A Weekend of Museums

Not sure how many of you have been to DC, let alone the National Aquarium, but if perchance you happen to be able to visit DC…don’t bother with the National Aquarium. My friends and I, fresh off the metro and ready to see some museums, bought a museum pass pack for Madame Tussaude’s, the Crime and Punishment museum, and the National Aquarium. 3 museums, 3 days that the passes were good, just over 40$, good deal you’d think. Nope, one third of that deal is not worth it. But we’ll get to that in a second.

How about the good stuff before the bad? Madame Tussaude’s was awesome. Even though it was 1/4th the size of the original in London (that one is wicked awesome), this little DC row house of a museum was a lot of fun. I particularly enjoyed the interactive exhibits in the presidents gallery that allowed me to shake Jefferson’s hand, sit in on a meeting with Grant, watch a play with Lincoln (we tried to overlook the morbid side of that particular display), disembark Air Force One with the Kennedys…you get the point. I’m such a history nerd so I loved walking through and picking out the pose references. Also, with it being a museum and my friends and I completely embracing the tourist guise, enjoyed coming up with ways to goof off with said historical pose references. Give Teddy a kiss, lean lovingly into Lincoln arms; all with complete respect and admiration for our country’s leaders of course.

Skipping over the long line for pictures in the “Oval Office,” we dashed to the celebrities section of the museum, where again, goofing off ensued. Prom photos with Will Smith, lounging with Madonna, a kiss to George Clooney (of course), and a height picture to prove that I, in fact, am around the same height as Tom Cruise. To those of you that have stood next to me…so almost all of you…that means he’s short.

My favorite part of the museum however was the music artist section. I fulfilled a life dream in getting my picture with the Queen of Jazz, Ella Fitzgerald; and, as an added bonus, shared a piano bench with the legendary Duke Ellington. The other highlight for me was strapping on a hockey helmet and sitting next to Alex Ovechkin. The Caps may not be my number one team but, due to them being so accessible, I’ve come to support them and occasionally have been known to Rock the Red.

Like I said, the wax museum was the fun part. The aquarium left the day on a sad note. (We ran out of time for C&P Museum.) First off, the entrance is not where Google said it was, so wandering the block surrounding 14th and Constitution in the bitter January wind added some extra fun. But once inside, you head downstairs to what looks like a dark basement and pay $10 (I didn’t actually get the 3 museum deal so had to purchase separately) to walk a very small loop lined with very small aquariums set into the wall. It looked like a Zoology professor’s basement with very sad, in most cases, not cute fish.

Maybe I’m spoiled with the aquariums that I’ve been to before in the past and set my expectations too high, but normally it’s safe to assume that something with the word “National,” while in our nation’s capitol, would be spectacular. But alas, it was not. I guess I’ll have to make a trip up to Baltimore for their aquarium, which I have heard from several sources, is amazing. (Plus, they say it has penguins, so win-win there.)

Not wanting to end on a negative note and even though the aquarium was less than impressive, I still do really enjoy getting to explore DC. It’s so easy to get into a routine—get up, go to work, go home, eat dinner while watching TV, sleep, repeat—but really there is so much that you should be doing regardless of where you live. Big city, little city, odd suburb, there’s bound to be something to explore and on which to form an opinion.

So with that, anyone want to go exploring? I’ll bring the camera.

Wedding Scouts

One of the most terrifying and yet flattering things that can happen to a person is to be asked to be your friend's one and only wedding photographer. Having no professional experience, or really event photographing experience, before, it would be an understatement to say I was a nervous wreck. For months I stalked wedding blogs, read article, and even bought a new, very nice digital SLR in preparation for the event.

Only one problem remained, no matter how much I researched and prepared, I couldn't be in all the places I needed to be at once to capture each pivotal moment of a wedding. The procession alone has 4 angles that should be covered, at least. That's where my saint of a friend, Justin, came in. With previous wedding recording experience and after some pleading on my part, he agreed to my photographer in crime. And thank goodness he did. I could not have done it without him.

For being two non-professional photographers, I think we did rather well. From the location scouting the night before, to brainstorming poses, to scrambling together backup plans in case we got kicked out of the bridal party photoshoot location, I think we covered it all. (photos of the wedding itself are forthcoming on the Events tab. Still editing those....)

