cartoonish.

Whew, what a long week! I feel like it started ages ago. In a random find today, I came across these two old cartoons that I had saved. They always made me smile, hope they make you too!

double time.

It was a double-header for me last night. First, I finally went to the Brixton for a drink. I met up with one of Hannah and Jordan's friends who is here clerking at the DOJ. Ben and I had popped in for a look at the Brixton back in August but never got time to go for a drink. It was fantastic! The roof is so well done, with a lot of space and a great view. The second floor is going to be perfect for a drink in the winter and the first floor is also well laid out and the dinner menu looks good. I didn't take any pictures but I highly recommend it.

After, we walked over to Ben's Chili Bowl. I hate to admit it, but I had actually never been.  I know, I know. Anyway, it was great! I had a brilliantly done half-smoke and oh man, it hit the spot...just take a look!

mirror mirror.

All of a sudden in the middle of the night last night, my beloved standing mirror fell over and shattered. It was obviously startling. I sat straight up in bed very confused, came to, surveyed the damage and like the sleeping champ I am, promptly went back to sleep. But, I am so disappointed (not to mention perplexed...I have no idea what happened. No window open. No earthquake. Odd!). I have had that mirror for years and it was the perfect, wooden framed, not too generic mirror. Not to mention, mirrors are so expensive. So the short story is I am now on the hunt for a full length mirror. I am going to try and take my time, spend carefully, find a deal, and also something that has some character.

A quick look on Craigslist this morning and I saw this post which gives me hope...

And I love this oversized antique look...

If you have suggestions on where to hunt, let me know. Otherwise, you can probably find me at flea markets, eastern market, the next flash sale, and Good Wood looking for possibilities!

planning ahead.

This restaurant, Plow, is on my short list to go to when we are next out in San Francisco to visit Olivia/Yuri and Jordan + Hannah + Stella!

the spectacle.

I am headed to the eye doctor tomorrow. I dread the eye doctor. It has been haunting me for weeks now. I have really bad eyes. I have been plagued with a lot of eye problems in the past and I get very stressed out in the lead-up to any eye appointment. I put off scheduling my appointments. Sometimes I cancel them if I am not in a good state of mind and I am always scared headed into them.

So, I am trying to be more reasonable and realistic and mature about this eye appointment. Mostly, I am focusing on the fact that I have great health insurance and I can finally get a new pair of glasses!  While it is a very select club of people that ever see me in my glasses, I take the process of choosing very seriously. So, any suggestions, thoughts, recommendations on where to head first to pick out a new pair after I get through tomorrow?!

half the sky.

PBS will be premiering a 4 hour prime-time broadcast on October 1 and 2 called Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide. It was inspired by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn's book (if you haven't read it, it is a quick, powerful read - click here). Of course, there are a lot of celebrities to make it more attractive and to draw a broader audience, but it is focused in on the oppression that women face but also the solutions. Below is the trailer and everyone should tune in in October!

to-do.

Unlike in past years, I am actually ready for the fall and looking forward to it. This summer was packed with activity and even felt over-scheduled at times. Weekends and weeknights were booked up to the point that I don't think I spent more than five nights just in the apartment hanging out. But, there were still some things on my summer list that there just wasn't time for. So, with the end of summer, I still have the beginnings of my summer to-do list for next year. Here are the top three must-dos for next year...goodbye summer and hello fall!

1. Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

I have written about it before (click here for last year's post) and it is still topping my list. And to add to it, I was in Pitango a couple weeks ago chatting with the barista and he said I have to think about going up on a Tuesday to hit the Root's Country Market, in addition the Lancaster Central Market.  Good to know, good to know!

2. Assateague Island. 

I have been keeping this one in my back pocket for a while. This is a National Park split between Virginia and Maryland and from all my reading on it, it is gorgeous. Not to mention, the island has wild horses. True story. I am making this a real priority to get to as soon as possible!

3. Harper's Ferry River Tubing.

I made a last-ditch effort to make this happen in August, but it wasn't meant to be. Seeing how this is just a nice, leisurely afternoon activity, I am sure it will be happening next summer. Tubes + Shenandoah River makes for a good time...can't wait!

dished out.

