The Indignity of Winter, Mary Todd Lincoln, & Two Chocolate Cakes

This month is one of ridiculously freezing temperatures, too much snow and ice, too much stress at work, but fortunately it is also a month of celebrations.

A sheet of ice: great if you are ice skating or bobsledding, but if you are driving a car, then it is less than ideal. On a recent Saturday night I had taken Metro into downtown DC to see the play "The Widow Lincoln" at Ford's Theater. The theater is best known as the location of President Abraham Lincoln's assassination in 1865, which was 150 years ago. To mark the occasion, Ford's Theater and museum are organizing a variety of special events, one of which was commissioning the play about Pres. Lincoln's widow in the aftermath of his murder.

While my friend and I were relishing this new work and the superb acting by the all-female cast, a short but intense snow squall moved through the area - followed by arctic temperatures. When I returned to my car parked at the Metro station and proceeded to drive home, I was unpleasantly surprised to find roads in terrible condition - some were pure ice. Many smaller cars or those with older tires were having trouble - tires spinning, rear ends fishtailing (I particularly had to chuckle at the expensive sporty BMW convertible which might be fun on a sunny summer's day, but was clearly outmatched by the conditions), and I, too, had a few scary moments.

That experience led me to avoid driving on Sunday morning, when I should have traveled to my favorite bakery to pick up a chocolate cake. Having spent a few too many moments deciding which cake to order, then finally choosing the luscious sounding 'Chocolate Decadence' torte (five layers of flourless chocolate cake and four layers of chocolate mousse with a chocolate ganache glaze!), I was quite upset that my investment might go to waste. However, I did not think it was a wise idea to risk life and limb just to retrieve a small cake! Instead I stopped at a grocery store for a replacement dessert -- also chocolate cake, of course -- and then met seven girlfriends for a lovely birthday brunch at a wonderful restaurant, Mon Ami Gabi. After brunch we enjoyed cake and coffee at a friend's apartment. Luckily I'd been able to contact yet another friend who lives close to said bakery, and she was kind enough to run over to pick up my cake before the store closed. I then drove to her home, where she, her husband, and I enjoyed some of the torte, which indeed was decadent.

Thus ends the tale of two cakes, although the indignity of winter just continues... However, many areas (hello, Boston!) are even harder hit than the DC area, but thoughts of moving to San Diego definitely surface in my consciousness with some regularity.

Another weekend consisted of more celebrating (again interrupted by weather, so plans had to be altered somewhat) at a cabin in Virginia wine country thanks to another friend whose birthday is this month. The weekend consisted of much food, wine, mimosas, laughter, games, music, and watching the Academy Awards.

Apologies for the text-heavy post--clearly photographing hasn't been high on my list of priorities!