Two Christmases

Zach and I were spoiled this year with two Christmases. We started off in Maryland, with a trip to ICE at the National Harbor, and then a night full of good food and games with my family and a couple of friends. Christmas morning we opened gifts with my family before we headed off to the airport to catch a flight to Texas. My dad does the Christmas shopping in the house, but I would like to thank his shopping elf, because I received some really great shoes/sweater situations from him that I absolutely loved!





We touched down in Dallas in time for Christmas dinner, and more opening of presents with his family. All of his immediate family was there, so it worked out perfectly(his grandmother sent me a super chic sweater coat - how cute is that?)! Given the physical distance between our two families, I don't think there will be many opportunities to share Christmas day with both, so I really appreciated that we were able to do it this year.



I hope everyone had an amazing holiday. Now its time to ring in 2011!

ICE! At National Harbor

This year my family got very adventurous for Christmas Eve. We are very set in our ways (My dad's will side is going for a movie on Sunday not Saturday), so I was shocked this year when we planned a trip to see ICE! at National Harbor. What is ICE? Basically thousands and thousands of pounds of ice are brought into a tent, kept at 9 degrees, and many many workers carve a wonderful winter paradise out of the ice. The end result was a retelling of The Grinch Who Stole Christmas.


My whole family arrived at the tent and we were given very fashion forward blue parkas. We were trying to be cool and refuse the parkas, until we were told we needed them for the ice slide, and we quickly changed our tune. We were then led into the exhibit and walked through rooms and rooms of the Grinch ice sculptures. It really was amazing, and if you are near a Gaylord, I highly recommend you get yourself over to one of the shows. The Grinch scenes were so vivid and colorful, but my highlight had to have been the ice slide. I was thinking it would be a little kiddie thing, but you got some serious speed on that puppy. I'm very glad I went for the parka. Two cold thumbs up for the Grinch!

Water Skiing Santa and many more ...

Just a couple hours away from a mini-Christmas break. Yay! I started to get bummed out, so I had to remind myself about all the great holiday spirit that is around me, like:

a. My family and I are going to see the ICE show at National Harbor tomorrow for Christmas Eve. I am so excited, and then to make things even better, I read in the Express today that there will be a water skiing Santa at the Harbor as well! Needless to say, I am pumped.

b. As I exited the metro today, the station manager had duct taped Christmas baskets full of mini candy canes to the ticket machines. Love the spirit!

c. I just went to grab an apple from my office's fridge and saw there was an expandable file folder stocked with six Sierra Nevadas. Someone is starting the holidays early. You stay classy lawyers ;)

d. After work Zach and I are going to see the National Christmas Tree and walk through Georgetown. I have been waiting forever to do this, and its Zach's first time to see the trees. Can't wait!

I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday break. Hopefully nice and long! Merry Christmas everyone!

Congratulations Paige and Jack!

Since she is one of my three readers, I want to congratulate my friend Paige on her engagement to her bf Jack! He proposed over the weekend and I couldn't be happier for the two of them. (Yes, he gave her a snuggie last year for Christmas ... and yes it's kid sized)

Bobby Lews

My siblings and I are all very different. There is no denying that. For example, my little brother is a lover of music. He worked at the 9:30 Club in D.C. for a long time, and now manages a funk band called New Retro. My first concert I went to that my parents didn't take me to (that was the Beach Boys, the whole family went) was NSYNC, and if the song hasn't been played on HOT 99.5, I probably have not heard of it. That being said, its hard to share in his musical passions. However, last Saturday night, his band was playing at Bobby Lews in Adams Morgan, a bar I had actually been to before. When I saw this I was intrigued. As it came to show day, I decided that it would be a good show to go to because my 99.5 self wouldn't be judged in that musical atmosphere. Zach and I walked into the bar and surprised my brother. I think he was pretty pumped that we made it out. The show was actually alot of fun, and the band sounded great. They are no NSYNC, but really, who is? Great job Michael!

How Do You Know?

