Istanbul Turkey Photos to Share

Too many photos and too little email space!  This post made especially for our families.  Enjoy!

Our first day there! Strolling by the river

Hagia Sophia

Mothers Day

How did you spend your Mothers Day?  Mine was crafty.  I met my mom and sister out in Annapolis for a beautiful day and paint your own pottery at Clay Bakers.  It is a great way to catch up and no real artsy skills necessary.  We have gone before and the pottery always ends up looking good...  (I think that the sentimental perspective helps out on that one)  They have ladies night, BYOB and the equivalent of pottery "happy hour" a few times a month too.

Over the past few months I've picked up knitting so I gifted my mom with an almost-finished scarf.  Knitting is such a fun, semi-meditative activity.  I love how you can do it anywhere at anytime too.  My favorite spot is sitting out in Logan Circle, people watching after work.  I picked up this particular yarn (I hope to take some photos of the scarf to show when I'm finished!) at Stitch DC (photo below).  Next project?  I am hoping to learn how to make a baby sweater from my colleague for Baby Mallory to come!  Slightly daunting since I have only ever knitted in straight lines... eek

Antes de morir quiero _________

Good morning!  Something fun from last night-  While walking home from a delicious dinner I ran into a group of people pondering this renovation wall that had recently gone up.  As I got closer I realized that someone had put up a “Before I die _______” and “Antes de morir quiero _______” mural and left chalk for people to fill in the blanks!  I called Alec and had him join me on the corner (Q and 14^th).  We spent the next half hour reading others’ answers and adding our own.  Answers ranged from the most ridiculous (Before I die I want to own taxidermy…) to very personal (Before I die I want to see my children grow up.)  As you will note, the board was almost completely filled.  Alec put me on his shoulders so that I could get a top spot!  You’ll see ours below:

A: Visit Middle Earth

I want to go to San Franciso

We saw French DJ Fred Falke at U St Music Hall a few months ago.  Great party.

$2 Tickets and $1 Hotdogs

Our view- Go Nats!

Yesterday a group of us went to the $2 tickets Nationals game.  If you haven’t been to a game yet, I highly suggest making the trip whether you are a baseball fan or not.  Weather was perfect and what better way to spend a Tuesday than with friends outside.  The game is an added perk. 

Another perk is the Bull Pen, an open beer gardenish area outside the park.  Live bands play before the game and you can usually find a few corn hole games going.  The Bull Pen looks out over the metro so after the game it’s a great place to hang out and watch the crowds thin.  

Since I haven’t focused on food in a while, I thought I would mention my love of hotdogs.  I am not a huge meat eater, but the nostalgia of being at the game, eating a dog, gets me every time.  While looking for a photo to exemplify this dog love (with ketchup, mustard and chopped onions) I found this article.  Sigh.  I hope that drinking DC water has upped my stomach immunity!  Props to the Nats for being name dropped as a healthy food stadium!  Do you think my hotdog is included?    

An overall great evening.  Tonight is $1 hot dogs if you’re interested.

Ps: Part 2 of the OC Guide is on it’s way sometime this week 

A Girls Guide to OC- Part 1

A girls weekend in Ocean City in April can best be described through the restaurants and bars that were visited because, let’s face it, that’s what Ocean City does best.  Having lived here for a summer, it is always fun to re-visit old favorites, which we did this time around.  Hope that you enjoy Kate’s Guide to a Girls Weekend in OC!  (Disclaimer:  This post isn’t child friendly-  Sorry… but let’s be real… I’m not sorry!)

To jump or not to jump

Never let someone else jump your car...  More to come on Ocean City tomorrow.

Music and The Veranda

On your walk home you may see:

NASA

Did you see the space shuttle yesterday on it's flight to Dulles?  Dan and my dad did.  Check out their amazing pictures taken from the Mall and DC WASA (hence the construction!).  

The Space Program's been a talked about topic in my office thanks to Dan, our space program aficionado and resident history graduate student.  Hard to believe that the era of space travel is (only temporarily I hope!) over for the US...  

