Crepes*

I want to start this post by saying that I like Bob Evans. I've always liked Bob Evans. As a child, my sister and I affectionately referred to it as "Blob Evans". My freshman year of college, a certain Cowboy and I would go there for breakfast on the weekends. We would pick up a copy of the Columbus Dispatch and spend a good hour and a half slurping down coffee, eggs, and spreading the paper all over the table. He would read Sports and Local News, I would read Style and National News.

Sophomore, Junior, and Senior year of college, I would occasionally go there with girlfriends after a night of drinking to take the edge off my hangover. When I was home from college, Bob Evans was the perfect place to meet my grandma for a quick breakfast because it was directly between my parents house and her house. I would go to Bob's with my friend Carrie on the rare (and extremely joyous) occasion that our morning class was cancelled.

Granted, I'm not as big of a fan as Ph, who actually inquired and looked into travelling to the Homestead (located in Rio Grande, Ohio if you are interested), but I think that the above paragraph demonstrates that I've been a fairly loyal, if not frequent customer.

This past weekend, while taking a break from the Book Fairs and went to good ole Blob's for some greasy breakfastey goodness. Anyway, I had been up and around for a while, and since I had a few more book fairs to hit up, I decided that I should probably go for something that wouldn't completely slow me down like the standard Blob's fare.

I decided to get some crepes. Maybe it's because I've seen one too many freakin' ihop commercials and they've somehow embedded themselves in my subconscious, or maybe it's because I was on such a book high that I completely lost all judgement, but somehow I found myself saying to our very perky waitress, "I'll have the raspberry crepes".

Now, as much as I've loved Bob's (and yes, we're at the point where I can affectionately refer to Mr. Evans as "Bob"), I should have known that Bob's would have a certain degree of difficulty making a flavourful, yet delicate French breakfast item.

Before I had time to ponder all of this, they arrived. Underneath the whipped cream, and raspberry pie filling, there were indeed what looked like crepes.

I took a bite.

Sugary.

I took a second taste.

Really sweet.

My third bite is when my teeth started to hurt.

I was pretty sure that I had developed Type II diabetes by my fourth bite.

My fifth and sixth bites were total blurs as the sugar raced through my bloodstream and my head started to spin, and I started to rock back and forth slightly in my seat. Ph probably noticed that I was talking a little bit faster as we discussed Beanie Babies, Boyd's Bears, and Precious Moments figurenes.

Now that I've come down from the sugar high (and yes, it took a day or two), one question remains..... Bob, why have thou forsaken me? Why would you do what you what you did to something so delicious in the first place??

Booked*

Those of you who know me well know that I have a little bit of a book problem… to put it mildly. Despite the fact that I tend to neglect my other blog, I spent a lot of time reading, scouring Amazon for good deals on used books, and when there is a lull in the conversation… you guessed it, I talk about what I'm reading.

Saturday, I had a chance to indulge my inner nerd in a way that hasn't come along since grade school. Remember the grade school book fairs? Shelves and shelves of inexpensive books as far as the eye could see? Ahhh... nirvana.... Saturday, I attended not one, but TWO book fairs. Apparently, they still have them for adults.

The first was the Montgomery Public Library with Ph, and the second was a sale at the State Department with a brief detour to Bob Evans and then the two story DSW in Rockville. For a whopping $27, I picked up the following titles:

- Les Miserables
- Wurthington Heights
- Jane Eyre
- On Human Bondage
- Their Eyes were Watching God
- Oracle Security Handbook
- Dave Barry does Japan
- One Year Off
- Frankenstein
- Things Fall Apart
- Politically Correct Bedtime Stories
- The Underground Guide to Unix
- Kim
- Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant

As you can see, quite the eclectic mix. So far I've read "Dave Barry Does Japan", which literally had me laughing at loud at parts. Granted, it's a bit dated, but some of the comedic essence remains… jokes about George Bush throwing up on Japanese officials in 1992 are still funny in my book. And Dave Barry's.
* If you get a chance, I suggest you check out the State Department book fair. It goes until next weekend.

DC'd*

Living in the District, you come to expect certain things: conversations surrounding politics, fines for jaywalking, the inability to register a vehicle, the occasional rodent wandering the streets (or in my case, inside my house). But every now and again, despite knowing what to expect, you find yourself getting DC'd.

And this past Saturday, I found myself getting DC'd. Over and over and over again.

It started off innocently enough. I awoke in my aunt and uncle's home in Ballston eager to head back over to the Hill to partake in my Saturday morning yoga ritual. (note: I took a temporary break from my Cap Hill home following the fumigator visit on Thursday to let nature takes it course…more on this later.) The class begins promptly at 10, so I leave adequate time to drive (gasp!) the twenty minutes it takes to get home. Seems as though most of the World had the same plan in mind as I approached what appeared to be a parking lot extending from 66E to 110S to 395N to my exit. Instead of the twenty minutes I anticipated, which would cause me to arrive at yoga just in time for it to begin, I spent the hour-long class in my car on 395N. Talk about getting DC'd. Nothing like bumper to bumper traffic heading into the city on a non-workday morning.

