I’ve been in New York for work over the past few days. Besides hanging out with my fantastic coworkers, my favorite thing about coming up here to visit is eating. The hotel and office are in the East Village, so most of my foodie finds have been nearby.

A few favorite coffee shops I’ve discovered during my trips to the Big Apple:

Think Coffee – besides having great coffee and a relaxed vibe, Think is fantastic because it donates 10% of its profits to programs that help inner-city youth and seniors.

The Mudtruck – DC may have a lot of food on wheels but we don’t have anything like this. The truck parks daily near my NYC office and serves a range of hot, fast, delicious drinks and pastries, plus lots of branded merchandise.

http://www.onmud.com/

Roastown Coffee – the coffee is strong and hot, the bagels are just so-so, but it’s a cheap spot for a quick bite. Plus, they serve fro yo, so why not just get your calcium fix first thing in the morning?

FAB Cafe – a random find while wandering around the neighborhood early one morning, FAB is all about local. I like their inventive coffee drinks — a rosemary-lavender iced soy latte, anyone?

Back to DC on the train tonight — after a weekend of birthday indulging and a few days of New York eating, I’m ready to get back into my normal routine.

The weekend started off with a Restaurant Week dinner at Ezme. The dinner was delicious, including the best scallops I’ve ever eaten, but the real highlight was, of course, dessert: profiteroles. It really set the tone for the rest of the decadent weekend.

I was so excited to wake up to snow Saturday morning. En route to a morning volunteer shift at the Capital Area Food Bank, I loved walking through the peaceful, snow-blanketed city streets.

The next big birthday celebration: afternoon tea with my grandmother at the Ritz-Carlton, Pentagon City. The tea service was beautiful but not as nice as other Ritz-Carlton teas — it’s definitely a fun, fancy way to celebrate a birthday, bridal or baby shower, or special occasion for a group of girls (or guys, whatever, everyone likes tea).

From the Ritz to Citronelle, it was quite the fancy day. Citronelle itself may be $$$, but the upstairs lounge area offers a modified menu so you can enjoy the same great food but at a much lower price. My college best friends and I chose Citronelle as a spot to celebrate with desserts, drinks and plenty of gossiping.

Picture via Simone

Dessert heaven.

The service was impeccable, the desserts incredible (the kind of dessert where you want to shout ‘hallelujah!’ after every bite) and they put a sparkler on the plate and let it shoot off in the restaurant. What more do you need?!

On my actual birthday, my mom took me to Lincoln Restaurant for a post-church birthday brunch.

I’d been intrigued by this local-food spot since it offered a special Peanut Butter Lovers’ Month menu in the fall. While there was no peanut butter on my plate this time, a bellini with fresh crushed raspberry hit the spot.

To eat, we split a freshly-made gingerbread waffle (as awesome as it sounds) and a customized spinach+peppers+mushroom+broccoli omelet.

Add Lincoln Restaurant to your DC brunch rotation, at least for the gingerbread waffle. So good.

My birthday feasting finished off at my dad’s house with a Greek dinner: falafel, salad and veggies, plus a sister-made Funfetti-and-mocha cake. Aren’t birthdays delicious?!

I’m en route to New York for this morning, where I’m sure the gluttony will continue for a few days, but I’m never one to turn down a delicious meal. What’s your birthday cake request? 

No, but Sunday is my birthday and since I’m looking forward to celebrating my 26th birthday right here in Washington, here are a few of my favorite Washington, DC staycation blog posts that highlight some must-see DC sights.

Staycation: The Newseum

As a journalist and someone who loves her first amendment rights — then again, who doesn’t? — I adore the Newseum. There’s truly something for everyone, no matter what your age or interests, and you’re guaranteed to leave challenged, inspired and (hopefully) educated about the important role media has played in world history.

Staycation: Secret Gardens

When the weather is nice, my favorite lazy day activity is to spend hours wandering the city streets, discovering hidden gems tucked into alleys or quiet green areas that transport you from busy downtown to the countryside.

