This is the view I wake up to each morning these days. This tree is right outside my window, directly in my line of sight once I sit up in my bed a little. Great visual to start your day with, no? Just thought you should know about it. So you can be totally jealous.
And this is a not very great close-up picture of my personal burning bush/tree:
So Autumn is in full-swing out here these days, in case you hadn't picked up on that from the above pictures. And what a better way to celebrate the new season than with a trip to Eastern Market!
Eastern Market is basically a really big farmer's market in DC - a designated space in the city that is always bustling with vendors selling their produce or craft, and consumers consuming produce and craft. There are tons of little tables and booths set up all over, selling jewelry, flowers, fresh fruits and vegetables, furniture, meat or poultry or fish, soaps, soft pretzels, jewelry, artwork, baby clothing, hats, scarves, jewelry, jewelry, scarves, flowers, etc, etc.
Yes, I did repeat myself with a few of those items - there are a lot of booths selling jewelry, okay?
Anyway, I went to Eastern Market this morning to enjoy the freshly crisped Autumn weather and spend some time with dear friend Jen, who's in town this weekend from Utah.
We got to the market and Jen immediately grabbed some warm apple cider from a vendor at the front of the market, while the kind old gentleman behind us in line talked with me about how difficult it is to know when someone's actually in line or not. Apparently we both have the misfortune of always standing patiently behind the person who isn't actually in line, just to find out 10 minutes later that we've been waiting for nothing...sigh.
Then we wandered through the indoor food market, where millions of other people also like to wander - there's a lot going on in there. There's a spot inside that makes such awesome pancakes that the line for them went out of the room and into the main "ballroom" area of the building. We gave the line about 5 minutes before heading out in search of the "delicious mini donuts!" we saw advertised on a homemade sign as we came to the market (and they were in fact delicious, once we found them).
We met some very amiable booth owners as we wended our merry way around. We also learned that many of the items for sale were made with the same special ingredient - love. We asked a woman how she made these beautiful glass-spun paintings? Love. We waited in line for some yummy crepes - a sign told us they were made with Love. So much love around that market.
And Amish products. Love and Amish. Those are the two main variables at the Market. If you're thinking to buy something, and it doesn't say anywhere that either Love or the Amish had something to do with it's creation, you're not getting your money's worth. Walk away, right then and there. Say you'll come back for that item when they've added one or both of those ingredients.
After moseying around for awhile, having eaten our donuts and crepes, we called it a day at the Market and headed for the Metro to go home. As we walked though, a bright pink truck caught dear friend Jen's eye.
Curbside Cupcakes!
DC is all about their food trucks - an old coworker of mine (co-worker Matt with all the vices, who got a new job recently) used to track where certain trucks were so he could make sure he got to the lobster roll truck when it came near the Hill. Curbside Cupcakes is also a popular truck, with it's bright pink outside and delicious treats inside. We stopped, took a picture so Jen could prove to her friends that the Pink Truck in her stories was not mere legend or myth, and then got a cupcake to celebrate our morning at the Market. You know, because we hadn't gotten enough sugar out of our donuts and crepes yet.
Dear friend Jen with the pepto bismol Pink Truck
Peanut Butter Cup Cupcake - with white chocolate and rich chocolate chips inside. Soooooo rich...
The cupcakes were a wee bit rich for us, though, so after getting through as much of it as we could without getting diabetes, we sadly threw them away in the solar compactor garbage can that we suddenly have in DC. Interestingly, I think that was the weirdest thing I saw all day.
Which is saying something, since the list of things I saw today includes a random statue of a "Cash Pig" (beon the grounds of the nearby high school, who's mascot is in fact not a cash pig at all.
It also includes the homeless man setting his home up by the school's fence, 200 feet away from the non-mascot pig. I wonder how often he'll start yelling "get off my lawn, punk kids!!" before the police remind him that's not actually his lawn...
And that my friends, has been my Saturday so far. Not too shabby.
And here's a list of things I'm looking forward between right now through next weekend:
The nap I'm going to take in 20 minutes
Our church Halloween activity tonight (Coincidentally, I'm also not looking forward to this. Weird, huh?)
Watching Revenge on Wednesday (what is Daniels' friend's deal? What is he up to??)
BOSTON next weekend (EEEEEE!!!!!!!!)
I promise to post about one of these events after it happens - which one would you like to hear about? :)
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