1. Crumbs & Whiskers: last Friday I visited DC’s cat cafe, located in beautiful Georgetown. I made a reservation in advance online, which I highly recommend doing—several walk-ins stopped by during my session and were turned away because the place was at capacity. I spent $18 for 75 minutes of hangout time with the kitties (all of whom are up for adoption) and enjoyed my session there. When you arrive you can order coffee, tea, macarons, and other goodies and they’ll have them delivered from a nearby cafe. Then you get to play with and pet the cats! Last week they had 20 cats in residence, so it was a pretty full house. I was in love with this stunning Siamese guy Sammie, who literally just chilled in a furry chair the entire time. Crumbs & Whiskers is a must-visit for cat lovers!
2. National Museum of African American History & Culture: this Smithsonian museum opened up last September and has seen epic crowds from day one. Pretty much the only way you can enter is by obtaining a free timed pass months in advance. My husband’s co-worker ended up with two extra passes and offered them to us. So we were fortunate enough to experience this incredible museum last Saturday! After eating lunch at the museum’s Sweet Home Cafe, we waited about 20-25 minutes to take the elevator to the basement, where the historical exhibit is located (it starts at the bottom and rises up). The exhibit reviews the entire history of enslaved people and doesn’t shy away from the darkest material. I was so impressed by the sheer volume of detail in this museum; we didn’t even come close to seeing the entire place and we were inside the building for four hours! I got overwhelmed by the crowds at one point so I left the basement and rested a bit in the Contemplative Court, a peaceful room containing rainfall pouring from an oculus. I’d definitely go back to see more of the place, but only after the crowds die down (which isn’t expected to happen for three years!).
3. La Colombe Vanilla Draft Latte: I bought this can at Whole Foods the other day and drank it in place of my usual Ninja-brewed coffee one morning. It was pretty sweet—sweeter than I like to make my own coffee—but it made for a delicious pick-me-up on a warm spring morning.
4. Mochi Ice Cream: our local Whole Foods has a mix-and-match mochi ice cream bar, so this week I picked up six of them in a few different flavors. Somehow, I had never had mochi before and I was curious to try it! Mochi ice cream is a sticky rice cake folded around a small ball of ice cream. They’re pretty small, like golf ball-sized. I got two vanilla and one each of red bean, mango, green tea, and black sesame seed. So far I’ve tried red bean, vanilla, and green tea and they’ve all been delicious! The mochi is doughy and slightly gelatinous, which sounds kind of disgusting but I actually like it. Now I want to try the rest of the flavors!
5. Starbucks Unicorn Frappuccino: unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’re probably at least mildly aware of how massive fantasy creatures are right now. People lose their shit over anything unicorn or mermaid-inspired. So I guess it was inevitable that something magical would end up on the Starbucks menu, albeit for five short days. This drink launched yesterday and when I saw the first pic of one pop up on my Instagram feed I decided I wanted to try one for myself. I headed on over to the Starbucks on H Street and felt SUPER silly for ordering one…I wonder how much the employees hate making this thing. The drink is supposedly color-changing and flavor-changing, going from sweet to sour as you swirl your straw. To me, it tasted like Smarties (which I LOVE!) and Sweet Tarts (which are okay). The blue drizzle had a tart blue raspberry flavor, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on the pink element’s taste. It was VERY sugary for someone who’s not accustomed to drinking Frappuccinos. I certainly don’t need to drink one of these ever again, but it was fun to try once. Unicorn Frappuccinos are only available through April 23, so try one soon if you’re so inclined.