Here Comes a Regular

We rang in the new year with some repeat visitors. The Gamblor, Frohn Dancis, and their girlfriends flew in on Friday and stayed til the following Tuesday.  I'll be honest - I was a little nervous about how this would all go because I'd only met both girlfriends once.  Frohn Dancis and The Redhead visited last spring, so I'd spent a weekend with her and knew we'd get along just fine.  But I'd only met The Gamblor's girlfriend at our friend Thanksgiving fiesta in Austin back in November, so it wasn't like I'd actually gotten to really know her.  In the end, everything worked out fine but I was glad I'd spent time planning for the weekend instead of just leaving things open. 

Our whirlwind weekend of activities included

drinks at Rock 'n' Roll Hotel,


 

dinner at H Street Country Club where they feature an indoor miniature golf course, although we didn't play... here's a glimpse at the rules:

I particularly love the first rule - don't drive the ball.  You know there's a rule because at least one person tried it.  Inside.  In a restaurant.  I can only imagine the chaos that ensued.  This was our first time dining at H Street and I have to say, it was really, really good!  Service was horrible (not the server so much as the pace) and we were sitting right by the door on a very cold night and they don't have two sets of doors or a curtain or anything to keep the cold air out, so that was also a downer, but the food was so fresh and bright.  If it were more convenient for us to get to, I think we'd go back a llot.  Anyway, after dinner, we headed down the street for more drinks and a little booty shaking at Little Miss Whiskey's Golden Dollar on Friday.

Saturday included lunch, shopping, and a viewing of the TAMU bowl game in Georgetown.  We capped off our Georgetown afternoon excursion with frozen hot chocolate at Serendipity.

I'd been wanting to hit up Serendipity ever since it opened last summer but had yet to find time or a reason to get L over to Georgetown (he hates the traffic).  No one else in the group had ever been to any of the Serendipity locations in NYC or Vegas, so it was a fun trip for all.  Each couple split a frozen hot chocolate and everyone thoroughly enjoyed it.  That night, we ate a fabulous NYE dinner at La Tasca and partied and danced the night away at Whitlow's with several other friends of ours.

We were all a bit tired on Sunday, so we spent the day at our house watching movies and football and making lots and lots of food.  Like, completely way too much food.  Our spread:

What you see above, clockwise from the top: bread, buns, fish (under the foil, for The Gamblor's vegetarian lady, who I shall henceforth refer to as Platinum), ribs (yes, the smoker was busted out on Sunday), salad, homemade macaroni and cheese, baked beans, and brisket.  What you don't see is the queso and what I refer to as Angie's Salsa that I made for apps and the dessert (chocolate chunk bread pudding).  Here's a visual of the salsa:

How pretty is that???  I love that it's so fresh and colorful.  And delicious.  I could eat it with a spoon.  Yum.

Despite the fact that everyone had been to DC before, The Gamblor and Frohn hadn't done the whole monument/memorial thing.  Platinum and The Redhead had, but it had been many years and no one (including me and L) had seen the MLK memorial.  We spent about 3 hours working our usual circuit and managed to see them all.  Thank goodness the sun was out because it was quite chilly and VERY windy, and The Gamblor didn't think to bring a coat or any cold weather gear with him, although we happily loaded him up with a scarf, gloves, and earmuffs.  But he still froze the whole time.  We had mid-afternoon snacks at Old Ebbitt and then strolled passed the White House on our way to happy hour at Elephant and Castle, where we warmed up and watched more bowl games.  Then it was off to dinner at our favorite, Founding Farmers.  The Gamblor and Frohn were particularly excited to eat here again; The Gamblor didn't feel so hot when we took him there on his last visit and Frohn had buyer's remorse when he and The Redhead ate lunch there on their last visit (he enjoyed his fish and chips that day but wished he'd ordered chicken and waffles when he saw an order served to another diner).  We all had a fantastic meal.  It's just so hard not to there, especially when you get an awesome server like we had.  If anyone reading this is planning on eating there soon, ask to sit in Bernard's section.  I wanted to shrink that guy and put him in my pocket so I could take him everywhere with me.

Platinum and I headed home after dinner (I had to get up early and go to work the next morning; Platinum felt she'd had enough for one day) and the rest of the group went out for more football watching and imbibing. 

All in all, a great trip!  We love when friends visit.  The one down side: such a long visit with so much non-stop action so soon after our trip to Texas ended up taking it out of me.  I took my first sick day in about a year and a half last Thursday.  Bleh.  Luckily, a day of sleeping and hydration did the trick and I've been on the mend ever since.

