The bon temps? They rouled.

No, I’m not talking about True Blood. I’m talking about Mardi Gras y’all!

This weekend I went to New Orleans for Mardi Gras and had an absolute blast. For those of you who haven’t been,Mardi Gras in New Orleans is amazing. The parades are incredible, the beads are flying, the people are friendly, the hotels and restaurants set up outdoor bars with hurricanes and gumbo.  My first NOLA Mardi Gras was the year after Katrina and it was amazing. I fell in love with Bacchus Krewe (Krewes are the clubs that put on the Mardi Gras parades and balls) themed their parade “The Wizard of Oz” because it was all about a little girl coming home after a storm. Needless to say, it was amazing and moving. That year I also fell in love with Orpheus Krewe because it was started by Harry Connick Jr. and he is just the cutest thing ever.

This year I missed Bacchus because I went back to Opelousas (see next post) where I taught with Teach for America. I hadn’t been back since I left in ’07 and it was amazing. Instead, we drove up to NOLA on Monday morning, just in time for the awesome parades that happen on Monday and Tuesday.

Before the parades though, we checked into our hotel. It was amazing. We stayed at The Saint which is brand new and is part of the Marriott Autograph Collection. O.M.G. It’s right on Canal Street (we had our own grandstand, avec cocktail waitress, for the parades) and it’s absolutely gorgeous. Besides the location, which could not have been more perfect, the rooms were beautiful, the toiletries were enough to make me commit gross maid’s cart theft and the restaurant was absolutely delicious. Did I mention the amazing live band at the bar and the fact that I watched a parade from the window of my hotel room? Yeah.

The floor at The Saint. I liked the tiles.

Angels in The Saint

The room key!

The first thing we did, of course, was eat. We headed to the Hard Rock Cafe because they have one of the best balconies in the Quarter. The food was mediocre, but the view was amazing and we wanted to sit in the sun and check out the scene before diving in.

Horrible picture of me and a cosmo on the balcony

Then we headed to Cafe du Monde for beignets. Mmmm….

After stuffing ourselves like silly we headed to our own private grandstand for the parades.

Selina waiting at the grandstand.

The parades were as amazing as usual, but my favorite was Orpheus, if only because of HCJr. Sadly, I was using the camera phone on my pathetic 3GS and I was right in front of a street light so forgive the shoddy pics but this is what you get!

First we started with cocktails in The Saint’s Burgundy Bar. You can’t see it, but apparently it was Bacardi Gras.

This float is a giant dragoney-fish thing of some kind…

Another fish. I think this was Prometheus and the theme was Neptune something-or-other.

This was supposed to be Hinduish I believe.

Orpheus’s floats were flowerlicious this year.

This train was insanely long. It had like six cars full of people throwing beads. We really didn’t think it would make it around the corner.

The dragon! This thing was amazing! It even had a little baby dragon in the back!

The dragon continues…

The dragon’s tail.

The parades ended well into the night and Selina and I, being old, went to dinner and then bed. The next morning was Zulu, which is one of the most famous parades, and which is notable for a) being an African American krewe, b) because they actually make their own floats unlike the other krewes who pay professionals and c) because it’s the krewe of the Indians who you may or may not have heard of/seen on Tremaine. Sadly, I did not take any pictures because we weren’t on the grandstand and I’m short. Sorry. You’ll just have to go next year and see it for yourself!

Before Zulu we got breakfast at Royal Palace on Royal:

On the way we passed an awesome street band:

After the parades we went to Mena’s Palace for lunch:

I had the friend chicken and red beans and rice…

Then we followed everyone else and headed to Bourbon Street. For anyone who has never been to New Orleans, Bourbon Street is a sinner’s playground on the sunniest of Sundays (Larry Flynt has not one but two clubs in the Quarter) but on Mardi Gras? Forget about it. It’s hedonism at it’s best. Even describing it is NSFW and since children (and mothers) are reading this, I won’t go into detail. But trust me. You will see things you never imagined. Selina was walking through with her eyes wide open the entire time. For better or worse, almost nothing shocks me anymore and even I saw a thing or two that made me turn my head. These things are best approached with a daiquiri in hand.

