life lately | march

March was the month that changed my life. For the rest of my life, I'll remember sitting in a crowded movie theater on March 14 and opening the email that said, "Congratulations," and it held my hand and opened my palm and placed into it my whole future, bright and open and so full of possibility. So much of these last few months has left me feeling stunned, feeling almost numb with unbelievability. Nothing that has happened is believable. It's funny, too, because it is believable. There is a part of me - that since the day I sat in the information session for Georgetown's international relations master program last fall and heard a fellow applicant mention she was applying for the Rangel Fellowship, and I played those unfamiliar words over in my head and on my tongue, that knew it was my destiny. Isn't that crazy? I can't believe I'm putting it in words. I daydreamed about that destiny until I laughed out loud alone in bed so many nights I can't count them because I've never been the sort of person to believe in destiny and fate like that. But it felt destined. It felt right through my core. I think now, now that it's becoming reality - now that I'm only 5 short, short, too short days from leaving my beloved job to embark on this crazy adventure that is this Fellowship and grad school in the fall - now that I know the rug isn't going to be pulled out from under me, and it's not all just one of those late night daydreams - I really see now that it wasn't destiny so much as a good fit. A perfect fit. I've dreamed of a life in the foreign service, I've planned it out, I've known for a while that it's in my blood. That kind of unsettled life is what makes me feel the most settled, the most content, the realest version of myself. This was the month of finding out the stuff I'm made of, and it rocked my world, it rippled through me in waves until I had to believe it - I did it. I'm here. My future is mine.

1&2: 2014: The Winter That Never Ended
3, 4, & 5: March was the month of Theo. My brother took him down to stay with my mom at the end of the month, until Zan and I can rent his condo and find a place of our own that allows dogs. And boy, did Theo and I live up every single last day together. We found a new favorite trail. I can't wait until we're reunited. My life is incomplete without him.
6: I moved! Matt and I said goodbye to living together. From a studio apartment where we shared a bed in LA to the slumlord in Bloomingdale all the way to the tree-lined streets of Cleveland Park, we were in it together until we met our matches. I found this note from my mom written on my old bible. I couldn't throw that old thing away because that note. And isn't her handwriting gorgeous?
7&8: Ellie came to visit! I talked a lot about her being there for me when I found out about Rangel. That's another friendship that's for the ages. We meandered around Georgetown after dress shopping for a girlfriend's wedding next fall and found ourselves planted on the giant green adirondack chair.
9: Zan and I celebrated our two year anniversary on Mach 24. Last year I made him a chocolate peanut butter cake; this year we booked a trip to Costa Rica. He's alright, y'all.

zanta claus is coming to town

I couldn't really say goodbye to 2013 until going through and sharing photos from Matt's and my holiday party. It was a special party for us because 1) Zanta showed up, and he's the cutest Santa Claus you've ever seen, right?! And 2)  it was the last party we'll host as roommates (errr, we assume!).

Matt and I met at a summer nerd camp in high school, and we've been friends for the last decade since. All of my favorite memories in our friendship are kind of around the same theme - what's next? We've always seemed to be catalysts for big, good change for the other. He came to visit me in school in the dead of a Nebraska winter in 2007, and he helped me get over a really bad boyfriend and realize how horrible a person he really was - with the help of homemade baked goods and binge-watching America's Next Top Model.... and so many jello shots we lost count.

We roadtripped from Georgia to Los Angeles in the summer of 2008; he was moving there for acting school, and I was going to find a summer internship before finishing my last semester of college. We dyed my hair blond (big, BIG mistake), saw the tallest cross in the Western hemisphere (and after, Matt's broken AC in his car miraculously worked again!), and we ran through a waterpark in Amaraillo, Texas riding every single ride in 30 minutes flat (best choice ever). That summer in LA we shared a bed in a studio apartment that wasn't worth half of what we paid but "they filmed A Lot Like Love in the courtyard and omg we live in Hollywood!" so it was kind of worth it anyway, at least for the crazy memories.

Matt came to visit me in DC in 2011 after he went through a bad breakup, and my god if we didn't paint the town and shut it down. He loved DC so much that he swore he'd move here. Within six months, he had. We've lived together since. We've survived a slumlord and bionic rats, and it has been so. much. fun.

He decided to go to grad school, and when Matt puts his mind to something - it happens. He got into American for international relations, and we tore up nachos and pitchers of margaritas to celebrate his victory. His success was my catalyst to finally do the same exact thing, a goal I've had for years but was too afraid to pursue because of the possibility of taking on more debt. He helped tutor me for the math portion of the GRE and has been my biggest fan in this process.

