Weekend Recap - Fresh Air Edition

This weekend was fun and full of outdoor activities since the weather was wonderful. Friday night just stayed in and relaxed. Saturday the boyfriend and I headed out to Eastern Market for some fun shopping and we had a blast.

First, we got some donuts that they made fresh in front of us. They were Apple Cider flavored and they were served on a stick. Amazingly delicious.

Then we did some shopping, and popped into this old bookstore which reminded me of the show Hoarders. The books were stacked 3 rows deep, making it so hard to find what you were looking far. Books galore. The boyfriend found an interesting one to skim.

Next we did some shopping downtown and we stopped at Pret a Manager for a quick bite to eat, and then we checked out some of the cities Architecture cause that's how we roll.

Last night some of the roommates and I had a spontaneous pumpkin carving fiesta. I made a Kitty-Bat (from a stencil) and another roommate made a Grim Reaper. They are now on display in our front window.

The boyfriend (who helped me with my Kitty-Bat pumpkin) said he had never carved a pumpkin before. I thought everyone did that but guess not.

Lobster Time

Earlier today, one of my co-workers kindly sent out an email alerting staff that the DC Lobster Truck would be in our neighborhood today for lunch. Seeing as I have yet to experience the food truck craze, and I forgot my lunch in my rush to leave in the morning, I decided to partake. Some other co-workers left earlier and said they would scope it out for us. They told us the line was long but not crazy, so we decided to venture over.

When we arrived, the line was long but not nearly as long as it gets in DC (I would think, I've never actually seen the line). While we were in line waiting, a nice gentleman informed us that there were 2 kinds of rolls - the Maine and the Connecticut. The Maine had mayo and the Connecticut had butter. At first I was going to go with butter, but then I decided to go the more classic route and go with the Maine.

Then I had to decide if I wanted to get the combo or just the roll. The combo came with potato chips and a drink and was only $3 more, so I figured if I was going to splurge on the roll, I might as well go all out. They have their own brand of Maine sodas that come in a variety of interesting flavors, and I chose the Orange Creme Soda which turned out to be an excellent choice.

After we ordered, our food came out surprisingly quick, and then we were back off to the office to eat it. The roll was so delicious and full of huge chunks of lobster - they definitely didn't skimp on that. There was some debate at the table as to which was better - the butter or the mayo, but I was extremely satisfied with my choice, especially because the mayo wasn't over-powering whatsoever. You could still taste the lobster flavor itself. With it being $18, its not something I would have very often, but it was a great treat to try on this otherwise rather dull Friday afternoon.

The line to order

Lobster Truck

Soda Selection

The roll - deliciousness

Weekend Recap - The Boyfriends Birthday Edition

This weekend was the boyfriends birthday celebration! Friday night we just chilled at home, he worked on the bikes, we watched a movie, and I surprised him with Crumbs cupcakes. Saturday morning he had to go to an Architecture class, so while he was at that I had a cooking marathon. On the menu for dinner that night was Fried Chicken, Mashed Potatoes, Roasted Asparagus, Lumpia Rolls, Pork Friend Rice, and Oreo Dirt Pudding for dessert. I had called his mom to ask for some of his favorite recipes (the Lumpia Rolls and the Pork Fried Rice), so it was extra special. He was definitely surprised and loved it all. My sister also joined us for dinner, and we were able to discuss some of her wedding plan ideas.

        

The leftovers

Sunday morning started off early as we were all of to Great Falls for a hike. My sister Amy and my friend Beryl were also able to join the boyfriend and I. We hiked for about two hours, and had a great time. The weather was nice and cool, making it ideal.

Beryl, the boyfriend, and my sister Amy

Me and the boyfriend

We saw deer

Weekend Recap

Friday night the weather was beautiful and after a work happy hour, I met up with the boyfriend in NE for his friend's surprise birthday party. The party started early (7:15) which is my kind of party (why wait around until 10 to get things rolling) and the surprise part worked out great. The hostess was amazing and all in all it was a great time.

Saturday morning after a glorious sleep in, the boyfriend and I headed over to the annual Flower Mart at the National Cathedral. We shopped around at the vendors selling various items such as flowers, plants, antiques, trinkets, and so forth. We ate some ice cream, people watched, and then we saw signs for the Bell Tower Climb. Not really sure what we were signing up for, we embarked on the 333 step journey up a small windy staircase to the chamber where the bell-ringers gave us a demonstration on how the bells work. There were also some great views of the Cathedral (both inside and out) that you could see from the tour. It ended up being super fun and glad we were feeling spontaneous. After the festival, we changed into our DC United gear and headed off to tailgate for the game. I had received free DC United tickets for volunteering at the Cherry Blossom Soccer Tournament  so we got to go for free. Since I worked for the tickets, the boyfriend treated me to snacks during the game (isn't he the best) and although the game ended at a 0-0 tie, it was still a great time. After the game, we headed to a friends bbq, which luckily was nearby because I was so tired after all that.

