4th of july at the white house… no, really

when my lovely friend ying asked me if i wanted to spend the 4th of july at the white house, i said, why yes, i would. this, the day after purchasing a patio set for my balcony to watch the fireworks at the park across the street from my condo. while i really wanted to spend the 4th with my new neighbors at this bbq potluck, i had to break the news to them and let them down easy. needless to say, they were understanding.

the journey there was not as smooth as one would hope (my connecting flight to dc from dallas was canceled due to the tropical storms so i was stuck in dallas for a night), but it was all worth it. and yes, i did see the president! granted it was from a distance while waiting for popcorn without my camera or phone, it happened in a split second (okay, a little bit longer than that). i could see him wearing white and waving at us. it was quite exciting. the celebration was a lot of fun and i think we all felt very patriotic.

there was beer, wine, ice cream, popcorn, cotton candy, and of course, commemorative cups! that was the best part. we got one of each color (blue & red) but i could see others totally hoarding them. i think i saw 20 cups at one table! as a government employee, she could only bring 2 guests and her office wasn't invited last year so chances are, she won't be invited next year. the security wasn't bad considering the scope of the event. even the transportation home wasn't as bad as we thought it would be. we took the metro and didn't make it into the first train but with some forcing and squeezing our way in like sardines, we made it into the second train. after a few stops, the train emptied out.

the next day, we headed into dc to have brunch with my friend stephanie and see her two babies. i think the last time i saw her was at her wedding back in 2008! i hadn't realized it was 6 years ago that i was last there. i used to visit more often.

anyway, there was the annual folklife festival that weekend. it was actually the last weekend for the festival so i lucked out. they highlighted two countries, kenya and china. showcased at the festival were food, culture, and their respective performance arts. there was a stage in a tent for each country with singing and dancing. it was fun and educational!

when asked what i wanted to do on my last day there, i looked up "things to do in manassas." and what was the #1 thing to do? the battlefield of manassas. why yes, please. it was fantastic! out here in california, we have missions to visit. on the east coast, they have battlefields! apparently, there were two battles at manassas. the history there is amazing yet unimaginable.

i had so much fun! and i hope to be back soon!

new fcuk dress from dc

sorry for the blurry pic but i can't seem to get anything in focus sans the flash. i got so many compliments on this dress from work that i had to post a picture...

dc trip, part deux

i found this lovely picture of the couple from their wedding website. i really wanted to take a picture of the cake and steph in her cheong sam. despite her being kinda hidden, she still looks gorgeous, doesn't she?tuesday, 22 january
let's see... tuesday was the day i ventured out on my own. i didn't really know what to do. i had dinner plans with terrence that night. i'd been to dc multiple times before. i used to date someone briefly who lived out there. so as far as being a tourist, i'd already been there and done that. it was so cold out that i didn't care to see much. but i had to do something. so i did what i do anywhere and anytime i need to kill time, i went shopping.

the problem was, i didn't know where to go. i went to the mall at pentagon city and the mall next to it. i had lunch at the nordstrom there. i don't know how i ended up at the smithsonian metro stop. i think i figured, if i can't find any shops, i'll go to the museums. i took a quick look at the national monument and took a picture identical to the one i took the last time i was there, over 3 years ago. after walking around a bit, it started to rain. it made sense to take shelter in a museum for a couple of hours but i wanted to shop. from a distance, i could see the very familiar red italicized h & m sign just a few blocks away. yay! to my surprise, zara was next door. i found a cute wool blend dress from zara on sale. i got my shopping fix and started to head back afterwards.

terrence and i went to zaytinya for dinner. apparently, they are the "mezze specialist." mezze are basically middle eastern and eastern mediterranean tapas. to top it off, restaurant week in dc was extended to this week. so there was a prix fixe menu. 4 mezze and dessert for only $30 per person. we had 8 plates between two people and two desserts. needless to say, we were happily stuffed.

wednesday, 23 january
my last full day in dc came at last and as with most vacations coming to an end, the 5 or so days i was there felt so short. the end came so suddenly. i wished i had more time there. i had to remind myself that my vacation wasn't coming to an end, i was leaving for nyc the next day. i spent most of wednesday doing laundry and packing up. and making plans with bernie. when you sleep in until noon or so and then do laundry for a few hours, 4pm comes up really quickly. i met up with yung-mei after (her) work at oya for happy hour. oya is a japanese restaurant/lounge. very cool inside. i guess it's usually packed but turns out, wednesdays are the days to go because it wasn't too bad. i was on my second drink when yung-mei showed up. i decided to have some sushi rolls to soak up the alcohol. the first drink i had was pineapple goodness. the other two where soju cocktails. the last one was this cucumber and lime soju drink, it was refreshing and quite delightful.

after we were done with our rolls and drinks, we headed over to matchbox for vintage pizza and miniburgers (aka sliders, very popular on the east coast). it's a lot of fun hanging out with yung-mei. she's so much more friendly and talkative than me. so you make lots of friends when she's around. i left to use the restroom and came back to yung-mei talking to two guys at the bar. and after we sat down, we made friends with the guy sitting next to us. poor thing, he ordered the crab cakes and failed to notice the pizza and miniburgers piled high surrounding him. i guess the waitress is to blame too. we teased her and gave her a hard time about it. and shared our miniburgers and pizza with him. he bought us drinks. what a sweetie.

that was a fantastic end to my dc trip. i was a bit sad that it was over. i'm hoping to head over to the east coast again sometime in april or may. after my last body scan, i'd go to celebrate... in addition to having a huge bash here, of course. yay!

