Crafty.

Photo credit: my pal, Brody Rose.

Growing up, I had always wanted a sewing machine. I've just forever held the belief that a woman needed to go through life always having her trusted sewing machine handy. It's similar to the KitchenAid mixer complex. Finally, my grandmother gave me a wonderful little Brother sewing machine for my 24th birthday. And I have let it sit almost completely dormant since the day I received it—a shiny, new toy, kept in its box like a collector's item.

Back in February, I traveled to New Jersey for a girls weekend. As a fun activity, my sister planned an afternoon at a mega craft store way out in Pennsylvania called Hobby Lobby. Think if Michael's, Joann Fabrics, and Home Goods had a baby and pumped it full of steroids. You'd get Hobby Lobby. It was a little overwhelming. My mom suggested that I look for materials for a new sewing project. We probably spent about an hour sifting through pattern books until we found a very simple skirt. We chose a black and yellow floral patterned material to craft it from. When I got back home that Sunday, I liberated the sewing machine from its box, and placed it prominently on my desk for inspiration.

This past weekend, on a very gloomy Saturday, I finally sat down to sew my skirt. Overall, it was fairly easy, and didn't take much time. I still consider myself a novice sewer, and it took me about 6 hours total. The end result, which I am very happy with, is pictured above. As with most projects, I felt extremely accomplished and proud when I was done. I'm hoping to make another of this very simple skirt, hopefully just in time for summer. And I'll be keeping my sewing machine on my desk, for now.

Launch Party.

Lately, my Gmail inbox has been a little out of control. But I've noticed a growing trend in my selective email screening process: restaurants. I tend to open anything restaurant related. It's ironic, because about 4 years ago, I really didn't care much about food. Then, I graduated college, moved to Hoboken, and was surrounded by amazing restaurants. It suddenly became really difficult to not care about food.

DC now has a wonderful up-and-coming restaurant scene. As a self-acclaimed novice foodie, I try to stay tuned-in to it. It seems that every day, something new (and worth trying) is popping up nearby. My email subscriptions suddenly become alive with news about launch parties and soft openings. I've always thought what fun that must be, to go to a new restaurant before anyone else, like a true foodie. On Monday night, I finally got the chance to check this one off the bucket list.

I attended a launch party with my boss and a few coworkers at a new Potomac restaurant called Sugo Cicchetti. To anyone in the DC area who is familiar with the Cava restaurants and the Mama Lucia chain, this is a joint venture between the two. Sugo is a new and interesting concept—they serve Italian small plates, as well as wood-fired pizza. After a few glasses of yummy sangria, we were treated to octopus with macaroni, gnocchi with truffle cream, spinach and parmesan ravioli, meatball sliders, and classic margherita pizza. The food was pretty straight-forward, but also very authentic tasting, and good! The restaurant has an open kitchen, and a sort of industrial-meets-rustic type of feel.

Sugo joins the ranks of hard-to-find good Italian food in the DMV (a fact that was hard to come to terms with when moving from New Jersey), and I'm hoping it will become a new happy hour spot for our office. Also, did I mention that HZDG did all of the branding?!