DC day 17

What a great day! Started at the gym. Due to a teeny medical thingy I have been riding the bike for the past couple days. I do have some saddle soreness. But I was able to last for 25 minutes today.

Then it wasoffto the E street Cinema AGAIN. Today it was the second in the Millennium trilogy - The Girl who Played With Fire.

The temperature wasn't as bad outside as it has been. But YOUCH it was humid.

We started walking. We found the Ronald Reagan (Federal Triangle Metro Stop) in the day time. It was so beautiful during the day, but in a different way.

This is a picture of the cobblestone walkway I mentioned in an earlier blog. You can see the lamps. They are without a doubt oversized. At least what we are used to seeing.

Its so beautiful in this area. The buildings are built in a circular pattern so when you look up toward the roof tops, it makes me dizzy.

They have open seating restaurants, bands that play after dark and as I said before, fairy lights in the trees. OHSO beautiful. (evidently, I say OHMYGOSH way too often. But in my defense this is pretty much an OHMYGOSH kinda city and I am an OHMYGOSH kinda girl.)

This is the one of my favorite buildings The facade of the building is (OHMYGOSH) incredible. I will take my camera (not my iPhone camera) so I can show the detail.It is the Archive building. You could stare at it for hours. It IS a work of art

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If you are facing the Archives and turn 180 degrees, you are looking down the street on which I Live. Am I living the life, or WHAT???? This is my street!

Then we kept walking. There is a cute little place called the National Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden. I will make a day of going there and talking pictures of the art that is there. I, however, could not resist taking the following picture. This is SO funny on SO many levels. Please, anyone, let me know what you think!!!

And if you cant read the sign it says "Do Not Enter!"

DC day 15

Today wasn't as hot as they predicted. The high temperature today was only 100, not 103. Having been stuck in the apt all day yesterday, I couldn't do that again today. I got up and tried to work on my school stuff. $3200 dollars and change and I still have to buy books. I'm feeling overwhelmed.

Anyway....after working on my stuff for school, I met Randy for lunch. We went to the most wonderful sandwich shop. I was able to order EXACTLY what I wanted. Even down to the bread. They even gave me the side I wanted. It was a little place several blocks south of the mall. If you ever get a chance you should go there. Its called Subway. It was really great.

After lunch I jumped on the Metro and went to Pentagon City. I don't want anyone to confuse the Pentagon City stop with the Metro stop for the Pentagon. They are two different stops. I needed to go shopping and there is a FOUR STORY, yes, four story mall. J. Crew, Nordstrom, Vicky's secret,Coach, and (wait for it) Bath and Body!! YES!! My favorite scent: Sensual Amber . It was buy 2 get one free and you could buy these cute little hand sanitizer bottles 5 for $5! So I did! woo hoo. Then off to Vicky's and a new pretty couple of things. Then to Express for a new dress. If you know me at all, you know how much I HATE shopping.

Then I got on the train that takes the long way home. That was ok, b/c I had no where else to be. But, I was proud of myself because I was able to navigate the Metro system all by myself and make it home all by myself. (well, there IS an iPhone app for that, that was helpful)

So, it was off to the gym and to running. I'm not sure that my nike +iPod thingy works well on the treadmill. I ran at a faster pace yesterday and the thingy said I ran slower. Whatever.

Then blackened red snapper for dinner. Red Snapper bought at (wait for it) Eastern Market.

Tomorrow its supposed to be cooler. Only 95! However, the humidity is supposed to be higher so we'll see...it may feel hotter. Since its Thursday, the farmer's market will be on 8th street so I will go spend more money. Then it will be on to GB tomorrow night!

DC day 14

Today in DC the high was 102. Needless to say, I didn't even leave the building. So, sadly, there are no pictures. Thank goodness there is a gym in the building!

Yesterday we saw another movie at the E street Cinema. The movie was Italian called I Am Love. It was a beautiful movie but sound track was atrocious, horrible, it sucked...I don't think there are enough adjectives to say just how bad the sound track was.

Then we went to dinner at a "mexican" food restaurant called Rosa Mexicana. Again, it was WAY over priced, service sucked and I had the worst Mojito I have every had. The food wasn't bad and this gentleman, who spoke NO english, made guacamole at our table. I love cilantro and he put a lot of cilantro in the guacamole. Yum! The food was good, but I think I may have mentioned it was WAY over priced.

