You Had Me at Icecubes.

Aww schnookums.

Baltimore Ben finally made the southward trip to visit me this weekend. Casting the jackets and sweaters aside, we ventured into 70 - degree weather, blue skies, and the beautiful sunshine so that I could show him one of my favorite areas of DC: Eastern Market. The best way to get there is to come off the metro at Union Station, to experience the old epicenter of travel, and then stroll down 2nd. We came out the front doors of Union to find an interesting sight: the giant wreaths being assembled and erected for the holiday season.

And of course, the accompanying red bows.

The adventure continued southeast and we wound up in Jon's workshop. Jon patiently explained each of the machines and processes to Ben's agape mouth (his back was to me, but I know his jaw position because we're basically the same person, and that's how I was on my initial tour).

No trip to Eastern Market is complete without a stop at Capitol Hill Books. The boys of the Insurgency were present, excited about the launch of their new Lou Dobbs shirt. I was excited about picking up another Murakami and a wild card. And Ben was excited to walk out with an old busted copy of Gray's Anatomy. I'm currently engrossed in Lolita, so reviews on the new acquisitions will have to wait a bit longer. The best part was the checkout which involved a twisting of events that led to a long exchange with Jim (the quirky bookstore owner) advising Ben, my "schnookums", to study on on the anatomy quickly ::wink:: The market was nearly dead, the vendors evidently scared off by a little forecasted rain, but we stumbled upon this strange unidentified green vegetable.

Laughing out the door of the bookstore, we walked and then ran in the rain to sample the burgers at Good Stuff, a newish addition to the Hill by Top Chef contestant, Spike. Against Jon's advisement I had the Spike 5 Napkin burger - a delicious burger with a fried egg, fresh cheese, apple smoked bacon, and a special sauce. It was pretty much amazing.

It was still pouring, so we ran down a few doors to seek refuge in Firehook. The table in the back always cracks me up. The chairs are incredibly comfortable, but sit awkwardly low next to the table. It's got the feeling of little kids at the grown-ups' table.

So we had a coffee and split a chocolate tart. Ben's crazy OCD came through as I discovered that he halved the tart when I went to wash my hands. Note the halved fruit as well. Oh Ben.

Chances of our blue skies returning slimmed down to none so we ran in the freezing rain (did I mention the 70 degree start to the day and our jacketless tshirt-clad bodies?) to the metro. Along the way we were looking everywhere for the rainbow, pausing near the metro to see the color spread across the sky behind us.

We finally made it to the train, dripping and shivering.

Green Hat.
I finished the green hat started last post. I crocheted the brim and then picked up stitches along the front and knit across to make the strap, finished off with a little thrift shop button.

Woo!

You Had Me at Icecubes.
Tonight the roommate trio took a field trip to E Street Cinema to see Religulous. It was pretty fantastic. Well, the first 3/4 was amazing, inspiring, liberating, comforting, humorous, and educational. The last little bit, the part where the doom music started...not my favorite. But it's completely worthwhile to see nonetheless. Plus the post title will make a lot more sense :)

Unfortunately the trip there led us to cross paths with a gross lady who very well may have coughed Hep C on us. Perhaps the Bubonic Plague, it's too early to tell.

Gifts from Jon Wye.
I forgot to show off some of the little prizes that I took home this Twensday. Some are supplies that may become craft projects soon. Plus some sweet Jon Wye gear including this snoozing dog tank.

Hopefully this week I will finally kick the plague that has caused me to have a permanent 900-number voice. And catch up on all of the knitting, painting, reading, drawing, and crafting that I didn't do this weekend. Eek!