This week’s D.C. illustration is one of my favorite fast casual spots in the city: Shouk!
Desert 2 District Design II Shouk Restaurant in Washington, D.C.
Shouk serves modern Israeli street food and all of it happens to be vegan. There are so many delicious items, but a few of my favorites are the cauliflower bowl, breakfast bowl (featuring an “omelet” made from chickpeas) and the chopped salad. The polenta fries are also delicious and unique. If you like spice, their Harissa sauce is a great addition to any of their dishes.
The location I illustrated is their original, located on K Street NW, in between 6th and 7th. They also recently opened a location in Union Market. Let me know if you check them out!
Ever since I went vegan about a year ago, I have been wanting to try this restaurant, which offers a raw vegan tasting menu every Friday. We celebrated two years as D.C. condo owners in June and Elizabeth’s Gone Raw was the perfect place to celebrate.
Desert 2 District Design II Elizabeth’s Gone Raw illustration
I was totally blown away by each course. My non-vegan husband was equally impressed by the variety and depth of flavors throughout our meal. The setting is also very classic, yet homey, and the service is exceptional. I can’t wait to go back and think this will be my go-to celebration spot from now on.
Scroll through a few of the dishes we were served during our visit. The menu changes constantly so you’ll always be trying something new with each visit. Thank you for a beautiful meal, Elizabeth’s Gone Raw!
This week's spotlight is a new favorite of mine. This company has multiple D.C. location, but each one is unique, and the one I like best and that happens to be in my neighborhood is Farmers & Distillers.
The company itself is very unique, with an emphasis on family farms and sustainability. The company is majority-owned by family farmers. At this new location, there is also a craft distillery and they serve signature cocktails with their own liquors that are made on-site in the middle of the city. Farmers & Distillers is located on Massachusetts Avenue NW near Chinatown in Washington, D.C.
My Impossible Burger, complete with vegan bun!
One major reason I've become obsessed with this restaurant is that they are one of the few locations in the city that serve the Impossible Burger. As a fairly new vegan, I still have meat cravings every now and then, and this "burger," which is made completely from plants, TOTALLY satisfies it. Even my omnivore husband prefers it to their regular burgers. It is so. good. And it makes me happy that this restaurant serves it and is has created a menu that can also cater to people with different dietary restrictions. I highly recommend trying it, but even if you're not interested, Farmers & Distillers has a huge, delicious menu, which makes it the perfect place to go with bigger groups or to take people from out of town. Let me know if you go and, in particular, if you try the Impossible Burger while you're there!
Desert 2 District Design II Playa del Carmen packing list
Last weekend, my husband and I celebrated 11 years together in beautiful Playa del Carmen.
This was my first time visiting this region of Mexico and I was just blown away. The weather was gorgeous, the ocean was so warm and bright, and the city was so vibrant. I can't wait to go back!
Today, I'm sharing a couple of the outfits I put together from this packing list. Thanks for following along!
I was totally obsessed with this beautiful piece that hung in our room. It's making me want to add more bright colors to my painting palette and to try to paint whimsical patterns like this.
Desert 2 District Design II art selfie
outfit
no. 1
I found this lovely high-waisted skirt at Unique Thrift, a gigantic thrift store in Falls Church, VA, and paired it with an old Old Navy cami and Charles David sandals (found on consignment at Clementine in Richmond, VA). If you're ever in Richmond and have some time, I highly recommend Clementine and their sister stores. If you can't make the trip, they actually also have an online shop as well! Some great finds there for sure. I threw this on before heading out to explore Playa del Carmen.
outfit
no. 2
In the afternoon, we headed to the beach and then came back and hung out at our hotel's rooftop pool. I broke out my new Poppy Apparel swimsuit and threw on a thrifted cover-up and my favorite hat from ThredUp. This isn't a great photo of my swimsuit, but it is seriously so flattering and comfortable. I highly recommend it if you like the high-waisted style. Use code "desert2district" for 10% off your order at Poppy Apparel.
outfit
no. 3
After washing up and grabbing dinner, we ended the night with a couple cervezas on the roof. I paired my comfiest thrifted cut-off shorts with this off cold-shoulder top (originally from Nordstrom Rack, similar here).
