I Love Milkshakes

Last night, we went to Shake Shack at Dupont for dinner.  I've read and heard good things about this place and so I have been looking forward to going there. And I wasn't disappointed. They make their shakes out of custard. So so good. I'm a sucker for a good milkshake. I've taken it upon myself to be an official milkshake tester. I know, I know, thank me later.

At Black Cats on Mondays, they have "Muggle Mondays," where they serve butterbeer and have showings of the Harry Potter movies. You know I'm all over that ish. 

yum (pict stolen from Ashley)

sorry about the awkward shut eyes picture, Ashley. 

Last night was weird and fun at the same time. Weird because...you can ask me about that if you're interested. Fun...because milkshakes and HP. Duh. Another plus one for the District.

I Like Chocolate.

And another good weekend in Virginia!
Taryn and I had a girls' night with some girls from the ward. We tried an awful hip hop class at the gym. But we made up for it with homemade pizza and cookies and "Pitch Perfect." I love that movie. It reminds me of the 224 girls (+Lizzy, of course). <3 guys="" nbsp="" p="" you="">Saturday night, I had the opportunity to attend the Washington DC LDS temple (which is actually in MD). It is the biggest temple I've seen, yet! HUGE! And so beautiful.

in case you were wondering what it looks like when I'm bundled up and on the metro

On Sunday, I was snagged as a newbie to give a talk in my singles' ward. I like my new ward! There are lots of nice people. That afternoon, we were able to make valentines for the old folks' home close to our church building. I met a man who told us about his life in about 15 minutes. He spoke like he was straight out of a old movie: his time in the Korean and Vietnam wars and during "peacetime." Only people from those days can use "peacetime" casually in a conversation.
That night was an Iron Chef competition/party at a house of some cute ladies with the key ingredient being chocolate. Chocolate! I made yummy buttermilk chocolate cupcakes with chocolate chips and a chocolate ganache frosting. I didn't win, but, like, whatever. I don't mind...
These are the recipes I used:
http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Buttermilk-Chocolate-Cupcakes
http://www.food.com/recipe/whipped-chocolate-ganache-filling-or-frosting-106954
Then a Brach's candy heart for cuteness :)

I heart cupcakes.

"Behind in blogging I am. Hmmm." -Yoda

The Saturday after I saw Maya Angelou (two weekends ago...I'm with Yoda on this one), we had a group activity with C1 and C2 (the YSA wards here). We were all anticipating the BIG MEETING that would happen the next day and I think they had this activity so that we could be friends when the boundaries split. I thought it was worth the trip because my group won the scavenger game we played. Baller. A big group of us took over the Silver Diner in Franconia and I'm sure that every time Mormon kids take over restaurants like that, they don't know what to do (yes, this has happened after several youth activities in my lifetime). But it was fun!

I was freaking out last week because I realized that I had no set plans for the long weekend that is coming up and I wanted to do something fun! Then I realized that I wanted Anna to be here. So we talked about it and NOW SHE'S COMING TO VISIT this weekend. I. Can't. Wait.

My lunchtime museums this week were the Natural History and Hirshhorn museums. I purposely wanted to go to the Natural History because they recently acquired a large aquamarine crystal/rock/thing named Dom Pedro. I am a girl and naturally have an affinity for shiny things, plus the aquamarine is my birthstone, so I thought it was pretty.

Hirshhorn is modern art; therefore, I was pretty close to not even giving it a shot. But I'm glad I did because of the Ai Weiwei exhibit. I appreciate a good angsty, stick-it-to-the-man attitude and I felt that his work actually served a purpose (unlike most other modern art I've seen). For example, he took pots from a dynasty in c. 200 BC and just poured paint over it. Who does that? Especially in China? That's gutsy.

I went into the city on Friday for errands in the Federal Triangle, so I decided to talk a walk over to Georgetown. I'm not sure if you've noticed, yet, but I like to walk. Georgetown is the ritzy shopping area in NW DC by Georgetown U. They also have Georgetown Cupcakes, the store from the TLC show. Of course I stopped by there :)

Chocolate PB chip & chocolate ganache. YUM.

thank you!

Another fun week in the district!

..another cold one, too...

songs and books

these songs have been stuck in my head this week:




Also, if you are a young single adult woman, I highly recommend you read this book:

I read it in two days because I thought it was hilarious! I typically read to and from work, so I was laughing shamelessly on the trains yesterday. And she values marriage and family and being true to herself, all of which are very important to me, also! Read it.

