The aftermath

This blizzard created a big ol' mess, but it turns out it also gave me an early Christmas present. The federal government is closed tomorrow!! That means my vacation will start a day early. So thank you, Mother Nature.

The snow finally stopped falling late last night, and I think the official total was around 20 inches. Our little cafe table looks like a giant ice cream cone. Or I guess snow cone would be more appropriate. All I need is a gallon of blueberry syrup!

Since this is my first snow storm with a car, I had the unenviable task of digging it out.

The "before" picture. It kind of reminds me of a one-humped camel.

The action shot.

Despite all the hard work, there was quite a convivial atmosphere. All the neighbors were helping each other; it was really nice.

The "after" picture.

I then braved the cold temperatures and knee-deep snow to walk around Old Town a bit. Fortunately the main sidewalks and streets were pretty much cleared.

The Alexandria Courthouse

Market Square/City Hall

The popular sledding hill

Well, looks like I have another day of lying around the house, reading, and watching movies. Keep your fingers crossed that I'll have no trouble with my flight on Tuesday!

Blizzard of 2009

I'm not exaggerating when I say blizzard. The National Weather Service actually issued a blizzard warning for the Washington area. The snow started to fall around 8:00 last night, and we woke up with almost a foot of snow on the ground. Here are a few pictures I took from inside my warm house this morning:

My little car all covered in snow.

I'll try to update with more pictures...if I ever get out of the house.

UPDATED 2:11 pm: It's official. I've never seen this much snow in my life. It's gotten so bad that Metro has stopped running buses and above-ground trains. My church has even cancelled services for tomorrow. Here's a newer picture of my car:

And our back porch...as you can see, there are almost two feet of snow:

And here's a fun picture of ice crystals on my window:

The snow is still coming down pretty fast. I'll let you know if I ever get out of the house. But for now I think I'll pop open a bottle of champagne and fix some mimosas!

The Big Apple

I went on a trip to New York last week with a few girlfriends. Kara was going up there for work, and since I had Veterans Day off I just decided to take the rest of the week for a mini vacation. Our friends Kim and Carla joined us as well. We stayed a block from Times Square, which was great because we could walk everywhere.

This was the view from our hotel room.

I feel like we did so much I can't possibly mention everything, so I'll try to hit the highlights. I think my favorite thing was going to the top of Rockefeller Center. But first I had to get the obligatory 30 Rock shot.

I half expected to see Liz Lemon and Tracy Jordan running around outside, up to their usual antics.

Unfortunately it was quite a blustery night, which made us feel like we were going to get blown off the observation deck. But the view was spectacular.

This is a view of Times Square. There were so many lights flashing, it looked like fireworks were going off.

The background almost looks fake, doesn't it?

We also went to the Met (after a day of spa treatments at Elizabeth Arden). I think we were there for nearly two hours and I still didn't see everything!

I think one of my favorite things in the museum was this Egyptian temple.

I love how the glass wall makes it feel like you're outside.

I especially loved the effect of the rain on the windows overlooking Central Park.

Another one of my favorite pieces:

There was a room of medieval saint sculptures, mostly depicting the Virgin and Child. This one shows a Christmas tree being set up in the background.

Can you tell I like sculpture?

Saturday turned out to be cold, rainy, and foggy. We visited the World Trade Center site, which is basically just a big construction site.

The sheen on the copper (or is it bronze?) of this memorial makes it look firey. I don't know if that's intentional or not, but it's a neat effect.

Later that evening we saw Chicago on Broadway...

And we may have had a few margaritas.

Sunday morning it was finally warm and sunny (or at least, not raining), so we took a stroll through Central Park.

Whew! And that's the whirlwind tour. Here are some miscellaneous pictures that I took:

They were setting up the tree at Rockefeller Plaza.

So many flags!

The skating rink at Bryant Park. (The one at Rockefeller Plaza is tiny, by the way.)

One of the lions outside the New York Public Library (which always reminds me of Ghostbusters).

A fire hydrant in Little Italy (where we got some awesome cannoli).

This building was really cool. It's hard to tell in the dark, but it was covered in Italian flags.

This was St. Matthew's, I think.

I don't know how this horse doesn't get spooked.

City Hall