[tiffy trying] touristy DC things

Two weekends ago, my friend, Mela invited some friends to check out the National Arboretum in DC as part of her farewell-to-DC bucket list. She's off to grad school in the fall but leaving DC this week to travel around the world before school starts.

[ national arboretum, DC ]

[ 400yr old bonsai tree ]

[ pretty bonsai tree with red & gold leaves ]

[ magnolias in full bloom ]

I also got to check out another picturesque DC spot this past weekend. Mela held her despedida picnic at the Georgetown waterfront. It actually took me and K a little longer than expected to get there because we ended up on the wrong bus. Oops. But that was our little side adventure for the day. Georgetown waterfront is a wonderful place that's ideal for both sports and just, plain laying around the sun. We went on a particularly nippy day so there weren't hordes of people in the area. 

[ georgetown waterfront 1 ]

[ georgetown waterfront 2 ]

In case you think that all I do is just traipse around DC and enjoy the sites and the pretty weather, I've actually spent a lot of late nights doing homework and stress snacking like mad. 

[ all nighter - research paper writer - deadline fighter ]

The above picture was taken after a particularly crazy night of researching, writing, and heavy duty snacking. Hard work, I assure you. 

I also managed to find time to experiment in the kitchen but that's another story for another time. 

<3,

Tiffy 

[tiffy trying] to do homework but updating blog instead

   4 Final Papers
+ 3 Oral Presentations
+ 2 More Weeks Left in the Spring Semester
----------------------------------------------------------
1 Stressed Out Grad Student

To illustrate:

welp!

And now, back to homework. 

<3,

Tiffy  

[tiffy trying] domesticity

Friday is usually the day I get to catch up on housechores. Mondays through Thursdays I'm usually buried in my school books and weekends are typically spent enjoying couple time with Karl or catching up on more school work (or TV shows that I don't get to see during the school nights).

As a result, I like to spend my Fridays doing housechores. This usually consists of paying various bills that tend to add up exponentially behind my back:

[ makes me dizzy ] 

Playing floor hockey against Team Feral-Dust-Bunnies: 

[ I won! I think...]

And cooking a healthy dinner for date night: 

[ stove top multi-tasking ] 

I still have a long way to go before achieving the kind of domesticity that my cousin, Ginger has manager to pull off. Easter Sunday brunch a few weeks ago was a well decorated affair and a delicious feast of carbs, more carbs, pork, and all manner of desserts. 

[ rabbit infestation for easter ]

One thing I'm incredibly grateful for is the appearance of spring! She took her sweet time getting here but she's pretty much here in full force. Actually, she came late and left the party way early because it feels more like summer weather than spring weather. Last Wednesday, class got cancelled (due to my professor being out of town) so my friend Viv and I decided to check out the famous Cherry Blossom Festival. 

[ pretty cherry blossoms ]

K & I actually tried to check out the festival last weekend but the blossoms were still hiding inside their little buds. We decided to make the most of the gorgeous weather and walk around some of the famous DC sites- we saw the US Capitol, Washington Monument, Reflecting Pool, World War II Memorial, a garden with modern art sculptures, and walked around Chinatown after picking up apartment supplies from Bed, Bath & Beyond. 

The housework never seems to end. 

<3,

Tiffy

[tiffy trying] a vacation out of my comfort zone

I'm a city girl through and through. My typical vacations oscillate between two extremes- a jam packed schedule spent walking through famous sites or a zero-plans day spent lying down and reading a book or catching up on much needed sleep.

This vacation was something completely out of comfort zone. And I loved it.

K and I spent 5 days in Dominica, a country that's different from but always mistaken for the Dominican Republic. It is a beautiful island with delicious food, incredibly wonderful people, and utterly gorgeous scenery. But what made this vacation special?

[ dominica scenery ]

1. We stayed at a lovely resort (Jungle Bay) that had unparalleled customer service- welcome emails when we booked, reminder emails about what to pack, airport pick up and drop off service with snacks,  and friendly staff who always made us feel welcome.

[ beautiful jungle bay resort ]

2. Food was fresh and organic. For city folks used to processed meat and fast food this was a huge, much-needed, and delicious shift. The dishes were well prepared and so flavorful we couldn't even believe that these were healthy.

[ fresh food prepared by the resort + fruit plucked from a tree ]

3. K and I are no strangers to working out. But being active on vacation wasn't something either of us had ever done. We had hikes everyday that ranged from moderate to strenuous along with yoga classes at 7am each day. And we had an amazing time.

[ tricky hikes ]

[ one of the streams we crossed on the first day's hike (3 hrs) ]

[ crater pool by the ocean at the end of glasse trail. 2 hour hike ]

[ en route to the valley of desolation and boiling lake ]

[ morne trois pitons national park looks like an enchanted forest ] 

[ finally arriving at the valley of desolation ] 

[ strenuous hike towards boiling lake ]

[ boiling lake w/ some spooky fog ] 

[ swimming in this sulfur pond to cool off in the middle

of the long 7(!!!) hour hike was so refreshing ] 

4. 2 hour flight delay followed by a 15 hour flight delay. And no matter how stressed out and disappointed we were about it, we still managed to keep our cool and and our sense of humor intact.


It was a wonderful vacation. K & I joked that it was like a teambuilding trip for us because we went through so much. We can't wait to go back to Dominica and check out all the other gorgeous sites we missed.

<3,
Tiffy