Amy Artisan

Family | Travel | Craft | Life | Books

Month: April 2014 (page 2 of 2)

DC Days

This year’s spring trip to see my Texas girlies was a bit different – in March I met up with the family in Washington DC. They were in town for their spring break ahead of a conference their Dad was attending. So, a quick overnight trip was in order. While I was only with them for about 30 hours, we managed to pack a lot of fun into a little bit of time. The Metro, buses, taxis & feet were our modes of transportation.

Air & Space

Friday started at the Air & Space Museum – a favorite of mine from the first time I visited there (when I was Miss M’s age). The Amelia Earhart exhibit was a favorite of all the girls. It was fun to share my love of space with them. And of course, we all had to touch the moon rock on our way out.

On the Mall

As we crossed the mall onto our next adventures, we spotted the Racing Presidents. The girls giggled at the oversized heads. Of course, a picture with Teddy Roosevelt was in order.

Museum Fun

Quite a bit of our afternoon was spent in the Natural History museum. The Hope Diamond, the vast array of geodes & quartz, mummies (which Miss K had studied in school), sea turtles, insects and more captured our attention. Sidenote: The Mercer vs. Duke game was underway while we were in the museum – I was getting game updates via family texts & sports apps. When I saw the score in the final 2 minutes, I pulled up the game on the “Watch Live” app & stood in a corner of the insect exhibit watching an amazing game and win.

Carousel & Conservatory

Late in the afternoon we met up with some friends and enjoyed the carousel on the mall and the National Botanic Garden Conservatory. After dinner, our weary band of tourists caught a cab back to the hotel and called it an early evening.

Saturday

On Saturday morning, all 3 girlies came running down the hotel hall to hang out with me as we got the morning going. After breakfast, we went to the Jefferson Memorial before heading towards the zoo. Friends from our time in Chicago (hi Alicia!) hosted us for a simple and delicious spring lunch before we joined with seemingly half of DC on a beautiful spring Saturday afternoon at the zoo. As we walked through most of the animal habitats, we didn’t see too many animals – it seemed like they maybe hadn’t yet transitioned to being outside again. After about a 30 minute wait, we were ‘finally’ in the Panda house (my favorite animal since I was a little girl). We all were enthralled by the pandas – while we had hoped to see the new baby, we had to settle for seeing her napping on the monitor. But we did enjoy seeing Mom & Dad munching on bamboo.

Late Saturday afternoon, I said farewell and drove back home to PA. My time in DC with the girls was short because I needed to get home & finish packing for a business trip…less than 24 hours later I was on the flight to London…

Currently…March

How can 2014 now be 25% complete? March was a month of good intentions on the blog and very few posts – I’m queuing up several of these for the first part of April now. After a gray and rainy weekend and a fair amount of chilly days, it is nice to see the sun this week and an upward temperature trend – maybe we have survived winter and are indeed emerging into spring? As the calendar moves onto April, here’s a bit of “What I’m Into” in March as I link up with Leigh Kramer

March Highlights

Reading…was pretty low…I did finally finish “Cuckoo’s Calling” and think I will continue with the series when the next book is released. I’m currently reading “The Orphan Masters Son” – hopefully I’ll have an April twitterature roundup with a couple of completed reads.

Watching…An overseas trip brought the chance to see several “recent” movies on the long flights…I enjoyed each of my selections: The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, About Time, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

Crafting…knitting away on the Baby Sleep Sack for a co-worker; a spring shawlette has been blocked & is ready for use; the shawl I started on Super Bowl Sunday is off the needles & awaiting a good soak and blocking; a baseball themed knit is getting started

Cooking…I cooked quite a bit early in the month and less later in the month because of travel. Among the cooking highlights, a couple of “pin wins” where I tried something that I had pinned on my “Someday Recipes” board: Citrus Roasted Chicken with Sweet Potatoes & Pears; Sriracha Coleslaw to accompany pulled pork (made even better by using my homemade mayo).

CheeringMercer March Madness – for the 1st time in almost 30 years, my alma mater was in the big dance. While disappointed that they didn’t go farther, the win over Duke is quite a thrill. It has been fun to see friends & colleagues talk about Mercer – social media was filled with all sorts of fun – lots of articles to enjoy. I am Mercer Proud!

Appreciating…the return of Daylight Savings Time – it is so nice to have daylight left when I leave the office.

Brightening…up my wardrobe as the season changes. Pulling out the spring clothes from storage. The return of my pale aqua coat instead of the brown quilted one that was my winter workhorse. Picking up a few new pieces to incorporate into work & play wardrobes.

Traveling…a quick trip to Washington DC to see my TX girlies…a business trip to London that included a few fun & touristy moments in addition to productive work meetings…(highlights of both trips are already queued to publish)

Looking Ahead…April brings a couple of weekends of family travel…Easter in the ‘Ville…a first communion…with longer days and warmer weather, it’s time to dust off the patio chair & enjoy outdoor reading time…

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