finally sitting down

When I got back here on Thursday, my mom was at a glass-fusing class, so my dad and I went to dinner at Matuba. We had a nice, atypical bonding conversation over dinner and the drive back. Friday we bought some goat curry and chicken stew from the local Caribbean place for lunch and I made an ancient Roman recipe, Parthian chicken for the parents for dinner. Saturday my mother and I went to the Armenian Festival in Old Town’s Market Square. We met up with one of her friends from work, who educated us on many things Armenian. Good times. After that I went to Ryanne’s new apartment in Silver Spring for her during-a-heat-wave house-warming party. So many old friends were there, and I was slightly relieved/appalled to hear that they’d all been reasonably out of touch too. (And I felt glad to have my excuse of being in Italy). Aaron, Chris, Claire, Eliza, Janet, Jeff, John, Lish, Max, Ona, Nate, and Susan. And some new people too. Good times. Lots of wine, lots of beer. No spilling on the new carpet. A few of us went to The Piratz Tavern for grog and other drinks. Yes, seriously. Great night.

Sunday my family, sans Adrian who’s not back from New Orleans yet, went to church and then had lunch at Bistro du Coin with one of my father’s old classmates who was in town for a conference. Then it was an unsuccessful quest for a Wii Fit for him to take back to the Philippines. Hungry again from all that driving(?) we grabbed dinner at The Fish Market in Old town.

Monday aka TODAY aka the day I finally updated my journal, I spent going to a dentist appointment, cleaning my room, unpacking FOR REAL, and updating this journal.

About a thousand pictures coming soon I promise!

I’m going to The Philippines, Vietnam, and Cambodia for a few weeks with my family. So after all these belated updates and the coming-soon photos, I’m going on indefinite hiatus again. An Asian update in a month or so is probable, but after that, it might be a wait again until my return to Florence. E-mails, IMs, facebook, phone calls, text messages… you know how to reach me.

long weekend!

So due to some unfortunate last-minute circumstances, Mikey was unable to come visit me. Nonetheless, I'd already assured all my friends I would spend my last "free" weekend in DC being fun. The show must go on.

So my parents and I tried to catch the tail end of DC Restaurant Week, but our reservation (made in the afternoon) yielded a 10PM table. So we went to Gallery Place to watch a movie to kill time and the only movie that fit into our schedule was Alvin and the Chipmunks. Yeah, it was funny. The re-recorded classic songs, namely "The Christmas Song" and "Witch Doctor," brought me back to childhood.

Dinner at Ten Penh was great.

Saturday we went to a memorial service for my great-uncle, Sedfrey Ordonez. Usually respect falls into three categories. First, there is the respect you have for your older, wiser family members. Second is the respect you have for good people. Third is the respect you have for people who have changed the world for the better. "Lolo Sed" fits all three categories. Not many people do. He will be very missed.

The reception, of course, had more than enough delicious food. Love of good food runs in our family. There was a sort of second, more intimate, reception at my aunt's house for everyone who stuck around long enough and wanted to catch up.

I eventually left to meet my friend Jewelyn for dinner. Again with restaurant week, we went to Harry's Tap Room, which was very tasty. She brought it to my attention that we haven't seen each other for almost two years, which is insane. Hopefully that won't happen again.

"don't stop believing"

After dinner, we ended up at Carpool, which she said was "the closest to a Tulane bar you'd find in the city," and she was probably right. Her friend Greg and my friend Patrick from grade/high school both met up with us for a few drinks and some catching up. Jewelyn and I kept watching the NCAA scores looking for Tulane amidst the ridiculous number of Louisiana colleges being displayed. Perhaps it wasn't wise, but we celebrated each Tulane appearance by finishing our drinks at the time.

The next day I met the same Patrick and my friend Tony, another recent Tulane alum, at Open City for a late lunch. Good conversation, good times. It was so cold that day that we didn't really feel inspired to do anything else, so we parted ways. I was on the metro about to call Janet and tell her I couldn't meet her and Mere in time for coffee in Bethesda. But sweet serendipity, I turn around and there is Mere, delayed at the same metro station I was. So we met up for Starbucks like good twentysomethings. I followed Janet's suggestion of a "cinnamon dolce latte," which was perfect for the weather and waking me up. We talked for a while, discussing plans, aging, marriage, babies, dreams, nightmares, free will, and serendipity.

Janet and I had previously set a lunch date for Monday, and on Sunday we decided it best to invite as many people as possible. And to our surprise, almost everyone said yes. When we got to Kramers and asked the hostess for a table for eight, she basically laughed at us. (I had left it to Janet and her delightful accent to make a reservation, but they didn't fall for her charms and told us to just walk in.) We thought we might have to go elsewhere, but they opened up the mezzanine level for us, so our little brunch party sat up there alone. Very VIP.

After lunch, the St. Mary's mini-clique (Ona, Kathleen, and myself) went to go walk around The Shops at Georgetown. There are two pieces of evidence that old habits die hard. Janet, Katie, and Susan all were yanked back to their real lives by, respectively, a return to New York, grading papers, and nursing school homework. Claire and Ryanne went off to delay reality with a viewing of 27 Dresses. The three of us, unsurprisingly uninterested, just caught up on our old friends and the little twists and turns of our own private lives. Always a pleasure.

I probably won't be doing much this week except packing. It is entirely possible my next post will be coming from Florence, Italy!!!