Christmas 2016

The family spent the the days following Christmas at a cabin at Shaver Lake. It was great having everyone together...I can't remember the last time that happened.

One of the cabins the family stayed at in Shaver Lake. The scenery was beautiful!

The kids had so much fun sledding on the hill next to the cabin.

It's not a vacation unless my sister and I do a puzzle. :)

Happy New Year to everyone!

Christmas 2015

I just got back from a chilly week in Southern California....it was actually warmer in DC than LA on Christmas day! I had a nice, relaxing time with the family. It's always good to be away from the normal routine and stresses of life.

The week started out with my nephew Alexander's 10th birthday party at an old school arcade in a warehouse. Good times were had by all.

Tricia posing with one of our favorite childhood games, Burgertime.

The next day we drove out to our grandmother's house, which is near a farm with emus, alpacas, goats, etc. And my nieces found an emu egg! It was unreal....it looked like a dinosaur egg.

We didn't steal it, BTW. One of the farm workers gave it to us.

Then my sister and I met Lacey and another friend in Beverly Hills for afternoon tea. It was quite enjoyable (aside from the caviar, which was not enjoyable; I don't understand how fish eggs can be a delicacy).

While we were in Beverly Hills, we took a stroll down Rodeo Drive and popped into some of the high-end jewelry stores. (I do love me some bling.) 

The architecture of the buildings was worth the trip in itself....so amazing! Many of the storefronts were covered in shimmering gold and silver.

Christmas itself was relatively quiet and low-key. My brother John was definitely missed.

[We did not plan our outfits together.]

Tanner's favorite spot in front of the fire. The life of a dog sure is ruff.

Happy New Year, y'all!

Christmas tidings

Christmas may have been over a month ago, but it's never too late to reminisce about the joys of the season. I kicked off December by doing a very "Washington" activity: I had drinks at the world-famous Willard hotel with some Junior League friends, then walked down the street to check out the National Christmas Tree. 

It's not exactly Rockefeller Center, but there is a view of the Washington Monument and the White House.

I spent the week of Christmas in California (natch), and my family drove up to Yosemite for a day of outdoor bonding. There wasn't really any snow on the ground - much to the chagrin of the kids, who had never seen snow before - but we still had an enjoyable time.

We stopped at the historic Wawona Hotel for a picnic lunch on the porch, then we went inside to warm up by the fire.

They had a gingerbread version of the hotel...so cute!

We thought about going ice skating in Curry Village, but we were a little short on time.

Me and my sister on the valley floor, with Half Dome in the background.

We took a short hike up to Lower Yosemite Falls, and along the way we came across this beautiful deer about 50 feet off the trail. My 6-year old niece wanted to get a closer look, and we practically had to wrestle her to the ground to keep her from running up to it.

Lower Yosemite Falls - probably not as full as it normally is due to the drought in California.

Merry Christmas everyone, and Happy New Year!

Adventures in California

I wish I could say I haven't had time to post my pictures from Christmas because I've been busy gallivanting around town and attending embassy parties, but the truth is I've just been lazy. So without further ado, here are a few pics from my time in SoCal...

On Christmas Eve we visited my old stomping ground: the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. They recently conducted a renovation of the entire museum, and there was a really neat exhibit on Walt Disney.

Air Force One - probably the coolest thing in the museum

Reagan's presidential limo (not quite as sleek as the modern version)

Marine One

Elise is always such a ham. (That portrait is made of jelly beans, by the way.)

I took these in the Disney exhibit (and they're admittedly not of great quality). The exhibit  featured costumes and props from various movies; these two are from Pirates of the Caribbean. The one below is the filming model of the Black Pearl.

A piece of the Berlin Wall. A lot of people aren't aware that only the western side was covered in graffiti. The eastern side was heavily guarded and people weren't allowed near it, therefore it was blank and austere.

I always love the view from the library.

At first I thought this was fake, but in fact the poinsettias surrounding Reagan's grave were covered with water droplets from that morning's rain.

Lastly, we went to the California Science Center to see the space shuttle Endeavor. I'd already seen a space shuttle at the Smithsonian, so it was no big whoop. :)

Happy little tree

When I first moved here ten(!) years ago, I didn't have a car (or money) with which to get a real Christmas tree. So I settled on an artificial $17 tree from Target. We had some good years together, but it just wasn't the same as the real thing. This year, however, I decided I would finally take the plunge. I went down to my local tree lot and picked out the cutest little 5-foot frasier fir (say that ten times fast). And it turns out real trees aren't that heavy; I was able to haul it upstairs all by myself!

Isn't she beautiful? It just makes me smile.

Christmas in L.A.

I just spent ten days visiting my family in southern California, where the temperature was in the 70s nearly every day. (Why did I move to DC again?) Unfortunately I had another ailment this Christmas, so I couldn't enjoy the weather as much as I would have liked. However, I was able to get out and see some of the sights when I wasn't curled up on the couch. Our first stop was the world-famous Getty Center, which I hadn't visited since college.

The kids were able to entertain themselves, first by sketching...

...then by running around outside near the fountains.

A view of downtown L.A. from one of the balconies. I was annoyed that this couple was standing in my shot, but they actually wound up making the photo more interesting.

We also visited the Huntington Library in Pasadena, which I had never been to before. The estate consists of botanical gardens, a library, and about five exhibit halls. We didn't have time to see everything, so we spent the majority of the time walking through the gardens since it was such a nice day.

As I was composing this shot of the roses, my niece Corinne snuck over to smell them. I thought the resulting picture turned out kind of cute.

Hi, mom!

Despite all the fun field trips, I'd have to say the highlight of the trip was playing with my sister's new puppies: 10-week old spaniels Tanner and Smokey.

Puppies!!

"Don't hate me because I'm adorable."

Cuteness overload!

And now, some cookie-making pictures:

Adorable.

On Christmas Eve we took a picnic lunch of In-N-Out and headed up the hill behind my sister's house. Did I mention it was 75 degrees?

And finally, some requisite present-opening pictures:

The aftermath. The kids were moving so quickly that most of the action shots came out blurry.

Happy New Year, y'all!