[a little muckraking]

Hmm… most magical?

Well, when I was 11, my grandpa (who had been a farmer for pretty much his whole life) passed away. It was really hard for me and my entire family because it was sudden and we didn’t really have a chance to say goodbye. However, a few hours after he passed and we were back at my grandparent’s farm with my grandma, we discovered that one of my grandpa’s cows was going into labor. While watching a calf being born isn’t exactly beautiful, the idea that new life was being born on the farm my grandpa had lived on his entire life (literally - he was born in the farmhouse) just after he had passed away made us all cope with the loss a little easier. We named that little calf Bank (a combo of Boyd Frank, my grandpa’s first and middle names) and he lived on the farm until he passed away himself a few years ago. 

And the scariest? My dad has surgery last year on his spinal chord, and while I didn’t see the actual surgery, seeing him in the hospital bed after was pretty scary. You always see your parents as the strong, stable forces in your life (at least, I have) and it was hard to see him so fragile. Either that or the ginormous spider that was in John’s room on Saturday. Sheesh. That thing was SCARY. I don’t do spiders very well.

Woo. What questions! :D

Good question! I love the Midwest.

1. Fall. No other place does Autumn better and it’s probably my favorite time of year to visit my home state.
2. The people. Have you ever met a friendlier bunch? Methinks not.
3. The Great Lakes. East Coast, you can keep the Atlantic. West Coast, you can keep the Pacific. I’ll take Lake Michigan or Lake Huron any day.
4. Chicago. Second city, my butt. Chicago is fantastic, cultured, bustling, filled with parks and greenery and has some of the most beautiful beaches along Lake Michigan. Chicago > NYC in my book. 
5. Big Ten Football. 

Also, I might note that Dairy Queen is headquartered in Minnesota, which makes that state considerably more appealing. And my family is pretty awesome too, but that goes without saying.

This is SO HARD!

I struggle at times with living in D.C. because 1) it’s far from my family and 2) it sometimes doesn’t feel like a city. 

But then little things happen that make me fall in love with it all over again (case in point: lounging on blankets in Meridian Hill Park, traipsing all over Chinatown with girlfriends on a Wednesday night just having a blast, free drinks at Grand Central whenever we go, impromptu brunch on a Sunday afternoon, playing softball right next to the Lincoln Memorial… the list goes on and on…)

But I think my absolute favorite thing about living in D.C. are the friends I’ve made here (awwww cheese-fest!) But really, I lived in Chicago before coming here, and while I love, love, love Chicago, I had a harder time making friends (but those I did are wonderful!) Part of that was due to the fact that I had some wonderful friends living here before I even came, but I’ve since met people I simply couldn’t imagine living without. And for that I say “Thank you D.C.!”

So, my answer isn’t very “foodie,” but I just love Busboys and Poets. I know it’s sort of a chain now, but there’s just something about that place that I love. Probably the fact that the 14 and V location is about a 5-minute walk from my house… But, really. I’ve been known to spend hours there catching up with good friends over drinks, then dinner, then dessert… Or grabbing brunch with roomies… or celebrating special occasions with some champagne… or grabbing drinks and a good chat before a night out… or taking family there whenever they’re in town. Busboys was one of the first ever places I went to when I moved to D.C. and it’s kind of been a constant in my dining life.

Some of my other favorites are Casa Oaxaca (seriously amazing Mexican food. If my budget allowed it, I would go here at least once a week), Granville Moore’s, Oyamel, and Cafe Nema.