One of my favorite things about public spectacles is that both the saints and the sinners come out to play. Mardi Gras is no different and, this being the South, there were plenty of holy soldiers from the church doing battle with evil. The funny thing is that these people never seem to get that they are actually part of the festivities. In DC, I always know winter is over when I see my first guy with a megaphone and a picket sign. They’re more reliable than Puxatony Phil. Mardi Gras is perhaps the pinnacle of this phenomenon. At strategic points throughout Bourbon Street men (only men) in black hoods stood in circles with unintentionally hilarious signs that said things like, “Repent!” and “Party Cancelled Due to Lake of Fire”. As they shouted about Jesus and repentance the  sinners in question posed for pictures, threw Mardi Gras beads at them from balconies and generally included them in the fun, whether they liked it or not. They reminded me a lot of the guards outside of Buckingham Palace. I don’t know if they saved anyone, but they certainly earned a few heavenly brownie points for keeping straight faces.

After walking up and down the streets laughing and cringing and shaking our heads, Selina and I headed to our Saintly rooms and went to bed. Or at least, we tried. Because the one downside of sleeping on Canal Street during Mardi Gras is that you’re the only ones in town trying to sleep…

I love New Orleans, and I love celebrating Fat Tuesday. My goal is to make it out every year from now on, both to party and to see my friends in Opelousas. And, of course, to eat beignets.

Laissez les bon temps rouler indeed.

AGinDC

Fashion Week in the Fashion District

The other night I had one of my sad, short stops in New York. Only sad because they’re short, but still, being in New York for a few hours is better than not being in New York at all. I was terrified at the thought of my hotel for the night, since last time I stayed in the absolutely awful New Yorker. But, the fates did not fail me this time!

With perfect timing and a clear sign that I did something right in a past life, I found my cab riding up to the Hilton Fashion District.  Firstly, I was totally excited to be staying here during Fashion Week, and secondly, I was just happy not to be at the same sad Hyatt Regency in Cleveland.

The Hilton FD looks like the place Archer would go if the W was out of penthouses. My room was gorgeous and the toiletries were by Peter Thomas Roth! It was like the Sephora fairy had personally swooped in and left a bathroom full of goodies just for me.

The Hilton FD wasn’t the only great place I went to that night. I met up with my co-worker and we went to Bukhara Grill on E. 49th. Delicious Indian food, seriously. Check it out. Then we had dessert at etc etc (try the chocolate molten lava brownie thingie. Amaaazing). Both were delicious.

Now I’m in my last day in Cleveland before MARDI GRAS!! I am so excited to go back to Louisiana, I don’t even have words. =) Woohoo!!

AGinDC

People who are People

I’m sitting here in the world’s longest flight from Philly to LaGuardia (*UPDATE: At least, for the first half of writing this post). Not because the flight is actually all that long, but because we keep getting put in f*ing holding patterns. I feel like I’m in Jet Blue’s worst nightmare. But, since I’m on hold and I’ve teed up all of the emails I can think of, I thought I’d take a quick blog break. =)

One of the awesome things about this job is that I get to meet pretty cool people. From our founder and hero Wendy Kopp to leaders of charter schools that are working their asses off to provide kids with excellent educations, every day I meet people who rock my world. I also, of course, meet some people who… well… don’t… but not nearly as often. One of the great things about being the alum of an amazing organization is that 99.9% of our alums completely kick ass. I get to meet them all over the country and it’s crazy how incredible TFA people are. It’s weird that I am one of them and is further confirmation that they actually meant to accept that other AG so many years ago and that I have been posing ever since. There are, however, also non-TFA alums who rock (although not nearly as many), and many of them are related to us in one way or another.

On Friday, when I got stuck in San Diego (did I tell you about that?) and stayed in the gorgeous US Grant Hotel, I was there to speak at a Young/World President’s Organization event (awesome) and to sit on a panel with John Legend! It was pretty cool. John is on the TFA board and is insanely passionate (and surprisingly knowledgeable) about education reform. He’s also way too charming and polite to be a pop star. He acts more like visiting minor European royalty than a guy who is friends with Kanye. Although, I guess being friends with Kanye would make anyone uber polite and humble. I mean, what else could you be? Anyways, it was a blast getting to talk ed reform with him and a roomful of 100 or so of San Diego’s top business leaders, all of whom were nodding and groaning and clapping as they, too, are passionate about education. Other awesome people I met at the event? Try the Director of the San Diego Zoo. Yep. He rocks. Of course. I mean, zoos are awesome and clearly the people who run them are awesome and since the San Diego Zoo is the second most awesome (after the National Zoo of course) zoo ever, this dude is clearly the second most awesome zoo-person ever. And he was. He had AMAZING ideas and is incredibly smart and just so so cool.

