EU Embassy Open House

Every Spring the Embassies in DC open up for tours. I went to some of them a few years ago with my cousin, but there were many more I hadn't seen. I'm a sucker for these types of things and luckily found that my friends Hannah and Adam were equally up for the tour. We decided to hit up the northern loop of Austria, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Hungary, and Netherlands. Those five alone took us about two hours. So if you plan on visiting them all in one day, you have quite the challenge.

The EU was having a selfie contest so I took some goofy pictures at each spot... they haven't yet contacted me with my winnings.

Austria had free coffee and red bull and some other treats for sale. They had a chef demonstrating how to make apple strudel and lots of pamphlets on Austria.

The Czech Republic had a Kafka bug strolling the grounds and police dog demonstration using Czech Shepard's. They had free ice coffee and strudel.

Hungary gave us a cheesy bread upon entering and had some traditional dancing going on. They also had some liquor tasting that wasn't very tasty at all.

The Netherlands had the most going on. A Heineken beer garden, cheese, stroopwafel, little pancake things (amazing), give aways, and a photo booth.

Yoga on the Mall

Spring and Summer in DC means free outdoor workouts! As part of DC Yoga Week they had Yoga on the mall Saturday. The weather was perfect and the setting by the Constitution Gardens was gorgeous. The Yoga was so-so. It was more West Coast new agey than lets sweat and get a good workout. They did some drumming/singing/dancing before we started, which I kind of enjoyed, but then we were told to put our hands on our hearts and chant for like ten minutes. Heart chanting, not so much my thing...

Great company

Lately: Around Town

Recently I tried out one new and two new to me places around town. 

On one of the only warmish and dry days we've had this spring I met up with some friends at Dacha Beer Garden in Shaw. Its not much more than some picnic tables on a corner lot, but there was a line when I arrived. They serve a variety of German and Craft beer in a variety of glasses, including das boot. Even though it was crowded it was a friendly crowd and the line for beer and porta potties wasn't too bad. They don't serve food, but allow you to bring it in if you want. All in all its a nice place to enjoy a beer outdoors.

mural at Dacha.

Not too far from my apartment, but tucked away on a side street is TCB aka The Coffee Bar. I went with a friend on a Sunday morning. They have limited food, which included an everything bagel and cream cheese. Along with my bagel I got a latte. I was impressed with the latte art and thought the ingenuity of writing my order on the porcelain cup deserved a photo. It was a busy shop, but there were several seating options and we had no trouble finding a space to enjoy our morning. 

When you bring up pizza in DC (which I do a lot) someone always mentions 2Amy's. And until this week I always had to sadly admit I had never been. Its in Cleveland Park about a mile from the closest metro, so not the most convenient spot, but I took a bus and was there within a half hour. We went early expecting a wait and not wanting to miss the movie we had planned for later, but after getting there super early and getting a drink elsewhere we ended up not putting our name down till 5:20. By 5:20 they had a half hour wait. So just remember to plan wisely. 

when you walk in you are immediately greeted with pizza

For some variety my friend and I swapped half a pie. We got a certified Neapolitan style Margherita and a house specialty meat and peppers pie. The Margherita was amazing. The cheese was just amazingly flavorful. The other pizza was good too, but not crazy good. 

Hey, its pizza!

Fall fun

The leaves are a changing here in DC. Last week I took in some beauty on the Mall.

rumor is the scaffolding is about to come down

Me at my favorite long run pit spot... the bathrooms/water fountain just southwest of the WWII memorial.

Due mostly to an arm twisting friend, I've gone to the Dupont Farmer's market a lot lately. This week the apples were out of control. I took the picture below for my Aunt Nancy, she always impresses me with knowing about 35 different varieties of apples.

They were also selling monkey balls...

Teaching Gretchen the city life

This past weekend my sister Kristen and my niece Gretchen came to visit. I took the opportunity to teach Gretchen about city living. Lessons learned:

When riding the Dinosaur train (Metro) you should always hold on, stand to the right on the magic stairs, and saying abracadabra when swiping your card assures success.

Apartments may be small, but there are great playgrounds right around the corner (and taking the elevator down to get there is almost just as fun).

Cities have great food (and milkshakes) within walking distance.

You have to walk a lot.

There is always time for coloring,

building,

and sports.

And when you get caught in a torrential rain storm, stop and eat tacos.

Saturday night in the District

Tacos at Taqueria Nacional

Dessert at BakeHouse

Culture and Art at Nuit Blanche at the Wonderbread Factory

fun with stencils

fun with ink balloons 

September in review

I wasn't a very good blogger in September. A few thing were going on...

I moved.

I stayed in the same apartment building, but I moved two floor downs and to the front of the building. I also added a bedroom! Now it seems to be taking me an extra 20 minutes to get ready in the morning. I think I get lost.

I'm still working on decorating the new space... so much wall!

I was playing dodgeball.

Dodgeball turned out to be a lot of fun. A friend and I joined a team of strangers, who ended up being awesome. We ended the season with a rooftop party at the Vida Penthouse.

Team Peace Corps Peru

Penthouse Pool!

My sister Beth came to visit.

Beth came to visit some of her friends in Baltimore, but luckily she found some time to spend with me. I took her running and eating.

Pizza & pizza scissors at Ghibellina 

cream cow for breakfast at Ted's Bulletin

Pacers Shake Shack Run

I had a quick trip to Missouri to see Marissa get Married.