Do you have fond space memories?  My favorite dates back to our Florida vacation.  Staying in Cocoa Beach on Disney World trips, waking up at sunrise to catch the space shuttle launch.  As a ten year old it was pretty awesome...  Actually, as a 26 year old that would still be pretty awesome...  Other perks of that trip?  The armadillos!  "Space" dots ice cream!  Signing space junk (or this big wall thing??) that was going up in space!  

Don't forget to match your stache

Movember's transcended November! (What is it? Moustaches worn during the month of November to raise awareness of prostate cancer)  I decided to post these funny photos from a friend's birthday this weekend.  For some reason whenever posing with the moustache I had the need to go for the serious/silly face?!  Hmmm...  Anyways, thanks Mich for providing us all with outfit matching staches!

"The Cupcake"

 

As I walked into the office this morning I was pleasantly greeted with a delicious birthday breakfast.  Lindsey surprised me with homemade vanilla and chocolate cupcakes!  Today I thought I’d blog about “The Cupcake” as it has played a significant part in my 25 year old life.  

Why you may ask?  Of course they are delicious but for Alec and I, they also pay our bills.  No, unfortunately, I am not a career baker.  No secret recipes up my sleeves.  Rather, Alec works on the show DC Cupcakes.  Yes, Sophie and Katherine are just as nice as they appear on TV.  Yes, their cupcakes are delicious.  Yes, while shooting the show we’d have dozens of cupcakes at home.  And, yes, Alec doesn’t like icing so we have a full box of just cupcake bottoms in our freezer from the shop…  My favorite flavor?  Key Lime. 

Looking forward to leftover Easter cupcakes for lunch too.  Thanks Beatrix!


On a totally separate note, the photos in this post are my first ever Instagrams.  Just learned that Facebook bought the company for a billion dollars...  Wondering what that means for them...


 

Viva España

Cheers (chin chin!) to Jen and Brian as they embark on two weeks through Spain and Portugal! 

In celebration of the trip I wish I was joining them on, I thought that I’d relive a wonderful dinner that Brittany and I shared the other week at Jaleo, one of José Andrés’ Spanish tapas restaurants in the city (we actually went to the one in Bethesda… not DC).  

Endibias con queso de cabra y naranjas

José Andrés is a pretty cool guy: a world renowned chef who trained under Ferran Adria, was recently voted Best DC chef in City Paper, great happy hours, just launched the food truck Pepe, etc etc.  His food tastes deliciosa too! 

On our visit we munched on happy hour tapas and sipped on sangria.  As we ate, it struck me that his Endibias con queso de cabra y naranjas (Endive with goat cheese, oranges and almonds), would make an amazing and easy at home appetizer so here it is:

Separate out each endive leaf to make a boat for the tasty ingredients inside;

Cut an orange (or clementine?) slice and lay it in the boat (Im normally a peeler, but cutting the fruit will best juice up the app);

Add some goat cheese and almonds on top

Something else about José that I found interesting and makes me feel better as I fail at this seasonal cooking schtick?  He confides that while he tries to cook local whenever he can, there are just certain times wen cooking Spanish food (or any other cuisine for that matter) that local products won’t cut it…  He doesn’t skip the Spanish imported cheeses or French champagne when local foods can’t embody the tastes and feelings he’s recreating.  I don’t remember when or where I read about this, but I did find a comparable interview here that he gave in Miami which includes some other interesting José ideals.  

Pepe!

Happy Weekend!

It's a Bird... It's a Plane...!

I was actually going to post on something totally different when my colleague sent me this article about flying cars!  Supposedly they are meant for businessmen who don’t want to worry about airport hassles.  That’s one way to solve the problem.  Next up: Ruby Slippers that teleport you to work (baggage fees included). 

 

While up in New York visiting Alec’s family last fall we ran into an Amphicar out on the Hudson.  Instead of air travel, they swim.  Who knew they had been around since the 60’s?!      

