Capital Capitol Adventures

So, I wore a button-down shirt with three-quarters length sleeves today, and I only just noticed, at 10:20 at night, that I walked around all day with one of my sleeves completely unbuttoned. Lame. Ha ha, I wonder if strangers judged me, assuming me to be a pathetic law student driven to absent-mindedness on account of her studies.

I think autumn is here, though the weather has mostly oscillated between winter and spring, in my opinion. I am pleased by the beautiful colors of the trees across from Union Station. I cannot wait for all of the seasonal things that happen in DC, especially once we get closer to Christmas. But, nearer to Christmas also means nearer to finals, so it is a bittersweet anticipation. (Four weeks until finals?!)

Donna and I went on a tour of the Capitol Visitor Center on Saturday. "But, Amanda," I'm sure you're thinking, "according to the CVC website, the center isn't open yet! How on earth did you go on a tour?" Well, simply put, it was courtesy of my sweet Georgetown Law connections. Apparently, the CVC needs people upon which to practice their tours, and they invited the Georgetown Law community to participate in their "test and adjust" tours. Donna and I had a lot of critiques, to be frank. There was an intense 13-minute video about the history of Congress, which was uninformative to anyone who has graduated from high school. Also, they made us all wear headphones connected wirelessly to a microphone worn by our tour guide. It seemed like a good idea, if a bit odd, but they need to work out the technological kinks--i.e., very loud and obnoxious static. That being said, it was pretty neat to see the Capitol rotunda, which our guide told us is spacious enough to fit the Statue of Liberty with room to spare! Also, the Capitol has two statues from every state, so there are statues shoved everywhere. We only saw one of the California statues, of Junípero Serra. He was portrayed in brass, and was shown brandishing a cross in his right hand.

After our tour, Donna and I cruised over to Dupont to get lunch and do some studying together. We went to this awesome salad place about which Donna had been raving, called Chop't. It's like the Coldstone Creamery of salad! You pick out the lettuce and toppings that you would like, and they dump everything onto a counter and use a huge mezzaluna knife to chop up the ingredients, which has a curved blade for rocking action. Then, they dump everything into a big bowl, add dressing, and toss it for you. It is a bit pricey, but they give you enough salad to last two meals, which makes up for it. Donna and I decided that the place felt like Northern California.

We spent the remainder of the day studying at various cafes, which often broke down into people-watching, laughing uncontrollably, and general silliness. I studied for my Legal Research and Writing in-class exam, which is on Friday. (Yikes!) Actually, I feel pretty good about LRW... meticulous citation rules and grammatical nuances are kind of my thing. Nonetheless, this week will consist of much preparation. Andiamo! (That's for you, Chiara.)