Weekend Review: Kennedy Center and Continued Anniversary Festivities

Can you believe I've been living in the DC Metro Area for almost 20 years and I've never been to the Kennedy Center? Oddly enough, I have run beneath it several times during races, such as the Cherry Blossom 10 miler and the Rock and Roll Half Marathon, but never been in it.  I've even drove past it countless times while driving on Rock Creek Parkway.

A few months ago, tickets went on sale for the Book of Mormon, a musical written by the creators of South Park. It has won several Tony awards and I've heard such great things about it.  When I heard it was coming to the Kennedy Center, I knew I had to see it! After waiting in an online queue for two hours, we got our tickets and we were all set! I figured it would be a good belated anniversary gift to us! Although metro delays got us nervous for our 1:30pm showtime, our worries went away as soon as the show began. The show started off with such great energy we were excited to see what songs they would sing next.

Photo courtesy of Book of Mormon Broadway

During intermission, I walked around the Kennedy Center and snapped some shots of the beautiful interior.

A shot of Justin and I waiting for the complementary shuttle back to the metro. Why is it that over the years my eyes seem to be getting more and more chinky squinty? LOL...

The Book of Mormon was a great show, and if you were lucky enough to snag tickets to this musical while it's in town, you are in for a great treat! 

After the show, we grabbed some food at Woodward Table. We started off with some spicy mussels served with some crusty bread. The chorizo in the broth gave the mussels a kick!

Despite not eating red meat too often, Justin made a special exception and treated himself to a New York strip steak. 

I opted for the duck breast cooked to a perfect medium with skin that had the right balance of crispy and fatty. It was served atop spinach and parsnips (I think?). Mmm...

Despite having some drinks at the bar before our reservation, an appetizer, and an entree, I still wanted to try the dessert! Somehow, I was determined to try something sweet despite being stuffed.  Looking at the menu beforehand, I wanted to try the bread pudding.  Because my stomach was almost at max capacity, we opted for the homemade cheesecake with lemon curd.  It was a very flavorful option and not too heavy! It was the perfect finish to our meal!

On Sunday, we slept in and then ran errands around the neighborhood. We went to District Taco for lunch and tried to visit the Goodies custard and dessert truck that was parked at Eastern Market. 

Justin with his mouth full of taco goodness...

Unfortunately, they ran out of inventory, and as a consolation, the owner offered us some doughnuts.  Despite the disappointment of not getting to try the custard, the donuts were pretty good! I'll have to try it again next time when they have their frozen desserts in stock. 

Weekend Review: Our Komi Experience and other scenes from our July 4th Weekend

We had an enjoyable time at Komi celebrating our third anniversary. The servers were friendly, attentive, and not pretentious.  They added fun to our dining experience, which I appreciated because often times fine dining places can get a little too stiff. On a side note, I think the male servers got the better end of the fashion deal in their skinny slacks and button downs versus the females who wore dresses that were reminscent of "Little House on the Prairie".  Their dresses were cute nonetheless. :)

Anyways, they prohibit taking pictures, so I'll try to list the dishes that I can remember. The meal started off with small bites and working its way up to the main entree.

• "fluffy pastry topped with roe" (sorry, I can't even remember the exact name)
• crostini
• raw fish and sea scallops
• foie gras
• chickpea ravioli
• marscopone stuffed dates
• berries and greek yogurt
• suckling pig with homemade fluffy pita (they brought us more!)
• greek doughnuts 
• little chocolates
• root beer lollipops

I can't remember what else... :(

Pros

• Suckling pig main entree was divine (very flavorful and not too fatty!)
• The raw fish dishes were not fishy tasting much to the delight of Justin
• Wine pairing was phenomenal, tasty and really brought out the flavors of the food like a good pairing should. My favorites were the pinot gris, the Belgian beer (Justin and I actually finished our beer before the entree came and they filled it back up), and the dessert wine. By the end of the meal I was getting a good buzz on! Yes, I'm a lightweight. ;)

Cons:

• Lack of a beef dish (I know the menu changes daily, but one beef dish would have been much appreciated for my carniverous hubby!)
• Desserts left something to be desired as they were pretty simple. I know that there is beauty in simplicity, but I would have appreciated a little more complexity. Perhaps something that looks like it came from a pastry chef?

Overall, I thought it was an enjoyable experience, a must-do for any DC foodie! I haven't been to many multi-course prix fixe places, but if I had to choose between the two I have experienced, I'd still say that Volt's Table 21 is the best! 

