DC Weekend: Wedding, Sweets, and Fitness

Date: June 6, 2018

Author: astottler

So. I finished my first year of vet school. A week and a half ago.

^officially 1/4 of a vet!

In the past week and a half I: went to a wedding in DC. Spent time at home in the Bay Area. Moved to Nashville. Whaaat? It’s been a crazy couple of weeks to say the least. So before I start with the Nashville posts, I wanted to recap my DC trip! It was a whirlwind for sure, but so fun!

I basically went straight from my final to the airport. I was traveling alone, but my friend had a flight out around the same time as I did so we got celebratory beers.

I didn’t get to DC until midnight thanks to the time change. I slept in Saturday morning (does it count as sleeping in if you’re on the wrong time zone?) and then headed out for a few of my favorite DC things: monument run and Sweetgreen. Can you believe it’s been 4 years already since I lived there?

I mostly stayed at a hotel nearish the airport, on the blue line of the metro (which was under construction all weekend so the delays were crazyyy). For my run, I took the metro to Arlington Cemetery, and then ran from there.

^ducklings!

It was really crowded so I definitely had to walk in some sections because of all the people.

It was also quite warm and humid! I definitely missed these sights though! I ended my run at the Sweetgreen in Foggy Bottom (the area I lived). I got a beet and goat cheese salad with chicken and wild rice, and balsamic dressing. SO good.

When I got back, I picked up a rental car to drive to Maryland for the wedding. It was held about 30 minutes outside of DC, and the drive was terrifying. Look, I’m a good driver. I’ve driven in Southern California. I’ve driven in San Francisco. But this drive….not fun. The roads were confusing and the drivers were so unpredictable! I had a terrifying moment when another car swerved into my lane, nearly into me, out of nowhere. Thankfully, I arrived at the hotel safe and sound, and got myself ready to go to the black tie wedding!

It was held at a beautiful mansion. It was supposed to be outside, but minutes before we were supposed to be seated, the skies fell and it started POURING. They had a wonderful back up indoor area, and it was a beautiful, intimate ceremony!

Congratulations Jenni! We went to undergrad together and I knew this couple from the very start!

Sunday morning, I packed everything into my backpack (yes, including my floor length dress), checked out of my hotel, and dropped off my car. I decided that Sunday afternoon would be my Georgetown time (read: cupcake time), so I took the metro into Rosslyn and had a quick lunch at The Little Beet. It’s similar to Sweetgreen, but different flavors. I got a bowl with chicken, brussels sprouts with cranberries, pickled onions, avocado white bean spread, and chimichurri sauce. It was one of their suggested bowls, and while there were a lot of flavors going in, they worked together!

I then walked across the bridge into Georgetown, straight to Baked and Wired! The Georgetown Cupcake line wasn’t too long either, and I honestly probably should have stopped there too…

I got the one gluten free cupcake option, which was vanilla with chocolate chips!

So good!

Then, I walked along the waterfront and settled on some big steps to read my book for a little bit.

At this point, the sky was getting DARK and I thought for sure I would get poured on. Somehow though, it held out. I checked back into my original hotel and relaxed for a few hours before heading out into the drizzly weather to go to Alexandria. Old Town Alexandria is super cute, and wasn’t too long of a metro ride from where I was staying. I went to Le Pain Quotidien for dinner, another place on my “must gos” for my trip. I got a chicken and mozzarella tartine on their delicious seedy GF bread.

When i saw there was a Kilwin’s in Alexandria, I knew I needed to stop. I went to one in St Charles (near St. Louis) for ice cream and it left an impression! I got the salted caramel, which comes with chocolate covered pieces of caramel! I actually ate this outside in the rain because there wasn’t anywhere inside to sit. Worth it!

After dinner and dessert, I had a relaxing night in at the hotel. When planning this trip, it was tempting to try and fit in 101 things into the short 2.5 days, but I eventually decided that I was going to be exhausted post-finals so I decided to try and make it a little more relaxing.

Monday, my flight left in the afternoon so I didn’t have a ton of time to do things. Since it was Memorial Day and Murph is legitimately one of my favorite Crossfit workouts, I decided to drop back into Crossfit Foggy Bottom to do it. That was my box when I lived in DC, and although I don’t think any of the same people were there, it was good to be back! The interesting part of this Crossfit is that it’s in the basement of a fancy hotel! That made the running of Murph a little more interesting…we had to run through the locker room and then the hotel lobby, and up stairs to go outside! I wasn’t super concerned about my time, I just wanted to do the workout, so the time difference as a result was fine. This workout is a great reminder to remember those who have served and lost their lives.