This past summer film crews came to D.C. to shoot scenes for the new romantic comedy "How Do You Know." They were here for a substantial amount of time, shooting on my friend Kate's street, outside the bar I spent my 24th birthday at, and a couple blocks from my work. Reese Withersoon, Paul Rudd, Owen Wilson and Jack Nicholson ... and I missed every single one of them! How unfair. The trailer came out this past fall, and my D.C. spotting pride put it on the top of my must-see list.

Zach and I went to go see it on Friday night in Georgetown. Within the first 2 minutes there is a wide shot of Rosslyn and the Key Bridge and the theatre went bananas, clearly there were other people in the theatre that loved to see their city on the big screen as well. I loved recognizing familiar sights, but unfortunately I never saw Kate's street. The characters were on and off D.C. Metro buses every five moments of the film, which I thought was funny, because I have not set foot on one before in my life. The Washington Nationals must have spent a lot of money on advertising, because Nationals merchandise and fans were positioned prominently throughout the movie.

So was it a good movie? Eh, it was okay. I love myself some Reese Witherspoon, but there was nothing really extraordinary about the film. If you want to go to see the movie because of the D.C. setting, you wont be disappointed. But if you are going to be thoroughly entertained - save this one for Netflix.

Metro Disruption - Holiday Edition

Well it seems like everyone is getting festive this time of year - even metro...

I was packing my lunch this morning and my ears perked up when I heard something about Metro disruption yellow and blue lines. I turned my attention to the news and saw that there was a "suspicious" package at Pentagon Station, and trains were diverting themselves so they would not pass through the station. Fabulous, exactly what you want to hear first thing in the morning. Basically, I was cut off metro wise from getting into D.C., not cool. To add to my frustrations, I had spent an extra hour on the Metro Monday morning because there was a fire at Metro Center causing every train to come to a halt.

I packed up my things and left my studio trying to mentally prepare myself for the chaos I was about to discover. On the way down a woman I had never met before warned me about the situation and I thanked her. We exited into the lobby and she asked me where I needed to get to. When I replied she said, "Come on, you are going with me." Considering my options were a. get in the car with a complete stranger or b. stand in 30 degree weather with hundreds of pissed off commuters, I chose a.

We actually had a very pleasant car ride in. Leslie has lived in my building for 14 years and is from Chicago. She dropped me off a block from work and I got in on time to get a web page ready for my boss before she walked in. Merry Christmas Leslie!

Oh, I almost forgot. A couple minutes ago my co-worker informed me what the "suspicious" package was. A Christmas ornament that was blinking in a trashcan... Ho Ho Ho.

111th Army Navy Game

This past weekend my family and I (minus Mom) met in Philadelphia for the 111th Army Navy Game. My Dad is an extremely proud graduate of West Point, and we have been going to these games for what it seems like forever. For those who do not know, the Army Navy game is a huge rivalry, with lots of pranks/name calling happening up until the event. When we were younger my Dad used to dress all my siblings up in Army gear and we would ring the doorbells of his Navy friends cheering Go Army, Beat Navy. Now, as we grow older, my sister is dating a Naval Academy grad, so the smack talk usually resides between him and my father. Unfortunately for my Dad Army has not managed a win in quite some time, but he takes it all in stride.





We met in the parking lot outside of Lincoln Field and tailgated for a couple of hours. This was one of the warmest games in my recent memory (44 degrees) so I was loving life. After everyone enjoyed some beers and sandwiches, we headed in to watch the pregame show. Parachuters enter the stadium from high in the sky, and there are several fly overs. Cadets and midshipmen from their various schools make video skits taunting the other teams, and those are played on the jumbo tron. After all the pomp and circumstance the game begins and we settled in for 3 hours of kind of boring football (they can't make the whole game exciting). Its nothing like watching bigger schools play football, but its a great family experience that we share every year, even if there are no bragging rites any more.



Go Army, Beat Navy!

Merry Christmas to Me

I love to give people presents. It makes me really happy. I fully admit I am a people pleaser, sometimes to a fault, but there is nothing better than handing a friend or loved one a great gift. Love it.

