iPhotos

Pictures that have been lingering on my phone. An accurate portrayal of my life?

Gnome candle

Vegan carrot cake cupcake. Not as bad as you might think. I still prefer real cream cheese.

dancer with fire at the Palace of Wonders.

Ruby pondering the snow plow outside our window.

Leaves from a walk way back in November.

Things to do this Spring

This is my evolving list of things to do this spring. with the promise of snow tomorrow and Saturday, I can't stop thinking about what I want to do when there's flowers blooming and leaves on the trees. This is also an initial draft of what I want to do when Mom and Dad come to town.

National Zoo - I STILL haven't made it. Now I have the ability to walk from my house (about a mile away...) and it's a Smithsonian.
Arboretum - Azaleas! Capitol Columns!
Waterfront fish market -across the street from my work. Friendly people from all walks of life eating fresh seafood. My favorites are watching them shuck oysters and seeing all the crabs moving around. I also like that you are stationary and the goods and merchants float with the tides, meaning sometimes they are down at your feet. Don't wear a skirt here. I think I'll eat lunch there tomorrow.
Charlottesville/ Monticello - Thomas Jefferson's house! It's supposed to be better than Mt. Vernon. It's also 3 hours away.

Baltimore

Saturday the roommates and I took a wander to Baltimore. It was a beautiful day with highs in the 40's and lots of sunshine. Perfect because all my outside time now is in the dark. Dark on the walk to the metro. Dark on the way home. Only those occasional walks on the waterfront at lunch provide any vitamin D. And I usually convince myself it's too cold.

We started at the inner harbor, aka tourist central. It's got all the cutesy shops and has been gussied up so it doesn't really resemble a working port any more. We were tempted to go to the aquarium, because we've heard nothing but good things about it, but it was $30 for the visit and a dolphin show. Since we were only there for the afternoon, we decided to save the clams and come back sometime when we could spend ALL day there and get our money's worth.

We walked through little italy down to Fell's Point, another revitalized waterfront area with tons of cute shops and bars. It reminded me of New Orleans. We found a giant blue crab that my roommates weren't nearly as excited as the should have been and wouldn't take a picture with. They have me doubting them...

After that, we drove around the city. Both the roomies are fans of the TV show The Wire and were strangely excited when we ended up in the... um.... not so great side of the tracks. With the police cameras on all the light poles that flashed and said "24/7 - believe" which I think is a reference to "believe us, we are watching you all the time!"

We ended the day with a drive through Johns Hopkins' campus and a tour of the area adjacent to it, with cute little boutiques, cafes and a great antique shop. At 6 everything promptly closed up and we were standing on a deserted street. It was odd.

Baltimore was nice, and closer than I thought. I'd definitely go back for a day trip, most likely for the aquarium or possibly for a play/show. They apparently get a lot of theatrical/musical traffic.

morning pick me up

The old, toothless man who hands out the express newspaper outside the metro, singing and dancing along to the Beatles' 'Ticket to Ride' in 20 degree weather. If only we all had his joy at 7am.