Washington DC: Flowers in Wonderland

 
I grew up loving the productions of the National Ballet of Canada.  I heard amazing things about their Alice in Wonderland production late last year and was very sad to have missed the opportunity to see them in Toronto.  Lucky me, my wonderful Hubby gave me tickets to their performance at the Kennedy Center for Performing Arts in Washington as part of a romantic weekend...

The staging and design were spectacular.  The costumes were gorgeous (I already wrote about them in this post).  It was also a treat to see my Rex Harrington, (also known as Sexy Rexy) a dancer that I used to crush on 25 years ago in an artist-in-residence role.

More beauty was to be had the next day when we visited the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. You can find all sorts of bones and biological specimens (many made cameos in the movie "Night at the Museum Smithsonian").   The exhibit I liked the most was the orchids of Latin America...

I read the Orchid Thief several years ago and was fascinated by intense culture of orchid-lovers.  I was also intrigued by the diverse variety of scent, look, size that this flower had.  Here are a few of the pretty ones:

Washington DC: Foodies and First Ladies

In Washington D.C. for less than 36 hours for a romantic getaway with my Hubby... The first thing we did when we hopped off the train at Dupont Circle was to treat ourselves to a latte and cupcake at Hello Cupcake.  They had a tasty Peanut Butter Blossom and Samoan cupcake special.  The boutique itself is girly and cute, which Hubby said looked like what he pictures as the inside of my head... (?) 

To grab a quick dinner before the theater, we strolled over to Hank's Oyster Bar.  Great selection of oysters from both coasts and a killer lobster Roll.  The server was friendly and helpful.  Casual and Cozy.  

If you're in DC on a Sunday morning, be sure to check out the farmer's market in Dupont Circle.  One stand in particular, the baked goods of Bonaparte Breads had a long line gathered before the opening bell even rung.  Our favorite was the apple turnover, though we never even got to try all of their flaky tarts an savories...  Also sampled some artisanal cheeses from  Keswick that we took home.  MAP

For some culture and style, I took myself over to the National Museum of American History.  They had their exhibit of the First Ladies.  While the exhibition had artifacts ranging to their dinnerware to personal effects, the highlight was clearly their gowns.  Not all of them were the inaugural gowns, but they represented the style each of them possessed.  Michelle Obama's famous white Jason Wu gown were on display.  Gowns from Oleg Cassini for Jackie O, Laura Bush, flapper style from Grace Coolidge, etc.  Judith Leiber clutch handbags were clearly the favorite of contemporary First Ladies.