So Christmas time comes around, and of course I am always on the look out for good gifts. And I find them, but the trouble is, I always find some great things for me too! I've been fairly good about treating my self this holiday season, but those 30% off web specials are really tempting. Last night one such present came in the mail for myself:



Evidently sequins is in this holiday season and I am totally okay with it. I can dress up or dress down the sweater and in general it just makes me really happy. Merry Christmas to me!

Have you been good to yourself this holiday season?

Baby It's Cold Outside

Today's official Christmas song has to be Baby It's Cold Outside. D.C. has officially been hit with winter. What is winter you ask? Below freezing temperatures with wind that will kick your ass for walking outside, taking no prisoners. This week is making a statement, its officially December, and its officially cold.

While today's winds made a great effort to chip away at me, there managed to be a few bright spots in my day. During work I had lunch at one of D.C.'s finer restaurants with a sales representative at one of D.C.'s fine hotels that was trying to court my organization to hold our next Annual Meeting there. This is definitely a perk of my job. While I found it a bit awkward talking to this woman for two hours (she dines like the Europeans), I thoroughly enjoyed our meal. Everything was served family style and we dined on:

Roasted Maine Scallops
Braised Beef Rib
Jumbo Lump Crabcakes
Baby Beets with Preserved Orange Peel
Hand Cut BDT Triple Fries
Straight from the Oven Chocolate Cake, Maker’s Mark Flambé
and
Peanut Butter Ice Cream

Yum. I even didn't mind the beets, and that is huge for me.

When I left work, still pretty stuffed, I braved the weather again and finished up the rest of my Christmas shopping at a couple stores in D.C. and VA. I am now done! Woop Woop! It is a great feeling.

Hope everyone is surviving the crazy winter weather and enjoying the Christmas season.

Friday Gem

I stumbled upon this blog via a recommendation from The Express. Click on it if you want a fun little trip down memory lane for the Late 80s, Early 90s years. http://imremembering.com

Texas Wedding Weekend

Congratulations to the new Mr. and Mrs. Hurt! Thanksgiving morning I flew down to Texas for Zach's little sister's wedding. It was an incredible weekend and I think I am still recovering a little bit from it.

All of Zach's family was invited to Thanksgiving at their house if they wanted to come early for the wedding. I am still amazed at how easily they fit everyone into their home, because Zach has a lot of family, and a lot of them accepted the invitation. They are all great though. I keep on meeting new cousins, and its like you are best friends with them the second you meet. Needless to say we had a great time Thursday night with plenty of good food and drink.

Friday Zach and I picked up a couple of those cousin's for a Texas field trip. We started the day off at Cavender's Western Wear. Maggie and Emily needed to properly try on the goods. Sadly, none of us walked away with any pearl snaps or Stetsons ... we had places to be.



We then headed over to the Fort Worth Stockyards. This is a place I've always wanted to go since Zach started taking me to his parent's house. We met up with a bunch of his family to have lunch at Cooper's BBQ. I'm going to go ahead and say it - it was the best brisket I have ever tasted. We all had Texas sized portions of meat and beer, then walked our selves over to the Stockyard's main drag. It was like stepping back in time to an old country western (with lots of cheesy souvenirs). There were cowboys riding their horses, boots galore, and plenty of Longhorn photo-ops. If you are ever in the Fort Worth area I highly recommend this destination.





After we got our cowboy/cowgirl on, it was time for the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner. Rachel and Drew had a great Father officiating their ceremony. You could tell he really got to know the couple, and he loved to rock Birkenstocks. Rachel and Drew just get each other, and it was kind of like they were already married, so they weren't nervous at all. At the rehearsal dinner there were some great speeches (the best man had props) and a special performance by Josh Abbott. He is a singer huge in Texas, and Drew actually was his drummer back in college.



Saturday was wedding day, and Rachel was honestly the most low key bride I have ever met. We went to breakfast, and then headed back to the hotel to get ready. She turned on 48 Hours Investigation and ate pizza while her sister did her hair and make-up. Getting married today ... no biggie. Because of her low-keyness I didn't really mind that we were wearing 4-inch red pumps (how I did not trip, I do not know).



