Amanda Goes to Washington...Part 1

I was able to attend the Vocus Marketing Demand Success conference in DC (okay, across the Potomac) this past week.  I even wore my brand new red crop pants that Leann did not believe that I owned. Yes, I took a photo to prove it. 

The flight up was uneventful until the moment I got up to "move about the cabin" and realized my foot was dead asleep. So what happens when your foot is asleep and you try to walk? You trip. Well, I stumbled and rolled on my foot. By the time we landed my foot was a sausage and I was popping some ibuprofen. 'Twas amazing.

When I was finally at the hotel and checked in my sister arrived. Yes, Cathy joined me on this adventure!

We stayed at the Gaylord National in National Harbor. If you have ever stayed in a Gaylord hotel, you know it is massive. I think we saw 1/36th of the entire hotel while we were there. 

Our first night we went into the city and went to Good Stuff Eatery, which is owned by Top Chef contestant, Spike Mendelsohn. 

If you are ever in DC and are hungry, you need to stop here. I had the Obama burger (subbed in turkey, which was phenomenal) and Cathy had the farmhouse cheese. We also indulged in some Good Stuff Brew and maybe a milkshake. 

After Good Stuff we just walked around and actually had to stop at CVS, surprisingly not for the elephant hoof I now had for a right foot.  While Cathy was waiting to pick up some allergy medicine we spotted this man:

Can I just tell you that the best part about seeing this man was that he was on the phone asking if a kid finally got his hair cut. Really. 

After all of the excitement from our first day I have to say it was pretty awesome to see this sunset over the Potomac.

The next day Cathy headed to Mount Vernon while I attended my conference. Our keynote was Arianna Huffington (PHENOMENAL!) and our ending session was a Q&A with Elisabeth Moss of Mad Men. 

I'm still not totally sure why Elisabeth Moss was there and I'm 99% positive she wasn't sure either. Regardless, the whole day was fantastic and ended with a great cocktail reception by the harbor. 

I snuck out of the reception early and headed for dinner and drinks with my sister. I had my very first Black and Tan.

Seriously, this trip was full of firsts and that was only day one. I have so much more to share, so keep checking back in the next few days!