I have made several observations having been in the gynormous city for 14 days now. First, there are a lot of people that live in this area. (I think I've mentioned that) It was a little uncomfortable for me, I will admit, that there were so many freaking people crammed into that space for the fourth of July extravaganza. There were over 500,000 people in that area. What if something serious happened. Where would all those people go?

Another observation is that I am pushed past my comfort zone in that I have to be more "assertive" (bitchy), if I want to get anywhere. People will run all over you if you don't stick your elbows out and stand tough. There are so many people here. I think it would be a treat for me to see DC in the months between September and May. Tourists are stupid. There is a family of, say...,4, hypothetically. They have to walk shoulder-to-shoulder down the sidewalk. They will see you walking toward them and NOT MOVE OVER. So I stick my elbows out and get ready to check them if they don't move the heck over.

Just an observation.

Happy 4th of July, Everyone! I gotta say that there is nothing like being in Washington, DC for the 4th of July. The day started with a parade down Constitution Ave. There were Marching bands from all over the country. From Florida to Seattle, WA. North Carolina to Minnesota.

The day was blazing hot sitting on the curb in the sun. When we first got to Constitution outside the Archives building the crowd was three deep. I am so short that it was hard to see over the crowd. But in a very little while, probably because it was so freaking hot, I was sitting on the curb. The Archives were giving out these cardboard fans attached to what looks like a Popsicle stick. I never saw

who was handing them out, but everyone around me seemed to have one. As I made

may way up to the curb and sat down, I saw one in the gutter. I admit that I got so hot I grabbed it and started

using it.

The poor kids in the marching bands. Their band uniforms were mostly dark colors and long sleeve polyester. I was dying in my jean skirt and pink t-shirt. I can't imagine how horrible it must have been for those kids. I guess the thrill of marching in the DC parade kept them going. They were all playing patriotic songs and it was so fun to imagine how excited they were to be there.

But I have to say that I was surprised by the stupid things that were in the parade as well. I guess, no matter what city you are in, watching a 4th parade, there are always going to be the stupid acts. My favorite, stupid act, was the super hero roller skaters. The most stupid thing I have ever seen. Grown men dressed in puffy super hero costumes, roller skating. Flash, bat

man and robin, iron man. There was a guy in a black and white checker suit, an

d a vampire guy in a torn shirt and pants. ????? What the What?

Next on our agenda was to see the fireworks over the Washington Monument. There were several different concerts going on from which to choose. One at the Capitol building, one at the Washington monument and I think, one at the Lincoln.

We chose the Capitol. We knew we had to get there early as they were expecting a few people. We chose to get there early so we could get a good vantage point. If we chose to see the concert, we wouldn't have been able to see the fireworks b/c the tent would have been in the way. So we got there early and sat in the hot sun again. And they were right, a few people did show up. It was shoulder to shoulder again. But when the sun when down, it was so beautiful and comfortable.

Jimmy Smits was the MC. David Archuleta, Gladys Knight, Reba McIntyre, and some othe

rs sang. Then when the sun went down and the fireworks went off. Reba McIntyre was singing "God Bless America." It was so beautiful and touching, words cannot describe how it feels. I got a little choked up it was so wonderful. Completely worth the wait in the sun all afternoon.

I tried to take a picture of the fireworks, but it was too far away and too dark. But I hope you can get a small idea of what we watched. The fireworks went on and on and on. It was spectacular. Then it was over. The amount of people that were leaving this small space (its only 3 miles if I run the entire mall) was incredible. There were people everywhere. The metro stop by the apartment was so crazy. The Archive metro stop is huge, but people were unable to even get down the escalator. There were probably a couple hundred people standing at the top of the escalator. Thank goodness, were are able to just walk home and not have to get on the Metro. I thought it was crazy before the Nat's game!!!

I couldn't shower soon enough or long enough.

Today is my favorite day, Saturday! Today is Eastern Market day! In DC everyone is green when it comes to shopping bags. (Or maybe its b/c store's charge 5 cents a piece) I have the cutest backpack that I now carry to that makes me a true DC'er.

So a bonus of going to the Farmers Market is BRUNCH!!! There are so many cute little sidewalk cafes over there that have a lot of French words on their menus. My Pesto, parmesan and basil (redundant) egg white omelet, And today was a first for me. I had salad for breakfast. Huh! Who knew you could have salad for breakfast?

Here is the view from the sidewalk cafe.

