The Planner is at home, and we're still waiting on a diagnosis. Please keep your fingers crossed, send her good vibes, and pray to the God/god/deity/life force of your choice that we hear something good!
Techie doesn't like to talk about himself (he erroneously thinks that if he doesn't talk about it, the rest of us won't worry), but he seems to be hanging in there pretty well. Keep your fingers crossed, etc., for him, too!
On Monday, I did a little more Young Dems volunteering, making more calls to Democrats to get out the vote on July 17th. I love making calls for dems, but on Monday it got even better. :)
A little backstory here: when I lived in suburban Detroit, I worked at a dead end job for a megalomaniacal insurance agent (not kidding here). He had me make cold calls to set up appointments with our clients for him to sell them Cash Value Life Insurance policies. As you can imagine, our customers were less than enthused to be disturbed during their dinner hour by someone trying to sell them something they didn't really like to think about.
Flash forward to my volunteer nights in Alexandria, and you can imagine I was a little apprehensive upon receiving my script and phone number list. That apprehension was erased within my first few calls.
"He's a Democrat?" one voter squawked upon hearing the purpose of my call, "Well, we don't know much about him, but of course he's got both our votes - we don't vote for Republicans in this house!"
How delightful.
Even more delightful was the free pizza and drinks (love not having to spend money on dinner). And at the end of the night, everyone who stopped by to volunteer got their name put in a raffle for a free haircut from Lorraine Aprile salon in Alexandria. Guess who won? Since I already have an appointment on Sunday my hair cut and colored at PR @ Partners, I figure I'll make an appointment at Lorraine Aprile for 8 weeks from that date. If I really like it, I'll stick with them. If not, I'll go back to PR @ Partners. It's all good.
Last week, I got a call from my long lost friend Red. We met about a year and a half ago (very randomly-- "You're from Michigan?!? I am, too!"), at a house party hosted by some people I had met randomly a few weeks before. We hung out for awhile, and then lost touch. Well, I noticed last week that I had a missed call from a random Boston number (I know nobody in Boston). Come to find out, it was Red.--wandering his way back into my life. We decided to meet up Tuesday at Murky Coffee on Capitol Hill.
It was a blast. As we met up shortly after work, the shop wasn't crowded, so the barista had enough time to give us a tutorial on how to make really good coffee. This was after I mentioned to her that the Starbucks coffee I'd had the previous day had a decidedly burnt taste to it, and asked her why that might have been. I had no idea that the baristas at Murky actually grind the beans when you order, and then specially tamp them into the steel filter. Damn. That's awseome. She verbally walked us through the process and informed us that how the coffee grounds are placed in the filter has everything to do with how the end product tastes. She also told us how incredibly intense the new barista training is. You actually spend an entire day in the classroom (as in 8 hours) learning the history of coffee. You spend another 8 hours learning how to tamp the ground coffee into the filter. And then you are tested on it. If I ever have a few years during which I feel the urge to "find myself", I may very well end up "finding myself" as a barista at Murky coffee. Oh the knowledge to be had...
FYI - for those who prefer the same knowledge with less commitment, Murky also offers classes and have coffee tasting sessions (like wine tasting nights, only better!). I may fill up some schedule dates with these - think of the interesting people I'd meet!
After a few cups of coffee and delectable cupcake at Murky, we wandered our way down to Barracks Row (8th St. & I St. SE), a low key area that most people don't really know about. The "Barracks" in the name refer to the Marine Barracks. Yes, there are Marines, yes they do live there, and yes, they wear their pretty uniforms. *drool*
FYI - according to their website, they do conduct tours of the post on Wednesdays at 10:00AM, but the real draw of the Marine Barracks are their sunset parades, held every Friday during the summer at 8:45PM. The parades begin with a concert by the United States Marine Band, and from what I remember from my time as a concierge here in DC, you should either get reservations (which fill up FAST) or get there early to get an unclaimed seat.
As it was Tuesday, no parade for Red and me, but I think I'll be able to fit one in some Friday before the end of the summer. :)
Since we had gotten started so late, many of the shops were closing at about the time we got there, so we didn't get to check out Capitol Hill Bikes, for instance, which I did actually want to see (more on that later). We did, however, stop in at Homebody, which I hadn't been to since Marathoner and I explored Barracks Row together a year and a half ago. Red found it highly amusing to watch me drool over their newly-added stock of Angela Adams handbags.
After wandering around Barracks Row, Red and I decided to head over to the West Lawn of the Capitol for the dress rehearsal of the Capitol Fourth concert. If you've never seen the 4th of July fireworks on the National Mall, you probably should do it once, just to have that experience. Yes, it's one of those things. I am truly glad I did it. That said, now that I have watched the fireworks from the Mall, I have no desire to sit in the heat/ humidity and/or rain, brave the crowds, and not have access to food or bathroom for hours on end. Phooey on that. However, the dress rehearsal is much less crowded, free, and fun. Hooray. Red and I got there in time to watch the National Symphony Orchestra play the 1812 Overture as well as some Sousa marches.
Up Next: The Glorious Fourth Itself.
If You Go:
Monday: Young Dems of America
Lorraine Aprile Salon
112 S. Fayette St.
Alexandria, VA 22314
Tuesday:
Murky Coffee
600 Pennsylvania Ave., SE
Washington, DC 20003
Marine Barracks
8th St. & I St. SE
Washington, DC 20390
Homebody
715 8th St. SE
Washington, DC 20003
Angela Adams (online store)
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