I have already established the fact that I love ceramics. I also love those enamelware dishes that you can get in REI to go camping (see here for an example if you don't know what I am talking about). So, you can imagine how cool I think these dishes are from Poketo.

btown.

Take a look at this very cool project in Baltimore, Open Walls Baltimore. It basically organizes street artists to encourage murals, paintings and outdoor exhibitions throughout the city. Love it.  If you go to the website you can click through each of the artists and they even have a map so you can take yourself on a self-tour. Cool thinking, very cool thinking. Here are just three of the many examples...

pleated.

Love love love this dress, Stripe Skater Dress With Pleated Skirt, from ASOS!

daw aung san suu kyi.

Yesterday was one of those moments where I could feel myself standing in a moment of history. Aung San Suu Kyi came up to the Capitol to accept her Congressional Gold Medal of Honor. I have written about Daw Aung San Suu Kyi before (see a previous post here) and she has long been one of my most admired people. I have long put her on my list of five people in the world I would want to meet (I even bought her book again last week and it is sitting on my bedside table!). And while I didn't meet her yesterday, close enough. By fortune, I ended up escorting someone into the ceremony and ended up with ticket to stay in the Rotunda. It was beautiful and inspiring and more.

In light of the past week with violence abroad and bickering at home, this was one of those moments that should remind us that we are missing the forest for the trees. Her life and her work is just too much to be true, and yet, there she was as graceful and eloquent and as kind as I had built her up in my head to be. Just astounding.

With light streaming in from the roof and sitting on the stage with Hillary, Pelosi, Feinstein, Boehner, McCain, and Laura Bush, who would have thought it would be possible and that she would finally be accepting her medal in person, in the oldest democracy in the world as a democratically elected representative. It really is too much to believe and yet there it was, undeniably true!

guided tour.

My Dad came to town this weekend to visit. We made the most of his two days in DC and covered a lot of ground. And just like last weekend with Scott, we walked a lot. Over the two days, we walked over 10 miles of the District.

We went to see the usual sites, the White House, Lincoln Memorial, MLK, etc. But, that is only some of the story. My Dad also wanted to stop by the Folger Shakespeare Library.  The Library is administered by Amherst College. He went to Amherst and since this was on his short list, we made it happen. I don't trek over to the Hill on a weekend for just anybody.

Turns out the library is not all that big and there isn't that much to see. Our visit was short. My Dad did make sure to pick me up a schedule of their Shakespeare performances and poetry readings. I'm not big on Shakespeare or poetry, so yeah....

But this room was pretty and now I can say I have been there.

Moving on. We stopped at what I believe to be the most beautiful building in DC, the Library of Congress. Most people don't put it on their tourist route and yet, the inside is gorgeous, it isn't run over by out-of-towners, they always have a couple of interesting exhibits, and you get a view of the reading room. When I moved back to DC in 2010, oddly one of the first things I did was to go get a library card so that I could access the reading room. Anyway, my Dad loved it.

The ceilings and detail are so well preserved and just stunning.

It just so happened they also have an exhibit through September on Books that Shaped America. We were enthralled by it. Curators chose a slew of books to put on display and to spark a conversation about the best books in America. The range was incredible and it was so interesting to think about the impact and of course to debate which books they left out.

I loved that they included the Wonderful Wizard of Oz.

 

There is also always a standing exhibit, Thomas Jefferson's Library. I have always liked the way they have curated it.

We also rested between walking. Yesterday, we went to Logan Circle to sit in the grass and read our books. It was the perfect day for it. My Dad lasted about ten minutes before he fell asleep and started snoring really loudly!

Oh yeah, and we ate pretty well. Including this kobe beef hotdog from Masa 14. 

 

And after dinner yesterday, on the walk back to drop my Dad off at his hotel and say goodbye, we walked over this on the sidewalk...

All in all, it was a much needed visit and a full two days!

romanticized.

Joanna Goddard posted this First Date Story on her blog this morning. It made me smile so big! I eat this stuff up. Sweetest thing I have heard today. Oh romance.

ghana night.

