by Laura
Mrs. Obama on a visit to Anacostia earlier this year; photo credit goes to washingtonpost.com
5.) Michelle Obama; I got to hear her speak at Anacostia’s high school graduation. Unfortunately the video is too fuzzy to post, but trust me – we totally got a First Lady upgrade this time around. Laura Bush, in contrast, actually killed a classmate. I mean, it was an accidental car crash, but still …creepy. Plus, her eyes look kind of empty, no? Thank goodness we can move past those eight years and root for Michelle to keep up that whole organic gardening, buff arms, stylish, smart thing instead.
4.) Pita chips! Perhaps not as noteworthy or special as Mrs. Obama – but oh, my goodness, so perfect with almost every variety of dip. I recommend the Pita Bite Crackers from TJ’s for a light-weight alternative. Not sure how I didn’t discover them earlier, but they got me through finals.
3.) DSW’s new labeling system. Since I have enormous feet, I used to hate digging through the boxes at DSW, often searching for my size in vain. But now, some smart individual decided to put bright yellow stickers on all the size 11 boxes, making them simple to spot. Give that Big Foot sympathizer a raise! (Or, the profits from the, um, four pairs of shoes I just took home with me.)
Ah, my first years in New York. So full of challenge (thanks, Teach for America!), so full of fun.
2.) Happy Hour. How I used to love you on Friday afternoons, post-teaching madness. Being on a kindergarten schedule meant arriving at the bar by 3:30, hanging out until dinner at 7, and then collapsing for the night around 10. Somewhere in between then and now, I became too busy to coordinate weekly relaxation time, but in DC, local bars welcome summer interns with a myriad of options. And, lucky, I have declared this the Summer of the Reformed Workaholic. $3 martinis? Yes, please!
#1) The coming of free outdoor music season; while Friday night jazz outside the National Gallery is way too popular to be enjoyable (unless you enjoy crawling into a hedge to find a spot to sit, or setting up shop on a cozy 10-inch patch of mulch), you’ll have more room to tap along at the Wednesday Strathmore gazebo series, Thursday Farragut Square Park, Bethesda, and Smithsonian concerts, and Saturday Adams Morgan shows.
Plus, for those of you wanting to check out movies in the great outdoors, avoid Screen on the Green madness on the Mall and head to Maryland, where there’s enough space to spread out your picnic blanket.
Three cheers for June, July & August!
Laura
Harold
