Weekend of 4/21/12

Friday night was quite welcome. 

But, then again, all weekends are welcome. 

We headed over to Tijuana Flats for Dinner. 

I'm really beginning to like that place. 

TONS of sauces. 

I did *NOT* try the Ghost Pepper sauce. 

Sorry. 

After, Mike took me to Goodberry's, 

I'd never been, 

 for this! 

oh brownie sundae. NOM. 

 Saturday while Mike was doing MBA stuff, 

I was doing my best Flower Child impression. 

We headed over to Flying Biscuit for brunch, 

where I could make an entire meal out of the biscuits...

seriously. NOM. 

and Mike made me laugh uncontrollably while they brought the check. 

Siiiiiigh. 

Since we were heading to Koka Booth Ampitheater, 

the rain started to pour. 

We kept driving, however, to get to 

the Great Grapes Festival. 

We weren't the only ones who waited out the downpour. 

We were all definitely rewarded. 

We had a lot of fun walking around and 

to our delight

there were a lot of wineries that were NOT strictly muscadine. 

There's only so much muscadine one person can drink. 

We laughed at all the fun names and clever signage. 

what can I say?

Then, we followed our old suit. 

Grabbed a chilled bottle of pomegranate red

and snacked our way through the vendor booths

for a little break. 

Eventually we found a couple bottles to take home and then headed out. 

aaaaaawe

Fun times were had, but we had to get back in order to go to 

Poker Night!

with our friends. 

Everyone settled in to play, 

Side note: did I show you my new glass? 

Insulated, monogrammed, leopard print with a straw. 

LOVE IT. 

well, ALMOST everyone did. 

April and I goofed around. 

Cause we're awesome like that. 

More DC - Hirshorn, Washington Monument, WWII Memorial

After our super clean Metro ride,

 (however, I miss the NYC guy "Step away from the closing doors, please)

we ending up in the National Mall.

As soon as you come up, you see the Smithsonian Castle.

We never actually went inside though...

Next time. 

(Let's make a list of the things we're gonna do next time)

We were *trying* to be in town for the 100th Ann. of the Cherry blossom festival.  

But, we missed the blooms by a few weeks. 

Next time. 

(that's 2)

We watched the carousel spin for a bit and picked our favorite "horse." 

or dragon..whatever. 

 Then, we went over to the hirshhorn museum and sculpture garden. 

There was also a "wish tree" installation by Yoko Ono, that some 5th graders had written wishes on.
Some were funny - " I wish I could eat 500lbs of bacon" 

Some were heartbreaking - "I wish my parents didnt hate each other and yell"

Others were just.. thought provoking. 

We walked on down the national mall, past the people playing kickball and soccer

and daydreamed about how cool it would be to live in DC

and be the ones playing kickball and soccer. 

Ok, that'd be Mike..

but I'd be living it up too. 

Anyway, the sun started to set. 

It was absolutely *beautiful*

and we took advantage of the sun, to get a really nice pic. 

<3

 We walked on down to the WWII memorial 

(which had a beautiful view of the Lincoln Memorial)

Never fear Abe, we're comin..

This wasn't here in 5th grade, the last time I visited, so it was really lovely to see. 

HERE IN THE PRESENCE OF WASHINGTON AND LINCOLN, 
ONE THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY FATHER AND THE OTHER THE 
NINETEENTH CENTURY PRESERVER OF OUR NATION, WE HONOR 
THOSE TWENTIETH CENTURY AMERICANS WHO TOOK UP THE STRUGGLE 
DURING THE SECOND WORLD WAR AND MADE THE SACRIFICES TO 
PERPETUATE THE GIFT OUR FOREFATHERS ENTRUSTED TO US: 
A NATION CONCEIVED IN LIBERTY AND JUSTICE.

There are pillars around for it for each US state and territory. 

One last look back at the sun setting on the Washington Monument 

and we kept walking.

Birchbox

Well, I've heard about this subscription service where for $10/month, you get a little box with a handful of samples in it. So, I gave it a shot. When Mike and I got back from DC, this was on our doorstep. 

sample

the haul

 I was, honestly, a bit disappointed by the Viva La Juicy sample, since I had already ruled it out as "too young for me." But, to my surprise..I like it! 

