Afterwards, we went for sushi in Chinatown, walked through the holiday market, and then visted Cowgirl Creamery, where we purchased some delicious pepper-encrusted cheese and salty-crackers.
   
I seriously love being in the city, especially around the holiday. I don’t know what it is. You can just feel anticipation, excitement, and warmth in everyone walking around.
   

I will say it was a bit of an emotional rollercoaster going from 9/11 news coverage to Elvis to Hurricane Katrina. But luckily there was a screening room playing only Jon Stewart clips on repeat, so thank goodness for comedic relief.

My dad spotted this great Seinfeld quote in one of the displays: “People who read tabloids deserve to be lied to.” Ha! I will be remembering that next time I’m wanting to pick one up while waiting in the grocery line.

   
Anyways, if you’ve got a good amount of time to spare and don’t mind the often-heavy subject matters, I’d highly recommend a visit to the Newseum.

   
Also! The view from the roof terrace=beautiful!
   

Just part of the massive H-shaped facade of the east wing of the National Gallery of Art , designed by I.M. Pei.

Last week, I was lucky enough to go on an after-hours building tour of the Smithsonian American Art and National Portrait Gallery. The building is located at 8th and F St, just west of the Verizon Center. It houses the collections of two separate museums, but together is known as the Donald W. Reynolds Center for American Art and Portraiture. Our group got to hear the details of the renovation of the building, which was closed in 2001 when repairs got underway, and reopened in July 2006. All major mechanical systems were updated and replaced, and the interior courtyard was enclosed, as seen above, with a wavy steel and glass ceiling. At 28,000 square feet of open space, theKogod Courtyard truly is an interesting space to take in. There was initially much debate about the ethics of putting a ceiling on an outdoor space, but I think, as I’m sure many others do, that this is one of the defining parts of experiencing this museum. Every other time I’ve stepped inside, it was during the daytime, but it was quite elegant to see at night with the lights shining on the 864 panes of glass (each one uniquely shaped… thanks computers!) Other interesting tidbits — only the lower 1/3 of this space is climate controlled, so the trees (2 ficus and 12 black olive), which reach into the middle and upper areas, had to be carefully considered for their ability to adapt to the light and temperature.

Busy weekend! On Friday evening we went to Jazz in the Garden at the National Gallery sculpture garden. I rode my bike down there to meet Matt after he got off work, and it’s a good thing we got there early because the spots on the grass filled up super fast. That place gets packed! From our blanket on the north side of the garden, it was impossible to see the band and sometimes harder to hear the music… I guess it was more about being outside on a nice, Friday evening than anything else!

On Saturday morning we went on a quick run from my parents house in HoCo; it’s really weird now to trace my old running path from high school, especially when so much has changed there. It was followed with a delicious brunch/lunch, before we headed off to Baltimore for Mark and Abby’s wedding! A picture of the lovely cake, just for Jill.

And a view of beautiful B-more from where we stayed. Natty-Boh man is wayyy in the background.

Yesterday we drove back home, and despite the intense heat decided to bike our way down to the Corcoran to see the William Eggleston exhibit called Democratic Camera, Photographs and Video, 1961–2008 . It was a pretty interesting and eclectic set of color prints from throughout his career, many of them just mundane detail shots of life in Memphis and the south in the past 50-some years.

Sitting outside on the steps afterwards, Matt ponders the meaning of life. Or, what’s for dinner tonight?