After the beautiful ceremony the bridal party went on the field at Ranger's stadium to take wedding photos. Talk about cool!! The photographer Liam was a spicy little Asian guy who liked to act at the pose he wanted us to do.





After pictures we headed inside the stadium to the Diamond Club. It was such a beautiful venue, with Christmas trees, poinsettias and super cool views of the field. Everyone had a blast at a photo booth that was brought in, and per usual, Zach's aunts tore up the dance floor.





I arrived back in D.C. on Sunday with achy feet (those heels got to me), completely exhausted and wishing I could relive every second of it. Great weekend.

Gobble, Gobble!

Thanksgiving week is upon us! I don't know about you all, but I have gained a great appreciation for Thanksgiving in the past couple years. It starts off with a 3 day (sometimes 2.5 if your boss is generous)work week, and then a glorious 4 day weekend filled with family and friends. I don't particularly care for turkey, but I love being lazy for the day with my family, catching up on movies, seeing friends from high school that I haven't seen since last year and maybe even squeezing in a road trip in there.

My family celebrated Thanksgiving early this year because I will be flying down to Texas on Thanksgiving day for Zach's little sister's wedding. She is getting married that Saturday, but all extended family is invited to celebrate early. We all got together on Saturday and stuffed our self with good food. My brother, the new world traveler, serenaded us with his instruments he has picked up from around the world. Ukulele from Tokyo ... sitar from India ... toning bowl from Singapore ... sounds terrible but pretty hilarious to seem him play them. Then we capped off the day by watching an old family video. I was around the age of two-ish and felt the need to sing Jingle Bells in the middle of May. Loves it.

I hope everyone has wonderful plans lined up for this week. If you will be going to the airport like me hopefully we won't get held up by this new Frisking hysteria. Personally I have no problem with the full body scan. Nakedness over a heavy pat down any day!!

Happy Thanksgiving :)

Daylight Savings Time

Any one else depressed about leaving work and it being pitch black outside??? Just wondering.

World Series - Arlington, Texas

Last weekend I had the really awesome experience of going to games 3 and 4 of the World Series in Texas. We left a little nervous, the Rangers were down 2 games to none, but optimistic because they play great at home. Our flight down was sprinkled with a couple of fans, and I had to resist the urge to be a little dorky and yell Go Rangers each time I passed them.



We landed, and by the time we had lunch and spent a little time at Zach's parents house it was time to head to Game 3. Living in D.C. you don't really get to attend a lot of super fan driven sporting events (unless its the fans cheering for the other team!) but that was not the case at these games. The stadium was packed to capacity and everyone was wearing their Rangers Red and swinging their Rally towels. My favorite, Kelly Clarkson, sang the national anthem, and she was looking good! And then after a big home run the Rangers won their first World Series game ever!! Woo-hoo.



Unfortunately Game 4 did not have the same result. Although we could not score a run all game the Rangers fans stayed to the end. I hate when you can see droves and droves of fans leaving the stadium early in a big game when their team is losing. I flew back to D.C. early Monday morning, and sadly the Rangers did not get a win in Game 5. The series had come to a end, but it was still an incredible ride. I was very glad that I got to be there to experience it. Until next season ...

Kindergarten

This week my boss emailed my co-worker and I to ask if we wanted to volunteer for the Help the Homeless charity that goes on in D.C. We would be going to an elementary school to read to kids about homelessness, and then watch them go on a "mini-walk" that would raise money for the larger Walk for the Homeless event that takes place later this November. I signed up because a. I got to get out of work for a little bit during the day and b. it would be really nice to feel like I was contributing a little bit to society. Planning events for lawyers isn't exactly benefiting humanity, so I really liked the idea of doing something good.

I arrived at an elementary school in Georgetown and found my group of volunteers. I asked for the book with the smallest words (don't want to screw up!) and was given Mr. Bow Tie and directed into a Kindergarten class.

Is it weird that I got nervous about the thought of reading a book to little 5 year olds?? I definitely was!! The kids were really cute, and dressed up for Halloween. There was one little boy with Down Syndrome dressed up as a Viking that particularly melted my heart. Thankfully I got through my story with out tripping up, and with out the kids throwing a revolt. I was supposed to talked to them about homelessness after I was done reading, so I asked them what they thought of the story. A mini-Iron Man told me he liked the colors ... clearly we were not going to be having an in depth talk :) The concept might have been lost on them, but hopefully the older kids got a little more out of it.

