Archive for December, 2017

OMG it’s so cold

Sunday, December 31st, 2017

One morning this week, it was 12 degrees on my walk to work, and the rest of the week wasn’t much better. It felt like daggars hitting your face – ouch!

John and I braved the weather this morning and walked to Georgetown for a 9:30 AM showing of “The Post.” Wow – it was wonderful! And we watch “Dunkirk” tonight – two great movies to end 2017.

We had a wonderful Christmas Day with old friends from Hendrix. We went to Neil and Emma Wilson’s house for the best meal I had in 2017. Neil is a chef (darn the luck!) and he and Emma were the best hosts! Christie – another Hendrix alumni – was there, along with another smart and charming couple, Julia and Richard. Thank you, Neil and Emma!!!

At the Wilsons

At the Wilsons

Christie invited us to a pre-New Year’s Eve party on Saturday night, and we had a lovely time there with her, her dad, and her friends from work and church. Her neighbor was also there, gold star father Mr. Khan, who is an author and attorney – best known for his not-so-friendly back-and-forth with the President. We found him to be smart, humble, polite, and interesting, and it was quite the honor to meet and visit with him.

I took Tuesday and Wednesday off from work. On Tuesday I bundled up and went to the Freer-Sackler Museum on the Mall to see an Egyptian feline exhibit. Afterward, I went to Main State to meet John, Aaron, and Sarah – we went to a delicious Geogian restaurant, Supra, where we had a great meal and enjoyed visiting.

Thursday night we were invited to Juan and Gloria’s house in Virginia. We worked together our first tour in Juarez. They are just delightful, and we really enjoyed catching up with them and seeing their kids all grown up – they were so small when we were in Juarez!

With the Andreus

With the Andreus

Friday night John took me to see “Les Miserables” at the National Theatre – it was an excellent production and we’re still singing songs from it!

This was a great week to close out 2017! Can’t wait to see what 2018 brings!

Holidays in D.C.

Sunday, December 24th, 2017
National Christmas Tree

National Christmas Tree

John and I got in the Christmas spirit a bit this week. Friday evening we had a nice steak dinner at the Hamilton, then walked over to see the National Christmas Tree – lots of folks were out enjoying the sights. All of the buildings look so pretty at night with the garland and wreaths!

White House

White House

I really enjoyed Pamela’s visit this week! We chilled on Monday and watched the rest of “Handmaid’s Tale,” and on Tuesday we went to the Phillips Collection. They had a special exhibit of Renoir’s “The Boating Party.” It was a beautiful gallery, and I also enjoyed getting to see my favorite Georgia O’Keefe painting, “Taos Church.” Tuesday night, one of Pam’s former student workers came over for a visit.

With Muffy

With Muffy

Pam left early Wednesday morning, so it was back to work for me. I had a fun lunch on Thursday with Pamela B., Tammy, Lisa, and Jenny at Tonic. Those girls are so funny and smart, and really make me laugh.

Yesterday was a bit rainy and blustery, but I braved the elements to go to the Renwick Gallery. I saw their permanent collection, plus a very interesting exhibit of diorama crime scenes, made in the 1940s by the first woman police chief in the country in her effort to train police on the proper way to work a crime scene. Oddly enough, she was also the heiress to the International Harvester fortune. It was fascinating!

John and I walked over to Georgetown this morning for a 9AM showing of “The Last Jedi” – it was lots of fun! We stopped for a bite to eat on the way home. It’s cold out!

With my favorite O’Keefe

With my favorite O’Keefe

Pamela in D.C.!

Sunday, December 17th, 2017
John at his office holiday party.

John at his office holiday party.

My good friend Pamela flew in Saturday afternoon. We’ve had a great time just talking and catching up, plus watching some television.

Tuesday night Tammy and I metro’d over to meet our friend Wendy who was in town for the week. I love those girls! We had a wonderful time.

With Wendy and Tammy

With Wendy and Tammy

Thursday I went to lunch with a couple of the guys I sit by in the office – one of them is leaving. They’re really funny and nice.

I took Friday off – it’s nice to have a little bit of breathing room!

December D.C.

Sunday, December 10th, 2017

The birds discovered the feeder!

The birds discovered the feeder!

This was a week full of friends, something I am so grateful for!

John and I had a great dinner out with Nina, who we know from our time in Pakistan. She is super interesting and engaging, and we were happy to have a good visit with her before she heads off to be ambassador to Angola.

Wednesday evening a couple of really fun guys from John’s office came over for happy hour at our apartment. We had a great time laughing and sharing stories over a bowl of chili. It’s so nice to be around funny, smart people.

Thursday I met Tammy, Amy, and Donna for happy hour – these ladies are hilarious and immersed in the world of consular work, so we had a great time trading stories.

Friday night was the Nutcracker at the Warner Theatre, an annual event for my friend Pamela and her cute daughter Manuela. We met for dinner first at Hamilton, along with Pam’s good friend Duffy, who I really enjoyed spending time with. The ballet was beautiful with great dancers and costumes, and some really cute kids dancing, too. It was a wonderful girls’ night out and so fun to see Manuela’s eyes light up during the show. She’s just precious.

After spending a lovely day at home watching snow fall and our birds at the feeder, we topped off the week with a nice dinner out Saturday night. Afterward, we metro’d over to Clarendon for Jim and Kellee’s cookie decorating party. Lots of cute cookies, and I especially had fun visiting with Sarah. Thanks for a fun evening, Jim and Kellee!

Nassau

Sunday, December 3rd, 2017
Lighthouse across the bay

Lighthouse across the bay

I had a fun and productive trip to the Bahamas this week for work. The highlight of the trip was staying in a lovely old colonial hotel (now a Hilton), conveniently right across the street from the Embassy. It was on the water, a quiet bay where the cruise ships dock, so it was fun to watch them come and go while I ate breakfast. They are so close, and it’s amazing to see them maneuver in a small bay.

Love old hotel where I stayed

Love old hotel where I stayed

Work was interesting and I met some nice folks. The consular section sees a lot of American citizens due to the high number of tourists, and also sometimes passengers have to de-board the cruise ships due to some kind of problem – and they usually end up at the Embassy needing an emergency passport.

I walked around a little bit after work a couple of days but it got dark early, so I didn’t linger too long. Most of the businesses in that part of town cater to the cruise ships, so there are lots of tacky bars, souvenir shops, and high end stores selling (supposedly) duty free luxury goods like watches and diamonds. Two nights I sat by the water’s edge and did some work while having a glass of wine – the weather was lovely.

Happy hour view

Happy hour view

I have to say it was a pretty nice get-away since D.C. is getting pretty cold these days! Click to see all of my photos.

John is in Fayetteville this weekend visiting his family, but Flavie was happy to see me come home!

Fresh conch for sale

Fresh conch for sale

Lobster fresh off the boat!

Lobster fresh off the boat!

Hotel beach - the ships come so close!

Hotel beach – the ships come so close!

Old church

Old church