i'm aliveeeeeee

i know you probably weren't sure. but here i am.

i'll be honest - i haven't been eating very interesting dinners recently. that, and after my (super fun) birthday party, i was a little birthdayed out, so 28 days of 28 has kind of fallen by the wayside. (though i will resurrect it for the last day - more on that in a minute.)

i think the most interesting dinner we had when maya was visiting for the birthday party was when we went to figs, the morrocan restaurant in my 'hood - so delicious! though i wasn't totally thrilled with the flatbread i ordered. i will say - the high school food at the birthday party was also a highlight that weekend - we had elios! and pizza bagels and cheezeballs and fritos and cocktail weenies (among other things).

since then, i was in DC for a conference - as you all know, since i couldn't sister skype on thursday. we (my coworker cindy and i) ended up being so late to the conference that we didn't have time to check into the hotel before heading to the conference, so i had to attend the opening session in my jeans - yayyy being professional haha. it was a really good conference though - re-energized me about my job and made me really look forward to the day we can hire a third person so that i can really devote my time to some interesting new initiatives (though i can start working on that stuff now, even without a third person).

kevin met me in DC on friday night (my conference went until saturday morning) - so friday night, we went out with a combination of his friends and my friends who live in DC, which was fun (but not interesting foodwise - i was going to get a cuban sandwich but the bar we were at were out of the ingredients [???] so i ended up getting a veggie pocket - pita with hummus and grilled veggies). the next day, though... oh the next day. after the conference was over, we went to the renwick gallery, which was super cool - it's part of the smithsonian, with a focus on american craft - so lots of pieces done in wood or glass or fiber. my favorite there was the "bureau of bureaucracy" - it's a bureau with all these different levels of drawers and compartments, some of which are solid or hidden or have drawers inside drawers. really awesome allegory for bureaucracy haha.

after that, we went to this restaurant called "founding farmers" for a late lunch and i basically ate enough that i wasn't hungry again until breakfast the next day... we had founding farmers chips and crisps (basically homemade potato chips with three different kinds of dips - including pimento cheese) and then i ordered the chicken and waffles (SO good), which came with two sides - mac 'n cheese and a sweet potato. it was one of those meals where i knew i should stop, but i also knew i'd be so sad to let any of it go to waste... so i ate it all. i make no apologies; i have no regrets.

other than that... this week has been interesting. work was super busy yesterday (and kind of irritating - my boss has been getting on my nerves a lot recently), and then i went to my first spin class ever. imagine my surprise when i realized (in the middle of the class) that you don't spend the entire class sitting on the spin bike but that you sometimes STAND UP. i really started to hate third position by the end of the hour - but it was fun, and i'll def do it again! tonight, i'm going to dan and melanie's for dinner (dan's making chicken marsala) and then no plans on wednesday... and then hop sing laundromat (which is like a super secret speakeasy with delicious drinks and a dress code - i've never been but will provide a review afterward) on thursday to conclude 28 days of 28! and then, to start off march - denver on friday!

i am going to be so excited when i'm back from denver and don't have to go anywhere for at least 5 weekends in a row haha.