I woke up this morning like a little kid on Christmas Day. I was ready for the fun blogger gals weekend filled with car trips, running adventures, food, and the great city of Washington, DC.

This morning started with my first Bolt Bus experience. It was far better than I expected except for a few learnings:

-the plugs didn’t work

-the wireless didn’t work

-the reserved seats on the bus are given to “standby” passengers 15 minutes before the bus leaves

Luckily none of these affected my trip as I planned ahead and arrived 20 minutes early, charged my Blackberry and computer last night, and has my Kindle to keep my occupied.

As we crossed the Ben Franklin Bridge this morning I suddenly was filled with emotions. I forgot how much I love Philadelphia, the city of Brotherly Love.

After arriving in Philadelphia I had these friendly faces greeting me:

Leslie and her adorable pup Jackson were waiting for me at 30th Street. They make such a great team. Jackson is the perfect blend of dog for the couple like me and Bo. I want a cat because they like laps and don’t yap. Bo wants a dog because they have more personality and aren’t quite as independent. Well, I met my new love and I’m never letting him go. Sorry Leslie, I may hide him in my bag tomorrow. I mean really, how can you resist this face?

After a quick stop at Whole Foods for road trip necessities (Kombucha, Newman’s Own pretzels, and grapes) we hit the road for DC.

First stop upon arrival…

      

Luckily the place wasn’t packed when I hopped in to grab Meghann, Leslie, and my bibs but there were was an interesting warning.

Yeah, we were expecting a water warning or heat since it’s supposed to be 94 degrees tomorrow. But, instead we were greeted with this beauty of a sign and a verbal warning as well. Oh well, just keep running!

After this our afternoon included fun stops at places like Target, Potomac River Running Company, and some wedding dress shopping with Leslie’s parents.

By 5:30 we were starving and anxiously awaiting this pretty face…

The Friday night trio was now complete and ready to take on the Fairfax food scene.  Cee Fine Thai Dining taught us to never judge a book by it’s cover. While this may be in an old fast food restaurant it is delicious. This is Leslie’s standby whenever she has friends or family in town and Meghann and I quickly learned why.

Like I said, not the prettiest decor on the outside.

  But the company was lovely and the chatter flowed as if we were old friends. That really is the magic of blogging. We were never short for words the entire car ride or throughout the day since we know so much about each other’s daily life already. While this may seem weird it’s also an amazing side effect. We started with a delicious appetizer which included green onions, bean sprouts, and egg wrapped in rice paper and drizzled in a sweet sauce. This was followed by two main courses we shared between the three of us, shrimp pad thai and green curry vegetables. The vegetables were quite spicy but when mixed with the nutty pad thai the combination had a perfect taste balance. Clearly we didn’t enjoy our meals. We were all proud clean plate club members tonight.  Leslie’s mom was too sweet and baked funfetti cupcakes! These were waiting on the counter, freshly cooled and iced, when we returned from dinner. There is something nostalgic and soothing found in a homemade funfetti cupcake. It may not have the aesthetic value that Crumbs, Magnolia, or Billie’s boast but it was moist and delicious. A perfect sweet ending to a perfect day with two wonderful gals.

 

The clothes are set out and now we’re all perched throughout Leslie’s pretty pink childhood bedroom blogging away while Friends Season 1 plays in the background on VHS.

Goodnight and keep us in your thoughts tomorrow as we conquer the North Face Endurance challenge marathon relay. There are many different bloggers participating across four teams! 🙂