International Spy Museum

So if you're into everything and anything James Bond with a cool way to become an international spy the Spy museum is the place to be in DC. After a delicious and eventful brunch ($35 AYCE) with the NatGeo interns at El Centro (Best Mexican food i've had in this city) all of us decided to be spies for the day. We actually went on a top secret mission and learned a lot about spy gear and tactics, crawling through tunnels and interrogating hostages. We even got our own spy names. It was a blast. It started snowing right after we left. They day could not get any better. 

Be mine, Valentine.

Happy Valentine's everyone. I did not spend it alone because my lovely roommate, Yuri and I decided to be each other's valentine. We decided to stay super local with our plans. Penn Social is a really fun bar to go to with a great atmosphere and taste in music. There was an event going on and we got to have some free photo booth fun. Our uber even gave us chocolates to celebrate during our ride. 

First week? Check.

Yes, i'm being a huge dork celebrating my first week at my first internship. It was pretty awesome. I finished all of my projects ahead of time and I was able to utilize my discount at the store. I kind of went overboard. I got myself a map and sweater and so many knick knacks for my family and friends. Also, I went to dinner with all the NatGeo interns and we had a fun night at Barcode once again. The BEST surprise ever was a lovely care package from James. A dozen  Sprinkles cupcakes that had the words I LUV U ANDU just in time for Valentine's day. Too cute. I am so grateful for him. It was a great friday.

NatGeoIntern

I honestly can't believe I'm interning for National Geographic. This is one of the best things to ever happen to me and I am so grateful to even be chosen to be a part of the geography intern program here. My first day here has been pretty epic. I mean i'm interning for my dream employer. We did some paperwork for HR and then split up to meet our individual supervisors. There are seven of us interns for the program so its a good sized group. My supervisors name is David and he's really nice. He's kind of local to the area, he likes Game of Thrones, which is awesome, and he seems like he's going to be really nice. He took me to this restaurant called Nage and we had nice conversation about the normal introductions about where i'm from and what do I like to do and what made me want to apply for NatGeo. I had an amazing lobster mac and cheese, which was a plus. I got my first assignment doing a background check on a company that was pretty interesting. Time went by pretty quick. Then the other interns and I went to Barcode and celebrated. It was a great first day. 

Duke's Grocery & Pennsylvania

So there's this awesome restaurant in Dupont Circle called Duke's Grocery that I went to yesterday and I can't get over how much flavor there was in this burger I had. It was called the proper burger, everyone go try it. I finally got to meet with one of the fellow NatGeo interns there and his stories were unbelievable. His name is Aaron and he studied wolves and has traveled all over. We were both jealous of each others accomplishments, but I couldn't get over the research he has done. Talking about the stories of our conversations on the phone when we got the call to accept our internships were priceless. 

I took the Amtrak for the first time ever and it was smooth sailing until I had to change trains. I have been catching up with my family here in the East coast and i'm excited to be here in Hershey, Pennsylvania. Yes, Hershey as in the chocolate. The lamp posts are shaped like kisses and it is too adorable. My Aunt Gladys and Uncle Neil are really amazing hosts. Their house is oh so beautiful with a victorian vibe and the snow cover just made it christmas card perfect. I had to take a picture. They even took the time to go grocery shopping with me and I showed them how to make chili and my aunt taught me how to make bread from scratch. I really don't want to leave, but I feel like if I lived in a city like this after being in Los Angeles I would go crazy. Their closest mall looked like I was back in the 90s with my mom when I was in a stroller. What's awesome about Pennsylvania is how low the clothes tax here is. It is going to be a great weekend.

Super Bowl Sunday

My first Super Bowl Sunday without my family feels strange. There's no epic family screaming and yelling I can hear from barbecuing outside. There's no family reunion with cousins that I haven't seen in months to catch up and play Nintendo 64. There isn't even an automatic, "Ashley get me some chips!" from my dad after ten minutes into the game. Not being home for events like these makes me feel like more of an adult, making my own decision to celebrate this American "holiday" in a completely new city and with people I barely know.

All of us in the DC Scholars program decided to spend Super Bowl Sunday together and have a potluck. It was fun for all of us going to Giant (supermarket in D.C.) and figuring out what to make or just bring. I made bowtie pasta with vodka sauce and tomatoes and mushrooms and then Yuri and Tran and I made cream cheese wontons. .It was a fun party. We all went crazy when Missy Elliot came on to the screen. I honestly could not handle it. It was awesome. After the patriots won we moved up to the roof and had a photo shoot. We were exhausted. 