My preferred mode of transportation?  My feet.  I am a diehard, stubborn walker.  Unfortunately, it limits my radius a bit…

Amphicar in Paris

German Amphicar Club

Graduate School

I have officially accepted my acceptance into a graduate school program.  In what you may ask?  International Education.  Looking forward to the good stories that will hopefully ensue throughout this experience and for hopefully putting the education to good use.

While googling today I found these clever blogs on the subject:
Graduate Student Survival Guide
100 Reasons NOT to go to Graduate School


Enjoy!


Fact:  Student Rue Lawrence (above) was featured on the Oct. 16, 1950 cover of Life Magazine


 

Eggheads

This weekend we took a mini trip to see friends and family in Annapolis.  At 26 I am still a sucker for dyeing Easter eggs so on Sunday I managed to convince the whole family to partake in the activity.  While rummaging for supplies we found electrical tape, changing how we dye eggs perhaps forever- and resulting in the eggheads below!  The tape is waterproof so we cut out (and hole punched) our way through 36 eggs.  Fun weekend! 

Alec suggested that I take the tres banditos around to all of the "must-sees" in DC Travelocity dwarf style so they may be making an appearance again...

While on Pinterest looking for eggspiration I also ran across these cupcake eggs from Cupcake Project- very clever!

ULTRA!

Hello again!  After Ultra and the flu I am finally back on this planet.  Ultra was epic... Actually the whole trip was essentially perfect, and by perfect, of course there were a few adventures (some may call glitches) along the way that made it perfect.  

Before I get to these adventures I wanted to back it up two Wednesdays ago- the day before our flight- so that I can shamelessly give myself an excuse for things to come a paragraph or two down.  Most of us know apartment living.  I myself seem to be perfecting the art of basement apartment living and have gotten really lucky with the lovely flatmates that live above us.  In general, they are very quiet, respectful, yada yada yada.  


Well, as I was preparing to fall asleep on this one Wednesday, the day before our flight, at 6 am, having to wake up at 4 am, our flatmates decided to party.  Oh jeez.  I don't mean a few friends over for a chat, but rather an Ultra-type bass drumming music beat blaring from upstairs.  After hours of this, at 2 am, and after much deliberation, I finally had to don my robe, head outside, knock on their doors and ask if they could turn down the music so that I could get two hours of sleep.  On that note, they were very gracious about it and already winding down so at 2 am I finally get to sleep, excited for the flight the next day!


So on to Miami...  The festival wasn't until Friday so we had all day Thursday to enjoy the city and beach.  I didn't really know what to expect the "real" Miami to be like, but what I saw I liked!  Blue skies, water, white sand and the beaches weren't to crowded.  Paradise after an early morning.  We headed out to walk the strip for lunch which was incredible.  Vegas by the sea...  South Beach is insanity, a tourist trap, but why not party (and I mean party hard) at noon when you are on vacation?!  TIP: Always ask for rail liquor when in Miami- do not assume that "vodka" means rail (I thought that was standard?  No?)  My vodka/soda/splash of cranberry with a lemon (**signature drink) cost us $15 a pop as the waiter took "vodka" to mean Grey Goose.  With that said, I did tell Alec that it was one of the best I'd ever had.

A Perfect Date Day

Following up on my first post, I had a chance to visit the Harry Warnecke exhibit yesterday after pancakes and coffee.  It was fun/funny to see some far out characters...  Can anyone explain why women used to wear the nets over the faces???  That was a big theme.

Little did I remember that The Art of Video Games was also there!  I loved seeing old school games exhibited.  WOW technology has come really far... Alec loved the show and had been waiting for it to come to DC so it made for a great day.   For those gamers out there, there is A LOT on Mass Effect.  They also have cool phones that you can listen to the bios/interviews on and you can play some of the games.

We rounded out our visit with The Black List, a series of photographs of prominent black artists, politicians and role-models, among others.  Artist, Timothy Greenfield-Sanders, writes that the art and documentary that he produced is "of twenty prominent African Americans of various professions, disciplines and backgrounds who offer their own stories and insights on the struggles, triumphs and joys of black life in this country and manages to re-define “blacklist” for a new century in the process. The film is presented as a series of vignettes – a kind of living portraiture – in which the subjects address the camera directly as they tell their stories."  I dug his meaning and stylistic approach.  Read more on his project here and the other art that he does. 

