Other highlights of October

I voted on the first day of early voting! 72nd person in my district :D 

My Mimi turned 90!!!!

I went to this inspiring panel on women in politics!

One of my favorite holidays happened!

I was Nymphadora Tonks

The purple didn't show up very well :(

I also co-facilitated an annual planning retreat for the Robertson Alumni Council, the organizing body for all Robertson alumni programming!

Oct. 2018 Hiking and Running

In October, I did a medium amount of running and an above-average amount of hiking. Actually, the hiking reduced my running due to a minor foot injury but #worthit.

My "fall" hiker look

Pre-hike carb load in Boone :D 

Roan Highlands

Roan Highlands

fall colors!

Overmountain Shelter

I camped next to it. A thick fog rolled in as I was preparing dinner.

sunrise

Roan Highlands

Blue Ridge Mountains

Recovery meal in Blowing Rock!

Another hike, another great breakfast:

This is called the Extreme Appalachian Breakfast

 I haven't yet gone through my photos from my more recent hike, but I'll post them here (eventually...maybe....)
In the meanwhile, check out the food I ate in Asheville:

Maitake mushrooms, raw radish, chocolate hazelnut glaze—AMAZING (from Plant in Asheville)

a vegan chile relleno—very good and very filling (from Plant in Asheville)

Vegetarian thali at Chai Pani in Asheville

 And in regards to running:

Can you tell where my foot started hurting during this run...?

Sister Weekend in DC!

I have a very old memory of Janie and MM talking about how fun it would be to do a sister weekend in DC when MM was 16, Janie 18, and me 21. Or maybe it was NYC. But finally, it happened :D

Ok, to start from the beginning:

Rose petals in my cocktail! I don't normally fall for gimmicky things like this but...

united at last!

don't remember what this was

cucumber, creme fresh, anchovy, garlic, some other stuff I don't remember

pasta... with corn? definitely cheese. All of it was good.

This is where we ate dinner that first night, a place called Rose's Luxury.

My breakfast on Saturday morning! YUM

MM's breakfast, which she sent back because the shrimp have heads and also it was spicy :/

My sisters are v good at finding photo opps.

Our brother WGL!

I loooove trees like this, growing out of walls.

amazing!

We spent all day birding around, thanks to Janie's determination. It's way fun.

Found our friend Jon! 

Then we had a picnic on the Mall. Janie and MM called it a charcuterie board.

The next morning, I got lost on what was supposed to be an 11-mile run but ended up just 5 because of all the time it took to get un-lost. I ended up on an overgrown, muddy trail that dumped me onto the highway... so then I walked along the highway until I could get on a sidewalk again to run. :(

Hard to run down stairs like these...

Hard to run under trees like these...

Hard to run through bushes like these...

idk

Then we went to the National Portrait Museum! Check out this shadow art! 

I got these crescent-moon earrings as a souvenir at a street fair. I love them! (my sisters and the earrings hehe)