Walks, Rocks, and more Rocks!

6.19.12-6.22.12

On Monday, one of our group actually joined us instead of going shopping.  However, she was flying out to Florida on Wednesday, so she needed to buy some stuff before her trip.  Well, for those that know me, you may recall I have a slight addiction when it comes to shopping.  Since I can't exactly afford to shop for myself, I was a tag along on Tuesday.

We started out at H&M (Which I had never heard of until I ended up in DC.)--which I consider to be similar to a Forever 21, only a little better quality.  After wandering around and looking for dresses and such, we headed over to TJ Maxx to look for shoes and more dresses.  Sadly, TJM had a terrible selection of shoes, but Abbie was able to find a dress or two at each place.

The worst part of shopping was the lines.  Apparently Tuesdays are very popular shopping days, because the lines were taking FOREVER!  At TJM we stood in line down stairs for an extended period of time, finally deciding to invest in some Smoked Cheddar Kettle Corn (which is delicious, by the way) until the lady announced that the register upstairs had no line.  Well, we ventured up stairs and ended up being second in line.  This wouldn't have been a problem, except the lady in front of us opened a credit card.  And the cashier didn't know how to apply the discount and was really struggling.  We finally were able to check out (and apparently TJM charges 5 cents per bag you get) and headed back to the Metro.  We parted ways and I headed home to read, clean, and I ended up watching HIMYM...I have a bit of an addiction.

Wednesday brought about a new day.  I'll be completely honest with you, I don't remember doing much.  Usually after work I'm pretty worn out and just veg-out and watch HIMYM (which probably explains why I only have 4 episodes left our of 6 seasons).

Thursday was another entertaining day of work followed by an evening of adventure.  One metro stop down was a gathering for Students for Liberty.  The happy hour, entitle Liberty on the Rocks, is a chance for individuals to network and get to know others in the liberty movement.  I decided to head out with a few friends to check it out (there are lots of happy hours around the Capitol.  I obviously can't drink, but I'm curious if this is a sign of sorts.  Lots of happy hours=lots of unhappy people?).  There ended up being a very large crowd.  I didn't actually meet anyone new, but I got to know some of my fellow KIPs better.  After hanging out for a couple of hours, I was hungry (as I frequently am after not eating for 7 hours) and managed to grab a couple of friends to wander to a local eatery.

Along with Garrett, Daniel accompanied us to dinner.  Daniel is an Orthodox Jew, so I was able to really learn a lot about the Jewish faith.  I've always had an interest in religion, and as I've gotten older, other religions fascinate me.  As a Catholic I knew a little bit about Judaism because of some similar roots, and our 8th Grade Holocaust unit also had taught me a lot, but that is nothing in comparison to learning about it first hand.  The food at the restaurant was ok, and the service was kinda poor (and coming from me, as a waiter, says something), but the conversation was impeccable!

After dinner, it was, once again, late enough to head home.  I jumped on the metro and headed in the opposite direction of everyone else (it's a common occurrence when you live in Fairfax and everyone else lives in DC, lol).

I made it back to my apartment, and was worn out.  After getting everything ready for the next day, I laid my head down on my  pillow and called it a night!

Friday brought to close the work week and the start of the weekend.  My Friday started off a little rough.  I some how managed to forget my Metro card, which isn't a huge deal.  I just had to buy a fare card.  Well, I knew I would be adventuring later in the day, so I invested in a 1-day all you can ride pass.  After trying to go through the terminal a couple of times, I had to ask the people on duty why my pass was not working.  Apparently, the all day passes don't start working until after 9:30 (I some how missed the big bold letters telling me that in my rush to not miss my train).  So, I had to buy a $4.50 farecard on top of my recent $9 purchase.  All because I forgot my silly smartcard. Blah.

But my day would get better.  :)

This week Garrett and I added an additional member to our afternoon adventures:  Sam.  First, we began by being touristy and headed to the Natural History Museum.  Well, that is after we grabbed lunch.  We were originally going to go to Rays Hell burgers, but ended up eating at this BBQ joint.  The food was really good, the waitress was friendly, and the drinking glasses were actually miniature pitchers!  They were cool.

But back to the adventure.  After lunch we went to the Natural History Museum to see Dead stuff, stuffed dead stuff, and shiny stuff! Heehee (Translation:  We saw the Dinosaurs, Mammals, geological exhibit, including the Hope diamond, and quite a few other things).  After logging a couple hours at the Museum, Sam and Garrett both needed to go shopping.  Sam needed flats and something else, Garrett, dress clothes.

So, like my Tuesday, we headed to H&M.  While I do enjoy their men's clothing section, they do not have Longs in their suit section, so everything was too short for me.  Which means I wasn't tempted to buy anything.  I helped Garrett pick out a 3 piece suit and a shirt (which looked quite snazzy, if I do say so myself!) and Sam found a cardigan (ugh.  I am morally/economically/socially/ and every other type of "ly" opposed to cardigans).

We then wandered to TJ Maxx again because I wanted to look at their suit selection (which also didn't pan out for me.  Maybe God's looking out for my budget even when I don't want too).  Sam looked at their shoes, but those still didn't produce anything worthwhile.

Lacking incentives to shop any longer, we decided to head our separate directions.  We happened to be walking through the station and realized a train was about ready to leave. Garrett encouraged us to make a mad rush to the train, so we did.  We managed to get on in plenty of time.  The catch:  Garrett needed to go the opposite direction.  After riding one stop, he quickly got off and transferred.  Sam and I stayed on chatting away, just waiting for our stops to arrive.  When the train came above ground, we noticed something was a little off.  Normally when our Orange line comes up we are surrounded by highways on both sides.  This time, it was trees.  Lots of trees.  Sam and I both looked utterly confused.  After a quick look at the Metro Map, and realizing the next stop was Arlington, we realized the train Garrett had put us on was the Blue Line...we needed the Orange.

We unloaded at Arlington, crossed the platform, and jumped onto the train back to Rosslyn, where we then switched to our appropriately colored train.  Some lady had also made the same mistake, but she was quite furious about it.  Her phone conversation on the Arlington platform was by no means friendly!

I made it back home relatively early, in comparison to the other nights this week I had been out, and decided to take it easy.  Saturday the group was going to go to the Woodly Park Zoo (which I was debating) and then cook dinner at a friends apartment at GMU (which I was excited about!).  I watched a few episodes of:  Wait for it...HIMYM and then crashed.  It had been a long week and I was one tired Intern!