DC weekend

A cute little house on the day before election day

Just in case questions come up, I work Tuesday - Saturday, so my weekend is actually Sunday - Monday (I very lucky that Ian doesn't teach on Mondays so we are still able to enjoy a two day weekend together). 

 Saturday after work, I met up with Ian and some buddies to cheer on the Ducks at our local watch bar Irish Channel. The bar lets the alumni association decorate, play the fight song, and basically take over the place. It's a fun environment, kinda like a substitute Cooler.  The bar attracts a surprising amount of Duck fans. Last year for the Rose Bowl game over 150 fans were at the bar. We feel bad for unsuspecting Caps fans who walk in hoping to catch the hockey game (I guess that's not a problem this year though...).

Duck Spirit

Some new friends from Ian's soccer league that we've converted

Ian and I celebrated the Ducks' win a bit too much, and were a little (a lot) haggard the next day and didn't accomplish much... 

...But we were rested and ready to go the next day. We decided to walk down to the Mall to see Ai Weiwei's According to What? at the Hirshhorn (more on that coming soon). It was such a gorgeous day for a walk.  Fall is my favorite season and I love being out in the cool, crisp air. Before Sandy hit we were having a bit on an Indian Summer, so it's just now beginning to feel like fall. Although our systems haven't gotten used to the temperature swing yet, and I ended up pulling out my winter coat and hat for our walk. 

Some great fall foliage

After our day of being out and about in the chilly fall weather we came home and made this delish dinner. Ian prepped and grilled the steaks while I cooked up some sweet potato fries and sauteed brussels sprouts. See the end of this post for the brussels sprout recipe. 

I'm sorry for the poor image quality of some of these photos :(.  Right now the only camera I have is my iphone! Ian and I are ready to invest in a good camera, but are totally overwhelmed by the options and don't know where to start. Any suggestions?

Sauteed Brussels Sprouts:
2 cups brussel sprouts
1 shallot
2-3 pieces of bacon
about 3/4 cup chicken stock, maybe less (my secret ingredient!)
salt and pepper
toasted walnuts (optional)

Rinse and halve the brussels sprouts lengthwise. Cook the bacon in a large sautee pan until crispy. Remove from pan and lay on paper towels to soak up extra oil/fat. Pour most of the extra bacon fat out of the pan, but reserve a little to cook the brussels sprouts in. Add the shallot and brussels sprouts to the pan used to cook the bacon.  Allow to brown a bit and add some of the chicken stock until it absorbs. The chicken stock gives the brussels sprouts great flavor and helps to soften them a bit. Continue to add small amounts of chicken stock until absorbed and the brussels sprouts are cooked to taste. Crumble the bacon and the toasted walnuts and add them to the pan. Salt and pepper to taste.