old school.

Last night, I started thinking again about how we should get a phone line in the house. I love the idea. I am revisiting this idea on the blog, in a public forum, because last time I floated the idea with Ben, he didn't really take to it. So, let me lay out the points...

• It is old school and charming. 
• It will be practical. Friends and family can call our house phone to reach either one of us. 
• It is cheap. 

And how great would something like this be? I am not sure on the color...but you get the idea. Who is with me? Don't you miss having a home phone?!

rock out.

We are not in the market for a rocking chair. In fact, Grandpolly gave me a great rocking chair that is waiting for me in Denver and I so want to get it to DC and reupholster it. But I will say, this Jason Lewis rocking chair is absolutely gorgeous, isn't it?!

amish country.

We are going to Lancaster this weekend for an overnight! Ben found a great deal on Gilt and we are staying at this very cool looking hotel, the Lancaster Arts Hotel, which was an old tobacco warehouse. Lancaster has been on our list to get to for a while now - just look at this post from 2011! I am very excited. We are driving up Friday night and coming back on Sunday...on our itinerary right now is the huge farmer's market on Saturday morning and a long drive through Amish country. Hopefully there will also be some quilt spotting and covered bridges. Does anyone have recommendations on things to do, places to go, highlights or otherwise?

sister time.

Olivia came for a visit over the weekend! She watched more March Madness basketball than she prepared for and was a true sport about it....and luckily the weather was nice for most of it so we got out and about....

Thursday evening we headed to Red Rocks on H Street for pizza and to watch the Michigan game....and on Friday, we both had to work. But on Saturday, we woke up, rented a car and drove out to Frederick for....you guessed it, the flash sale! (For background on the flash sale click here.) We love the flash sale and also wanted to take Olivia someplace outside of DC for a change. Olivia ended up with a couple finds for Yuri's new office and we got a couple gifts for folks - but no big furniture finds this time around...

Though, this chair was sharp looking....

And if only we had a library in our house and a need for a rolling ladder...because I would have snatched this sucker up so quick...

After, we headed to Family Meal for breakfast (click here for a past post on Family Meal). Filled up and fueled for the next leg of the day, we drove to Great Falls to get out and stretch our legs. Sadly, everyone else seemed to have the same idea....so we recalibrated and instead headed to Roosevelt Island! I have been bothering Ben for what seems like forever to go to Roosevelt Island and it just took Olivia in town to get us there. We have a shared love of Teddy (sidenote: if you haven't read it Mornings on Horseback is a fantastic read about him).

The Island is great for a walk - better with some bloom on the trees though. I recommend waiting until spring, summer or fall. Nonetheless we walked and saw...

We then hustled home to get ready for an evening of March Madness with friends...

I forgot to take pictures...but the short story is Michigan won - Go Blue. On Sunday, we went on a long walk around the Capitol and the Mall. We stopped into the Botanic Garden - I had never been...

We also swung through the American History Museum and happened upon the history of food exhibit I had posted about way back when...

We also went to check out the new Foundry location just off H Street. We wouldn't tell you to go out of your way for it...

It was a short visit...and Olivia also came right after Paco finished painting the house last week, so she put up with us talking about paint colors and putting the hosue back together! Makes me wish I lived closer to my siblings....

dressed up.

Tomorrow is officially the first day of spring (here in DC, we are ignoring the forecasts for snow again next week!). Spring means I am revisiting my long and growing list of DIY projects. My winter hibernation has meant almost no progress, so I am looking forward to getting back to projects! And topping that list will be this very easy DIY with wallpaper on the sides of our dresser drawers - love it.

giving time.

In huge news, they are making a movie out of The Giver. Remember The Giver by Lois Lowry? My god, that was one of my first page turners! What grade was I in? Maybe 4th or 5th. And Meryl Streep and Jeff Bridges are leads in it!

grandmabetty33.

Have you all heard about Grandma Betty's instagram account? Apparently, she has cancer and her grandson started the instagram account to raise her spirits. She now has almost 300,000 followers! Love it!

sichuan again.

We found another great Sichuan spot in DC last night. We went to Sichuan Pavilion with Alex and Brittany and feasted. The food was fantastic, our waiter was awesome, the restaurant was jam-packed with Chinese business men, and we loved it. Sichuan Pavilion gives Panda Gourmet (remember this spot? Click here for the post about it) some solid competition and its random location on K street downtown means it is super convenient for a post-work bite. We can definitely recommend the seseame chicken, the crispy shredded beef, the green beans, and the twice-cooked pork...good stuff I tell you!

tripped up.

