Back to DC

This particular weekend I had, on a whim, decided to take a trip back to DC. My new apartment had no internet and it seemed that everyone was going to be out of town, so I figured why not do the same? I arrived to Union Station hungover and exhausted, since the bus was too uncomfortable to get any of the sleep I had been counting on. I was practically a zombie when I reached Fidel's apartment in Chinatown and could barely carry on a conversation as we sat on her rooftop eating Chinese food.

We took our time getting ready, especially since we were locked in the bedroom—Fidel's relationship with PD had deteriorated quickly and they were barely on speaking terms. We were like two caged animals, we quickly grew restless in the room and started to play early 90's dance music and it took us roughly 20 minutes to open a bottle of wine. When we were finally ready to emerge we met AD outside the building and hopped in a cab to 18^th St. Lounge. It was a very random mix of people and there was a fight almost as soon as we walked onto the roofdeck. I was unimpressed. I was also tired from the night before (the infamous Cut Copy concert with the ibankers from the Balkan European country—story soon to come) and not in the greatest mood. I grew drunk and stayed in my own head. I half-heartedly spoke with an Argentinian guy who was part of a group of guys that Fidel and her friend had met. My mood worsened when I learned that this friend was the same girl who had slept with Cute Guy when she and Fidel were in law school. Not only that but she had also slept with the same law school guy that I had hooked up with in Cuse last fall. Now she was flirting heavily with one of the Argentinians. I could barely look at her and was slightly disgusted with both her and myself. Luckily we lost her after we left the bar and we are fairly certain she was accompanied home by her own Latin lover. I don't like to think about it. Fidel, AD and I wandered the streets in search of food and met all sorts of characters on the way, none of whom I wanted to speak with. The savior to my night came from an unexpected place. Once we had given up on finding food, we were trying to hail a cab when a pedicab driver pedaled up to us. He was trying to coerce us into taking the pedicab and after some cut throat negotiations, we decided this was an unorthodox, yet effective way to go home. The three of us squeezed in the back and proceeded to yell and wave to anyone we passed on the streets while the driver blew through every red light on the ride home. The best part of the night by far.

The next day I was (surprise!) hungover, but AD and I left Fidel's early as a fight was brewing between her and PD about how late she had come in the night before and we did not want to be present for it. We proceeded to be lazy POS's for the entire day until it was time to get ready for the next night. We had plans to go to Sticky Rice on H St., which I had never been to before. AD's friend with the same name as me (who had also accompanied us to Benny Benassi the last time I was in DC) joined us as well and I had a feeling it was going to be a good night. This feeling grew stronger when we walked up to the bar and PBR's were only $3. Now Sticky Rice apparently has a reputation for being DC's hipster bar, but now that I am a Brooklynite I didn't see it. I did see that it was pretty awesome though. We managed to snag ourselves a booth where we were able to stand and dance to the early 90's hip hop music videos that were being played. The bar was getting packed and people were joining our booth. One of the members of this group had a familiar sounding European accent. I immediately went over to him and began discussing Germany. He was very receptive to this and we became engrossed in a long conversation about one of my favorite topics—Europe. We were so involved in this that we didn't even notice his friends and Same Name Friend had become involved in a heated argument. I'm still not quite sure what it was about or how it was resolved but when it was time for them to exit our booth, German and I exchanged numbers and I was pleased with my new little friend. Not long after, my friend whom I studied abroad with in Paris came to meet me at the bar. We'll call him Lafaille. He was accompanied by a very attractive friend whom I somehow started talking to while we were waiting for our next round of PBRs. He seemed very nice though I have no recollection of what we talked about. In fact, I kept asking him questions, immediately forgetting his answers, then asking him the same question later in the night. At one point he informed me that his “grandmother with alzheimer's remembered more than I did”. After this comment I knew he was a keeper. Unfortunately I dropped the ball because I was too busy drinking, as usual. After Sticky Rice the group of us headed back to AD's to keep the party going. Once everyone started passing out, Hot Friend and I ended up on the couch. We were spooning and it was delightful and the next thing I knew I had woken up and it was morning. I was alone and I spotted a nest of blankets and pillows on the floor next to me. Dammit! I had missed my chance! I had fallen asleep and unknowingly pushed him off the couch. Luckily he didn't seem to mind so much and we continued texting even after I had left DC. AD and I laid around hungover the entire day watching the Millionaire Matchmaker until it was time for me to head into the city. I was staying with Blumster that night. But first I had plans to meet up with the kid I had made out with at Benny Benassi on my last trip. We met outside the National Portrait Gallery and headed into Chinatown to get ice cream. I was afraid things would be awkward since we had only met once and drunkenly made out. Luckily it was comfortable and I had a good time with him. We walked along the Mall and up to the Capitol Building chatting. At one point he asked me if I had a boyfriend and I was caught so off-guard that I began laughing. Very suave. A cute time though. Once I arrived at Blumster's apartment near H St. we sat around drinking cocktails and watching Youtube videos. The next day we had a cute day of brunch, visiting the Library of Congress and the National Arboretum, and then heading back to Old Town Alexandria where we hung out creepily outside the building where we used to work until we decided to head to a bar we used to go to for happy hours and get food. We had a relaxing day which was followed by another relaxing day hanging out with my old roommate from college. She is married and has a baby and the differences in our lives are comical. So overall my second trip to DC was a success.