Memorial Day Weekend - That time I ran into the President

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Saturday Workout: Moving boxes up and down stairs for hours into storage before I leave for Italy THIS WEEKEND!

Sunday Workout:  4 miles run, Sculpt Class at Core Power Yoga

Monday Workout: 6 miles run

Tuesday Workout: Sculpt class at Core Power Yoga (Last class I'll be able to make it to before departure!)

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Sorry I have been MIA. I have been running around like a crazy person to pull my life together before I pick it up and move it to Italy for the summer. It's crazy how quickly this day has come. I have been thinking about it since August and I have always had this weird feeling that it sounds great but isn't actually going to happen. But it is. I'm really going.

Since I know this summer will be spent outside my comfort zone, I wanted to take this long weekend and use the time (that wasn't spent packing) to do the things I love. Movie and wine nights with girlfriends, reading magazines in the backyard with the roomies, walks down to Dean and Deluca to grab Iced Tea, stroll down M Street to do some window shopping, and of course, running.

My grandfather is buried in Arlington National Cemetery and since I run over the Memorial Bridge on almost all my runs, I decided to stop by and pay my respects on Memorial Day. His grave is tucked in the back so when I saw a cluster of cars and a group of a about 30 people gathered to the side of the street I assumed there was an actual burial ceremony happening, so I crossed the street as to not get too close and and intrude. As I got closer I noticed that the cars had the presidential flag on the mirrors and had an "Oh my gosh!" moment as I realized the President must be nearby. Sure enough, he and the first lady were just walking to the car right next to me after paying their respects at the cemetery. I tried to not be a complete creeper, but I don't know if I'll ever be within 3 feet of the First Family again so I decided to "change the song on my ipod / play paparazzi"

These photos are terrible, I barely got Michelle, and the President was always looking away or had his head down. But it was a pretty cool moment for me.

Walking around Arlington reminded me how lucky I am to be an American, and how much we owe to our armed forces. I feel weird wishing people a "Happy" Memorial Day, as the day is intended to remember those who have served our country, and many people (especially on days like this) are grieving those that they have lost. I do hope everyone took the weekend to stop and take a minute enjoy and be thankful for the life that these men and women have afforded us.

Weekend Things: Flowers, Vino, Red Cups

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Today's Workout: 5 miles walking, 45 min elliptical

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This was a bittersweet weekend. I leave for Italy in 12 days, I haven't packed a thing, and the boyfriend came up this weekend to pick up the pup for the summer. It was lonely waking up this morning without my furry buddy. People that have dogs can relate, those who don't think I'm a freak... I'm ok with that.

Some bright spots of the weekend were new blooms for the living room...

Breaking in the new patio for a little vino night with some girls....

A yard party with some of my favorite people. Red cups felt like a serious throwback...

An awkward pose with my uber-photogenic pup...

And some crab cake bites at Martin's (we love crab cakes) before heading to the waterfront to meet some friends for drinks...

Hope you all had  agood weekend!

Weekend Things: Nike Women's Half, Flip Cup, and Fiesta

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Today's Workout: Rest

Monthly Health Goal - No Eating After 8:00pm:

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I almost called in sick like 10 times this morning. Not that I'm particularly sick, just tired, and my boyfriend was still here and it seemed like a much better idea to just stay at home this raining morning. Alas, I brought myself to the office and here we are.

This weekend was fun but exhausting. I will give a full recap of the Nike Women's DC Half Marathon tomorrow. On Friday, some of the girls and I went to the EXPO, and then walked around the corner to Paper Moon for some yummy Italian food. You can never start carbo-loading too early, right?? The food was great, as was the service. The price point was also very reasonable for the portions - and considering it was Georgetown.

On Saturday I attended a charity flip cup fundraiser at the Exchange for some of my friends who are doing the Tour de Cure this summer. I flipped cups of water... so I wasn't a complete buzz kill. The weather was perfect, and if I didn't have big dinner plans with the boy I would have been ordering some food off the menu. Looking at all the other tables on the patio was making me  drool.

Later that evening Kyle and I kept the carbo-loading going with a chicken pesto pizza at Paulo's complete with cherry tomatoes, spinach, and goat cheese.

We went without a reservation which was dumb, because I know this place is always packed. Luckily, there was a high top table for two open in the bar the suited us just fine.

After dinner I laid out my things for race morning and called it an early night. I had one of the worst pre-race nights of sleep I've ever had. My allergies were in full swing and my throat would not stop itching, my nose would not stop running, I could not stop sneezing, and I felt all-over miserable. When I woke up on race morning, I was still dealing with a lot of drainage and felt very very nauseous. I ate half a zone bar and drank water on the way to the course, where I met up with some other fearless females who were going to be making the 13.1 mile trek.

