Things to Do - Project 52, Weeks 17 & 18

As cheesy as it sounds, this little collection of 2017's everyday moments makes me so happy.

As exemplified by the wise words of Ferris Bueller, "Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it."

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WEEK 17

(1) DC's graffiti church - this place is amazing.
(2) P practicing the flute (in the spring concert, P had a duet and F had a solo).
(3) F jumping in front of Union Market's heart mural (during our mural photoshoot, which was crazy fun - the kids all had a blast).
(4) I found this note on my iPhone and it cracked me up.
(5) Seems to me like heavy reading for a 5th grader, but F loved both books.
(6) Best friends.
(7) The boys in the morning - I know I should try and limit screen time, but after school they spend all their time outside, so it seems harmless enough to let them play on devices before school.
(8) I know I post too many dog park photos, but we have a blast there.
(9) P and Laney arting on Saturday morning after their soccer game.










WEEK 18

(1) P outside the Smithsonian's Freer Gallery, helping me test out the light for a couple I'd be photographing there in a few days.
(2) Every time I think the kids have finally outgrown this old playhouse, they recreate it somehow. This time T tried to make Coco a doghouse, but she kept escaping.
(3) My house is always full of children and this makes me happy (for the most part).
(4) On Saturday, while on my way to P's soccer game, I saw two young children on our street - one had a wheelbarrow that he could barely push (it kept falling over) and one was on a bike. And I thought to myself, "what on earth are those random kids doing?" Of course, because this is my life, one of the random children ended up being my son. And the wood was for fort building in my front yard.
(5) P's art.
(6) P after soccer practice, looking tired and bad-ass.
(7) I chaperoned an overnight trip with P's 4th grade class to Williamsburg, Jamestown, Yorktown, and Great Wolf Lodge. And this not-very-good photo is the best photo I took (chaperoning is exhausting).
(8) P at Artomatic with me, on a cold rainy Sunday.

Things to Do - Grateful List (March/April 2017)

Isn't it crazy how March feels as it it was so so long ago?

ARTS
* Family bookclub reading - A Young People's History of the United States (P kept saying, "this book is so biased. not everything in american history is bad."), We Should All Be Feminists, and A Feminist Manifesto in 15 Suggestions. (If you can't tell, I picked this month's books)
* Reading The Mothers
* Reading A Separation
* Watching the Detour with Dan (hilarious!)
* Watching Unreal, Season 2 (trashy tv, but still fun)
* Listening to the Head and the Heart's Signs of Light album
* Listening to S Town (podcast)
* Listening to This American Life's podcasts on (1) Ask A Grown Up and (2) In Defense of Ignorance
* Attending the middle school's production of Legally Blond
* Attending Ragtime with the girls at Ford's Theater
* Attending Fun House at National Theater (Dan hated it, I loved it).
* Fawning over the work of Eugene Richards

PLACES
* Slow flow Wednesday night yoga at Journey Yoga
* Omescape DC and a night out in Adams Morgan with friends (this was my first escape room experience and I loved it)
* Taking the girls and their friends on a DC-mural photoshoot (Yards Park, the graffiti church, and Union Market)
* The perfect family date night - dinner at Atilas then Drunk History before bed
* Easter baseball as a family (the Nationals won!)

PLACES (Vacation)
* A fantastic girls' weekend in Charleston, SC (mead tasting, lunch at Husk, shopping, dinner out, etc.)
* A weekend in NYC with Dan (Sunset Boulevard & the Comet of 1812 on Broadway and the Whitney Biennelle with Jenny)
* Kayla Coleman's fantastic photography workshop (Castle Hayne, NC)
* A relaxing few days in Sandbridge, VA with friends - sunset on the beach, easter egg hunts, walking through the backbit, and after dinner jam sessions

FOOD
* Roasted shisato peppers
* F making tahini blondies (from the Molly on the Range cookbook)
* Lunch at Jaleo with Sushant (a college friend who I haven't seen since graduation)

STUFF
* My new mugs from Society 6

ETC.
* F's love of math dice (she joined the team and competed)
* P and F's basketball team both made it to the second round of playoffs
* Constant nerf wars in the cut through
* Our first (and only) snow day of the year
* F was elected as a class representative to go to a conference and give a talk on her grade school's recycling program
* F IS NOW TALLER THAN ME!
* 70 degree days
* Same basic spring wonders each year - open windows and waking up to birds singing, lilacs, peonies, family dog walks at dusk
* A spontaneous afternoon of drinking with the neighbors on a rainy Saturday

Things to Wear - 12 Cute Shirts for Spring/Summer

New Yorker recently published an article about J Crew's possibly bankruptcy, coupled with a few theories as to what might have gone wrong (you can read it here).

