come and open up your folding chair next to me

My feet are buried in the sand and there's a breeze. (Regina Spektor)

Not really. I wish. Summer is flying by and we've just been working away. My one respite so far this season has been sticking my nose in a good book. That and, oddly enough, cooking. I've never before found an ounce of joy in cooking, but lately, I can't wait to try new recipes and ingredients. I don't anticipate this new found interest in cooking to last long, but hey, we'll enjoy it while it lasts. Not everything I've made has been a success, however. I'm not sure Cameron has forgiven me yet for a particularly peculiar faux cheesecake with berries.

Otherwise, I'm afraid I'm terribly behind on everything else. Many of the projects I ambitiously began months ago sit half finished. BUT we've been to a handful of movies, read stacks of books, ate tasty, fresh food, spent as much time outside as we can stand and the majority of our nights lazing about watching horrible television. And we went to an amazing Andrew Bird/The Decemberists concert for Cameron's birthday. (I considered writing an entire post dedicated to the show, but I know that would bore everyone but me. Trust me when I say it was awesome and you'd be rewarded by checking them out, if you aren't already a fan.) Oh, and we saw fireflies for the first time. Fireflies!

All of that's what summer's all about, eh?

memorial day in d.c.

Arlington National Cemetery

A prayer at the Wall

Rolling Thunder Run

More Rolling Thunder

Patriot Guard Riders

Vietnam Veterans Memorial

World War II Memorial

spring by a nose

I've always been an autumn kind of girl, though I have to say I've become a huge fan of spring in DC. All of the blooming dogwoods, jonquils, azaleas and tulips have really won me over. Plus, seeing the daily greening and blossoming along the GW Parkway has really brightened our commute. I couldn't possibly find words to describe how beautiful it is. Spring makes my heart happy.

We've also been making lots of progress on our spring projects. Just another coat or two and our freshly painted table, chairs and cabinet will be back in the house. Then a bit more spring cleaning to go and I'll be ready to start on a few new projects, one of which has a little something to do with this and the photo above. (Any guesses?)

Something else that has been making my heart happy lately, this song and video:

Lisa Hannigan - Lille

Cameron sent it to me a few months ago and I still find it incredibly enchanting every time I watch and/or listen.

A handful of other things that make me happy:
1. Talking to my Grandparents on the phone. I love them so.
2. Blueberries on shredded wheat cereal with skim or soy milk. (I'm pretty sure I could live on this.)
3. Getting pictures drawn by my nieces, Olivia and Elsa, in the mail.
4. Rocky coastlines.
5. Zooey Deschanel. She's adorable.
6. Pretty stationary and handwritten notes.
7. So You Think You Can Dance will be back this month. Ah, yeah.
8. Picnicking.
9. Making lists. (And crossing things off of to-do lists.)
10. iTunes Genius.

Isn't it wonderful to have little things that make you happy, particularly when the world around us can be worrisome? (Swine flu? What?) What little things are making you happy lately?

underachievers please try harder

Let's pretend, shall we, that it hasn't been nearly a month since my last post (and we'll also totally ignore that more than a month went by between said post and the post before that, okay?).

This month, however, I do have somewhat of a legit excuse: my super cheap off-brand laptop is pretty much dead. It creeps and sputters along, but I'm nowhere near patient enough to put up with it longer than it takes to quickly check my email. Pretty soon it will cease to be. Cameron monopolizes his laptop (and rightly so, being a student and all that) and while I'm at work I figure I should actually, you know, work. So, bottom line, I've been very technologically handicapped for the past 4-5 weeks.

As soon as I can pry Cameron's Mac away from him (or perhaps get my own?), I'll post a proper update with pictures. Maybe about my happy spring/summer projects like:

- Planting my garden. Well, my container garden and EarthBox. I cannot rave enough about EarthBoxes. This is our second year with ours and we're growing red leaf lettuce and herbs (rosemary and basil). I've also planted (cherry) tomatoes from seed for the first time, which I hope works out, some additional herb seeds in little pots inside, and flowers in the back yard.

