'Hoos turning 50?

It has begun. Those dominoes are falling.  The half century marked is being conquered, starting with childhood friends, now college friends and, later this year, me.  This weekend some college friends and I celebrated this milestone by convening in our nation's capital.  The indomitable Laura Reiley has recently discovered and taken up distance running, so she and her husband proposed a trip around the DC Rock n Roll half marathon, and her recent birthday,  this weekend.  And 5 of us jumped right on that bandwagon. What.  A.  Blast.

Laura and I grabbed a quick dinner Friday night, then Laura and Jon and I got the race out of the way enjoyed the race first thing Saturday morning.  It was freezing out there, but sunny, and well organized and supported, and the DC peeps were out cheering in droves.  I was underprepared but we did it, we felt pretty good doing it, and it was a fabulous way to kick things off.

We froze our way back to the hotel,  got warmed up and cleaned up then slayed a huge, juicy recovery burger.  Then, the festivities began!  We met the crew at Jackpot in late afternoon.  Rebecca was our trip planner and she did a KICK ASS job of planning the evening.

Next, we walked toward our dinner spot, Oyamel.  Great vibe, good food, killer margaritas.  We chose ones with a serrano chili syrup and they were incredible.   Long dinner catching up, lots and lots and lots of laughs.  We may have had a few pitchers of those serrano margaritas.

  

Last stop of the night?  Why, karaoke, of course!

This pretty much sums it up.  

It was a TINY chinese restaurant with a tiny upstairs karaoke lounge, filled with drunk millenials in St Patty's day gear.  And us.  Joe, pictured above, became best friends with every person in the bar.  We laughed, we sang, we drank, we danced.   

Barb's text the next morning read:  "BEST NIGHT EVER."  Truly.  I love these people.

We met for brunch the next morning in Capital Hill, and had spicy bloody marys and delicious food. 

 This was Joe's brunch.  Hmmmm...

Later that day we got to visit the Museum of African American History and Culture, thanks to the lovely Kellie Robertson, who scored us tickets.  It was incredible.  I only wish we'd had three more hours - it's overwhelming but super powerful. Then, sadly, it was time to go.   What a weekend.  

Meanwhile, Doug was holding down the fort at home.  

I laughed out loud at this text from Dylan on saturday afternoon.

Hey, he could have bought them gravel for all I cared, he gave me the gift of a weekend away, but I did have to dash to the store today to replenish the snacks and cereal.  

I got home from work and decided to use what was in the fridge and cobble something together.  The goods?  Brussells sprouts, pasta, leftover chicken and parmesan.   

 I shredded up a bunch of brussells sprouts, then tossed them with a little olive oil and some s & p. Then sauteed them in olive oil for about five minutes. 

 I chopped up some leftover chicken and some salami.  I was hoping to use some sausage but it smelled sketchy so improvised.  

 I tossed it all in the skillet, then added some crushed red pepper and tossed it with the pasta and added a ton of shredded parmesan.  YUM

 It was, actually, quite delicious.  

Happy birthday friends!  Three cheers for 1967, and UVA class of '89.

What are we doing next year?