may your days be merry & bright

https://www.tinyprints.com/product/66829/flat_holiday_photo_cards_bright_bundle.html

Bright Bundle design by Tiny Prints

2 - times I had to lint roll those hunter green pants before our shoot

6 - photos of 120 that were acceptable options for our Christmas cards

3 - years in a row that Amelia has taken our Christmas photos

7 - tourists that we had to strategically shoot around to take the winning photo

1 - pair of ear muffs lost in the Uber on the way to the Jefferson Memorial

3 - top contenders from Tiny Prints amazing holiday card selections before agreeing on this design

37 - degrees when we took these

2 - more sleeps until the Star Wars movie premiere

365 - Days that were merry & bright with this man at my side.

We are so happy to be celebrating another beautiful Christmas season in this city, & since we cheated with our Paris photos from last year (how could you not?), we wanted to do our Christmas card photos at one of the most iconic and my personal favorite national sites, the Jefferson Memorial. A huge thank you to Tiny Prints for these beautiful cards & perfect design!

The Cards of Christmas Past:

2014

2013

2012

2011

springtime in dc

some springtime prettiness in our nation's wonderful capital.

the quest for lobster rolls

Jared & I imposed a rule when we moved here & fully understood just how many restaurants surrounded us. Realizing from experience just how easy it is to find a favorite place & turn it into a date night routine, we pledged not to eat at the same restaurant twice for the first two years we live here. The rule doesn't apply to fast food, because I can't even explain what would happen if we'd tried to only eat lunch at Shake Shack or Sweetgreen once.

IF we return to a restaurant, it can only be with newcomers. For exaaaample, if we find ourselves with out-of-town visitors or coworkers & in need of a place to eat, we can return to a restaurant we know to be delicious. It's turning out to be a pretty brilliant rule, actually, & I'd highly recommend it even if you've lived in the same city your whole life. Keep it fresh! *snaps/high kick*

Last week's culinary adventure landed us at Luke's Lobster in Penn Quarter, & it did not disappoint. I had sampled their lobster rolls at a bridal show late last year & have been raving about it to Jared ever since. Not the cheapest of lunches, unsurprisingly, but pretty affordable for the quality & experience. We were having a very pleasant conversation until we started eating, & then neither of us spoke until we were done. There are several places around the city that brag about their lobster rolls, & we've now only tried one... But, even though our rule allows us to start a search for THE BEST lobster roll, our lunch budget may not. Or maybe I'll just start selling off our valuables to fund my newfound lobster roll habit. Who knows! Life's a lobster, roll with it. (Sorryyyyy, I hadta.)

Tasty food & a handsome man to eat it with. It's a good life, guys.

iphone does - birthday, brunch & burgers

*waves* Me again. With pictures from last weekend's fun with friends!

^^ Our Coulomb besties showed up to celebrate Andrew's birthday weekend. Jared had to work a bit on Sunday, so the three of us filled our time with a bottomless Mexican brunch on 14th St. It was somehow my first DC brunch, & mannnn, it did not disappoint. We missed Jared so, but now I have an excellent excuse to return.

^^ Super Bowl Sunday = The only Sunday Jared & I kick back with canned beer & watch football. It's becoming a tradition to spend it with the Coulombs, which works out REALLY well for us, since Amelia always makes her famous Buffalo Chicken Dip. (**side note: If you're wondering if all we do when we're with Amelia & Andrew is eat... Well, you're not wrong.)

^^ Birthday rice krispy! ^^

^^ The next morning, after we successfully started the Coulombs addiction to House of Cards (like all good friends would), we balanced out all the delicious food we consumed with a nice long walk to the National Portrait Gallery. 

^^ Snow, cold, rain... I can handle all of it. But wind? OMG I HATE WIND. It was truly in rare form when we came out of the museum. The kind of wind that leaves you feeling like you just got beat up. The. Worst. ^^

^^ But the promise of Shake Shack burgers & fries kept smiles on everyone's face ^^

^^ See? I'm smiling right now just at the memory. YUM. ^^

Always such good times with these wonderful friends.

a day at the museum

We had our annual family meeting two Mondays ago, just reviewing where we are, where we want to be & what we'd like to get out of 2015. One of our goals was to take advantage of some of what DC has to offer us while we're here. Because truly, it has a lot to offer.

So! In an attempt to keep ourselves active during these winter months AND get to know this fair city of neverending entertainment, we finally got ourselves to a museum on our day off last week. Our day at the National Museum of Natural History was hopefully the first of many educational days spent at my favorite fella's side. We set off in the cold on a very grey day & headed downtown to get our Smithsonian on.

^^ Growing up so close to DC & now in living here, it's easy to forget how much history, architecture & international attraction is right here. But after visiting Paris & London, it was easier to appreciate playing tourist in our own city. ^^

^^ We've pretty much spent our entire relationship being on the go, so we know how to treasure our free moments together. How I love this man. ^^

^^ I still take a short little gasp everytime I see a monument. As much as we want to "fit in," I hope the magic of this place is never lost on me. ^^

^^ Always on the hunt for new, local restaurants, we popped in at The White Apron for lunch. It was ooookay. ^^

^^ Right after I said, "Museums will be more fun when we have kiddos running around," Jared took off towards the giant whale hanging on the ceiling. ^^

^^ The closest I, alongside two teenagers, got to getting a photo of Nemo, Marlin & Dory. Embarrasing. ^^

^^ Will always find a bear, if there is a bear to be found. ^^

^^ The driving force behind Jared's choice of museum. ^^

^^ & then there were the Gems & Minerals, in which I ran from display to display proclaiming my favorites, like I did when I was 8. ^^

^^ ALL THE COLORS. My personal heaven. ^^

^^ Just a giant diamond, that's all. ^^

^^ A solid family photo outside the Bollywood exhibition. ^^

Tomorrow is our second day off together since we resolved to make the most of our free days, but we're once again being met by gross weather... The outskirts of the dreadful storm heading towards NYC. We'll see how much we accomplish when there's slush & cold rain falling outside. Netflix is going to be aaaaawfullyyyyy appealing.