Curling, a Parade, etc

This past week has been mighty eventful. Let's see... there was trivia on Tuesday, a Tegan and Sara concert on Wednesday, a conference call on Thursday (not exciting), finishing season 1 of Veronica Mars on Friday, failed attempt at curling, a walk to the Jefferson Memorial, and dinner and a movie with Suz, Steph/Greg, and Stan Saturday, successful attempt at curling, Chinese New Year Parade, and Nat'l Museum of Crime and Punishment with Stan and Carla on Sunday. Need I even mention that Jeff was involved in all but the conference call?

Trivia went well - we got fifth place! Now onto the more interesting stuff. Jeff had bought me tickets to see Tegan and Sara for my birthday and now the time was upon us! We headed to the Warner Theatre after eating at Chopt which was yummy. They had assigned seating and we were on the balcony. The opening acts were Steel Train, an all-guy band that I really liked, and Holly Miranda, a band with a chick lead singer who had an amazing voice but thanks to me being tired the mellowness of that act nearly put me to sleep.


Steel Train


Holly Miranda

Then Tegan and Sara came out. They started off playing a lot from Sainthood, then started interspersing it with older stuff. They played a lot of songs I really like, including "Hell," "Nineteen," and "The Con." I was only disappointed that they didn't play "Take Me Anywhere," but that's okay. They are amazing live. They do a lot of funny bantering, and interact a lot with the crowd. After leaving the stage they came back on without their band for an acoustic set which included the popular "Living Room" which I didn't know I knew, but I did. Basically, I loved it.


Tegan and Sara

One weird thing did happen at that concert - Erica clone was there! She's this girl who goes to W&M and looks exactly like my friend Erica and she was standing really close to us. Bizarre. Skipping to Saturday... Jeff and I tried to go to the Capital Curling Expo but there was a three hour wait for curling. Instead we wandered towards the mall, finding a big giant map in a square...


Jeff is totally inside the Capital Building here.

Next we decided to wander towards the monuments, after looking at an imposing-from-afar building which turned out to be the EPA. We walked by the Washington Monument and then I realised I had possibly never been to the Jefferson Memorial, so we walked there. We walked by the water where the cherry trees are and noticed a lot of storm damage, including to a great big lovely elm that is apparently well-known. We noticed there's paddle-boating you can do so that might be something to remember (though Carla says you can do it for cheaper elsewhere). Anyway, we made it to the monument and admired how tall Thomas Jefferson was.



It was a nice day and we walked a lot. From there we walked to the Smithsonian Metro and met the people mentioned above for dinner at the Arlington Diner, which was mediocre or less but cheap. Then we went to Greg and Steph's apartment and watched Away We Go (review to come), which Jeff and I really liked.

On to Sunday! We made a second stab at the Capital Curling Expo and this time were some of the first people there. Jeff, Stan, and I gave it a go, though it was fake ice and no sweeping.


Stan curling

Basically it was a little taste and I learned a lot of things, including that you can go curling for real in Laurel, MD, which I'd really like to try. Next we ate at Subway, then went to the Chinese New Year Parade in Chinatown, which was pretty cool.


Lion Dancers

Next we went to the Museum of Crime and Punishment which I got into for free with my Smithsonian badge. It was decent but not the best museum I've been to.


Jeff on a police motorcycle

Today I got a haircut at Bang Salon on U Street. It's fabulous and was inspired by a girl I saw at the Tegan and Sara show. Now here's hoping this week is great as well!