So for our last party together, we wanted to go out with a bang. With the help of our closest friends in the city, we went through a dozen bottles of wine, threw countless beer bottles in the recycling bin, ate fried turkey and deviled eggs until we nearly burst, laughed until our faces hurt, and filled our whole stinking basement apartment with holiday joy.

I can't wait to see what's next for us in 2014. 

capitol hill clasic 10K | race recap

I want to be one of those people who exclaim after a race how easy it was, comparatively, to the training for it, and how the miles flew by! Alas, I am not one of those people. The Capitol Hill Classic, my first ever race and first time running a 10k, was, I'll just say it, hard. It was hard!

I expected adrenaline to be the driving force, to have it carry me through much of the race. That was not the case. After the first 5 minutes or so, the adrenaline wore off, and it felt like any other run. Except on this run, I found it really difficult to distract myself and get out of my run and into my head. I made it a goal to run straight through to each of the water stops, placed at two mile intervals, and then to walk through those.

Miles 1-2 
I felt tired by the time I reached mile 1. I know myself and body enough to know that I wasn't tired at all, but I was focusing on my running instead of anything else. I kept hearing the runners around me, the crowds (that was nice, though!), and I struggled to find my groove. Mile 2 was better as I started to calm down and get into my zone.

Miles 3-4
Mile 3 was my best mile of the race. I got completely lost in my music and thoughts, and I'm pretty sure I fist-pumped my way around one bend in the road. Right around mile 4, it started to rain. It felt humid all morning, and the rain was a wonderful reprieve. Mile 4 was also my slowest and worst. I hit a wall, and I had to walk at two different points for short intervals. Mile 4 also had a decent-sized hill. I did some of my best running of the race on the hill but petered out once things flattened out.

Miles 5-6
The second I passed the 5 Mile marker, I felt a euphoria unlike anything I've ever experienced. Running highs are incredible, and I've experienced them occasionally in training runs, but this... oh wow. Oh wow! I knew when I saw that marker that I was going to finish, that I could do it, that I had already done most of it. I couldn't stop smiling. I knew that Zander, Matt, and Matt's boyfriend Ryan would be cheering me on at 5.5 miles. I used that as incentive and picked up my pace.

At the 6 mile marker, I thought I was done. I got emotional.... and then remembered 6.2. I still had a little ways to go. That last .2 sounded like the longest distance when I realized it. But when I rounded the corner and saw the finish line, I mustered up every bit of energy I had left in me, and I sprinted.

The finish 
I got emotional as I crossed the finish line. I bent over panting, and I had a silly stupid smile plastered on my face. I checked my RunKeeper app when I could breathe again. It was way off, saying I had run 6.6 miles at an 11:00 minute/mile pace. I met up with my friend Courtney and congratulated her for her PR.

Results 
I ran at an 11:28 minute/mile pace, which is close to what I anticipated. I don't know how I feel about it? But I guess I am a little disappointed. I'm glad I have a race under my belt, and I ran 85% of it. I didn't sleep well (at all, eek) the night before, and I've had a cold all week that I felt coming on Saturday evening before the race. I'm not sure how much, if at all, those factors affected my run, but I'm excited to see how I'll do in another one. Another one!

Next up 
I'm planning to the run the Biggest Loser 10K in July and tentatively the Annapolis 10-miler in August. After this race, I truly wonder if I'm insane for doing it again.

And now... 
I was limping the day after the race. I erred by not icing after the race (such a dumb mistake), and my calves were so tight it was painful to walk. On top of tight calves, the pain in my right inner leg (posterior shin splints?) returned with a vengeance, and I'm still sore today. I need to see a doctor or talk to someone to figure this out before I start training again.

Thanks to everyone who encouraged me for this race and offered such great advice. A great, huge, big thank you to the guys in my life who were there to cheer me on. It meant so much to me!

casa fiesta de cinco de mayo!

I had an unopened bottle of Don Julio tequila that Zander and I brought back from Mexico, and I knew what I had to do with it: pitchers of Corona-ritas for Cinco de Mayo. Since Cinco was on a Sunday this year, Matt and I opted to host a brunch party. We made chilaquiles, queso (the recipe), and churros, while Zan manned peppers, onions, and chorizo on the grill. Friends brought chips and guacamole, salsa, and even homemade Mexican chocolate sorbet. We downed mango bellinis, too quickly forged our way through the tequila, and there are still a dozen Mexican beers in my fridge. 

Melanie sent me links throughout the week leading up to the party for everything from churro popcorn to a DIY photobooth. I knew I had to have a photobooth after I saw that, but I didn't have time to find the materials I'd need for the fringe. Zan came to the rescue with a simple way to hang a blanket we purchased in Tulum on a brick wall in Matt's and my apartment.

