DC...I'm missing you!

For the last four years I've spent this week in DC for work meetings. Other than my annual travel to Chicago in August (hello fall shopping on Michigan Ave.!!!), DC has always been my favorite trip.

But this year, due to the twins and the fact that I'm not returning to work, I'm here in Ithaca, in a funk, missing DC terribly. I've been trying to snap out of it all week, but the reality is, I just really want to be in our nation's capital.

Here are some things I'm missing most:

• Dinner at Firefly (the picture above is from two years ago when some really good friends were living in DC). I discovered this little gem four years ago and have gone back every visit since. The last couple of years, my trip has been timed perfectly with their special of sauteed morel mushrooms and fiddlehead ferns, which is--hands down--one of the best things I've ever eaten. That said, the truffle fries also rock.
• Shopping at Secondi and Carbon...especially Carbon. This store has the best selection of really awesome, yet really comfortable shoes. And what's really cool is that even though I only go in there once a year, the owner totally remembers me and my previous purchases! Now that's some customer service, eh?
• Pizza at Sette Oseteria. I order the same thing every time: Rucola e Finnochio (a salad of arugula and shaved fennel with pecorino and a lemon vinaigrette) and the Margherita Classica. The crust on this pizza is just magnificent...so thin and crispy and flavorful. Plus, after being inside all winter, going to Sette is usually one of my first chances at dining al fresco. Considering that it's been in the 40s here all week, enjoying a pizza outside in Dupont Circle sounds fabulous!
  
• Breakfast at Teasim. Homemade granola, fresh squeezed o.j., and a cup of really strong, really fragrant Earl Grey...what's not to love?
• Pollystyle baked goods. They sell these goodies at Teaism, and I always head there on my first day to buy a bag of the rice crispie treats with dried cherries and apricots to eat during the week (okay, okay...I confess...last year they were gone by day 2), then on my last day buy another bag to bring home.
• Strolling through the National Zoo. The zoo is right up the street from where my meetings are held, and I always have one afternoon with a few hours to kill, so I brave the wild packs of elementary school kids and walk through the zoo. The pandas are always a treat (of course!), but my real favorites are the giant South American guinea pigs.
• A kickass room at the Omni Shoreham. The first two years I traveled to DC, I stayed at the Carlyle Suites, which was amazing, but the cab rides to my meetings were really pricey, so the last two years I've stayed at the Omni. Somehow I've lucked out both years and gotten really awesome rooms. Plus we are members of the Omni "select members" thing, so I get free breakfast delivered to my room every morning, which for some reason tickles me to no end.
• A disgusting burrito lunch at Chipotle. We don't have Chipotle here; we only have Moe's, which is soooooo not the same thing (in my opinion). I'm really not one for fast food, but there's something about Chipotle I cannot resist.
  

I hope you can see now why I'm so miserable. I mean the work part of the trip is always great, and I'm missing that, along with the friends I always see, but the food...and shopping...and FOOD is really what I'm really longing for.

Christen...Elle...E--please go shop and eat A LOT this week for me, won't you?