Virginia Beach in the Winter

The Beach in the winter is a simultaneously depressing and exciting thing. While a lot of things are closed until the high season and the empty streets seem to wait for throngs of vacationers to fill them, it's also like accidentally seeing someone naked. So that's what they look like in the winter.

Drew and I went to visit Plum and Grandpa this weekend in Virginia Beach. There were lots of tunnels and holding our breath, lots of walking on the windy beach and dog-spotting and lots of Taylor Swift and snacks (he had never had Sour Patch Kids).
The Old Cavalier Hotel was closed, so you can see we had to suffice by riding a bike around the parking lot and maybe climbing up onto the roof and praying we didn't fall through the roof. Even peering through the windows and trying to devise ways to break into the Hotel was exciting. That has to be one of my favorite places.
On Sunday we drove over the 17-mile long Chesapeake Bay Bridge (terrifying) into the Eastern Shore. What a deserted and strange place. We didn't see any wild horses, but the pebble-littered bay side was hidden behind grassy dunes and it made me feel like I was on the edge of the Earth.

January and February always seem to be the longest months but they are absolutely flying this year. Slow down before I'm 24!

Dress Your President in American Apparel

I thought American Apparel could sink no lower than this.

The baby mannequin is still up in the Gerogetown American Apparel and continues to dawn season-appropriate outfits. For example, the baby is currently sporting a long purple crushed velvet skirt, a brown cardigan and an olive beanie.

This, however, I saw in the window of the Penn Quarter location. Definitely a State of the Union worthy outfit. Well done American Apparel...again.

PS This post gives me a reason to create an Obama tag. Yes!

Bistrot du Coin

Escargot and Cote du Rhone on the zinc bar.

Yes yes, I know they are a bit blurry and a lot dark, but I'm not about to fight against a dimly lit bistrot, rather, encourage it and my hand aint' so steady.

Green glass bottles, snails absolutely swimming in garlic and butter and glasses and glasses of red wine. It's less like Dupont Circle and more like Le Marais. But I can also walk back to my apartment in less than 10 minutes (dangerous-especially when they begin to throw open their front windows).
I wish the servers had been French, is that unfair? I just wanted to hear one obnoxiously untouched French accent, though, Alli and I did make a point of reading the wine list in French accents while we were waiting for a table. It makes me crazy that Alli has a better French accent without ever having taken a class than me, having taken 8 years of French. She is making a great deciding face in the first picture and yes, Alli is one of those people that actually makes those kinds of faces in real life.

Can we all just agree to go to Paris sometime?

Texts from My Dad

"Prodigal daughter"

"So did u make it wench?"

"Fire sure is hot ova here"

"U ducking me wench? Replacements last night at 8pm-see it?

"You no vistit us today? We miss you"

"You're smelcome"

"Have stupendously safe and enjoyable trip"

"How you b? Heading out for Mexican"

"Buenos noches"

Still love him even if he hasn't responded to my last two text messages.

My Boots

Georgetown snow in the early morning

Finally, a little bit of snow. It makes the buttons and zippers and gloves and breathing deeply into your hands worth it. I welcomed the blisters from my boots and tried to ignore the salted streets because honestly, would a snow day have been so terrible?

I would have stayed home in my union suit, reading for book club and questioning how many hot chocolates in one day is too many (more than two, I'm afraid-but ghetto mochas don't count!)

I love the slowness of snow days as if the stillness of the air affects time. Somehow I always fit in hours of sledding plus thawing time plus endless pots of hot chocolate that my Mom always seemed to have ready right when we got home from the sledding hill PLUS a viewing of Snow Day, always. But I'll save that for a real snow storm.

Sweet Teeth

You guysssss, did you ever watch Pippi Longstocking? Lauren and I loved that movie. This scene is like a vague dream from my childhood. When I see it, I can taste the smell of my pillowsack when it's filled with Halloween candy. Those kids eat so much candy they can hardly breath and they eat it until they are sick. That's how I always wanted to eat candy.

When you were younger, didn't you think alcohol was going to be delicious? In the movies people were always wanting to drink it so I assumed it tasted amazing and it always looked so sparkly and adult. I imagined tumblers full of whiskey tasting of liquified Swedish Fish.
Dommage.

Tuesday Evenings

This particular Tuesday we had a belated celebration of two events that happen to fall on the same day, the birth of our Lord and Savior, Norite and Jesus' birthday. Somehow we pulled off a surprise dinner at Acqua al 2 across from THE Eastern Market and then had Secret Santa at my apartment. I love love Eastern Market, especially when I can catch more of a glimpse from the shuttle. After 5:00 all the young(ish) black frame glasses-wearing brunette people return from their downtown DC jobs to their pastel rowhouses to cook fabulous dinners and leave their curtains wide open. Seriously, everyone living in Eastern Market is brunette.

The food was good, I had gnocchi with Italian cabbage that would make Fabio (and his turtle) swoon. The company, however. Well lets just say I was happy we were seated in a dark corner where we could only make the couple next to us, and not the entire restaurant, uncomfortable. After cheesecake with an exposed red bra reduction, we had a lovely drive back to Georgetown through night light DC. Add still getting excited to see the Capitol to the long list of the reasons why I hate the metro.

These Tuesdays make the weeks go by fast.

Oh and doesn't my water glass look like outer space in the picture?

Why I Have Photoshop

Because I have a very special mission. Because this face needs to be everywhere. Because this is our President.

New Years Weekend

Friday we drove in the Exploder to We the Pizza for lunch. New Years Eve we had a pot-luck, drank lots of champagne (enough that i didn't leave the apartment until 5pm the next day and the highlight of the entire day was juggling fruit) and played Pictionary. My parents also played Pictionary at their New Years Eve party but they played it on the Wii. How are they cooler than me? How?

The rest of the weekend I would like to summarize in a few words.
And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!
Thank you.