I'm getting really excited - Mallory and Steve are going to be here in a couple hours! I can't wait to show them where we've been living the last few months and the town that is starting to feel more and more like home. Even Joey said last night that DC is finally starting to grow on him (our friend James has been driving him to work this week so Joey's road rage toward DC must be dissipating). I have a fabulous itinerary planned for the four of us, involving some shopping, sightseeing, and most importantly, eating. Tonight Joey, Steve and I are headed to Zula, an Eritrean restaurant, for dinner. I know my earlier comments about Ethiopian food were not exactly brimming with compliments, but our African dinner with Joey's classmates was really tasty so I'm looking forward to dinner tonight. Hopefully Steve will like it - if not, the dining experience is worth it and we'll be eating every few hours so he won't go hungry! After dinner, Joey and Steve will hit up some brew pubs while I drive to Baltimore to pick Mal up and then its off to the only Buddah Bar in the US. They serve dinner until 1am which is perfect since Mallory's flight doesn't land until 11:16! Then tomorrow its even more eating, as we head to the Eastern Market for some blueberry/buckwheat pancakes, Five Guys Burgers and Fries for lunch and a fabulous foodie dinner at Oya. Sunday morning have reservations at Masa 14 for all-you-can-eat-and-drink brunch, then its pizza for lunch in Georgetown and to the Mexican "Oyamel," one of celebrity chef Jose Andres' restaurants, for dinner. YUUUM-MY! As such, I decided last night that my post-marathon rest was over and went for a run (otherwise the fit of my clothes could quickly become an issue). Just an easy 3 miler but man it felt great to be back pounding the pavement. (The consumption of 4 chocolate chip cookies yesterday may have also been a factor - I made a whole batch for Joey's birthday from scratch and they were way too good).
In addition to the food mentioned above, thanks to my mom and dad, Joey and I now have 9 lbs of ice cream to eat. Not that this is a bad thing. The flavors range from The Buckeye State (dark chocolate peanut butter) to Praline to Lemon -yum. Mom, I have to admit, Joey loved his birthday present but I think he was even more excited about the dry ice that came in the packaging. He stood over the sink for an hour yesterday playing with the it.
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| "What? This part of my gift!" |
This weekend is the start of all of the fun visits we have planned. A couple more weeks and Lizzie will be here and then the week after that Lauren is coming and then Bill! I am so thankful that my sisters and friends could find time in their busy schedules to come visit us before we leave the country for two years! My family's (this includes our friends) support has been so important to Joey and me through this process and even though goodbyes at Christmas are going to be hard and I'm going to miss you all like crazy in Nigeria, I know that distance and time are pretty irrelevant when it comes to the tight bond that we have. We'll make it work.
