The real highlight of my anniversary week was the weekend, which involved a visit from Mat S., best friend and law student extraordinaire. He met Rachel H. and I on Friday evening at the wonderful MLK Shabbat at Sixth and I (which we loved mostly for the vigorous prayer dancing pre-amidah), and afterwards, Rachel and I introduced him to the wonderfulness that is Teaism (and I introduced them to the extra jolt of happiness in my universe known as the Chai Cinnamon Milkshake).
Saturday was a nice, laid-back day. I volunteered at the Zoo in the afternoon -- it was a pretty exciting day because I was able to find all of the Lemur frogs in one of the tanks, and there were a few young Strawberry Poison frog metamorphs - so little! Mat S. came to the Zoo to check out Amazonia, and then we walked all the way back to my apartment for schnuggling and relaxing. We cooked dinner at Rachel H's -- the highlight was definitely the homemade guacamole, although the delicious salmon and brussel sprouts were a close second. After digesting the enormous amount of food we ate, we went out to Four Peas in Cleveland Park with the lovely gaggle of Emily G, Beth K, and Julie F.
On Sunday morning, we awoke to rain, rain, and lots of rain. I threw on my rainboots, grabbed, an umbrella, and met Mat in Dupont Circle, where we quickly abandoned our very outdoor plans. Farmer’s Market out, indoor cozy brunch in! I’ve been hearing wonderful things about Rosemary’s Thyme for months, and decided that this was the perfect opportunity to try it out. Really, any place inside and warm would have been lovely, but Rosemary’s Thyme has that perfect brunchy feel, which was just what we were looking for. I got the Mediterranean Pide, a flatbread with lots of yummy vegetables and cheese, and with two fried eggs on top. It was very pretty, and needless to say, it tasted as good as it looked.
After brunch, we met up with Will F. for an afternoon of galumphing about the city. We cabbed it to the National Cathedral, where we enjoyed the misty raininess from the comfort of the crypt and church. The National Cathedral is definitely one of my favorite spots in DC – we did miss the tour which was sad, but still had a fun time trying to figure out exactly where President Bartlet walked in Two Cathedrals. Plus there were needlepoint pillows over major historical figures, like Henry Clay - COOL! We followed that up with Shakes (peanut butter cup!) and fries at Z burger in Tenleytown, then spent the rest of the afternoon hiding from the rain and watching football at Buffalo Billiards (which I found surprisingly enjoyable, even though it was sports, because Mat S. was good and explained things to me). That evening, Mat, Rachel H and I ventured north to Cleveland Park to celebrate the 22nd birthday of one Ms. Alli G., my favorite (and only) sister! The food was great, and Alli’s friends were lovely, and most importantly, I procured a number of ridiculous Alli-with-sombrero photos. Great success.
Monday morning began with a visit to Afterwords Café in Kramerbooks with Mat S.—I had the avocado tomato Eggs Benedict; he had the smoked salmon, but most importantly, we both had the delicious lemon hollandaise sauce! We had a lovely brunch, and then he headed back to NYC and I headed off to work. Now THAT is how you start a work-week.
