bobby’s burger palace August 30, 2011

Happy Tuesday, Bloggies!  After weathering Hurricane Irene without a single problem, I am looking forward to a long swim tonight and a fun-filled Labor Day weekend.  Can you believe summer is almost over?!  There was a teensy chill in the air this morning on my walk to the metro, and it made me soooo anxious to splurge on new fall clothes.  Another sure sign that summer is waning–my local bar has now switched their Sam Adams seasonal ale from Summer to Oktoberfest.  Wahhh.

Anyways, work friends and I tried a new restaurant last night– Bobby’s Burger Palace.  Following our celebuchef stalking trend (think: Spike Mendelsohn), we were anxious to visit the recently opened Burger Palace in hopes of sighting Bobby Flay himself.  It opened its doors two weeks ago, and has recieved largely positive reviews so far, so we thought it would be great inspiration to get us through a grumpy Monday.

The restaurant is an extremely casual place, with a super funky, seventies-ish decor.  You order at a register, and then the burger comes straight to you in a matter of minutes.  There’s a really cool long, curved “bar” area that faces the kitchen, which is where we sat.  (We also saw tons of loners at the bar, so if you were ever craving one of Bobby’s burgers but had no one accompanying you, you would be in good company at this “bar.”)

The other seating option is large, communal tables, which is also a cool idea to me.  Because honestly, what else are you there to do besides wolf down a humongous burger?  You don’t need your own private table in a secluded corner to do that.

The menu is limited.  Bobby offers about 10 burgers, all with regional influences.  He has one meatless salad, but zero other veggie options (besides fries).  That seemed a little callous to me–vegetarians are people too!  I didn’t even see a little asterisk saying that any burger could be substituted with a veggie patty.  Hmpf.  Anyways, with the mindset of “Go big or go home!” Lis, Michelle, and I all went for it.  Lis ordered the classic burger–but “Crunchified:” Bobby Flay’s signature addition to burgers. 

That mystery layer is potato chips–an artery clogger if I ever saw one! Yum.  (Also, please note the lamest little leaf of lettuce a poor burger has ever seen.)

I went for the Dallas burger: bbq sauce and coleslaw. 

Michelle attacked a Philadelphia burger: grilled onions and peppers, smothered in Provolone.

Lis even managed to fit her burger monstrosity into her mouth!!  I call that talent.

1,000 calories later, the three of us had empty plates and bulging bellies.  Almost ashamedly, Lis and I decided that we liked Spike’s burgers better.  My Dallas burger was good, but didn’t have a crunch element that I was looking for.  Lis said that the potato chips on her burger didn’t add anything to the taste, and that the whole thing was a little underdressed.  Michelle, having never been to Spike’s, was perfectly happy with her Philly burger. 

Bobby’s is undoubtedly a good deal.  There’s no denying that the meat on the burgers is delicious–and there’s a LOT of it.  Also, beers are only $3.50–WHAT?!  So I got a burger and an Anchor Steam for 12 bucks, which is really hard to beat in this city.  That being said, however, Bobby’s didn’t blow us away.  While Bobby seems like less of a butt nugget than Spike, the flavor in Spike’s burgers is just remarkable.  So, glad we tried the Burger Palace, but we’re not itching to go back. 

lis, michelle, me

 

earthquake day August 26, 2011

So by now, I think that the majority of the U.S. is aware that the east coast experienced a 5.8 earthquake on Tuesday.  Luckily it appears that, besides a few toppled angels at the National Cathedral, there was minimal damage and no one was hurt.  As for me, I was at work in my Arlington high rise, just finishing up a meeting, when the whole building started swaying.  Everyone immediately started playing a game of prarie dog, poking their heads up above their cubes and looking around anxiously.  My supervisor was actually in the elevator during the quake, and was positive that the cables were about to break.  When he got out of the elevator, he told us all to go outside, so we joined the mass exodus flooding the stairwell.  Someone later said that there were cracks in the walls, but I don’t remember seeing them.  (I noticed that people had a tendency to over-exaggerate in the aftermath of the afternoon: I overheard my coworker tell her dad that the earthquake lasted two minutes!  False.)  We all gathered in an empty parking lot, rattled, each trying in vain to get on our phones and call all the necessary people.  Luckily, I have a Twitter (so THERE, all you nay-sayers!  Twitter IS handy!) and was thus able to get the most up-to-date info.  We milled around outside for about an hour before the building briefly opened back up to allow everyone to get any belongings they had left behind.  I wasn’t sure if the metro was running, and didn’t want to battle it out on a crowded platform with stressed women and farty old men, so I hitched a ride with coworker Suzannah to her apartment only a few blocks away. 

