One Month Left

Hello All! I have so much to write about! I doubt I will have the time for all of it.

Last weekend Juliet and I went to the Japanese Festival in downtown. It was awesome. There were so many crazy costumes! We found a group dressed as Sailor Moon, a group of Pokemons and there were tons of people wearing Kimonos. We bought a Japanese soda, which was surprisingly good. To make the drink fizzy, you have to drop a kind of marble into the bottle. Juliet and I struggled to figure it out for a few minutes, but once we got the directions down, it was worth it. We didn’t want to spend all of our money at the random booths though, so instead of eating there, we headed over to Old Siam in Eastern Market. Yummy!

I love the flowers in DC

Acting dumb in a Kimono

Sunday was such a pretty day again. It had been a little colder on Friday and Saturday, but Sunday was HOT. Lori, Juliet, Madelon, Noel and I ate at Le Bon Café just around the corner. We all got the French toast with fresh fruit. We got to eat on the patio and I enjoyed a nice Sunday brunch. After eating, we all headed out to the National Mall to meet up with other interns for a game of Ultimate Frisbee. I had so much fun and I found out that I am pretty good at the game. The only thing I regret about the game is that I was sore after, I could barely walk. It’s been a long time since I was that active- jumping, running, reaching, sliding and falling. But I had so much fun and I was glad to meet some other Texas interns. I think we plan on playing again one night this week.

Before the Ultimate Frisbee Game

This weekend was amazing too. Juliet, Abby and I headed to PHILLY! We were only in the city for like 32 hours, but it was a blast. We stayed closed to Independence Mall, which has the Liberty Bell, Independence Hall, Old City Hall and Congress Hall. All the good stuff. :] We walked down Elfreths Alley which has original row houses and people still live in them today. It was too cute. We toured Betsy Ross's house and ate real Philly Cheesesteaks. Mmm delicious. We shopped around little boutiques on 3rd street and Arch Street. My favorite parts were Independence Hall and the Rodin Museum. I loved the Philadelphia Museum of Art but it was just so huge! It is such a grand building- its were Rocky runs up the steps! But from the courtyard there is a beautiful view of the city. It was really a great place, I loved it. There were tons of parks and greenery, art and history, and I didn't really see any of the rough parts. It was a great trip, but I think I could have spent more time there.

Elfreths Alley

Independence Hall

Philly Cheesesteak! YUM

The Liberty Bell

Betsy Ross's House

Franklins Grave

This is just Part 1 of Philadelphia! Please return tomorrow for part 2! I have more to talk about but its just too late. :] Goodnight

April!

This has been a great week. I have half days so I was able to see a bit more of the city. I headed out to Old Town Alexandria one day just to walk around. Kings Street was lined with antique shops, little coffee houses and book stores. It was a very quiet and quaint area. I was able to relax underneath a shady spot in the park and I had a great day just wandering around without a plan.

As I promised before, here is a photo blog of recent events!

The Kite Festival brought hundreds of people to the National Mall!

I loved to look at all the different Kites

The Smithsonian Castle

I got to fly this kite for a bit! TIE DYE!

We played a little frisbee too

Chinatown!

Shannon and Salmon P. Chase

Salmon is pictured here on the left side, middle row, and closer to the center.

This is a poster of potential presidential candidates. Lincoln is right below Chase.

Shannon and Sam Houston!

Shannon and Lincoln

We really liked these pieces of art at the National Portrait Gallery.

The White House!

The Archives.

"The heritage of the past is the seed that brings forth the harvest of the future"

"Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty"

Sam Houston statue in Statuary Hall

Statuary Hall

The pretty architecture of the Capitol. Right outside the Old Supreme Court.

The Apotheosis of Washington

Nada Surf !! =] LOVE IT!!

Abby and I in Adams Morgan.

Shannon and I at Perrys for Easter Brunch.

Napping on the National Mall :]

At the Natural History Museum, meeting a friend.

The Cherry Blossoms were in Full bloom around the Tidal Basin

The Washington Monument is gorgeous at night!

The Lincoln.

Alexandria City Hall

Some of the facts about the building

The cute little streets in old town.

