the Dalaverse

Man, I had a good day.

I went out with two coworkers - Ingrid, who has been a friend for a little while now, and Amy, who is quickly becoming a friend because she really is awesome. The plan was to hit up this chocolate shop in Dupont for a free wine-and-chocolate tasting. First we headed over to Eastern Market just as it stopped raining, which was great because I'd never been. There were all these great crafts vendors, art and prints and jewelery and random weird shit. I didn't get anything (although I did have extreme envy over these dangly earrings made from bits of map, one of them with a ship on it. If I encounter them again, I WILL buy them) but Ingrid bought a couple of cute framed prints.

Then we got off at entirely the wrong Metro stop and walked - oh, about a mile or so to where the chocolate shop, Biageo, was (which was not where we thought at first obviously). Turns out we ALSO fucked up the day for the tasting, but they have one every month and now we're on their mailing list so we'll hit it next time. Meanwhile, we bought fine chocolate. I got mini-bars with chili, curry powder (I KNOW, it's delicious), and bacon (don't knock it til you try it); full-size bars of chili chocolate and this cherry/tea/milk blend; and a rosemary caramel chocolate and a cherry ganache thing. It was all amazing and I even still have some left. I got so spoiled by Hotel Chocolat in Southampton. I think I will miss it until the day I die.

Anyway, then we wandered over to the U Street/Howard area to find an Ethiopian place for dinner. The food was fantastic and we shared two bottles of red wine over it, bitching about the crazy people we work with and men and all sorts of things. Then we decided we weren't done drinking, so we proceeded down 14th Street and I found Saint-Ex again - Katherine and I were there last summer, pretty much the only time I've spent in the area. It is, in fact, a bar named after Antoine de St-Exupery. The basement level is like a bomb shelter. It is marvelous. So of course we talked about The Little Prince for awhile, and have I mentioned that I decided to get a tattoo of The Little Prince? Exactly which illustration and where I will put it is still TBD, but it's happening at some point. I do love it so.

We had one shot there and continued on to the Black Cat, where the show was sold out so we hung out in the bar for awhile. Oh my god was it hipster central, moreso than U Street in general. The group of twenty-somethings across from us were all drinking cans of PBR and wearing chucks or Keds, and one of the girls was wearing a button-down with a bowtie. Then there was a girl in - I can't even express this fully in text form, they were a black and white rose pattern (rather like the Bed Bath and Beyond wedding wrapping paper now that I think of it) on superskinny jeans that looked like stretch pants at first glance (not leggings, genuine honesttogod stretch pants). Where do you even FIND those other than 1982? ("American Apparel," said Ingrid sagely). Oh, oh and then we were talking about those giant black glasses frames that are so popular now (JT and Travie McCoy and my soulmate Chris Pine), and NOT TWENTY MINUTES LATER a girl sat down across from us wearing some. Also proudly quaffing PBR. Oh, it was glorious. We need to go back for actual live music at some point. They also do a "Buffy episode and drinks special" thing earlier on Saturday nights, which is - yes. Yes, thank you.

And then we hit Metro and headed home. We must've walked nearly three miles all told, in crisp not-quite-spring weather and sunshine, though bits of the city I don't normally wander. And not one cherry blossom or tourist in sight! (Saw the cherry blossoms last weekend. There will be pictures).