"Wait, we're going to Boston?"

So after the last two days of early bedtimes, but little rest, I slept in until 11:15. This was a bit problematic since I was hoping to attend the TWC's picnic that started at 11 am. I took my time, though, to eat breakfast and stretch a little before going off to the Metro station by myself. I ran into another group of people and we traveled together.

At the picnic, I encountered the problem, yet again, of finding a place to sit. I am a loner, by nature, and it's at these gatherings that the isolation feels sharpest. Fortunately, I was adopted by two South Koreans and they brought me along with their friends. I felt a little awkward at first, intruding on another gathering, but they were wonderful at making me feel welcome.

Some of them were talking about "going to Boston" after the picnic had ended, and one of them said that it was only one stop away. At this point, I interrupted, because I know my US states, and the distance between Boston and D.C. is...not one Metro stop away. So in my typical manner, I said, not rudely, but in confusion, "We're going to Boston? As in, Boston, Massachusetts?"

Then it was quickly clarified that we were going to "Ballston," a neighborhood that was only a couple blocks away with a massive shopping center. I wavered between going with them, and going to Arlington Cemetery by myself. However, given that the weather looked ominous and I wasn't properly prepared to go there, I ended up wandering over to the Ballston Common Mall.

Three floors of shops, all very nice and new looking, though the hallways were much narrower than I am used to. It had a classy hotel feel to it, but somewhat hemmed in. There, at the Payless, I brought a nice new bag for class, work and shopping, so yay! It's roomy and seems well made to my eye, though I have no idea if it's waterproof or not.

Then we dropped by the Rosslyn Jazz Festival, which was nice. I'm not a huge jazz fan, but the music didn't grate or anything. The volunteers there, though, were pretty aggressive in a joking sort of way, very insistent on handing us more than one copy of the program. It was...odd.

On the Metro on our way back, we ran into a lot of self-proclaimed, "Tea Party Patriots."

Once I got "home," I took a nap for the better part of the early evening. I've only just gotten up, give or take two hours, and so...I need to find dinner before dozing off again.