January 2014 Happenings

Welcome to February! January was a busy and very very cold month. Here's a brief run down of January 2014!

- #Polar Vortex: I am so over this weather. We experienced 6.6 inches of snowfall in January and I have lost count of how many single digit degree days we have had. This has been by far the coldest winter we've had since I moved here in 2011. Is it spring yet?

January 21, 2014

January 21, 2014

January 25, 2014

- RAMW Restaurant Week: I got to experience a new restaurant this month as well as enjoy another meal at an old favorite during DC Restaurant Week. There has been some noise about how Restaurant Week isn't really a good deal and might also be a rip off. I don't disagree, but you can also find good deals by scouring the menus and picking high price point restaurants. 

I had a lunch date with myself at Sushi Taro, my favorite sushi restaurant in DC. My lunch was comprised of a 3 box tasting of shrimp and vegetable tempura, salmon and albacore tuna sashimi and soba. For my sushi course, I received eel, yellowtail, tuna, salmon, white fish and shrimp nigiri and salmon and avocado maki. Lunch ended with a serving of green tea ice cream. Yum! And not bad for $20! 

Raisin Bread and I had a friend who was in town for a week on business so we set up a Restaurant Week excursion with him to Charlie Palmer Steak on Capitol Hill. I don't often find myself around the Hill but this establishment was teeming with Hilly people. 

I started my meal with a cocktail called The Lobbyist's Libation (Hendrick's Gin martini with cucumber puree and lemon-infused simple syrup). I wasn't at the table when our amuse bouche arrived, but it was yummy and tasted like tomato soup. 

For my three course meal, I had the red oak and roasted beet salad with crisp goat cheese, black walnut and a sherry shallot vinaigrette, the grilled angus sirloin with short rib ravioli, sweet potato puree, braised swiss chard and black garlic jus, and lastly, green apple consomme with crisp apples, cinnamon panna cotta and almonds.

My favorite course was the entree. It was perfectly cooked and I really liked the accompaniments, especially the black garlic.

- Funniest Thing to Happen: I won a year's supply of toothbrushes from Colgate and Influenster. Sweet! Clean teeth! If you haven't tried the Colgate SlimSoft toothbrush before, I highly recommend it. It's magical.

- Making an Apartment a Home: January was the first month since we've moved to DC that both Raisin Bread and I weren't in graduate school. We got a chance to spruce up the apartment a little with some greenery. I love plants but I have a history of not having the greenest of thumbs. Hopefully, these bad boys will thrive.

- The Treadmill is My Friend: When it's cold, I treadmill. When it's icy, I definitely treadmill. I'm currently training for my next half marathon, the Rock 'n' Roll DC Half Marathon in March. I also got to put in some miles in my awesome new Union Jack leggings, which I received from my mother-in-law for Christmas. 

Total mileage this month: 30.8 miles. 

- Trip to San Francisco: Last but not least, as you know, I visited San Francisco over MLK weekend. Be sure to check out my posts on this fun trip. The final post will be up later this week.

Part 1: The Hills of San Francisco
Part 2: Sunshine, food and wine in Napa and Sonoma

Sushi Taro
1503 17th Street, NW
Washington, DC 20036

Charlie Palmer Steak
101 Constitution Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20001

Weekend Update: Christmas Prep, Museum Visit and Snow!

That time of year has arrived...when things become crazy busy both at home and at work. Ugh. I have a headache already. 

This weekend was a sample of what the next few weeks will be like. So much to do! Raisin Bread is winding up his last semester of graduate school. After this week, neither of us will be in school for the first time since 2010. I am hoping the next year will bring us lots of fun together instead of lots of work. 

On Friday night, I put up our tiny tree for our tiny apartment. 

Our cute little tree!

I also hung the stockings since we don't have a fireplace, the stockings were hung on the dining room wall with care!

I wanted to stay out of Raisin Bread's hair over the weekend so he could do his work, so I decided to head into the city to pay a visit to the National Museum of American History. No matter how many times I visit this museum, there is always something new to see plus I love seeing my favorite pieces over and over again. 

Richard Scarry illustrations, leech jar, NBC microphone and Dorothy's ruby slippers

It's Kermy!!! The museum is opening a new exhibit this week on Puppetry in America, which I can't wait to see. 

Another piece of Americana - Archie Bunker's chair.

I visited the First Ladies exhibit for the first time in many years and got to see FLOTUS's beautiful Jason Wu gown. Love! 

The atrium was decked out for the holidays!

I was super happy to stumble upon a performance by the U.S. Air Force Singing Sergeants! They were great. 

On Sunday, we got the first snow of the season. I ventured out to hit the gym. It was so pretty and not as uncomfortable as I was expecting it to be.

I filled the rest of the day with doing laundry, preparing two meals, buying Christmas presents and baking banana caramel bread. Yum!

The cold temperatures made for some pretty sights on my way to work on Monday morning. Look at these icicle-laden branches.

The forecast is calling for more snow this week. That makes me so happy!

In other news, I did not get into the Nike Women's Half. Woohoo! I'm really glad that I didn't get in. I was feeling very regretful after I applied, so I'm glad that everything worked out. 

Have a great week!