Saturday, November 30, 2013

A Capitol Thanksgiving Weekend

It was actually nice enough to take a walk this afternoon, so we got on our down jackets, gloves, and hats. The Capitol Christmas tree is getting adorned for the lighting ceremony planned next week. If you look across the Mall to the Washington Monument, the scaffolding used to restore it from the earthquake is about one third down. The Botanic Garden is decked out with big silver balls (we took about ten pictures of put reflections in them...a where's Waldo experience) and red berries, and of course the train display. There's a big moose standing in the First Ladies garden, and a lot of visitors enjoying the scenery and pond taking photos of seagulls - an unusual sight for many. The birds seem to love the Grant statue and were perched on his hat and horse. For some reason things feel more upbeat around town than the last year or two. The Capitol Building looks glorious with all the attention. Just imagine what it has seen! These are the times I really like living here in DC, and apparently a lot of other people do too.










Friday, November 29, 2013

The Grey Hair Dilemma - Or Is It?

One of my friend's is thinking about letting her hair go grey. Of course, I think it is a fabulous idea because I have never colored my hair and it started turning grey in my late twenties, if not before that. My mother had beautiful silver hair, but it is very thin now and she has the best wigs, all in grey/silver. In high school I had a "shag" wig that I wore to change things up from long hair. After having an early lunch at The Tune Inn today, we passed by a wig shop on Pennsylvania Avenue and checked out the merchandise.  I'm not so sure the green or orange hair styles will work, but they are fun to look at. When my friend comes back from her Thanksgiving break, we'll take a ride to Alexandria where there are at least two wig shops on King Street filled with grey wigs. She can try a few and see if the idea is a good one, or even wear a wig during the transition - not a bad idea with the cold weather ahead. So it can serve as a warm hat too! Maybe she'll decide to go grey and get a wig matching her current hair color. So many choices!





Thursday, November 28, 2013

Happy Thanksgiving

When we had the space to entertain in Milwaukee, we didn't have a lot of visitors on major holidays. Who wants to travel to Wisconsin in the winter? But here in Washington, we have family members and we oftentimes have Thanksgiving in our tiny place. Thank goodness we an get extra plates and forks just eight houses down where our grandson lives. They are off to other places so we can raid their house. So my husband was up early starting with the eggplant dish...this year we decided to have a little bit of a lot of things rather than a big turkey. So we created a big enough table hopefully to get everyone at least to the edge. I snipped a couple mums from the garden. And now we are relaxing until the next big wave of activity starts.  Hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving regardless of the space or the place. 



Wednesday, November 27, 2013

Rain, Snow, Cafe Deluxe, Safeway, and Tourists

I took the day off from work because it seemed like the right thing to do and I have several custom dog portraits to paint... and then there's the possible root canal festering - rats! But before getting started on anything we needed to pick up a few things for Thanksgiving dinner because the guest list might increase by one, and what we thought was enough wouldn't be. So we headed out along the George Washington Parkway towards Cafe Deluxe in Tyson's for a quick lunch because they have sheltered parking - which is a good thing on a day like this. I wasn't thrilled to see the snowflakes, because that it the primary reason we left Milwaukee for DC. Along the way there and back, we saw a few tourists hanging in there in spite of the wind and sleet, and most looked totally unprepared for the awful weather. But they probably don't notice it as much as I do. The city looks very different in the raindrops, and I was just glad I was viewing it from inside the car. The restaurant was understandably more quiet than usual. We stopped at Safeway for a few things, then headed home - an even better place to be on a day like this. I hope the dentist office is open on Friday because I just don't feel like trying to get in today. Hope I'm not sorry!











Tuesday, November 26, 2013

A Look Back to a Beautiful Fall Day - and an Ugly Door

Because it is simply dreadful outside today and slowly deteriorating even as the day progresses, it's hard to believe that just a week or two ago it was a delight to be outdoors. It feels like we are still living in Wisconsin - it's freezing, raining, and downright ugly - which is one of the main reasons we moved here. It still amazes me that people walk around outside without an umbrella, but that is common place. Sitting inside an office with no windows makes you forget about it somewhat until you look over at the dripping umbrella. I do have to say that while on that wonderful walk a while ago one thing did stick out like a sore thumb. The entryway door to one of the townhouses looked a little odd. Maybe because it was Fall and the colors clashed, or maybe the owner was trying to decide which shade looked the best. Regardless, I know it is one entrance and not two. If the idea was to get attention, they did the right thing. I bet they don't carry umbrellas in the rain either. 





Monday, November 25, 2013

Capitol Christmas Tree

I am really proud of my husband. I knew the Capitol Christmas Tree would be arriving this morning from its long journey from Washington State. But I also knew I would not be anywhere near it when it did. When my phone rang at work this morning, my husband said he had just taken photos of the tree that he saw on his morning walk on the Mall. The 88-foot-tall Spruce was sitting in front of the American Indian Museum on a very long flat bed truck. He usually doesn't pay attention to things like this but occasionally remembers how much I like  to write about events in the neighborhood. Soon the tree will be decorated with homemade ornaments from kids around the country and the lighting ceremony is scheduled for December 3. Since we moved to DC we have seen a few lighting ceremonies and several beautiful trees. But I've never seen one delivered - until today, thanks to my husband. 






Sunday, November 24, 2013

George Washington Parkway Tree Clean Up

I suppose it would be about the only day you could do such a thing. Clogging up the George Washington Parkway is always an issue because it is a well traveled thoroughfare. On our way out for errands yesterday in McLean, we noticed the tree trimming and cleanup going on on the other side, with a huge back up of cars even on a Saturday. I reminded myself to avoid this way on our return home. Well, I forgot about it and we were stuck. But luckily not for very long. It was actually pleasant slow going along this path because it still is pretty this time of year. What was surprising is that someone is actually proactively clearing up the place to avoid further problems. That typically is not the mind set around here. Things usually happen after the fact because there is no choice - rarely to avoid additional damage or preventing anything more from happening. But then again, there were a lot of dead tress lying around from storms and high winds this year, but there aren't a lot of power lines, if any, so maybe I'm being too optimistic. Regardless, it was a great day to enjoy the view, especially when you are in the passenger seat. 
 




Saturday, November 23, 2013

Macy's Purse

I usually carry a very large purse and put everything in it except the kitchen sink. It weighs a ton but I always have whatever anyone needs from band aids to water. But during the week I don't need to carry around all that junk. I have a very small purse that holds the essentials but it's not quite big enough to fit in the umbrella or gloves when it gets colder outside.  And when we travel it becomes the primary purse and fits inside the big purse. So our mission today was to check the shops and hopefully find something to meet the need. My husband always comes along to serve as fashion advisor. We headed to Tyson's and checked Neiman Marcus, then Coach, then Cole Haan, then Saks. We finally reached the end of the mall and headed in to Macy's. It was there I found exactly what I needed at 40% off plus another 20%. Best of all it met all the specifications and more, and the price couldn't be beat. I hope it lasts for awhile, but at that price I just can't complain.