5.30.2012

I Go Walkin'...


Brody and I went on a lovely little jaunt over the weekend to some previously unexplored parts of town, including FBI headquarters (which is a pretty ugly building to be honest, but it's just crazy how many security cameras and stuff there are), the Old Post Office, and Ford's theater/the house where Lincoln died.  Ford's theater retained  a lot of the old-world feel, with the gas-light street lamps outside and old-timey signage.  We walked past the White House on our way, which was flush with tourists in town for Memorial Day.
 
  

Gatsby

And I felt I would be remiss if I didn't post this trailer as well.  Between Gatsby, Les Mis, and The Hobbit, December is shaping up to be an awesome month for movies!

Les Miserables

Add this to the list of movies I'm excited for this year! ( I think Anne Hathaway sounds really good, although I'm a little nervous about Russell Crowe. Fingers crossed we don't have another Pierce Brosnan in Mama Mia catastrophe...)

5.18.2012

Twins!





Lacey had her twins on Wednesday!!! She was induced and had to have a C-section because both babies were breech, but everything went well and she is recovering nicely. Baby Boy was 7 lbs 2 ounces and Baby Girl was 5 lbs 15 ounces.  I say Baby Boy and Baby Girl because they haven't quite decided on their names yet :)


I think the boy totally looks like Miller and the girl looks like Halle.  It pains me not to be in Salt Lake right now to welcome those sweet little babes to the world and of course to take pictures, but thank goodness for Instagram and Facebook photos to tide me over for now. I can't wait to meet these two little precious gems!

5.10.2012

New Chapter

It is an absolutely beautiful day today. With The Cranberries' "Dreams" playing on my ipod during my walk to work this morning, my commute felt very opening credits of You've Got Mail. Strolling down the city streets past the local flower shop and starbucks, with the sun shining bright, and a lovely breeze playing across my face (complete with a loud argument between some protestors).  It's the perfect springy-summery day, no humidity to speak of. Which I take as a good omen, since today is the first day of Brody's internship at the White House ONDCP.  Beyond being elated by the fact that he finished finals last week, I'm even more excited for him to start this new exciting chapter in his legal education and start applying some of that hard-earned knowledge.  Plus, I just think it will be an amazing experience.

To celebrate Brody finishing his first year of law school/Cinco de Mayo, we went to dinner last Saturday at Jaleo--a tappas style restaurant in Chinatown that had some delicious fare.  We got a variety of dishes, my favorite of which was fried bacon-wrapped dates in a sweet mustard sauce. It was divine. We also sampled some semi-sweet goat’s milk cheese paired with raisin walnut bread and fig jam, traditional potatoes with spicy tomato sauce and alioli, sauteed garlic shrimp (for Brody), and homemade grilled pork sausage with sautéed white beans. It was all delicious, and I love the tappas format--small sharable portions, perfect fo trying a little of everything :) We splurged a little on this dinner thanks to a gift card I'd received at work for Administrative Professionals Day, thanks work!

5.03.2012

DC "To Do" List



I can't believe Brody and I will have been living in DC for a year this summer. It's gone by so quickly, and even though we've seen our fair share of sites, it is only a small inkling of all the things I want to do and see while we are here.

For instance, there are 20 different Smithsonian museums. Twenty! That's half my weekends in a given year right there. Not to mention all the other museums and historical sites and buildings around here.  And when I stop and think about it... we've kind of failed at taking full advantage of this city and all it has to offer this past year, and we are going to have to pick up our pace if we want to check everything off our list before we move home.

So in an effort to make ourselves more accountable, I've decided to post my DC "To Do" List on the blog, (and hopefully it may entice some more friends and family to come visit and help us check these off our list). 

  1. Segway Tour (I am dying to do one of these, despite Brody's staunch refusal)
  2. Tour the Capitol
  3. Tour the White House
  4. Tour the Supreme Court
  5. Go to the top of the Washington Monument
  6. See the Constitution/ National Archives
  7. Arlington National Cemetary
  8.   Tomb of the Unknown Soldier
  9.   Kennedy's grave/eternal flame
  10.   Arlington (Robert E Lee) House
  11. African American History and Culture Museum
  12. African Art Museum
  13. Air and Space Museum
  14. Air and Space Museum Udvar-Hazy Center
  15. American Art Museum
  16. American History Museum
  17. American Indian Museum
  18. American Indian Museum Heye Center
  19. Anacostia Community Museum
  20. Arts and Industries Building
  21. Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum
  22. Freer Gallery of Art
  23. Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden
  24. National Zoo
  25. Natural History Museum
  26. Portrait Gallery
  27. Postal Museum
  28. Renwick Gallery
  29. Sackler Gallery
  30. Smithsonian Institution Building, The Castle
  31. Holocaust Museum
  32. Newseum
  33. International Spy Museum
  34. Library of Congress (I'm not checking this off yet because I want to see the first-edition BOM they have)
  35. Monticello (Thomas Jefferson's estate in VA)
  36. Mount Vernon /Washington's Tomb
  37. Old Town Alexandria
  38. Martin Luther King Memorial
  39. Go to a Nationals and/or Capitals game
  40. Go to a show at the Kennedy Center
  41. Ford's Theater
  42. President Lincoln's cottage
  43. Union Station
  44. National Arboretum
  45. The Basilica ( National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception)
  46. Old Post Office Pavillion
  47. Eastern Market
  48. Hike Great Falls Park
  49. Tour the National Cathedral
  50. US Naval Observatory
  51. Visit Annapolis
  52. Colonial Williamsburg in Charlottesville
  53. Tour the Mason Temple
  54. Cherry Blossoms!
  55. Riverboat tour of the Potomac
  56. This is a stretch, but I'd really like to attend a White House Correspondence Dinner (my boss actually went last week, so I feel like I could maybe make it happen)
  57. Walking tour of the Embassy Row
  58. Georgetown Cupcakes
  59. Ben's Chili Bowl
  60. Tour historic Georgetown
  61. Orchard picking in the Shenandoah's
  62. Daytrip to Philly
  63.   Liberty Bell
  64.   Independence Hall
  65.   Eat a genuine Philly Cheesesteak
  66. Gettysburg

 And I'm sure I'll think of more!
*Some of these I did in high school, but I 'd like to do them again