Red Mei

Last night Jay came down to DC after work to retrieve the car. It was really nice having the car Monday for my appointment and grocery shopping, but was not sad to give it up.
Plus I got to see my cutie pie. Per usual the communication may not have been there so Jay was slightly disappointed when he found out that I had dinner plans tonight.
To make it up to him, I took him to Red Mei for lunch.

Now I have to say Red Mei was not what I was expecting but I liked it. I was expecting a sit down restaurant, but instead it was fast casual. The environment was perfect for the time restraint we were on today. We could daily eat our lunch in the hour we had and it was delicious and cheap.

Because we had a living social deal, we got the Shrimp Spring Roll. I was expecting it to be fried, but was pleasantly surprised when it was not. Jay had the Pad Thai which he said was good, but not the best he ever had but a great value. I went away from my normal selection of somewhat healthy and had the fried Lemon Chicken. It was really good and made me miss carry out Chinese.
Overall we had a great lunch date. The food was good and we had a little bit of time to walk around the waterfront.
Have you ever been surprised by a restaurant in a good way?

Hot Hot National’s Game

A few weeks ago one of the deal sites had a deal for cheap National’s tickets. We promptly texted Jay’s PT friends. Ironically, another couple was thinking the same thing and quickly bought us all tickets.

Now today was hot in DC. The temperature was a balmy 98 degrees at game time and got up to 100 during the game. We made the most of it in our seats for about 20 minutes before moving to the shade.

We found a nice spot where we could sit at a picnic table in the shade while sort of seeing the game. The best part about this spot was that we could all use our $6 food credit that came with our tickets. I saw a woman with a snow-cone and knew that it was exactly what I needed.

Of course Jay was a little jealous so I let him have some too. Plus it was a huge serving!  Look at him enjoying that brain freeze.

After we all felt a little more refreshed we moved up to the Upper Deck Sports Bar. At first we hung back in the shade, but after an inning or two we moved down to the standing bar area. Believe it or not we had a really nice breeze up there.  Of course Jay took the opportunity to show off what he considers “guns.”  Isn’t that cute?

We spent the rest of the game up there catching up and enjoying the close game. We even had a great view of the President race. Yeah, they do that at the National’s Game.

After the game, Jay and I tried a new recipe, Cheesy Zucchini Rice topped with Tofurky sausage. It was delicious, easy and really filling. It definitely hit the spot.  Now we’re enjoying “How I met your Mother.”

How did you round out the weekend?

Stand-Up Paddle Boarding

On Saturday, Jay and I cashed in a Living Social deal to go Stand-Up Paddle Boarding with Potomac PaddleSports. The deal was for half-off their class SUP 101: Stand Up Paddle FUNdamentals, a 3 hour introductory class to the sport.

Jay and I signed up for the 8 am class, which bummed me out at first because we wouldn’t be able to sleep in.  Boy, am I glad we took the early class, the high for the day was 106 degrees and the water was already the temperature of soup!  When we got there, we didn’t know what to expect, and we were instructed to put on our PFD’s (Personal Floatation Device) and helmets. We were promised a fun day, that is why I am sparkling, or it’s actually because my camera has a “sparkle” mode…

We had 3 instructors and 1 mentor guiding us through the class. We learned everything from parts about the board, local paddle board history and various skills.  We learned things like: PFDs are different from life jackets because they won’t actually save your life, Virginia does not own any part of the Potomac River, it is illegal to wade or swim in the Potomac river (paddle boards are considered a “Craft”) Plus we saw a bald eagle!!

Our first skill was obviously how to self rescue, which included two ways to get back on your board if you fell off. This meant everyone was getting WET!! Sadly, the Potomac River was not much of a relief from the heat. Our instructors told us that the water temperature was a warm 91-95 degrees throughout our class. Just like taking a warm bath ;)

Before we knew it, we were both standing up on the boards, paddling our way down the Potomac. We learned the basic stroke, several ways to turn around and the rescue stroke (sitting down). We also learned how to fall, which is very important. Jay fell once, claiming it was because he was starring at me… (boys!). I only lost my balance once but quickly returned to the “tripod” position and never fell from the board.

Now we are all set to rent boards and paddles on our own to go out. We had a great day and learned a lot. The thing that impressed me the most was how easy it was. Paddle Boarding is definitely a finesse sport that anyone can do. Even I, who has terrible balance, had a fun and successful day. Now we just need to get out there again and put our skills to the test.

Have you gone Stand Up Paddle Boarding? What did you think?

The Fourth in Pictures

Wordless Thursday!!

The Cherry Blossoms are in FULL bloom this week, so Lauren and I went down to the Tidal Basin after work yesterday to take pictures. Enjoy!!