There are so many different kinds of Tulips in dc!

Kite Festival/ Cherry Blossom Festival/ Easter

The past weeks have probably been my best time in DC so far. I have been having such a great time and I think I am starting to really savor the time I have left. Everything seems better when I know I only have a month left! I don’t know what it will be like when I get home and I leave all of these new friends and this great city. I am sad already!

I went to Congressman Mccalls DCxSW event at Eastern Market with Juliet, Abby and James. Texas Tech really had a great showing for the event! I saw Amber, Kate, Ryan Henry and a few other alumni’s along with other interns. It seemed like for the most part we were the only ones on the dance floor throughout the night. I have only been dancing a few times in Lubbock but I was able to follow the leader and had a great time!

It has hit tourist season in DC so the city is PACKED! The Kite festival was last weekend. I had a great day out on the National Mall. We flew kites, saw the Smithsonian Castle, watched a Merry-Go-Round and played Frisbee. It was beautiful and it finally felt like a real spring day. Our kite joined the hundreds of others above the green Mall- there were Disney princess kites, shark kites, tie-dye kites, and even homemade kites. It was so colorful! I felt like a kid again.

That weekend I played apples to apples and catch phrase with some of the roommates on Saturday night. I love game nights and I even won apples to apples! It was nice to stay in one night and I had fun with my roomies.

The week at work was an easy week. My office was really laid back with the Congressman gone for recess. I had a few tours, ran errands, went out to lunch each day and on Thursday we were given a half day. Shannon came in on Thursday night and I met her at the Metro station. We had a great weekend planned and I am happy to say we saw everything she wanted! It was her birthday on March 24^th so I wanted to make sure she had a great time in the city.

We arrived in Arlington cemetery first thing Friday morning. I hadn’t been there yet so I was just as excited as her! I had no idea how large the cemetery was, but the beautiful landscaping and endless trails impressed me. It was really busy so the line to the Custis-Lee mansion was lengthy by the time we arrived. We didn’t have time to stop, but we did get to see the Changing of the Guards, which was what we were really looking forward to. For lunch we had Taylor Gourmet sandwiches. Delicious!! We sat on the patio downtown and had a real city experience.

After lunch we stopped by the National Portrait Gallery. I showed Shannon my favorite portraits and took pictures with our distant cousin Salmon P. Chase. We have similar interests so its easy to move around museums with her. Her favorite section was the American Presidents, just like me! We made a quick stop at Lafayette Square to see the White House before heading back to our hotel.

Friday night we had tickets to see a band called Nada Surf. I took Shannon there for her birthday since they are one of her favorite bands, and we were not disappointed! The band probably played 20 songs and even came out for 2 encores! We had a really great spot in the balcony right at the railing, which is perfect for short girls like us! The 9:30 club was a really good venue and its one of the few places I can get into as a 19 year old! I think I will be sure to include information about it for future interns because they have a great list of artists playing there.

Saturday morning I took Shannon on a private tour of the Capitol. She loved the Brumidi Corridors and all of the artwork. She said she liked being a VIP and getting to go through normally closed hallways. The Archives were next and an hour wait in line was worth it to see the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.

Our day wasn’t over yet though and we headed out to the Nationals game. My legislative director gave me 3 free tickets to the game so Abby came along with my sister and me. It was a short game with the Red Sox blowing the Nationals away but it was fun to be at a ball park! I always enjoy getting a cold coke and peanuts, sitting back and watching the game. We stopped by the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial that night as our last stop. As you can imagine we were exhausted.

On Sunday morning we decided to celebrate Easter in a real DC fashion so we ate brunch at Perrys in Adams Morgan. It was an experience and quite interesting to say the least! Abby came along and we all had a blast laughing and eating tons of food. We spent the rest of the day stopping at each Smithsonian. We saw the Air and Space, the American History and the Natural History museums. We had a quick nap on the mall and then took pictures along the Tidal Basin. The Cherry Blossoms were amazing!

Finally we have seen everything there is to see in the city. I have not had such a busy weekend and I am exhausted. I have half days coming up this week. I have a feeling that I am going to really need it!

Photo blog coming next!!! =]