These are some of my favorite shots from our scouting adventures around DC.

Enjoy!

Christmas Time is Here

When the only snow on Christmas you see is on your tv screen while watching White Christmas, something is wrong. The holiday world is off kilter. Things out of the ordinary are happening...my family came to visit me for Christmas and we spent the week wandering a very mild, very calm DC.

Instead of a Christmas eve spent watching holiday movies on my grandparent's couch, we wandered the Mall, Eastern Market, and some of the Smithsonian museums. Some traditions were upheld, my dad made pizza, my sisters baked, my mom played Christmas music, and I flitted between orchestrating logistics and those DC-y things.

So here are a few shots of our DC Christmas wanderings.

Happy Holidays from my family to yours!

It's Up to You New York, NY

One of the things I love about living on the East coast is how close everything is to each other. It's like Europe in that way. Drive 2 or 3 hours in any direction in most cases and you will find yourself in a new country or state, depending on continent. For example, this past weekend I was able to hop on a bus to NYC and arrived before lunch. It was fast, affordable, and comfortable. The perfect way to start a weekend in the city that never sleeps.

It was also exciting because this was the first trip to the city with my new camera. I'll be the first to admit I'm still figuring out the settings and how to function with a camera that weighs the same as a small infant, but I think I was able to walk away with some good ones.

The occasion for this trip was to visit my uncle who has recently moved from California to NYC. I could not be happier that I'm no longer alone in the Eastern time zone, and, bonus, I now have someone to stay with/visit while getting my Broadway fix. This blog has never had opportunity to unveil that side of me before, but I am a huge Broadway theater nut; specifically musicals. I grew up on the classics, Rodger and Hammerstein, Cole Porter, Gilbert and Sullivan, spent my school years filling the chorus lines and minor parts of my schools' drama productions, and every year, to this day, I block off my night to watch the Tony Awards with a figurative Do Not Disturb sign on my forehead.

I love the music, I love the songs, I love the dancing, I love the jokes, I love when they make me cry, I love the lights, I love stepping out of my world for two and a half hours to live in a place where people really do breakout into song and where music helps translate the significance in an action or feeling the way words never can. I do love the lines and the lyrics, they too can be irrevocably true, but the level to which a swell of music can just make you feel and know something is true is as close to perfect understanding as I think possible. The escape from needing words to register an idea in the mind of someone and instead push that thought or emotion or choice through to the core so that they can feel it is true because it is sitting square in their chest; spreading from heart to fingertips and toes with the stroke of a bow or the croon of a horn. That, is an incredible feeling, and while imperfectly (and perhaps verbosely) described here, it is one that I will always keep coming back for.

It was a blissful weekend well spent loving every step along the NY streets: passing the crowds waiting at the stage door for Huge Jackman, along the holiday windows on 5th Avenue, and through the maze of subway lines. And there's one thing left to say: Sing it Frankie!

North Woods Thanksgiving

I LOVE MY NEW CAMERA! Seriously it is the sexiest camera alive. I’m sure everyone says that when they make the giant leap from automatic point and shoot to a Digital SLR…but really, sexy sexy camera. I’m obsessed with my camera so much so that I chose it over my laptop for my carry-on on my most recent flight home for Thanksgiving.

And as these photos will show, I am so glad I made that choice. Hayward is and forever will be my favorite place on earth. It’s calm, quiet, beautiful, and endlessly interesting with its wildlife, winding roads, and forest paths. I took these wandering down our (very long) driveway with my sister and my uncle. You’d think with everything being brown, dead, and unfortunately not wildly snow covered, there would be little of interest to photograph. Oh contraire with this camera. Its detail is amazing and opens up my “artistic eye,” if I’m able to even it that, even more to the random photo ideas that jump into my head.

This was the vacation of abandoned chairs, “snow balls,” tree climbing, pinwheel finding, blaze orange, breaking ice, and candles. All while trying to figure out a fancy new camera that I’m pretty sure is smarter than me. I’ll get the hang of it eventually though…I hope.

I hope even a quarter of my photographic excitement shines through these because, believe me, I was having a blast.

Enjoy!