Happy Halloween everyone!

My Apartment

Its almost November and I am sweating ... a lot. Why am I sweating? Two weeks ago my apartment building turned off the air condtioning allowing people to turn on heat if they so wished. Middle of October, really? I don't remember any freakishly cold October days that have required the heater in a very long time.

When they first turned off the air I didn't think it would be too big of an issue. It was 60 degrees outside, clearly I don't need A.C. But I guess being on the 18th floor it takes a little bit longer too cool down. For the past two weeks my porch door has been opened with the screen shut, and my fan positioned directly on my bed in some hopes of relief. It has failed too cool me down, but has given me a really cute smokers cough and head cold. Sorry for all the complaining but I would much rather be cold then hot, and this situation is just not working, for me.

Boo, apartment management. Boo.

WORLD SERIES!

Friday night the Texas Rangers became American League Champions and secured their place in the World Series by beating the New York Yankees 6 - 1. The Rangers secured a really good lead in the 5th inning, but I was holding my breath most of the game. Zach switched from pacing around the apartment, to crouching in a catcher's stance in front of the TV for most of the game. When the last out came at the top of the 9th inning there was lots of jumping up and down and celebrating (and a couple of happy tears!). Since we couldn't be there to take part with the ginger ale/ champagne celebration, we pulled a bottle of Andre out of the fridge and celebrated ourselves. So happy for Zach's family, and can not wait to head down this weekend to see some of the games in person!

Rachel's Bachlorette!

This past weekend I opened my studio doors to Zach's sisters, family and friends for his youngest sister's bachlorette party. She is marrying a great guys she's been dating since the very beginning of college the Saturday after Thanksgiving.

When it was first decided that the party was going to be in D.C. I really didn't think about the logistics of having seven girls in one studio apartment all weekend. I started to get worried as the party approached, but we squeezed ourselves in there and had a great time.



One of my favorite things to do is show people around D.C., so I tried to take the girls to as many different places as possible. We started the weekend off at Co Co Sala, a chocolate bar with yummy cocktails. Through out the weekend we went to Dupont Circle for Lauriol Plaza mexican, Capitol Hill for Eastern Market and Spike's Good Stuff burgers, Metro Center and Georgetown for shopping and Adams Morgan for a night out on the town.

Highlights of the weekend included our host Chris at dinner at Zentan. He brought over two bottles of Champagne Rachel's cousin had sent from New York, poured him self a big old glass and gave quite a toast to Rachel. He later talked about his Gucci shoes and gave relationship advice. We had little bits of Hollywood exposure, when we saw camera crews filming scenes from Transformers 3, and the Georgetown Cupcake reality show (oh its just the worse show ever, but I watched every episode. And on our night out on the town we ran into several really nice, not creepy guys that were generous enough to purchase many drinks for our party.

By the time Sunday came around everyone left in good spirits, and just a tinge hungover. My carpet will never look the same, but it was worth it. Congrats Rach!

Tampa Bay

There are not a lot of things that can keep me up past 10:00 p.m. on a school night. However, when the Texas Rangers are playing in Game 5 (do or die) of the ALDS, I can make an exception. Last night the Texas Rangers traveled back to Tampa Bay to face the Rays in the last game of the ALDS, with the winner moving on to face the New York Yankees. Zach's dad is the trainer for the Rangers, and in his career has only been to the playoffs once before, so it put a little extra drama in to the series. You just aren't rooting for a sports team, you are rooting for family.

People ask me if I was a baseball fan before I met Zach. We'll I liked baseball, but definitely not to a point where I would watch more than 5 games a season. Although I have given him a good portion of grief this year (do we really have to watch every game?) I have actually really enjoyed watching the Rangers play, and was over the top nervous to watch last nights game.