I squeezed in a quick visit to see my family, which of course included coffee and bake goods at Old Drum.

junior year college roomies

Me & Sarah enjoying the beautiful evening

Dad enjoying coffee from a john deere cup while decked out in john deere 

I painted wine glasses with friends at 918 F Street.

I continued to work out in Franklin Park.

Every week was a great workout and full of great giveaways. If they do this again I suggest everyone attend.

I'm in the hot pink shirt

I watched Australian Football at the Australian Embassy.

So it isn't just like rugby after all. They play on a round field (CRAZY) and have four poles at each "end zone" looked a little like a quidditch field if you ask me.

I coordinated the DC State Fair Bike Accessory contest.

It was a lot of emailing and worrying, but it all worked out perfectly. I also entered a dog bow tie in the DC flag knitting contest.

The winning entry and my three judges

I didn't have any DC red, but you get the idea...

I also did a fair amount of running... this Sunday Kristen and I are running the Woodrow Wilson Bridge 1/2 Marathon.

Wednesday workout in the park

You really don't need a gym membership in DC during the summer. In addition to all of the free running and cycling groups that go year round there are opportunities for free outdoor yoga and I recently found free bootcamp style classes. For August and September every Wednesday at 5:30 Downtown DC Business Improvement District is hosting a workout in Franklin Park. 

Trainers from Crunch Fitness lead the classes while City Sports and Freshii provide free give aways, fruit, and water.

Last week's was canceled due to bad weather, but the first two classes I attended were intense. Constant movements from burpees to pushups to bear crawls to jump lunges... After the second class I was sore for three days.

If you work downtown and can make it to the park by 5:30 I highly recommend checking these classes out. Oh and if you don't like rolling in the dirt, I highly recommend bringing a mat.  Check out the website for more information. The only downside (upside?) is apparently they livestreamed last weeks workout and you might just end up on their website looking like a badass.

Movies under the stars

For a few months every summer there are free outdoor movies all over the city. There is the screen on the green on the National Mall and countless other locations in DC, VA, and MD. I always think it sounds like a great idea, but then its usually a movie I've seen or don't care to see and its always a week night and it gets dark so darn late in the summer. Well this summer I finally made it to a showing in NOMA. I biked over and found some friends who already had a blanket and dinner spread laid out. Soon it was dark enough and Ferris Bueller took to the screen. The grass area was packed with blankets with most eyes glued to the screen and when Ferris took over the mic to twist and shout in downtown Chicago a quarter of the crowd stood up to join him in dance.

I biked home glad that I had gone to the movie, glad that I had taken Ferris' advice "Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in awhile, you could miss it."

English Ivy

Did you know English Ivy is invasive? A few weeks ago a friend of mine dragged me out of bed early to go "save the trees" by cutting and sawing English Ivy off of some trees in DC Parks. We ended up spending the entire 2 hrs on one tree and hopefully saved it. The supervisor said we picked a tree with some of the most mature ivy he'd seen in awhile. By cutting/clipping/sawing the ivy at ground level hopefully the vines that have grown up the tree will die.

Not only did we help save the trees, but we met a few nice people, and seeing a tree go from covered in ivy to cleaned off was very rewarding. Sawing and clipping definitely got out some aggression. If you live in the DC area, check out the Rock Creek Conservancy volunteer opportunities!

Union Market

Sometimes when you hear about something over and over, by the time you check it out it is disappointing. But I guess I somehow maintained low expectations for Union Market. So when I biked there with my friend Catherine a few weeks ago I was really surprised and impressed. Union Market is a more hipster market than Eastern Market. There is a homegoods store, butchers, veggies, artisan sellers, and six or so counters to purchase meals. Outside the market there is an area for hanging out and a lot where they have special events.

On the day we visited there was a Farm to Street festival with vendors from local food producers. I had no idea there were so many people making kombucha and cold brew coffee in the area. After lots of samples we grabbed a locally brewed beer and enjoyed some music before it started raining and we headed back in the market for some korean tacos. 

SUP with you?

I run by and walk by and drive by the Potomac several times each week, but before last month I'd never  been on the Potomac. You see the fancy boats docked at the Georgetown waterfront and think that boarding one of those will never be a possibility, but a short walk down the waterfront and you can get your own vessel for the Potomac for $20. 

I went with some coworkers right after work on a Tuesday afternoon. We just walked up, signed a waiver, surrendered an ID, picked out a life jacket and jumped on the river. I was the only one in my group that had paddle boarded before so they gave us a 30 second overview and pushed us off. Paddling with the current and mini waves was more challenging than when I SUP'd in a pond, but it wasn't hard to adjust and tool around the river.

We spent about an hour and a half on the river* before we were ready for some burgers and beer at the Georgetown legendary college bar, Tombs.

*out of the five of us only one guy spent anytime IN the river.

Bastille Day DC Block Party

July 14th was Bastille Day, we celebrated in DC on the 13th with a block party hosted by L'Enfant Cafe in Adams Morgan. When I arrived I was welcomed by an aerialist.

Then things got better...  There were french maids and burlesque type dancers all around. As the sun set King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette took the stage and tossed out feathered masks and they started pumping the dance music.

I'm not sure if this is how it is celebrated in France, but I think they would be proud.

Air, Space, and the stairs that lead there

Saturday I stopped by the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum with a friend. I had been before, but it was at least 12 years ago. So even though there probably hadn't been many changes I didn't remember much from my last visit and was able to enjoy the rockets and airplanes like it was my first time. 

rockets!

space capsule

We also walked by the the Exorcist Steps, which looked lovely and unassuming in the sunshine.