After leaving New Orleans on Wednesday, I flew to Washington DC for an event honoring new recipients of a journalism fellowship I won several years ago. It was good to catch up with people. The most fun part for me, though? My husband scheduled some meetings in DC on Thursday, so he came down to meet me Wednesday night. He was a good sport through the dinner, and then we turned it into a mid-week date night. We went for a drink up on the roof bar of the W hotel, which has a fantastic view of the city. We stayed at the Sofitel, and — sans kids — didn’t get out of bed until about 7:30 a.m. Alas, it was pouring when we walked outside in the morning, so we reduced our breakfast ambitions to a little deli across the street, but it was still pretty good, and I made the 9 a.m. train to Philly. As usual, I took the quiet car, and spent some time looking out at the very lush, green landscape of water-logged Maryland. I am reading Bill Bryson’s A Walk in the Woods, which made me glad that I traveled up the east coast via train, and not on foot! I made it home in time to chat with my parents (who were with the kids last night), to pick the 5-year-old up from school, and see the 9-year-old’s choir concert at night. #Momwins.
In other news: Did you see my interview with former Popeyes CEO Cheryl Bachelder? She has a fascinating career journey: she got fired from a high profile gig at KFC, took a multi-year career break (or at least downshifted) while her kids were teens, then came back with a vengeance when they went off to college to lead the Popeyes turnaround. A lot of graduation speeches say the journey can be winding, but I think she shows exactly how windy it can be.