Surprisingly, we proceeded to have a WONDERFUL afternoon.  We popped in a movie (Something Borrowed–not as good as the book) and opened some Woodchucks (can you say Monroe Hill #2, spring semester of fourth year??), and relaxed.  I also found her new iPad, which was an endless supply of entertainment for two girls looking to blow off some steam after a tumultuous few hours.

Her iPad (and most Macs) has a photobooth app, which lets the user distort pictures in a variety of ways.  I proceeded to make myself as beautiful as possible:

Just kidding guys.  This NEXT one really shows me at my best:

Stunning, I know.  Photobooth really captures my best features.

Suzannah and I had so much fun just messing around with her iPad.  It was one of those semi-surreal five minutes where everything is funny–all the circumstances align to make the most ordinary events hilarious.  Perhaps we were so wound up from the earthquake, or from being out of the office at 3 in the afternoon, but we were cracking up.  Her dog, Bitsy, kept wanting to join the fun, but this was an adult-only party.  (Obviously.)

Suzannah also found her most flattering angle:

She was also wildly successful in giving me nightmares for the rest of the night.

I don’t remember the earthquake being particularly scary–it would be better described unsettling because so few people had ever experienced one, and the DC metro area was so inadequately prepared to deal with it.  I don’t think anyone was ever fearful for their lives, but it was certainly a jarring 30 seconds that forced everyone to deviate from their typical Tuesday routines.  (And don’t we all hate that?) 

I know that everyone in California snickered and adopted their favorite know-it-all position, but the earthquake was an unknown phenomenon here.  Imagine L.A. going through the 2009 Snowpocalyspe–all the career lifeguards would be running around with their heads cut off, using their surfboards to try and clear paths to the beach.  (I tease.)  Everybody has things they never have–and never want to–experience, and for many Washingtonians, an earthquake is one of those.

Luckily, Suzannah and I recovered our wits in the amound of time it took to pop open a beer, and had a really great afternoon.  If a casual observer saw the crazy pictures we spent an hour taking, they would have no clue that we had just lived through an earthquake.  (Dramatic enough??) 

I leave you with one last gem before I abandon my computer to buy a flashlight and bottled water in preparation for a lovely weekend with Irene.

seacrets August 24, 2011

I know I’m a few days late here, bloggies, but I hope everyone had a great weekend!!  I had a whimsical three-day weekend, beginning with a visit from old Pleasanton Seahawk friend Matt on Friday and ending with a scary summer thunderstorm on Sunday.  In between, however, I went to a new bar in Ocean City that is now one of my very favorite places on Earth.  (Other favorite places on Earth include Jim’s Country Restaurant in Pleasanton, Bergdorf Goodman’s in NYC, and the Lawn at UVa.)  Colleen is spending this entire week at her beach house before heading to a wedding this weekend, so some of her high school friends and I decided to drive up to Bethany to see her–and, more importantly, to visit Seacrets. 

We had been hearing tales about Seacrets from friends in all walks of life, and decided we had to experience it ourselves.  We weren’t sure what to expect, and even had to emergency dial a few of those friends to get more information, but Seacrets did NOT disappoint.  We arrived late in the afternoon, paid a measly $5 cover (by the way, the cover goes up a dollar every hour after 5 pm), and walked into a sandy, palm-tree-filled oasis. 

I felt like the only thing missing was a rail track with coconut-shaped cars to take us around the gigantic place and offer informational tidbits on what was what.  Seacrets could LITERALLY be a ride in any trendy theme park. 

While the tables in the water looked appealing, we decided to forgo them when we saw a drunk man with a huge bandage on his foot who said he stepped on a broken bottle in the sand.  They sure make for a great picture, though!

Seacrets is hard to describe.  It is a huge place, with sandy paths running through it and at least four stages occupied by bands.  There is a “Nite Club” with dancing and confetti falling from the ceiling, as well as a restaurant with stunning views of the bay.  The signature drink is a “Pain In De Ass,” which consists of a pina colada swirled with run runner.  YUM. 

jen r, meghan, me-- and lots of Pain In De Asses me & colleenme & colleen

me & colleen

 

me, jen r, meghan

jen r, colleen, me, meghan

Seacrets really was the best place ever.  It was so much more than just a bar–is was a whole experience.  We were sad that Colleen wasn’t feeling well and couldn’t stay evey long, but now we have an excuse to go back soon.  If you ever find yourself in the Ocean City area, you NEED to check out Seacrets.  (Note: adults and babies are welcome!  Not only did we see couples with infants, but also couples in their eighties dancing the night away.  Seacrets does not judge.)  I ended up not staying very long to tan on Sunday, and I still felt that my drive and quick visit was well worth it.

A DC earthquake post is coming soon!

artwork with instagram August 17, 2011

Have you heard of the iPhone app Instagram?  I was perusing my Facebook newsfeed the other day, and stumbled upon a few mobile uploads that had really cool effects.  I scoured the persons profile, and learned that they were using an app called Instagram to touch up the pictures.  I immediately went onto the app store and downloaded it (for free!), and started snapping away. 

