Things to Do - BEST OF 2015

You didn't seriously think I'd let 2015 go by without a list, did you? To see the lists from past years, click here.

BOOKS
(fiction)
* My Brilliant Friend: Neapolitan Novels, Book One(possibly the best book I've ever read)
* Americanah
* Some Luck
* Life After Life
* Her
* Suite Française
* Station Eleven
* Freedom
* The Reluctant Fundamentalist

(Non-fiction)
* Girl in a Band: A Memoir
* River Town: Two Years on the Yangtze
* Displacement
* Yes Please
* Four Seasons in Rome: On Twins, Insomnia, and the Biggest Funeral in the History of the World

TV
* The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Season 1
* Bloodline, Season 1
* the League, Season 6 (Netflix streaming)
* Narcos, Season 1
* Master of None, Season 1 (esp. episode 9)
* Girls Season 4 (esp. episode 5)

MOVIES
* The Grand Budapest Hotel
* Nightcrawler
* Iris
* Trainwreck
* What Happened Miss Simone?
* Brooklyn

FAMILY MOVIES/TV SHOWS (this category becomes bigger as the kids can watch more movies that we like as well)
* Rewatching favorite old movies with the kids - Big Fish, Big, Jaws, Footloose, Overboard
* How the States Got Their Shapes
* Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good . . .
* Shane with T
* Monkey Kingdom
* Inside Out
* ANTMAN!!!
* THE MARTIAN!!
* Pixels
* Miss Representation. (F wants to change the world now more than ever).
* Project Runway, Season 14 (Ashely and Kelly!)

MUSIC
* Stars' album No One Is Lost
* Taylor Swift's cover of Riptide
* Sufjan Stevens' album Carrie and Lowell
* The Augustines, self-titled album
* Borns' album Candy
* Ryan Adams, 1989
* Chvurches, Every Open Eye
* Lord Huron
* My Sangria at Soccer Practice mix
* Angus and Julia Stone
* Leon Bridge's album Coming Home

LOCAL EXHIBITS & PERFORMANCES
* Trailer Park, the musical
* Cherokee at Woolly Mammoth
* The Tallest Man on Earth at Lincoln Theater
* Arlington Art Center's Play exhibit
* Shirin Neshat's "Facing History" at the Hirshhorn
* Peter Pan 360 in Tysons
* The Building Museum's Beach
* Katy Perry's portrait & Revelations in Media Art at the National Portrait Gallery/ Smithsonian American Art Museum (Washington D.C.)
* American Moments: Photographs from the Collection at the Philips' Collection
* The Landmark Music Festival as a family (so much good music!)
* Josh Ritter at Lincoln Theater for date night (totally obsessed with his new song, "Getting Ready to Get Down")
* Ester Bubley's photography at the National Museum of Women and the Arts
* Synetic Theater's production of Alice and Wonderland with the girls
* Sorry [Apple Family Circus] at Studio Theater for date night
* Bright Star at the Kennedy Center (so catchy for a musical!)
* The Renwick's Wonder exhibit
* Second City at the Arlington Drafthouse with half our neighborhood (I love where we live)

NEW LOCAL PLACES
* House of Steep
* Janeese and my 15.5 mile walk around DC (which was fun despite finding ourselves stuck in Arlington Cemetery for hours)
* Bull Run's Family Ice Cream themed mud run with the kids
* Watching the Women World's Cup at the Arlington Drafthouse (and their huge win at a friends' party)
* Great Waves' waterpark on the last day of August (totally empty)
* The Smithsonian American History Museum's new Innovations wing (so. much. fun.)
* MD Renaissance Festival

VACATION PLACES
* Disney World in January (esp. the new fast pass reservation system and the fact that all three kids are now old enough for Everest and Dinosaur; Thunder Mountain after dark)
* Touring the Richmond Capitol with our delegate, Alfonso Lopez
* Spring break in downtown Chicago with Grandma Troutman (esp. The Bean, the Art Institute, and the Museum of Science and Industry)
* Savannah moms' weekend (esp. drinks and food at Billy's Place)
* Our crazy crowded super fun Memorial Day Beach House (39 people working together for awesomeness)
* Camping in Senecca Rocks, WV and touring Smoke Hole Caverns
* Paris - The Pompidou Center and the Louvre and walking around such a beautiful city
* Venice - everything (well, except the heat)
* The Last Supper in Milan
* Sala Comacina in Lake Como, pretty much the prettiest place I've ever been
* Pizza Navona in Rome and touring the Vatican Museums (plus, walking home as night fell over the city; and drinks/ice cream in Campo De Fiori every night)
* Context Travel's underground Rome Tour (layers and layers of history)
* The beach in San Sebastian Spain
* The Guggenheim in Bilbao Spain (and our fantastic penthouse apartment in old town)
* Road tripping to "The Middle of Nowhere" Spain (Hotel Garbatros)
* Disney Paris (yes, we visited two Disney parks in one year, though if I had my way it would be all five)
* Smith Mountain Lake with Dan's family
* Mom's weekend in Rehoboth Beach
* Hiking/walking Belle Isla (Richmond, VA) the day after Thanksgiving
* NYC before Xmas esp. the Cloisters and the Met

