Busy Weekend

My weekend was busy, and good, and fun. (And then I got sick.) But first, it was busy, and good, and fun!

Well, first on Thursday night (pre-weekend, if you will), I went with a few friends to join the local Young Dem's to watch the President's acceptance speech at the DNC.

 Also, Stephanie left a surprise for Kyle on his car. :)

On Friday night, I went with a few friends to see Matt's new play, Taking Steps. It was hilarious! Here is a rave review of Matt's performance. Alas, I did not write a poem for this play, but I definitely recommend it! :) I also got to cross off another DC bucket list item at Larry's Homemade Ice Cream! (The salted chocolate almond is AmAAAzing!)

On Saturday morning, I joined with other University of Utah alumni for a service project in honor of the National Day of Remembrance (a day of service dedicated to the victims of 9/11). We cleaned, scraped, and re-painted a fence at the historic Frederick Douglass House in Anacostia. For us Utes, this also coincided with our annual Legacy of Lowell service day. We joined from afar with our fellow  Utes in Salt Lake to serve our communities. My favorite part was that we had two whole families, complete with little kids, who we were there to give service. I hope to participate with my own family day in the tradition of service.

The view from the top of the hill was incredible. They say that from his house, Frederick Douglass could see Maryland, where he had been a slave, and the U.S. Capitol, so he could see the entire progression of his life.

After the service project, we made a stop to "The Big Chair" in Anacostia (another bucket list item crossed off the list!). It was once the biggest chair in the world, but it has since been upstaged.

We got a lil' silly. :)

Then we saw THIS:

and HAD to stop for pictures! Totally reminds me of Oakland. :)

Our next stop was the National Geographic Museum. They currently have an exhibit called "1,001 Inventions of the Muslim World," which was FREE on Saturday ($8 normally). Naturally, the line was over an hour long. Please pardon our post-service project attire. (We didn't get a chance to change in between activities.)

While in line, we shared Jeff's smoothie and bonded with cute kiddos. (PS So CRAZY that they all had iPhones!!)

Bonus cute kiddo photo. This is Assis (sp?). He is 3 yrs. old.
We LOVED his family and are glad we were next to them in line!

Alyssa, Jeff, and Steph debate where to go first.

If you know me, you won't be surprised to know that these were my two favorite things I learned in the whole exhibit.
#MathNerd #WomenRule

We also checked out the exhibit on the Titanic.

 

Apparently, Steph and I act like fools when being photographed together.

After a hot shower and some hot soup, my evening concluded with the PREPPIEST of birthday parties for my friends, Maggie and Becky,

Bremen (big bro to Mags), Mags, me, Becky + STRIPES!!

followed by a low-key gathering with some of my GSPM friends (I didn't take photos? Weird, right?).

Unfortunately, I'd already been feeling a bit rundown, and the combination of running around everywhere, plus being in the rain and chilly air resulted in me being sick on Sunday. :( I made it through the first 20 minutes of church, and then I went home to sleeeeeep (plus some soup and OJ and whatnot). I sit now, writing to you from my sickbed.... Ha ha! Pardon the drama. I just thought it would be a funny sentence. :)

What I didn't do at all was my homework, so... I'm gonna go do that now. Happy rest of your Monday!