Boo From the District

I just love when people come to visit my new city, because it gives me an opportunity to share some gems that I have found during my short time here and discover new ones. Last week, my friend Hope came to visit D.C. and set aside some time to have a weeknight dinner with me. Her only request was that she wanted a cuisine that you most likely wouldn't find in Birmingham. So, I suggested Ethiopian. I had been to an Ethopian restaurant back in the spring, but hadn't had it again since. So, I jumped at the chance to take her to a restaurant that I had been wanting to try- Dukem Ethiopian on historic U Street. I feasteed on lamb tibs sauteed with onions, tomato, jalapeno, rosemary, and a touch of garlic. It was so hearty and a lovely meal to enjoy on a chilly Fall evening.

That weekend, John had the entire weekend off! So, we celebrated having our first ever Proper Burger from Duke's Grocery in Dupont. The quaint little row house turned restaurant is always crowded with people waiting to get a taste of the seasonal and creative menu. So, John and I deliberately plotted to have an early bird dinner to ensure that we got a seat. We split the Proper Burger (which has become famous in its short time in the District and reasonably so because it's delicious) and another sandwich which was kind of like their take on a Cuban. I loved the Proper Burger, but didn't really jive with the other sandwich. So, word to the wise-while there are other tantalizing menu options, stick with the Proper Burger and don't bother splitting it.

Saturday, John and I woke up bright and early, rented a car and headed to Markham, VA to go to Hartland Orchard's Fall Festival. Ever since we moved up here, we have been dying to pick apples. We loved going to pick you own farms back home, but since the temperatures in Alabama don't dip below chilly most winters- apples weren't exactly the state crop. However, before we checked apple picking off our bucket list- we hit up the Fall Festival that was held on the Orchard's grounds for some good old seasonal fun.

We did pretty much every activity that there was to do including: walking through a corn maze, going down a homemade slide, shooting an apple cannon (I got a bulls eye my first try), watching a pig race, snacking on homemade kettle corn, petting goats (I'm pretty sure that I need one as a pet), eating hand dipped caramel apples, taking a hay ride through the rolling hills and pumpkin patches, sipping fresh pressed apple cider, having a water pump duck race, and taking in the Virginia foliage.

Then, it was off to apple picking. Since we were in it for the gold, we decided to pick half a bushel. I even used a fancy rake like object to ensure that we got the best apples on the tree. There were so many apples (even though it's fairly late in the season). So, the work was more enjoyable than difficult and we walked away with around 50 apples! So, now we are canning, canning, canning. Apple sauce, apple butter, and apple pie filling galore.

After our fall adventures, we took our time driving back to the city and enjoyed seeing the changing leaves along the way. We also took advantage of being in VA and made a stop to Chik-fil-a. This may seem like a trivial thing to most of you, but Chik-fil-a is serious business when you're raised in the South and move to a Chik-fil-a desert in D.C.

That evening, we had the rare opportunity to see one of our favorite bands, Angus and Julia Stone in concert. The brother and sister duo are from Australia rarely tour in the U.S. So, we were ecstatic when we snagged two tickets to their sold out show at the Sixth and I Synagogue. That's right, the show was in a Synagogue. It was a beautiful setting and such a fun evening!

That Sunday, we spent most of the day relaxing and recuperating from our VA adventures. However, we did spend the afternoon carving pumpkins with some of my coworkers. We, of course, paid tribute to our home state by carving  a Heart of Dixie inspired pumpkin. That evening, we finished off our fall weekend by hanging out with our friends Laura and Clint, visiting their church in Capitol Hill, trying District Taco for the first time (think local Moe's), and watching my all time favorite Halloween movie, Hocus Pocus!

This week, John and I are back to the daily grind. However, we did get to enjoy the annual Dupont High Heel Race on Tuesday night. The race itself isn't really the intent of the event-it's getting to see hundreds of men in drag with stilletos run around the streets of Dupont. I have to tell you- I was not only impressed that those men were running in heels but that they were running while donning some of the flashiest outfits this side of Broadway.

Last Wednesday John and I both had to work pretty late. So, cooking dinner went out the window. We usually go out to eat 2x/week and just on the weekends, but we made an exception by trying out Etto on 14th. The restaurant is fairly small, but boasts a romantic atmosphere and some of the best pizza made with stoneground flour. The best part of the meal for me was the chocolate salami. Wait, before you gag- there's no actual salami in the dish. It's wrapped to look like marbled salami, but is made with chocolate, biscotti, almonds, orange zest, coffee and dusted with confectioner's sugar. Talk about decadent!

Cotechino with Fontina and Egg

Friday night was the big night-Halloween, that is. I spent the day dressed as a cat at work and the evening as the Life of the Party (get it?). Laura and Clint came over to Dupont to attend the Glen's Market gourmet candy tasting extravaganza (which only consisted of two candy vendors, but it was still fun), and then we headed over to Eastern Market for Hilloween . John, aka the Witch Doctor, got off just in time to have dinner with us at Boxcar Tavern and then finish off the evening by having drinks and Harold Black Speakeasy. It was a pretty laid back Halloween, but it was just what I needed after a long work week.

Saturday, I spent my day at the DMV-hooray (insert sarcastic eye roll). I am happy to say that I now have a fancy D.C. license though. My friend Ashley was kind enough to wait the long wait with me and walk around Georgetown afterwards. Before all of that, we did check off something on my Georgetown bucketlist- The Tombs. The restaurant is your typical college joint, but in a swanky area like Georgetown- sometimes, that's just what you need. Later that afternoon, I walked Henry around our neighborhood and was blown away at just how pretty the leaves have gotten over the past week.

As the leaves change and the temperatures dip, I'm falling more in love with the District. I just love all of the fall activities and excitement of Halloween in a big city. Cheers to another fabulous week and Happy belated Halloween!