Loving these striped travel cases from Pottery Barn...especially the train case!

reading list.

Wow. Have you all read the NYTimes Magazine piece from last week, Reaching my Autistic Son Through Disney? It is an incredible and powerful read. Simply amazing. I had seen a bunch of people posting it on facebook but never read it and then happened upon it this afternoon online. You should read it - beautifully written, interesting, impressive and inspiring. Quite something....

PR.

Oh Puerto Rico. All in - we made the most of the island. No doubt about it. In truth, we went for cheap flights and they say you get what you pay for...so lesson learned, we'll pay more for flights next go around. That said, we had a good time, got ourselves quality beach time, had great weather, enjoyed beautiful morning runs, and our apartment in Old San Juan was fantastic!

This was the view down the street from our apartment's balcony. We did airbnb again (see Barcelona airbnb from previously) and it worked out beautifully....there were three giant doors that opened up to the street and we slept with them open every night....

Old San Juan is colorful and charming...the streets are all cobblestone and where our apartment was, it was quiet and away from the cruise ship crowds...

We ran in the mornings around Old San Juan with views like these and ocean breeze...

Take a look at this cemetery (I love cemeteries!) right on the ocean....

The sweet bread and mallorca hit the spot for breakfast most mornings (the best we found was at this spot - Cafeteria Mallorca)

On our second day, we rented a car and headed the El Yunque Rainforest...

We had this waterfall entirely to ourselves...

After, we stopped by the kioskos for lunch in nearby Luquillo and found this beach for the afternoon...

We decided to extend our car rental for the next day...and we headed to Aguadilla on the west coast of Puerto Rico. It was worth the drive...we found a vibrant, high energy, beautiful beach...we rented some chairs, an umbrella and set up camp for the day. It was wonderful...

At this point in the trip, we just decided to keep extending our car rental. On day 4 we headed to Isla Verde and ended up liking this beach as well....

We can report back that the food generally not good. However, we happened upon this recycled shipping container turned taco stand, Tresbe, in the Condado neighborhood.  

Right before we left, Emmy had suggested we check out La Madre in Old San Juan - this was a god send. By that I mean, we are in unanimous agreement that they had the best fish tacos I have ever had in my life. Hands down amazing. We ended up going twice for dinner...the second go around - Ben went big and ate this whole red snapper...

I loved the sun and warmth and flowers...

And this sunset was pretty phenomenal...

And now we are back....it was a quick 4 days and much needed quality time and post-bar celebration for Ben!

 

unionized.

We went to the Roofers Union for dinner with Josh and Erin last night. We rarely venture up to Adams Morgan anymore but this turned out to be worth the effort. It is a great new spot and our food was great. It was a great mid-week dinner with spirited debate and lots of catching up...we recommend it for a quick bite if you are in the area!

sjp.

I am behind the ball and have a lot to fill you in on....but for right now, how great is this random interview with Sarah Jessica Parker? 

juiced.

My resolution this past new year was to cut orange juice out of my diet. I love a glass of orange juice but in fairness I love a glass of pulp free orange juice (usually tropicana out of those cartons) and I knew it was filled with sugar and anything but healthy. I haven't had a glass of orange juice in 2014. And then, a couple weeks ago suddenly there was a lot of renewed discussion about how unhealthy our processed orange juice is. Take for example, this piece, Coca-Cola's 'Simply Orange' Juice is Anything But. No surprise but scary nonetheless!

ready or not...

...here we come! We are headed to Puerto Rico tomorrow. Ready does not do justice to how much I am looking forward to this trip. We are celebrating Ben finishing the Bar last week and staying in Old San Juan. We found a great apartment to rent and are planning on beaching it and also heading to the rainforest for a day. I can't wait to eat rice and beans, plantains and to try mallorca. I also seriously need some sun on my skin. Not just for a tan, I have had some serious skin issues of late and I am hoping ocean and sun will help it. Can't wait to tell you all about it but in the meantime, looking forward to lots of color...

wedded.

Pete and Claire's wedding two years ago might just be the best wedding we have been to. It was perfectly Pete and Claire. Pete is also one of Ben's best best friends and we absolutely adore them as a couple. Not to mention, Claire is quite possibly one of the most creative people we know so the personal touches made it really personal - Claire and her Mom made her wedding dress, her aunts and cousins made all the wedding cakes from a family recipe, the ceremony was in a beautiful barn in upstate ny and Claire's dad gave an incredibly funny and sweet toast. It was just great. So, it comes as no surprise that their wedding was featured in New York Magazine....

lupita.

simply brilliant...