All My Rowdy Friends Are Coming Over Tonight

Aaaaaaaaaand I'm back!  It's been a bit of a crazy month or so, hence my lack of posting.  Brief recap: two of L’s close friends visited us back-to-back at the end of March and the beginning of April, then we had a fun weekend exploring H street with some friends, and then L and I went to Charleston with my parents.

Recap of our visitors: visitor #1 was L's #1 bff, The Gamblor.  The Gamblor decided he needed a little L in his life (they are super BFF… like, to the point where they used to talk to each other more than L and I would talk to each other when we were doing the whole long distance bit).  He blew in like a hurricane and while he was here, the guys worked hard (they smoked ribs and a brisket his first full day here) and played hard (complete with the usual favorite visits to PX, POV, and Founding Farmers, since he didn't do any of those during his first visit last summer).  The Gamblor was very satisfied with all the meals in which we indulged and had fun trying some new bars with us.  On his first visit last summer, he came for two nights and we took him to the Beer, Bourbon, and BBQ festival, so we didn’t get to do the stuff we’ve taken pretty much everyone else to do when they’ve come up (thus PX and FF this time).  The Gamblor arrived at our house around 9:45 on a Thursday evening and at L’s request, I had appetizers waiting (as opposed to a full meal, which is what I usually offer our incoming guests if they arrive at or after dinnertime and what I’d planned to do originally, but it was deemed too heavy for such a late arrival. Note to self: always go with your gut, no matter what. I find this to be true about everything in life, not just appetizers and how much food you should make.  Listen to that inner voice!). Our menu unintentionally centered around soft cheeses: bacon-wrapped stuffed dates, chevre and mango bites, and brie with fig preserves and water crackers. We also had cupcakes based off the chocolate cake recipe I made in February (cake is better). Anyway, I neglected to take pictures of anything except the dates, so here’s your one visual bite:

The food was a hit; there just wasn’t enough of it. The Gamblor hadn’t eaten lunch because he’d had a busy day at work, so of course I felt horrible that we didn’t have more to offer him. Anyway, fast forward to Sunday morning, when we got up, unbelievably excited for brunch at The General Store in Maryland.  L and I had tried it 2 weeks prior and it. was. AWESOME.  I was still dreaming of the French Toast Waffle while L couldn't forget the chicken and waffles he'd had.  The Gamblor heard us talking about it and was in for a taste.  So we hauled ourselves to Maryland, ready for another amazing meal only to find an empty parking lot outside a darkened restaurant with a sign taped to do the door saying the owner had failed to pay rent and taxes.  Yeah, it was closed.  Like, FOR GOOD.  I was so mad!!  I hate going to Maryland and all I wanted was a freaking FT waffle.  My new goal in life is to find a way to replicate the magic that was that recipe.  We ended up having a mediocre brunch at a place in Rosslyn instead (I'm sure it's better than mediocre, but I was just so irritated about the first place closing that I just couldn't enjoy what I was eating).  Anyway, The Gamblor went home a happy man and it was another great visit for the books.

The following weekend, Frohn Dancis headed up here for a visit and we had a great time with him and meeting his new lady love.  After an unexpectedly great dinner that I'll have to write about later, we met them for drinks at Poste on Friday night (where I saw a very sad date taking place that involved the girl playing Scrabble or Words With Friends as her date looked on awkwardly) and shut the place down.  We all met up at Eastern Market on Saturday morning and then we grabbed lunch at Old Ebbit Grill. 

And because there was a bit of rain and it was during the cherry blossom festival, the the whole place was PACKED.

Just an idea of what the place was like, and that was after it had cleared out a great deal.  Anyway, after that, it was on to the Portrait Gallery.  Here's a pic that The Girlfriend took of me and L while we led the way to the Portrait Gallery:

I thought that was kind of fun.  Also, please note that I'm still proudly bucking the trend of the skinny jean.  Not a strong look for me, I feel.  After the gallery, we dropped them off at their hotel so that they could get ready for the wedding, which happened to be at the country club that is literally a five minute walk from where we live, so we all agreed they should've stayed with us.  It was a fun but action-packed weekend that didn't last long enough, but then, we feel that way any time friends come visit!  Two weekends in a row of L's friends visiting really made me so lucky that we have so many friends that have made the trip up to come see us (we know it's not the cheapest of trips to take) and that some of them are starting to come up for their second time.  I also so love that I've been able to build legit friendships with L's friends. There was a time at the beginning of L's and my relationship where I honestly didn't know if Frohn Dancis and a couple others liked me or if they ever would.  It's nice that we've come so far because they really are great guys and they love L so much. I'm so glad he has friends that he's so close to and that he make him so happy.