Staycation: Arlington National Cemetery

Sure, it’s on every Washington visitor’s must-see list, but my favorite thing about this hallowed place are the expansive views from the cemetery’s highest point, Arlington House. (The banner image on my blog was taken at Arlington House.)

Staycation: The Mansion on O Street

Ever since visiting over Christmas, I am obsessed with the Mansion on O. It’s also near my house — another perk. Besides being a fun way to spend the evening — an adult scavenger hunt! — the Mansion offers some incredible, small concerts that I hope to attend in the future.

Those are four of the top spots I discovered over the past year but what about you? Where are your favorite places in this great city, Washington, DC?

One thing I’m really excited about is that Lauren and I are bringing back our photo blog. This project started in 2008 as 3 p.m. on Sunday when she lived in the DC area and I lived in Seoul, South Korea. It was such a fun way to keep in touch over a year spent on opposite sides of the globe.

We tried keeping another photo blog (Around the Corner) the following year, while Lauren lived in New York City and I was back in DC, but the project quickly fizzled because of work commitments.

Well… now we’re (hopefully) bringing it back. I’ll post here, too, when Around the Corner updates but it should be once a week, early week. Definitely check it out!

Other things I’m thankful for this week:

• Unseasonably warm weather — as Joel Achenbach put it, “This has been a winterless winter, a season that can’t make it past lunchtime without busting out in a springtime melody.”
• Then again — there are potential flurries in tonight’s forecast. I wouldn’t mind one winter wonderland before returning to spring.
• Midweek dinners at Kramerbooks
• Volunteer opportunities on my birthday
• Wedding bells for friends that mean travel plans for Erin
• This book I can’t put down
• Not cooking, not caring
• The John Coltrane Pandora station — perfect for at-work listening

What’s been the highlight of your week so far?

Well, maybe Kafe Leopold isn’t quite so hidden since it’s always packed, but it’s the kind of place you need to know about to visit. You’re not just going to stumble onto this adorable slice of Europe while traipsing between Banana Republic and Anthropologie.

Photo by Simone

I visited Kafe Leopold for the first time last winter — when I tried the famed/incredible/so-worth-getting French macaroons — but hadn’t been back since. It wasn’t warm enough to enjoy the outdoor patio, as usual, but we did find seats at the bar during the busy lunch crush and relaxed with some hot beverages.

February 2011: Colorful French macaroons at Kafe Leopold

Me: hot chocolate. Because sometimes, you just need a sugar pick-me-up. Don’t let the fact that hot chocolate is often on the kids’ menu discourage you from ordering it. It’s a winter must.

Simone: a melange (coffee with steamed milk and foam, sprinkled with cocoa powder).

Next time you’re in Georgetown hunting for the perfect spring wear — it’s coming! — stop into Kafe Leopold for a drink or meal. It has so much character, right down to unique fixtures in the bathrooms, and is a refreshing change of pace from other restaurants and cafes in the neighborhood.

What’s your go-to hot chocolate recipe? I’m not ashamed to admit that nine times out of 10, I make hot chocolate at home from Swiss Miss packages rather than cocoa powder + milk + sugar.

Since I love Washington — and love to eat — I was excited to try the new winter “Plates” menu at the restaurant’s Chevy Chase location. For working Washingtonians who get a real lunch hour, the three-course prix fixe lunch still gets you out the door in 45 minutes.

Choose from one soup or salad, one entree and a dessert, all for $18.

Simone also had the day off from work and graciously accompanied me to lunch. We both started with the field greens, which was a nice, big starter salad with several different kinds of tomatoes. Biggest plus: the salad wasn’t drowning in dressing, a major pet peeve.

The only disappointment on the menu is that of the three entree options, none is vegetarian and two are beef. I understand it’s difficult when just choosing three items for a prix fixe menu, but it limits diners’ options.

I went for the new Wagyu Cheeseburger with Fried Egg and Crisp Onions because, well, when at a steakhouse, why not get meat?

The burger was delicious — I ended up taking off the bun and just eating the egg + meat — but the real winner were these truffle fries. When I end up 500 pounds and starring on my own TLC show, it will be because of these fries. It’s worth visiting Capital Grille for these fries alone, seriously.

