blog

heat wave

A heat wave, that's surely what we are having in New York today (and tomorrow, for that matter). When I woke up this morning before 8 AM, the temperature was already 78 degrees with 88 percent humidity. And the temp is only rising with tomorrow expected to reach 101. Whew. I could surely use one - or two - of these in this weather.


[found via pinterest here]

ordinary day

This is my friend Melanie Penn and her new music video, Ordinary Day! She is super talented and super cute in this video...and all of the time, really. (I can't stop watching it!) You should buy her album, Wake Up Love, on Amazon or iTunes. You won't be disappointed!

first ladies campaign

When I was at the Smithsonian a couple weeks ago, I made sure to hit the First Ladies exhibition. I was, of course, mesmerized by the beautiful dresses and fashion of them each, but found these campaign pins so fascinating! For some reason I had never thought specifically about the First Ladies having to campaign as well...I liked the thought of them being such a "team" with their husbands.

day 13: reminds you of childhood































[I must say, I was really stumped by this one - hence the delay in posting as I said I would. But quite frankly there is nothing in New York that reminds me of my childhood. However, I did have quite a few rainbow stuffed animals as a kid...not much has changed.)

washington dc

I recently spent 3 days in our beautiful nation's capital, as I mentioned earlier. Katherine and I went down to visit a couple of friends (and I went to, er, sight-see for the 5th time). We stayed with a friend of Katherine's from college and she hosted us with such wonderful hospitality! We ate brunch at a fantastic place called Founding Farmers, which I particularly enjoyed because of all the southern fare. Then we toured around, went to the Holocaust Museum (which I highly recommend while going in with the expectation that it will be a tremendously heavy experience), ate dinner at a great burger spot (Good Stuff Eatery) and went 'monument hopping' Saturday night. Sunday we made the most of our short time before we caught the bus and went to the Smithsonian National Museum of American History, which was soooo great!

I was a little sad to board the bus back to NYC, but alas vacations can't last forever. Since I took almost 200 pictures in the short weekend, I'll spare you and only add my faves here.


Fried green tomatoes and chicken & waffles. Can you go wrong?































Julie at her summer job: the Treasury Department!


True tourists: the Capitol at night!


I heart Alabama!



















Good Stuff Eatery: 5 different flavors of mayonnaise to try. (And beautiful in rainbow order!)

Honest Abe, still the same from the last time I saw him...


Hello landmarks of DC!


3rd longest escalator...in the world? Yes.



















God Bless America!























I should have won scrabble on this word alone!


There she is. And everywhere we turned: The Washington Monument!

opening night


Last week my money became one of the $476 millions of dollars in ticket sales for the final movie in the 8-film Harry Potter series. We waited in line with the thousands of other people to see the midnight opening of the show, and, boy, was it ever worth it (and, boy, were the fanatics out)! I had a long and tiring day on Thursday and actually contemplated skipping out on the 12:01 am showing- gasp, but would have regretted that decision terribly. Our group turned out as normal (minus Maggie, plus Julie) at the theater by my apartment and enjoyed the last time of watching a midnight showing together!  

a little hold up

This weekend I've been off my normal routine just a bit... so, naturally I lost track of my 30-day photo challenge and have been waylaid on getting those posted. They'll return tomorrow (with day 13) and hopefully some really great shots.

"Harry Potter, Jesus, and Me"

I recently stumbled across this article on twitter a few days ago: Harry Potter, Jesus and Me. It was after midnight when I found it, but I couldn't stop reading until almost 1 AM. I love this "staged" letter to JK Rowling that Andrew Peterson wrote regarding the emotions evoked in him while reading the Harry Potter series. I wouldn't mind writing the same letter to her.


Dear Ms. Rowling,

I think it’s remarkable what you’ve done. I love your imagination. I love your characterization and your sense of humor. I love that you’re telling a story about choosing the right thing, even when it’s hard. I love that you’re telling a story that is full of wisdom, a story that reminds me how evil Evil is. Most of all, I love that your story reminds me that light is stronger than darkness, that the best way to love is to lay your life down, and that Death will not have the final say. By the way, I’m a follower of Christ, and I see him in your story. I don’t know if that’s intentional or not, but you should know that he’s in there. In fact, it wouldn’t be a huge stretch to say that reading your books has helped me to praise him even more for his courage, his sacrifice, and his strength to conquer the hosts of hell to save us.