On an unrelated note, I've been watching Tangled while writing.  It's pretty stinking cute.  Definitely add it to your queue if you haven't seen it.

Don't Fear the Reaper

L's bff, The Gamblor, was here over the weekend and adventures were had.  Saturday night The Gamblor and I stayed up late chatting about all kinds of things, including irrational fears.  His irrational fears are falling off a cruise ship and getting hit with a jump rope by people who are jumping rope at the gym.  (Note: he's never been on a cruise, due in large part to this fear.  This same fear does not extend to vessels of any other size, which is important to note, as he has owned a boat before.) 

Over the years, several of us have repeatedly explained that it's pretty much impossible to accidentally fall off a cruise ship, and he's slowly coming around to understanding and accepting this, but the fear still remains for the time being.  The jump rope fear is newer for him.  I have no details to add, as it's pretty self-explanatory. 

I have fears, but I don't know that any of them are irrational in the same way that The Gamblor's are.  I mean, I hope I don't get hit by a jump rope in the gym while it's in use, but I'm not so afraid that I won't use the weight machine that's closest to where the jumper is jumping.  Lord knows I survived getting slapped in the arm with jump ropes plenty of times during elementary school p.e. classes (and they were those jump ropes that have the long, plastic bugle beads on them, so it stung extra bad when you accidentally got hit).  I definitely have a somewhat debilitating fear of roaches and spiders that are bigger in size than a dime.  In my last apartment in Austin, there were two occasions where I ended up on the phone with L for roughly 30 minutes (okay maybe longer) so that he could talk me through slaughtering a roach.  Luckily for me, on the second occasion, my friend Mosie was already on her way to pick me up to take me to the airport, and being the bug killer that she is, she just used half of a paper towel to pick up and squish it (yeah, sick.  I died a little bit watching her but was simultaneously so proud and so in awe of her).  I just can't handle that crunch of crushing bugs and I HATE IT when they are large and leave a mess behind.  I also hate that when you spray them with bug killer, their instinct is to fly at you.  Oh and in case you are wondering, I made it to the airport on time but I was totally flustered and perspiration-y due to the roach incident.  Something like that might cause me to have a heart attack someday (in my defense, the roach appeared dead and did not move AT ALL when I uncovered it.  Then when I went to try and kill it with spray- while wearing rubber gloves and brandishing the biggest wad of paper towels you've ever seen- it FLIPPED OUT AND RAN AT ME.  Stupid roach).  Also, for the record, I lived on the ground floor and those were the only 2 roaches I ever saw in that apartment during the 2 1/2 years I lived there.  Just don't want y'all thinking I'm the trashy, dirty girl with a roach infestation.

As I type this, I'm reflecting on the fact that I recently informed all 5 of you about my fear of watching Home Alone or any other potentially scary movie or TV show by myself at night.  Perhaps that counts as irrational fear, as there is literally no reason to be afraid of Kevin McAllister's zany antics and his plight to save his home.  So maybe that's my irrational fear.  Scary movies and TV shows.  I have another one to add to the list: freaking Unsolved Mysteries, which I just learned APPARENTLY is still a show with new episodes!!  I mean Robert Stack is just eerie with his monotone narration.  Plus, add the menacing music and you've got a nightmare waiting to happen.  If you want to learn more about the new show or just scare yourself silly at work, peruse the website here.  If you just want to reminisce about the old version with the creepy music and Robert Stack, watch the YouTube video below.



In case you're wondering, L is apparently superhuman and has no irrational fears, or so he claims.  I think it's quite likely that he probably has some kind of irrational like, dislike, or belief of something, though.  I've tried to think of what my friends' irrational behaviors are and off the top of my head, it's mostly stuff like fears of riding horses and some other things that I'm realizing I won't share because the more I think about it, these things would just make them sound racist and they really aren't in real life.


UPDATE: I just searched Google with the phrase "falling off a cruise ship" and found this article on how to react if you should find yourself in such a situation.  I feel compelled to share it.  Please take special note of numbers 2, the last sentence of number 7, and number 10.