of year, fall :)  You can take the girl out of New England, but you can't take the New England out of the girl, I suppose. I love nothing more than walking outside and feeling just a nip in the air, as though you need a light jacket. If I were a coffee drinker, I would be all over a pumpkin spice latte right about now, but sadly, I'll just stick to tea and hot chocolate.  I'm not going to lie, though, I was oozing with happiness yesterday as I put on my jeans, flats, a fallish-looking plaid shirt and a blazer.  The first days of fall are the best!

On Friday, one of my beloved college roommates, Kate, was in town for some interviews, so a group of us met up for dinner at Founding Farmers.  A fruity drink and some delicious, hearty food was exactly what the doctor ordered after a long and stressful week (it seems like they have all been that way lately), and, of course, the time spent with friends was so rejuvenating.  Kate had a relatively early flight to catch and wasn't up for anything crazy (which, after my week, I frankly was not either), so we ended up going back to our apartment, baked cookies and chatted.  The night flew by, and it was such a treat to have one of my close friends come in from out of town.  Even though I have been keeping busy spending time with lots of friends here in DC, my heart always aches when I think of my friends who are scattered all around the country now (as a note, I tend to feel this way every year around Homecoming, as Hoya alumni come in from out of town).

On Saturday morning, I had a great run and did a much-overdue cleaning of the apartment (the weekend of our race was my weekend to clean, so, due to circumstances out of my control, I wasn't able to clean that weekend; and, ever since we got home from the hospital, I have been so busy that I haven't had time to clean. But the pile of hair on the bathroom floor was getting disgusting- that's what you get when two long-haired girls live together haha!).  Then, I went over to Dan's. I hadn't seen him since Wednesday (which is a long time for us), so I was so happy to get to spend the day with my guy.  We attempted to go to the Clarendon Day festivities, but, once we got down into the Metro, we figured out it was going to be a half-hour wait.  Being that I knew that it was not at all Dan's first preference (he was going to be a trooper and go for a little while though!), I suggested hitting a museum instead.  Neither of us had been to the Smithsonian Castle, so we headed down there and walked around a little bit.  It ended up being perfect, because Dan still gets tired very easily, so it wasn't too large of a museum to tackle.  Afterward, we perused the National Book Festival, which was happening down on the Mall.  They had tents devoted to different genres, and there were keynote authors speaking in each of those tents.  There was also a tent where you could purchase those featured authors' books.

Next, we schlepped over to Chinatown to see The Bourne Legacy.  There was a Bourne marathon on TV last weekend and, to Dan's delight, I discovered that I actually really like the movies.  This one was sort of disappointing, because, while Jeremy Renner is an indisputable badass, we both agreed that we liked Matt Damon better.  This one was also less spy thriller, more biological warfare, which isn't exactly my thing.  We went to Graffiato for dinner, because we knew people who had gone and wanted to try it.  It actually turned out to be really disappointing.  I can now say that I've tried ceviche, but I absolutely do not like it (I didn't think you could possibly ruin seabass, but now I know that it is, indeed, possible).  We had planned to go to Dairy Queen anyway once we got home, but the growling in my stomach following dinner made a trip there a necessity.  All in all, it was a relaxing and wonderful day with my guy :)  It has definitely been a bit of a challenge to find things to do, given the fact that he is still under the doc's orders not to drink until his liver enzyme levels and CPK levels normalize, but I think that we were able to find a really nice mix on Saturday of doing things in the city and having some relaxation time as well.  Yay us!!  I know it will be tough on him not to be able to drink during Homecoming this weekend, so I'll let him dictate how long we stay at the tailgate (after all, cheap beer hurts my stomach anyway!).

On Sunday, I met up with Lauren following her triumphant return from her first work trip (yay, so proud of her!!!).  Since she was feeling under the weather, we relaxed at her apartment and swooned over Ryan Reynolds watched Definitely Maybe.  That was perfectly fine by me, because I was exhausted!  I had only slept until 7 on Saturday morning so that I could get up and run/clean, and, since Dan had left at around 7:30 for his tee time on Sunday morning and I couldn't fall back asleep, I decided to just get up and run.  All of that meant that I was somewhat lacking in sleep, so I needed some quality relaxation time.

This week is promising to be yet another hectic one (surprise surprise).  There are two birthday celebrations that will take up several days this weekend, plus Homecoming.  But, to start the week off, tonight I am going to happy hour with a few girlfriends and one girl's mom.  I am really excited to meet her!  Then, I am Skyping with one of my very best friends from college.  Tomorrow and Wednesday, I have promised Dan that I'm all his, since I have birthday celebrations on Thursday and Friday nights.  I feel bad for ditching him this week...I have been catching myself wondering where September went, and it really has been because I have been so darn busy!!  I would like to be able to tell you that October will be less hectic, but that is not the case :(  Oh well, as I said at this time last year (when I also had a ridiculously busy October), I'll sleep when I'm dead! 

I hope you all had a lovely weekend, and Happy Fall to all of you!!

That moment when...

...I rediscovered Georgetown!  And oh, what a discovery it was!  I have spent so much time in Georgetown over the past 6+ years that, frankly, I had gotten a little sick of it, preferring to explore other areas of DC.  Last night, I met up with my dear friend Jamie, who I had not seen in AGES (thanks in part to her extensive work travel and my NH vacation and then stay in VA Beach) for dinner at Café La Ruche, literally one of the most adorable restaurants I have ever been to.  I first went there two-and-a-half years ago, during Senior Week, for Allie's birthday dinner, and, being that it is really tucked away on a side street, I always tend to forget about it.  But Jamie and I were planning on gorging ourselves on cupcakes after dinner at Baked & Wired, so, when she suggested some place with light fare for dinner, Café La Ruche came immediately to mind.  See pictures below!

Seriously, have you seen a more adorable restaurant?!

The interior, also adorable

Not only is the restaurant cute and quaint (French décor, including Parisian street signs, everywhere), but the food is cheap and delicious!  I got a vegetable quiche and Jamie got French Onion Soup and a brie plate, so we got to sit there and catch up, munching on our yummy food and listening to the guitar-playing of the resident musician.  When we got there, the restaurant was empty, but, before long, a HUGE French tourist group (we're talking 30ish people) crammed into the tiny restaurant, and, I think the fact that there were so many French people there proves that the place is legit.

From there, we walked a block along the canal to B&W, where we got to sit and chat some more before shutting the place down.  A walk back to Dupont was a perfect ending for the evening, since the rain, which had been following constantly throughout the day, had let up for the evening.  A wonderful evening with a true kindred spirit, as Anne Shirley would say!