a soiree and a morning at the white house

The African Soiree is the big closing event for the annual D.C. Francophonie Festival that The Smithsonian Associates is a contributor to. I got there early to help with set-up and got a taste of what it would be like to be a fabulous Parisian as I helped the interns from the French Embassy. Those kids have class. I also bumped into some of the tall African models. More class. The Soiree was a big party in the NMAA that had a cartoonist, food, henna, a performance by Kaissa, a fashion show of an African designer, and then dancing to music from DJ Pinstripes. Rhiannon was able to join me and we weaved our way through the crowds, got henna, and watched the fashion show. So fun!

Kaissa

interns wearing our African bead necklaces, ready to head home after a long event.

The next morning, my super cool WH intern friend hooked us up with White House Garden Tour tickets. I got SO CLOSE to the WH. #chillinwiththeObamas

Treasury

I think I asked a professional press person to take this picture for us

wut up WH?

great view from the WH lawn

West Wing/Oval Office

Michelle's garden

"...the failure of one thing repaired by the success of another, and instead of one harvest a continued one through the year." -Thomas Jefferson

cute shot snagged from Vanessa ~ Vanessa, me, Taryn, Austin

D.C. has delivered on awesome weekends.

this is what it's like to live in a big city

This is what the romantic in me has always envisioned it would be like to live in a big city, summed up in one lovely spring day with Ashley.

Street art,

"If you lived here you'd be home now. But you still could not vote."

...tall buildings and roof top brunches,

...artsy neighborhoods with character,

...overpriced food,

...more street art,

...live, local music,

...festivals and tourists,

and monumental places.

Allie's Visit

Allie came into town a couple of weeks ago and it was such a fun week! We went to Nandos a few times=another friend converted. My goal is if I get enough Nandos followers from the west, maybe I could get one over there...?!
We saw the Natural History Museum and the gem room. I think that was her fav ;) Then MY favorite, the American History. She got to see the cherry blossoms.  And the monuments at night. I even got the chance to hail a taxi for the first time! I snagged these pictures from Allie of our adventures.

'Arry Potta! And Barbie!

We both hate dinosaurs.

One of my favorite moments from her trip was when we were sitting in the theater about to see "The Host." It's a Stephanie Meyer movie, so there were groups of girls out on GNOs. Allie and I were sitting behind a big, bald man and when I saw him I thought it was nice of him to humor his gf and come see "The Host" with her. But then the credits started and he was still sitting by himself. Way to see that movie even if no one else wanted to join you, man. No shame. Anyways, a preview for "Conjuring" came on and it looks like a freaky movie. Viewer discretion is advised: 

So the preview comes on and Allie closes her eyes and plugs her ears. I love scary movies, so I'm half watching through my fingers. The ladies in front of us are shifting in their chairs and there is a general moaning of fear throughout the theater. But this guy in front of us is audibly freaking out. At the part when the lady goes to investigate the noise (as they always do), he starts saying things like, "Woman, you're CRAZY!" and "No no no no don't go down there! WHAT are you doing?!" And at the climax of the preview with the hands, he and I both scream SO LOUDLY. And then we laughed through the whole next preview. It was a nice bonding moment and I gained respect for the man who went to see "The Host" by himself and wasn't afraid to be afraid.
We got an awesome tour of the Capitol--the best one, yet! It was the intern's very last tour before he was heading back to Oregon. It was nice talking to people from Oregon and reminiscing about all of our favorite places. We also got a good tour of my favorite LOC.

Tourist shirts!

It was so fun having her around! I wish it didn't have to end! Miss you, my friend.

On the playground is where I spent most of my days

Sooo I had this really awesome post drafted on my trip to Philadelphia aaand Blogger deleted it for being too awesome. But really, it was like 30 pages long with pictures and historical facts. So now I'll take it in parts so Blogger doesn't flip out again.

PART ONE

Ashley and I sang the theme to "The Prince of Bel Air" all day. Actually, just the first line because it says Philadelphia and that's the only one we know. All of these pictures are Ashley's because it was raining and snowing on us all day and her camera is waterproof. We were braving the elements that day.

We tried really hard to sleep on the bus because we were up really early. That was difficult, but we sat up on the top of this double decker bus and had an awesome view driving into the city.

soooo earrrllyyy

lower east side dc

classic bus sleeping pose

or you can try the fetal position

We went to the Philadelphia Mall for our tour of the main historic parts of the city.

1. Independence Hall/Old City Hall/Congress Hall

Old City Hall

Independence Hall

Congress Hall and Philosophical Hall

 2. Second and First Banks of the US

Second Bank of the US

3. Library Hall

Library Hall

love the cobblestone roads!

 4. Carpenter's Hall (where they conspired)

mid-town

 5. Christ Church

founding fathers went to church here

this font is like 400 years old or something crazy like that

6. Elfreth's Alley (the oldest neighborhood in America that is still a working neighborhood! Since 1702, 3,000 people have lived there. Very cute and old.)

7. Betsy Ross' House (no one is sure if it actually happened here, but they make money off of it, anyways)

 8. Ben Franklin's Grave (if you flip a penny onto the grave and make a wish, it will come true. Ashley's rolled off the grave, so what does that mean...??)

my wish is somewhere down there

Well this is about half-way! More to come about this very cold/very fun day.