Instagram is phenomenal.  It takes super average objects and pictures and makes them interesting, funky, and just really cool.  I busily go photographed random things, and now have a mini collection of professional-looking artwork. 

my thermos

My kate spade thermos, which is obviously adorable to begin with, looks totally abstract and modern when transformed by Instagram.

metro station

The architecture of the DC metro stations has always been super retro and funky to me, but becomes frame-worthy in this photo.

Even my DIY chevron wall art (which, as we all know, is fabulous on its own) looks extra stunning with this cool effect.

My favorite feature of the app is that you can use a photo you took 8 months ago and completely transform it.  I went back into my phone’s archives and found a stunning picture of the Venus de Milo I took while in the Louvre last summer, and the outcome made me appreciate the photo all over again.

(Wouldn’t this look stunning in an antiquey gold frame?  I die.)

I totally revamped another old picture I found from when I was roadtripping down to LA last summer, and the sun was just rising over the hills as I climbed 580.  (You can just barely see the wind turbines on the right side.)  This is the new background on my phone–I love it.

I also took a semi-average picture of me and Les from that same LA roadtrip and Instagram made it vintage and full of memories.

les & me

This was when we were at Venice Beach–you can see the boardwalk tiny in the background.

If you have an iPhone or Apple computer, I highly recommend you get this free (!!!!) app.  It made me look at old things in a completely new light, and re-appreciate them in a way I never had before.

guns & lace August 15, 2011

It’s a rainy and surprisingly cool Monday here in a capital slogging through August and reeling from Michelle Bachmann’s straw poll win.  I had a pretty eventful weekend, meeting tons of new people and finally getting my headstand in Saturday’s yoga class.  Also of note was my very first (and probably only) time at the local shooting range.  Surprise!–socially liberal Jen lost her pistol and rifle virginity in a two hour shooting bonanza, and emerged a considerably more bad-ass woman than before.

Shooting has been something that has gradually crept its way onto and up my bucket list, due in some part (I believe) to the large number of ex-military men I work with.  My coworker Suzannah, of Canadian embassy fame, has a Marine boyfriend who reluctantly allowed me to tag along on their shooting adventures.  I met them at their gym out in Courthouse and even earned my seat in their car by loading ammo in preparation.

suzannah surrounded by bullets

I had been running errands all day, and had absolutely ZERO idea what one wears to a shooting range, so I was in a lovely lace tank and leopard flats.  Needless to say, when we all got to the range, I was the obvious answer to a game of “What does not belong?” 

no shame

Now, I had never in my life shot a weapon.  I had never even held a gun.  I was beyond nervous–I was so worried that I would be the one airhead girl who fell over from the gun recoil, like in that “How I Met Your Mother” episode where Marshall goes shooting to get over Lily.  I don’t think my heart stopped pounding until I got back in my apartment that night. 

Luckily, Suzannah’s boyfriend was a great teacher.  (He also owns any gun one person could ever want to shoot.)  He started me off with a teeny little .22 caliber (get ready for all my newfound gun lingo!) and it took me about 7 minutes of standing completely still with that gun before I could actually fire it.

Aaaannddd–TA-DA!  Weapon fired.  It was scary.  There are a lot of things one has to think about when shooting a gun, and keeping everything together while pulling the trigger is no easy feat.  But, I did it.  I fired three bullets over 15 minutes, to the exasperation of Suzannah’s boyfriend and the rest of our party, and never once fell over or waved the gun around in a panic, like I thought I might have done.

I moved on to a .380, the gun made famous by James Bond.  I actually didn’t like this one very much, so I fired my one little bullet and then let someone else have all the fun.  Suzannah persuaded me to try the Glock 9 mm next, and after I fired that big guy, I felt the line on my Bad-Ass-o-Meter rise considerably. 

My arms were hurting from holding the guns for so long, so I took a little break.  When I came back, it was rifle time!

shooting the M3

I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I loved the rifles.  The way they nestle right into the crook of your shoulder, the cold metal soothing against your hot cheek, an anticipatory breathe of air leaving the barrel right before you pull the trigger.  The recoil is absorbed by your body, a relationship forged between you and the bullet as it begins its deathly journey.  An exhilarating boom! that reaches your ears only after the bullet has hit the target; an afterthought that brings you out of your gunpowder-induced reverie.  A few more hours with those rifles and I would have been a partner in a full-fledged love affair.

suzannah with her rifle

I shot an M3, an M4 (the only one with a holigraphic sight, therefore the only one with which I could hit the little target man), and an AK-47.  I rule.

shooting the M4

Let me tell you: when I shot the AK-47, I felt like a freaking movie star.  My elation dimmed slightly when I opened the paper this morning and saw that the attacks on the governor of Parwan in Afghanistan were done with AK-47s, but I was blissful in my ignorance on Saturday.

shooting the AK-47

I fired one shot, then, stunned by the groups of people I had joined by firing that weapon, I set it down.  (Not before another photo, though!)