Simone also stuck to meat with the mini tenderloin and a side of roasted root vegetables, both of which she really liked, although I don’t think she was expecting semi-sliders.

Lunch dessert always feels so special and decadent, and this was no exception. Our fantastic waiter brought two selections from the special Restaurant Week menu: mango sorbet and a to-die-for flourless chocolate espresso cake.

Overall, we had a great experience at The Capital Grille and the thing that really stood out was the awesome service, from friendly hostesses to knowledgeable servers. At one point, I inquired about a painting hanging across the room (it looked like an angry Clark Gable, and I wondered why he was hanging in a DC steakhouse). A passing server gave a full history of the subject, telling me that it was Howard Hughes, who lived in Washington for a few years in the ’20s; today a nearby medical institute bears his name.

See, history and a good meal. What could be better?!

Should restaurants always offer a vegetarian option? I think restaurants of course have the right to serve whatever they want — especially somewhere like Komi or Minibar, you can understand why they can’t accommodate all dietary restrictions — but it seems that restaurants with larger menus should naturally want to accomodate the 22.8 million people who follow a ‘vegetarian-inclined’ diet.

*The Capital Grille invited me and a guest for a complimentary lunch. We left gratuity based on the actual price of the meal. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

After two mountain hikes and a desert hike, it was time to tackle Big Bend’s final terrain: river. The Rio Grande separates Mexico from the USA and in my mind, was a roaring beast of a river, with massive rapids in crashing waves.

Instead, it’s more of a Rio Pequeño thanks to drought, at least where we were. At its narrowest point, the river was maybe 15 feet wide; warnings said not to cross into Mexico or risk fines/jail. (There are no legal border crossings in the park.)

We forded the river walked along the shore at Santa Elena Canyon, an imposing 1500-foot high separation between the US and Mexico. The Rio Grande cuts right through the rock, with dramatic cliff faces on both sides.

Friends and family who’d visited Big Bend before said they saw plentiful evidence of illegal border crossings. Although we did see footprints embedded in the sand, we debated over whether they were caused by border crossers or afternoon strollers trying to cool down.

The highlight? Seeing an authentic Mexican vaquero with his herd of cows.

Watching him work — keeping an eye on the cows to be sure they didn’t wade over to the US side of the river — was like looking back into time. Vaqueros date back to the late-18th century and while he may be equipped with a cell phone today — we could hear him chattering away — little else has changed.

Elsewhere at Big Bend, there’s only evidence of how much had changed. Settler homes, barely 100 years old, are now abandoned dwellings with information plaques.

Nowhere is the Big Bend area’s economic decline more evident than Terlingua, a former mining community that reinvented itself as a tourist destination.

When the jobs — and many of the people — left, Terlingua turned itself into a sightseeing stop for Big Bend travelers, as well as one of the only places within driving distance of the park to offer food and lodging. People still live here but there’s a juxtaposition in every glance between lived-in homes and abandoned shacks.

Today it’s one of those towns you’d say has ‘character.’ A folksy musical group set up on a porch, playing for a growing crowd. A sports bar had an interesting mix of young seekers and aging oilers. And every year, the town throws a big El Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) celebration.

After all this sunshine-y, beautiful weather, we expected our last day in Big Bend to be more of the same. Should we hike to the highest point in the park? Visit the hot springs?

None of the above because we found out that bad weather was on its way and escaped the park a day early, driving 230+ miles through near-whiteout conditions.

Within an hour, we went from this:

to this:

It was disappointing to leave Big Bend National Park early but I was happy we safely made it back to the nearest city (Midland, pop: ~130,000).

Overall, if you’re looking for a great way to connect with nature, do some fantastic hikes and see some of America’s most beautiful desert scenery, definitely check out Big Bend. It’s a trek to get there but once you make it, the journey is worth it. Each time I visit a national park, I become inspired to check out more of them. Which park should be next?!

Have you visited any national parks lately?

