Another Peek

A quick peek at a totally outrageous thing I saw in Memphis, TN. Looks like this fancy lil guy missed his train to the circus!

Oops

So I went on a trip. I drove all the way around and through the US of A. I figured that I would blog almost every day about where I was going and what I was seeing. (I also thought I'd be pitching and filing stories from all corners of the country.) But that didn't happen, did it? It's already late-September and my last post was in June.

Good news though! I was taking pictures through most of my trip. I think I'll start posting them. Above is a teaser: A look at some jellyfish admirers at the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

Gimme Pizza

Because sometimes, while hanging out with your friends, you're more interested in taking artful photos of the lanterns on the table than you are in chatting.

Oops, cool friend alert, amiright?

It started with wine on Alyssa's back porch, then we went to Dodge City, and were stoked to find, like, the best DJ ever spinning upbeat '60s soul tracks.

I was too busy dancing hard to take photos at Dodge City, so all I have are the before (above) and after shots. The after shots are just us hanging out at Italian Kitchen, D.C.'s only better-than-Jumbo-Slice late-night option (but where massive slices are also the norm.)

Mmm.

I... don't care to admit how many photos I tried to take of my pizza to achieve the above result. Think me, standing outside the "restaurant," as the drunk U St.ers pass by, holding this 1/4-pizza in one hand, my camera in the other. Awkward. Also I was taking to holding my pizza box like a stack of schoolbooks, and on the ride home, my pizza conveniently slid out of its protective cardboard and fell square on the car floor. Che bello!

Sunday was a day of hopeful movie plans, but it dissolved into a Vietnamese extravaganza...

And raising some hell with Pop-Its.

Recipe for hood-rat success!

7th Wheeling

My dear friend -- and zine co-worker -- Malaka threw a small dinner party this past Thursday night. It was super fun even though there were seven guests: three romantic couples and me. Didn't matter, really. I picked up a (surprisingly moist and delicious) chocolate bundt cake from D.C.'s Union Station of all places, plus some strawberries at a small market on the way.

Malaka's mission was to throw a vegetarian dinner party for seven for under $20. A smashing success! The menu included better-than-local-haunt-Taylor sandwiches (asparagus, tomatoes, cheese), mustardy potato salad, and home-pickled onions.

Mmm.

 

Cheap beer & cake.

Naturally the night devolved into a viral video viewing.

And I was afraid that I wouldn't make it home in time -- the D.C. Metro runs at such stupid hours -- but I did. Whew.

More of this, please.

Strawberry Fieldz 4eva

Another fun weekend in D.C., you guys. This time it involved cool sandwiches only available in a back alley (see above and below)...

... and sneaking contraband into a movie, then making Maryam pose by all the weird pose-with advertisements for other movies....

... which is fun, right? We also hung out with our pals at a party, then went to this new bar in D.C. which is beach themed, and the floor is literally covered with sand.

The next morning we went to another restaurant that operates in a back alley: Back Alley Waffles! They were so good, as evidenced by the mountain of butter atop the waf'.

After a long, hung-over "brunch" (we ate at like 1), we finally embarked on the day's real goal: picking strawberries in Virginia and then eating at our all-time-favorite restaurant.

In a word: fun.