Thanks for following along! I'll be rounding up a map of the places we visited on our trip soon. I'm thinking this is a good time to try my hand at a watercolor map...
I've been working on checking things off of my 18 in 2018 list (inspired by the wonderful Happier with Gretchen Rubin podcast) and one of the most fun things on my list is to go on weekly dates with my husband. We've been married for almost two years, but have been together for over 10. As you can imagine, it's easy to get into a routine when you've been together for so long. Our weekly date nights have been so fun to plan and have been a wonderful way to spend quality time together, usually doing something new.
I've collected a few of my current favorite date night ideas. We've cooked new recipes twice now (including these vegan carrot "hot dogs" and this vegan spinach artichoke pizza). We've gone on walks around our neighborhood, went couch shopping and stopped in at a new-to-us tea bar & cafe, and we're planning an indoor camping night for this weekend! It's been a blast and thinking ahead to the number of dates we get to plan this year prompted me to round up some low-cost date ideas so I'll always have a resource to look back to when it's July and we're on date number 28 (and to hopefully give some of you some ideas as well!). Here are a few I'm looking forward to:
Visiting museums! We're lucky to live in a city full of some of the best free museums, Washington, D.C. I can't wait to visit the Hirshhorn's upcoming exhibit, PULSE or see some old favorites at the National Gallery. Even if your city doesn't have many free museums, most museums offer one free day each month, often on the first Saturday or Sunday of the month.
Getting outside. I'm especially excited to hike some new trails this spring/summer and to check off another item on my 18 in 2018 list---camping! I'm excited to go to Shenandoah National Park, but am also looking forward to visiting some smaller state parks in Virginia and Maryland as well. When we don't have a full weekend to spare, I am definitely looking forward to renting bikes and riding around the monuments.
Phoenix Trip Packing list - illustration by Heidi Nielson of Desert 2 District Design
I've been illustrating my packing lists for a while now and it is one of my favorite traditions. I used to hate packing, but now I kind of look forward to it because it helps me visualize my outfits and gives me an excuse to draw tiny clothes and traveling essentials.
The last time I posted one, one of my lovely Insta friends suggested that I post some outfit pictures from my travels to see how I styled the clothes I packed. I didn't have time to do all of my outfits from my trip to Phoenix, but my long-suffering husband took photos a couple photos for me. So here goes... facing my fear of having my picture taken head on!
OUTFIT
NO 1
Here's a second picture to see the full outfit.
I like to travel with separates that all pair together so I can reuse pieces. I ended up wearing these boots twice and the vest twice. The boots are thrifted from Goodwill, the vest is thrifted from ThredUp (similar here, this is seriously one of my favorite sites EVER), and the dress is from asos (purchased a while ago, it doesn't look like it's available anymore).
The weather in Arizona was just beautiful. Definitely makes me miss the desert. I certainly can't wear this type of outfit (at least without a coat and tights) in D.C. this time of year!
OUTFIT
NO 2
We spent a wonderful, beautifully warm and clear day with my family out in the desert. My family is very into the outdoors and adventure so we spent the day riding ATVs, hiking around, doing archery (my family has some interesting hobbies to say the least) and making food surrounded by the Superstition Mountains. It was FANTASTIC.
I wanted something comfortable, but still stylish and unique. Poppy Apparel totally delivered with this super versatile jumpsuit. I seriously wear it all the time--it's so comfortable. It looks like it's also not available anymore, but if you want to check out their other clothes, I actually have a discount code for you all! Use code "desert2district" to get 10% off your order. In addition to this jumpsuit, I got an adorable high-waisted swimsuit that I can't wait to take on our next trip.
Thanks for tuning in for my first style post! What are your thoughts--packing list or no packing list?
