Snow!

Autumn had to go back to work today, and had an unfortunate surprise....SNOW!

 Snowy pine

It's really coming down!

Christmas Lights

Tonight we bundled up and headed down to see the National Christmas Tree. When we go there, it was so crowded that we decided to skip the Zoo Lights at the National Zoo and just go out to dinner instead. With our sleepy baby in the pouch, we started our three day seafood extravaganza at McCormick and Schmick's. I think we made the right choice!

 Our big box of crabs came on Saturday!

 All bundled up!

 Kylie says "See something, say something!"

 The National Christmas Tree, Washington Monument, and one of the 50 trees representing each state!

The White House....so, uh, festive?

Last Day! Cleve to DC

LAST DAY IN THE CAR!

Just 350 miles separated us from our new / old home in DC. We got up early and drove straight through so we would have plenty of time to get unpacked. I even had time to get everything out of our storage unit!

 Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia welcome you!

  Q:  How much does the Saturn hold? 

 A:  A LOT!

Goodbye storage unit 2137. 

I hope to never return to your creepy, dark hallway!

Sprinkles!

Restless and weary from packing and Olympics overload, Autumn and I decided to head over to Georgetown to try the cupcakes at Sprinkles. We were both a little surprised we hadn't already gone there sooner!

 Top secret spy footage from inside the store!

The loot! Raspberry, Milk Chocolate, Coconut, Dark Chocolate.

Final analysis:

CAKE:  Good texture and flavor - 9.0

FROSTING:  Superior! - A perfect 10!!

OVERALL SCORE:  9.5

Although Sprinkles gave it their all, the gold medal still goes to Trophy in Seattle!

Truckeroo

Today we met up with a group of friends at Truckeroo for dinner, drinks and fun!

 I think that these were the best cupcakes that we've had in D.C. so far!

 Mmm...MEAT!

 More truck-related fun!

Taco-Fever!

We were craving Mexican food today, so we tried out an "authentic" DF-style Mexican restaurant for breakfast today. Overall, not bad, but it still wasn't the real thing!

We had high hopes for the chilaquiles at Super Tacos & Bakery, but it wasn't 100%.

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

This morning we got up to a beautiful Cinco de Mayo, the mostly American holiday celebrating our friends in Mexico.  Please remember, May 5th is not Mexican Independence Day!!  You can impress your friends today with some fun facts, like "Hey, dudes, pretty awesome how the Mexican Army reined victorious over the occupying French at the Battle of Puebla on this day in 1862, riiight???"  And your friends will look at you, and say, "Yea, like when they got independenced, right?"  And you will know better.  :)

Given my present condition I could not partake of the much hyped tequila juleps of the day (how fortuitous to have 5 de Mayo y the Kentucky Derby on the same day??), so Eric and I decided to go out and get some air.  Our Portuguese teacher told us that the Brazilian Embassy would be open to the public today as part of the Passport DC event (you may remember we attended this event in 2010...details here).  So, we were off!

Upon arriving in Dupont Circle,we had to stop for cupcakes at Hello Cupcake!.  Excellent decision, per usual.  They even had margarita flavor!!

Quick peep into Rock Creek Park...if I didn't know better I would proclaim this to be junglelandia!

Peonies in bloom.

Happy Saturday!

Here it is!  We made it to the Official Residence of the Brazilian Ambassador and got a tour.  Whee!  We wound down our afternoon with some delicious Turkish food and managed to catch the train before the rain started.  Que bom!

Touristing Fun

This morning we got up and headed into the District for brunch with friends and a little sight seeing.  Que fun!!

Look!  It's the US Capitol!!

I heard about a Huichol Indian art piece in the Nation Museum of the American Indian that we had to check out!

This bug is totally done up in beads, Huichol style.  It is impressive, those beads are *tiny*.  The steering wheel and dashboard were all beaded too.  Unbelievable.   It will be there until May 5th!

Look!  It's the Washington Monument!!

 

Washington Monument Unicorn?!

Now THAT is a well stocked purse!

And We're Back!

Well, we're back!!  We made our triumphant return to Virginia on Saturday.  We're getting the hang of living in the US full time again while we throw ourselves into Portuguese studies.  Oi!  Meu nome e' Autumn.  Qual e' seu nome?  Good start, right???

Upon arrival in Dulles we were greeted with this unusual and very cool sight.  This is the space shuttle Enterprise loaded up on a 747, ready for its trip to New York.  Pretty cool!

*heart*

That is what 300+ lbs of luggage looks like.  It's kind of a handful.

Spring is in full swing in Virginia.  Everything is so green!  :)

Don't worry everyone, I have found a new delicious cupcake shop!

:):)

Library of Congress

Today we visited the Library of Congress to take a look at Autumn's grandma's genealogy book about their family history. We got our library cards, walked about 10 miles through underground tunnels, passed by the Mason workshop, and arrived at the books! (Which are not readily available at the LOC!!) It was super-fun and we got a little taste of home!

The book!

The researcher~!

Oh yeah, she's famous!

1983 called, they want their hairstyles back!

Yep, Library of Congress, baby!

Family crest!

Call # CS71.A375 1988!!!

Embassy Tours!

This weekend we visited embassies in DC with some friends including Peter from Colville! We also toured the capitol.

European Embassies! Yeah!

Autumn & Peter at the Italian Embassy. This one's for you Auntie E!

The Capitol. At long last Autumn finally gets a tour!

G. Washington's "Crypt"...

...he wouldn't agree to be buried here, so its empty!

Oooh...aaah...the capitol dome!

Autumn with Washingtonian statue #1 of Whitman (looks more like Daniel Boone to me!)

Autumn with Washingtonian statue #2....Mother Joseph. Que interesante!

US National Botanical Garden

This weekend we visited the US National Botanical Garden. The weather was beautiful, and the flowers were in full bloom. First stop, Asian Gardens:

 Entrance to the garden.

Tiny trees that look like giant trees! GENIUS!

What will the Japanese think of next?

So sunny and nice!

Tulips! Like home!

The azaleas were spectacular.

And of course...Autumn found a cactus!