In college, I was J Crew obsessed - dreaming of the day I'd be able to afford a whole wardrobe purchased solely from their catalog (from PJs through business wear). But somewhere along the way the prices kept escaping my comfort zone - hundreds of dollars for a simple pair of flats seemed crazy. Plus the models became skinnier and the styles quirkier.

After reading the article, I realized that I've barely shopped at J Crew in the last five years. So I decided to look online and see if they still sold clothes I coveted. And once I started shopping, well, I ended up with this post.

I love easy/flowy boho style tops and this spring they seem to be everywhere.



1. Gap ($44.95)
2. J Crew ($88)
3. Anthropologie ($118)
4. Zara ($39.90)
5. Madewell ($98)
6. Anthropologie ($98)



7. Madewell ($98)
8. Zara ($39.90)
9. Zara ($49.90) (I have no idea where I'd where this, but I find the photo's shirt/pant combo killer).
10. J Crew ($68)
11. Zara ($49.90)
12. Zara($35.90)

Things to Do - Random Links & 5 Hours 'Til Bedtime

Happy weekend everyone! If you have a chance, don't forget to check out this week's awesome on 5 Hours 'Til Bedtime!


RANDOM LINKS:

* KidFriendly DC's summer fun guide.

* I actually want to see the films in Flavorwire's reasonable, low-expectation summer movie preview.

* Suburbia in photos.

* 6 healthy recipes for when you barely have time to cook.

* Doesn't this dessert look delicious (and easy to make)?

* A science podcast for kids - this sounds awesome!

* 7 new books to read this May.

* Movie scenes influenced by famous paintings - this is pretty cool!

* I keep trying to listen to more podcasts, but I usually end up watching TV instead. Maybe these will inspire me to switch.

* This new pet-sitting site looks awesome if you (like us) love to vacation.

* 50 best high school movies, do you agree? (My favorite will always be Pretty in Pink).

* My friends' moms - I found this the perfect read for Mothers' Day.

Things to Do - Project 52, Weeks 15 & 16

I accidentally downloaded bigger photos, but I think I like them better this way.





















WEEK 15 - Spring Break!

(1) Walker World Organic Artists' Retreat for Kayla Coleman's photography workshop
(2) The yard at Walker World
(3) Photographing a gorgeous couple at the photography workshop
(4) One of the many random dogs of Walker World
(5) Sunset in Sandbridge, VA
(6) P at the beach
(7) Random rainbows
(8) Soccer at dusk
(9) This wasn't even all the children in the beach house
(1) Downtime in the beach house






















WEEK 16 - This week ended up having a red theme - not sure how or why that happened, but it's kind of cool that it did.

(1) This kid continues to love the dog park
(2) Outside Nationals' stadium
(3) Dinner at Chipotle
(4) Laundry folding
(5) Easter baseball game
(6) The gang after school
(7) P reading the paper after soccer practice
(8) The nature center with my favorite 5 year old
(9) Spontaneous happy hour on a rainy Saturday
(10) After preschool

Places to Go - Spring Break 2017, Part III - Easter Baseball (Washington D.C.)

For the final chapter of spring break 2017, we spent Easter Sunday at a Nationals game. (They won!). It was 90 degrees in April (seriously?), but we had shady seats so all was good.

I don't usually bring my DSLR to such events, but I thought it would be fun to try photographing during the harsh light of early afternoon. Plus, I like to take photos.

The signs on the neighborhood balconies were cracking us up.

Anyways, have a great weekend everyone! See you next week!

Places to Go (Vacation) - Spring Break 2017, Part II - Chill-axing at the Beach (Sandbridge, VA)

We spent the second half of spring break at a beach house with friends. Even though the water was too cold for swimming (though P still tried), listening to the waves and binge reading A Separation made for a few wonderful days. Plus, the nightly concerts/jam sessions could not be beat.






I love when rainbows appear in unexpected places.





Downtime.




The kids made colored sand. Purpose unclear.





And this isn't even all of the children.






Live music = awesomeness.





I love beach sunsets.




For our last night in town, I talked a group of kids and adults into taking sunset photos at Backbay National Wildlife Refuge. The sky was crazy beautiful.



Finally, a decent photo of all three.





My mom-daughter twin moment (photo credit goes to T).






Deer!