While Zach created holes in my carpet from pacing up and down, I curled up on the couch and watched in anticipation. Slowly we earned a run here, we earned a run there. It was until the 9th inning when the Rangers opened up the game 5-1 that I started to breath a little easier. And the won!!! I am was so happy for Zach's dad and the team for winning and loved every minute of watching their ginger ale/champagne celebration. Go Rangers! Bring on the Yankees!

Thank You Metro

So my boss has been taking a managment course for the past couple of weeks, and she is trying to apply her lessons back in the work place. These are generally beneficial to me, so I encourage them to keep on coming. So when we all got back from Las Vegas we had a status meeting in her office and were going over our to-do list for the next couple of weeks. My co-worker brought up the Metro interruption that was happening today (Metro decided to shut service between 3 stops Columbus Day weekend, one of them that happening to be our stop for work), and before she could even finish her thought my boss said "You know what, lets take off that Monday. You guys deserve it." Now I could have told her that there was a metro station open just a 10 minute walk from our office, but hey if she wants to be generous like that, I will let her.

Happy Columbus Day everyone. Hopefully you work for the goverment and have the day off too!

Las Vegas Report

Sorry for being MIA for that past two weeks. I have been playing catch up for awhile, so I will tell you about my last big adventure in Las Vegas. So I arrived at the Las Vegas airport the Wednesday before my company's meeting was starting and one of dreams came true. I had a driver waiting for me at the end of the escalator with a sign that said Ms. O'Brien. I mean I always thought that was so cool, to be important enough to merit a man dressed in a suit ready to take you where ever you want to go. It's the small things in life you know?



Anyways I was driven in an over the top limo taking me to the Wynn Las Vegas. One of the perks of this job is that I get to stay in hotels that I would never on my own be able to afford. I guess that is the difference between working for an association of lawyers and not an association for teachers. The Wynn was gorgeous! Great rooms, awesome pools, delicious restaurants, the works. Our meeting went really well too. I felt much more comfortable this time around than my first meeting, so I worked with the hotel staff much more efficiently, I could handle the bumps that came along the way, and was prepared for the weird personalities that our attorneys brought to the table.



Vegas is a cool city. I can not take away from that. But if you aren't going with friends, there is no real point to go at all. I am not the biggest fan of my co-worker so my Vegas experience was relatively PG. I walked the Strip, going in and out of the different hotels. The Bellagio fountains, famous for the Ocean's 11 appearance, were worth the stop. The gross, sorry to stereotype, Hispanic guys and girls standing on the strip handing out fliers for naked girls were a real buzz kill, but the margaritas from Jimmy Buffet's Margartiaville were some of the best I have ever had. My favorite hotel was Paris actually. It was incredibly cheesy, but I loved it. I spent $22 dollars on slot machines, and can you believe it, I did not become the big winner! I won $5 dollars at one point but it went away quickly.



Now I can officially cross Vegas off my list. Been there, done that, worn the t-shirt.

Vegas Bound

Sorry I have been a little M.I.A. lately. On Wednesday morning I am going to board a plane to Las Vegas for a company meeting I have been planning. Things have been crazy for the past week, because lawyers like to get things done last minute. That makes things a little bit hard for me with the whole trying to plan a meeting aspect, but I feel much better prepared for this meeting than I did for my last. I've never actually been outside of the Las Vegas airport before, so I am kind of excited to take in the sights. Any recommendations for when I am there?

Clarendon Day 10K

So the big day came this weekend, and sadly I did not cross the finish line too proud of my self. I got up on Saturday feeling good, and lets be honest, looking good in my new race day outfit. The first two miles were okay but after that the heat really got to me. It was only 85 degrees out, but after running in 60 degree weather for the past month it really hit hit me. I started the r-alking ... run, walking early, and then large periods of walking later. I did cross the finish line though. So that's good right?

Clarendon Day 10K - 1 week to go

So my training week ended a little rough on Friday, but good news is I feel like a real runner now. I had my first runner wipe out. I was struggling a little on my run, but was determined to finish. As I was closing in on my goal I checked my watch to see how much time I had left. I saw nine minutes and was like, okay, this is good. But then went to double check because hey it might be 8 minutes. Well when I double checked my watch I guess I missed a pothole and totally took a dive for the sidewalk cutting open both my palms, my left knee and my new running pants in the process. Before the concerned couple that saw me tumble could come over to check if I was okay I just got up and started running again. I ran for probably six more minutes before my stinging hands told me to stop and called it a day.

