Don’t get me wrong… I love going to school in Indiana. Between tending to my horses and cows in between hours spent in the library, and spending weekends skipping around in the cornfields, I really am embracing the Midwestern culture.
Kidding.
But actually, though, I gladly embrace the “Hoosier hospitality”, as everyone in Indiana is particularly nicer than those found on the east coast. However, it’s really nice to escape being landlocked and travel back east from time to time. Now it’s Spring Break, so I happily hopped on a plane in Indy and flew far, far away. Well, not that far, but to Washington DC for the weekend! My brother was running the DC Rock and Roll half marathon, so I flew into DC and my parents drove down to meet us, which was a nice reunion.
In DC, besides watching my brother run 13.1 more miles than I ever would like to run, my family walked around and ate super well. On Friday, in between me touching down in DC and my parents arriving at the hotel, I had around 4 hours to kill, so naturally, I went shopping in Georgetown.
I first when to Sweetgreen to get a custom salad which was exactly what I needed. With quinoa and crunchy romaine lettuce, I had roasted tofu, squash, and sweet potatoes mixed around with fresh cucumbers and other veggies, topped with the Asian miso ginger vinaigrette. Because there are no make-your-own salad shops in Bloomington, Indiana, this hit the spot for lunch that day. Here’s a snap of my salad right before I dug in:
I then hit up my all-time favorite bakery in DC, Baked and Wired. I, along with many of my friends that replied to my Snapchat story post that I was there, believe that their cupcakes are superior to those at Georgetown Cupcakes because they’re made with the freshest of ingredients and, well, they’re just really good. Even though I usually get my favorite strawberry champagne cupcake, I opted for cookies and other sweet treats that were freshly made that day. I dug into the cookie jars near the front (but I didn’t steal a cookie from the cookie jar, in case you were wondering) and pulled out my favorite from the Alfajores container. These sugar-coated cookies have a dulce de leche filling for the perfect sugary explosion.
After grabbing my first cookie, I then went to the counter only to find Baked and Wired’s take on a strawberry pop tart and a blueberry “crunch” bar which ultimately was a blueberry brittle type thing. I never got to take a picture of the strawberry pop tart as I inhaled it within minutes, but I saved the blueberry crunch bar to snag a photo of it. Here’s a snap:
My final destination during my individual afternoon walking tour of Georgetown was to Sweetgreen’s very own Tavern where they display and sell their own produce and products that they already use in their business. Located where their original Sweetgreen salad shop used to be housed, this newly renovated space still has its sustainable ~vibe~ to it and certainly adds a “green” feel to the city (as the building is literally green). Since it was #InternationalWomensDay when I went, I was eligible for a free cup of Sweetflow, Sweetgreen’s take on frozen yogurt, because, you know, I am a woman (powerful and independent, if I may add) on such a wonderful day celebrating others of my kind. I had tart/original flavor with a blueberry honey drizzle on top.
Eventually, my parents drove through hours of traffic and found their way into DC. We met up with my brother for dinner at Coppi’s Organic Restaurant. I had an incredible plate of butternut squash ravioli mixed with roasted grapes in a white wine sauce. Here’s a picture:
That was it for my #eats on Friday. Fortunately, Saturday’s eats were just as good, if not better. We start off with breakfast…
Since I’ve stayed at the particular hotel that we were in for the weekend, I knew the breakfast menu and I was especially excited for the oatmeal topped with caramelized sugar and fresh berries. Here’s a picture:
Saturday was spent watching my brother run a half marathon around the city. More importantly, though, I went running around DC with neon posters to really show my support of my brother. Here’s a quick snap… (and please, don’t take any offense to it; it’s all fun and games while running over 13 miles in the nation’s capital)
For dinner that night, we went to THE most incredible and hip Mediterranean spot downtown called Zaytinya. With their wide selection of specialized hummus plates and their heap of spectacular brussels sprouts, every bite I had was really great. We started off with their butternut squash hummus and the roasted pepper hummus with their bread pockets that they kept serving. That being said, I think I ate my weight in bread that night. The butternut squash hummus was the yellow spread with crushed nuts on top; the roasted red pepper hummus came with crumbled feta to add to the burst of flavor.
Then for our main course, my brother, dad and I shared a bunch of plates while my mom had fish for herself. For our first round, we had three plates come to us at once. First (on top) was the Eriste, which is, according to the menu on the website, traditional Turkish pasta cooked in a rich shellfish broth with squid, shrimp, and grated walnuts; it was incredible, and the Turkish pasta was unlike any pasta I’ve had before as it was chewy and dense. Then, in the middle, we had the roasted cauliflower; nothing beats roasted cauliflower, so naturally, it was really good. Then, on the bottom, we had THE epic brussels sprouts with barberries and garlic yogurt.
For the second part of our main course, we got a large platter of kebabs of all kinds. I’m not going to post a photo for the sake of all my vegetarian readers out there, but all I’m going to say is that the kebabs were undeniably delicious.
For dessert, we had the Galatopita, which was a roasted apple dish with apple sorbet with a crispy wafer on top. It was really good and relatively lighter after a big dinner instead of any chocolate dessert that we could’ve gotten instead. So, overall, it was a 10/10 dinner and a great way to end the day and celebrate the weekend.
As for right now, I’m sitting on my couch back home in New Jersey recovering from having had my wisdom teeth removed a few days ago. My mom has been really good with taking care of me and making some dank smoothies every hour. However, I’m getting really sick of liquids… I could really go for pizza or Chinese food or chips or an apple or really anything crunchy and solid. But for now, I’m enjoying my mom’s care and looking forward to recovering soon.
That’s it for my update! Feel free to follow me on Instagram at @simonesaysfood for more frequent updates on my eating habits and all things food.
As spring rolls around and summer is just around the corner (sort of), I can’t wait to see what the warm weather will bring me, whether it be a nice tan or some new food to try! Stay tuned!
This is Simone, signing off.
xoxo
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