what else is new

i've been trying to keep myself busy over the past few weeks. dc was a lot of fun, although i wasn't feeling well through a majority of my time there. i just know you want to know how i spent every waking moment there, so here you go:

thursday night i flew in and stayed at arthur's, who lives right near the capital. on friday i got up and met kate at chipotle for lunch (heaven on earth) and then hung out at her place, where we caught up on the latest episode of the office. yes, the second kate and i reunited, we watched tv. it was just like being roommates again. later on i met katherine at the air and space museum, and then we met arthur, steph, and her boyfriend at mandu, a new korean restaurant in dupont. this was my first time eating at a korean place since being home, and it was quite strange. the restaurant was definitely more trendy than i was expecting, and not in a cool "fusion-asian decor" kind of way... more like an up and coming normal restaurant. and it was BUSY.

dinner was good, although i nearly choked on my rice when i saw that bottles of soju, which cost a mere 1,000 won in korea, were priced at $18. but that didn't stop us from ordering a bottle for shots. my friends rather enjoyed it and thought it was "smooth," though i tried convincing them that after a few too many 7-11 stops on a night out the stuff gets toxic and leaves you with a nasty hangover.

i ordered kimchi jjigae, and i must say that it tasted EXACTLY like the batch i made here a few months ago. apparently the owner got all of his recipes from his grandmother, so all of the food tastes homemade. i was actually a little sad that it didn't taste like the stuff i got at kimbap nara day in and day out.

after dinner we stopped at a few bars and then headed home to katherine's (who lives in the columbia heights area). saturday i woke up feeling hungover at first, then i realized that it was more than a hangover, thanks to the ear infection i was battling all week, and i couldn't get up without feeling sick. that meant the entire day was spent on the couch watching season seven of friends. fun!

sunday morning i was feeling better and katherine and i met kate and the clarks at mimi's in dupont for brunch. it was nice seeing the clarks again, even if for just an hour... see you guys in another nineteen months. after that katherine and i shopped around and then went to WHOLE FOODS to get stuff for dinner. oh whole foods, i missed you so.

my final night was spent at kate's, who lives in the dupont/foggy bottom area now, and then i flew out monday afternoon. all in all a pleasant weekend, but it would have been a thousand times better if steph was there. then it would have felt like a true trailer thirteen reunion.

i had an interesting night last saturday. some people from my high school class ended up meeting at ryan's wake for a reunion of sorts. i saw a lot of people i haven't seen since graduation, so there was a lot of catching up to do. the problem with this for me is it's a bunch of people i never really had too much in common with, so after that "catch up" conversation, there isn't much else left to say. the night was definitely amusing- i drove myself and stayed sober, so as people got more drunk i had even more fun watching everyone. oh and i think i'm one of just a handful of girls left in my class who isn't engaged or anywhere near it. and i mean no disrespect to anyone who's engaged, but GAG ME WITH A SPOON. good for you if you're ready for that step, but when did we get old enough for marriages and babies and mortgages? i felt like an entirely different species there, a person living and loving her quarter-life crisis. i still enjoy that sense of adventure and not knowing EXACTLY what i'll be doing a year or two down the road.

finally, i requested a transfer to a couple of borders in minneapolis for the end of january/beginning of february so keep your fingers crossed that at least one of those places will add me on. i should be hearing about that in a few days. i'm getting mega excited about the move, partially because i'm SO BORED here in new york and really need some city life and partially because i can't wait to have my OWN PLACE (even if i am sharing it.)