Rain Delay

Our historical tour plans for yesterday were delayed due to a mid-afternoon rain storm. Luckily, this surprise storm blew in before we had left the house.

My big news to report is that I have found a successor to my favorite steamed broccoli with garlic sauce at ChinaTown! After a 14 month battle, Oriental Cafe is the winner! The contest was to replicate the ChinaTown product, and Oriental Cafe's is virtually identical (at least as far as I can tell, since I haven't had the original in a long while).

Although, this does bring up an interesting point. . . .have you ever noticed how all of these neighborhood, family-owned Chinese carryouts look exactly the same? They have the same menu, the same pictures over the counter, the same plastic bag with a smiley face on it?! Halfway across the country, I am able to get the same delicious food in the same container. It's either incredibly weird, or incredibly wonderful!

Celebrating A Milestone at the Monument

Jason met me downtown for dinner and a "show" last night to celebrate my birthday. Our show was the beautiful view from the top of the Washington Monument! The skies were a bit overcast, but the experience was still extraordinary. We were up in the monument as the sun set.

Inside the monument at 550 feet above ground!

The view south to the Jefferson Memorial on the Tidal Basin.

The view north to the White House and the Ellipse.

Back at the base after the sun completely set.

Feeling Loved. . . .and 30!

Two out of two kids agree - turning 30 is a touchdown! (Yes, football season is just around the corner. That's the best present yet!)

These happy faces made my day! A big, big thanks to Desiree and Courtney for both knowing what a great kick I would get out of seeing birthday pictures today! Each has a blog so I get to keep tabs on their families, which I love. Posting the kids' pictures on my blog reminds me of when comic strip characters visit other strips!

Mallory was waiting for me in my Inbox this morning with these birthday wishes!

Aiden starred in an entire blog entry today to wish me a happy birthday through a series of photos!

River Riders

Today we drove 90 minutes to historic Harpers Ferry, West Virginia for a white water rafting adventure with River Riders, Inc. Our route took us along the Shenandoah River and through the beautiful Harpers Ferry National Historical Park in the Blue Ridge Mountains. The final mile of the trip was on the Potomac River where it meets the Shenandoah (and West Virginia, Maryland and Virginia meet). Our three-state, 7 mile voyage through the rapids was great fun! This photo above is a from River Riders' website, but our group looked exactly the same. I didn't take any pictures myself since I didn't want my camera in the water.

This view is near where the three states and two rivers meet. (courtesy of Wikipedia's Harpers Ferry National Historical Park site)

The Complete Picture

This masterpiece hangs over the fireplace at my parents' house. Well, over half the fireplace. There is an identical one for my brother (for those of you who have seen us together, you know the word identical is used in its literal sense).

Each picture is my school photo for the year as they go around the "clock" frame with kindergarten in the 12 spot and my "professional" senior picture in the middle. So, in the 3 o'clock window is poodle hair from the 3rd grade. I think my coolest years were 4th and 5th grade.

You probably can't see the details, but trust me on the following statistics:

Braces in 5 photos, although I never remember having bad teeth to start with.

New school-year perm in 5 photos. I haven't had a perm in 18 years, but my hair is still wavy. You can tell in my early pictures that I originally had straight hair.

Glasses in zero photos! Although, I did get glasses in 7th or 8th grade and wore them sporadically until my 10th grade year, I didn't consider them a regular part of my identity. The same cannot be said for when my "twin" brother and I got our bright green contacts.

Now That Looks More Like Me

Here I am at 4 years old - ready to start 19 continuous years of formal education! Day 1 was at The Learning Tree Preschool where my parents give great credit to my teacher, Mrs. Benson, for making me come out of my shy shell. What, me? Shy?

I have fond memories of those blue chairs. . . .Santa used to leave presents there on Christmas morning! Ryan's were always on the boxy chair on the left (a recliner?) and mine the right one (a swivel/rocker?). Santa delivered many Cabbage Patch Kid dolls to that right chair!

Hair Really Helps

This is my adorable new niece, Lily, who was born last week in Indianapolis to Jason's brother and his wife. She's only a week old and has more hair than I did as a toddler (see picture in previous post)! I've actually seen a picture where the hair is curling up in the back! I'd be jealous, but my hair did eventually grow in. . . . .and how can you have anything but love for this little sleeping beauty? I'm looking forward to meeting her in person next month.