Matt made a last-minute trip to Party City for props - 'staches, maracas, a miniature sombrero, and a big 'ole colorful one. Zan brought over his oversized straw sombrero to complete the looks. Matt and I took a "family portrait" with Theo. That dog sure knows how to rock a mustache.

My old college and DC roommate (so much history!) came into town with her boyfriend for the weekend, and man oh man it was so good to see them. We had a great turnout for the party, and it was such a great time with so many wonderful friends that we've already started planning a bigger, better photobooth party for next year. 

It was a lot of fun incorporating some of the culture (cough tequila) Zander and I experienced in Mexico into a celebration with friends here at home. The occasion also inspired me to do what I love possibly even more than taking photobooth pictures: travel-related research. Here's a short overview of what Cinco de Mayo is really all about and why we (yes, we Americans!) celebrate it. 

Okay, I lied. I don't love anything more than taking photobooth pictures.

russian dessert blinis

My roommate Matt, who blogs over at 27aday, moved to D.C. from L.A. last June. He and his former roommates in L.A. started a weekly tradition of homemade "family" dinners - each meal inspired by different countries drawn out of a hat. An appetizer from Poland, an entree from Namibia and a dessert from New Zealand, for example. A few weeks ago he pitched the idea for our house, and I jumped right up on the culinary tour bandwagon. Instead of each course from a different country, we're doing one meal per. Matt's doing most of the cooking, as he's using it for a new blog project of his that I won't reveal until he unveils it, but I'm more than pleased to be a tasting guinea pig.

We drew Russia for week one. Matt chose to make the popular dish Beef Straganoff. The traditional version of this dish is very different than what we see in American kitchens and restaurants. My first thought when he chose it was, "meh." It brought to mind images of canned mushroom soup, limp mushrooms, egg noodles, and that soppy creamy texture that needs a lot of work to be considered even edible, in my book. The real version, as he found out, involves no canned soup, arguably no mushrooms (there's a serious culinary debate over that one!), is served with pan fried potatoes, and the beef tenderloin is sauteed or flash fried. The real version? It's great.

Matt opted to serve our beef stroganoff with Russian blinis. Blinis, not bellinis - which got me really excited (mmm prosecco!), are flat pancake-like dough fried with onion. They're served with savory items - like stroganoff! or caviar, beef strips, etc. They've also been traditionally served with honey or jam.

I'm glad I had my narrow opinion on beef stroganoff challenged. You'll never find egg noodles on my dinner table in this dish again. Side note: we also made fried potatoes to try them, as well, and unanimously voted the beef better with them than the blinis.

Many cultures have these pancake-like dishes. I imagine they come from peasant roots, don't you? They're simple, cheap and can feed quite a few people. And for Russia's purposes, they're warm and filling. 

As I ate them with the warm beef, I immediately thought of crêpes and imagined ways to make them sweet, instead of savory (of course I did...). Luckily, we had quite a bit of batter left - enough for 4-5 more blinis, and two ended up being more than enough.

We were out of Nutella - my first choice for a quick dessert blini, so I scavenged some more. I skipped the onion on the skillet and used a pat of butter instead to fry the batter. After letting it brown on one side, I flipped it to brown on the other. I dusted brown sugar on top, added a few drops of vanilla, and sprinkled on a small handful of chocolate chips. I folded over a third of the blini on top of itself, then rolled it the rest of the way. Voila! An American-Russian-French inspired dessert. That's what America's all about, right?

Russian Blinis

you'll need...

• 1 cup flour (be prepared! these will be runny. for a heartier blini, add more flour, up to an addl cup)
• 3 cups milk
• 2-3 eggs, mixed in one at a time
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil (for frying) *you can substitute cooking spray or butter
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• half an onion, peeled

here's how...

• beat eggs with milk. 
• add salt & flour and stir, stir, stir (mix well)! 
• beat out the lumps or drain, if lumps persist. 
• spear your onion with a fork and dip it in oil (or skip this step and use cooking spray/butter). rub the onion along the pan to grease it every time you make a new blini. 
• pour a thin layer of batter into the pan (we used a little less than 1/2 cup for each blini). 
• cook until lightly browned - about 2 minutes, flip & brown the other side.

dessert blini...

• skip the onion & use butter instead to grease the pan 
• brown on one side & flip
• dust with brown sugar (a large pinch, more by taste)
• add a few drops of vanilla (no more than 1/2 teaspoon)
• sprinkle with chocolate chips
• roll and serve with milk (mmmmm I want another now!)

Thai Square

Remember when I waxed poetic about Thai Square in Arlington? Now, finally, I can wax nostalgic about it.