- Spring cleaning and purging. (Anyone have a trick for cleaning blinds?)

- Re-painting furniture. Our dining table is going to be white and this awesome cabinet that my Dad fixed up for me will be painted yellow. Can't wait.

And we've been galavanting about town, particularly when Cameron's brother came for a visit the weekend before last. We saw the cherry blossoms, the Sakura Matsuri street festival (somewhat of a bust), the Blessing of the Fleets, and one of my favorite places in the area, Mount Vernon.

So, more soon. In the meantime I'll be thinking about how much I hate what I'm wearing today. u_u

DC cherry blossoms
{photo}

catching up.

We've been a little MIA lately. Not doing anything exciting in particular, just distracted overall. Rather than regale you with what we've been up to (not a whole lot), I'll tell you a bit about this past weekend and spend more time catching up on all of your blogs. Sounds like a plan, eh?

Last week, my friend Hillary decided that we needed to get out of town. I couldn't have agreed more. She planned a fun Saturday adventure up in Baltimore: grab a bite at the famous Blue Moon Cafe, featured on Food Network's Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives (perhaps you remember the Cap'n Crunch French Toast?), and browse The Walters Art Museum.

My plate looked a little something like this.

Hillary, Marissa, and I hit Blue Moon Cafe first. Just in time, as it turned out, because they close for the afternoon and then re-open for late night on the weekends. For a few moments, we were afraid we were too late to get on "the list" for the day and were already asking around for other places to eat. One of the servers took pity on us, put us on the list, and led us inside to wait. We waited for quite some time, drooling over the plates of food that passed us by. Finally we were seated and soon ordered what we had come for: the Cap'n Crunch French Toast. Well, Marissa and I ordered the famous toast and Hillary opted for another french toast option, the Cream Cheese Stuffed French Toast. Both were fantastic. Not something I'd want to (or should) eat often, but a fun treat. I was expecting the Cap'n Crunch French Toast to be crazy sweet, which is was, but not so sweet that you can only stand a few bites. The other breakfast dishes we spied looked great too - lots of standard eggs, omelets, scrambles, etc. The Blue Moon is a little too hip for it's own good (as is a lot of Baltimore), but all in all, I'd go again.

After we had our fill, we were off to The Walters, a really wonderful smallish museum. We spent most of our time looking at the "Chamber of Wonders" (who could resist taking peek in there?) and 18th- & 19th-Century Art. The Chamber of Wonders is full of collected curiosities. Everything from bugs to arrowheads. I'm sure we all could have spent more time there and will definitely go back.

Baltimore is a great city. I really enjoy the vibe there. It's definitely much more my speed than, say, D.C. or even LA. It's just a hip, hip city. Hip, people. Did I mention that B'more is hip? Granted, I've only seen a small portion, but I look forward to venturing there more when we can, and can think of no better word to describe it.

So, that's pretty much the haps around here. Stay tuned for (hopefully) posts about gardening and other projects I've been waiting to get to. Winter's on its way out, finally, and I can get out of my funk.

dear winter, you've worn out your welcome. xo, tracy

Looking down our street last year. Take away the leaves, add ice, and you've got this year.

I'm still in a bit of a seasonal funk, the winter plight of many. Only mine didn't go the way of January 2009 as I had hoped.

It has been cold long enough. The snow has been pretty, but the ice and the freezing temperatures have got to go. And I really could have done without falling on my rear while walking to our garage. (As well as the giant bruise I still have.) Thanks, winter.

I have lots of projects I'd love to be working on, but many of them involve paint and green growing things, neither of which mix well with a below zero wind chill. Instead, with all of our time cooped up inside...

We've been watching
LOST
MythBusters marathons
Top Chef
Miroir Noir
Kit Kittredge

We've been reading
Anna Karenina (Tracy)
Zeke and Ned (Cameron)
McSweeney's
Domino (Oh! How I will miss you, Domino. RIP.)

