Please Don’t Make Me…

… come back home!  I was just about in tears when I got on the plane to head back home from my holiday vacation.  You know how I keep saying that my life right now is just a stepping stone?  Well, now I know exactly where I want to step to.  Washington DC.  Oh, my god, I had such an amazing time there!  It’s pretty sad when thinking about moving to a particular city gives you butterflies…

Mom and I flew in on Christmas Eve.  We stayed in, cooked dinner, and played Trivial Pursuit and Apples To Apples with Rob and Becky.  We drank wine and beer and cosmopolitans and manhattans, and by the time I finally went to bed, I was hammered.  I kid you not,  we drank every single night that I was there.  That always seems to happen when me and Rob get together.  The next morning we opened our few, but thoughtful gifts and spent the afternoon playing more board games.  That night Becky cooked an amazing Christmas dinner (she is one of the best cooks I have ever known).

The next day (Monday), we took a driving tour around the city.  For some reason, Mom was acting kind of bratty and was refusing to get out the car.  Very strange.  Anyway, after riding around for hours, we were all starving, so we went to a Mexican restaurant for an early dinner.  I swear they served us enough food to feed a small army.  That evening — more board games, beer, and wine.  The first couple of days were pretty tame.

Mom’s flight left Tuesday morning.  After dropping her off at the airport, the three of us remaining went home and bundled up for a long day of walking.  We took the metro — my first time on a subway/rail system — across the city so I could see all of the monuments and memorials.  Once we got too cold to continue on, we went to the National Archives.  I never thought I would get to see the documents that helped to found this country, and I never imagined the impact seeing them in person would have on me.  I saw the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, the Magna Carta, and so many more.

On Wednesday, I got to meet some of Becky’s family for the first time.  She and Rob have been married for nine years, and I had yet to meet anyone on her side.  We had a nice lunch with them.  That afternoon, Becky and I went shopping for New Year’s Eve outfits (which, by the way, I found an amazing dress), and we all ordered in Chinese that evening.  Rob had to work on Thursday, so Becky and I went to a different mall so I could find some shoes and jewelry to accessorize my outfit.  Thursday night, we went to a pub call Harry’s Tap Room.  It was kind of an ironic name, though, because they only had three beers on tap…  Anyway, after that got boring, we went to a restaurant down the street and ordered beer and desserts.

On Friday, we decided to visit a museum.  There are countless museums in DC, and the best part is that they’re all free!  We decided on the National Museum of American History.  It’s part of the Smithsonian group of museums.  We were there for hours, and we only got to see two of the four floors.  Again, I was not expecting something of historical value to impact me the way it did.  Until this trip, I don’t think I’ve ever been moved to tears.  Two displays in the museum got to me — The Star Spangled Banner and the Pentagon Flag.  As I stood there in front of the huge, tattered flag that Francis Scott Key stood before when she wrote the National Anthem, it was all could do not to burst into sobs.  I never expected to react that way.  It was a feeling that I’ll always remember.

Saturday, of course, was New Year’s Eve.  We just lounged most of the day, and I went to get a manicure and pedicure so I could look my best.  We made reservations for dinner at an amazing Japanese sushi resaurant called the Sake Club.  We were served a five course dinner with a different sake tasting for every course.  Oh, and all the champagne we could drink after midnight!  It was a wonderful experience, but I must admit it was a very strange night.  Between getting asked to go home with another couple right in front of my brother, getting chatted up by two really drunk girls on the street, and riding the metro home at 3am in a party dress, you could definitely say it was a memorable night!

I have more things to tell you all about (True.com dating site, going to meet John Cena tonight, whiskey dick still calling me), but this entry has already gotten tremendously long!  So instead… on to the pictures!  I hope you all had a wonderful and safe holiday!

Felina Naranja