Weekending

Happy Monday everyone! I hope your weekend was as good as mine.

Friday, I went out to DC Improv to see Flip Orley who is a comic hypnotist. I was a bit apprehensive and skeptical about it, but it was absolutely hilarious. He wasn't crass and didn't make any volunteers do anything embarassing. However, he had all of his volunteers forget their name unless they spelt it out letter by letter, and he had one of his volunteers believing that he was the Pumba mascot at disney. 

Saturday, I had an early morning photoshoot! I'll share the photos shortly, I hope they turned out well. Starla and I met our cute next door neighbor puppy. Then I had a Twilighter 5k. I've been running a bit more lately, but I still wasn't prepared for this 5k. My heart rate was ridiculously high. My body felt good, but my lungs were just not having it. I started the timer late as you can see below, but I finished in 37 minutes. 

I've also realized that Starla thinks that my bed is her own. I've been trying to implement a no-bed policy unless I invite her up...but she's too spoiled for that. 

Sunday, I went to brunch at Beuchert's Saloon in Eastern Market. So tasty! We started off with biscuits and unlimited mimosas. The nice twist to the mimosas were that they had mead in them! We ordered the Challah French toast and Eggs benedict. Then of course, dessert was calling our name so we got key lime pie with marshmallow whipped cream. I'm drooling just thinking about this again. 

Finally, I met up with my bestie Ariel for some drinks. We got some wine out and then she decided to cook up a storm. We had home made mac & cheese, sauteed spinach, and grilled sandwiches. The thing I loved the most was the wine bottle, so I snagged it to use it for something....

Isn't it pretty? I would love to use this bottle as a candle if I could cut off the top. Any ideas of what I can use it for?

Hope you all have a great Monday!

Linking up with Biana.

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Weekending I

Happy Monday everyone! I am so happy it's finally Spring. We actually had snow on Friday which I was pretty much in denial about but it's warmed up a bit.

Even though it was super windy out we were able to get some good playtime at the dog park. Starla finally picked on someone her own size and she made buddies with a cute bulldog. We made some tasty white chicken chili in the crock pot, which is super easy. Recipe here. I

I'm also starting a new hair experiment. I'm stopping daily hair washing. I'm going to really work on not washing every day and dry shampooing on day two. I started on Friday and so far so good. Check back later this week for my review of the dry shampoos I've tried. 

Saturday, it was my best friend Shelly's birthday. So we went to Ozzie's for brunch. It is a bit over priced with most brunch entrees between $10-19 and mimosas at $7 a pop, but the food was really good! And you get the amazing Ozzie rolls that are coated in cinnamon sugar for brunch. I could almost have just that for an entire brunch. 

We got rid of our small rug underneath our couch earlier this week too and I didn't realize how much Starla liked sleeping on it. I keep catching her on our front door mat. So I laid down a blanket for her and about five minutes later this happened. She loves it.  So this will be our temporary rug for now. 

Sunday we went for an early morning hike right on the Potomac. Unfortunately the water was too high to cross so we just walked & jogged around the park area instead of hiking into D.C. We followed it up with some brunch of our own when I made my famous pancakes and Carlos pitched in with eggs scrambled and bacon. Sometimes I wonder why I ever go out to eat brunch when we make such a good brunch team. 

Last but not least, I went to go see my first opera, La Traviata, with my parents. Sorry no pictures of this one. It was a really beautiful opera and I really enjoyed it. My parents and I were joking that we they were at the bottom part of the age bell curve and I was a complete outlier. The average age of people going was at least 70. It was really adorable though because most people came in big groups or couples. What an adorable outing to go to. Most of the audience also had the opera glasses which totally tickle my fancy. Next time I'll need to get some. 

How was your weekend? Do anything fun?

Linking up with Biana.

Where To Brunch in DC

Happy Monday! Who watched the Oscars last night? I was able to break my usual grandma routine and stay up through most of them. I'm so glad I was able to watch Birdman early Sunday before the Oscars since it won so many awards last night. I was also happy that the Grand Budapest Hotel took home many well-deserved awards. Even though Boyhood wasn't my favorite movie, I thought that the movie would have won more... Were you surprised with any of the results?

Today, I bring you: the best brunches of the D.C. metro area!

Like any twenty-something, I'm practically obsessed with brunching (yes, it's a verb) and mimosas. I can drink them all day (but I won't, don't worry). Not sure how important brunches are in other cities but around this area, it's the thing to do. So if you're ever in the DC metro area here are some of my favorite places on Sunday morning.

Birthday brunches. Couldn't even stop eating for the picture.

Best Party Brunch: As a preface, Virginia doesn't allow any "unlimited" drink specials. It's sad. But luckily D.C. does! The best party brunch I like to go to is Mad Hatter. I've been there for a handful of birthdays and they also have a nice private room that you can have for large parties. It's a whopping $10 for unlimited mimosas and their food is your typical brunch options with options like eggs benedict, french toast, breakfast burrito, etc. Also, they have that crazy drink pictured below! It's a Mad Hat!

Unattractive, I know. But you had to see that drink!

Best Farm to Table Brunch: Copperwood Tavern. All their food is farm to table and they make all their condiments in-house (downfall: their ketchup is kind of weird...) They have a good selection of drinks and I would highly suggest their spicy bloody mary. You can get great food from simple steel-cut oatmeal to a fancy quiche lorraine. A nice perk for your friends who don't like brunch food as much as we do, they can order from the regular menu.

Best Buffet Brunch: Whitlow's on Wilson. If you are hungry, go here. You will have food options for days. Buzzfeed actually rated this the best bar in Virginia. It's $18 for all you can eat. Their buffet food goes on for days where you can select anything from Cheesecakes, Scrambled eggs to...wait for it.....king crab legs! A secondary perk is their bloody mary bar for the pick bloody mary drinkers in your life. Pro tip: Their brunch starts at 9 a.m. but they don't put out all the food until 11 a.m!

On that note...Best Seafood Brunch: If you've never ventured into Old Town Alexandria, you're truly missing out. It's super quaint and walkable all on King St. There's tons of great restaurants but I really like Virtue Feed & Grain. They have an amazing ambiance. Their hush puppies are mouth-watering and have a great seafood soup. My favorite is their Chesapeake benedict which is an eggs benedict with Maryland Crab cakes. 

Best Patio Brunch: Can you tell that I'm ready for Spring & Summer yet? Lavagna in DC has a great little patio to eat their amazing food on. You have the option of mimosas bottomless or not (always a plus!), bellinis, plain prosecco, bloody marys, and tequila bloodies. My favorite food to eat is the pancakes with nutella!

Best Dim Sum: A lot of people opt to go to Ping Pong, which is great. I've been there but if you want true authentic Dim Sum, check out China Garden. I've been going there with my parents since we moved from Toronto. It is your most authentic dim sum food (seriously! Chinese tourists come here in bus loads). If you've never heard of or tried Dim Sum, check out this article here. Also it was just the Chinese New Year! Go be cultural. 

Love all you loyal readers. I hope you like brunch as much as I do and if you're in the area, I'm always up to trying new places! Give me some suggestions.

Joining the Let it Shine Blog Hop and Mingle Monday.