Hopefully Saturday will go a bit more smoothly.

fro.zen.yo

Last night I had a 6:15 hair appointment in Metro Center, so I had a little time to kill in between leaving work at 5:30 and my appointment. I metroed over to Metro Center and walked around to a couple of my favorite shops in between there and Chinatown. After a quick window shopping shesh I could not deny my after-work hunger any longer (this is usually the time when I am eating my after-work snack), I went to find a quick snack before I walked into the salon. Well as I was walking back into the direction of the salon I saw this new place - Fro.Zen.Yo.

I walked in and was a little confused. It was like an assembly plant for your frozen yogurt. I started at the front of the shop and grabbed the size cup I wanted (it looked like Large and Xtra Large, you must be here to eat!), then along an entire wall was about 12 soft serve machines of different frozen yogurt. I picked cookies and creme with a little dollop of cheesecake. After you have chosen your frozen yogurt, you go over to the topping bar and load up. I went with the gummy bears, always a good choice. Finally you go over the cashier and you pay via the weight of your cup. I had a pretty healthy dose of fro yo and gummy bears and I paid $3.84. Pretty reasonable by Cold Stone standards! It was pretty delicious too.

I went on their website to download their logo, and it turns out they are expanding all over D.C., Maryland and V.A. Be on the look out!

Pentagon Memorial

Today is the ninth anniversary of the September 11th attacks. I drove past the Pentagon this morning and it popped in my head that I should walk over to the Pentagon 9/11 memorial. I was a senior in high school when it happened, and its weird to think what it would be like if I was living so close to the Pentagon like I am now. The memorial has been up for a couple of years now, but I have never seen it, so today seemed like the perfect occasion to make a visit.



I walked across the street to the Pentagon follow signs to the memorial. It was so peaceful and beautiful. The memorial is a garden on the side of the Pentagon that was hit by the plane. The garden is full of trees and benches inscribed with the names of the people who died that day. Underneath each bench is running water. Who ever designed the memorial did a wonderful job. Its nice to be able to have something so peaceful and beautiful in a place with so many tragic memories. I left very greatful for my life and my loved ones.

Clarendon Day 10K - 2 weeks to go

I wrapped my week up with a blustery run this morning. I am cherishing this great weather now, before I start cursing the winter wind every time I go out side in a couple of months. I had some really good runs this week, including my 5 miles today!! That is the farthest I have run with out stopping, so I am quite pumped for my self. So I thoroughly enjoyed my reward - chocolate glazed donut from Dunkin Donuts ... Yum! Two more weeks to go!

Top Golf!

Last Friday I got off work and was thrilled about 3 full days of no work ahead of me. Happy belated Labor Day every body!

Zach and I celebrated by heading to Top Golf in Alexandria, Virginia. I have had a Groupon to it for awhile, and Friday night was the perfect day to go. Top Golf is a driving range with a twist. Instead of just hitting the balls to the green, they have several targets on the course for you to hit your ball too. Each one of your balls has a microchip in it, so the computer can tell where they land when they hit the green. You can than compete against your friends by getting the balls to the different targets. Still not sold? They also serve food and a wonderful selection of beer and wine (even Mike's Hard Lemonade if you so choose). You can hit some balls, and enjoy a Blue Moon at the same time - perfect!



This was my third time at a driving range, and I have settled into a pretty nice pattern. The first couple of balls I hit really well. I pat myself on the back and think, hey I just made that look easy. For the next 30 or so balls my athletic ability takes over and I really suck at hitting the ball. Then I start to go on an upswing again just before I have the urge to snap the driver in half (they are Zach's and really nice, he would not be happy with me). The score below was evident of that. Even after all of that I really do enjoy hitting the balls, and Top Golf was a great environment to do it in. I recommend it for anyone who is looking for a little something different to do on a weekend.