I'll spare you from the product by product samples,

 but

 the Befine Scrub is awesome, the SPF 15 moisterizer is smelly and oily (and then I found it that it's expired..soooo that might have something to do with it..) 

I've never met a mint green nail polish I didn't like,

 and the Perfect Pumpkin Polish (say it 3 times fast)

is awesome. 

I havent tried the show stoppers..I dont know if I will, but I am looking forward to next month

DC - Portrait Museum & Art Museum

After our drive, we made it to DC, fought traffic and landed in our hotel. 

The room was pretty tiny, but it was cute..

sorry about all of our crap already on the bed...

After we dropped off our luggage, we headed across the street to the
Smithsonian Art Museum and the National Portrait gallery.

This was the first trip that I'd used my DSLR, so there are TONS of photos, 

(that you'll see of the next few days..)

It's about ideas. 

disapproving face

The National Portrait gallery inside the Smithsonian Museum.

 I've seen these paintings in text books and it was really neat to see. 

Abe

The Museum is inside the Old Patent Office building, right of F street, and the stained glass windows, inlay and architecture was awe inspiring. 

Look Up.

Look Around. 

 There was a large variety of art.. paintings, sculpture, golden pianos, exquisite craftsmanship, I definitely recommend checking out this little beauty. 

A replica of a tomb? I just thought it was the creepiest thing ever. 

Mike trying very hard not to touch the handmade shelves

Each "state" tv was showing programming relative to the state.

FINALLY, we made it to the exhibit that we came for in the first place. 

The Art of Video Games. 

happy face

It was really neat to see all these old gaming systems that Mike and I grew up with, and seeing the progression from Pacman to Mass Effect. The whole exhibit is done *VERY WELL* so definitely go see it if you get the chance. They even have a few games that you can play while you're there. 

There was an "OMG" moment. Mike and I watched a kid half our age explain to a smaller kid half HIS age how to play Mario Brothers. We didn't want to explain to Kid #1 that we remember the game coming out in the first place...

After we got done with the museum we headed back to our hotel for their free Happy Hour. 

neat

Cab Sav. yes, please. 

We rested up just a bit...

ok, and goofed off a bit..

Before heading towards the Metro. 

Mike wanted coffee, so we popped into the Starbucks. The barista had made too many so I walked out with a super sweet nasty drink. Free made it taste good. 

Free can do that ya know..

Sugar rush in 3..2...

We finally got to the Metro, got our tickets and headed off to...

PANDAS ON THE TICKETS! 

VERY. VERY clean

teehee..I'll tell you later ;)

Send something good?

Happyyy Friday! 

To get the weekend off right, let's talk about SEND SOMETHING GOOD. 

k? 

OOOOOOOOOOOk. 

Source: sundayinbed.tumblr.com via Terri on Pinterest

This is the true story of 160 strangers...
picked to send an awesome package...
stalk each other, and hopefully make new friendss
while blogging about it..
 to find out what happens...
when people stop being polite... and start getting real....*

 Wait..no, this is not 1997 MTV..

 ----------

Once upon a time there were three bloggers,
 Gentri Lee, Kaitlyn and Kristy.
Who decided to create a little project,
where 160 bloggers secretly stalk one another
and send them something good.

*Much Better.


Today they asked us for a little cheat sheet..
a list of some of our favorite things,
and here's mine :)

source

 shoes
wine
 glitter
 sprinkles
food
travel
vintage jewelry
north carolina, with a side of new york
flowers
fashion (one day, I'll have a job that doesn't require jeans and tshirts..and I will be happy)
crayons, bubbles, super soakers and all things childhood
photography
museums
dinosaurs, the Kennedys, the Titanic (again with the childhood obsessions...)
sequins
turtles
whiskey
the beach
bright colors
classic lines


So, there's the short list :) Check out some of the other lovely bloggers below :)

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Road Trippin'

I'm still trying to figure out a way to post some of the 600 (no joke) photos we took over our DC mini-vacation. Let's just start with the drive up. It was a short 5 hr ride, and we had planned to have a couple audio books..but, that didn't work out. So, we chatted over the NPR, commented on various landmarks and enjoyed the sunshine beaming in through the windows. 

Legs Up!

Road trip requirement. 

Traffic Jams tried to put a damper on our spirits...

but how could you be glum with such GORGEOUS skies..

and company?