Sunday was a pretty lazy and relaxing day for me. I skipped soccer (it was so early and the other side of town) and slept in. The boyfriend and I enjoyed the sunshine by walking around Georgetown, and then I came home and did laundry, painted my nails, and cleaned my room (sitll hadn't quite unpacked yet from London).

Below are some pics from the Flower Mart by the boyfriend - he got a new lens, a fisheye lens, so enjoy!

Flower Mart 2011

Climbing up the windy steps

View from the Bell Tower

Bell Ringing Demonstration

Me in the bell

The boyfriend in the bell

Inside the Cathedral

Inside the Cathedral

Review: Cakepops

Yesterday while on a quick break from work, my co-worker Amy and I took a nice little stroll over to Starbucks. While I was waiting to place my drink order, I noticed they had some new little treats, all bite-sized and looking delicious. Recently, Starbucks rolled out a new line of food items called Starbucks Petites, which are all bite sized treats that all are under 200 calories and under $2.

It wasn't until about a month ago that I had ever heard of cakepops, but ever since then the term seems to be popping up everywhere! Cakepops are basically cake batter balled up and then covered in icing. They are then decorated in a variety of cute and colorful ways, making them a fun little bite-sized treat. 

Starbucks offered 3 different flavors - Birthday Cake, Tiramisu, and Rocky Road. Not wanting to chance it, I asked the barista what his favorite flavor was and went with that - Rocky Road:

Overall, I thought it was definitely delicious, similar to a brownie but more cake-like. I was expecting the frosting to be a bit firmer so was initally surprised by how soft and mashable the entire thing was. Overall, it was a nice combination of being delicious but not too rich or sweet. You can get them at your local Starbucks, or try to make them yourself (http://www.thekitchn.com/thekitchn/tips-techniques/how-to-make-cake-pops-078637 and http://www.bakerella.com/category/pops-bites/cake-pops/).

Weekend Recap

It's Monday and I'm tired and cranky (more on that later) but this weekend was a blast - action-packed and fun-filled.

Friday night I went errand shopping with the roommates - we hit up the Party Supplies Store, Target, and the grocery store. Not very exciting sounding, but it was fun. Saturday morning my roommate Ashleigh ran a 4 mile race that was right down the street from our house, so Emily and I went to go watch her finish. Then we came back to the house to get ready for the roommate's brunch. We decked the house out for St. Patrick's Day:

Decorated Front Window

Decorated Door Frame

Table full of accessories

There was so much amazing and delicious food for this brunch! I was very impressed and ate way too much.

After brunch, the boyfriend came over and we watched the Arsenal game and then decided to go for a bike ride around the area. We discovered a park full of all the local neighborhood toddlers and their parents, and was adorable to watch. I wanted to swing on the swings, but didn't want to kick off a little kid (such a rough life), so ended up just heading home. Then my sister called and wanted to see if we wanted to get dinner with her and her boyfriend, which we did and was a great time.

Sunday I woke up early and went over to the boyfriends, hung out for a bit and then got picked up for my soccer game. It was the 1st game of my Sunday Spring Soccer League, and the weather was great. The game was fun, we won 1-0, had tons of subs, and I played more aggressively than I usually do (I even drew a foul by running into a guy that was twice my size, falling, and then rolling on the ground). I got dropped off after the game about a mile from the boyfriend's and since the weather was nice, decided to walk home. I stopped at McDonald's to get a chocolate shake for the walk. Then the boyfriend surprised me by meeting me on the walk home, and upon our arrival at his place, we decided to stay outside since it was so nice out. We walked down to the park nearby and practiced soccer skills. It was tons of fun, until I slipped on some mud mid-kick and then my back starting hurting. The boyfriend was super nice to me after I got hurt, taking excellent care of me, letting me borrow his heating pad, and even taking me out to dinner. He really is the best!

I didn't sleep as well as I usually do last night due to pain every time I rolled over, and then to top it off, my alarm went off an hour early (at 6:30am instead of 7:30am), even though the time on my phone had been showing the correct time after the time change. Must have been a weird iPhone glitch, and after my alarm went off, I could only get back to a half-sleep state. Let's hope my phone alarm glitch is fixed for tomorrow, and tonight I am planning on baking some cookies (if my back allows so). Happy Pi Day!

A Shit-Show

Last night, I was at home making dinner with my roommate Emily, when she goes to the front window and says "come look, there's a shit-show happening outside our house". I run to the front window and see 4 firetrucks outside our front door, one of which is the Arlington County Hazmat Unit:

Firetrucks

Hazardous Response Unit

We weren't sure what was going on, but something had happened at our next door neighbors house. We thought it was some sort of fire, seeing as there was no ambulance or police, only firetrucks. We watched outside from our front porch, trying to figure out what had happened, and when we saw the crew putting on hazmat suits, we got concerned. Then another roommate came home.  We sent her out to chat up the firefighters, and she said they had said that there was an oil spill next door in their basement. 

