Weekend in DC (or: karaoke, a birthday, and a TRASHCAN)

A couple weeks ago I headed down to DC for a fun-filled weekend.  It is starting to feel like a... 4th home (behind Massachusetts, Indianapolis, and New York).  I'm at least semi-learning my way around, which is always a plus.  At the very least I can sort of navigate the Metro system (unless I have to get to Union Station...note to self: that is not the same as Metro Center), and I can navigate from the two apartments I usually stay in.  Baby steps.

So I took the train down on Thursday afternoon (thankfully no Quiet Car issues this time), and Kate met me at the train station, and we headed back to her apartment.  We grabbed some Mexican dinner at this yummy place near her, where we polished off a pitcher of mango margaritas between the two of us.  So good.  Oh, and it was her birthday, yay!  Happy birthday to Kate!

After dinner, we headed over to Dupont Circle for some KARAOKE!  This was on Kate's bucket list of things to do before she turns 30, and we had a really fun time.  This super skinny guy bought us some sake shots, and we made friends with these guys from Georgetown.  They said they thought we were 24, which was awesome.  I'm totally friends with all of them on Facebook too!  And it makes me feel really old to be "friends" with people who graduated from high school 9 years after I did...

The karaoke bar wasn't too full, so we got our pick of songs, and sang some with the Georgetown boys.

After they left, we made some more friends, with some Canadian guys who said they were visiting for some conference or something.  They were pretty cool, and if all goes well, I'll totally have someone to visit in the Yukon!  So cool.  They were nice and took some pictures of us singing "Piano Man", too.

Here's Kate singing a song with one of them.  It was a very fun time!  Can't wait to go again!

On Friday night I got dinner with Airport Chris.  We went to get dinner at a Greek place, because he is determined that I should "live outside my comfort zone".  Haven't decided if this is a good thing or a bad thing yet.  After dinner, which took 2+ hours because I talked the whole time and am also the slowest eater in the entire world, we met up with Airport Greg at his friend's party.  I wasn't totally psyched about going at first (always get nervous around new people, especially a whole bunch of people I don't know), but it was fun.  More living outside my comfort zone I guess.  There were a couple people there I'd met before (besides Chris and Greg), so that helped.  And then there was this other guy there who looked like someone I thought I might have known (you know what I mean, right?), so that kept me occupied for awhile, trying to figure out who he was and if I knew him.

Obligatory serious face picture

After the party we went to some bar for a little bit.  Group picture with my favorite guys in DC!  Judging from the pictures on my camera, we attempted to take many, but I refuse to post ones I think I look bad in, so this is all you get.  Plus a girl was giving me bunny ears in a few that came out okay.  :(  Need to start taking group pictures when I am sober and not at the end of the night and/or in a bar.

On Saturday morning I met up with some lovely J.Crew blogging friends for brunch at the Tabard Inn, where I ate way too many donuts (is that even possible?).  We had a really great time.  Cousin Kate came with us, and was nice enough to snap this group picture for us.  Ummm, at least I know not to wear this combination of clothes again, yuck!

Saturday night we went out with Kate's friends to celebrate her birthday.  We went all over DC Chinatown and had a lot of fun.  I was cool and drank root beer and Shirley Temples all night (living on the edge, I know).  Here's a picture of me and Freddie, who made someone take this picture by saying, "Hey, take a picture of me and my midget!", and now he calls me Midget as a nickname.  :)

My cousin's friend, me (duh), and cousin Kate.

Here's a bunch of the group, minus the birthday girl.  My cousin's friend said this is our group Christmas card. If you're looking for a hairdresser or a graphic/web design person, there's one of each in this group!

Sunday morning I got breakfast with Airport Chris at Luna Grill.  I may have way overcalculated what time we had to meet up, but at least there was no line, so breakfast was quick... or at least as quick as it can be when you're eating with me.

Now, let me tell you the trashcan story.  When I was visiting Airport Chris and Greg back in the fall, I was surprised that they didn't have a trashcan in their bathroom.  I mean, who doesn't have a trashcan in the bathroom!?  Airport Chris said there's already a trashcan in the bathroom, aka the toilet.  Being a girl, this doesn't always work for me.  So I gave him a hard time about not having a trashcan then, and again when we were out at dinner this time.

We went back to their apartment after dinner to drop off some leftovers (leftover baclava, which I FORGOT, giant, giant tears), and I asked him again if they got a trashcan.  I was mostly joking because he said they didn't have one, but when I went into the bathroom, GUESS WHAT WAS THERE!!!!!!!

 picture courtesy of Airport Chris, because I didn't take my own picture of the now infamous trashcan

How exciting!  I was totally ecstatic (still am)!  When we saw Greg later, that was one of the first things I said to him: "You got a trashcan in the bathroom!!!!"  Seriously, it's the little things in life.