Month One

This week marks my month of living in DC. It has been hard and scary, but also exciting!!
I keep hearing about this place called Busboys and Poets, a community restaurant that promotes racial and cultural connections. It was named after the poet Langston Hughes, who worked in DC as a busboy before he became a poet. My friends Rhiannon, Isis, and Taryn (who is also my roommate) and I went this place last Wednesday because they were hosting the Story League's short story contest. I love this idea! People sign up to tell stories about a certain topic and this week was music. There were some really funny stories and also some heartwarming ones. The food was really good and the atmosphere can't be beat.

maybe I'll get the courage to get on stage sometime

Friday, I had the opportunity to see Maya Angelou at the NMAI. It was a discussion with Johnnetta Betsch Cole as a kick-off of Black History Month. I was a bit out of my element surrounded by middle-aged black women, but I wanted to go because I studied her life in my senior seminar course last year at BYU. Here are some notes of my favorite moments of the night:

-God put rainbows in clouds. He could have put it anywhere else in the atmosphere. There is so much other stuff up in the atmosphere. But He put rainbows in clouds...Now go out and be the rainbow in someone's cloud.

-It's hard to have courage, but it's so important. You are not going to get courage right away. You have to work up to courage and keep working to get courage.

I had to be in overflow, even though I waited (in the cold) for an hour.

That night, I did what they do in the movies of girls who live in the city: I hung out with my girl friend in sweats and sweatshirts and ordered Chinese take-out then ate it in the living room while watching chick flicks. So city girl, right? We watched "The First Daughter" because we live in DC and we thought it would be awesome.

I'm catching up! Hope y'all survived Monday!

botanical gardens and a sunny day

In the last post, I was complaining about the cold. Well this last Tuesday was a freakishly warm day! I loved it! I decided that I just couldn't stay inside. I went into the city to visit the National Botanical Gardens.

All of these mini monuments were made of wood and acorns and other natural material

mini White House

turtle plant

mini Smithsonian

mini Lincoln Memorial

mini Capitol

mini Library of Congress

in the canopy at the rainforest room

nature

I then walked over to the National Museum of the American Indian.

It was a very deliciously warm day.

My first frustrating experience with the city; and how I found Subway

I've been listening to this song on repeat. I snagged it from Bethany Joy Lenz's blog--she's Hayley on "One Tree Hill." Anna got me hooked on OTH Freshman year and I've been slowly but surely making my way through all 9 seasons. Obsessed.


I have been SO COLD. I hate being cold and I just can't escape it here. It seeps in my bones and I am sore at the end of the day from shivering. Ok ok maybe I'm a bit dramatic and just need to go buy a hat, but it's cold.
The second thing that irks me about this place is how they have hidden everything in the city. Nothing is on the street, nice and easy where I can find it. Everything by where I work is in a building or underground with secret entrances that have no signs. I've wandered around a building's block with my iPhone telling me that what I'm looking for is right at that little red upside-down teardrop. But it's. not. there. Or maybe it is? Underground? IN the building? I don't know. And I haven't gotten enough courage to go inside, yet,(and many buildings are federal office buildings, so I have no business to venture there) so I just wander out in the cold with my confused red upside-down teardrop.
I was especially confused and frustrated during my lunch break last Thursday and my quest to find a Subway. I Google mapped it at work before I left, then confirmed it on my Google maps app. I wanted to find a Subway specifically because I had a gift card and I didn't bring a lunch and it's expensive to eat in the city. The closest Subway was in the mysterious area that I have mentioned, but I figured I could find this Subway, dangit, even if I couldn't find the other things.
Guess what? I had the same results.
It was a secret Subway and I couldn't find it, so I found another one on my map, on the opposite side of the mall.  I was already 20 minutes into my lunch, but I was determined. I walked to the other Subway (a longer walk than I anticipated) and it was a normal Subway, on the outside of a building, right there for me to see. I got that blasted sandwich AND a cookie just because.
On top of this: there were strong winds AND I decided to wear a flowy skirt that day. We're talking 40 MPH winds and a very flowy skirt. And a very hungry, frustrated sandwich-eater. I got back with 5 minutes left of my lunch break.

I walked 2.2 miles in search of a sandwich.