Florinda was the first to fly into Washington, D.C., for her summer vacation, and Anna and I decided to meet her in Dupont Circle at Chipotle. Before we had lunch, we decided to take a walk and chat and she took a few shots of the historic buildings in Dupont. We were accosted several times by the Human Rights Campaign as one of their members was handing out stickers. When you walk by the same person more than once, you’d think they’d realize they already asked you and that when you said no thank you, you meant it.
It was funny to realize upon meeting Florinda that she got to Dupont Circle early, just like we did, and she’d already been to one of my favorite bookstores, Kramer’s, and bought a bunch of books. We did take her over to Books-a-Million , but we all refrained from buying any books.
Once inside Chipotle it was a quick ordering until Florinda wanted a veggie burrito bowl, and the poor man behind the counter had no idea why she didn’t 
want chicken. Once we sat down to eat we chatted about crazy office structures and books, naturally. And of course, I had to take a picture of the books we carried. I was reading Garth Stein’s Raven Stole the Moon, Anna was reading The Visibles by Sara Shepard, and Florinda was reading This Is Not the Story You Think It Is by Laura Munson.
Most recently, Alyce came into town with her husband, who was apparently an important part of ALA this year. Cecelia and Kristen met with Alyce before I could get to Matchbox DC in Chinatown with my husband. We had a table for 12, but alas due to some cancellations and one no-show, it ended up being only the six of us. I cannot tell you how wonderful the food and the service as at this pizzeria. I would definitely eat there again, and they were so gracious to do a Friday reservation even though that is not their normal protocol. Hubby and I ordered a Q Special, which was delicious, and even took a couple pieces home as leftovers. Alyce and her husband shared a veggie pizza, and we took their one leftover slice home too. Cecelia had her own anchovy pizza with some other stuff on it, but you know me and fish heads?! I didn’t look to closely at her pizza. Kristen got a crab cake sandwich that looked delicious.
We all chatted about our crazy blogging lives, with Kristen being the newbie to the blogging world, and our work lives. It was such a great atmosphere that even my hubby chatted, and he’s not a big conversationalist…he’s pretty shy around people he doesn’t know. He was gracious enough to take the picture of us (Me, Alyce, Terry, Cecelia, and Kristen) — going around the left side of the table around to the right front. You should check out all these gals’ blogs! Cecelia loves fantasy novels and more, while Kristen loves women’s fiction (even Nicholas Sparks — but we’ll forgive her for that one!)
And then came dessert, which basically meant that Alyce and myself were going to indulge in chocolate and Cecelia imbibed with a spiked and rich pecan pie. And for some reason, my husband thought gulping down the cinnamon shot was a good idea. Later on, Alyce, Terry, my hubby, and myself rode the metro together and got to see some interesting characters, including some girl with a red Chinese food container stuck on her head with her braids sticking out the sides. Not sure what was up with that, but unfortunately, she was in another car of the train so I couldn’t take a clear photo . . . they all came out blurry.
I hope everyone is having a great Sunday, but I’ll be off celebrating my husband’s birthday! Happy birthday honey!
I know I love when I get to meet my book blogging buddies I can’t help but smile! It’s a great way to put a face to a name and blog URL. Beyond that, its an even better opportunity to get to know the person behind the blog and to talk about, what else, BOOKS.
