Week 4 in DC

This week the weather was AMAZING! Glad to be out and about all day!

Monday
I started at the Mexican Cultural Institue. It is host to beautiful murals, art, and crafts from Mexico.

 

I then heard that history was in the making at the Botanical Garden. I had already been there but I did not get to see the "Corpse Flower". It is actually known as Titan Arum. It is a huge flower that blooms every decade or two. There is no knowing when it will bloom and when it does, it only stays open for 24-48 hours. It also gives off a deadly smell...literally. It smells like a dead corpse.

 

Neil, my sister and I immediately thought of Denice the Menage. Remember that?

Tuesday
I started by visiting the National Museum of Women in Art. This was only my TO DO list from the very beginning because it houses an original Frida Kahlo. I avoided going for awhile because unlike most of the museums here, there was a fee. I finally decided to splurge and not only did I get to see her, but many many other beautifully powerful works of art by some courageous talented women.

 Love the colors and random pattern. I could never be so random...

This was a picture book page by page...

 This artist did a lot of work during the 60s and focused on women's rights and anit-slavery movements.

 This map of hers showed various riots during the 60s.

 The Frida Kahlo. 

I remember the first time I disagreed with a teacher. I was in the 2nd grade and our Art teacher had us studying Diego Rivera. During my presentation, I mostly talked about his wife, Frida Kahlo and how her art was a reflection of their relationship and my teacher made me do the assignment again. I tried to explain that all 25 students in the class were doing a presentation on his art and how I thought it would be interesting to hear about her. She promised that if I did the correct assignment on him, we would cover Frida Kahlo's art. We never did. I asked her about it about 5 years later and she just thought it was too graphic and complex to study in the 2nd grade. I agree now but she should not have promised...anyways....

 

She painted this for a friend Leon Trotsky and included that in the painting.

From there, I picked up the postcard invitations I made for my sisters shower! They are adorable but I have to wait to show you until she gets hers in the mail :)

Wednesday
Thanks to Facebook, I found out that a good Baylor friend of mine just moved to DC! We immediately set up a lunch date.

I spent the rest of the day shopping in Georgetown :)

Thrusday
I headed to Eastern Market and the Shakespeare Library. Eastern Market has a great indoor and outdoor food market and some local artist booths. Just near by was the Folger's Shakespeare Library. Some of it was under renovation, but I got to see the stage, some 1st edition books and an interesting exhibit on Nelson Mandela. How is he realted to Shakespeare? It a stretch but, when he was a prisoner, they were each allowed one book to read, not including Bibles. One of his fellow prisoners chose The Complete Works of Shakespeare and covered it in a Biblical cover so that he could share it with his inmates. Inmates were to choose a line or phrase, underline it, and sign their names. Well, Nelson Mandela was one of those prisoners. The original book with his signature was being displayed. I think its a stretch but with all the construction, they were probably needing some material...

The stage.

 The book used in the prison, with Mandela's signature.

 Some art by Mandela.

Friday
I took it easy. After yoga, breakfast, and a trip to the post office, I decided to try my hand at Watercolors.

Saturday
We decided to take tour of the Capitol.

 The inside of the dome.

 The statue room. Each state has two statues of their choosing in the Capitol

 Where Lincoln's desk used to sit.

Then we took the tunnel to the Library of Congress because I had to show it to Neil. We headed down to find a place to eat and ended up at We, the Pizza! I love the name but as we were in line, the credit card machine broke so we headed up the street and found ourselves at Hakw n' Dove. It. was. delicious! I had a flat bread pizza and Neil had a sandwich called The Dip. It was the best pizza I have ever had!

Sunday
We had heard that the National Building Museum was a hidden find so we stopped by. The building was beautiful and the exhibits were more interesting that I thought they would be. They also had a few play spaces, mini golf and a cafe. It seems like a good place to take little kids.

What is this feeling?

What do you call the feeling when you want to be at home but you are so happy where you are?

Whatever its called, that's how I feel. And I am allowing myself to feel that way.
I am having a blast EVERYDAY. I get to truly visit anything and everything I want to here. I feel so blessed to have this opportunity, too. But...I also miss home. What a blessing that is too, right? I mean, I get to go home to a cute home, silly puppies, excited family, and a new job!

What I love about D.C
- Walkability
- Metro
- Free museums
- Diversity
- Wide range of food options
- Decent weather
- Learning Opportunities
- The AC at 73!!! (neil would never...)

What I miss
- Puppies
- Baking supplies
- Car
- Mom/Dad/Meg
- Clothing options
- Mexican food
- HEB
- Friends

I realize some of these contradict each other, oh well. There is not anxiousness, fear, or sadness.
So I'll keep my adventurous spirit high and stay in prayer.

9 more days in this life. 9 more days till real life.

Another week in D.C

This week was very hot/humid. We were in the 90s with 60%+ humidity so it made it a little more uncomfortable to be out all day. 

Monday

I headed to Ford's Theater around 10:00am because everytime I go, there is a very long line to get in. I guess the early bird does get the worm because I walked right in! A nice history presentation was given in the theater.

 The balcony.

The room where Lincoln was taken to was right across the street from the theater. 

 

 These are all the books written about Lincoln. It is said that no person has been written about more than Lincoln has.

Tuesday

I stayed in Tuesday to work on the store and got some Baylor paperwork done :)

Wednesday

I went into georgetown and did some shopping, and some snacking.

DC Cupcakes is a show on TLC. Again, the early bird gets the worm/cupcake. Everyone is amazed that I got in. Apparently, there is always a long line out the door but when I went, there were only a couple of people in front of me.  There were tons of flavor options but I went with my favorite - strawberry.

 The bread was like eating a piece of cake. It had real strawberries inside! The icing was rich and moist.

Thursday

I got to "go to work" with Neil in the morning. He had a tour of the Supreme Court scheduled with his work and I got to go with him. We also had lunch with a couple of his sweet co-workers.

This is the lobby. The courtroom is the door at the end. We were not allowed to take pictures in there but it was very elegant.

 The courtyard for the Justices and clerks.

 The ceiling of one of the meeting rooms.

 We got a tour of Justice Sandra Day O'Connor's chambers. 

It was so interesting to see the intimacy of her space - what books she reads, personal pictures, her Native American Artifacts collection.

 Her official portrait.

Friday

We headed out to the Nationals Game! Again, it was hot, but it was a very nice and unique ballpark.

 

Saturday

We spent the day at the Smithsonian Zoo. It was hotttt! Too hot for many of the animals to be out :)

Sunday

We started at the National Gallery of Art at the sculpture garden. 

We worked our way inside and spent about 2 hours in two huge buildings. 

 This was one of my favorites. It is based on the skin color of a handful of people.

 My arm at the bottom. Trying to match up with one....

 He didn't want to turn around but you can see him smiling....

 

We were told that the National Museum of the American Indian has the best lunch options so we headed that way.

 It was cafeteria style with traditional Native American food from different regions . It was good! On the expensive side for lunch but very unique foods.

This week looks like we can expect some rain but we wont' let that dampen our spirits!