Goofing Off in History

I’m a sucker for RenFests. Ever since I went to my first one in a far off cornfield in Ohio during undergrad, I was hooked. As I’ve said quite frequently, I’m a big history nerd. I was that little 5th grader giggling into a book about Greek mythology or the 7th grader who begged her parents to take her to Medieval Times for her birthday or even the 20-something seriously looking for a partner in crime to go to the Colonial Williamsburg living museum. Any opportunity available in which I can get my hands on some shred of history (even commercialized or slightly bastardized), I’ll do it. And I’ll jump in with as much gusto and dedicated enthusiasm as my 5th grade self all those years ago. This year’s trip to the Maryland Renaissance Festival was no different.

Step one for a RenFest is absolutely the costumes. I fully expect myself to have a complete costume eventually, but for now I settle for the cheap target tavern wench costume with an upgraded bodice I found at a garage sale. There’s no better way to get into the period of it all like physically putting on the clothes of the time. Not to mention, ladies, who doesn’t secretly want to know how skinny your waist will look in a corset.

The other reason for dressing up, besides getting to wear something other than modern clothes for an afternoon, is that you blend in with the crowd; allowing for the best people watching you will encounter. There are all kinds, shapes, and sizes wearing all kinds, shapes, and sizes of outfits. And you can tell that everyone is just having a great time. No judgment, no worries, just unadulterated character egged on by the very interesting people who run the stands and put on the shows.

For example, if you’ve ever wondered how a Medieval court functioned, all you have to do is sit on a bench and take up a yellow sign. Labeled as a Witch or a Thief or, in our group’s case, a Traitor, you can watch the full extent of the law (complete with red ribbon guts and wooden stocks) reign down on those you know or drunken strangers you don’t.

I get a lot of different responses when I tell people I go to Renaissance Festivals—usually jolly and supportive (though skeptical), but everyone has their own preconceptions about what they are and what type of people go there and I’m certainly am not going to change with a few pictures and a blog post. Maybe that means more jousting tournament room for me, or maybe it just means you’ll have to go with me next time. I certainly hope it’s the latter. So please, prepare thyself for merriment!

The Weddings of 2011

The summer of 2011, it seems, was the summer of weddings. I went to one in Maine (which I’ve previously posted about here), then July brought a wedding in Illinois, August a wedding in Toledo, and September a wedding in Oxford, OH. And that’s not even counting the wedding in Connecticut or Seattle that I unfortunately had to decline due to scheduling conflicts. Apparently now then was the time to get married, who knew.

The wedding in IL was for one of my best friends. I’ve known this kid since I was born and I could not love him more than as the brother he practically already is. Brother from another mother, sister from a different mister. I was honored to be a bridesmaid for his lovely, now, wife. And, even though pink is not my favorite color in the world, I had an amazing time dancing and smiling and celebrating my “baby bro” and new “sister-in-law.”

Wedding 2 of this post was in Toledo. A Yankee Ohio gal married my Alabamian coworker and it was a blast. For this one I was free to watch from the congregation as he glowed at the sight of her walking down the aisle. Chris is a bit of a goofball so to see that moment of pure, all-encompassing joy for him was priceless. Not to mention they really know how to throw a party, dancing the night away till the wee hours of the morning. I sadly sustained a dance floor ankle injury when one of the very tall, very large groomsman fell on top of me, but even then (after a lot of ice and pain meds) I was able to watch the rest of those boogying down on the floor with pleasure.

The final wedding of the season was easily the most perfectly suited wedding for my friend Joy that there ever possibly could be. Everything from the people she surrounded herself with to the church to the programs to the calico bows tied around the pews were so quintessentially Joy that it made my heart burst with happiness for her. It was all so simple and pure and true. It’s the kind of day that anyone would be absolutely blessed to experience as their own.
A lot of people say that they hate going to weddings. And I can understand how they can be stressful, the amount of work and time just to be a guest let alone a participant is exhausting but I always have such a great time when I’m there that I can never understand the “hate.” They are celebrations. They are unabashed fun. They are, even in the smallest way, surrounded by signs of the happiness that is to come. I know they say most marriages end in divorce and that for me to be so optimistic for myself and my friends is naïve, but I can’t help but disagree. Everything happens for a reason and their, my, our steps down the aisle are leading us to the next chapter of who we are meant to be.

I prefer to stay that optimistic, as there is nothing naïve about the power of hope.