Freer Art and Fun

A day with Yuri and Tran was definitely one for the books. We went to the Freer Art Museum. It had beautiful installations, especially this one with shoes showing the different paths people take. After we walked and got a bit lost to find the seafood fish Maine Street Market. It was amazing. I had crab cakes, oysters and clams and fried shrimp. Everything was delicious even though I could barely taste. I was still sick. When I finally got home. Rested for quite some time and then I got ready to go out. We all matched as roomies as a coincidence that was really cute and we had a little photoshoot. I love my roommates. We ended up having champagne and we went to this place called Zeba. It had a good vibe but it was just the wrong music scene for the night. So we walked more than a mile to U street and waited in a few lines and it was awesome. We split up and Yuri and Tran and I stayed. Went to McDonalds and took an über home. Great night. 

Nobel Reunion

Went out to Brunch with Chloe Chang today. I haven't seen her since the eighth grade. It was pretty great. Delicious meal and awesome time catching up after ten years, then we parted ways cause she had school stuff so I took the DC circulator for the first time and explored Georgetown a bit. It was really fun. I bought some Baked & Wired cupcakes to treat the roomies and an Alex and Ani ring to treat myself. I took the circulator back to Union Station and it is my all time favorite form of transportation now. My glasses and social security card finally came in which was wonderful. I watched Moulin Rouge with the Stef and Noor. It was a lazy day staying in because we didn't want to go out in the freezing windy weather. 

Roomies

Honestly, no offense to any of my previous roommates, but this it the first time in my life where I feel a really deep connection with my roommates. I know its only been a a little over a week and its probably the honeymoon phase, but I feel so happy to be living with women that known what they are doing. They are responsible adults and understand what cleaning up after yourself means. I know it sounds weird, but it really is a blessing to be living with these girls. I'm excited to bond with them and create unforgettable memories. I know i'm cheesy. Deal with it. I'm lucky to be in a room where we all get along and all of us are in the DC Scholars program together. Time for some introductions: Melissa is one of the people I actually know and she is also a geography major like me. Stephanie goes to CSUN as well and the two of us love Above&Beyond and I love her for that. Noor is the youngest in the room and has awesome Spongebob Squarepants impressions and Tran is an amazing cook and is like the mom of our apartment. They both go to CSUF. Yuri is from Cal State San Marcos and is an artist that has great taste in music that i'ver never heard of, but I will definitely learn soon.

Georgetown

You hear about it and read about it and see it in movies. Georgetown is a place where most think of prestige and privilege. When I explored it today with my friends it was exactly what I expected it to be. Beautiful. The architecture, the cobblestone sidewalks, event the way the stores were laid out were perfection. It would be wonderful to walk down these streets everyday just to pick up some hippie crack at Baked & Wired and do a little shopping after work. We walked to the ice rink and took selfies by the Potomac river. Trader Joe's was a definite must visit because its one of the only ones in the area. We all got some groceries for our spontaneous potluck dinner for the night. I made my alfredo mushroom pasta, and Vincent made tiramisu. Everyone pitched in with some delicious grub. I just really fell in love with the tiramusu and I learned how to make it. Yay. After our food comas we went to Adams Morgan and got down to some 90s hip hop and R&B at Shenanigans irish pub. We went bar hopping all around. It was a fun night. 

Cooking Class

Since we went to the botanical gardens yesterday we found out there was a cooking class today that we could go to. After breakfast with Johnny (yummy omelette with bananas and cantaloupe), we headed over with Melissa to get our winter salads on. We observed these two women make these amazing salads with beets and citrus and interesting vegetables I never thought could be put in salad. They were both so yummy. 

I have been air drying since I have arrived here and I finally had the time to go to Walmart to get some towels. It felt nice to shop for myself. I was also really excited today because I get to meet up with my friends from my old job at Student Housing, Cornelius and Symone. They are engaged and getting married soon and getting to see them after so long was really great. We went to Busboys and Poets and we talked about life and James and what i'm doing here in the first place. They invited me to their wedding. Eep! I got home pretty early after so I went to U Street Music hall with the girls and danced the night away. 

"National Aquarium"

So after 2 miles of walking around Johnny and I had the realize the hard way about the location of the National Aquarium. It is in Maryland. It was definitely an adventure going in circles trying to the find it, until we asked a security guard and she said, "Oh, you're two years too late." Hilarious. You should have seen Johnny's face. We ended up meeting up with Yuri and Vincent and going to the Library of Congress to get our official researcher cards. I geeked out so hard at the main reading room. SO many books to read and I cannot wait to study in here.