Yesterday I was in Cleveland, where, make no mistake, awesome people reside. For instance, the Mayor of East Cleveland and his assistant are incredimazing. So are a lot of the school leaders. And yesterday I met both the President and Owner of the Cleveland Indians. Totally cool guys and it was soooo amazing being in the office of the President of the Indians. Especially because he was sporting a Michigan hockey stick from when we kicked Ohio State’s ass a few months ago! Woohoo! More awesomeness? Today I went to New York to meet the Alaskan Arianna Huffington*!

It’s amazing how many diverse and incredible people all come together for the cause of education. It’s exciting, and it’s heartening, because with everyone actually pulling together, maybe we really can solve the problem of education in our country. And until then, I’m going to keep looking for opportunities to visit awesome baseball stadiums. =)

AGinDC

*not her actual name

Heaven. I’m in Heaven.

One of the nice things about this job is that I get to try lots of new things. Cars (thank you Enterprise!). Cities. Foods. People. Ways to embarrass myself. Etc. I also get to try new hotels, but not nearly as often as I thought. Due to the wonders of Priceline bidding (I do work for a non-profit, after all), I often end up in the same old spot. I stay at the Hyatt Regency in Cleveland so much that the other day the (very, very cute) valet said, “You again?”. Yeah. So I now know exactly what kind of lotion and shampoo I’ll get at a Hyatt Regency (crappy), Sheraton Grand (crappier), and Wyndham (surprisingly good, but the hotels are crappy). I’m also used to middle-of-the-road luxury. It’s not a La Quinta, but it’s not the St. Regis either. I’ve learned to appreciate the small things, like the sheer grandeur of that giant Manchester Grand Sheraton in San Diego. The window seat on the 21st floor of the Sheraton Grand in Sacramento. Hmmm… I’m starting to see a pattern. Apparently I like Sheratons more than Hyatts. That figures, they’re owned by Starwood (see below). And occasionally, I get to stay in absolutely amazing digs like the Sir Francis Drake in San Francisco, and it makes it all worth it. This is just such a tale.

On Thursday night I got off my third trip and sixth plane in four days absolutely exhausted. I had a red-eye the night before and arrived in Cleveland with enough time to change and brush my teeth in the airport bathroom, slather conditioner in my dry, frizzy hair (the curls were so flat it looked like they’d been sitting under a brick for two days) and drive my rental car (cute little Mazda, drove well actually) straight to a meeting. And then another meeting. And then I checked into a hotel for two whole hours for three conference calls and a fifteen minute nap. I meant to take a shower but that never happened. Then back on a plane. Then a Vegas layover. Then another plane. Then a thirty minute wait at Enterprise for a Toyota Yaris. By the time I drove into San Diego (which made me so happy I blasted Rufus Wainwright’ s “California” in the rental car shuttle. I’m really starting to love this town) I was exhausted and just wanted to crawl into my sad little average hotel bed under my average hotel covers in my average hotel room. But after I gave my car to the valet, I walked into a grand lobby of beiges and blues and crystal chandeliers and guests who made me look like the new housekeeper. Live jazz was playing from a grand old restaurant and as I walked by stylish people were swing dancing the night away. The dapper-looking concierge gave me my room key for, the top floor. As I rode up I could feel my spirits rising and as I headed down the hallway, past the Presidential Suite, I decided that things were looking up. When my room was next door, I knew they were.

The Yves Clement!

Just in case there weren't enough on the bed...

The note from "Michelle"

I walked into Nirvana. Slippers on the floor, chocolates on the pillow next to a note from someone I can only surmise is Michelle Obama informing me that tomorrow will be sunny with a high of 69. Of course it will. Water with glasses on both sides of the bed. A custom Yves Clement drip painting as the headboard. French lotions and soaps in the gorgeous bathroom along with a loofah and every bathroom accessory you could desire. The furniture is gorgeous. The curtains are French. I am a happy girl. This, is the way life should be. But of course, what more would you expect from the people who own the W? I love you Starwood (see above).

The next morning, my breakfast came.It was delicious, of course. A pot of glorious tea, wonderful pastries, perfect bacon. I halted my checkout until 2 so I could enjoy as much as I could of the glorious room. The shower wasn’t that great but I was willing to give it a pass. Once I had to leave (after unsuccessfully trying to rob the maids cart) I had wine and lunch in the restaurant downstairs and held a conference call in the lobby. I really didn’t want to go.

Yummy

Even the paper had its own little bag

Sadly, the next night I was back at a Sheraton Grand. But as long as I know there are places like the U.S. Grant waiting for me, it’s more motivation to work twice as hard towards my dreams.