Off to Miami tomorrow! 

Best Coffee Ever... and Pancakes!

Alec's Dad introduced me to a great coffee ingredient.  CINNAMON!  I like to drink my coffee black so a few shakes of cinnamon added to the grounds before brewing gives it just the right taste.  Try it!  

This morning we enjoyed coffee while making apple pancakes (my first seasonal recipe...  apples and honey were locally bought!).  Yes, yes, the zucchini bread wasn't seasonal or local...  We were still getting through the pre-blog reserves and the zuc bread is one of Alec's favorites so I thought I'd post it anyways.  

ps:  I like to add cinnamon to my pancakes too sometimes!  

Now on to the photos:

La Vache was found at Svpply, a quirky site that allows you to search for items and stores around the web and see products that others "want".  Etsy, meets E-bay, meets blogs, etc., etc..

The pancakes are from SmittenKitchen, a similar recipe to the ones that we make.

Zucchini Bread

After my Peace House adventure I made this:

Healthy Zucchini Bread

You will need:

1 ½ cups whole wheat flour

¾ cup sugar

¼ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon salt

1 ½ teaspoons cinnamon

2 eggs

2 ¼ cups zucchini (about 2 medium)

¼ cup oil

1 ½ teaspoons vanilla

¼ cup walnuts

How to:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Mix dry ingredients

Mix wet ingredients

Combine

Add to greased bread pan

Bake for about 50 minutes or until knife comes out clean

While drinking:

a favorite!

And listening to:

Cheers to a wonderful weekend and Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Peace House

Yesterday something unique happened.  I was invited into the Peace House for a talk that an international author/saxophonist was giving on peace.  Lured in by the promise of music and the quirky peace pole and friendly people greeting me outside I thought I’d give the talk a shot and went in. How did I find myself here? I just happened to change up my usual walk home.  

When entering the house, you feel history... as well as a bit of controversy.  The raw brick walls and wooden staircases of old DC are still there, among brochure tables and a corner for speakers to perform.  Little did I know until this morning while googling away that the home was actually owned by Thomas Hallenback, aka permanent White House fixture and professional activist.  If you’ve been by the White House, you know this guy.  Currently, the Peace House is home to a few Occupiers (and Concepción- Hallenback’s old friend) who run workshops and talks out of the home on peaceful protesting.  

On this day, the room was full of young occupiers and a large number of “middle-classish”, middle agers who had come to here what the author had to say.  Was that a reporter I saw in the corner too??  Not what I expected.  The talk ran long and alas, I didn’t get to hear the music.  I did leave content with my decision to stop and listen.  Did I agree with all of the ideals and lifestyles there?  No.  Did I agree with some of them?  Yes.  Would I stop by again?  Maybe. 

I wanted to include a picture of the "stage", as I'll call it, where the events are held.  Alas, my usb chord hasn’t come in yet!  This picture is from occupypeacehouse.org.

Nick at Nite

My first post!  I thought I'd break ground with a few old memories that have compelled me to walk downtown to catch some art soon. 

My priorities circa 1995: Food, Friends and Sleepovers.  To elaborate, I mean TGIF, Nick at Nite, living room late night fort construction, “vegging out”, prank calling, knock and run, fla-vor-ice…  You know, the good things in life.

For the sake of this post, let’s focus on #2 from the short list, Nick at Nite.  After TGIF, this was our late night go to.  It was "cool" to watch these strange black and white shows and let’s face it, Nickelodeon was a daytime fav, so why not stick with a good thing at night too?

Whatever the age, there is a certain allure to black and white and the first color television shows to come out.  Either you lived though it and came to idealize the times or can’t imagine what it would have been like to have ONLY black and white, three tv channels and no internet...  Yes kids... No internet...

The Portrait Gallery snagged a few of these first pictures.  Check out the famed Harry Warnecke’s perspectives on the transition from black and white to color:

photos by www.dailymail.co.uk

Read more on Harry here.