Hanging out with old friends.

I do not feel like doing work, but I am waiting for the furnace to finish up, so I am going to start a blog post.  (Buddy is sitting next to me working.)

The last couple of weeks have been super fun and exciting.

3/21  I have been trying to work out in the gym at least once a week, and it usually happens on Wednesdays.  Afterwards, we had our usual at House of Curries.  We continued watching Game of Thrones, with one more episode left before I was to leave for my Girls' weekend in DC.

3/22:  Buddy and I have been dating for 3 years!  Wow, has time passed!  Before I had to leave for the airport, we had a super fancy dinner at Manresa in Los Gatos.  It is located behind Pedro's in a kind of odd location.  I had hoped we would finish a little early, so I could stop at my parent's house to shower, but our dinner lasted from 5:30-9 pm!  So it was straight to the airport for me!

I would have to say the food was well-made and very tasty, but I think the season might not have been the best.  The end of winter does not necessarily bring the best of the freshest ingredients, and I think the theme for the day was "earthiness."  You can see from the salad, that I am not kidding (don't worry those are bread crumbs, not real dirt).  So the theme and tastes were all obvious, but not necessarily my favorite.

Did I mention the ridiculous artists that were a few tables away from us, one guy was wearing sunglasses indoors, another looked like a bum, and the other wore a go-pro around his neck.  It was quite ridiculous.  I still think we have not found the best "fine" dining place in the Bay Area yet...although the brioches were to die for!

As soon as I got on my flight, I was fast asleep!  The layover in Atlanta was uneventful, and I slept on the way to DC as well.  From DCA, I took the Metro to Steph's stop in Alexandria, and walked the 0.8 miles to her condo.  I washed up and repacked for my day in DC.

3/23  The day in DC started at Starbucks, but despite the tiring red-eye flight with the layover, I resisted the Mocha Frap (for the time being).  I did notice a bunch of food trucks, which was cool to see in a different city, other than the SF Bay Area!  I heard from Steph that they are now quite popular in DC.

I made my way to the Tidal Basin, the cherry blossoms, and the Jefferson Memorial.  There was a storm predicted to come in, so I wanted to see as many cherry blossoms before they blew off the trees.  Lots of photos, and these are the highlights.  I picked up a few 100 year Anniversary Cherry Blossom Festival souvenirs at the gift shop, which I thought were pretty, and stalked a park ranger for the special cherry blossom beaver pins.  

Those are cherry blossom petals in the water in the background!

Instead of walking around the whole tidal basin, (I will have to see the MLK monument another day) I made a bee-line for the National Art Gallery, hoping to see this exhibit.  Unfortunately, I read the calendar incorrectly, and it was to open a week later.  So, I started to head north to one of the two local yarn stores I wanted to visit.  I Metro'ed to Dupont Circle to check out Looped.  I was in search of something different and superwash.  Looped is a super cute yarn store, and I think I went in on a day that they have an open knitting group, because woman after woman started coming in, taking a seat, and introducing themselves.  As I browsed the selection, I listened in, and heard that they were from all over the place, some just visiting! I noticed they had Never Not Knitting patterns, and I was tempted to buy one more, but refrained.  I left with a few knitting notions (for me and Buddy), and two pretty skeins of the green-blue variety (Madeline Tosh and one Canadian co).  The ladies at the counter complimented my selections!

I then headed to Teaism, as suggested by Sridhar, but found they had no internet service, so I settled down at the corner Starbucks.  After only a few minutes of internet time, Sridhar called, and picked me up!  We headed to his place, where he sent me on an errand for FroYo down the street, while he washed up from having been in the hospital all day.

I had the rest of my much-needed Mocha Frap as we wandered around his neighborhood chatting.  We met his friends for Mexican dinner in Alexandria, during which I reaffirmed my dislike for skin diseases!!!

Melissa's flight was cancelled for the next morning, so I got to chat with Stephie before everyone else got there, but mostly I was exhausted, and went to bed!

3/24:  Freecia made it to Alexandria, having driven from the Baltimore Airport.  Then we headed to DCA to pick up Melissa.  We went back to Steph's house to make breakfast before heading out to see the cherry blossoms in DC.  It was a little rainy, but still very beautiful.  This time, we walked around the tidal basin in the opposite direction than I walked the day before, but we did not make it very far before feeling a little cold and hungry.

Yes, I'm in the tree!

So we walked back to the Mall area to find some food.  There were tulips everywhere!!!  We walked past the Capitol Building to Good Stuff Eatery for some burgers, fries, and milkshakes.  The veggie option was delicious: a fried mushroom, yum!  Then we walked back to the Botanical Garden, where I took a billion photos of orchids because they were having their annual orchid exhibit.

This one spells like cinnamon!

OK, here are some photos that are not orchinds!

Back in Alexandria, we went to Old Navy (I knew I was going to be out of clothes by Monday) and Steph's local yarn store: Fibre Space.  Again, another cute yarn store, this time with local yarns!  And superwash to boot!  :)  Unfortunately, I could not help picking up another blue-green skein, but so pretty!  I got a reuse-able bag, and Melissa and I bought Steph an early birthday present with which she could make a nice, squishy, Piper-colored infinity scarf.  We had delicious take-out Thai food, and knit at Steph's dining room table.  I was working on a hat with the pretty yarn from Becoming Art that will forever remind me of cherry blossoms!  So fun!