Monday Funday at The National Zoo

I've been wanting to go to the National Zoo for years and just hadn't gotten around to it which is why I put it on my '30 by 30'. It's kind of a shame to live so close and just not make it there! 7 months into my project and I can check it off the list. I picked today to go because I had the day off work as part of a planned vacation but was going to be back in town. There aren't many week days when I'm not working and in town so this seemed perfect. I (quite easily) convinced my girls Liz & Kellie to take the day off and come along. I was a bit concerned the weather wouldn't cooperate after some crazy thunder and lightning storms this morning, but alas, it worked out and our Monday Funday at the zoo is in the books.

So the good: We saw the Giant Pandas and let's be real, who doesn't go to the National Zoo to see one of the most elusive endangered animals? Kellie was convinced the pandas don't exist. She claims to have been to the zoo multiple times in the past few years and never had a panda sighting. We must have gotten lucky because the two giant pandas were out and about and one even walked around a bit proving it's not just a giant stuffed animal strategically placed. That's exciting to me, and not just because Manda rhymes with Panda (ok that's part of it). We also saw two monkeys cuddling which was quite frankly one of the cutest things I've ever seen.

Now the bad: The zoo, to quote Liz, was very underwhelming. I absolutely agreed. There just wasn't as much there as I thought there would be considering it is the National Zoo. We saw the lions, tigers, pandas, elephants and monkeys and such but it just seemed like we were barely there for 2 hours and went through the whole zoo. When I realized we had seen everything so quickly I think I blurted "that's it?". That basically sums it up. I grew up going to the zoo formerly known as the Baltimore Zoo all the time. It would be a whole day activity. Between the polar bears, the rhinos, giraffes, hippo house, water animals and the petting zoo (yeah ok I liked the petting zoo) it was very exciting. Maybe it's an age thing, but besides the pandas, the National Zoo was kinda eh. I talked to my mom on the way home and she said the last time she remembers going (which is probably the last time I went, about 15 years ago) it was so hot all the animals were in shade or inside. I guess I just had higher expectations for the Zoo overall. It wasn't a waste of time or anything, and I had great company and a fun Monday, but it was overall just underwhelming. If I wanted to do another Zoo day, I'd pay to go to the Maryland Zoo over the free National Zoo. Still, it's worth the easy trip as part of a bigger day hitting multiple Smithsonian museum. At the very least to see the pandas.

So the good news is that I crossed it off the '30', I ended my vacation with a day of great friends, and we finished the work-free DC day with a drink at Lauriol Plaza. Cheers to that!

giant panda

our tiger friend

cuddle monkeys

a relative, i think

our monday funday

Last Dunkin' Diner Standing

Did you know that Dunkin' Donuts Diners exist? Ones with table service and waitresses and real sit-down breakfast, lunch & dinner food? Well, it's true that they do! And from what I've been told the last one standing is the one right here near Palm Beach. It's been here since 1962. There were some in the New England area but I believe they all closed many years ago (feel free to email me if I'm wrong!). I've been hearing about this Dunkin' Diner from my folks for years but for whatever reason I hadn't gone... until this morning. Yeah, it's as awesome as you'd expect. It's cheap ($5.99 for eggs, pancakes, bacon, sausage, hashbrowns) and for $1.89 you get all the Dunkin' coffee you want (including flavors) PLUS they give you a fresh cup 'o coffee to go. C'mon Dunkin' lovin' peeps, does it get any better?

The Sign At the Last Dunkin' Diner

The Breakfast Menu

Unlimited Coffee in Vintage DD Mugs

I'm On A Jet Ski!

Another trip to Florida... another fun '30' crossed off the list... Jet Skiing! The weather here in the WPB has been stormy all week but I saw that today was forecasted as awesome until early afternoon so my mom and I went over to Riviera Beach. We rented a Yamaha Waverunner from this place. There's a ton of places to rent from in that general area but Blue Water had a good weekday rate of $69/hr so I figured we'd give them a try. The two guys working there were super nice. The weather was ridiculous. Clear skies and probably low 90s. I had a blast driving up and down the Intercoastal and around Peanut Island. My mom is too nervous to drive so she just hopped on back with me. It was kind of like being 16 all over again. "Manda not so fast! (you're going over 10 mph). Watch out for that boat! (that's 300 feet away). You're getting a little close to the dock! (that's 200 feet away)." I wasn't allowed to take the jet ski in the ocean but quite frankly that was OK by me because I'm still a little irked after Shark Week. There are some beautiful houses along the Intercoastal. In fact, I found my new house (pic below). Huge thanks to my moms for pickin' up the tab and coming along. And yes, I wore plenty of sunscreen this time.

Rockin' The Caps Winter Classic T.

Checkin Out My Future Digs.

Docking. It's Been Fun.

On an unrelated note, we went to see "The Help" today once the storms rolled in. Wow, such a good movie! My mom really enjoyed the movie, but she also read the book and said the book is even better. I'm going to try and read it later this week. If you're looking for a good reason to hit the movie theater, this one is definitely worth it.

Game On

This intro has become much to common. First, I apologize for such a lag in blogging. Then, I say I will not neglect this blog for so long. And finally, 2 months goes by and I realize I have not made a post. Eek! I could offer up a plethora of excuses (work, personal, work, stress, work, busy, the nfl lockout) but instead how about an update with 5 months to go til I reach the big 3-0!

Let's start with some plans in the works. First and foremost, I have a National Zoo date all set and I cannot wait! It's within the next 2 weeks and I promise to post some fun pictures after the fact. I'm hoping this brutal weather calms down a bit before Zoo-day. 

Dear Mother Nature,
78 and partly cloudy would be ideal for Zoo-day.
Love, Manda

There's also jet skiing plans in the imminent future. My good friends who live on the water in Middle River just got a brand new jet ski and I've obviously already invited myself to take it for a test drive. It's also entirely possible I'll go during my upcoming trip to Florida, but this year's Shark Week has only elevated my fear of open waters. Either way, by the end of August, I'll have conquered the jet ski.

On the weight loss front... I've been up, down, up, down, up, up, down. Right now I'm down 10 lbs from where I was on my 29th birthday. Not ideal. So I have 5 months to drop another 40. I've made some more lifestyle adjustments so I'm hoping I can focus. This is my biggest goal and the one I most want to achieve. Lofty expectations are always difficult and I get frustrated but I'm confident that under this pressure I can pull it off. Sometimes I wish life wasn't so up and down and I could just focus on one thing. Alas, real life gets intense sometimes and I have trouble sticking to a plan when extra stress is thrown into the mix. I'm hoping I can just hunker down and focus on this. Here's hoping!

I still have that Living Social coupon I bought for the Jewish Museum of Maryland. Anyone wanna go with me on a Sunday? If so, hit me up.

So those are the imminent plans. Still working on the full list, of course, but also taking it one day at a time and trying to manage goals/expectations. I like that I set lofty goals and luckily I work well under pressure. Now that I'm in the final stretch I better up my game. And in this case, GAME ON.