Remembering June

We got back earlier this week from a wonderful trip to Maine with my family. It was the furthest north I’ve ever been in the U.S. and it was absolutely beautiful. I spent the entire time in awe of how amazing our country is.
But then I got back and our country fell apart, and I can’t wrap my mind around it. Obviously, this is not a new problem. But the depths that we have sunk into at this point are unfathomable.
These monthly posts serve as a reminder to me of how good I have it, especially now. I am truly blessed to have the opportunities that I have – to travel, to work at a stable job… just to feel safe in my day-to-day life. I do not take it for granted.
So let’s remember June.
It started out with our trip to Oklahoma to visit family. I probably say this every time I go home, but it was an amazing trip and so good to see all of my loved ones. We got to see my grandma and hang out with the rest of my family, including two fun dinners with my mom and a birthday celebration with my dad. We also had a fun night out with friends I went to high school and college with for the first time in a long time.
Oklahoma City has really been surprising me lately. The downtown and midtown areas have completely transformed since I lived there five years ago. There’s always a new restaurant to try when we go home and I’m kind of falling in love with my home state all over again.
I also love just hanging out at my brother and SIL’s house, lounging by their pool and playing with their dogs. Drinking local beers while catching up on emails isn’t so bad either.
I have taken photos outside of The Womb multiple times, but have yet to find myself there when it’s actually open. Someday I will get inside!

I always try to get my Tex Mex fix when we go home. We tried a new place in Enid, but it could have been better.
We did have excellent meals at both Patrono downtown and Picasso in the Paseo District for my dad’s birthday. Clearly Picasso made us pretty happy.
When we got back to DC, we vowed to eat healthier and go to bed by a reasonable time every night to prepare for our vacation in Maine. We were semi-successful, but there was just so much to do all month that it was easy to let our good intentions slide.
For example, after the gym one evening we happened upon a Friday night concert at Yards Park.
For months now, Tom and I have been aching to try the Swizzler food truck, which was parked at the event. We just couldn’t pass up such a convenient opportunity to check it out. We shared the Abe Froman with fried bread and butter pickles, housemade herb relish, cherry tomatoes, onions and yellow mustard.
Definitely worth the splurge, and now I want to try the rest of the menu especially the Leonardo Dog Vinci which beckons to me from my Instagram feed on a weekly basis.
The next day, we drove to Pennsylvania to visit my bestie Jess and meet her adorable baby girl, Leila. Naturally, we had to take a picture of our respective kids.
It had been far too long since I’d seen Jess (all the way back to a girls’ weekend in DC before I moved to Brazil), but as usual we picked up like no time had passed at all. She’s my soul sister and it was so fun to watch her with Leila, she’s a natural at the whole motherhood thing. Her husband is awesome too, and Tom and he had many hours of sports and Game of Thrones discussions. We had a beautiful cheese plate and kebabs on the grill while catching up on each others’ lives. Later that night, I got together with a group of girlfriends for drinks and more catching up. It was a day that was luxuriously good for my soul.
The next morning we took Ashton to get a haircut. Normally when running this errand, we use it as an excuse to have brunch somewhere nearby. For a change of pace, we decided to burn calories that day instead of consume them by going for a walk in Meridian Hill Park in the hot, hot heat.
It was my first time visiting this park, and I was bummed to see that the fountains weren’t up and running yet. It was still lovely, though, and now I have a reason to go back.
Stumbling upon fun events on the way home from the gym has become a common occurrence this summer. The next Friday, we stopped by DC JazzFest at The Yards.
We bought a cup of wine, snacked on some CapMac and sat back to enjoy the beautiful weather and great music. Friday nights in Navy Yard are where it’s at guys.

The following days were insanely busy in all the best ways. We worked at the winery on Saturday, had a dinner date at Market Table Bistro and celebrated Father’s Day with my in-laws in Virginia on Sunday.
The fun continued at Diane’s book party on Tuesday, dinner at Oz on Wednesday and girls’ night at Requin in the Mosaic District on Thursday.
I had intended to do a review of Requin, but unfortunately we didn’t really care for it at all and I don’t like to write entirely negative reviews. Maybe someday I’ll make it back for a better experience and fill you in then. I will say, the caipirinha and free chips I had at the bar were pretty great.
It was our last girls’ night before my friend Unmani had her baby, so I was really glad we were able to make it happen. And I can’t wait to meet her daughter very soon – she’s precious!
That Friday we had a beautiful Italian dinner at Via Umbria and then Saturday I put my judges hat on for Eat 4 Charity. It was aseriously a nonstop week. We took a minute to ourselves that evening with a proper DC date night. We had a perfectly low-key dinner at Bistro Bohem in Shaw (legit schnitzel and an awesome burger) and then went to see Broncho play at DC9.
While we were at dinner we kept complaining about how late the show was going to start and how tired and old we were. We begrudgingly walked over a little before eleven, and complained some more as the band took an extra thirty minutes to take the stage. But, it turned out to be one of the most fun shows I’ve been to in years. DC9 is a tiny little no-frills venue so we got really close to the stage. I mainly wanted to go to the show because Broncho is from Norman, Oklahoma where I went to college. I liked their music enough, but didn’t love it. The show was awesome though and Tom and I have been listening to it nonstop ever since. It was a night for us to really let loose and just have fun together instead of worrying about timelines and deadlines and bed times.
To end the action-packed week, we checked out the DC BBQ Battle with a couple of friends. After that, it was time to buckle down and get ready for our trip. I had a lot of work and blog deadlines to meet, so packing and planning our road trip stops kept getting pushed to the sidelines, but we made it work. Ashton stayed on top of his packing duties like a boss, though.
His bone nub was clearly a high-priority item and I had puppy paw prints on several of my shirts as a result. I didn’t mind.
It was such a fun month, but honestly even just typing up that recap made me tired. I’m looking forward to a slightly slower pace of life for the next few weeks.
What are your favorite memories from last month?