andrus children sang as they walked and walked and walked and walked...and walked

Last week my youngest sisters, Jenny and Abby, came to visit. They were wonderful guests-always enthusiastic about everything and very easy to entertain, even when we made them walk 12 miles around DC all day Saturday. They also did not complain when I made them hang out in my lab for two hours during group meeting I had to attend, so you know, they are the best.

We ate a lot of delicious things: we tried every fancy donut from Federal Donuts, ate halal chicken on rice from a food truck near campus, got gelato at Capogiro, ate at Honey's, had ice cream at Franklin Fountain, did a rooftop barbecue with burgers, grilled vegetables/pineapple and homemade mac n cheese, ate funfetti chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast, had cheesesteaks at Jim's, made carnitas with cilantro lime rice, got pizza from Wise Guy in DC.

The worst thing we ate was the cafe in the Natural History Smithsonian. It was annoying, not only because it was ridiculously overpriced, but also because just down the street were a million food trucks that smelled incredible, were half the price and probably twice as good. I have sworn off museum food for now, unless it's the American Indian Smithsonian cafeteria.

Also, basically my beach diet is shot. It was worth it.

We got to see a lot of neat things in our whirlwind tour of DC. The highlights for me were the chocolate tasting, Julia Child's kitchen, and the star-spangled banner in the American History Smithsonian, and the Dom Pedro aquamarine in the Natural History Smithsonian. The chocolate tasting was part of the Flag Day celebration (have no idea why those two connect, but I'm not complaining), and I learned a lot about how chocolate is made, which was fascinating. It was also really cool to see Julia Child's kitchen, since cooking is my only hobby these days (unless you count mindless Pinterest browsing I suppose). The Star-Spangled Banner exhibit is really well done. They have the [massive] flag all layed out, and the whole room is dark to help preserve it. Above the flag are the lyrics to the national anthem, and it was really moving. I'm usually not overly patriotic, but man, if you don't come out of that room loving America there's probably something wrong with you.

I've been waiting over a year now to see the Dom Pedro after reading an NPR article about it (oh man, I'm a nerd), and it surpassed my expectations. It's the world's largest aquamarine, which also happens to be my birthstone and my favorite color, and it was gorrrrrrgeous. Yay pretty rocks! Yay inorganic chemistry!

While in Philly, we hit up the historical stuff: Liberty Bell, Independence Hall, Betsy Ross's house, Ben Franklin's grave. We also went to Eastern State Penitentiary, the Chemical Heritage Museum (look what fun you can have when I'm your tour guide), and got stuck in major rainstorms and sought refuge in CVS twice. We love CVS! Also featured on this trip: H&M $5 flower leggings. Guys, I kind of think leggings actually are pants. #sendhelp

I loved having my sisters here. Come back soon! We have more things to eat! :)

baby LOVE statue on Penn campus

Dom Pedro + Abby's reflection

ice cream truck!