[Summer is for...]

friends. the good ones and the loved ones. the kind who are always up to talk and down to play. and above all, available for late night pie.

frolicking. this beautiful city. the buildings, the monuments, the flags, everywhere. everything. soaking these sights in, in case they aren't always there, or in case you aren't always here.

fireworks. sparkly and glittery times a thousand. who needs stars with these beauties lighting up the sky?

scooters. because they make people happy and they make people giggle.

dancing. in the rain above the city lights. hands in the air. unaware of the camera until later, really, just goofing for the pure joy and ridiculousness of it all.

...among other things.

[Evenings.]

Saturday evening: rooftop dining, billiards, a desperate mission for 2 a.m. ice cream.

The ones who were good at billiards. 

The ones who were not good at billiards (sorry I didn't grow up in a pool hall, okay?).

Sunday evening: glittery ceilings, reverse schadenfreude, frozen hot chocolate.

N.B. Highly recommend both Perry's and Lincoln, if you're as interested in good food, photo ops, and prettiness as I am. 

____

Blogging may resume. We'll see how this goes.

[A May weekend in 10 photos.]

1. & 4. Spent part of Saturday afternoon at a fun festival at the National Cathedral. Was dying to ride the carousel, but didn't have a child to accompany me. Failed to realize until later that my height would have allowed me to pose as someone else's child.
2. & 3. Two of about 53248 photos of us trying on ridiculous hats (shoutout to bff Lauren, who visited DC for the weekend!). Hats may or may not have inspired the idea to throw a tea party, coming soon to a living room near you.

5. Candles in the National Cathedral. Light one for me, won't you please?

6. Spotted: neighborhood church sign promoting #churchtweets. Well, okay, if I must...

7. Belated birthday prezzies from Lauren! Basically, if you could assemble a still life of Milan, this would be it. Magnolia cupcakes, Laduree macarons, New York photography, and a Star Wars moleskin...it's like she knows me or something. 

8. Go out. Meet pretty boys. Receive roses. Become twitterpated. Next day brunch. Still twitterpated. Weekend ends. Boys -> Iceland. Girls -> normal life. check check check
9. My Seis de Mayo dinner party. Because celebrating Cinco de Mayo on the 5th is so 1862.
10. Making Mexican wedding cookies. Celebrating Mexican-ness and subtly promoting marriage? Done and done, thank you very much.

[Two Tunes Tuesday: Martin Luther King.]

This weekend Chad and I got stuck in DC traffic. I hardly noticed, as bumper-to-bumper traffic makes this LA girl feel warm and fuzzy, but Chad wasn't thrilled. Anyway, it turns out the traffic was due to the dedication of the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial. We weren't able to attend the dedication, but we did visit the new memorial last month. Ever since I discovered this beautiful song a couple of years ago, Patty Griffin's "Up to the Mountain (MLK Tribute)" always comes to mind when I think of Martin Luther King, so I've listened to it a few times since the memorial was erected. Patty says in the video (below) that it was inspired by his last speech. I saw her perform this song live, and I think it's a very moving, soulful tribute. As a companion song, I've included Common's "A Dream," which includes clips from MLK's famous I Have a Dream speech. Enjoy!

[hello spring!]

I saw these blossoms outside my apartment building this week and had to capture them. Since then, they've bloomed even more! Is this my first cherry blossoms sighting? Not sure, but I have a feeling that between now and June, I'll be convinced that every pink flower I see is a cherry blossom. There are worse delusions.

[They never get old.]

After church this weekend, a friend and I took the afternoon to enjoy the beautiful weather with a stroll around the National Mall. There really is nothing like the DC monuments at sunset-- especially when you throw cupcakes and a cute friend into the mix!

Oh, and I assume you've been dying to know: I have officially cooked chicken for the first time in my little life. It was basic--just grilled it on a George Foreman (thanks Grandma) and stuck it in a sandwich. But I feel sort of like Tom Hanks in Castaway after he made fire. When you think about it, turning a chunk of dead animal into something edible--delicious, even--is no small feat. Props to the caveman who discovered cooking.

[spotted on capitol hill.]

On a stroll through Capitol Hill yesterday after visiting a new little human named Eleanor, I was tickled to spot this little pacifier hanging out on a fence. Never know when you're going to need one, I guess.

temple lights.

Earlier this month Chad and I attended a Christmas concert at the DC temple and strolled around the winter wonderland there. Seeing the lights at the temple in LA was always one of my favorite Christmas activities as a kid--I was slightly distraught that I missed the LA lighting ceremony this year, but seeing the beautiful 500,000+ lights in DC with Chad more than made up for it...this year.

i take my punishments like a champ.