dc wedding

initially, my east coast trip was just for dc. but then bernie came into the picture and well, how can i say no to adding a leg to new york?

friday, 18 january
i arrived at dulles on the 18th and found my way to arlington where my dear friend yung-mei lived. i was staying with her for the duration of my dc holiday. she was also my date to the wedding. i know yung-mei from work. except, i never worked with her. she was the predecessor to my former position and whenever she came to visit, i'd always go along. we got along very well. it turned out that we are both tigers and sagittarians. plus, she's half chinese. in 2003, i visited her in manhattan while she was there for grad school. i stayed with her then as well. she had this great apartment that was clearly an administrative mistake. that was my first new york trip.

by the time yung-mei and i met up, it was dinner time. she lives right by the mall at pentagon city. she suggested some places including ruby tuesdays. i'd never been there but have seen countless annoying commercials for them. so we went there for mini-burgers, chili and salad bar. it was yummy. saturday, 19 january
the big wedding day. we squeezed everything in before. like shopping. and more shopping. and getting ready. we got there just in time for the ceremony. the wedding was at the washington club on dupont circle. it was built in the early 1900's. apparently, the building was originally a residence and later housed the first women's club in dc. there is so much history there. it's really amazing. and it's been kept up beautifully.

the ceremony was lovely. from the dresses to the officiant's speech. steph, as you can see above was breathtaking. there were a couple of opera singers performing. i don't think i've been to a wedding with opera singers. fancy. the reception was right after the ceremony. after cocktail hour, that is. i was on antibiotics so couldn't partake in the alcoholic beverages. the reception was in the room next to the ceremony. i think there were about 150 people there. i'm really bad at gaging things like that and height (random). it was a good amount of people. what was interesting about this wedding was all the single women there. yung-mei tells me that there's a huge population of single women in dc and new york. i guess it's a good thing i'm in the bay area. less competition i suppose. hahah.

back to the reception... the speeches were awesome. there were 4 total and a couple of them brought tears out. her father's speech was super sweet. her best friend's speech was the big tear jerker. fantastic. the best man speech was, to say the least, entertaining but the most inappropriate. and finally her sister's speech was quite nice too. the slideshow lasted a bit longer than most but i enjoy seeing childhood pictures of my friends. the food wasn't as bad as i've had at weddings. i had a great time. i just wish i wasn't on antibiotics so we could've gone out afterwards.

sunday, 20 january
steph and erik had an open house as a post-wedding event. they have a 3-level home with this great backyard. there was still a lot of snow out that day. it was one of the coldest days, mostly because of the wind. i'd left yung-mei's with wet hair and the wind chill went right through me. i think i got wind burn on my cheeks. they were still red the next day.

i didn't get to talk to steph or erik much at the wedding so it was nice to catch up with them there. i chatted a bit with her parents, his cousin ilsa from minnesota and ate way too much. a former student and friend of my mine, terrence, was there was his lovely wife gayle. we met up at the open house and has dinner afterwards. i'd never really got to know gayle previously. they invited me to their wedding but i couldn't go. damn that ted. anyway... they are having their first baby so it's very exciting. for dinner, we went to this yummy pizza place (fomerly the thai room). at the wedding, i was seated next to them at the reception. and spent a good amount of time catching up. terrence (as he knows) was one of my favorites when he was a grad student. i'm happy that we've been able to keep in touch through the years...

monday, 21 january
i spent monday in annapolis, md, visiting an old coworker and her family. i worked with danie at scripps in san diego. i think she was there for her bf at the time (husband now), chris. my ex and i used to house sit and dog sit for them when they were away. they were part of my san diego family when i lived there. she was like my big sister.

the last time i was in dc was october 2004. danie was pregnant with her second child. before that, i hadn't seen her since i moved from san diego to the bay area. that was 2001. i decided to spend the day with her and the rest of her family. her kids are now 6 and 3 and totally adorable. at first as with most kids their age, they were shy but by the end of the day, her 3 y/o was telling me she loved me. super sweet. ugh, i wished i'd taken more pictures...

we ate at this sushi restaurant in downtown annapolis. it's right by the water so it was freezing there. i know, i'm such a wimp. the kids were running all over the place but well behaved. it's nice to see what a wonderful mother danie has turned out to be. and get this, these kids eat raw fish. they were eating the sashimi like chicken nuggets. it was amazing to see. i didn't start eating sashimi until well into my adulthood. crazy. at one point during dinner, danie says to me, wow, leaving san diego was the best thing for you! this is the absolute truth. when i think about who and how i was back then, i think, who is that girl? yuk, yuk, yuk.

when we said our goodbyes, it was a little sad. after spending the day together, it made me want to visit more often and keep in better touch with them. they are really good people.

i think i'm going to finish the last two days in dc later...

leaving tomorrow

tomorrow is my big east coast trip! i leave for dc very early tomorrow morning from san jose. i have a wedding to go to on saturday (according to weather.com, it's supposed to snow that day. yuk.) for one of my former students from my first job at stanford. i've kept in touch with her since she graduated in 2002 (i think?). it's very exciting. i'm also planning to visit an former coworker from san diego. she lives in annapolis with her family now. i haven't seen her since 2005. it will be nice to meet her daughter and catch up. i'll be in dc through mlk jr. and i leave for new york next thursday (1/24) for a few days which is also quite thrilling because i'm finally visiting bernie in brooklyn. plus, he's got a show on his brazilian photographs. very very exciting...

see you on the 28th!