So I'll start this post by apologizing to my vegan and vegetarian friends!
This past weekend, Anne and I decided we would organize Burgerpalooza! Basically, we got together with Justin and a few new friends and went around to some of the places that were supposed to have the best burgers in Arlington. We went to Elevation, Ray's Hell Burger, BGR, and brgr:shack. NFL slowed us down! At the first 3 places we got one mega burger and split it between the six of us, and at the last place we split a few different burgers! We all agreed that Elevation was out, but everybody had different favorites between the others.
Ray's Hell had HUGE burgers! This is the place that the President loves - he's gone there with VP Biden and he also took Russian President Dmitry Medvedev there! It's nothing fancy - you just order the burger at the counter and then sit down - somewhat of a hole-in-the-wall place, but so delicious!
BGR is right near my condo and it was spectacular....EXCEPT, it was a little too "juicy" if you know what I mean. The minute we cut into it, it looked a little scary! The meat was cooked, but there was just way too much juice for my liking.
brgr:shack was my favorite! We had all different kinds of burgers here! Justin had the yum:brgr - organic spring mix, tomato, avocado, brie, and wasabi sauce! So good! Anne and I split the m:brgr - the standard cheeseburger with special "shack island sauce." The last one we tried was the fancy:zola - lettuce, tomato, bacon, Gruyere cheese, shackberry sauce, and a full salad on a pumpernickel bun! Wowzer!
Pictures to follow! :)
Everyone loved it though and we had a blast so we've decided to start doing this with all kinds of foods! Up next - TACO TOUR! :)
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Things I Miss About Florida
1. The sun and having a tan. It rained nonstop for about five days this past week, and it was about eight days straight with no sun. Now I see why people in the north are a tad bit grumpy! Note to self - buy vitamin D supplements and a tanning membership.
2. Carrying a pink umbrella in the rain without getting made fun of. Apparently everybody here carries black umbrellas. Except the crazy girl from Florida who didn't get the memo that the minute summer ends, all color must be put away. When I pulled out my pink umbrella at work, this girl said "Oh my God! Is your umbrella pink? Let me guess, it also has Hello Kitty on it?" Note to self - buy a black umbrella.
3. Knowing the location of all of the random counties and cities, and how to get to any of them. In Florida, I could drive down any highway and knowing exactly where I was at and what was in each direction. Same thing when I listened to the news and they talked about a random story in a random town or issued some kind of weather alert for a specific area. I never thought that was something I should appreciate. But now, I drive around, blindly following my GPS with no clue which direction I'm going or what's around me. I just pray my GPS knows where she's going and how to get me home! And everytime I hear a weather alert and they say "take cover immediately," I hide in my closet only to find out later that the area under alert was actually 2 hours away in Maryland. Note to self - buy a map. And study it.
4. College football. People here just don't get college football. They barely even get NFL. Instead they play and watch some ridiculous thing called lacrosse. On Saturday, I went out in jeans, rainbows, and an FSU tee, which in Florida would be perfect Saturday attire during fall. I think I saw one other person wearing any sort of college football shirt. Instead I saw a bunch of cardigans. Noto to self - trade in my FSU tee for a nice garnet or gold cardigan. Actually, no. New note to self - keep wearing my FSU tee with pride! Go Noles!
5. Publix subs. There is nothing like a Publix sub. I was really craving one yesterday - seemed the perfect meal to cure a hangover and kickoff college football Saturday. So, I thought, well everybody says Harris Teeter is just like Publix and they have Boar's Head subs. Nope. Harris Teeter subs are NOT like Publix subs. The bread was hard, the lunch meat was sliced way too thick, and the girl gave me attitude when I requested that she slice cheddar for my sub. Note to self - never get a Harris Teeter sub again, eat 80 Publix subs when I visit home, and try to find a new delicious sub place in the city.
2. Carrying a pink umbrella in the rain without getting made fun of. Apparently everybody here carries black umbrellas. Except the crazy girl from Florida who didn't get the memo that the minute summer ends, all color must be put away. When I pulled out my pink umbrella at work, this girl said "Oh my God! Is your umbrella pink? Let me guess, it also has Hello Kitty on it?" Note to self - buy a black umbrella.
3. Knowing the location of all of the random counties and cities, and how to get to any of them. In Florida, I could drive down any highway and knowing exactly where I was at and what was in each direction. Same thing when I listened to the news and they talked about a random story in a random town or issued some kind of weather alert for a specific area. I never thought that was something I should appreciate. But now, I drive around, blindly following my GPS with no clue which direction I'm going or what's around me. I just pray my GPS knows where she's going and how to get me home! And everytime I hear a weather alert and they say "take cover immediately," I hide in my closet only to find out later that the area under alert was actually 2 hours away in Maryland. Note to self - buy a map. And study it.
4. College football. People here just don't get college football. They barely even get NFL. Instead they play and watch some ridiculous thing called lacrosse. On Saturday, I went out in jeans, rainbows, and an FSU tee, which in Florida would be perfect Saturday attire during fall. I think I saw one other person wearing any sort of college football shirt. Instead I saw a bunch of cardigans. Noto to self - trade in my FSU tee for a nice garnet or gold cardigan. Actually, no. New note to self - keep wearing my FSU tee with pride! Go Noles!
