a walk in the park

I was terrible this summer with blogging. really terrible. things were quite busy and haven't really calmed down, but it's time to be better. 

A lot of fun things did occur along with the work, including a trip to dc to see our favorite duo casey & ashley. 

We walked around the city, sampled a lot of bars, ate some great food (including tacos!) and biked to a micro-brewery. 

And yes, biking in DC is ten-times better than NC -- there are no hills.

The main event was exploring the Theodore Roosevelt Island, which was a great walk around through some un-manicured trails to a peaceful (and shaded) memorial in the center.

Obviously, Chloe had a blast:

As did the rest of us.

The big man on campus if you will:

It's a great escape to nature and from the traditional DC stops if you are looking for something new.

xoxo

dc for a minute

we had a conference in dc for a few days right after the semester ended.  

so we went to founding farmers and it was pretty damn good. 

we started with a round of fancy drinks, mine of course was gin based with muddled lemon, delicious. 

then we had some serious fried green tomatoes and crostini with brie, apples, and onion jam, 

both as delectable as they look. 

 

And then there was the main course, holy moly, this is where things really got out of hand:

lobster mac and cheese, crab cakes, salmon, and scallops with butternut squash risotto. 

 

Yup. It was all as awesome. My crab cakes were the best. We voted, so it's not just me saying that. 

Oh, but of course, we had to get dessert, you know make sure we tried everything.

Red velvet cake and chocolate mousse: 

 

I don't know if you can tell but that mousse bowl was about a quart and a half in size, and was probably the best mousse i've ever consumed.  We barely touched the cake, I had one bite, leftovers were taken.

On a free afternoon Laney and I went to the Renwick where, you know, they house American crafts. It was great, and I decided that after grad school I will just move in and be the resident crafter. 

Sound like a plan? 

And of course, we had to make a stop at the NHM to see the dinosaurs

I do love dc. 

xoxo

ps.

we may have left our mark on a paper table cloth: