It's good for my soul

Summer is good for my soul. How could anything possibly get me down when there is good weather, friends, food, and wine to be enjoyed? Want to know what I did this weekend? Read on!

Friday (happy birthday, Pop) I was supposed to go to the the W hotel with a handful of friends for an over-priced adult beverage and a spectacular rooftop view. It was mostly an excuse to wear a little, black dress among good company. I haven't had an excuse to wear said dress yet, and I will have to patiently wait for another chance to do so since it turns out that reservations should be made months in advance for a Friday or Saturday at the POV Rooftop Terrace. City living... so many spectacular opportunities hindered by the fact that everyone else wants to participate in them too (reservations, traffic, parking, waiting for the metro, cover charges, etc etc etc). I'm not complaining though-- I LOVE living in this city, and if one plan falls through, there are always 10 other options staring me in the face. This town is anyone's oyster.

So, with no little, black dress on- instead opting for a skirt and top I would classify as evening casual- I met Macy, Meagan, and Ken D. at Macy/Meagan's house for some Friday merriment. It's quite convenient that they live only 5 blocks or so from me, and their house is reasonably close to H Street fun! Some of Macy's kickball friends came over, and in talking to 2 of the boys I learned that they went to college with kids I grew up with in Chicago! DC is like a small town that just so happens to be located in a metropolitan area. Never fails to amaze me what a small world it is, but I digress. I taught everyone how to play a game called "Moose" which transported me in time back to my college days. Once the crew was fairly sauced, we headed to H Street for too much fun (Bier Garten, Rock and Roll Hotel) and some 3am delicious Chinese food from Danny's. Cash only.

Consequently, I slept in on Saturday morning. I'm letting an intern from the office crash on an air mattress in my living room for the last week she is here since she had to be out of her summer residence by 11am Saturday. Looking surprisingly fresh considering the previous night's events, I filled my water bottle and cruised over to Foggy Bottom to pick her up. As I waited for her to say goodbye to roommates, checkout, etc, I wandered over to a Starbucks and discovered a dead and decomposing rat along the street. For the record- the rat was nowhere near the Starbucks, and the Starbucks was very clean and notably lacked vermin of any sort.

While intern settled in, Courtney, Emma, and I hopped in my car with the intention of hiking a trail called Difficult Run in the Great Falls Park area. We took a turn into the George Bush CIA grounds (oops) and promptly turned back around and decided to pull into an area called Area C-1 or something equally as inviting to any kind of alien spacecraft sighting. We had the perfect summer walk along the banks of the Potomac, found a natural butterfly oasis, skipped stones, watched water bugs chase each other, dug snails out of the water, got a little sweaty in the summer sun, and noted the postcard like ambiance set by the fly fishermen scattered along the banks.

As if that wasn't an awesome enough summer day, Courtney made ribs, salad, and key lime pie for dinner! The only thing I contributed was store bought bread and butter. We sat out in the backyard as the sun set, listening to bluegrass (ok, I contributed the sweet tunes on my iPod, too), eating incredible food, and enjoying glass after glass of wine. The original plan was to watch a movie, but the weather was so stellar that I felt guilty even thinking about having to sleep indoors. We went for a walk around the hill. I did more cartwheels than any twenty-something probably should do, but the night made me happy. And cartwheels make me happy.

I woke up at 6:45am on Sunday and went to practice with the Curl-Burke Masters swim team! It simultaneously felt amazing to actually put effort into a swim workout with a coach pushing me past where I would let myself quit if it were just me swimming back and forth in a pool somewhere and like I had an arm transplant in which they removed my functioning arms and replaced them with lead. I'm going back tonight.
And Tuesday night. And Thursday morning...

The rest of my morning was spent at Starbucks finishing up "Neither Here nor There", again disturbing the people around me with sporadic laughter, and wandering around Eastern Market debating whether or not to buy a bunch of sunflowers (alas, I decided that I could not allow myself the luxury, though, I had just purchased a $3 tea lemonade and was about to purchase a $3 ice coffee). During my mid-day outside time, I became a lunch buffet for the local mosquito population. Final tally is 15 on the legs and one particularly itchy bite on my left wrist. Could be worse.

After a lovely afternoon nap, Courtney and I walked over to Matchbox on 8th Street and had martinis and the mini trio for dinner (2 each of sliders, crab cakes, and scallops-- delicious!). After an evening viewing of "Under the Tuscan Sun", I got to have a long overdue chat with Katie in Chicago and then talked to my mom! We are in the beginning stages of planning a trip for next fall that will take us through Germany, Austria, Switzerland, possibly France, and into Italy. Yes please!

Hope everyone had an enjoyable and summery weekend as well. Remember to find happiness in the smallest of things, and each day will be such a joy. Love always.