Tuesdays That Make Me Smile

Almost every Tuesday during the summer months there is a concert by the Navy Band at the Navy Memorial on Pennsylvania Avenue, which is immediately next to my favorite metro station. I always forget about the concert until I round the corner and hear the music. That happened to me tonight. It just put a big smile on my face. It's my favorite part of Tuesday.

http://www.navyband.navy.mil/summerconcerts.shtml

Apparently Hair Is Optional

I'm getting a bit caught up in the fact that my 30th birthday is only a week away, so I asked my dad to send me some pictures of my childhood to post this week. Here's a photo that hangs on the wall at my parents' house. As you can see, apparently my full head of hair didn't come in until my toddler years. . . .Jason will tell you at the rate he has to unwind it out of the vacuum cleaner rollers that I'll soon look like this again. It's a good thing I was wearing a dress. Otherwise, people might think my parents had two boys.

Wild Weekend

Wow, we have had a crazy, busy weekend! Nah, just kidding. On Saturday, we didn't do anything all day. . . . and on Sunday, we didn't do anything again! I just figured I'd better post something to please my readers.

Saturday highlights:

• Jason went to the driving range.
• I went to the grocery store.
• Both of us went to the pool for a pre-dinner swim followed by a soak in the hot tub.

Sunday highlights:

• Jason played computer games most of the day.
• I slept or watched TV most of the day.
• Rachel joined me on the balcony to enjoy some shade, a nice breeze, and a magazine.

False Alarms

Our condo building has a fancy notification system in all of the units to alert us to fire, etc. As strobe lights start flashing through the building, a LOUD voice comes over the speakers (one of which is directly over our bed) repeating that "an emergency has been reported in the building" and that we should all exit using the stairs -- you know, the standard routine. It's the same voice and recording as in my office building.

The problem is it was going off last Monday evening when I got home. Jason and Rachel were already home. I walked to the lobby, and it didn't appear that the front desk guy was too panicky - except to get the system turned off. I went upstairs and we stood on our balcony where the noise wasn't as loud and waited as the fire department checked things out.

Fast forward to this 1 a.m. today for a repeat. Yeah, how's that for an alarm clock?! In the middle of the night! Although I did worry a bit that it was real (enough to exchange my pajamas for my workout clothes in case I did leave the building), I was mostly just tired and annoyed and assumed it was another fake. Rachel and I watched out our balcony door as the fire truck unfurled its hose and connected to the fire hydrant (this had me a bit concerned). But, when a second truck arrived and didn't do anything, I was pretty sure we had another false alarm. Jason went outside to investigate, but didn't learn anything.

After 20 minutes, the intercom system turned off. A few minutes after that, the hoses were packed up and the trucks gone. A few minutes after that, I was back in bed. But how can you sleep after that?!

Smithsonian Folklife Festival

Saturday was our first trip to Bhutan! Well, as close as you can get without a passport. The country of Bhutan, the state of Texas, and NASA were the featured subjects of this year's Smithsonian Folklife Festival which is held for two weeks each summer on the Mall.

The first Bhutanese temple built outside of the country

Although I misunderstood the food situation (I thought there were small, free samples from each subject area), we did buy a traditional Bhutanese dish called Ema Datsi and a mango lassi to share. The Ema Datsi was sliced potatoes, chiles, and a thin, cheesy sauce served with rice.

We visited a variety of tents to learn about Bhutanese culture, as well as what NASA has in the works. I guess we must have skipped the Texas tents.

Individual pieces of colored sand make up this masterpiece

Afterwards, we walked down past Capitol Hill to the Eastern Market, which is our favorite place to buy fresh ravioli, cheese, and produce. We were able to whip up fresh pesto sauce from our herb garden basil to top the Baby Spinach and Gorgonzola ravioli. Yum!

New York City

Here are some pictures from our trip to NYC. It's really hard to take pictures of tall buildings, so although I took ones of Trump Tower, etc, they didn't turn out well enough to post.

Hello Deli next to Letterman's studios. This was the first thing I saw when I exited the subway, and I recognized it immediately. I didn't check to see if Rupert was behind the counter!

Letterman's studio - the second thing I saw.

The cart where I bought my falafel pita.

Radio City Music Hall

This is across the street from Rockefeller Center and NBC studios, but I didn't get any pictures of those.

The American Museum of Natural History on the west side of Central Park - this is where the Ben Stiller movie about the overnight museum guard and the animals coming alive was filmed.

Brooklyn Bridge

The view to Brooklyn from Lower Manhattan. This is the heliport pier for downtown. I guess for the "high flying" commuters!

New York Stock Exchange on Wall Street

The Kansas City Royals Statue of Liberty

It was hazy the day we were in Lower Manhattan, so I didn't get any good shots of the "real" Lady Liberty. However, to advertise the All-Star game, there were statues throughout town for all the teams.