What it's like to stay in one of the Hotel Palomar DC's Motion Spa Rooms

Kimpton Hotels is one of my favorite hotel brands. I love the boutique-feel of their properties. Plus, the hotels' public spaces are uniquely decorated with each property having a different look, and the rooms are hip and functional.



On a recent trip to Washington, DC, I stayed at the Hotel Palomar in Dupont Circle. Upon check-in, I was upgraded to one of the hotel's Motion Spa Rooms.

Visiting Holiday Displays in Washington, DC

Christmastime is definitely one of my favorite times of the year to visit Washington, DC. The city knows how to deck itself out in the holiday spirit. This year, I only had a very small window of time in which to see some of the holiday lights around the city.

At the top of my list of things to see was The National Christmas Tree, which is located near the White House. This year's tree was decorated in gold and silvery white LED lights to commemorate the National Park Service's Centennial.

This Week's Eats + Another Trip to DC

Hello, friends. I am so excited for the three day weekend to celebrate the 4th of July! Stay safe out there this weekend!

This week was another busy one for me. On Monday night, Raisin Bread and I had dinner at The Artichoke Cafe. We originally were planning to eat here on Sunday night, but we wanted to keep on working on the house that night and stayed in.

We skipped the starters and went straight for the entrees. I ordered the half rack of lamb with fallafel, mashed sweet potatoes, chickpeas and tomato.

For dessert, I had the rosewater semifreddo with pistachio meringue and pomegranate pearls.

I thought the food was very inventive for Albuquerque and I was glad that we were finally able to try this restaurant out.

On Tuesday morning, I was up at 4;30 am to catch my flights to DC. I got upgraded to first class on my Dallas to DC leg! Woohoo. This was the third time in my life flying first class, and it was lovely as expected.

Warm nuts and a beverage served in an actual glass.

For lunch, I had a grilled beef salad with a pretzel roll.

But my favorite thing is by far the warm chocolate chip cookie. Yum!

I headed to the office for a few hours before checking into my hotel. I had some time to kill before dinner, so I visited the National Portrait Gallery. I think I mentioned before that this is the only Smithsonian that is open until 7 pm, so it is the only place I can visit after work. 

I saw one of the temporary exhibitions as well as some of the permanent galleries. Here is Bill by Chuck Close from the America's Presidents exhibition. 

Portrait of Elvis

 For dinner, I met up with my friend at Jose Andres's China Chilcano. This is the fifth Jose Andres restaurant I have dined at, and it was delicious as usual. China Chilcano specializes on a play on chifa (Chinese-Peruvian) cuisine. Peru has a large Chinese population and chifa restaurants can be found all over the country.

The menu is huge and since there were only two of us, we were only able to sample a few items.

I started with the ceviche classico.

We shared the tam tam: wheat noodles, spicy pork, peanuts and aji panca. I loved this dish. So spicy and flavorful.

Lastly, we had the ji song sillao: chicken, soy sauce, fried sweet potato, sweet drop pepper in a lettuce cup. This was also delicious. The sweet potatoes really made this dish.

The evening was calling for thunderstorms, but luckily, I made it back to my hotel in time. The next morning, I saw the effects of the overnight storms. Poor car

After a day at the office, I was headed back to Albuquerque. I got to catch the last part of the Women's World Cup semifinal game: Japan versus England. Wow, was the a doozy. Really tough loss for England! I am looking forward to cheering on Team USA this weekend.

Have a wonderful 4th!

Carson's Runway Debut + DC + Parents' Visit

Now that I have completed all of my posts on our road trip vacation, it is back to our regularly scheduled program and an update on some recent happenings.

The first week of June was insanely busy and it took me a few days to recover from all of the running around.

Carson made his runway debut at the Reel Dog Fashion Show, which was the opening night event for the Albuquerque Film and Music Experience.

He was all dressed up in his tuxedo and bow tie and did a great job.

The fashion pre-show was open to anyone who wanted to sign up, so I jumped at the chance to get Carson out on stage. He was so adorable. 

