The one where the world goes crazy
I’m not here to talk about sides or even the election, but in doing this week’s recap, I do have to set the scene. This week was election week and because of that, the world was tense. We knew we would be living in the DMV during this political season, but I guess I was never really sure what to expect. The thing about DC is that it’s a big city that feels small, so sometimes I forget just how many people there are here. It’s the epicenter of politicians and activists, protests and rallies, people celebrating some law and others fighting against it, and that’s just your average Tuesday. When you pair that with an extremely close election… eek. There was lots of tension in the air. You could feel it at work, you could feel it at the grocery store. It’s everywhere.
So after Tuesday night’s election passed with no results, the week was rather slow. Nothing too out of the ordinary happened in our daily lives, except I made home cooked meals every night of the week using some old cookbooks that seemed to serve us more as decor rather than practical guide most days. I feel that my efforts some recognition. I also delivered a wedding video to a client which is always a great feeling, and landed another freelance client for web design!
Friday afternoon, we were greeted by a special guest coming to town from Texas. Andrew is one of Pete’s study abroad buddies who he’s stayed connected with over the past 4 years - their program was extremely tight-knit. The last time I saw Andrew, we were in Berlin throwing back beers at our hostel on the final leg of our Spring Break trip with a handful of peeps in Pete’s program. It was incredible. (Quick backstory, Pete and I didn’t study abroad together, but we were both in Italy at the same time. I was in Florence while he was in Rome, which, ironically enough, was closer to each other than our schools in the States and meant we had a couple weekend trips together!)
Friday night we headed out to Alexandria, VA for some beers at Village Brauhaus, a local spot known for their traditional German grub. We washed down a giant pretzel with beer cocktails ft. fruit puree (grapefruit being the best) and steins of German lager, as we reminisced on our lives in Italy and caught up on life now. As the clock struck a whopping 9 PM, we made our way back to the metro towards our apartment, detouring to Walgreens to pick up some boxed wine, Doritos and Laffy Taffy for our impending intense night of Phase 10. I suppose this is what being an adult feels like.
The following morning we slept off the booze and ventured to Rosslyn to check out The Observation Deck where we got a 360° view of the city from 31 floors above ground. Something about heights always gives me butterflies.
Of course, no visitor’s trip would be complete without Levain Bakery, so we made our way across the bridge to Georgetown to grab some cookies. As we stood in line awaiting our chocolate-y goodness, a man zooming down the street on his bike screamed, “CNN CALLED IT!!!”. We all looked around in confusion and disbelief. The boys checked their phones and saw the news that Biden had won.
It all felt like a movie. We were at a cookie shop in DC when we found out that Joe Biden would be the 46th President of the United States. People were stopping in their tracks to check their phones, scrolling as quickly as their fingers would move to find the news. I watched as strangers realized who won this brutally close election one at a time. A real life reaction that would normally be experienced inside the privacy of their own homes on election night is now on display for me, a girl eating a double chocolate chip cookie, to watch. Car horns were blaring and people were cheering, sparking an endless buzz of noise throughout Georgetown. It felt like the city had won it’s first SuperBowl. I was half expecting people to chant “U-S-A”.
The rest of the afternoon held an air of celebration in the city.
We met up with another one of Pete’s study abroad buddies for lunch at Wilson’s Hardware in Clarendon, where countless young people sat outside enjoying the 73° weather that November graciously gifted us.
Sunset at the National Mall was a must with this incredible weather. The amount of people picnicking along the mall was oddly comforting. Horns continued to blow as cars whizzed by, saluting the new era of politics. It was then that we noticed a crowd down the street and decided to check it out, sorry mom + dad. The streets surrounding the White House were packed with people chanting, dancing and singing with posters in hand. We only walked through, but it was such an insane experience to walk the Pennsylvania Ave the night that a new President was named. Seems like something we’ll tell our kids one day.
After resting for a few minutes on the steps of the Lincoln, we headed to the Wharf for drinks and light bites, sitting outside overlooking the water. Then, as grown adults do, we headed back to the Walgreens below our apartment, that by the way has become a second home for us this year haha, and grabbed another bag of Doritos before dueling it out in another night of Phase 10. The boys talked football, I drank moscato, it was a win-win.
Sunday morning hit me like a ton of bricks as my 6:45AM alarm woke me for my sunrise engagement shoot. The weather couldn’t have been more perfect for photographing an adorable couple in the most iconic DC spots (*photos to come!). Courtney + Mikey were one of the funniest and sweetest couples, making my job so easy. We wrapped in Georgetown and grabbed Compass Coffee before I came back to meet the boys for breakfast at Bob & Edith’s, a local fav.
This was a fun weekend. One that I am thankful I took time to journal because it’s one I don’t want to forget.
As always, thanks for reading. You really are the best.
Cheers!
xoxo - Katie