DC Dinner Club Meets at Pentagon Row

This evening we enjoyed another one of our wonderful get-togethers. Hillary and Obama dominated our conversation.

Christine, Mary, Michele, Jodi, and Synthia

A rich variety of delicious dishes

Another group photo minus the photographer

Lebanese Taverna: Pentagon Row

Next week I will be going to the Lebanese Taverna at Pentagon Row with my DC Dinner Club. I will report on the evening after the event. In the meantime, here are some photos to spark your curiosity.

Bertucci's in 2000 Penn

Today I had lunch at Bertucci's with my friend Gale. You can find this restaurant in the 2000 Penn Building on the GW campus. Gale ordered a two-cheese individual pizza and I had four-cheese ravioli. As you can see, the special color for the day was cool aqua!

P.F. Chang's Chinese Bistro

Two dear friends invited my husband and me to dine with them today at P.F. Chang's Chinese Bistro in Fairfax. We had a delightful time with stimulating conversation and delicious food.

Tom, Nancy, Chris, and Andrea

All of our starters and entrees were delicious but the most memorable part of the meal was the Great Wall of Chocolate dessert.

Ballet Folklorico Del Pacifico

Exiting the Family Theater

What an absolutely incredible performance by the Ballet Folklorico del Pacifico! I attended this performance in the Family Theater at the Kennedy Center yesterday with my grandson and my son. The music was forceful and exhilarating, the colors of the costumes were bright and delicious, the dancers were energetic and graceful. This group showcased Mexican dance traditions and the audience gave them an extremely vigorous round of applause at the end. Both adults and children were enthusiastic. I hope this group returns next year!
















Sitting on a couch in the Hall of States

The Phillips Collection

The Main Entrance to the Phillips Collection



The Phillips Collection: Impressionists by the Sea


I returned to the Phillips Collection to view the exhibit "The Impressionists by the Sea" again. I went with my friend Barbara (who refused to let me take her photograph). After viewing the exhibit, we had lunch in the Museum Cafe. The menu choices were limited, especially for vegetarians like me. I did have a delicious bowl of French onion soup, however.

Ansel Adams at the Corcoran

I also saw the Ansel Adams exhibit. Adams is huge in the field of photography. I like his photos. His best photos are his landscape photos. The 125 photos in this exhibit represent his work in the 1960s and 1970s.

It was an impressive exhibit but I much preferred the photographs of Annie Leibovitz. I think I prefer people to landscapes, at least in black-and-white photographs.

Annie Leibovitz at the Corcoran Gallery of Art

Annie Leibovitz: A Photographer's Life 1990-2005

The Facade of the Corcoran

This morning I saw a marvelous exhibit at the Corcoran Gallery of Art that is located on 17th Street NW near the White House. It was Annie Leibovitz: A Photographer's Life 1990-2005. Here is a description of the exhibit from the museum brochure:

From the very beginning of her career, Annie Leibovitz has redefined the modern celebrity portrait, altering the way we think about the people who populate our cultural landscape.

The exhibit includes more than 200 photographs. They show some of her well-known celebrity portraits as well as images of her own family and close friends. She emphasizes that she has one life, that her personal and her professional photographs are all part of this one life.

The photographs are stunning. I truly loved so many of them. One of my favorites was of a handsome, young Clinton in the Oval Office in 1992.

Here I am just before going into the Corcoran to see the exhibit.

Smithsonian Museum of American Art and Portrait Gallery

Today my friend Carol and I met at the Smithsonian Museum of American Art and the National Portrait Gallery. It's really two museums in one.

We were especially interested in seeing the new glass roof over the courtyard. According to the museum's official website, the roof has a steel structure with a glass and aluminium exterior and its surface area is approximately 37,500 square feet. The roof has 864 panes of glass and - Listen to this! - no two panes of glass are alike! The roof, which weighs 900 tons, is supported by eight steel columns.


Note the steel column. Note also the vegetation. There are two 32-foot tall ficus plants and 16 black olive trees in the Courtyard.

Carol and I had a good lunch in the Courtyard Cafe.

Carol

Christine

While in the Portrait Gallery, we visited the Katharine Hepburn exhibit. It was very interesting. On the way to this exhibit, we saw a fascinating Andy Warhol portrait of Ted Kennedy with red and blue diamond dust.

Ching Ching Cha: China House of Tea

My friend Robin discovered a Washington gem, Ching Ching Cha. It is a delightful House of Tea. We went there for lunch yesterday and were bathed in exquisite tranquility.

The menu lists a few food items but has an 8-page list of exotic teas. Your cup of tea is the center piece of the experience.

I ordered Floating Lantern tea.



I then ordered the special Tea Meal which included steamed silk tofu, jasmine rice, three vegetables, and marinated carrots.


Soup (tomato, tofu, and egg) was also included with my meal:



Robin ordered the vegetable dumplings.



We enjoyed almond cookies and lotus seed paste in a pastry puff.

One could buy a variety of items in this House of Tea including teas, teacups, and tea kettles.


We had a delightful time!

Robin and Christine

Norwegian Model Train at Union Station

After the performance at the Kennedy Center, we went to Union Station to see the Norwegian model train. It is marvelous! The train goes through the mountains and a lovely Norwegian village. There are lots of ugly but likeable trolls in this village!

Mr. and Mrs. Troll

The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts

I went to the Kennedy Center on Saturday with my grandson and my sister to see a wonderful children's performance, "Swimmy, Frederick, and Inch by Inch." Here is a photo of me and my grandson in the Grand Foyer at the Kennedy Center near the bust of John F. Kennedy.