Things to Do - Cherish This Day & Random Links

Happy Friday everyone!! The photo above was taken a few weeks ago, actually almost a month ago, during our NYC trip, when we stopped in Queens and spent the night with one of my best friends and her family. Isn't there something wonderful about seeing your (older) children playing with younger kids? It makes me feel like I'm doing something right (or maybe I was just happy to sit back, have a glass of wine, and let the kids take care of the other kids).

Anyways, more photos from the trip are at the bottom of this post. Have a great weekend and stay warm during the upcoming snowstorm! And, if you have a chance, don't forget to check out this week's awesome on Cherish This Day!

RANDOM LINKS:

* NPR'S Book Concierge is back with 2015's picks. I love this website!

* I want to read this book. And right now I'm obsessed with this series (as in I can't stop reading).

* Dolly Parton on getting dirty. Cute!

* For photographers, this looks like a fun project on a cold day when you're stuck indoors.

* And don't forget, I'm offering a 25% discount for anyone who wants to book a winter photo shoot (trust me on this, winter photo shoots are so much more fun and easy going than autumn ones).

* Coffee table worthy magazines. These looks so pretty.

Things to Watch - Netflixing (January 2015)

So I was prepared to write a whole post about the different shows we as a family are watching on Netflix, but that will have to wait til next month because Making a Murderer requires its own blog post. Have you seen it?

I was so thoroughly convinced of Steven Avery's innocence that I couldn't sleep for hours after every episode. I was furious. I was angry. I wanted to move to Europe. I wanted to glitter bomb Wisconsin. I wanted to cry.

But now I'm SO CONFUSED!! The story keeps getting more and more complex. Like this interview, WHAT? And then there are these new facts.

Though even if Avery is shadier than we/I thought, there's still the Brendan Dassey issue - in which police officers lead a mentally handicapped teenager into a false confession. And the whole series begins with the fact that the police department knowingly let an innocent man sit in jail.

Anyways, if you haven't seen it - you need to to watch. Just read these quotes for some good teasers -

* “Poor people lose. Poor people lose all the time” —Steven Avery, talking to his parents from jail

* “Who better than a police officer would know how to frame somebody?” —Jerry Buting, co-defense counsel for Steven Avery

* “This is truly where the devil resides in comfort. I can find no good in any member. These people are pure evil. A friend suggested this is a one-branch family tree. Cut this tree down. We need to end the gene pool here.” —Kachinsky’s defense investigator Michael O’Kelly, in an email to Kachinsky

* “Most of what ails our criminal justice system lie in unwarranted certitude on the part of police officers and prosecutors and defense lawyers and judges and jurors that they are getting it right. That they are simply right. Just a tragic lack of humility in everyone who participates in our criminal justice system” —Dean Strang

“You are probably the most dangerous individual ever to set foot in this courtroom” —Judge Patrick Willis, to Avery, at his sentencing



*** If you were addicted to Making a Murderer and Serial, here's a list of other true crime documentaries on Netflix. I haven't watched any yet, but I plan on checking several out soon.

*** And here's a list of seven PBS documentaries on similar issues.

Things to Do - Some of My Favorite Client Photos from 2015

This year was so full of amazing moments that it is almost impossible to choose my favorite photos, so if you want to see more, click on over to Darcy Troutman Photography to check out the full set (which still doesn't seem like everything, wow, it's been a busy year).

Are you interested in your own photoshoot with me? I'm currently offering 25% off throughout February and March. Are you nervous/hesitant to take professional photos in the colder months? Don't be! Winter is the perfect time to capture your family just being yourselves - we could make soup, play boardgames, tunnel through the (maybe) snow, build legos, ball fight, dance around the kitchen, watch football, bundle up for a neighborhood scavenger hunt, decorate cookies, paint self portraits, sing at the top of our lungs, etc. As I try to emphasize every shoot, sometimes the best moments are also the most relaxed moments!

Further, if you want to book early for the spring months, I'm offering 10% off in April and May if you book in January or February.

Any questions? Email me at darcytroutman@hotmail.com for more info or check out my professional page - Darcy Troutman Photography.