Finis

AGinDC

Life on H Street

This weekend I moved to H Street NE. It was a devastating move. I really didn’t want to leave Columbia Heights. However, since I was absolutely devastated when I had to leave Adams Morgan (which I still miss and WILL get back to one day) and thought I hated CoHi when I moved there, I am assuming that pretty soon I’ll think H Street is the pants. Sigh. I hope so. Right now, it’s a little depressing. It’s soooo far away from everything. It’s mid-regentrification (rather than just-recently-regentrified like CoHi) which means I can’t help but think about the politics whenever I walk down the street, the closest metro is the red line (enough said), and because I’m now traveling 6 days a week I downgraded myself from my fabulous but expensive apartment to a cheap, windowless, humourless apartment. There will be no parties in this house. I feel like I’m living in a dorm room again, but at two-years-to-30, that’s not as much fun as it was back in the day. The good news is, I’m saving a ton of money, the other girls who live in the house are really sweet, and after less than 24 hours in the new place I know that I am ready for domesticity (the single kind Mom, don’t get excited). The better news is that I live in hotel rooms anyways so I just need to survive the trips to my insanely small bathroom and tears that fill my eyes whenever I look at my not-walk-in-closet on rare occasions. And, to top it all off, the reason I moved to H St was because I figured this was the perfect time to get to know a part of DC I might never otherwise live in and so I shall.

What I know about H Street so far:

• The curious mix of herbal remedy shops with dashikis in the window, high end spas for six year olds and yuppie pubs has hitherto been unknown except in some small corners of Brooklyn circa March, 2003.
• I am in Ward 6 (I miss you 1!!), more specifically, 6a, more more specifically, 6a06 (only DC could be this confusing). Andrew Hysell is my commissioner. I don’t know who he is, but he better not let me down.
• I am very close to Fruit Bat, the only bar I know in H St, but one that I happen to really like.
• I am also very close to Popeye’s. I have already eaten Popeye’s since the move. This is a problem.
• I am also quite close to Taylor. I have eaten at Taylor. I like it. This is not a problem.
• I am medium-far from Union Station, and it’s a decent walk with a long hill. This is a good thing. I like the exercise but I can still make it from home to the station with my suitcase obnoxiously rolling behind me.
• I get live in “DC” rather than “Washington”

If you have any tips on awesomeness on H St that is not to be missed, let me know! I’ll be visiting as many as possible whenever I’m home and reporting back on what’s awesome and what, sadly, is not. I have been in DC for 18 months and this is my third address in my third neighborhood in my second ward in my second quadrant. I guess I’m going for the full tour!

Now though, I’m in Cleveland. Home of all that rocks.

That is all.

AGinDC

Lisbon, Portugal

Last weekend, thanks mostly to Bloomberg Businessweek and the amazing fellowship they gave me, I went to Lisbon, Portugal for the Sandbox Global Summit. There were about fifty reasons that I was excited about this, and not one of them came even close to how incredible the experience actually was.

First of all, I have been lucky enough to have been to most of Western Europe (not Spain yet and it’s killing me). I had not, however, been to Portugal and had no idea why everyone who has been there seems to be so in love. Well now I know.

Lisbon is covered in cobblestone streets, rolling hills, and beautiful buildings with iron gates and balconies. The government cares deeply for preserving the beauty of Lisbon. In the 70s, a man who is probably under the jail right now was going bankrupt so he burnt down his warehouse. Unfortunately, he took several city blocks with it. Rather than rebuilding with awful, ugly modern buildings in the center of town, they rebuilt the city exactly the way it was except with modern amenities like, you know, central heating. So now, walking through the beautiful shopping district, you can’t tell at all that the buildings are brand new. How many other governments would do that?

In the same spirit, the city of Lisbon was extremely kind and welcoming to the Sandbox summit because they are working hard to make Lisbon an entrepreneurial hub. Honestly, I can’t imagine they’ll have a problem. The city totally kicks ass. By the end of the weekend, we were all planning to move there.

The city wanted us to hold our summit in Lisbon because Sandbox is an international organization of young entrepreneurs. So perfect, right? Right. I expected this weekend to be full of talking about entrepreneurship, getting some ideas, and maybe making a friend or two. Instead, it was what I can only describe as ephiphanous. Yes, that’s right, I had to make a word up to describe the awesomeness of Lisbox. I had conversations like I’ve never had before with people I’ve never met before and found solutions I didn’t know I needed to problems I didn’t know I had. It was that kind of weekend.