We've been listening
To the new Andrew Bird album

(Edited to add: Looks like we may have some warmer temperatures on the horizon.)
n_n

ladies and gentlemen: president obama

"So let us mark this day with remembrance of who we are and how far we have traveled." - President Barack Obama

Cameron and I began the day at about 2:00 a.m., donning layer upon layer and attempting to strategically pack our bags (we failed on a couple of counts). We were lucky enough to have tickets, but it was still suggested that we arrive at the Mall early (they were allowing people to begin lining up at 4 a.m.). At around 3 a.m., we made our way to the Springfield Metro station parking, which was to open at 3:30 a.m. Things there went relatively smoothly - the police really did a fabulous job directing traffic and keeping things in order. In our experience, all those who provided security on Tuesday were fantastic.

While on the train, we were serenaded by a particularly enthusiastic gentleman. He sang an original song that went something like this: "I am Af-ree-can, but I feel Amer-ee-can, because the Pres-ee-dent of Amer-ee-ca is half Af-ree-can, Oh yeeeeah..." Repeat. He danced up and down the aisle singing his little ditty while most of us were nearly falling asleep.

Our exit at the Federal Center SW Metro Station was understandably crowded and slow.

When we finally emerged from the metro, we navigated our way toward where we were supposed to line up to enter the National Mall. There was a bit of chaos as most (including us) had a difficult time finding the right line ("Is this silver or purple?!"). We eventually found the right spot and took a place among the thousands already waiting. This is when the cold really started to set in. It was still dark and walking around had kept us somewhat warm, but standing in one place was torture. I began what would be a mostly futile attempt to keep my extremities from freezing: jumping up and down, walking in place, weak jumping jacks. We were all trying with varied success. Unfortunately, I think my most vivid memory of the day might be the unbearable cold. We were surrounded by people from Georgia, South Carolina, California, and New York. Luckily, they offered a bit of a distraction from the temperature, especially when they began singing "This Little Light of Mine," which was followed by "Amazing Grace" and more. My heart was warmed and my spirit lifted.

All those waiting were patient, nice, and helpful. Anyone that dropped something heard a quick chorus of, for example, "dropped your scarf!" shouted their way. Those that tried to cut in line were just as quickly booed and shamed to the back of the line. Everything from mouse pads to bottles of water printed with Barack Obama's face were being sold by men walking up and down the lines.

Our gate was finally opened at 8 a.m. Security was quick, courteous, and efficient. We later learned that roughly 4,000 ticketed folks never made it through their gates because of security screening delays.

Success! On the National Mall. Only 3 hours to go.

Waiting on the other side of the gate was much the same as waiting in line. I tried more walking in place and various scarf arrangements. Still bitterly cold. We had a pretty sweet spot where we could easily view the giant screen on our right and the Capitol in the distance. At one point someone began to lead group calisthenics. We were all getting desperate to warm up. The people next to us brought a radio, so we were able to hear a bit of what was going on that we couldn't see.

Eventually, we watched as politicians and celebrities took their seats and the inaugural ceremonies commenced. Cheers for many folks, boos for some (poor Joe Lieberman). Cheers for Oprah, Teddy Kennedy, the Clintons. Thundering cheers for the totally adorable Malia and Sasha Obama, as well as for the First Ladies. Whenever there was a break in the visible action, people began to chant "O-ba-ma! O-ba-ma!" I'm not much for chanting. The peer pressure of being surrounded by a million plus chanting together was not enough to sway me.

11:40 a.m. or so: Earth shaking cheers for the soon to be sworn in Barack Obama.

The rest we saw much as you saw on t.v. and, as the cliché goes, is history. Tears were shed. Flags were waved. Everyone laughed each time the announcer asked us to please be seated. A million standing people found that hilarious.

The sea of people behind us.

All in all the inauguration was a wonderful, if cold, experience. While we weren't near enough to "bump fists with Barry," as Cameron had hoped, we feel very lucky to have had the opportunity to attend, have tickets, and be a part of such a momentous event that we will surely tell our children and grandchildren about.

We were there.

More photos.