my mom has been up here for the past week, and we’ve had tons of fun hanging out. we went to washington DC for the cherry blossom festival, but being displaced southerners who didnt do our research, we got there to find out that since we got there at the end of the festival (it’s two weeks long), most of the cherry blossoms had already bloomed and fallen. :( we did see some, though! and the trip was still worth it. We went to the japanese street festival, and the cherry blossom parade! it was all so cool. I miss my family so much.

i checked out a few places that i’d been lurking online for a while!

1) sticky fingers bakery - I was so stoked to go to this place after hearing how awesome it was, and tasting a cupcake from their booth at crafty bastards last year. We ordered a lot of food, because I was planning on taking some with me for later. I ordered a Vegan BLT (with tempeh bacon), and it was awesome. i dont even like fake deli meat much AT ALL, and i ate the majority of it… after stripping it of the tomato, that is. :) Thats how i roll. Mom got the vegan chicken salad, which she let me try some of… and it was absolutely amazing. the bread was so delicious, and the salad was perfect. not to mayonaisy, the lettuce was fresh and crisp. i even bought another, to go, on my way out. i bought a serving of vegan lasagna, but unfortunately i didnt taste much of that (vic ate it when i got home). what i did taste was pretty yummy, though. on to the pastries- i got a slice of chocolate cake, which i wasnt super impressed with. it was good cake, but it wasnt amazing. kind of dry. the little devil i got was pretty good. same cake base, i’m guessing… but the filling and the chocolate layer on top added a little extra yum to it. the cinnamon buns, however, were perfectly gooey. i ordered them on my way out, and they had just come out of the oven… and, man, were they awesome. i wish i had a never ending supply of them. the only downside to this trip, was that i only had two days in DC, so i couldnt try everything i wanted to at sticky fingers! :( the atmosphere was hip, the food was great, and the employees were nice! Overall, I loved sticky fingers just as much as i thought i would, and i hope to return soon!

2) Java Green- I was really looking forward to this place, after reading the menu online… and as we approached java green, fresh off the metro (about a block away), my mom’s first comment was, “this looks like a yuppy place”. haha. Still, i had high hopes. We went in and picked up a menu and looked it over. the first thing that turned me off, was that i asked the fellow behind the counter if everything was vegan, and he responded with, “yes, everything is vegan!” and smiled. So i sat back down, and looked over the menu some more… and i noticed that they don’t serve any meat, but they do serve cheese and drinks with milk in them. I think he might have meant Vegetarian, instead of Vegan. I guess it just kind of put me off, because i think if you work in a place like that, you need to know the difference between the two. Honest mistake, though. Mom decided not to order, and i got an tofu avocado wrap, fresh squeezed lemonade, some vegan jerky to take home to victor, a piece of chocolate cake, and some small chocolates. The whole time, i felt kind of out of place (the employees werent very friendly, and i waited a while to place an order)… so we decided to take our order to-go. When we arrived at a place to eat of my mother’s choice, i opened my wrap, and within 20 minutes… it had already gotten soggy. i was also kind of bummed that i could only really taste avocado and nothing else. i ate half the wrap, and threw the rest away. the lemonade was gross. i also threw that away. I work in a cafe that makes fresh squeezed lemonade (using just lemons, sugar, and water), and this one was WAY over priced for the size i got (grande, i think) and it just didnt really taste like lemonade to me. i think it might have been the sweetener they used. a few things that i did enjoy about java green, was that the plastic cups they used were biodegradable (made from corn?)… and the chocolate cake I bought was even better than the one from sticky fingers. the frosting was amazing! I wish i had more, right now! Another cool thing, was that one of the guys who was behind the counter (i think maybe he owns the place?) was wearing a compassion over killing Tshirt. good organization. Overall, Java Green was not horrible (maybe it was just a bad day?)… just not my style, or my cup of tea.