During my brief visit to Washington D.C., I was adventuring around and happened upon Georgetown, and in particular, the areas between Georgetown University and the shops on M Street.

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Along the colorful shopfronts, I passed by retailers, trendy food and beverage locales and multitudes of crowds – including sme obvious college students, tourists and even a handful of panhandlers.  A particular exchange between a college student and one of these street miscreants particularly amused me…it went something like this:

Panhandler:  Can you spare a dollar?  Or anything?

Student: Anything?  Well, I don’t have any cash, but you can have this soda (as she point to her McD’s large paper cup)

Panhandler: Oh, that would be just fine!  Thank you, dear.

That was surely interesting…but back to the shops and such!  I was able to step inside and marvel at a store I had only heard of in my wildest, wedding-planning dreams, Papersource.

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There, I perused technicolor envelopes and gift wrap, notepads and overpriced aluminum water bottles…wistfully, I walked out empty-handed, though I felt richer for the experience of the store I had heard so much about that truly lived up to its name….because, c’mon, where else could I gaze upon:

Swarovski Crystal Pushpins

or

Tiny gift-box suitcases?

…sigh!  But alas and alack, with the notion of carrying just my carry-on suit case back to Florida and a prudent look at my wallet, I decided it was best to move on, to somewhere I could *afford* the goods…

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..yes, I paid a glorious visit to Georgetown Cupcake, armed with the knowledge that each day, a ‘secret’ flavor is tweeted and if you’re one of the first 100 to stake claim, the tasty tiny confection is yours!  Yahoo!  The day I paid a visit, ‘birthday’ was the flavor and no other purchase is necessary.  ANNDDD, as tempted as I was to order some more anyway, I restrained myself, waited my turn in line, the merrily headed back down the street.  I planned to enjoy the cupcake later, so for that, I rewarded myself with my only Georgetown purchase, a teeny-bit healthier small cup of fro-yo from Ice Berry.

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I was clued in to this chain by my friend April, and so when I passed by this store-front, I had to make a stop.  Unlike my cheery pink visual aid I sourced from Google images above, my serving was a little less color-coordinated – I tried the honeydew melon fro-yo with mango topping.  Mmm.  It was a pretty warm day that I happened upon the shop, so the effect was quite enjoyable.

I so enjoyed this area of DC that I made a second trip the day of my departure, before hitting the Metro to National Airport, just to take in the sights.  In some ways, the visual effect of Georgetown was akin to my memories of Omotesando and Harajuku, minus the baby-doll costumes and such….

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Anywho, Georgetown definitely served a fun detour between my shuttling between monuments and museums, and is a place I would recommend to anyone that loves people-watching and window-shopping =)