Komi was a great place to celebrate our third anniversary. At our first anniversary we dined at Bourbon Steak. For our second, we ate at Blue Duck Tavern. It seems we have a very bougie/fancy theme for our anniversary dinners so I can't wait to see where we'll eat next.

Here are some other scenes from our long holiday weekend...

A funny Frenchie billboard we saw in the metro...

In addition to our anniversary, it was Derby's second birthday, so we celebrated with a pizza party...

Dog treat pizza party that is...

Justin doing his best Frenchie impression with the pizza slices...although I don't think they were amused...

 I think they just wanted to dive right in!

We spent our 4th of July on our friend's rooftop. We waited with excitement to see how Jenn's patriotic cake would turn out...

Perfectly! Pinterest FTW!

Afterwards, we went to the Giant next door on the hunt for some chicken wings...doesn't this look like some stock photo? Caption?

#Bromance

So that's how we spent our anniversary/Derby's B-day/July 4th Weekend. It was crazy packed with a lot of fun!  The Brioni aren't resting just yet...we're doing something major renovation-wise at the Brioni household...stay tuned!

Weekend Review: I'm Feelin' 22

Hi Everyone! A few weeks ago, I celebrated my 32nd Birthday with a fun, event filled weekend. To kick off the festivities Justin and I dined at Rasika West End. Justin had never had Indian food before, but promised me that he would take me out for an Indian dinner for my birthday.  We figured that he might as well try the best Indian restaurant in the city. I started off our meal with the signature Rasika cocktail made with sparkling wine. Cheers to me!

For starters we ordered samosa (on the left) and the famous palak chaat (flash fried spinach). Both were delicious!

For our entree, we ordered an assortment of naan to share while I ordered the chicken adraki and Justin ordered the tandoori chicken.

We also ordered the vegetable biriyani. It's neat how it is filled with rice and prepared in a bread pot.

I then helped myself to another cocktail...I forgot what the name of this one was, but it had a spicy kick to it!

For dessert, our server came out with a tiramisu type of dish...on the house! You could definitely taste the Indian flavors in the dessert!

The next day, my sisters, friends, and I ran the Color Run in Baltimore. I'm sure you all saw pictures on Facebook, but I'll probably be reviewing the race in a separate post tomorrow. :)After the Color Run, we were starving so we headed to Fells Point to "attempt" to eat at the Blue Moon Cafe.  The wait for that place was so long (due to its small size), so we ended up going to Todd Conner's on the corner.

Although being our second choice, Todd Conner's didn't disappoint. I ordered the Monte Cristo (not as good as Bennigan's!), but still tasty and filling!

I ordered a horchata cocktail that tasted like chocolate milk and was given a complementary bloody mary since my sister's told them it was my birthday. Needless to say, I was on the verge of getting a little tipsy, but luckily I had filled up on the brunchy goodness to coat my belly.

That evening we traveled to our old stomping grounds (Arlington) to do some bar hopping. In true 22 year old fashion, we started out at Ricky's to get our pregame on! This was the first of many Patron shots. Was this one the coffee one or the regular one? I have no clue, but both went down smooth...

Who took this blurry picture? Judy?

Bottoms up!

The rest of the evening consisted of us going to a total of two bars (so much for bar hopping, more like a bar hop ;), and me not remembering much afterwards. Somehow, we ended up back at Ricky's apartment, ordering Pizza Movers (the saltiest pizza ever, with fake sausage that I like to call "snausages!"), and passing out everywhere. Luckily, we woke up bright and early enough for Jill to make it to work!

These days birthdays aren't as crazy as they used to be, but they are still fun. Event though my birthday is just one day, I still like to celebrate the entire weekend with good food, drinks, and friends!

Weekend Review: Kentucky Oaks

Yes, I know the Kentucky Oaks/Derby was like a million years ago; however, there is one more race in the Triple Crown, and I figured that my goal would be to make this blog post before the Belmont Stakes (in June).  In that sense, I'm ahead of schedule, right?

Insert gratuitous drinking selfie here...

Oh by the way, that drink you see there is a Lily. What does it taste like you say? Kinda like a cosmopolitan. :) The Lily is the official drink of the Kentucky Oaks, the female (aka: fillies) horse race that falls on the day before Derby. Instead of attending the Derby like we did last year, we opted to do the Kentucky Oaks, which is more of the "locals race." We got this awesome all-you-can-eat-and-drink package, so you can basically say that we took full advantage of it.