We stalked the other dogs while waiting in the green room for the show to start!

The pre-show walkers lined up and ready to go. 

Photo credit: Allen Winston

Then it was time for the "real" fashion show. 

The next morning, I was up before the sun and made the journey across the country again to our nation's capital.

I scored a bulkhead seat and there was no one beside me! Double score!

DC did not seem to get the memo that it is supposed to be spring. The weather was rainy and gloomy the two days I was there, and as usual, that meant I didn't want to do much.

I did stay at the Hotel Helix, a new-to-me hotel this trip and I thought it was adorable.



The room was fashionably furnished and I loved that the tv was on a swiveling shelf, so I could watch from the desk or the bed.



Since there was not going to be any exploring that evening, I hit the treadmill for a nice 5 miler.

For dinner, I picked up sushi and watched home renovation shows for the rest of the night. 

The day after I returned from DC was our fourth wedding anniversary, which I wrote about before. 

Then on Friday, my parents came to visit us from California. On Saturday morning, we headed to the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center. 

We took in the exhibits and there was a native dance and song performance in the courtyard. 

The courtyard is surrounded by a number of huge colorful murals.

Then we headed to The Grove Cafe and Market for a late lunch. I had a matcha latte that was delish. 

Then I had the spring kale salad. I am addicted to kale. Why is it so yummy?

Carson decided to show how bad he can be by stealing my dad's house slippers and running around with them. 

On Sunday, it was Gus's first birthday. I got him a cake.

I even got him to wear a birthday hat! Gus has been a joy to have in our household. He is such a loving goofball.

We brought Gus and Carson along and spent the day with their grandparents in Santa Fe. My folks headed back to California on Monday. It was great seeing them!

Eat, Work, Run in DC

DC Trip #4 of 2015 has come and gone. American Airlines seems to have changed their flight schedules, so I wound up at Chicago's O'Hare Airport for my connecting flight. When at O'Hare, it is absolutely necessary to purchase a bag of Garrett Popcorn. This time I got the mixed: half cheese and half caramel. All addictive.

I made it to DC on time and headed to work on the sometimes reliable DC Metro. No troubles this visit.

 

 These trips are always so short and tiring that I usually want to just go to my hotel room and hide, but I promised myself that once the weather got nice, I would do some running outside. Since I have a 10K this weekend and my knee has been bothering me, I decided to make it a short one.  I still managed to get one major sight in on my run: The White House.

If you have ever been to DC, you may have noticed how many statues of men on horses there are around the city. This one is of one of my top 5 least favorite presidents: Andrew Jackson.

Also nearby is the historic and cute St. John's Church.

If the weather is nice again on my next trip, I am hoping to put in a run around the National Mall. 

I flew solo for dinner at Nagomi Izakaya. I had the assorted pickles, hamachi sashimi and a mini salmon and ikura donburi. Hmmm....mini is right. I'm still hungry!

As I was walking back to my hotel and trying to decide what to do about my remaining hunger, I made a detour to Julia's Empanadas and picked up a Jamaican-style emapanada: beef, onion, potatoes and curry. Now, that's better!

I put in a 20-minute yoga session, watched two episodes of Chef's Table and called it a night.

The jet lag usually makes it really difficult for me to wake up in time for breakfast, so it is usually Starbucks at my desk for me. This time though I was able to drag myself out of bed and have a semi-relaxing start to my morning at Slipstream. I loved this place and will be back. Since this was my first visit to this coffee shop, I had a hard time deciding which toast to get, but finally picked the avocado and goat cheese mousse. The bread was so soft and chewy. I also got an almond cashew milk cappucino, which was not that great.

I used to complain about the sheer number of sandwich shops there are in the DC Metro area, but now that I live in Albuquerque, I often cry out at lunch time, "Can't a girl just get a good sandwich???" I went back to one of my old favorites: Bub and Pop's for lunch on Tuesday and got the Italian hogie with genoa salami, prosciutto, capicola, pepperoni, provolone, arugula, roma tomatoes, relish, mayo, vinaigrette and pecorino romano. Their sandwiches are so delicious but so messy. Did I mention that this monster is the "half" size?? I love this place. The food is great and almost everything is made in house.