We weren't the only ones showing Boston love - all stars Joan Benoit and Shalane Flanagan were representing Boston too.

I was able to hold 7:30-7:40 pace until about mile 9.6 when my drainage became too much and, to avoid TMI, I got  a little sick on the side of the road. I think mile 10 was around 8:05, 11 was 8:15, 12 was 8:20, and 13 was 8:50. As you can tell, after I got sick I hit a serious wall. Everything tightened up. I felt terrible and started thinking the finish would never come. It did, and I was pretty close to my goal. I wanted to break 1:45 and and I ran 1:45 and some change.

I tend to spend a lot of time during races weaving around people, which I know is part of it, so I obviously take into account my chip time, but for personal goals I set up my map my run to tell me when I reached 13.1. I believe my chip time was closer to 1:48.

After I finished we rushed home so I could shower and make it over to a surprise birthday brunch at El Centro for this pretty girl. This is one of our favorite brunch spots in D.C. for many reasons. One, they have amazing food (of the Mexican variety) and a large selection on the menu. Everything is bottomless - bottomless mimosas, bottomless bloodies, bottomless quac, bottomless tacos, bottomless EVERYTHING. You will definitely want reservations here, I think I heard the hostess say without reservations the wait was around 2 hours.

She had no idea that we were planning a brunch for her so by Saturday night she figured we had all forgot it was her birthday and had arranged a little gathering at our place Sunday evening. We obviously weren't going to cancel once she found out about the brunch, so we continued the festivities late into Sunday evening. I was a zombie around 8:00 and was pretty much in a daze as people came and went.

I slept like a baby last night, and was not ready to be greeted by my alarm this morning. Check back tomorrow for a full race recap!

Sumeria's DC Capitol Gala

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Today's Workout: 3 miles easy with Tubby on the Track, 4 miles biking.

Monthly Health Goal - No eating after 8:00 pm:

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Last Friday I attended the Sumeria Group's DC Capital Gala at the Sphinx Club with some friends and had a blast. Below are some official photos from the group's page:

And some that I snapped....



(Dress by Modcloth - Holiday in Paradise)

I seem to struggle explaining what Sumeria is to other people so I'll just use the definition that is on their page - "Sumeria helps nonprofits, start ups, and other emerging brands connect with talented young professional through customized social events."

We had a fantastic time dancing the night away in a room filled with 700 young professionals all looking to soak up as much fun and opportunity in DC as possible. Check out their site for upcoming events in your area!

Spring Things

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Saturday's Workout: 11 miles

Sunday's Workout: 3 miles, barre class

Today's Workout: 45 min cross train

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Today is April 1. When did this happen? How is the year going by so fast?? Lots and lots of developments on my end....

Plans for the Italy internship are set! My flight is booked, apartment secured. Flight for the boyfriend to come visit booked. Flight for the parents to come visit booked. To-do list of things to handle before I take-off....growing.

But I can't wait to spend a summer working here....


As for current events in D.C., things have been busy. I was greeted with a lot of commotion on a morning run around the SCOTUS Building this past week. No matter your political views, I'm always humbled to be reminded I live in the center of a lot action.

I was fortunate enough to attend a Women in Foriegn Policy event last week at the White House, and snuck a quick pic. (Don't tell Secret Service)

While heading to class I stumbled across a new display of books that had been recently published by faculty of our University.  Another "pinch me, I'm lucky to be here moment."

I was also hoping to see some Cherry Blossoms on a run this weekend around the tidal basin given our fantastic weather, but they haven't quite made an appearance.

Sunday was spent relaxing and celebrating Easter at a friends house.

Spring is off to a cahotic start, but I'm sorta loving every minute of it. So many exciting things are on the agenda, and I'm just enjoying the ride.

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend!

MATS DC

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Today's Workout: 60 min biking (lots of hills!); 5 min elliptical warm up, 3 x 20 walking lunges, 3 x 20 wall squats with stability ball, 3 x 20 cleans with 10 lb dumbbells, 25 side crunches with stability ball (each side), 50 crunches with stability ball, 50 inner-thigh pulses with stability ball, 60 second forward plan, 60 second side plank (each side)

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As it seems that I am never staying put for too long, here's a little post on my preferred way of escaping DC via the airport.