The workout went well for me. it just doesn’t crush me in the same way it used to. Plus, my pull ups just get better every year. I maintained sets of 5 until the very last round. And my legs didn’t feel quite as heavy on the second run as they have in the past! I think one of the worst Murphs I had was when I did it with a semi-broken foot (the boot came off later that week)….I hadn’t squatted at all in a month or so, and 300 squats after all that time off….ouch.

Thanks to the humidity and 100 pull ups, I was a sweaty chalk monster at the end!

This Crossfit is part of a gym with fancy showers, so I was able to get cleaned up there before traveling!

I made a couple more stops before arriving at the airport. First off, Sweetgreen one more time! I got the Guacamole Greens and subbed sweet potatoes for the onions.

And the final stop? Shake Shack. Their frozen custard is SO good. When I was in Philadelphia in the middle of winter, I ventured into sub-freezing temperatures at night just to get some! I got the vanilla concrete with hot fudge.

Then, it was back home for 4 short days!

Nashville recap coming soon!

My Sister Got Married!

Date: September 4, 2017

Author: astottler

Categories: Uncategorized

Well, my sister’s wedding weekend came and went! I wanted to hop on here and share pictures (that I took) from that now, to do the event justice.

Friday, I had class. I stayed at school a while after to study and get ahead for the weekend, and because I didn’t want to brave the 111 degree heat. This heat wave is insane. It’s been over 100 in San Francisco which is unheard of!

Saturday morning, I woke up at 4am to catch an early flight to Seattle for the wedding. My sister got an AirBnB for the wedding party, and it was incredible. It was giant, and right on the water with an amazing view. Since everyone seemed to be running around/gone, I was able to sneak in a couple of hours of productive studying in a place far more beautiful and temperate than my kitchen table!

My entire family knows that my favorite GF cookies ever are from a place inside SFO, so my parents brought me some. When you wake up at 4am, it’s totally acceptable to eat cookies at 9am right?

The day before the wedding, we had a couple of crises to deal with, as was expected. The fire I had to put out was the lavender syrup. My sister DIYed a lot of this wedding, and it had a ton of personal touches. She made lavender syrup for lavender lemonade at the wedding, and blackberry lavender mojitos at the reception. Unfortunately, we discovered mold in the syrup. I volunteered to make fresh lavender simple syrup. 8 liters worth.

Finally, the ingredients, and lunch in the form of a Panera salad, arrived.

Then we got to work boiling down the syrup. For anyone interested, bring 1 cup of water, 1 cup of sugar, and 1 tablespoon of lavender to a boil. Once it comes to a boil, turn off the heat, and that’s it!

The complication was getting the massive amount syrup cool enough to bottle it!

Finally, the syrup was made and we headed off the the rehearsal. They got married at Gasworks Park, which I had only seen by duck boat before on a previous Seattle trip. The site was on top of kite hill, with a 360 degree view overlooking the lake and Seattle.

Afterwards, our big group headed to an Ethiopian restaurant for dinner.

^Gotta get a picture with the bride!

After dinner, we migrated to ice cream, Kurt’s Farm Stand. It was really good. Their plain vanilla (Jersey Cream) was the best plain flavor of ice cream I’ve had. I was in the mood for chocolate, but the rose I tried was amazing too.

Afterwards, we spent a good 20ish minutes walking circles of varying sizes around our car trying to find it. Whoops.

On wedding morning, I started with a 3 mile run and soaked in the cool, non-smoky air. The views weren’t bad either!

Then, it was time for everyone to get ready! I broke out the orange-peach-mango mimosas.

We had hair and makeup people come.

^Isn’t she stunning??

And with the dress:

I ended up being last for hair and makeup, which ended up being kind of a disaster when we were running late, and I was rushing around with maid of honor duties (including getting the dress on). I was undecided on hair. I NEVER have my hair curly, and it doesn’t like to hold a curl at all. I haven’t had my hair curly since prom in high school. After everyone else’s curls looked so pretty, I decided to go for it. I was hoping for just curls near the end, and I think I needed to have expressed that better….on top of that, after makeup and getting the bride’s dress on, my curls were already falling out so they touched them up, but I think that just made it look super messy/slopping. I had literally one minute to look in the mirror and put my dress on before we had to rush out the door, and I honestly did not like my look at all, and didn’t recognize myself…I was able to alter my makeup a little bit, but it was not the best situation, given these pictures are going to be there forever!

Somehow despite a crazy hectic couple of hours, we made it to the venue for pictures right on schedule.

Look how pretty the bouquets are!

Right before pictures, we ran into the most adorable pup. That cheered me right up!

The ceremony was beautiful, and went off without any major hitches! It was perfectly them, and had some great personal and unique touches. I also loved that there were geese wandering around in the background at the top of the hill.

Here’s the happy couple!

The reception was about a half hour drive from the park, at a beautiful rustic barn with an adorably sweet dog.

