field tripped.

We have been laying low of late and life has felt routine and slow. But this past week we did get out for a couple field trips.

Last week, we grabbed a beer at Ivy and Coney over on 7th Street. It is owned by the same people over at Kangaroo Boxing Club (so it is a Michigan bar) and a cool, little spot on the quickly changing 7th street.

On Saturday afternoon, we picked Emily up for a birthday surprise and went down to the Sculpture Garden to go ice skating. It was cold. Real cold. But so great. The rink is charming and there is sure to be great people watching. Of note also, turns out, Emily is a very good ice skater...

After, we walked up to Oyamel for some Mexican hot chocolate at the bar. And we finished the night over in the SE to watch the Michigan game and ordered in indian food...

Sunday night, Ben and I went on a hot date out to Falls Church. We have heard for a very long time that the best vietnamese food is found in the Eden Center in northern Virginia. Well, we can very confidently report back, that it is an experience indeed. It is basically a giant strip mall that has turned into little Vietnam, music and all. There are over 120 stores. This picture does no justice, because it is just one length of the many sided strip mall, but you get the idea...

We tucked into Huong Viet and ordered away. Not pictured is an iced coffee I ordered just to see how close it is to the real thing. Yes, close my eyes and I could have been back in Hanoi - not to mention, the never-ending fish sauce was everywhere. Our spring rolls were awesome, noodles spot on, beef and pork were really good. We might just have to go back at some point soon to find some Banh Mi. The only thing I didn't see in here was when we swung through one of the little groceries, I couldn't find the little vietnamese yogurts that I love. Imagine those don't travel well across oceans...