Back from DC. Some of you may know I was in Washington, DC last week. I had two conferences to attend, both at the same time and same place, about 10 minutes from each other. Both were important, so I sort of ran back and forth.

DC was beautiful. My mom and step-dad met me there and we stayed in Crystal City the first two days, then moved to Virginia Square. While in Crystal City we debated what to do/see and we all wanted to go to the Smithsonian, but I knew I had a "business meeting/tour" there later in the week, so I suggested the Frederick Douglass house in Anacostia. I'm really glad we went there, though it was a cooold walk from the bus stop (up a steep hill to the front porch) only to find out we needed to buy tickets at the visitors center at the bottom of the hill (not well marked, obviously). For those of you who may not remember your middle school history, Douglass was born into slavery and though a lady started to teach him his alphabet, he effectively taught himself to read and write and eventually became a journalist, politician, the first Black US Marshall, and friend to Abraham Lincoln. Douglass' story is truly inspirational.

Celebrity sighting. My mom saw that Paula Deen was going to be in DC autographing copies of her new cookbook, but she was nowhere near where we were staying and we didn't have a car. Ironically, though, Phil drove me out to one of the malls one evening- maybe 15 miles from where we were staying - and while I was shopping I overheard that Chef Ming Tsai was upstairs! Wow! I love Paula Deen for her awesome use of butter and yummy stuff, but I also love Ming Tsai for his creativity and Asian flair. It was a pretty big crowd, but I got close enough for a photo. While I was there, I was wondering why Phil didn't wander over, too... eventually I found him about 20 yards away, totally oblivious, in the bedding section.