Other than the awesomeness of the Summit itself, the city was also amazing on its own terms. My favorite thing, besides the unseasonable warm weather, amazing architecture and the fact that it’s right on the water, was the care and attention that every little shop paid to their customers. Every shop was absolutely delightful and when I bought something the item wasn’t just thrown in a plastic bag, oh no. It was wrapped in custom paper with pictures or stamps (one woman hand rolled a custom made stamp onto every piece of paper used to wrap my mug), then they put it in a perfect little bag (at the candy store (see below) they had bags with separate compartments for each type of candy) and then they tied a bow or ribbon on the bags. It was amazing. I almost didn’t want to open the bags!

Two of my favorite shops were Papabubble, where they hand-made absolutely delightful candy and Lisboa Carma, which is owned by a husband and wife who got tired of crappy tourist merchandise so they work with artists in Lisbon to create really unique and beautiful Lisbon-themed merchandise. Please can we do this in DC? Pics are below! Including of the super awesome candy art at Papabubble.

Anyways, Lisbon rocks. Below are some pictures, and, because I promised Bloomberg, a really embarrassing video that they did of me. Feel free to ignore. And go to Lisbon!!

=)

k

The best tourist shop ever

The Raven

The candy store!

Cutting long strips of candy…

… to make candy roses

Candy Trolley!

Candy Punch and Judy!

Sheep!

The video:

Sitting here in the Frankfurt airport

Hello people!

I can’t wait to write all about Lisbon but it’s going to take a lot more than my 30-minute allowance of German internet. They’re very efficient, there’s a timer and everything. I’m sitting here in Frankfurt, waiting for my flight to New York, and I am simultaneously delighted and annoyed to be in this particular airport. I’m delighted because I haven’t been to Germany since I lived here as a little girl and even just being in the airport is marvelous. I’m annoyed because they have more security measures than Fort Knox and I just had the most intrusive pat-down of my life. I’m a single girl, I’m not used to being groped in inappropriate places, even if it is by a chick. She even checked inside the zipper flat of my jeans. Seriously. I feel dirty.

I also had to show my passport about 85 times and I had to throw away a bottle of water that I bought IN THE AIRPORT! All of this after the man at the gate of my incoming flight sent me to platform 9 3/4 (if you’re not a Harry Potter fan, you shouldn’t be reading this blog) and after searching unsuccessfully for said gate for a little too long, a woman from Iran Air looked at me like the raving mad woman I am when I asked her where it was. She said, and I quote, “Yeah, that gate definitely doesn’t exist”. Awesome. I have now found my way however, and I am safely settled into my gate, waiting for a plane to fly me to Newark, so I can take a train to Union Station, so I can take the metro to Gallery Place, so I can switch to the green line and go home. It’s going to be a loooooong day.

That is all.

AGinDC

DC is not good for me

Living on the road has its perks. I have no friends, so I don’t go out. I have a tiny per diem and no peer pressure, so I eat healthy. I work all of the time, so I spend very little money. Then, I go home. Back in DC, back to my friends, back to the fabulous bars, restaurants, and cafes. And, apparently, back to the thousands of empty calories and insane amounts of money that I spend here! I have spent more on food and drink in three days in DC then I have in a month and a half on this job. Sure, a lot of that is because I’m on a per diem, but still, if you live here, you know. I am stunned. When I end this job and move back to DC permanently, I am going to have a lot of thinking to do. And a lot of working out. I go over my budget all of the time and theoretically I knew how much it costs to have a social life in DC. But having such a vivid example is shocking. So, if you live here, and you find yourself broke even if you make a more than decent salary, I’m here to tell you why.

Want to know what I’ve been spending my money on? Well:

Saturday lunch at el Centro. Yum.

Saturday night drinks and risotto at Lost Society with @ekanerealestate.

Sunday brunch at Vinoteca with my adorable mentee.

Sunday tea at Big Bear Cafe.

Sunday dinner at Founding Farmers. Why do I love this place so much??? Because it’s amazing.

Monday nutella crepes and helping a friend job search at SNAP.

Monday night dinner at Dickson Wine Bar with @designbyjihee and @danieldzn.

Thank goodness I’m back to work tomorrow and leaving again on Wednesday. Neither my wallet or my scale can handle any more going out! But, I have to say, as far as restaurant choice is concerned, I couldn’t have made better choices!

Sigh. One more day in DC and then off to Cleveland again!