I forgot to update you on my last meal with Scott before he left DC. We went to Ghana Cafe on 14th street. It is two blocks from my apartment and I probably walk past it ten times a week but had never been. Scott studied in Ghana when he was in college and he was beyond excited by the prospect of going to eat there. So we did.

We ordered up the Red Red, fried plaintains and bean stew as well as the kelewele, plaintains with peanuts. It all needed a touch more seasonsing (read: salt) for my liking but I am so happy I finally went and with Scott no less!

good terrain.

Kind of wish I needed to give a hostess gift right now because Terrain has a lot of good pickings. My two favorites...

Enamelware Tumblers

Kerala Striped Napkin

read on.

Tamara, from the office, came back from a trek through Jordan and Israel last week and would not stop talking about the book she read while traveling, In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin. I am officially back on the reading train and can't wait to start on this soon. Reading some of the excerpts on Amazon has more than peaked my interest....

hard core.

Erin has been raving about Fuse Pilates since February and I finally got myself to a class last night! And, it turned out Em was there for the same class. Thank god too, I basically followed her for the 55 minutes.

Fuse is in this great row house just north of Dupont, has a super friendly, relaxed feel and is really reasonably priced. All in all, I enjoyed it. That said, the jury is still out for me on pilates. I can't do yoga. It is way too slow and zen for me. I like a little bit of boot-camp in my workout. I don't need someone yelling in my face but I want to be pushed to a burning/shaking point. I am definitely going to try some of the other instructors, Em said Mariska is really good. And anyway, I am pretty sure I wasn't doing half the positions correctly. Come hell or high water, I am determined to work my core!

update: May have spoken too soon. Feeling it a little bit more at the 11:00 hour!

to read.

This New Yorker piece, Passengers, is oddly heart warming and makes me want to ride the 66 and meet Sal. It is short but poignant. I recommend.

sugar man.

So, Ben went to see Searching for Sugar Man and couldn't stop raving about it. Scott and I decided to follow suit for an afternoon break on Sunday, so we stopped into the West End Cinema to see what all the talk is about. Oh man. It is so good! I can't really do justice to it and I am not going to try. You should watch the trailer here and find some time to go see it. It is a quick hour and ten minutes and is just an amazing story about this singer, Rodriguez. He never got any traction in the United States but inspired much of the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa, sold hundreds of thousands of albums and never knew it. Not to mention, his music and lyrics are quite something, he was bigger than the Beatles in South Africa! Go. See. It!

walking tour.

It was only a two day weekend, but Scott and I covered a lot of ground! We went to Sticky Rice on H Street for dinner on Friday and stopped at Rita's for custard. Phenomenal!

On Saturday, we ate up the whole day taking care of some loose ends and catching up with some of Scott's friends from the UNFPA.

Come Sunday, we were ready to take advantage of the gorgeous day and man did we. We headed to Pearl Dive for brunch and from there proceeded to walk 11 miles around the city. I mapped it out as proof.

We walked over to Georgetown campus and down M street. We stopped to see a movie in Foggy Bottom (more on that soon). Then, we walked past the State Department. A pedi-cab offered us a free ride down the hill to the Lincoln!

The reflecting pool is also full again and the clouds were reflecting!

We then mozied on to the Tidal Basin, past the MLK Monument and on to Roosevelt. I loved the detail on his hands. 

Finally, we wrapped around to the Jefferson Memorial where the light was shining beautifully through.

I stopped documenting at this point. But, we made our way over for a meal at Graffiato (unfortunately disappointing) and of course, finished the day strong with a walk home from Chinatown. Could not have asked for a better day to catch up and walk the city!

frenchie.

Scott and I went over to H street for dinner last night. On the way, we passed by this new french restaurant, Le Grenier. Naturally, I had to stop in to take a look. It is very cool. It is all french food and opened just last week. The inside is kitschy in this totally acceptable and handsome way! I was loving it in there. Headboards behind the tables and yet they kept one side of the restaurant with this huge exposed wall of brick that had had coca cola painted on it. I can't wait to go check it out soon!