The festival starts today??

Yesterday, the National Cherry Blossom festival officially began in Washington, D.C. Did I realize this when I decided to drag my very hungover roomie to the national mall to "stroll around?" Of course not! SURPRISE! Haha it was such a cluster getting there! The metro was packed with what appeared to be young families with children not over the age of 4. Good thing I fueled with a green monster, fresh strawberries, and coffee! I also tried out my new treat courtesy of my first ever giveaway win! Holla! This stuff does not disappoint. It was so magical that my headache subsided before we even left the house! Mmm...PB&J toast. NOM. As soon as we stepped off the metro, we realized we were in for a treat. There were kites everywhere!! We ended up walking the entire mall down and back. We managed to snag a cute picture together. And independent shots of each of us. This is me "taking D.C. by storm" obviously. :) We sat by the World War II memorial mid-afternoon and grabbed the one thing the roomie had not stopped talking about all day. A street vendor pretzel. I joked with her about the irony of craving something like that in a city with some of the best food and restaurants we have ever experienced. I went with the flow and grabbed one for myself too!
The rest of the afternoon was spent frolicking around and doing touristy things, including checking out the cherry blossoms! By the time we got home, I was a starvin' marvin. I threw together the last of my leftovers from the previous week in a hurry. Quinoa, kidney beans, and nutritional yeast. Microwave for 2 minutes. Instant satisfaction. A plethora of roasted veggies followed. I love nothing more than digging into a mountain of freshly roasted vegetables. This mix included broccoli, carrot, and red potato.
Last night included lots of dancing and roomie bonding in Dupont Circle! Lots of fun was had by all. So much so, in fact, that I did not wake up until 11AM! My knee is now officially in a funk (thanks to the high heels!) but breakfast definitely helped ease some of the pain. Yogurt bowl: Fage 0%, agave to sweeten, Kashi heart to heart, Galaxy granola, and fresh strawberries. Bliss in a bowl. I could eat this daily if my funds were a little freer. Greek yogurt hurts the wallet, fo sho. After some kitchen scrubbing and laundry, I used almost an entire bag of spinach in my lunch creation. I love my greens, ok?!This monster mashup contained light, organic balsamic vinaigrette, feta cheese, slivered almonds, hummus, and toasted pita.That amount of spinach is not for the faint of heart. My months of green monsters have made me a spinach feign!
That's all I have for now! The rest of my afternoon was spent studying for my economics test this Wednesday.
Dinner will be recapped as tomorrow's lunch (clever me making two portions ;)).
I am going to bed super early. The weekend was exhausting. It's hard to be a tourist and a local all in 48 hours! :)
~Jenn