On our way home, I spent a little time reflecting on my time at the shooting range.  One girl in our party, upon hearing the rapid fire of an M14, loudly exclaimed, “This is against my religion!”  Despite my lack of religiousness, I felt that her sentiment came the closest to summing up my feelings.  Shooting guns is, without a doubt, one of the most exhilarating things I’ve ever done.  (See also skydiving.)  I honestly had a great time, and was so glad I took the plunge and just went for it.  That being said, however, I felt that there was something innately wrong with my casual firing off of a few rounds.  Perhaps it was the fact that we were shooting at disarmingly life-like sketches of men, but it was hard for me to ignore the little voice in my head reminding me that these guns were meant to kill people.   Yes, I felt like a superstar shooting all the different guns, but I also felt like I was partaking in an unnecessarily vicious and altogether unrequired activity.  It scared me to see a young boy, probably under the age of ten, helping his father load bullets and fetch guns.  At what point does a person lose their awe of and respect for weapons?  In swimming, the more I swam a 1650 in practice, the less nervous I was when it came time to swim a mile at a meet.  Can a person go to a shooting range so many times that the line between sport and real life disappears? 

I don’t want to step on any toes with my musings, especially Suzannah’s boyfriend and the wonderful people who protect our country every day by firing their weapons.  But it was scary to me to think about what those weapons I was firing could become in an entirely different situation– the idea of becoming dependant on such a ruthless tool is frightening to a sheltered little lady like myself.

I loved my time at the shooting range–and I got to check another activity off my bucket list.  Learning about all the guns and their idiosyncrasies was very interesting and enlightening (and BAD-ASS!), but I don’t know that I’ll ever go shooting again.  One of those things where now that it’s done–it’s done.

On the 100% upside, however: I now have enough bullet casings to make this fabulous DIY bullet necklace!  Wooo craft project!

Hope you all had a great weekend!  If you get a minute, I’m curious on your opinion of shooting for sport–leave me a comment!

skydiving August 1, 2011

As is evident by the title of this post, I went skydiving this weekend!  Yay! 

I think skydiving is one of those things that people either want to do or don’t– there’s no room for halfheartedness when you’re plunging out of an airplane.  I’ve been wanting to go ever since high school, and finally saw a Living Social deal I couldn’t resist and booked a jump.  After getting cancelled on twice (with extremely poor customer service–I would not recommend Sportations to anyone), Michelle and I were hoping the third time would truly be the charm.  Luckily, we ran into no issues and our jump went off without a hitch.

michelle getting strapped in

This particular place only offered video, no pictures, and were charging a pretty fee of 90-something dollars.  Michelle and I, having only paid $100 for the entire jump, were reluctant to essentially double that for just a video, so we sadly have no evidence of the physical jump.

 

the teeny plane

Skydiving is tough to explain.  I think the best way to do it is to simply say that it’s exactly like what you would expect it to be.  When I finished, I didn’t feel like my world had changed at all; it was certainly exhilarating, but not earth-shattering in its unexpectedness.  The views were stunning, and I had a full 5 minutes to absorb them on my gentle ride down once the parachute had opened.

 

me & michelle

As we rode up in the teeny plane (up to 9,000 feet!), I kept thinking how lucky I was to be crossing this off my bucket list.  When I put on my hideous goggles and started scooting toward the door of the plane, I wasn’t nervous, merely curious about what was coming.  When we got to the door of the plane, I had a number of things that I had been instructed to do, but the wind basically sucked me out before I could do any of them.  My guy took me into an unexpected somersault and we were free falling!!  I think I was screaming, but the one thing I was really thinking about was my earrings!  I had in my real pearl earrings from my mom, and I kept thinking my earring backs were going to come flying off and I would be in BIG trouble for losing my expensive pearls.  I mean, of all things to be worrying about–I guess the mind just has an instinct to think about something trivial and harmless when it senses that danger is near.  Anyways, my earrings stayed safe, and except for my poorly-selected boat shoes coming untied and a halo of tangled hair, I landed exactly the same as when I went up. 

I loved my jump–if it wasn’t so expensive, I would book another one right now. 

P.S.  Someone at work found this comic for me before my first scheduled jump and I just thought it was so funny…

…And then shoved a handful of lifesaver candies at me before I left.  They came pretty handy when we landed because our mouths had gotten pretty dry, and sucking on them helped get our saliva going until we could grab some water.  I snapped a picture for proof to show the coworker–he was thrilled!!