Best Date Near DC (chocolate bar) and Home Cooked Meals Fix A Lot!

we have had a fabulous long weekend in washington, DC. the first 2 nights we got into town, we stayed with jenn-my husband’s friend for over a decade! they met at HOBY when they were 15 and she’s originally from Scotland so anything she says is 72% cuter because of her accent. we arrived to her home and she had a whole chicken in the oven, mashed potatoes and veggies for our first home cooked meal in over a week. umm, we’ve only been gone a week and it sure feels a lot longer than that but we are learning how to be be on the road!

AND jenn lives with some seriously fun people and they went out and got dessert for everyone! how nice is that. very nice. and they were even sensitive to my lactose intoleranceness so got dairy free ice cream which was actually very scrumptious.those oatmeal cream pies were where it was really at though. we also all engaged in an entirely too long conversation about what a “zig zag” is, particularly when referring to food. no definitive conclusion was drawn because the peanut butter was not zig-zagged. oh how wonderful it felt to have ridiculously hilarious and meaningless conversations with peers.

the following day consisted of a food festival in jenn’s neighborhood (which is called friendship heights. how stinkin’ cute is that?). i’m holding pulled pork quesadillas and they were excellent. it was also a bit chilly and i was sad the sun didn’t make it out to the festival.

fear not: i can make my own sunshine when i find pumpkin spice cupcakes with cream cheese frosting! i am SO happy it’s fall and cannot wait to start our drive through the east coast while the lives are changing. i will probably make my husband drive most of it so i can just stare out the window and say “HEY! look at that! look at that tree! look at those leaves! LOOK LOOK LOOK!”

when we returned, i was feeling a little overwhelmed with some of the work and life decisions we have in front of us so i called my mama and she talked my down and said i don’t have to worry about every little thing right this second. sometimes you just need to hear permission from someone to release things. as i chatted with her (wrapped up in my sweater but still sitting outside), a small sliver of sunshine poked its head out and landed directly on my face. dang-moms are powerful!

after we wrapped up our phone call, i literally ran inside- grabbed a bottle a wine and my husband and we sat on that sliver of sun until it went down behind the golden trees. it was really quite lovely. who knew sidewalk dates could be so great? (please also note that my wine glass holds a significant amount more than his).

after a glass of wine, jenn came out and said “hey! let’s go to this new chocolate bar in downtown Bethesda, MD!” and i replied “LET’S GO RIGHT NOW!”

as we rolled into downtown, i was honestly a little shocked by how bustling and pretty this place was. apparently i tend to judge cities quite a bit before experiencing them. let me tell you- we are learning many lessons as we go.

we strolled into the packed “max brenner’s chocolate bar” and this was one of the happiest places i’ve been to. please pay close attention to the super cute “100% pure chocolate” coursing through the pipes on the ceiling. i was tempted to swing from them so they would break apart and i would be the heroine that showered everyone in chocolate…but i resisted.

everything was chocolate and not just typical chocolate but super interesting and innovative ways to get chocolate into your body. like a syringe, for instance.

after much deliberation and chatting with the kind ladies in front of us, we opted for the “sharing” plate and a slice of s’mores pizza. the sharing consists of “a tasting of Tutti Frutti waffles, CookieChips, fluffy cocoa cake and chocolate bark. Served with fruit, marshmallows, your own grill and a tower of melted chocolate in milk, dark or white.” we got milk chocolate to dip everything in and there was even a little candle in the white tower to keep it warm and silky. all of this for $19.95…a pretty good deal in our book because the 3 of us shared it and there was even a little slice of banana left over.

the s’mores pizza was also really fun but be warned that it’s not a sugar cookie crust, it’s really pizza crust so it’s not sweet but carby and a-okay in my book!

i highly recommend this pace (they have some locations in really unique locations all around the world) for a fun date night! and make sure you get enough of everything so you can over indulge and not experience any couple fighting over chocolate.

ravery gives another workshop this evening in DC and then we are off to more back-to-back workshops in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia so i am mentally preparing now for an intense next few days (more wine, more chocolate and some exercise to balance it all out). i hope everyone had a fantastic weekend!

the new wifestyle: nothing like a home cooked meal, spending downtown with friends and chocolate to remind you how much we really have.

questions:
1) what did your last home cooked meal consist of?
2) are you fan of pumpkin flavored things?
3) what’s your favorite type of chocolate? (mine is dark chocolate…but i will eat anything)