The rest of the trip consisted of me going back to work, Metro-ing to the airport, hopping on two flights and making it back home. Well, see you again soon, DC!

Recent Happenings - April 4, 2015 Edition

Hello, friends! Sorry for the lack of updates. I was in DC most of last week and have been sick all of this week with some kind of sinus infection. 

Hope you are enjoying the beginning of Passover / looking forward to Easter Sunday / eating lots of chocolate bunnies!

Sickie Poo
I started feeling sick on Tuesday. I had the worst sore throat I can remember having in a long time. I was having difficulty swallowing and would wake up with lots of awesome mucus, severe congestion and a major headache. Whenever I get one of these things, I try to wait it out because all of the times I have tried to see the doctor, they always tell me the first available appointment is at least two weeks away. Ugh!

I am finally starting to feel better! Hooray! I think it's because I ate a lot of red onion this morning. Did you know red onions have many health benefits including anti-inflammatory properties and providing protection against allergies? It could be the onions or it could just be that I successfully waited the sickness out. We will never know.

Springtime in DC = Wintertime in DC
I arrived in DC late last Wednesday. My second stop (after my hotel) was Shake Shack!! The line was so long. It took forever to get my order, but it was worth it. I enjoyed my ShackBurger and Black and White Shake in the comfort of my hotel room while watching American Pickers. Business travel ≠ glamorous

Thursday was actually a nice day. I have been wanting to run to the Mall, and this would have been the perfect afternoon for it. But it didn't even cross my mind, so I wound up hitting the hotel treadmill. Silly, Wabbit!

Afterwards, I met up with my friend, Robyn, for dinner in Chinatown, which I failed to document. After dinner, we walked to the National Portrait Gallery to sit in the front of the building and chat. We had a good time reminiscing and catching up. 

I wound up extending my trip this month and found myself at an old favorite: Kogiya Korean BBQ in Annandale, Virginia, with some awesome friends and the Raisin Bread.

We had a ridiculous amount of food, including rib eye, galbi, marinated duck and marinated chicken, which came with the assortment of banchan as well as spicy soybean soup and steamed egg.

So stuffed...Can't move....When's dessert? We promptly headed to Breeze Bakery Cafe for some cake, ice cream and shaved ice.

Saturday was terrible weather-wise. It was dreary, WINDY and in the 30s. Not fun. Brunch was consumed at a French bistro called Le Diplomate. I had a latte and the Poached Eggs Basquaise with prosciutto and creamy polenta. There was something off with my dish. It was super salty and not very enjoyable.

We headed to the Mall for the rest of the day to hide out in the Hirshhorn Museum and the National Gallery of Art. The Capitol Building is undergoing renovations on its dome and was covered up in scaffolding.

You can tell by the trees that spring had definitely not sprung yet in DC. Afternoon rolled around and it was time to head back to Albuquerque.

View of the National Mall

Hopefully, my next visit will be more agreeable weather-wise!

I Adopted a Doberman

I am a Doberman!

Okay, not really.

I bought a Wisdom Panel DNA test ($65 on Amazon) for our rescue pup, Carson, in hopes of finding out more about his background. Apparently, he is mostly mixed breed, 25% miniature poodle and 12.5% doberman pinscher. Uh, say what? We suspected he was part miniature poodle, but I did not expect it to be such a small percentage of his make-up. He has several characteristics that are doberman-like: alert, energetic, intelligent, loyal and fearless. None of the physical traits though as far as I can tell. 

Do you remember Alpha the doberman from the movie Up? He is what I think of when I think of dobermans. Heehee

Even though we still don't have a complete picture of his DNA, he will always be our little doggie.

Question: Have you ever gotten a DNA test on your dog? 

Posted with Blogsy