Having missed the entire class and now extremely frustrated for spending an hour and a half increasing my carbon impact on the environment, I decided I would make up for it by enjoying the beautiful 80-degree autumn(?) day. I walked on over to the Capitol and when I got there, I pulled a Forrest Gump and kept on going. As I made my way down the Mall, I was instantly surrounded by mobs and mobs of families (presumably from the mobs and mobs of cars on 395 N that morning). And the tents! So many tents! Turns out, my innocent walk landed me smack dab in the middle of being DC'd again! How typical. A festival on the Mall. Tis the National Book Festival time of year, and the crowds were certainly out for this one. I strolled in and out of tents to find unrecognizable famed authors, costumed characters from children books, Harry Potter fanatics, and the Magic School Bus (to my dismay, no sight of Ken Kesey & his Merry Pranksters on this one). Once I saw what there was to see, I received my free tote bag and commemorative poster and continued on down the Mall.

I walked over to the Lincoln Memorial, stared up at Abe, and then it occurred to me that it had been awhile since I had spent a good amount of time at the Jefferson Memorial. So, I walked around the Tidal Basin and eventually found myself in a very non-DC'd moment-- the Jefferson Memorial was nearly empty. The way I like to remember the Jefferson Memorial is crammed full of tourists non-stop sneezing and itching their eyes out from the Cherry Blossom Festival (it always goes back to a festival here).

I took a short break at the desolate memorial, and eventually turned around to head back home. Off I went down Independence, unsuspecting of the ultimate DC'd moment that was upon me. As I approached 7th Street, I was faced head-on with anti-war protestors. And, I must say, those protestors have quite the catchy chants, especially when it's coupled with the steady rhythm of a bongo drum. For the remainder of the day, I had their catchy phrases ringing in my head:
"Whadda we want?"
"TROOPSOUTNOW!"
"When do we want it?"
"NOW!"
"Whadda we want?"
"TROOPS! OUT!"
"When do we want it?
"NOW!"

And now it's stuck in my head again.

Anyhow, I had to make it across 7th Street to make it home, but the protestors kept pushing onward, blocking the entire street. What was I to do other than join the masses? Even when the masses include an elderly fellow wearing a Devil costume, holding a red pitchfork, and covering his face with a President Bush mask. Hmmm, I wonder what message he was trying to convey? What a cryptic man.

So I said a little prayer, took a deep breath, and embarked on a real life game of Frogger as I stepped one foot forward, one foot right, one foot forward, one foot left, and so on, until I made it safely across the street. It's true, on Saturday, September 29, I inadvertently joined a war protest for one or two of the longest minutes of my life.

As I was finally on the homestretch, I called my friend and neighbor, Kelli, to see if she wanted to meet up and hear about my DC'd-up day. We decide to meet up over on Barracks Row, and what do you know, it was celebrating it's very first Octoberfest. Need I say it? DC'd again.

*DC'd: Just when you think you know what to expect from this town, it continues to amaze you with how it lives up to its stereotypes.

Dublin*

Greetings from Dublin!

We made it over here after an almost missed horrible horrible flight on Ryan Air. Ireland is an awesome country - everyone here is so smiley and happy all of the time and I'm pretty sure the fact that there is a pub on every block has something to do with it.

In the day and a half that we've been in Dublin we have done many things! Here is a brief overview:

- Guinness Brewery Tour - saw how they make the stout and learned that the main ingredients are as follows: barley, hops, water, yeast. I took good notes during the tour and am looking forward to attempting to brew my own when I get home. Afterwards, we enjoyed a fresh complementary beer at the 'Gravity Bar' at the top of the complex.

- Jameson Distillery Tour - Kenn was an official taste tester at the end of the tour, which was very interesting, especially because they gave you a few free cocktails at the end.

- Dublin Ghost Tour - Did this last night. They took us around to all sorts of creepy graveyards and we learned about the spooky side of Dublin. I'm not much of a believer in ghosts, but some of the pictures that showed up on peoples cameras were really freaky. Like half of the tour group, our camera didn't work.

- St. Patricks Cathedral - St. Patrick brought Christianity to modern day Ireland. We got to walk through the garden which was the site where St. Patrick would baptize people. The church was very pretty, and obviously very historic.

- Book of Kells - This Bible was scribed circa 800 BC. It was astonishing to see how intricate the inscriptions and drawings were given the age of this book. Also, got to check out the Long Hall in the Trinity College library which was completely breathtaking. I think that it would be breaktaking to those of you out there who aren't book nerds such as myself.

Anyway, we're off to find a pub and down a few more pints. Tomorrow its back to London and then home.