The wedding was hot air balloon themed, because they got engaged on a hot air balloon. My sister MADE all the hot air balloon decorations!

Blackberry lavender mojito (I might have to have a party just to make this).

Pup hanging out at dinner getting all the love:

Dinner (they had a special GF plate for me <3 ):

Cake+cake cutting. They had a caramel apple spice layer, a chocolate buttercream layer, and a blackberry buttermilk layer.

Then, it was time for toasts! I thought everyone did a great job. I had the last one, and I think I was the person everyone least expected to do a sappy toast, but I had to bring it in.

I did try some of the cake because in the scheme of things of gluten and worth it, amazing wedding cake is definitely worth it. They also had a pretty mango sorbet for me.

Then, it was time to get the party started!

The big surprise getting set up:

^What happens when vet students go to weddings….

First dance:

Father-daughter dance:

Groom-brother sword fight:

More dancing:

Hot air balloon rides! Yes, they had a hot air balloon for guests to go up in! And yes, I did go up!

Make your own s’mores. My sister got super fancy s’mores from a high quality chocolate place, and let guest make their own with a blowtorch.

Nerf gun war:

And before we knew it, it was time to send off the newly weds. We sent them off with a nerd gun salute, and off they went, into the night!

It was a great day, and went off relatively free of disaster! I wasn’t the one planning the wedding for 2 years, and I feel the post wedding blues a little bit!

I got to take home some of the party favors, homemade chocolate. The groom loves making chocolate, like the entire process, starting with roasting his own beans. So it’s legit. And look how cute!

And now it’s back to reality. We’re easing in though, with lots of snuggles:

I hope you all had a great long weekend! I know I did 😉

Art Party + Wedding Dress Shopping

Date: October 4, 2015

Author: astottler

Categories: Uncategorized

Hello! Happy Fall! I’m loving the subtle changes in weather and cooler temperatures thus far this fall! I’m currently doing laundry-I have to run 9 miles this morning per my half marathon training plan but I have kitchen clean up in a little bit and despite waking up early to do it, I was running a few minutes late so I didn’t try to fit it in-later today!

School is finally kicking into gear. I already feel so behind, but I’m also enjoying my time here. Sometimes when a phrase from your assigned reading sparks a meaningful 2 hour conversation with your roommate, you just have to roll with it. And sometimes you have to cram in all the experiences unique to your school in your last year. Let’s back up to Thursday.

I went to Crossfit for the first time in weeks! I did a combo of hang cleans and rowing-I skipped the overhead presses. It’s frustrating that my shoulder is still limiting, but I really have to compare how it is week to week and be patient. I could do the press overhead, but brining the bar back down hurt.

After a full day of classes on Thursday and a much needed nap, I tackled a half marathon training run-5 miles on the hills! It felt like perfect fall weather. Maybe I can get behind evening running after all? The timing would work out better, but I love how I feel after a morning run as well! Anyways, since my stomach has been better, my sweet tooth has come back. On the way back, I was thinking about how awesome gluten free brownies would be-specifically a kind with white chocolate chips. I returned at dinner time, and guess what our chef made for dinner? I couldn’t believe it! SO good!

Really though, the entire meal was awesome. Wild rice, salmon, herbed chicken.

After dinner, I hurried to get ready for a truly unique Stanford experience-a party at the art museum on campus. To get in the spirit, my house had a fun get together beforehand that included throwing water balloons filled with paint at canvas to make some art of our own! Sadly the balloon that I threw went through the fence!

We made the trek all the way across campus to the art museum, but it was a nice night! At the event itself, there was food and student group performances, plus access to the museum.

It was a fun time, especially spent with friends.

Big event #2 for the week was Saturday! I started out with a fun spin class, and then headed up to SF as part of my sister’s wedding entourage for her first stab at dress shopping. AHHH.

We arrived to the city in time for lunch at a French restaurant and start with mimosas to celebrate the bride-to-be!

I had delicious roasted chicken with roasted potatoes.

We had some extra time before her appointment, so we stopped into a coffee shop nearby for cappuccinos-Wrecking Ball Roasters. Why is coffee in SF so amazing??

Wedding dress shopping was so surreal. How are we this adult?

She looked beautiful in the dresses and may or may not have found “the one.”

(It should be noted that this is not it.)

The dress she loved could only be held for a few days, so we made a last minute appointment nearby to get a feel for some other looks.

AHH so exciting! TBD on what the dress will be though! What’s important is she got a better sense for what she’s looking for, and now everything seems more real!

While we were driving home, my dad made me some pumpkin chocolate chip muffins from this recipe.

They came out delicious, in a healthy tasting way. But I ran that in a good way! I used sunflower seed butter in place of almond butter, so when I arrived back on campus, this happened:

Gotta love chemistry, my friends.

What pumpkin products have you made/eaten so far??