Obviously, taxis are an option for trips to and from DCA, but when flying Dulles, taxi prices are a little outrageous. Oh, you want to charge me extra for lifting my carry-on and putting it in the trunk? And, you want to charge me extra just because an airport is the destination? NO THANK YOU!

I discovered MATs via a DC-know-it all friend last year and have never turned back.  They charge a flat rate from anywhere in the city to either airport, no extra fees for bags, no extra fees per person. I knew the DCA rate was lower than what a taxi would cost me from previous experience, but I used this D.C. Taxi Fare Calculator to get an estimate for my recent flight in and out of Dulles and sure enough - the luxury sedan was less expensive.

source

Other perks? I hate the stress of how long it will take to get someone on the phone / find a cab on the street when I am trying to catch a flight.  Every time I have used MATs they have been sitting outside my door waiting for me by the time the clock struck my "pick-up time." Also, you can pay in advance with your credit card. I never carry cash and hate having to incur ridiculous charges at airport ATMs so that I can withdraw some cab fare. Also - after being stuck on a plane, the last thing I want to do is wait in a taxi line at the airport. I love being able to call my driver, let them know I have arrived, and walk out to the sedan - easy breezy.

I always saw people coming and going from airports in these "luxury sedans" and thought - man that would be nice, but probably not worth the money. Completely clueless that I could arrive in style while saving some $$ - grad school win win win!!!

Sweet Weekend with Sweet Potato Fries

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Today's Workout: 60 min cross train

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This past weekend was my first in over a month spent in D.C. My other half came to visit me from Chapel Hill and brought back the other love of my life.

This was the first time I have been away from the pup for more than a week since we got him. I will be going away for an international internship this summer and he will be staying with the boyfriend (stupid joint custody). We thought it would be good to give them both some practice so its less of an adjustment when I peace out for a few months.  To help cope with my withdrawals, I requested he text me a picture of the pooch every day. Here were some of my favs:

We spent a lot of the weekend spending time with friends watching basketball. We ventured out to The Daily Grill for some of the games, and snacked on some crab cake sliders.

We also tallied our brackets from the comfort of our own couch and made some homemade treats.

I love sweet potatoes and am a BIG fan of the sweet potato fries served at Top of the Hill in Chapel Hill. We decided to give it a go on our own:

The Top of the Hill version comes with cheese on top, so we usually ask for cheese to only be put on half - he loves cheese and I try to avoid it. We went with the same method in our recreation.

So delicious. I also whipped up my favorite Almond Flour Pancakes for breakfast - also seen here.



Hope you all had a wonderful weekend as well!

All over the District

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Today's Workout: 40 min bike

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This past weekend was my third weekend in a row away from DC. But before I could hit the road, I had some rounds to make around the District.

Thursday night a group of friends met at Nooshi in downtown for dinner. Located really close to my office, I have been here for happy hour a few times but never for actual dinner.

I love sushi but that night I was in the mood for something  a little less raw. I tried the Peanut Noodles and was not disappointed. Others in the group did the Pad Thai and Sushi. One of the guys said he thinks it is the best sushi (for the price) that he has had in the city. It's been awhile since I've had theirs so I'll have to try it again before I confirm or deny this.

The crowd is young and fun, and the decor is vibrant. This place doesn't look like much from the outside but is quite the hidden gem. After some sake bombs, we called it a night. Big plans for Friday awaited us.

We had a busy day scheduled for the office so lunch was being brought in. The team decided to bring in food from Jetties, which is all anyone been talking about since the new location opened next to our office a few months ago. There is one also located near my home in Georgetown.

I love a good sandwich, but I have a hard time wrapping my head around the idea that a sandwich should cost $9.  There are usually other options around the neighborhood that I think are more worth the money, so I had yet to try it.

The verdict? It was good. Really good. I was stuffed and couldn't finish this beast, which, if I'm going to pay $9 for it, I think is necessary. I have not completely converted to the point where I think I will spend this much on it with my own money, but I'll never turn down a Jetties offer.

Friday zipped by and then I had to run down the office gym locker room and pull my black tie self together.

An incredibly accomplished colleague was retiring, and a black tie dinner was being held in her honor at the Cosmos Club. This venue is classic and elegant. We were blown away.

Each room had such distinct character, I am sure it can fit any need. The staff were helpful and friendly, and the food was amazing. We couldn't help but reflect on how long it will be before were having similar dinners, and how we can only hope it as beautiful and moving as this evening was.

24 hours of fun, good company, and good food. I had approximately 10 min to relax before heading down to a southern piece of heaven, Chapel Hill.