best cure for waking up with a sore throat 

best midday medicine : mocha (whadduya know, more chocolate)

  decided to try my hand at the whole 'being an adult' thing, forgo my usual TJs meal in a box/can/wrapper, and actually MAKE dinner. i used pans and everything / celebrating my culinary feat with some hotty choc. it was a two packet kind of celebration / breaking out the big guns for the winter weather. those boots dont mess around.

 who would have thunk this die hard ocean lover would have actually been excited to eat at a seafood restaurant?! thankfully, the lovely miss traveleatrepeat eased my initial qualms - promises of buttery biscuits and thick slabs of french toast and i was all over that like white on rice. on top of being drool worthy delicious, their entire mission statement is built around conscientious consumption. and this gal is ALL about the sustainable seafood.

 the ONLY acceptable solution to a freezing winter day (after sunday brunch of course): tea and the christmas downtown abbey special *hot day-um that episode was EMOTIONAL

though it may look like i raided a 7 year old's lunch box, i'm celebrating allie's triumphant return from surgery. plenty of non-solids for my wisdom teeth deprived roommate and chocolately goodness for me. its a win-win.

after reading some rave reviews about the latest cupcakery to hit dc, the sweet lobby shot to the top of my sweet tooth list. yeah...im a yelp addict. as fate would have it, i happened to be in the neighborhood and happened to have some time to kill (...or specifically took an earlier bus so i would have enough time to snatch up some goods before meeting up with zoe...), so naturally i wandered in. i ogled the pastel pastry case for a good 5 minutes (GAH decisions) before choosing a gingerbread cupcake, a caramel macaron and a pb&j macaron (!!!) for desert. they cost me a pretty penny, but hey, we were celebrating! *i passed my comps!

met up with zoe at the oh-so-adorable-and-fashionably-cramped 7th hill pizza, another long standing list locale. we snagged some prime bar stools and gorged ourselves on the RE-diculously delish pizza *i highly recommend the 'potomac ave' pizza. sometimes i think back to my Dark Years with no dairy, and thank my lucky stars i finally discovered lactaid pills. how i ever survived several consecutive years with no pizza, cheese or ice cream is a complete mystery *my pending semester abroad in france my junior year finally incentivized my switch-the thought of spending 6 months in the land of brie and creme fraiche as a lactard inspired me to discover the magic of les pilules

 peregrin espresso for a soy cappuccino nightcap +  halvsies on the sweets. the perfect amount of caffeine, sugar and girl talk.

around closing, the ladies at peregrin announced they were giving their pastries away for free (or throwing them away), inciting a pastry FRENZY among the few stragglers left in the cafe. i elbowed some burly mountain man while bobbing and weaving through the crowd (of 4) to grab this yum bran muffin. i was hoping it would last me until at least tomorrow morning, considering i had JUST had dinner AND dessert....but we both knew that wasnt going to happen. it was goooood, and well worth the uncomfortable fullness.

on my way home from work i spied this finely attired (colonial?!) washingtonian and stalked him through the metro station and up the escalator for a closer look. why more people don't rock the tricorn hate anymore is beyond me.

food frenzy : the drinking adventures continue, rounding out the list of epic chaser failures. *FYI grapes are a definite no go / how non-sports fans do the super bowl...they eat / homemade chocolate covered pretzes. enough said.  / turkey balls + humus + chips + pretzels. dinner of champions (err lazy girls)

zoes birthday 'la boum' brunch.  what started out as a perfectly respectable afternoon champagne brunch quickly progressed (digressed?) into an all out anything-goes bottles-poppin beats-pumpin disco- blazin fun-fest dance party. *If burlesque dancers, body shots, table dancing, shirtless men and lady gaga arent your cup of tea, this may not be your scene

What better way to celebrate 26 than to dance up a storm with your best girlfriends and a room full of fun loving strangers?!