Live from DC!

Happy Christmas Eve everyone!!!
Oh the fun! Oh the surprises!!!

What a hint?

Yup, yours truly is going to NYC. lol And, yes, you could have knocked me over with a feather. Last place I ever thought I'd go, but my sneaky sister and brother (aka brother-in-law) have made us hotel reservations at their favorite Moroccan-themed hotel near Times Square, gotten us tickets to the Rockettes, and say the rest of or 3 days there is up to me. Decisions! Decisions! Things I've contemplated so far are the Botanic Gardens, Ellis Island, Nero Wolfe's house (although lucky for the family, Rex Stout never settled on a firm address for the famed brownstone so no pilgrimage is possible), Grant's Tomb, Central Park, the famed Christmas windows of the stores, and St. Patrick's Cathedral.

Got any suggestions for me??????

A quick recap of my adventures so far....
I arrived on Wednesday evening via a lovely flight on Virgin America (go on try it, I think you'll like them--- although the lighting is made for media viewing NOT stitching lol) to grocery shop with my sister, and then crash into bed to find:

... a box of Jo Jos amidst my pillows. If you haven't had them, hop over to a Trader Joes and pick up some boxes. they are peppermint flavored oreo-ish cookies and they are wonderful. They are only available around Christmas though, so enjoy while you can!

Unlikely as it sounds I spent Thursday all day glued to my laptop doing office battle. I know, I know, I'm an idiot. I'm on vacation and yet I spend THE WHOLE DAY doing office crap. Apparently I'm not so terribly bright. I learned on Friday though-- after a morning spent officing, I spent the afternoon playing at the DC craft and art fair and going through every inch of the Reynolds Center (aka the National Portrait Gallery and the National Art Museum). You really should visit there. Their most recent "big" feature is their new roof. They used to have a central courtyard that was open air, but they covered it for all-weather events with this amazing undulating roof



Among the nifty exhibits in the Reynolds are:
A current exhibit of John Alexander (through March 2008) who does an amazing array of fantastic paintings. He's modern, and yet I love him -- he must be a miracle worker! For instance I fell in love with these:



Another current exhibit on WWI Bond posters (through February 2008)-- including my all time favorite:


The Reynolds is also home to my favorite collection -- The George Catlin Indian paintings. Here's George and a part of the collection in a stairway:



There are also many beautiful pieces throughout the permanent exhibits:

"Villa Malta, Roma" by Gifford


"Woman with Red Hair" by Herter



What can I say -- I have a Joan of Arc thing -- "Adoration of Saint Joan" by Fosdick


"Angel" by Thayer

There's this amazing Norman Rockwell portrait of Nixon -- I mean it's an amazing painting. You have to go see it!



And this hysterical piece of George Bush (the elder) horseshoe pitching -- it's so very him!

by Oliphant


Saturday my brother installed my sister's Christmas present -- a giant HDTV above their fireplace. It was a most-of-the-day-affair and was fairly entertaining and definitely successful --


Sunday we went to church, went a bought me shoes (for the NYC adventure) despite my insistence that I had plenty of shoes, had dinner guests, and waited for my nephew, niece, and great nephew to arrive for Christmas Eve partying.

Today we had Christmas. My grand nephew needed to be home so Santa could visit him at his house so we celebrated early. We opened packages, laughed a lot, made cookies and candy, laughed some more, then helped wave the family off to wait for Santa. We also learned a few useful lessons--
he's still not big enough for Daddy's letterman jacket


chocolate always tastes good-- even if it's red and you stick it on your aunt's nose


silver platters, even those covered with beef drippings, scare the dog
Honest, she wouldn't eat the leavings. She just sniffed and snuck around the platter looking confused and skittish.

Tomorrow I'm hoping to convince my brother and sister to go to Arlington National Cemetery. I just heard tonight on the news that they put a wreath on each marker for Christmas, and I want to go see Uncle Ellis'... and everyone else's. This is it from a previous year.

We'll have no snow unless the weather completely turns tonight, but I still expect a moving experience.

In between events I've done a little stitching (side one of my Fair Square for Laura is nearly done), lots of yawning (vacation really takes it out of you!!!!), too much cookie eating, a fair amount of dog walking, and absolutely no reading. Maybe tonight will be my book's lucky night!