Trick, or treat?

It's been the most perfect, beautiful, warm, Halloweeniest of Halloween weekends. The fall leaves have popped up among the trees lining the avenues and parks, and the skies have been a deep, sapphire blue. On Friday we went walking after class in search of Halloween costumes. I found the perfect use for my pink "genie" pants from Israel, and chose to be a genie this year.


Me in the courtyard at Georgetown's campus

We strolled through Georgetown, basking in the perfection of a careless autumn weekend. We found ourselves at a couple of thrift stores, Urban Outfitters, walking along the canal, and then at Georgetown Cupcake, a posh little shop that specializes in selling delectable goodness. We climbed the "Exorcist steps" and stumbled upon Georgetown's campus, which was absolutely beautiful and reminded me of what it has been that I feel I've been missing (though I couldn't put my finger on it): fall semester. While it's obviously fall semester (and more than halfway through it), all I've known for the past 16 years of my life has been fall semester at school. And for four years, it's been fall semester on a college campus. So, while it's great to be part of the workforce, I relished in the students studying in the grass in the afternoon sunshine, the swim team posing with their sweats and matching collegiate duffel bags, the freshmen bustling around with their books in arms, and the guys tossing around a football on the lawn. I loved it. Georgetown is so beautiful; so peaceful; so timeless. It made me wonder for a moment why I'd chosen a Utah school rather than this wondrous place; it also made me smile with the memories of BYU Falls past. Georgetown is magical.



I'm a genie, can't you tell?

I went for a run in the perfect afternoon, and we all donned our last-minute costumes for a huge, multi-singles-wards barn dance that took a couple of hours to get there by Metro and then by car. It was a fun dance party, but I was completely exhausted by the end of it. Definitely a better option than roaming the streets of DC and trying to fit in in some bar, though!

Yesterday was a too-good-to-be-true Saturday. Again, we were blessed with the unbelievably warm weather for the first day of November. We slept in, got ready, planned a bike ride to Mt. Vernon that fell through, and ended up going kayaking on the Potomac for what might be the last weekend the boats are open. It was peaceful, calm, and absolutely beautiful. It made me want to join a crew team somewhere. Paige and I took our time on a long, long walk through the quiet streets of Georgetown as the sun began to set. We wandered through the dusk with no particular place to go, admiring the jack-o-lanterns and the fake ghosts that decorated the porches of town homes left and right. I am enchanted with Georgetown, and I think we are going back for another dusk walk tonight, though it is a bit colder.


Paige and I before going kayaking on the Potomac


With Georgetown campus in the background.


Shorts in November! And I was still hot! This is the "after" picture...I got somewhat soaked :)

For all the hours I've wandered the neighborhoods in DC, whether out in Friendship Heights, in Georgetown, around DuPont Circle, or just East of the Capitol, I am still mesmerized with the personality, charm, and warmth each little condo and town house offers. I dearly hope I end up back here, at least for a little while, in my future.


Since I have meetings at church an hour and a half before church begins, I have an hour to walk around before church begins. I love the neighborhoods in Friendship Heights, where I took a lot of these pictures.



Georgetown...one of my favorite neighborhoods in the world.