Here's a cool shot of the crowd. You could see lots of pink because that's the official color of the Oaks. Instead of a blanket of red roses, the horse that wins the Oaks is blanketed with stargazer lilies. 

The Brioni...

The crazy cuzzins...

A shot of just the guys...

We definitely got our drink on that day. I alternated between the official Oaks and Derby beverages, the Lily and the Mint Julep respectively, and you of course had to get your julep served with crushed ice, as you can see below...

We got our grub on as well. Justin and I were expecting hot dog and hamburger fare as a part of our package, but instead we were pleasantly surprised with pulled pork, sausages and sauerkraut, plentiful salads and desserts, including my favorite, Derby pie!

Here's a picture of the guys sitting in front of us...the guy sitting next to the man in the pink suit was wearing a flamingo suit, how fun!

Surprisingly, I wasn't too worn down from Friday's festivities because the next day, we were back at it again. This time, we went to our friends' house to watch the Kentucky Derby. Of course, a party isn't a party without beer pong...or as they call it in the Midwest, Beirut (I have no clue why it's called that...).

The competition was heated at times...

...since everyone plays by different rules. But I think that's part of the fun, right?

 Aside from the Oaks and Derby, we also tried out Burger and Mussel Bar.  According to Justin, this place wasn't around when he last lived in Louisville, so the place was relatively new to us.  The beauty about this place is that it combined two of our favorite foods: burgers and mussels (in case the name didn't give it away).  Below is a shot at the burger that I ordered.

As some of you all may recall, it rained during the Derby this year, making us very satisfied with our decision to attend Oaks versus the Derby.  We definitely had a fun time staying indoors, and spending the occasion with our friends and quite a bit of bourbon on the side.  Unfortunately, we had to make the long nine hour drive back to DC the very next day.  Although we felt fine the day after Oaks, the day after Derby was quite a different story.  I guess we're all getting old...

Weekend Review: Relaxing St. Patrick's Day

Hi Everyone! I hope you had a good weekend! I honestly didn't do much. Since I can't drink due to my nutrition challenge (I'm saving my cheat days!), I decided to stay in most of the weekend. As unsocial as it sounds, I'm too fond of not drinking while others partake in alcoholic libations (I just get tired!). So while Justin was off "gallivanting" with our friends around Chinatown and H St., I had a relaxing Saturday night with the Frenchies prepping our St. Patrick's Day meal!

 

A couple of weekends ago, Justin and I spotted corned beef at Costco. I knew it would be perfect for a St. Patrick's Day meal so in the cart it went. Fast forward to Saturday night, after thawing it out, I opened the package...

And plopped it into the slow cooker (seasoning packet and all) to cook overnight so we could have a piping, hot breakfast the next day...

Unfortunately, when we woke up we realized that our garbage disposal was clogged and the dishwasher had leaked overnight. :( For some reason, when our garbage disposal is clogged, our dishwasher overflows with water. I don't understand how or why, but that's just what happens. Does that happen to you to? Justin was all ready to call the plumber but I told him that we should first look up and see if we could fix it ourselves. After all, I had seen my dad do it plenty of times--it couldn't be that hard!

 

Luckily, we were able to fix it ourselves (I knew it!) and  crisis was averted. :) Isn't homeownership wonderful? Anyway, it was onto the corned beef! It was piping hot and ready to go!

Mmmm...fatty meaty goodness!

We baked some sweet potato fries and fried up some eggs and it was the perfect paleo, Irish breakfast! We had a ton of leftovers and ended up grazing on the corned beef the entire day!

 

 

After the whole garbage disposal fiasco and eating a huge breakfast, we were exhausted. We relaxed for a bit before tackling our huge mountain of laundry.

 

While relaxing, Justin decided to pull up some frenchie YouTube videos. The boys love watching other frenchies on the computer for some reason.

 

You can hear me saying, "Synchronized 'Why?' face." LOL...

 

 

*Side Note: That sound you hear in the video is a typical frenchie whine...both Louie and Derby do it sometimes (especially when you put them in their crate when people are around). It kinda sounds like a human baby crying, doesn't it?

 

So what did you do over the weekend? Did you celebrate St. Patrick's Day on Sunday or had you celebrated the weekend before? Whatever you did, I'm sure it didn't involve french bulldogs watching YouTube. ;)