halloween is coming

I walked past a little place called Crumbs in Union Station the other morning, and told Amanda we had to go back.  So we did.  And we shared a cupcake for lunch.  It brought me so much joy.  (Mainly because of how it was decorated.  As we've discussed before, I'm quite impartial to the taste of cupcakes--but they're probably the cutest desserts you can find.)

Whooaaa we're halfway there.

See you in 7.5 weeks.

Dear dad,

Hey there.  Hope that all is fine and dandy in Salt Lake without your two favorite women.  (And I can say that fairly because K is still a smelly girl.)  Due to your several calls and texts today, I figured that you would like to see pictures of today and hear the full report.  So here it is:

Mom showed up at my office promptly at 10:12 a.m.  I showed her around the office, and while doing so my Chief-of-Staff said that I should just take the entire day off to be with her.  (Which we both greatly appreciated.)  McKay came to the office to help me give a tour . . . 

[Quick side story.  The Chief-of-Staff was talking to mom and noticed McKay and said, "Who are you?"  He explained that he worked for the Finance Committee, and then mom said, "He's my son!!"  So then the Chief-of-Staff started saying how great it was that two siblings were able to come out to D.C. at the same time and that our sweet mother could come get a tour from both of us.  After which I explained that mom was lying.]

. . . and so we went on our way and gave mom the best tour of the Capitol that this world has ever seen.  McKay even delivered a great joke.  About corn.  After that we went to lunch at Good Stuff Eatery.

  

After lunch, mom and I went to the Botanical Gardens.  So pretty.  Smelled so good.  So wonderful.  So neat.

Then we went to the Air and Space Museum.  SO COOL.  I love airplanes!!  We wandered for a while and then saw a film in the planetarium and also this awesome IMAX on flight.  It was really enjoyable.  Also, turns out one of the Wright Brothers played the mandolin . . .

Afterward we walked back up to my building through the Capitol grounds.  I had actually never walked this way before and it is SO PRETTY.  Wow.  [Mad.  Mad I didn't know about that.]  There were a lot of pretty leaves and stuff.

We rode the bus back to my place, relaxed, and then went to Georgetown for the night.  [Mom has the rest of these pictures, so unfortunately you'll have to wait to see them.]  We went to Serendipity 3 for dinner with Carly and Andrea . . . . such a wonderful, awesome, cute, fun, eclectic, girly place.  I loved it.  Beyond belief.  And my cibatta-turkey-apple-cranberry-brie sandwich was quite delicious.  Afterward we shared a cupcake from Sprinkles and then walked to mom's bus stop in the rain.  

It was a wonderful day.  I loved being with mom--kind of the perfect little taste of her to halfway through this thing.

But we missed you too . . . a little bit . . . I guess.

[like you a good bit.]

Gettysburg

Random fact: Remember the Titans' Gettysburg scene was not filmed in Gettysburg.

Tips for visiting Gettysburg:
1. Set aside time to explore the town (we did not).
2. Prepare for a huge urge to run and/or ride (which I was not able to satisfy).
3. Bring a nice camera.
4. Don't go to bed at 3 a.m. the night before.  Especially if you are going on a bus tour.

Carly reciting the Gettysburg address

Who knew Abe was so handsome??

Let's put it this way: I ate from the salad bar and everyone else there ordered the senior special.

Dark chocolate ice cream.

I really liked Gettysburg.  Like a lot.  I want to go back and just spend all day exploring.  And eating at a cute cafe that I'm sure exists somewhere in the quaint and lovely town.

Oh also, we had cupcakes for dinner.

Columbus Day

The beautiful thing about working in D.C. {slash for the government} is that you get holidays off that never seemed to matter before.  (Meaning, I never got school off for these holidays . . . I've always appreciated Columbus and our veterans though, don't get me wrong.)  So last Monday, after sleeping in and going on a leisurely run, we spent a day touring.

First stop: Roosevelt Island.  So beautiful.  Totally excited to go back once the colors change.

Then we walked along a trail, which I ran on that morning, to Arlington Cemetery.  Also very beautiful.

Then we went to Lincoln's Waffle house and Ford's Theater to finish up the day.