5. Publix subs. There is nothing like a Publix sub. I was really craving one yesterday - seemed the perfect meal to cure a hangover and kickoff college football Saturday. So, I thought, well everybody says Harris Teeter is just like Publix and they have Boar's Head subs. Nope. Harris Teeter subs are NOT like Publix subs. The bread was hard, the lunch meat was sliced way too thick, and the girl gave me attitude when I requested that she slice cheddar for my sub. Note to self - never get a Harris Teeter sub again, eat 80 Publix subs when I visit home, and try to find a new delicious sub place in the city.
Monday, September 5, 2011
Month 1 Down!
Hi friends! So, I survived my first month in DC! :) It's definitely not the same without the girls, but I'm slowly making new friends and doing new things. So, here's a little update since my last post!
After the earthquake, we got a little taste of Irene. It rained for about 2 days straight, and then cleared up Sunday afternoon, which turned out to be the most beautiful day! After being couped up inside, I thought I'd take a little walk into the city. I ended up walking 7 miles. It's amazing how I didn't even notice! I walked another 7 this weekend. It's so crazy how many things there are to see and how easy it is to see them while getting in some exercise - which is balancing out my cupcakes nicely. Although, I'm about to move from cupcakes to mac n cheese - more on that in a later post!
So anyway, the following morning I headed to the airport for my first work trip! I hadn't met my boss yet, so I met him at the airport. I was worried it would be a little awkward since I haven't seen him since my interview almost a year ago, but it was great! He's talkative and personable. We talked so much at the airport that neither of us noticed that they changed our gate. Next thing we hear our names being paged over the loud speaker!! Oops! So we ran and thankfully caught our flight to Nashville! We spent the next 3 nights there, working on a hearing and checking out the local restaurants. We ate at this BBQ place that was AMAZING, but I ended up smelling like BBQ for the next 6 days. And yes, that was even after 6 showers. We flew back on Thursday morning. After reflecting on that trip, I realized that in exchange for my measly pay (okay, it's not THAT measly, but it's definitely not like private practice), the government actually has some amazing benefits, such as per diem.
Anyway, I made it back in time on Thursday for my first big kickball game! Anne came over a little before the game and we seriously contemplated having a few drinks because we were so nervous. Somehow I was more nervous about kickball than I was about my first work trip or meeting my boss in the airport. It turns out that somehow Anne and I ended up on the defending championship team! Scary considering we were googling the rules just 30 minutes before the game started. But it actualy turned out to be so much fun! We play right in front of the Washington Monument. The games are short and everybody on our team was so much fun! Our captain was drinking White Russians out of a Gatorade bottle during the game (your kinda girl, Bai!). After the game ended, we went to a bar near the White House where we played the same team from kickball in flip cup. Anne and I had to leave early, but I'm sure my flip cup skills will shine this Thursday! I doubt James Madison (where some of our team when to school), knows as much about flip cup as I learned at FSU.
So, that's about it! I'm planning on hitting the gym at work this week since I'm in town to check out the agents...don't worry Jen and Brenda, a full report on that is coming soon! :) But as a preview, I will say, there are guys EVERYWHERE. It's definitely different than Daytona/Ormond. The problem is no longer that there is nobody to date, the problem now is that there are just too many! Don't worry though, I won't complain. :)
After the earthquake, we got a little taste of Irene. It rained for about 2 days straight, and then cleared up Sunday afternoon, which turned out to be the most beautiful day! After being couped up inside, I thought I'd take a little walk into the city. I ended up walking 7 miles. It's amazing how I didn't even notice! I walked another 7 this weekend. It's so crazy how many things there are to see and how easy it is to see them while getting in some exercise - which is balancing out my cupcakes nicely. Although, I'm about to move from cupcakes to mac n cheese - more on that in a later post!
So anyway, the following morning I headed to the airport for my first work trip! I hadn't met my boss yet, so I met him at the airport. I was worried it would be a little awkward since I haven't seen him since my interview almost a year ago, but it was great! He's talkative and personable. We talked so much at the airport that neither of us noticed that they changed our gate. Next thing we hear our names being paged over the loud speaker!! Oops! So we ran and thankfully caught our flight to Nashville! We spent the next 3 nights there, working on a hearing and checking out the local restaurants. We ate at this BBQ place that was AMAZING, but I ended up smelling like BBQ for the next 6 days. And yes, that was even after 6 showers. We flew back on Thursday morning. After reflecting on that trip, I realized that in exchange for my measly pay (okay, it's not THAT measly, but it's definitely not like private practice), the government actually has some amazing benefits, such as per diem.
Anyway, I made it back in time on Thursday for my first big kickball game! Anne came over a little before the game and we seriously contemplated having a few drinks because we were so nervous. Somehow I was more nervous about kickball than I was about my first work trip or meeting my boss in the airport. It turns out that somehow Anne and I ended up on the defending championship team! Scary considering we were googling the rules just 30 minutes before the game started. But it actualy turned out to be so much fun! We play right in front of the Washington Monument. The games are short and everybody on our team was so much fun! Our captain was drinking White Russians out of a Gatorade bottle during the game (your kinda girl, Bai!). After the game ended, we went to a bar near the White House where we played the same team from kickball in flip cup. Anne and I had to leave early, but I'm sure my flip cup skills will shine this Thursday! I doubt James Madison (where some of our team when to school), knows as much about flip cup as I learned at FSU.
So, that's about it! I'm planning on hitting the gym at work this week since I'm in town to check out the agents...don't worry Jen and Brenda, a full report on that is coming soon! :) But as a preview, I will say, there are guys EVERYWHERE. It's definitely different than Daytona/Ormond. The problem is no longer that there is nobody to date, the problem now is that there are just too many! Don't worry though, I won't complain. :)
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