thankfully, DC was a much more relaxing trip (even though i'd had to bring my RAND coding assignment with me). this was probably due to the fact that i decided NOT to lug my laptop with me across the country. (it's always such a pain taking it out for the stupid TSA screening. and speaking of which, i was on some sort of TSA hit list. which meant i couldn't print out my boarding pass the night before my return flight and that i was anxiety-ridden about needing to get to the airport earlier than usual. WTF?!) of course, neena was THE best hostess ever. and in addition to providing me with my own room AND bathroom, she even set up her extra laptop for me! it was absolutely perfect. i really couldn't have asked for anything more. i mean, there are really so so SO few people in the world that i can be totally and completely comfortable with. (especially when being comfortable means letting my inner brat out and being miss crabby pants whenever i feel like it.) and she's definitely one of them. THANK GOD for BFF's.
considering that i'm slowly beginning to forget the details of my travels, let's pick through some of the highlights, shall we?
1) neena schlepping ALL the way out to BWI to pick me up, especially when she's not used to driving that far in unknown territory. (babe, you're an absolute STAR.) us picking up and munching on supermarket goodies. (who ever said great meals HAD to happen in restaurants?!) us catching up on her luxurious couch while initiating her into the cult of food network. this night was pretty much meant to be, especially when she realized that she knew the challenger on her first episode EVER of iron chef america. it was even better when i realized that she'd mentioned taking me out to one of jose andres' many joints in DC while i was in town. AAAHHH!!! plus, she's now hooked on food network. woohoo! TIVO, here she comes!
2) neena, ale, and i munching on some OH SO DELISH cupcakes in georgetown. i chose the chocolate hazelnut since it came with the chocolate ganache AND the hazelnuts. mmm.... these little yummy bites of goodness were definitely worth waiting in line for. i'm just not sure they were worth getting wet for! especially when the rain started coming down hard several hours later. needless to say, it was memorable walking across the bridge back to roslyn as we braced ourselves against the raindrops and the winds. don't we sound heroic?!
georgetown cupcake
http://www.georgetowncupcake.com/
3) dining out with jeremy and brown at brasserie beck. totally delicious and definitely work schlepping all the way out to DC for. i've always felt horribly guilty (and sad) for not being able to make it to their wedding, so as soon as i bought my ticket to DC, i knew i had to make plans with pretty much the most adorable couple i know. i swear their love story is almost as romantic as the notebook. (and god knows how much i love cheese!) before i forget, the atmosphere at this place was FABULOUS, as was my grilled trout and gratin of brussel sprouts. we ended the night with the yummy pear tarte tatin, some luscious whipped cream, and the most adorable pic! (bronwen, i'm still waiting for our fab shot!)
brasserie beck
http://www.beckdc.com/
4) catching up with ann chang -- one of THE most delightful and impressive people in the world -- over lunch at coastal flats in the tyson's corner mall. she's graduated from le cordon bleu in paris. she's worked at the ritz carlton in DC. she's had a baby girl. and now she's on her way to a phd in public policy. i mean, how much more rock star can you get?! (this doesn't include myself and neena, of course.) talk about trying to keep up with unbridled enthusiasm. whew! i'm exhausted.
coastal flats
http://www.greatamericanrestaurants.com/coastaltysons/
5) doing the touristy thing all day with neena! the last time i'd been to DC, i was a little girl with motion sickness stuck on a tour bus with lots of annoying asian people. needless to say, that was THE single reason i hadn't been back to DC in so many years. thankfully, neena helped me clear out some of the cobwebs by showing me around town. even though it was a bit hot out for me (considering that it'd been freezing and raining for several days), i loved all the walking.
as a side bar, i must say that the metro in DC completely FREAKED ME OUT. i couldn't remember the last time i felt so congested and TRAPPED. i swear neena thought i was going to hyperventilate or something. ugh! you'd have to experience it to know what i'm talking about. and i really wouldn't wish it on anyone for very long. eek!
aside from the walking, my favorite parts of the day were: eating at the native american museum (OMG!), going on the carousel ride (GIDDY UP!), and schmoozing it up with lincoln (at the memorial, silly!). neena had heard that the mitsitam cafe at the native american museum was supposedly AMAZING, so that was our first stop in the city. and we were NOT disappointed. the selection was endless, and with our eyes bigger than our tummies, we tried a ridiculous number of dishes, which were all FABULOUS. our huge meal definitely left us prepared to walk off the calories.
mitsitam cafe
http://www.nmai.si.edu/subpage.cfm?subpage=dc&second=visitor&third=inside#museumcafe
as we trekked through the national mall, we found a random carousel and we HAD to go on it. let's just say we were adorable, ok? ok. and even though the gems at the natural history museum and the height of the washington monument were all quite impressive, i must admit that i still preferred cozying up to lincoln. there's just something about him that speaks to me. *sigh*
after our visit with him, we raced off to jaleo to meet joe and abe, both of whom were unreasonably late. thankfully, neena and i were totally ready to munch at the bar while we waited. we actually ended up trying quite a few things, including a glass of sherry that neena had to sneak ice into (who serves sherry lukewarm?!) and an absolutely amazing dish of watermelon and tomato (mmm...). most of the other dishes were yummy as well, though it's been too long now and i can't seem to remember what else was noteworthy. oh well. i guess you'll just have to check it out yourselves!
jaleo
http://www.jaleo.com/
6) chomping on some healthy veggies w/neena for our last meal together! sadness. after making several U-turns, we finally found our way to sunflower cafe. we'd seen it in the night, so we had trouble locating it in the day. FYI that we were still SO full from the day before that we weren't sure we could get any more food into our tummies. shockingly (or not so shockingly), we somehow managed. honestly, i found the dishes a bit too saucy for me, but perhaps i just picked the wrong thing. like a tomato dish when i hate tomato dishes. i mean, seriously? seriously. i fear that i must've been suffering from leftover food coma. at the end of lunch, neena mentioned frozen custard. and i almost puked at the thought of eating anything more. this just means i'll be back for more delicious eats, right?
sunflower cafe
2 comments:
Thank God you FINALLY updated your blog. It's about time, my dear! Anyway, I'm surprised you felt claustrophobic inside the D.C. Metro. What happened to your inner New Yorker?!? And also just wanted to share my love for Jaleo. Love, love, love the Gambas in garlic. :-)
i'm so thrilled that i haven't lost my readership!! : ) btw, i almost NEVER take the subway in new york anymore -- i'm all about the BUS and my FEET. : )
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