Ashley W's Blog

Falafel and a brownie, alstublieft!

Ashley W — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 17:06:48 EDT

Before I leave DC for the summer and return to the tundra that is (sometimes) Michigan, I must pay tribute to my favorite place for eats here in the District.

Whether it’s 3 am and you’re stumbling out of bars in Adams Morgan and can’t wait until (later that) morning to eat, or you just want a cheap, few frills, yet original and delicious lunch/dinner/late night snack, going to Amsterdam Falafelshop is the wisest decision you could make this weekend. Or at any time in life when you’re hungry.

Thanks for taking action on women's health - but keep clicking!

Ashley W — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 11:31:42 EDT

News leaked recently that the Bush Administration’s Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is drafting a rule that substantially threatens women and families’ access to comprehensive reproductive healthcare. The nationwide outcry against the draft regulation has been enormous; thousands of people have e-mailed the White House or their members of Congress, written letters to the editor of their local newspaper, or encouraged everyone they know to sign online petitions to fight back against the regulation. (If you haven’t yet done so, please click here!)

By last week, over one hundred members of Congress had written letters to the White House to declare their opposition to the draft regulation. That means that the simple action you took to sign a brief online petition added up powerfully to strike a chord with your Congressional members—and convinced them to speak up.

However, the fight against the regulation is far from over. If the rule were to go into effect—which could quite feasibly happen—it would mean that, as soon as two months from now:

I couldn't wait for success

Ashley W — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 12:41:49 EDT

…so I went ahead without it.

That about sums up my experience this morning with a

peanut butter-drizzled English muffin. However—this may come as a shock to some—this experience occurred in my very own apartment in GWU’s West End. Last night I set my alarm for 6:30 am. I had a bit of trouble falling asleep. During my research for the Free Food-a-thon finals, the only events I had been able to find that served breakfast were events with price tags practically right on them: conferences that cost hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars, (paying) members-only seminars, day-long business courses, even continental breakfasts truly reserved for hotel guests. I knew I wasn’t supposed to be at these events. So why would a young individual like myself, full of honesty and integrity, pit myself against my friends in the Campus Progress office for the sole sake of sneaking and lying to obtain food? You have noticed how heated and hateful this competition has become, right?

Hotdogs for peace

Ashley W — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 10:40:26 EDT

What I forgot to mention about yesterday’s luncheon was the unfortunate and untimely arrival of my competitors, Nicholle MickeyD Manners and Laura LikesHerStarbucks Perez. I had mentioned to Nicholle earlier in the day my plan to go to Heritage for free lunch. As I was on my way to my backup-turned-megasuccess National Press Club Luncheon, Nicholle was only just then googling the latter event. Her mind whirred with images of a four course meal, juxtaposed with images of me eating cold sandwiches at Heritage.

Lunch just got classier than the Ritz.

Ashley W — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 16:13:31 EDT

Free food hunting may require confidence and boldness, but, as I soon learned, also a bit of modesty. I obtained breakfast so easily that I figured lunch would certainly be no harder – I had three afternoon events slated for the competition. One may even say I was a bit… overconfident, possibly sassy, regarding my free food-procurement abilities.

I stood up from my desk and announced, “I’m going into enemy territory!” and sauntered out of the office toward Metro Center. Three stops later, I was just steps away from the Heritage Foundation. Earlier in the summer, I had attended a Heritage event with a swarm of other CP interns (in protest, of course.) That event featured a smorgasbord of chicken, turkey, and tuna-salad sandwiches (though I don’t eat most of those items) as well as some of the most delicious home-baked cookies and brownies I’ve ever consumed. I may not agree with their ideology, but they certainly do put on some fabulous reception buffets. Thus, I assumed today’s panel at Heritage would be a surefire feast.

Bagel Hustling

Ashley W — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 14:08:28 EDT

I woke up this morning in a cold sweat, my limbs aching, nose congested, and throat so sore that I could barely murmur a “good morning” to my roommate. It’s my Free Food-a-thon competition day, and I had fallen ill. Did that stop me? Um, had Hell also frozen over?

Needless to say, I popped a couple ibuprofen and jumped head first into the competition.

First stop: The Ritz Carlton. I’m a classy young lady, and I don’t settle for anything but the very best.

This wasn’t quite what Campus Progress meant by “opportunity for networking…”

Ashley W — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 17:18:13 EDT

Some of the National Conference re-cap stories have included quotations of Linda Sanchez’s Top 10 Reasons not to Date a Republican, a particularly memorable buzzword used by a dynamic panelist, or perhaps an accidental run-in with Ryan Gosling in the halls of the Omni.

However, according to this missed connection, Campus Progress also briefly acted as matchmaker during M-1’s performance Tuesday evening. We do like to think that magical things happen when over a thousand young progressives from across the country are in the same room… just another reason to apply for next year’s conference!

Guantanamo on the National Mall

Ashley W — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 17:21:06 EDT

Just a few hundred feet away from the Washington monument, Amnesty International has dropped down in DC a replica of a Guantanamo Bay maximum security prison cell. As part of AI’s Cell Tour that has been traveling across the U.S. this spring and summer, visitors are encouraged to go inside the cell to get a sense of what daily life is like for prisoners at Guantanamo (prisoners spend 22-23 hours per day inside the cell.)

Meet me by the four-sided pyramid

Ashley W — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 17:50:14 EDT

…is one of seventeen convenient lines you can use to arrange a rendezvous at Jazz in the Sculpture Garden, happening every Friday between now and October. This evening’s performance comes from Origem, an energetic group that has been bringing Brazilian music to the DC area for over fifteen years.

After arriving to the Sculpture Garden for the first time last Friday evening, I soon learned that there’s a bit of technique involved in attending (there appear to be Jazz in the Sculpture Garden regulars who have perfected this.) As the average attendee is a twenty-something young professional, I now feel pressured to adhere to/advise a few social norms.