A few weeks ago one of my favorite boys came into town for a whirlwind 24 hour visit, and we visited The National Museum of Crime & Punishment. This is officially the coolest museum ever and definitely my new favorite (non-art) museum--I highly recommend, if you've never been. Mikey and I put each other in the stocks as punishment for the various crimes we've committed together, but only one of us kept our cool.

a reason to love the (L)east coast.

I'm generally a happy camper about the fact that I've been doin' my thang on the east coast for over four years, but after a wonderfully relaxing Thanksgiving weekend back home, I've been wondering why in the world I would EVER want to live anywhere but L.A.

This question sort of bounces around my brain for a few days following every L.A. trip (slash every day), and it's been particularly bouncy this time. I have pretty solid moping skills, so this is the kind of thing that can really take me out for a while if I let it, especially given my abnormally emotional attachment to L.A.

Since I'm starting to come to the realization that I might be on this side of the country for years/indefinitely, I should maybe try to focus on reasons to love the east coast rather than reasons to miss the best coast. It's almost physically painful (and nearly impossible) for me to acknowledge an L.A. deficit, but here it goes:

Autumn in D.C. is stunning. I literally stopped in my tracks when I saw this breathtakingly beautiful tree in front of the Smithsonian castle the other day, and I took about a zillion iPhone pics, a few of which are here in their gloriously un-photoshopped brilliance. This is a sight that can't be found in L.A., and as I'm always one to stop and smell the flowers (this is a lie--I have allergies--but I do stop and look), it's something that I can appreciate about this side of the country.

There, I said it. And if ever confronted about it, I'll deny deny deny.
(L.A., this doesn't change anything, I'm just trying to throw the least coast a bone here. I hope you understand. Your all around weather score is still higher, obvi, and at the first hint of snow here I'll be singing your praises.)

state of the cha cha.

to elaborate on the previous post, i am now:

:: highly educated ::

...or so they say. in may, i graduated from columbia university, where i spent four years researching the optimal ratio of sleep to caffeine. concurrently, i earned an enormously practical degree in art history--i now know how the muslim principle of tawhid relates to decorative islamic mosaic, why you can flip a urinal on its side and call it art, and that classic greek columns are either male or female, among other useful tidbits. i also devoted some time to attending themed frat parties, stalking fellow columbia student and ridiculously good looking celeb james franco in the library, and gallivanting around manhattan--but only after i had finished studying, mom and dad!

in all seriousness, though--i'm tremendously grateful for my college experience. i had the opportunity to attend a world class institution, learn from professors who literally wrote the books on their subjects, and be surrounded by brilliant, diverse, and enchanting individuals. everyone "finds" themselves in college--i did, but only after first losing myself a little too. manhattan has a way of making one feel simultaneously isolated and smothered, and i found that i had to fight (sometimes even against myself) to find peace and just be me. the beauty of the struggle, though, was that after working so hard to pull myself out of the little ditches i sometimes dug myself into, i came out of it all happier than ever before, knowing what i believed, what i wanted, and what i didn't want. that's learning, folks!

:: a bureaucrat ::

i now work for a living, which is simultaneously exhilarating, terrifying, humbling, and gratifying. something tells me that it's sort of inappropriate to discuss work on a personal blog, so i won't say much about it, other than that i do development and fundraising for an amazing museum that rhymes with shmishmonian.

:: new DC resident ::

okay, saying i live in DC is sort of like when people say they live in LA, but they actually live in the valley...which infuriates me, so i'll be more precise: i live in arlington, va, but my commute into the city is exactly seven minutes...so it almost counts. in spite of what my earlier post might have suggested, DC is a really lovely, beautiful city, and i've enjoyed getting to know the area.

arlington amuses me...coming from LA and NYC, i feel like i now live in the sticks, but people have informed me that this is a pretty standard suburb. i remain unconvinced. i live across the street from a neighborhood park, everyone i know lives within a mile radius of me, and the most happening part of town is a one block-long stretch of restaurants. cute.

:: single, kind of bilingual, and not-so-ready to mingle ::

i know you all loved him. i did too. but we needed to move on, possibly for forever, but definitely for now. five years was a long time, especially for someone as young as i was, and i'll carry those years with me always.

since then, i've gone on some dates, spent time with some guys...but i think i need to master the art of being on my own for the first time before entertaining the thought of anything...anyone...significant. but who knows? i always need someone to play 3D monopoly with... :)

___

i've now lived here almost three months,

and i've had a pretty fabulous time so far.

stay tuned for more of my life and times!