Kitty Update

I haven't posted pics of my kitties lately...so here you go!
Lisa lounging:
Ginger sitting proper:Snoozing:
Dilly on her favorite perch:
Snacking on Mrs. Booger's cat grass:
Look - Ginger and Lisa touching, a rarity indeed!

NYC

Last weekend I visited a high school friend who now lives in NYC.
Here's her building:
And the view of the GW bridge from her street:
Turns out her boyfriend lives just over the bridge in New Jersey, in the next town over from where my dad grew up!

We took a walk along some of her running routes. One was the park along the river, past this historic lighthouse under the GW bridge:
View of downtown from the park, you can see the Empire State Building in the middle of the photo:We went to see the King Tut exhibit, so I could see all the items that weren't in Cairo when I was there in January:
Had a great trip - thanks Liz!

Fresh Veggies This Summer!

So, I got my hands on a coveted Kalorama Community Garden plot this year! I started growing seeds inside...but unfortunately they didn't make it until I got access to my plot. But they sure did look good at one point:
Here's my plot - I had already cleared half of it before taking a picture:
You can see my first seeds coming up...if you look real hard. Peas!
And I planted some BS:(brussel sprouts)

Decided to get a jump start and bought a few plants on Mother's Day at the DuPont Farmers Market:
Peas and brussel sprout progress (at bottom of photo):
How my garden looked this morning:
And here's the whole community garden:
Started growing more seeds at home...hope they make it!

More Embassies - Part 2

Part 2 This Weekend
I went on the EU Embassy Open House tours yesterday with my mom and brother. The lines were much longer than last weekend, so I only got to three embassies this time.

First stop - Italy:
A fairly new embassy, it was very modern
Outside, they had several Italian vehicles:
Here's the ambassador's maserati:

Next stop - United Kingdom:
We didn't get to go inside any of the buildings, but walked around the beautiful gardens:
The ambassador's residence:

Last stop - Belgium:
Long lines here for Belgian beer!
Ambassador's office:
They had lace making demonstrations...it was fascinating!

It's Embassy Open House Time Again! Part 1

Part 1 Last Weekend
First stop - Australia:
In addition to food and wine tasting, they also had several lizards on loan from the National Aquarium (blue tongued skink shown):
And a traditional aborigine teaching how to throw a bomerang:
Second stop - Rwanda:
Iced coffee hit the spot since it was so hot out (yes, it was that hot that I drank coffee!)
Third stop - Columbia:
It was actually the Ambassador's house:
Amazing woodwork:
...in the dining room too:
Cool artwork:
Fourth stop - Indonesia:
Javanese Gamelan:
Beautiful stairway:
Dining room:
Fifth stop - Brazil:
Green and yellow in the flower displays to match the flag:
Sixth stop - Japan
They were giving out tickets to tour the Tea House, but they were all out by the time we arrived. So we got green tea instead:
Seventh stop - Korea
It was actually their Information Services building (and not the embassy):
They had musical instruments on display:
...and other items:
Eighth stop - Dominican Republic:
There wasn't much to see inside, but this window was pretty neat:
Ninth and final stop (shew, after four hours) - Croatia:My friends I went with are already planning their vacation to go to Croatia!