Worst picture ever, but if you look really closely you can see a guy in an all white Hazmat suit

Then our final roommate and her boyfriend came home, and they went outside to talk to our next door neighbors. Apparently they had a 100 gallon oil drum in their basement from when the heat used to be oil. When the heat was converted over, the oil drum was never drained, and it started leaking last night. Since the oil is a hazardous material, the hazmat crew had to come clean it up.

Running wires through our yard to the neighbors basement to try and get the oil out

The trucks finally left around midnight, I'm not sure if they got it all cleaned up, but I haven't seen them back since, so I assume so. The neighbors also said that the county would pay for them to be put up in a hotel if they wanted (it smelled strongly of oil), so that's good to know if you ever have a hazardous material spill in your house.

Speaking of dinner, it was supposed to be the highlight of my post, but then the shit-show took over outside. I made steak and Emily made me pan-roasted potatoes and an avocado salad. It was delicious, healthy, and thanks again Emily for cooking for me!

Weekend Recap

This weekend flew by, I can't believe its already Monday. Friday was very relaxing - after leaving work, I went home and relaxed after a long week. The boyfriend came over a bit later and we stayed in, relaxed, and watched movies on TV. Such a fun time.

Saturday I ran some errands with the car my sister let me borrow. I went grocery shopping and took the car to the dealer to look up this code that you need to type in to make the radio work (don't ask). I came home and made this amazing Lemon Bundt Cake for dinner. My roommate had made this last week, and after tasting how delicious it was, I thought it would be perfect to make for the dinner party. The cake itself has a lemon flavor, but then there is the lemon glaze that you pour over it, which just gives it an extra touch of deliciousness.

After baking, the boyfriend and I had to go and get ready for the dinner party. My old co-worker Emily, her husband Marc, and her mother invited us over for dinner. My other old co-worker Tiffany and her boyfriend Ryan joined as well. Dinner was absolutely delicious and it was so nice to catch up with both of them. Unfortunately we had to leave early because the boyfriend was not feeling very well, but other than that it was an amazing time.

Sunday was busy, busy, busy. We went to go watch the Arsenal game - they were playing in the finals of the Carling Cup versus Birmingham. Unfortunately they lost right in the last few minutes and it was heartbreaking. But we didn't have long to linger on the loss because the boyfriend had a soccer game. The weather was great so I went to spectate and cheer them on. They won 2-1 and the boyfriend had a goal and an assist, so he basically kicked butt. Way to go! We came home, stopped by the neighbors to buy some girl scout cookies, and then decided to go shopping. After that, we dropped the car off, got some Chipotle, and then had a romantic walk home. Once we got home, we relaxed and watched the Oscars with the roommates.

Weekend Recap

Happy Valentines Day to all of you reading this! My weekend was so busy - it started off with me taking the boyfriend out to dinner. Earlier in the week I had bought a LivingSocial deal to Brasserie Beck, so I decided that we should go to dinner on Friday because it was our anniversary (19 months!). I got all dressed up and told him to meet me downtown, but wouldn't tell him where we were going. He had never been to where we ate out, and I think he enjoyed being surprised. All in all it was a great night.

Saturday morning my sister Amy and her 2 friends came over and made brunch and then made Valentine's Day treats for our significant others. We made chocolate covered strawberries, chocolate covered oranges, chocolate covered oreos, and chocolate covered cherries (are you noticing a theme here). It was so much fun, and I was very impressed with our skills. This is what the final presentation looked like:


Needless to say, the boyfriend loved the treats we made, and thanks again to Amy for organizing it all and for getting all the materials. After the cooking fest, my sister let me borrow the car (isn't she the best) and the boyfriend and I went to Target. I hadn't been shopping in so long, so I went all out - I got workout clothes, DVDs, groceries, and tons of other stuff. Did I mention how much I love Target - all you need in one place. I was able to stock up thanks to me having the car, and don't need to go shopping again for a very long while.

Sunday morning the boyfriend and I signed up for a 5k Valentines Day run. My sister Amy and her boyfriend also ran the race, and Amy decided to run with me. It was fun sister bonding time, and she really helped push me throughout the race. I was very happy with my time, and had so much fun! Pictures aren't up yet, but once available I'll post. After the race, we all had brunch which was fun, and then I took a nap. I'm still sore from the race, but it was worth it. Also, my sister Amy's boyfriend got 16th place overall in the race! Very impressive! He won this mug for doing so great. And of course, thanks to Amy for running with me, and congratulations to the boyfriend for doing amazing, like always!