D.C. Recap!

Remember that time I went to Washington, D.C? Yeah, me too! Here are some snaps (and just a few words) from the trip!

I took a red-eye from San Jose on Friday night and got in around 10am on Saturday morning. Bethany and I met at the airport, took the metro to our hotel, dropped off our luggage and went straight to our first activity - a Capitol Hill Food Tour!

I basically didn't take any pictures because I was so busy eating everything in sight. I cannot recommend this tour highly enough - it was incredible! Our awesome tour guide, Sharon, walked us around Capitol Hill for 3.5 hours, stopping every half hour or so at a different restaurant for "tastings." I put tastings in quotation marks because we basically got a full meal at each of the 4 restaurants we stopped at!

I wish we had been in DC longer so we could have done some of DC Metro Food Tour's other tours. It was a great introduction to the city!

On Sunday morning, we had breakfast at Le Pain Quotidien in Georgetown.

Verdict? Awesome.

 We spent the afternoon at the Holocuast Memorial Museum and the National Museum of American History.

 The Holocaust Museum is incredible and very moving. I got a lot of great ideas for the Anne Frank unit I am scheduled to teach this year.

The coolest thing that Museum of American History (aside from all the gorgeous First Lady dresses!) is Julia Child's kitchen:

We grabbed an early dinner at Zest, where I threw a glass of wine across the patio because I was gesticulating wildly. Oops.

And then walked around the National Mall as the sun set to check out the monuments.

On Monday morning, we headed out to Arlington National Cemetery - it was a beautiful day!

Finally, we grabbed a quick lunch at Spike Mendelsohn's We, the Pizza before heading back to the airport!

I completely fell in love with Washington, D.C. last week! What an incredible city full of history, culture, and life! I can't wait to go back!

Maui, Revealed!

This post brought to you courtesy of this really delightful dinner that I made all by myself for only me in my mom's enormous kitchen (6 burners! Double oven! 10 foot long island! It's heaven). The only thing that saved this from being totally depressing was how tasty everything was!

Perfect Pasta with Peanut Sauce and Green Beans & Broccoli with Garlic Butter and Cashews

Today has been a serious "computer" day. It was 3:30 (3:30!) before I peeled myself away from the screen, took of my PJs, took the dog for a walk, and sat out in the sun with my book.

To be fair, I've been busy! In addition to some blogging (did you miss my Operation Beautiful post or our anniversary dinner recap?), I had a lot of paperwork to take care of for my new job and was trying to get some lesson plans written as well (I know, school doesn't start for 20 days. I'm sick. I need help).

But here it is, the post you have been waiting for, MAUI!

My parents have a timeshare on Maui, so we have gone every summer since I was a sophomore in college. This is the only vacation my parents take all year. I repeat, this is the only time off my dad has all year long. Can you believe it? For this reason, Maui = serious relaxation. We do a lot of laying by the pool, reading books on the patio, and eating out. Occasionally, we'll walk to Whaler's Village and do some shopping.

This does not sit well with my husband, whose delicate, lily-white skin blisters at the very mention of sunshine. We honeymooned on Maui last year and I found myself doing a lot of... hiking. In rainforests. With little to no sun exposure. Going to Maui with both my parents and my husband results in some clashing opinions about what we should do. I know, it's rough. What should we do on Maui? Somehow, we managed! Here are some visual highlights from the trip.

My cute parents!

Brian, braving the elements (Did you notice he's reading "Snow" on a tropical island? Typical)

Celebrating our anniversary with the best burgers on Maui at the Cool Cat Cafe!

DELICIOUS ice cream sandwiches at Hula Cookies & Ice Cream

Iao Valley

Most mornings started like this
PS: Everyone read this book!

Not a horrible view...

AQUARIUM!!

Flatbread Company in Paia - our favorite!

YUM

Love it!

Nakalele Blowhole - Brian's favorite (we went twice)!

Little bro joined us after almost slicing his finger off at work!

We also played in the ocean, snorkeled in Honolua Bay, had an incredible dinner at Mama's Fish House, and just generally had a lovely time. Brian and I have talked about visiting other islands, but we just really adore Maui!

Do you have a favorite vacation spot?