Last week I returned to my "other hometown" for a long visit for a surprisingly new and different experience. What a great reminder that everything in life can be reinvented on any given day.
When I lived in Washington, D.C. from the fall of 2005 until the winter of 2009, I lived in the post-college village of Glover Park, where your friend's friends from college were your neighbors and everyone met on any given night of the week at Town Hall. I worked on Pennsylvania Avenue and drove my car the short route down Wisconsin, left on M to Pennsylvania. We would occasionally venture out of our neighborhood to try a new restaurant, but we often did not do it as frequently because of the high cab fares and the inaccessibility of the Metro.
Fast forward to this trip when I knew I was in for a new experience when my best friend from college traded her row house in GP for a posh apt on T and 11th Street at the U Street metro stop on the hipster side of town. I met the Metro and discovered on foot all the different quirky neighborhoods of our nation's capitol.
The first thing I saw when I exited the metro at U Street was Ben's Chili Bowl. I thought, "Oh now that's where this place is?!" During the three and a half years I lived in D.C., I always wanted to eat at this famed establishment, but I could never seem to justify a trip half way across town for a greasy, fatty dog covered in chili with a side order of fries. Given that I was trying to keep on a budget and this certainly had to be a cheap affordable eat, I stopped in, asked for a recommendation from the guy standing next to me, and ordered a chili half smoke and fries. I went into this meal with an open mind, but in summary its just another thing President Obama and I disagree on.
Thankfully, I did more walking on this trip then I did the entire time I lived in DC, so Ben's didn't stay with me for too long. After dropping my bags at the apartment and jumping on a quick conference call, I headed to the metro (switching lines twice, so proud of my navigation skills), to meet a friend for coffee in Foggy Bottom. On a foggy day indeed, we chatted about our life goals. After an invigorating yet pensive conversation, I decided to perk up the day with some shopping in Georgetown, just a short walk across the M Street bridge, to begin my hunt for the classic black dress.
One would think that finding a classic black dress would be an easy task because every girl has to have that little black dress, but to find a dress to stand the test of time is definitely no simple feat. I went to Cusp by Neiman Marcus, a store that I never allowed myself to buy from when I lived in DC, but a couple years later and not too much richer, I seem to be able to justify purchases of this variety a bit more easy. After two hours, I ended up leaving with a DVF dress, one that I will likely return before the 30 day expiration period. I did, however, fall in love with this Rebecca Taylor sweater that costs 400 dollars. I would not let myself buy this sweater, but I would let myself buy the dress....I paused to ask why girls do that to themselves. Why do we buy a $400 dollar dress that we'll only wear a handful of times when the sweater for the same price will be worn so much that it will unravel before our eyes? And as I write this, I remember that sweater, so I google it, and here
it is on sale. As my mother says, good things come to those who wait.
From Cusp, I headed back to U Street to meet up with fellow Sewanee grads, good friends, and house mates for the weekend Cameron Land, Bess Caughran and Nancy Tujague, at El Centro D.F. We chatted about Sewanee, New Orleans, family, people, politics, the district and much much more, and then Cameron, Bess and I headed to this great little wine bar only a block away from their house,
Vinoteca. I ordered a glass of Tempranillo, a shout out to my friend Ali Santoro and our visit in New York City a week before. I hadn't heard of the variety but she ordered a glass and I was intrigued. Its a good thing I don't have a cute little wine bar a block away from my house....It was at this bar and the one with Ali in NYC that the same thought continues to surface...Traveling is such a great, great little thing. I imagine, in fact, I know, there are many people sharing a glass of wine in many cute bars in New Orleans on any given night, but when you are in your routine and trying to live a healthy lifestyle you just don't get out and do it. There is nothing better than a night cap with great friends at a wonderful little bar on a sleepy little week night.
Now, for the real reason I am ventured to the District...the
Women Working for Change Conference. Suzie Terrell, my best friend's mother and a great mentor to me, organized the
ProjectGoPink initiative as a response to the 2008 elections when she noticed fewer women were voting Republican. This initiative intends to motivate, mentor and mobilize women to run for elected office or obtain positions of influence in administrations, and raise the profile of the Republican party amongst women voters. (More about the conference in another post)
The conference was held at the Gaylord National Convention Center, new to the area since I left, which I found to be the strangest, yet nicely done facility. It is like Disney World and a Casino but yet it is neither one of these and rather just a bunch of convention halls. The location is rather obscure, on an empty plot of land in Maryland across the Woodrow Wilson Bridge. It was a metro and a cab ride away, and the only redeeming factor of the hike across town is the view, the view from the bar at happy hour.
Two days were spent at the conference, and the last day, I headed back on the metro with a stop at the King Street metro to meet an old friend, Ryan Evans, in my birthplace, Old Town Alexandria, for a drink at
Vermilion. This was another locale that was on my list of places to go to when I lived in 20007, so I was glad to finally check it off my list. We had these ridiculous "hot pockets" pretzel dough with ham and cheese with a glass of wine and ice cold beer over more great conversation about life, careers, politics, living in DC/VA, and good ole New Orleans.
After happy hour with Ryan, I headed to meet Bess for our "heart to heart" dinner. Bess and I are best friends and due to her dislike of the phone, we always have these long, "rehash the past six months of our life" conversations instead of daily catch up calls. So, needless to say, a lot has happened in the last six months, so we needed a one on one dinner to recount all of the details and plan for the future. I won't share all the details with you, but it is also a reminder that life can reinvent itself on any given day.
Bess left on Saturday for a quick trip to Brussels. But before she departed for the land of chocolate and crepes, we had a sweet and savory breakfast at the 14th Street creperie before I began another marathon day of shopping in the tried and true Georgetown. I started at Paper Source and then moved to Kate Spade followed by J. Crew and then Sisley and up to Urban Chic and back down to Zara. The only dismay was Proper Topper and the sweet little Parisian store I frequented had both closed. After I about collapsed on an old friend in J.Crew, I headed to Sea Catch, the best happy hour in town for 1/2 price oysters and a glass of chardonnay, to reinvigorate myself before what I knew would be a long night.
For dinner, I met two old D.C. friends, Lauren Griffin now Hamel and Amanda Buchanan now Hand. We arrived at Cork for a bottle of Cava at the bar and a two bottle of wine dinner, one compliments of Lauren's coworker who happened to be dining with his wife at the same restaurant. When the dinner was over, we bid adieu to Lauren, and Amanda and I went to Gibson, a
speakeasy. In true prohibition form, we knocked on the door, placed our name on the list, and waited for a seat to not overcrowd the bar. To pass the time before our name was called, we hit the club scene next door to work off some of the calories in order to consume a few more once seated at Gibson.
Sunday morning I did not want to get up after a late night on the town with Mrs. Hand, but a great friend summoned me for brunch so I hopped over to Logan Circle to hear all about his sister's move to India to teach architecture, his planned trip to New Zealand and his 30th birthday party where people dressed as things that symbolized the honoree, including a guest dressed as the 1 percent. After a long brunch, Cameron and I did a big loop around Northwest DC, U Street to Logan Circle to Dupont to K Street and back to U Street. Barely enough to shake off all the cobwebs but better than nothing!
On this trip, I discovered so many new and different haunts in the District that made me realize you can get lost in any town as long as you are willing to have an open mind and venture new places, and just when you think you know someone or something so well, it never ceases to amaze you. Love you D.C., but love you better when you are beaming red and not bleeding blue.
