After all was said and done (with regard to security and check-in), I got to a bar at 10:30PM... and luckily made it in for "last call." Ummm, it's LAX for crying out loud! THEY CLOSE THE LAST BAR AT 10:30PM?! WHO? WHAT? WHY? I had to make the most of it, so I ordered a double Makers and diet (Coke). Instant buzz. In my buzzed state, I ended up grabbing a hamburger and small fries at McDonald's before going to the gate. We ended up not leaving LAX until an hour past our scheduled departure time, so I naturally missed my 8:30AM connecting flight in Atlanta. And I hate Atlanta airport because the terminals are super huge, and the hallways are L-O-N-G. As usual, I got stuck with the gate at the end of the hallway. There was no way I would've made that flight even if I could fly. Luckily, they had me on the next flight out (which was scheduled to leave at 9:30AM). I finally got to Reagan National just a little past 11:20AM.
Damn Delta.
I spent the first day home fighting jet-lag. Mom had ordered Chinese and chicken wings with mambo sauce (oh yesssss!), and that pretty much sealed my fate for the next 10 days. I'm barely half-way through "vacay," and I've managed to eat everything in sight.
THURSDAY: After chillin' for most of the day/afternoon, I finally got off my ass and jumped into my dad's car and headed across the state line into Northern VA. I met my fam friend, Marz, at Target in Springfield (worst mall ever), and picked-up a couple of things for my niece/nephew. Then I went to my brother's house not too far away, and had dinner with them. It was great seeing them! It was especially great to hang out with my niece and nephew... who are both adorable. On the way home, I stopped by "The Cantina" --my friends' (Siena and Aydee) house (5 mins away from my parents') and hung out there for a bit. Drank.
FRIDAY: I woke up and saw that Rachel Ray had some repeat show with the New Kids on it, so I watched it. HA. There are some seriously psycho, hard-core fans out there. All I have to say about them is "WOW." The guys were a trip, though. I love how candid they are.
I got myself out of the house, and went to Potomac Yard... hit up Target and Shoppers to pick-up some groceries. (I got salad stuff as if I'm really NOT gonna eat mom's cooking; no matter how "fattening" it can be.) And later that night, I went back into Arlington to scoop up my friend, Leah, and we drove into the city to meet Carrie for dinner. We went to Todd English's Olives off K Street. At first glance, it was OK. My friend went to the bathroom, and was grossed out. In general, the dining area was a little drab, and maybe just "old," but the food made up for that. We started out with an amazing pork loin (basically liempo for you Filipinos). I would never eat that fatty mess, but for some reason it tasted SO good that night. Carrie ended
up with the Maryland rockfish, Leah had the steak and frites, and I had the scallops -- everything was GREAT. We even stuck around for dessert: a chocolate molten-ish cake. Uh, yum.When dinner was done, we ended up dropping by Carrie's office, and got the grand tour. She even took us to the roof, were we had a nice view of DC's financial district. After that, we headed to the U Street corridor to go to Red Lounge. It was highly recommended, so we went to check it out. Gina and Siena, two of our friends, were already there. It was sort of whack. The crowd was NOT what I expected for U Street... and the music was kind of lame. They played some old songs which were a throw-back to the late 80s/early 90s, and that
was nice. But other than that, the DJ would play some whack shit... We spent more time going outside to grab a smoke than actually hanging out inside. At one point, they wouldn't even let us go upstairs (too crowded) so we kept "the party" downstairs. We made the best of it. Two things, though, that made it quite "memorable..." #1) someone was walking in the lounge dressed in a PIG outfit; straight-up out of Disney World or something... and #2) Carrie was being picked up by Jimminy Cricket (or someone that reminded us of him). WHACK. After that madness, we tried to go to Ben's Chili Bowl, but it was crowded. (Was I really on U Street?!) So we hopped in our cars and went to DC Cafe instead. We called it a night after that.SATURDAY: I slept in, and pretty much did nothing all day. I wrapped some gifts. Then I went to Mass with mom and dad... and after that, we stopped by the new pho place in Ft. Washington (a minute from my parents' house). YUM. Who knew there was pho in Ft. Wash?! We were the only ones in the restaurant for a while, but then people started to filter in, even my friend, Leah, and her cousins. Later that night, I went back to The Cantina, and then Primo took Gina, Siena and I to Krispy Kreme in Alexandria for donuts and hot chocolate. On the way home, we did a drive by through National Harbor. So many pretty lights! HAHA!
SUNDAY: Sunday was my nephew's Christening in NoVA. So the parentals and I drove to the church sometime after noon. The ceremony was quick, and Noah didn't cry. Thank goodness! He was adorable in his all-white outfit, complete with white baby Chucks! (Pix to follow...) We spent most of the day at Noah's God-parents' (Abby and Alex) house for the reception, so there were lots of laughs and catching up... and lots of food. When we finally got home I was tired (and tanked; love homes with fully-stacked bars...), so I chilled the rest of the evening.
MONDAY: I got up this AM, and headed back into NoVA to do some shopping at Tysons. It was, and still is, FREEZING! Although there were tons of sales, I was just not feeling the crowds. I walked the whole mall once and it tired me out. Thankfully I scored jack-pot at Benetton (60%-off the whole store!!!), and picked up a few gifts. I headed back to Springfield to return something at Target, and I ended up picking up a few toys for some of the kids. I made a quick stop at Safeway and World Market in Kingstowne to buy the stuff I need to make my curried chicken and rice salad for Christmas dinner (my contribution this year). I made it home before dark...
I am freezing right now, and I'm debating whether or not to make it back to "The Cantina" to chill... I feel like the weather is definitely not working for me. The cold is unbearable, and I'm trying to enjoy my time here. I just hope the cold lets up a little. The niece and nephew are supposed to come over tomorrow, so hopefully I get to babysit. But other than that, I will have to make it through without turning into a freakin' block of ice.
Gotta love these East Coast winters, yeah?
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