And the Grinch, with his Grinch-feet ice cold in the snow, stood puzzling and puzzling, how could it be so? It came without ribbons. It came without tags. It came without packages, boxes or bags. And he puzzled and puzzled 'till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before. What if Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store. What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more. 
Last week, my great uncle passed away. For most of his life, he worked for the Smithsonian as a carpenter. He played a huge part in building the frame for this ginormous elephant that lives in the rotunda of the Natural History Museum, and today I went to see it in his honor. Millions of people have walked by this guy, and so few know the story behind it. 
I am trying so very hard to be a big person here. I'm trying to be gracious and accepting and ok.
My momma, brother, and I went to see the National and Capitol Christmas trees this weekend. I've always been partial to the Capitol Christmas tree, but both are so pretty.
Goodbye, crackberry. Hellooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo android! As an early Christmas present to myself, I bought myself the Evo. I've had it for a total of two hours, and I am already mind-numbingly addicted to Angry Birds.
While walking around CVS this afternoon, I made a discovery: Ava the Elephant. You load up the elephant trunk with medicine and your child then sucks it out... It's fun! It's amazing! It's... really disturbing actually. And just so so wrong.
The past two days have been a non stop bake-athon. We have three pumpkin pies, a bourbon pumpkin cheesecake, cranberry cake, and some lovely candied pecans. Deeelicious.
Holy cow, I am absolutely in LOVE with this dresser. Lovelovelove. Can you imagine a more perfect place to store your clothes?
This morning, I found myself situated in a massage chair while a bunch of tiny fish nibbled on my feet. Don't ask me how these things happen, they just do. Ok?
For the most part, I have no idea what I want. I don't know what I want to do with my life. I don't know where I want to work. I don't know where I want to live. Most of the time, I don't even know what I want for breakfast.
I stumbled upon the most amazing thing on the way to the hockey game last night (Caps won in a SO!). DC has a new food truck called Eat Wonky, and their specialty? Traditional poutine. French fries topped with gravy and squeaky cheese curds. This little baby right here made me a VERY happy camper.
My dad and brother spent this Halloween weekend in Danville, VA visiting family, which means my mother and I were left to our own devices.
We had a wonderful weekend involving carved pumpkins, Old Town Alexandria, and the National Harbor. I can't think of a better way to spend a sunny fall weekend.
My new office has a wall of windows facing westward, and every evening I am treated to the most magnificent view of the sunset. Isn't it amazing?
Today is my parents' 30th wedding anniversary. Look how cute they were together! Thanks for being proof that it can last. Did you know that the traditional gift for the 30th anniversary is the pearl? (That's a hint, dad.)
Congratulations mom and dad!
I have the most amazing jar of lavender honey from Fauchon, and it's been sitting in my cupboard waiting for something that would really make it shine. This recipe is exactly what I've been waiting for. Oh yes, my little lavender honey. We're going to get along quite well.
Going through all of my goodies from Paris still fills me up with such magnificent warm fuzzies. Even the used metro tickets! Amazing trips have a way of changing you. Forever. In some of the best ways possible.
The last couple of weeks have been non stop. In the midst of my complete and utter exhaustion, I've gotta say, I feel more like myself than I have in a while.
I need to remember this, and repeat it to myself all day, everyday. It's so easy to forget how much you deserve when you want something so very very much. It's easy to put yourself to the side. So starting today, I'm going to remember that I deserve the very best.
I've been feeling down and cranky lately, like I have a lot to decide and a lot sitting on my shoulders. Frankly, these feelings are not doing much for me.
Although I had tickets to Virgin Fest, I opted for option #3. Why on earth would I do that? Well, because Jonathan Safran Foer was speaking, and I just couldn't miss that. I could honestly listen to him talk for hours. He's gotten some flack for his writing style, but listen to that man talk for 30 minutes and you can't tell me that you aren't totally enthralled.
(My puppy thinks my socks are toys designed specifically for his enjoyment.)
Thursday was our final day in the city, and I'm not going to lie, we were tired. We got up early and had our hair washed and blow dried by an attractive French man at a salon around the corner from our apartment. We were tres chic. We hopped on the train and headed to Cimetière du Père-Lachaise. Most people don't think to themselves, "while in Paris, I want to see a cemetery." People that don't think this are seriously missing out. The old crypts are morbidly beautiful, and the leaves were just starting to change color. We saw Oscar Wilde, and then decided to move on to see Sainte-Chapelle, a 13th century Gothic style chapel with original stained glass. We decided to check and see if Notre-Dame was open, and it was! W climbed at 400 steps to the top. Yes, 400 up, and 400 down. And it was worth every step for that perfect view of Paris. Exhausted, we headed towards the apartment and grabbed some macarons and desserts along the way before stopping for dinner. It was the perfect final day for a fantastic trip.
This was our only day without a camera. The poor thing just went kaput right as we were leaving the apartment. Which means, every picture taken that day was taken with my sad little camera phone. Mom and I spent our somewhat rainy day at the Opera, and then doing some shopping. The Opera House is so beautiful. It's easy to see how it inspired Phantom of the Opera. At lunch we were seated next to two ladies from Russia. They were kind enough to send us the picture we took together. It was so funny trying to communicate between English, Russian, and French. Not to mention that multiple waiters throughout our trip tried to give me menus in Russian. Apparently I look slightly eastern European. We rounded it all out and finished our day at the Louvre where we saw Michelangelo's Dying Slave. Incredible. I may or may not have cried a little. Everything about Paris is so overwhelmingly beautiful.
On Tuesday, we headed to Notre-Dame. This was the only time we were effected by the strike, and the stairs to the top were closed. Bummer. Happily, the cathedral was open and magnificent. We also took a little cruise on the Seine, and walked through the Musée d'Orsay a hop and skip back to the boat, and we were on our way to the Île Saint-Louis for ice cream. French dairy is an amazing, life changing thing.