AGinDC

San Diego in January

San Diego is so gorgeous right now, it’s unbelievable. It’s sunny and bright and not chilly enough to justify more cover than a light cardigan. I was able to drive around the city a bit more this time and it is really quite beautifully laid out. This is a terrible shot from my car window but note the blue sky, the palm trees, and the buildings that seem to match perfectly.

 

 

 

 

I also stayed at an amazing hotel. The Manchester Grand Hyatt is beautiful and enormous. It is, in fact, so big that they actually gave me a map. Of the hotel.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My room was on the 37th floor and had an amazing view. I prefer to be as high up as possible and this was no disappointment.

 

 

 

 

 

 

While driving around the city, I ended up close enough to the border to buy Mexican Insurance but sadly did not have time to stop for food. It was a sad day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

It actually was a pretty sad day. I knew this was going to be a tough job when I took it but these were the first two days when I really broke down. The combination of the mad travel, the isolation, the running around and then stopping at 5pm and having nothing to do but sit in my hotel room and work, the working from 6am to midnight every day even on weekends, the calendar that is relentlessly packed with travel and meetings for the rest of my life, and then the having to fight the people whose job it is to provide children with an excellent education because they could really give a fuck that their high schools have a 5% proficiency rate. It’s infuriating. After two horrible days in San Diego (not all awful, there were some great moments like the happy hour at Finch’s Wine Bar with our amazing alums. Finch’s is great, I highly recommend it for an intimate dinner, pre-dinner wine and small plates or a small gathering) I was stressed and tired and had only been home for four hours in almost a month and then the TSA agents were their usual massive asshole selves (there are no words to describe how much I hate TSA) and then my terminal didn’t have any restaurant nicer than California Pizza Kitchen and I just couldn’t take it. I broke down crying on the phone with my assistant and then cried on half of my flight while writing a strategy paper for my bosses on how to handle the situation. Ugh. Then my flight got in around 10.30pm, and I accidentally got on the wrong train from Reagan and ended up at Huntington! Not a good end to a bad day.

But now the weekend is here and I get to see the friends I haven’t seen since I got the job and actually relax a little. Today I had lunch at El Centro with a friend and I’m soon on my way to Lost Society for drinks with @EKaneRealEstate and dinner with @danieldzn and @designbyjihee. Yaay!

More later. If you haven’t found an MLK Day service project yet, go find one! I’ll be doing something involving children and voter registration, apparently. Not exactly sure what.

Have a great weekend!

AGinDC

Cleveland again!

Back in Cleveland this week for three rockin’ days. Sorry, I feel the need to use the word “rock” whenever I talk about Cleveland. But the CLE is actually a pretty cool town. They’ve got great architecture, about 3/4 of the people are super friendly, and I’ve only begun to explore the eclectic neighborhoods. The housekeeping at my hotel could not have sucked more (seriously, I ran out of toilet paper) but I had sushi made by a white guy for the first time ever and I didn’t die! So that’s a mark in Ohio’s favor.

This week I stayed at the Hyatt Regency at the Arcade. I got to the “Arcade” around midnight and it was creepy as F. Dark, abandoned, full of windows with ugly clothes in them. Seriously, I feared for my life. But the next day things had livened up and, though the clothes were still ugly, the atmosphere had markedly improved.

Not all clothing in Cleveland is hideous however. In fact, I found a great boutique and a store clearly started by graphic designers who really, really like Cleveland and I can happily report that there is hope in the sartorial life of the Midwest. I’ll write more next time when I have more money and fewer pounds and can divulge myself of boutique-y fabulousness.

Other things that are cool about Cleveland? Cleveland State University is really pretty. Seriously, their alums must really like them. Either that or Development is being run by Daniel Ocean. The student center and law school are particularly awesome. I would post pics but I had just decided to take a quick walk without my Blackberry and since I’m still rockin’ the iPhone 3GS the picture quality is, shall we say, without flash? Soooo, no pics for you! Next time.

That’s all to report on the Cleve. Right now I’m in the airport in what seems to be an attempt at an airport sculpture garden. Next stop, San Diego! And then home! I actually get to spend four whole days in DC. I am absolutely beside myself. I’ll probably spend the whole time in bed.

Happy Trails!
AGinDC

P.S. I’m writing this from my iPad so pics are below with little to no formatting.

The Arcade

From the outside

Cleveland has trash cans that say “meh”. I have nothing to say about that.

There are guitars everywhere. Just in case you forget that this is the city with the Rock and Roll hall of fame, Cleveland will be there to remind you.

Sculpture garden in the airport. Ohhhhhh yeah.