You may not have heard of Big Bend, and it’s definitely far from where you live, but it’s well worth a visit. As several people described it, Big Bend may be one of America’s largest and least visited national parks, but it’s special because people only go there if they intend to. You don’t stumble onto Big Bend on your way somewhere else — it took us two flights and 4 hours to driving to get to the park from Washington.

People who visit want to visit, and that makes a difference.

Big Bend National Park is tucked into southwest Texas, 800,000 acres of desert, mountains and river. There’s no fancy spa for weary travelers and no air-conditioned bus tours — you visit Big Bend to hike.

On day 1, we did the park’s most well-known hike, the Window Trail, with a detour onto the Oak Spring trail for a nice 9 miles before lunch.

The trail provides Big Bend’s most famous view, a narrow crack through a rock with the vast landscape beyond. Truthfully, I have a (minor) fear of heights and couldn’t get too close to the edge of the sheer cliff, but my sister and dad scooted closer for the best view.

In DC, I can barely see more than a few blocks at a single glance. At Big Bend (and a lot of south Texas), miles and miles and miles of land stretch before you.

Another must-do Big Bend hike: the Lost Mine Trail. Winding along a mountain rumored by the Spanish to contain silver — although geologists now debunk that theory — the hike itself is fine but the view is extraordinary.

If seeing how beautiful America is doesn’t make you patriotic, I don’t know what will.

Getting away from the mountains and into the desert — of which there is plenty – the Mule Ears Spring Trail is easy but a nice change of pace.

See? — mule ears!

Since it’s considered the off-season right now, the park was fairly deserted and we had a lot of hiking trails to ourselves, passing just one or two other groups along the way. Standing still, the quiet of the park was overwhelming, but plenty of signs remained that previous visitors had passed through.

Tomorrow in Part 2: the Rio Grande, a Mexican cowboy, a ghost town and… snow?!

I’ll have a full report and plenty of pictures later this week but if you follow me on Twitter you may have seen the dramatic weather change we experienced yesterday.

Two days ago we were hiking in shorts and t-shirts on the banks of the Rio Grande, with Mexico on one side and the USA on the other.

Yesterday we left Big Bend a day early hoping to beat a rare snowstorm. We made it out of the national park but ended up running right into the storm on the road, driving white-knuckled 230+ miles through near-whiteout conditions.

How often does a big snowstorm hit southwest Texas? According to the waitress at dinner last night, ‘never.’ (yes, we went back out into the snow after finding a hotel to drive a mile for real Tex-Mex.)

Sunrise was beautiful over snowy Midland, TX, this morning. Who would have thought I’d have to come all the way to Texas for January snow?

Did it snow where you live?

Like any good San Franciscan, I love my coffee. Fortunately for me (and my fellow caffeine addicts), San Francisco is FULL of coffee shops. Good coffee shops. Blue Bottle, Four Barrel, Ritual, Sightglass, Tartine, Philz… not to mention the hundreds of others I have yet to discover!

Lucky for this lactard, soy is pretty much a way of life in SF, while some locations even offer almond alternatives for the soy averse. Whatever your preference — dairy or non, drip or press, black or creamy — SF’s got it.

When I heard a new coffee shop had opened on Valencia St. (my fav hipster-watching neighborhood), I threw on my best pair of skinny jeans, loaded up my indie playlist and set out in search of soy lattes.

Enter The Summit. A cavernous, open space set against the musical stylings of Mariah Carey and The Shins. Like most of the other Mission hangouts, the communal couches and tables are lined with twenty-something Mac-users, all plugged into their iPods and buzzed off their Blue Bottle blends.

After perusing a few of the reviews on Yelp, I opted for the soy matcha latte. While I wouldn’t say it’s my new go-to order (or worth the $4!), it was… an experience?  I’ve never been a big matcha fan to begin with so maybe I’ve got to shoulder some of the blame for this one. Book and latte in hand, I snagged a spot on the couch and happily passed the hours reading, sipping, and chatting.

The verdict: definitely worth a return trip.  Though maybe best to stick with the regular coffee drinks…