Happy 4th of July!

One of my bestest friends came to visit this weekend- Tracie! I met her about 5 years ago, we worked together at our first job out of college and have been friends ever since. She was one of my bridesmaids :)

Friday, Zeke picked her up around 3:00 and she met me at the office. We went to RedLine for some drinks and an early dinner, then headed to Madame Tussaud's, the wax museum, for some inappropriate photo opps with wax presidents and celebrities. Everything is more fun after you've had a few beers.

Shoulda put a ring on it

Flirting with George Clooney.
He asked for my number but I told him sorry... I'm married!

Having a showdown with The Rock

The Smith's with Reagan

Geronimo!

Talking business with J Edgar Hoover

Woodrow Wilson

Chillin with Samuel L

Brett trying to save Lincoln from assassination

Later, we headed back to Arlington and introduced her to our favorite neighborhood pub- P Brennan's! My friend Brittany met up with us, and by the end of the night she and Tracie were new best friends and taught the local patrons how to two step.

Saturday, we woke up around 11:00 and headed down to Georgetown to rent kayaks so we could see the city from a different view. Apparently we weren't the only ones who had that idea (it was BEAUTIFUL outside), and all of the kayaks were sold out for the day :( 

Plan B was brunch and shopping- which was equally as exciting. We used a LivingSocial instant deal and had brunch at this place I've been dying to try called Mie N Yu. We LOVED it!!! http://www.mienyu.com/ 

They have a three course pri fixe brunch, and I went with the summer salad, banana pancakes, and berry cobbler. Tracie got the same thing but chose a brisket sandwich as her main course instead.

Awesome decor

I showed her how to use Hipstamatic- she's in love!

Shopping at BCBG in Georgetown- send this pic to Zeke as a hint for a b-day gift ;) 

Went to Nick's Riverside Grill on the Waterfront for oysters and Coronas

I don't even know what to say here.

Rachel met up with us for some day drinking 

Saturday night, we went straight from shopping to a party at one of Zeke's (newly graduated) co-workers house, he and 4 other guys rent a place in Clarendon. I felt like I hopped in a time machine and went back 7 years to college. I was having flashbacks from Caleb, Marc, and Cody's  house- beer pong, drunk jenga, and living room dance parties. There weren't clean cups, so we had to re-use Solo cups that we found on the beer bong table. Our shoes stuck to the floor, and there was that "what the hell is that smell" smell throughout the house. There wasn't a surface inside that wasn't covered in beer cans. But they do throw one heck of a party!

In place of dining room furniture, they had 3 folding tables set up for "civil war" beer pong.

I agreed to drink Budweiser because 1) the can was pretty and 2) it's more sanitary than the old beer pong cups

Wall decor

Living room

Zeke found a samurai sword, wore it around his waist, and tried to take it to the bar.  

2nd stop for the night- Liberty Tavern. Still in our bathing suits.

Sunday morning, we didn't rise quite as early. Around 2:00, we went to do some sight seeing at the National Mall. She got an awesome jumping pic in front of the white house- mission accomplished! We walked and walked and walked... and developed quite an appetite.

Since my birthday is Thursday, Tracie treated me to a fancy dinner at The Occidental on 15th street, right by the White House :) 

http://www.occidentaldc.com/occidental/index.cfm 

It's one of the oldest restaurants in DC, it's been open since 1906! The walls are filled with autographed portraits from FDR, Robert Frost, and hundreds of other famous politicians, authors, and public figures.

Cheers! Enjoying the weather while it lasted. A torrential downpour blew through, so we had to move inside.

Quite possible the best creme brulee I've ever had!

Walking back to the Metro

Dc Metro (if you've ever wondered what it looks like)

 Sunday night, we stopped by another house party before going to the bar. Tracie found a light-up LED American Flag shirt and wasn't leaving the store without it! It comes with a microphone built in, and the color is activated when it detects sound. After trying to talk her out of the purchase for a few minutes, I accepted the fact that I was going to have to hang out with a friend who wears LED shirts that night. She loved it.

She attracted quite a crowd

Drinking warm Busch beer from a corona bottle.
Time to go to the bar.

When in Rome...

Dance party

Today was her last day :( I took her to Bob and Edith's for breakfast and dropped her off the airport around 2:00. We had such a fun weekend, it was cool to show her the city, but it made me homesick. I need to make a trip to Houston asap!

For the 4th, we decided to lay low and watch the fireworks from our living room instead of fighting the crowds. I cooked salmon and roasted butternut squash- it was delicious and super easy! I baked it for 1 hr and 20 minutes at 400 degrees. I seasoned it with ground allspice and put some butter and honey on top. 

We just finished watching the national fireworks show- too cool! We are on the top floor in our building, so we have a great view straight across to the Washington Monument. You can see the monument in the first few pics, but the smoke got pretty heavy towards the end.

Happy 4th of July!