Since the botanical gardens were close by and also had free admission, we went to check it out. So many beautiful plants and so many photo opportunities of course. There was this plant that when you touched it the leaves would fold. It was pretty sick. What I also thought was interesting was all of the different ecospheres they had, including the desert which reminded us all of home sweet home, Southern California. Finally we got to eat and we tried out Potbelly sandwiches. It was a cute space with a man and woman duo doing covers of early 2000s music. The sandwich was great, but again overpriced.

The Air and Space museum was another spot on our list and oh man was it huge. The exhibits were beautiful and because of our researcher cards we got to get into the IMAX showing for Dark Matter for FREE. Teehee. Good times. We basically did nothing in our second day of class, but watch Big Fish. No big deal. I was craving Chinese food and so a few of us decided to stop by Chinatown and try it out. It was not great. Once we got home, another fascinating conversation went on for hours. I learned a ting or two about French wine. I definitely felt quite cultured after that. haha. It was a great day indeed. 

Smithsonian

I kissed a butterfly today. It was magical. I have always dreamt of going to the famous Smithsonian Natural History museum and today that was accomplished. Johnny and I are major nerds for tours so we took one here and saw a bunch of cool exhibits. The Hope diamond was beautiful, but I was attracted to the glow in the dark rocks the most. The ocean exhibit was breathtaking. The moment you walk in you see this magnificent whale on the ceiling and giant shark teeth, which is a kodak moment must.

We went to the butterfly exhibit for our last stop and Johnny kept getting all of the butterflies to land on him. I got one huge one to land on me though and got a kiss from it. I could not stop smiling. I know I am definitely coming back here again and again and again. The most legendary part of the day though was when the exact moment we walked out of the doors of the museum it started snowing. We were so happy until we realized we had to walk through it and it got harder to stay warm. Lunch was alright at the West Wing cafe. I had a pastrami sandwich and these delicious jalapeño chips from a local East coast brand. Walking home wasn't fun due to the snow, but it was definitely an experience. We realized it was our first day of class and had to hurry home. 

Class was pretty chill. All we did was take our ID photos and go through the rubric and schedule. A group of us took the metro back to Union Station and then tried Shake Shack for the first time. The burgers were delicious, but WAY overpriced. Once we got home I got to meet Yuri's friend from France, Vince. In the kitchen we had this huge stimulating conversation about politics and what was going on with different countries. It was great. I honestly do want to start work already because in a few days i'll be the only one in the room exploring all alone.

National Mall

When I hear everyone keep talking about the National mall I was puzzled at first because I was told the closest mall was in Virginia. So I kept asking over and over what mall are you people talking about and it took me some time to finally realize where this mall was. Today I explored this gorgeous mall with my friends Johnny and roommate Melissa. We went to the American History museum for a bit and saw all of the cool exhibits and this adorable doll house from the early 20th century. We walked back all the way home. Walking everywhere has been an enlightening experience. I feel a weight lifted off me because I don't need to use a car. Yuri, my roommate took me out to this political event at Local 16 on U Street and it was a great networking event watching the State of the Union Address. Its really amazing how we were watching it right here in the capitol. Eep! Close by was the legendary Ben's Chili Bowl. So delicious. I fangirled and sat where Obama sat. Another fun day. 

MLK Peace Parade

The White House

Washington Monument with Reflecting Pool  

Day 3 continued

Its already our third day here and our group had the opportunity to celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day in our nation's capitol. There were about 20 or more of us that took the metro to Anacostia, an area we were not to supposed to go to which I thought was pretty funny. Being able participate in the peace walk today and witness it was a wonderful experience. Signs everywhere and people walking hand in hand celebrating a man that made history was a beautiful sight to see. Afterwards, we all went our separate ways and my group ended up heading to Dupont Circle and had some awesome burgers at BUGR. Then we walked all around and got a bit lost and finally found the White House and took selfies obviously. From there, we headed to the Washington monument, reflecting pool and Lincoln memorial. We did not realize how long the the reflecting pool was and automatically regretted our decision to walk the entire way home. It was the best first memory being here. Those 15 miles of walking was well worth it. 

Grateful

Today I have officially been here in Washington, D.C. for two days and it is astounding how much I have acclimated to being so far away from home so fast. I mean, I do miss my family, friends and of course James, but I just have this breath of fresh air feeling. These few days here have been fantastic meeting everyone and exploring what this new city can offer. 

Welcome to DUtakes theworld.

Last year I decided to make my own hashtag to have all of my family and friends reference all of my adventures since I moved to Washington D.C. in January. So i'm journaling everyday and thought why not make a website about my day to day activities and travel experiences!

I've never really done this before, but I feel like its very similar to how I journal everyday and document my life through photography all in one! Thank you for reading and i'm really excited to start this new journey of blogging and vlogging.