Our Vice President Catalina Silk set up a club dinner at Dice Burger, a charming little grill  with adequate parking in Annandale.

Dice Burger was VERY welcoming to the MINIs. The club should definitely meet here again!

Nick and Alex were there when Ali, Melissa and I arrived. Ali had recommended the ribs but I ordered the blue cheese burger because I’m a bit of a cheeseaholic. (I’m not alone, they were bringing out blue cheese burgers all night long!) We ordered our dinner and then grabbed a table outside. Mark arrived a few minutes later and then Brad and Catalina and Hilary joined us.

We’d heard there were a few new members who were planning on joining us. The only one I remembered was the Hillbilly. (That’s his forum name. He’s from Arkansas. Welcome to the club, Justin!) So when the Classic Mini pulled in and the cute couple driving it joined us, I asked if one of them was a hillbilly. Turns out they weren’t, they were OTHER new members!

Then Adam showed up. He was still relatively new but he’s my neighbor and we’d met him at the Fiona’s Happy Hour last week. He was also super helpful and clued me in that today was the final day for a sale on Hella lights on Amazon!

Our three newest members! We were all excited to check out their MINI(ini)s!

A first gen MINI pulled in next and that cute couple were the hillbillies (at least Justin was. Not sure about his lovely wife Jackie!)

MINIs like to back in so they can make a quick getaway. I heard that somewhere…

We took turns introducing ourselves since we had so many new people. As the official club blogger, naturally I took some notes…

I’m a blogger. I take notes.

We talked about club events. There was a lot of exciting buzz around the #EPICMINIRALLY looks like everyone is really pumped about that event (on June 20 and you should register now before it fills up!)

Dice Burger was really excited to see the MINIs in their lot and captured an awesome booty video for their Facebook page! Alex and I got up and went out to capture a few more pictures of all the cars, for the blog…

Alex knows a lower angle makes Minis look meaner. (I learned that from Craig who learned it from Ali.)

Sadly, Catalina had to get back to her schoolwork and once again her and Brad headed out early. It was even sadder because German and Krystal had just arrived!

Always working on her homework! Thanks for setting up the dinner Catalina!

We talked a bit more about club events and the forum but James and Karen decided to take off too. A short time later Ali and Mark had to leave to meet up with someone else. The rest of us slowly started to make our way to the exit. Except for poor German and Krystal who were still waiting for their dinner to arrive…

Poor German and Krystal… At least they have lots of elbow room!

As we slowly wandered out to our cars, Adam, Nick and Justin ended up over at Adams car. I walked over to check out his Hella lights and he showed me the covers that came with them. Cute but I’d definitely have to Plasti Dip the smiley faces. Anyhow, it didn’t take long for them to start popping their bonnets. I only wish Ali could have seen it, she loves that!

New members already popping their bonnets!

I stayed and talked with Jackie since Justin was completely engrossed in the under bonnet exploration going on at Adam’s car. Jackie said he could go on for days. She’d actually watched him and his family take apart cars and completely rebuild them in just a couple of days!

Suddenly Quitta pulled in to the lot. She didn’t have time to stay but it was great to get an eyeful of her GP2. I mean, it is a lovely thunder grey color and so sporty…

Oh, so this is what a GP looks like! Who knew?

We talked about having a better showing at next week’s Cars and Coffee and learned that Jackie and Justin lived right around the corner from Kohls. In fact, they are so close they practically live with Alex! Also, Jackie works for a winery that also has a craft beer brewery semi attached and she got Justin a gig working there on the weekends. It’s got a paved road and lots of parking and sometimes they even have live music. Justin mentioned that the route to get there was actually a lot of fun and it would be a great idea to have a DCMM event there. One thing led to another and yada, yada, yada Justin is going to set up his first run! Looks like all our new members are going to fit right in!