Old home, New home

Rob and I spent this past weekend in DC. It was the weekend of the annual American Constitution Society convention, which I've been attending since 2004. It was also Father's Day on Sunday, so Rob came with me so that we could hang out with his dad as well. 

DC is hot. Swampy hot. I'd forgotten how much more humid and sticky it feels there compared to Chicago. Still, we haven't had enough hot weather in Chicago yet, so I was glad to pack for a trip and not even bring a jacket. I arrived on Thursday and stayed with my friend Carly that night. We went to a late dinner at a new Thai place called Rice. Well named! If you got there, skip the main dishes and just get several orders of their awesome rice. 

The ACS convention kicked off on Friday. The best part of the convention for me is catching up with the friends I've met through ACS over the years, including some truly great mentors. Friday's lunch speaker was Sen. Leahy, who gave a more nuanced speech than most elected officials give to ACS crowds. The day's programming was capped off with a speech by Eric Holder, who was particularly thoughtful as well. My friend Elliot introduced me to Holder after the speech and he was a genuinely nice and engaging man. We wished him luck guiding Obama's VP selection process these days. 

While I was busy at the convention, Rob was busy with his friend Brian schmoozing with world class athletes as they saw Alexander Ovechkin be presented with a key to DC. Friday night, Rob and I decided to grab dinner on our own before bonding with more DC friends.

DC is truly the smallest city in America some days. On Friday night we found out that Rob's friend Peter (whose place we were staying at) lives on the same block as two old DC friends of mine. And as we walked to dinner on Friday, we ran into yet another old friend of mine while crossing 16th Street. Saturday night we went to my friend Charlie's house for a party, where we met two more people who are good friends with my friends who live on Rob's friend's Peter's block. Did you follow that? Probably not. The short story is that in DC, everybody knows everybody! 

Saturday morning we scooted out to the suburbs for a couple hours. Rob's dad's wife's son's daughter (whew) was turning two. We joined the small celebration and scored some Carvel ice cream cake for our trouble. :) Then we headed back into the city. I went back to the ACS convention where I heard Supreme Court reporters reflect on this past year, a group of brilliant constitutional scholars ponder the future of constitutional interpretation, and more. I also finally tracked down one of my favorite ACS buddies, my good friend Doug. Meanwhile Rob met up with his friend Christian to watch some Euro Cup soccer. 

After a short nap at Peter's Saturday evening, Rob and I headed out to Charlie's party on Saturday night where I had a full three beers in one evening (that never happens!). My college buddy Elliot works on the Hill with Charlie, who I know from my law school internship on the Hill, so we caught up with Elliot there... the same Elliot who'd introduced me to Eric Holder the night before. (Did I mention the small world thing? :) Then Elliot, Rob and I headed off for 2am falafel in Adams Morgan, which is way more insane than it used to be. Or maybe I'm just way older. Probably both. 

Sunday morning we slept in and then met Rob's dad and his wife for a delicious Father's Day brunch at Blue Duck Tavern near Georgetown. We had a great time at brunch. I know I've said it before, but it bears repeating: I am very lucky in the in-law department. Then we headed back to Peter's pad for the afternoon. Rob's friend Brian joined us sitting outside on Peter's sunny deck for a couple hours before we had to hit the road for the airport. 

All in all it was a great weekend, with lots of reminders of how much we loved and still miss our DC days. But when we got home late Sunday night, we were so happy to be here.