Chill out? Hell yes.

I decided that one thing I want come back home from Washington is a more relaxed attitude. This may sound funny, but I feel like working in what could have been one of the most stressful and high-paced environments has really helped me put things in perspective.

I have a lot of stress in my life--quite a bit of it I bring upon myself. But the thing is--stressing won't solve life's many problems. Whether it's grade or being a poor college student (or poor young professional or whatever), worrying about money or school won't magically make your problems disappear. Balancing work and play is important, and it seems to be key that you are able to enjoy yourself at both.

I took my side job here way less seriously than I have taken any job ever, and I still got rave reviews from my boss. I guess maybe I'm slowly learning how to let things roll.

I've worked with some awesome and laid back people. They do their jobs very well, but they understand that they can't control everything. They have fun, and they seem to have everything in perspective, that is, it's all really just a job.

I'm not saying I've completely abandoned the high-stress way of life. I think my priorities have gotten a bit more straight though. Change is hard to make. I just like to think that the devil-may-care-come-what-may part of my life has come out a lot more while I'm here, but only in the best way.

Everyone Needs a Spring Break

This weekend I took the opportunity to visit a friend in the Big Apple. Unlike other interns and all of my friends back at school, I didn't take a Spring Break. There's definitely some merit to the idea of giving yourself a break, even if it's a small one. After the gorgeous weather of the past few weeks I have to admit I was getting a bit of Spring Fever. While I've had my trip planned for awhile, I didn't really get excited about it until I was chan

Not only did I have an absolute blast stomping (at least part of) a new city, it was so great to see one of my really good friends. I spent way too much money, but if I had to do it all over again I would do it all the same. Except I would probably try not to loose my shoe...yes that's singular I only lost one and yes, I still have the other one. Don't worry about it.

We spent all day Saturday (and, let's be serious a good part of the night too) in the Greenwich Village area. I thought about how sometimes I just want to be a starving writing, (if you pass that public option I can do that and still have health care!), living in old clothes, eating Ramen noodles and smoking cheap cigarettes. Every time I get like this I have to remind myself that it's not 1994, the people in Rent probably had roaches as their roommates, and oh yeah, I'm a runner not a smoker.

And living in genteel poverty (my term for what I did this fall) is really not that glamorous. It just makes you hungry.

In the past year I've taken more weekend trips than usual: last summer I went up north (that's what we do where I'm from in the summer) and to the Great Midwestern City, this fall I went with a friend to visit another university for a football game, and now this past weekend. Sometimes a weekend away is all you need to be refreshed and ready to go. And good time spent with people that mean a lot to you--well, that one never hurts either.

Happy Spring Break all!

Restaurant Week? Yes Please!

As newly anointed DC-area residents, we decided we would try and take full advantage of fun local events. We arrived just in time for restaurant week! In search of more exotic cuisine, we chose Marrakesh Place, a swank Moroccan restaurant. This was my first time eating Moroccan, so I wasn't quite sure what to expect. But with a three course prix-fixe menu for only $20, I figured it had to be good!

Marrakesh Palace is up in Dupont Circle, which is a fabulous neighborhood. It's a designated historic district, and you get a really happening vibe. We saw two Starbucks on our walk from the Metro, so I'm guessing there's lots of young, highly-caffeinated, hipster-types. On a side note, I'm disappointed that I haven't found more independently owned coffee shops. I'm a huge supporter of local businesses, and while DC is thriving, I'd like to find more cool and unique coffee shops.

Back to lunch. For an appetizer, I got the Chicken Bastilla, which is "filo dough stuffed with chicken, almonds and eggs, drizzled with powdered sugar and cinnamon." It was fantastic! The chicken, almonds and eggs on the inside was perfectly accentuated by the flaky filo dough and set off by the sweetness of the powdered sugar and cinnamon. Thing One got Beef Cigars, which are "wrapped filo dough over marinated ground beef in Moroccan herbs." While the beef was well-seasoned and quite tasty, we both agreed that the Chicken Bastilla was superior.

For our main dish, we had four different choices. I had the Sword Fish, which was baked in "famous Sharmola sauce with veggies." Quite honestly, I was a bit disappointed. The fish was cooked perfectly, but the "famous" Sharmola sauce seemed like a glorified and spicy version of marinara, not at all my favorite. The portion was generous, and I couldn't (and didn't necessarily) want to finish. It was served with carrots, yellow peppers and herbs. Here's the presentation:

Thing One had the Lamb Tangine, which is "braised lamb with with prunes, sesame seeds and almonds." The lamb literally melted in your mouth, and Thing One described the sauce as "savory." The combination of tender meet and savory sauce led us to agree that it was by far the superior meat. Here's the Lamb Tangine:

Looks good, eh? Our friend had the Chicken Couscous, which also came in the options of vegetarian or lamb. She wasn't crazy about the chicken, which came on the bone, but she enjoyed the rest of the meal. It was packed with veggies, including chickpeas, peppers, zucchini and carrots.

Yum! We had chocolate cake for dessert, which was more like chocolate mousse cake, and Thing One had Baklava which was drizzled in chocolate and let's be serious, how can you go wrong when you add chocolate? We also had Moroccan coffee, which was espresso with a little bit of milk added to it. Our waiter kept our water glasses filled, and was attentive. For $20, we were able to get a fantastic meal in a swank restaurant. Apparently, there's belly dancing in the evening but we unfortunately missed that in the afternoon. There were only a few other tables filled when we were there.

I guess most restaurants book up early for Restaurant Week, we made our reservations last Sunday so I don't know if anything is still open. You can check Open Table, which is an overall useful service for making online reservations. For more information on Marrakesh Palace, check out their website.

Happy Eating!

Thing Two