Then off to the Farmer's market we went. We bought some lovely fruit, vegetables, and some gorgeous tuna steaks among other things. I also found a perfect little bag that will carry my phone, my $300 Gucci duct tape wallet (let me know if you want one, I can get them cheap here in DC.) and a couple of various other small things. Its hard to carry all that I need when I'm wearing a skirt b/c I rarely have pockets. Anyway.....www.rangeofemotion.com. Cute, cute bag.

At the farmer's market there was NO garlic to be had. And, really, how can you cook tuna steaks without garlic. So, off we have to go, now to the grocery store and target. I had 3 places to go today. 3 errands. Farmer's Market, Target, and the grocery store. So we rode the Metro up to the Target/Giant (Columbia Heights) Metro stop. Bought the necessaries and went to catch the Metro back to our Metro stop. HOLY COW.

This is the view from the metro seat I was forced to take due to someone else vacating it. We were packed in like sardines (Literally, as you can see!) So there was a vacant seat right behind me and in order to make room, I had to sit and stare at everyone else's ASS. Everyone was heading to the Nat's game. Evidently there is a new pitcher that everyone is very excited.

You cant see it well, but you can see the guy in the blue shirt is smashed against the door to the metro car and that glass (plexiglass) partition. It was packed. Now when we get to our stop we have to try to make our way to the door to get out before the doors close and smash you!

Tuna steaks on the grill were so so good. . This is a view of the terrace on the third floor.

This is an opposite view. For a city view, its really beautiful. And on a side note, please note the time. Its only 9:12 tonight. Not 12:19. =0)

DC Day 10

Tonight we went on a walk at dusk after grilling on the patio. It is such a beautiful, comfortable night. The crowd on a Friday night is a lot different than the tourist day crowd.

Anyway...the Washington monument was so beautiful. The contrast against the sky was breathtaking. all of the flags were blowing in the breeze at half mast. Mars (I believe) is just to the right of the monument.

Randy said "wow...the Washington monument looks very phallic." (Are you new???) I told him to look at the DC skyline. The founding fathers were fans of the phallic symbol. There are building surrounding the mall are all pretty much phallic symbols.

We walked in front of the Washington, and turned up Pennsylvania. We were walking behind a couple who made this random turn to the left. It was a beautiful archway with a cobble stone, narrow driveway. We kept walking and were at the Ronald Regan Trade center, International blah blah blah something or other. It was so beautiful. No one in DC must know about it because there was NO ONE back there. The trees all had fairy lights, there was a restaurant back there and a Metro Stop (federal triangle). Whoo Knew! As we were walking, we saw these carvings on the side of the building. Such a surprise turn. I'm planning to go back during the day to see what it looks like. I'll take some pictures during the daylight because it was too dark tonight to get a picture that would do it any justice.

Tomorrow is Saturday. Eastern Market again. Woo hoo!

DC Day 9

Today was a travel day from NJ back to DC. I must say that I am amazed at the traffic in this one small space on the map. We drove across 3 states and into a city that, relatively, is just a small blip on the map of our Earth. There are so many people crammed into this one small speck: rich, poor, some speaking English, others not knowing a word, all the different cultures, etc. It is really a concept that is beyond the grasp of my mind.

I tried to get my pictures to download from my fraking phone. (yes, I am a BSG fan.) I couldn't get my computer to recognize my phone. So no pics tonight. But nothing really exciting happened. No cheese steak sandwich (please don't be a dork in this part of the country and mistakenly call it a PHILLY cheesesteak. Its just a cheese steak here.) I didn't get to see the Liberty bell today, see the Rocky statue or run the stairs of the museum. It was a hurried mad rush to get back to DC before a certain telcon was supposed to happen.

But on the up side, I finished my book. The Memory Keeper's Daughter. I highly recommend it. And yes, I did get a little teary in a couple of spots.

On a totally unrelated DC note, I have a new email address for my school. woo hoo. Now I have to decide whether to tell them full or part-time. ARGH! I'm torn. I have to get that off in the mail tomorrow. The first semester is 9 vs 12 hours. Not a huge difference.

Anyway. Its already day 10. Its really late. Stayed way too late with Steve at Gordon Biersch or GB's. The bartender loves me so much already, I am the proud owner of a new GB hat! I think I was supposed to drink 50 or 75 beers to get the privilege of owning a GB hat. Its a good thing I'm such a good people person! I've only had 4 or 6 since I've been here, but who's counting, right? =0)

It is the 4th of July weekend so I'm thinking our Nation's capital will be crazy tomorrow. I'll see what fun thing I can find to explore tomorrow and hopefully my camera and computer will sync.

Goodnight.