So I went to DC and then fell off the face of the Earth...

I'm sorry. Eep. Um... I've had a stressful, time-consuming few weeks? Is that not excuse enough? Well let me say that I would have certainly been more excited about writing to all of you than fact-checking prices of purple buttons and crafting the oh-so-creative-enough cover letter (sigh, summer has officially ended).

But anyway, I did in fact still go to Washington DC with the boyfriend, and we had a great time. Then - by chance - he went to DC again a few days ago but more on that later I promise. Back to me. And these photos:


Even though I thought the monuments were kind of overrated as a kid, we decided to tour the Capitol and the White House, as well as take a walk to the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial. Verdict? The Capitol tour was fine - cool to see because I never had, but pretty rushed. And of course this guy:

He's demonstrating how the rotunda can carry sound across it - I wanted to do that part, but FINE. The White House tour is hardly worth mentioning - they basically parade you through all the unused rooms of the house and past awkward portraits of First Ladies and then kick you out. There's not even a guide, just a pamphlet. But hey, we were there. Obama was not. But more on him in that post to follow (really).

(The boyfriend has a pretty sweet camera. Don't ask him about it if you aren't ready for an earful about how he NEEDS a tripod. But, you know, good photos.) Seeing the monuments at night was very nice, I'll admit. It definitely beat the sweltering heat and company of dozens of grade-schoolers with which I last saw them. We lay (laid? Shit - I promise I'll figure that out if I get a copy-editing job) at the base of the Washington Monument and just stared at how immense it was while mosquitoes nipped at our sweet skin.

The WWII memorial was also lovely at night, but perhaps a bit over-the-top compared to the understated power of say, the Vietnam Memorial.


The Lincoln Memorial is my favorite, especially when it's all lit up (this photo, of course, is about as lame as they come). Or at least it was until we overheard some couple getting engaged on the steps, hijacking my perfect proposal spot. It's going to be hard to get the BF to remember that while making him forget about the other couple that STOLE IT.

The next day we went to the Newseum! To avoid making this post sound tour-guide-y, I won't overly elaborate, but I can say it's first time I wasn't bawling out of boredom during a three-hour museum visit in a long time. So yeah - Berlin Wall (neat), September 11th exhibit (very sad, but still good to see), 3D theater (um - I'm kind of scared of 3D cinema, so I was not a fan), interactive newsroom (gimicky, but love it anyway), and really good photo ops:

It was also known as The Day Lauren Wore a Blue Bra and Everyone Knew. My mother would be so proud.

Okay. SO. Now to one my favorite parts of the trip. Really Good CUPCAKES. Have I mentioned them before? I have very good friend who went to Georgetown - who doesn't even like cake, mind you - that implored me that I HAD TO GO to Georgetown Cupcake if I was ever in DC. Well, you know me. Sugar desserts fashioned so adorably that you must buy TWO? I'm there. And, let me say, she was not wrong. YOU HAVE TO GO.


Totally worth the wait ...


... and the boy's usual skepticism on how good these cupcakes could possibly be.

Red velvet - GC's classic option. SO GOOD you'd never know I wasn't a fan of cream cheese icing.


I was a happy camper.

So was somebody else, Mr. Skeptical.

So, about half this post is now about cupcakes. Heh. I clearly have my DC priorities straight. How straight you ask?



Our last stop involved making a beeline to Smithsonian to make sure we saw Julia Child's kitchen... and that's basically it. Oh, and okay, Lincoln's hat. Psh.



I hope the Smithsonian isn't mad at me for posting these. Hm. Guess we'll see. Bon Appetit, DC!