shake it off.

The Really Big One - if you don't have time to read this, let me give you my cliff notes version and sum it up - in short - I am not moving to Seattle or Portland and will likely limit any future visits!

first up.

New restaurants alert! For all of you in DC - great Washingtonian highlights of new restaurants to try....

mid-summer.

It has been two months since we did all that planting in the front yard (here is the post about it from May) and here is the mid-summer update - you won't believe the difference in just two months.

Here is the little garden area in the front yard by the tree...

MAY

JULY

Here are the azalea bushes right after we planted them, along with the iris bulbs...

MAY

JULY

 And here is the side of the house along our brick wall...

Oh yeah, and we added a DC flag to the front of the house and the flower boxes are in full bloom. All in, we have a lot of growth and color going on

the fourth.

We went with Emily to the White House this year for the 4th of July (thanks Em!) and it was awesome! There was beer, wine, ice cream and popcorn. We brought our blankets and staked out a prime spot on the south lawn. Bruno Mars performed and he was phenomenal. POTUS and FLOTUS came down to wish everyone a happy 4th. And, the sky cleared up for the fireworks. I would say this was probably the most full-on American 4th of July we will ever have. I am even including a video for your viewing pleasure - that is just how great it was!

riding the bench.

Loving this West Elm Mid-Century Upholstered Bench...

new horizons.

Ben made me watch this NYTimes Science documentary, Fast and Light to Pluto, last night. It is 14 minutes of incredible. You should watch it. The short of it is that ten years ago we sent the New Horizons spacecraft up into space to check out Pluto and next week it is finally going to reach Pluto. Simply incredible and a very well made short documentary....

washed up.

Phase 1 of cleaning up our fence, back deck and front porch is complete. This is long overdue and much needed - thank god for a three day weekend to finally get down to work on it! On Friday, we woke up at 5:30 am and we're up at Home Depot by 5:55 because renting power-washers is first come, first serve and we take that kind of competition very seriously.

We rented the power washer and had it in the car by about 6:09 - and then we drove back home and went back to sleep for an hour since it would not have been neighborly to start power-washing at 6:30 in the morning!

We started around 8:30 in the morning and basically power-washed for 6 hours straight. It is actually kind of enjoyable work and addictive since you can literally see the results of your work as you go. To give you a sense - here are some before and afters...

The Fence Before...

Side-by-Side...

After...

The Front Porch Before...

 During...

After...

 Here is a side by side of the before and after...

And finally, our back deck (I only took after pictures)...

Amazing, right? The next step is getting some stain and protectant on these beauties asap -- but the rain has been getting in the way - so we are just waiting for some hot, dry days to finish it all off. I will be sure to post the final pictures!

travelogue ~ rome, italy (part II).

I almost forgot to finish off the Italy series...so last but not least, Rome again. We ended the trip with a final night back in Rome. And, it was great because Scott is interning at the World Food Program based in Rome this summer and was there for our last night - so we got drinks and dinner!

We went to Salotto 42 for a drink which we would highly recommend to all of you. Great little bar, has some limited outdoor seating and is serving up great cocktails with phenomenal people watching.

After dinner, we walked over to Emma Pizzeria to finish the trip off strong with as much food and pizza as possible! It was great. The restaurant is pretty big and on a nice night has a number of outdoor tables. The inside is modern and yet still classic. Most importantly, the pizza was solid.

We wandered back to the hotel and then said goodbye to Scott...

The next morning, we had a couple hours before we had to head to the airport - so we walked to get some expresso and pick up a bag that I wanted to get as a gift for someone. We were loving these climbing flowers on the building...

And we happened upon the Gran Caffe La Caffettiera - which happened to be right by Salotto 42. This place was the best end to our trip. Classic italian in there - business men wandering in for their shots of espresso...it was fantastic. I don't have a picture of it, but I have this picture of Ben instead that I really love...

Last but definitely most important - Granita di Caffe and gelato. Ben took me to Tazza d'Oro to try a granita and it blew my mind. Amazing. Phenomenal. Must go. It is very touristy - and there will inevitably be a line - but it moves quickly and it is worth it. Believe. Just look at this beauty...

And finally, the best gelato we had on the whole trip we found at Gelateria del Teatro. Go find it and then go ahead and treat yourself to three flavors because you should and because it was the best we found!

danced out.

Misty Copeland for the win today - she is really quite something - Misty Copeland becomes the first black principal ballerina at the American Ballet Theatre.

Quick update on this - this 60 minutes piece is definitely worth watching!