A Proven Formula

"The longer I live the more beautiful life becomes. If you foolishly ignore beauty, you will soon find yourself without it. Your life will be impoverished. But if you invest in beauty, it will remain with you all the days of your life."

- Frank Lloyd Wright

i especially love that last line

Re-Do, Please

This was 'first dinner' on Friday night. No joke. Here's the thing, last week was not so great and it all kind of came crashing down on Friday. Devon is amazing is all I have to say. It wasn't all bad, there were definitely a couple bright spots.

1 - I got to talk to Ashley twice! We even talked for over 40 minutes both times which is kind of a record for me because I HATE talking on the phone

2 - the trip to Bethany Beach with my unofficial dating advisor, Kraig. 

3 - an unexpected, yet delightful visitor bearing deliciousness on Wednesday night (thank you SO much)

I can easily let a cruddy week ruin my weekend but Devon talked some sense into me and we forged on with our plans for dinner and karaoke. Oh yeah - there are pictures.....

Johnny Rockets - yes, this is mine. Yes, I just finished showing you a picture of eating ice cream. I don't think I have a problem. It was more of a tragedy than anything because my Chocolate Madness shake wasn't very chocolatey. 'Twas madness, I tell you!

On to karaoke....

Saturday afternoon Devon and I went into DC for Shake Shack and to walk around DuPont Circle. I was dressed very Americana that day. I was also wearing a blue scarf with white polka dots. I'm sure with the camera + red/white/blue I must have looked like the ultimate tourist.

I just really like this photo

Shake Shack

Washington Monu-Mint shake......

Would you get a load of this girl?!?! It is a pleasure taking her picture.

This guy was walking around the fountain at DuPont Circle and he sat down next to this lady and just started talking to her. She removed her headphones and said, "What is wrong with you?". Ha!

After DC I dropped Devon at home and headed down to Gravelly Point to digest what had transpired last week and what lies ahead for me this week. It's a park where you can watch the planes land at Reagan National Airport and just a beautiful place to think. I like places like that.

Can you see the landing strip?

All done complaining and showing you pictures of ice cream. I hope you have a wonderful week and that you got spiritually fed today.

*love you*

Conundrum

I want to give so much more of myself than is wise right now.

I just can't.

This holding back is killing me.

We'll see what happens.

(cryptic much???)

Queen Bee

Oops, that title was supposed to say "Spelling Bee". Did you know that I was the William Howard Taft Jr High School 7th grade spelling bee champion? Yeah, true story. So, I love the Bee (as we veterans call it), and it was on TV on Thursday and I caught parts of it while flipping between So You Think You Can Dance and the NBA finals. The arts, academia and bouts of physical prowess - how well rounded am I?

Here are the 10 final words used in the Bee:

lekane

panguingue

Jugendstil

galoubet

naumkeag

hooroosh

orgeat

sorites

periscii

cymotrichous

And that is why I didn't go beyond Taft Jr High spelling bee competition. Mazel tov to the winner!

lookie, lookie

Pinterest has me seriously inspired lately. I'm always pinning different recipes, places I want to visit, articles of clothing and, of course, the crafty stuff. Making things does not come natural to me, but I thought I'd give a few of the easier ones a try. Here's what I've done this week:

I enlarged a photo that I took in Ireland then cut out the letters and viola! 

Here's the original photo. I chose it because of the texture and the varying shades of the same color.

Next, I made this R wall art/hanging by cutting and positioning crayons.

The end.

~crush~

Tulips have been my favorite flower for as long as I can remember

(i keep typing it tupils)

buuuuuuut.......

I am mad crushing on peonies lately! What's a girl to do?!?

I would love to see both flowers together in an arrangement. Perhaps even one delivered to my door by a secret admirer. Yeah, that'd be okay.

(both pictures via pinterest)

Being Young & Irresponsible

I didn't schedule any work for myself on Tuesday because I was invited to the beach. I thought long and hard about it and quickly dismissed the angel on my shoulder who was whispering, "You just got back from San Diego, you bum! Go to work!". 

Kraig picked me up at 5am and we headed off to Bethany Beach, DE. I don't know about his assessment but I am surprised at how well behaved I was considering the time (I will never be a morning person). I was pretty excited to be going to an East Coast beach for the first time and also he promised that we could stop at a Dunkin' Donuts and I could get a frozen hot chocolate ( <-------- expect a whole other separate post on that amazingness).

It's an odd thing to get to the beach at 8:30am, but it was gorgeous! 

in case you were wondering, this is what the beach looks like at 8:30am

the town is darling! i want to go to there everyday

we ate at the Penguin Diner

breakfast for lunch is always appropriate

boardwalk

Memorial Day Concert

Sunday evening I met Devon, her mom Kristine and brother Nick at the US Capitol building for the Memorial Day concert honoring troops past and present. PBS has sponsored this free event for over 20 years, click here to learn more.

Oh hey, President Garfield!

Our beautiful Capitol building, I love it!

These were the nosebleed seats

Actors Gary Sinise and Joe Montegna emceed the evening. They did a great job!

Colin Powell spoke for a portion of it. We all agreed - he's the man, fo sho'.

Devon and Nick

Devon, Nick and Kristine

We will definitely go again next year, it was so special to be at an event that celebrated something that I hold so dear. The tears were flowing pretty good at one point (love you, dad!). I'm grateful everyday for my freedoms and for this great nation. I'm especially grateful for those men and women who have been willing to go when others weren't.

God Bless America!

When Moms Come to Visit....

.....magic happens!

Devon's parents and brother came to town for Memorial weekend. Saturday after running errands, I came home to this goodness. Those cinnamon rolls are the Cinnabun knock-offs, but let me tell you - in a blind taste test I might have a hard time telling the difference. Sooooo goooood!

Kristine, you are welcome any time! Devon is a highly capable cook/baker on her own but she doesn't always have the time to fatten me up. I'm grateful for long weekends :)