[caption id="attachment_180" align="aligncenter" width="538"] Post Great Falls rain hike fuel with Matt & Randall. It looks like a hole in the wall, but we felt a little too disheveled and dirty once we were inside![/caption]

[caption id="attachment_175" align="aligncenter" width="538"] First course: spring rolls and sun-dried beef. The rolls are perfectly fried, and you can taste the shiitake mushrooms used in them.This picture doesn't show the beef in the best light, but it's quite good. The red sauce is spicy; it's a perfect starter dish to share.[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_176" align="aligncenter" width="538"] Second course: noodles and curry! Randall got chicken panang (top left); Matt got pad see ew (right) and I got my standard, drunken noodles (below). Panang is traditionally heavy on coconut milk and medium on spice. They nailed it. It had a great flavor. Matt's pad see ew stole the show. It's smoky. My pad kee mao didn't impress. It had the right amount of spice, but it carried a strong chargrilled flavor that didn't stop me from eating it, but kept me nibbling at Matt and Randall's dishes.[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_177" align="aligncenter" width="538"] My first words when we sat down were, "No matter HOW FULL I get, we have to order mango and sticky rice!" So we did. It's my favorite dessert, and it did not disappoint at Thai Square.[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_178" align="aligncenter" width="538"]
I really, really love mango and sticky rice. Did I mention that?![/caption]

When we walked in for lunch on a Saturday, the restaurant was 3/4 full of Thai nationals. If that doesn't say it all, I don't know what will!

Our meal came to about $22 each, but as you saw, we ate everything (and ordered sodas/beer). They have great lunch specials for $7.95, but unfortunately the deal is only Monday-Friday. On a weekend, you can expect to eat for $12-15, including tip, if you skip the appetizers and drinks.

Thai Square Menu

over the river and through the mud, on a Great Falls hike we go...

I've been hankering to do a mud run for several years, and after taking on a mud/rain hike this weekend, I'm positively convinced it needs to happen STAT.

Randall, Matt & I had planned to go hiking on Saturday, and when it started pouring, and the weather channel predicted rain and storms all day, somehow we still got in the car and headed out, you know, I guess on the hope that it would stop? It didn't, and it was freaking awesome. I'm like
a six year oldmy puppy Theodore on a muddy trail - I don't avoid puddles, I jump in them!



Little Theo is, ah, well, hyperactive, to say the least. I thought as a Beagle/Basset mix he'd have the curiosity and cute face of a beagle with the lazy, adorable long body of a basset. Aside from the body parts, I was way, way wrong. My little Bagle Hound is a freak of nature. He's supernaturally energetic at all hours of the day or night. And he will walk you if you let him, and it's mostly impossible to not. And he loves hiking. He's all hound, that's for sure - he smells anything, like a rock, I swear, he'll run to chase it and want to play with it.

So anyway, we brought Theo along with us, and I, like the clever pet owner I think I am, brought a cup of peanut butter for him. He loves peanut butter, and I use it in training him to be better on the leash. What I learned: hiking > peanut butter. He didn't care one iota about the peanut butter. He smelled mud, it was raining, and he was in nature; he was the happiest little dog. He practically made our fairly easy hike into a mud run, as we pulled him and called out to him and ran to keep up with him. And it was freaking awesome.



We trekked the 25 minutes or so out to Great Falls on the Maryland side to hike the Billy Goat section "C" trail. I wanted to show Randall and Matt section "A," the most strenuous of the three (though not very), chock full of rock scrambling. "A" contains a pretty steep section, however, that dogs can't do (trust, don't try), and given the rain, would be treacherous.



Hiking "C" turned out to be beautiful and a section of Great Falls I'd never seen before. There's only about 200 feet of incline, so it's a simple, laid back hike. That said, you really do feel encompassed by green, locked in a forest all your own (especially when it's raining and muddy and no one else dares to hike!). There are incredible pockets between the foliage allowing for pristine views of the Potomac.



There's a waterfall mid-way through the hike, a small but lovely one, that requires slightly tricky footwork to cross, especially when the water is high. Theo doesn't like water, to say the least, and Matt had to soothe him and help him across.



The "C" section trail we did was only about 1.5 miles. You can do it as a loop, walking the last .5 miles on the paved road to return to the parking lot. We opted to make it an out-and-back hike, returning the way we came, to make it a solid 3 miles.



You know what the best part of hiking is? It's freeeeeee!!! Well, there's gas, but at a mere 25 minutes outside D.C., it's nominal.* If there's any greater feeling than accomplishing a great hike, it's being rain-drenched and mud-covered after!

http://youtu.be/piVKR5iv1xo

*Unfortunately, Great Falls is 7-10 miles from the nearest Metro, making it inaccessible by public transportation.