DC- its the place to be

(i wrote this last night and forgot to post it, sorry!)

This weekend L and I went to DC. In my case it was to reconnect with H, one of my (semi long-lost recently-recovered but there-all-along) best friends from boarding school, and also to see miss JE or, as we knew her as a contributor, G.
(who is having some trouble posting and by trouble i mean shes doing what we all do when we want to do something and then dont do it and feel bad and avoid the shit out of it)

walking to H's house in the eastern market area (a block from the actual eastern market, home of an adorable old man who forced me to sample delicious cheese) i crossed pennsylvania ave and happened to look left and BAM there was the capital building lit up against the black sky under a HUGE crescent moon. the proportions were wild and the light was amazing and the fact that i was looking at the building LIVE as opposed to on tv was so incredible, i stopped dead in my tracks. and almost got hit by a bus.

seeing H was lovely. we did a marathon catch up chat session that lasted into the early morning hours. i remembered how incredible she is and how truly amazing it is that we met the first day of choate and were insta-friends who understood eachother deeply, and still do, despite our very obvious differences on some external fronts.

let me describe her room:
3 colors- white, pink and pastel green- on her walls, a GIANT foam cowboy hat that says EVERYTHINGS BIGGER AND BETTER IN TEXAS (example)

also, her old toe shoes, pictures of her from her debutante ball in pensacola florida (which i attended, and which she calls my crash-course in southern livin')her personalized paddle from kappaomegapiphiwhatever sorority and a framed picture of ronald reagan with the text of his parting speech along with an imbedded actual peice of the berlin wall.
....its nice to know the people i love and who love me dont have to align with me in every way.

the next day i went off to stay with G at her CHARMING house across town, where L had also just arrived, and thats when the most ridiculously thorough and entertaining DC night-life tour began:

im going to post the itinerary so everyone who goes to DC can hit these spots. sorry G if this is letting out your insider secrets but its a compliment to you and seriously, too good not to share.

Tryst
One of my life goals, and perhaps my ONLY life goal, is to create and own some kind of cafe/diner/specialty bookstore/performance space with loads of style, great music,fascinating challenging humorous comforting reading material, overstuffed chairs and sofas, oversized mugs of unique delicious drinks and a kitchen turning out grilled cheeses of every variety. Tryst is not all of those things, but it was a version of my vision and was filled with such joy (and success) that it allowed me to feel comfortable chasing the dream.
also, if you go to the website, click on i-saw-you-at-tryst. people can request to hear from the cutie in the argyle vest on the mustard yellow couch who they really wished theyd talked to. i LOVE THAT.

JoJos
We started our night here officially ordering a bottle of delicious riesling and sharing three entrees. then we did a round of drinks while listening to live jazz: the "woo woo" for L and some very irish coffee for G and me. soon the bar became a total scene and after enjoying ourselves and digesting, we snuck out.

busboys & poets
place number 2 that reinforced my desire to own and operate a unique hybrid space for arts food and community events. we didnt actually eat there, (thank god, we would have exploded) but we did stand in the bookstore area reading anti establishment texts and poetry (their specialty) and marvelling at the 25 books allready written about obama.

Gibson
A 1920s prohibition era style unmarked door speakeasy. they text you and you have 15 mins to get there. you ring the bell and a man comes out and looks at you like youre the pizza delivery boy until you say your name and number of people in the party. he leads you down a little nondescript hall and suddenly youre in an elegant bar: red banquets. dim lighting. drink list to boggle the mind. absynthe fountain. (?) G L and I each ordered a different drink and sat there trying to wrap our minds around the flavors in our mouth and the people in our midst.

bens chili bowl
Do check that link out. the place is a serious establishment. obama was just there. bill cosby is a regular. at 2 am there was a line almost out the door. it featured a complete cross section of DC society united by their common desire for what G instructed us was critical to try: the half smoke. essentially a grilled split hot dog smothered in chili onions and some other good stuff in there too im sure.
whoa. heart attack in a bun.

so when you all go to dc, i hope you check out these places.
im now determined to find a speak easy in boston. so far failing.