Another Daily Dose of Friendship

I met my friend Betsy at Busboys and Poets in Shirlington. She too is a happy friend and adds to my happiness. We had an interesting conversation but were aware of the time because it was Friday and traffic becomes intense at a certain hour on Friday afternoons in the summer. Also a heavy rain storm was predicted to arrive around 4 pm. We did have a couple of hours, however, to get in some good conversation on a variety of interesting topics.

I had the poached pear and goat cheese salad. Betsy had a double (triple?) decker sandwich. We shared a delicious piece of  key lime pie. (Shared? Well, I ate 70% of it.)

We plan to meet in Burke the next time. It would be closer to a half-way point for us.

I forgot to get a photo of the two of us but I took two photos while I was waiting. Not great but proof that I was there today.

Lunch with a Friend

Today I had a delightful lunch with my friend Indra. We met at Yindee Thai in Springfield. We both ordered Pad Thai from the lunch menu.

We became very engrossed in our conversation. We began talking at 1 and, when the servers started making a considerable amount of noise, I looked at my watch and couldn't believe my eyes. It was 4:10! We had definitely overstayed our welcome but we were content!

It is important to get a daily dose of friends, according to an article that I read recently. With each happy friend we add to our social circle, our own happiness grows by 9 percent (according to the research of Harvard University's Nicholas Christakis, MD and PhD). I can definitely say that Indra adds to my happiness. She is a happy friend and very interesting!

Indra and Christine

Final Birthday Lunch of 2018

George took me to the elegant Bombay Club Restaurant near Farragut Square. Here is a description of the restaurant from their website:

The Bombay Club emulates characteristics of the old clubs of India. The elegant environment with pale pastels, ceiling fans, and a profusion of greenery is designed to create a warm and inviting gathering place for relaxation and regeneration. The cuisine is the finest of India, utilizing only the best quality ingredients to create a harmony of subtle flavors. The sophisticated cuisine is enhanced by refined service and live piano music. Distinguished Restaurant of North America Award.

Dal,George, and Christine

I was very pleased that Dal was able to escape from his office and join us. He brought me a scrumptious box of Belgian chocolates! (Of course, when I got home, I immediately savored two of them. The box will not last long but I really should pace myself better.)

I love Indian food and my choice was excellent. Very delicious!

I 

A DCEC Museum Outing

The DCEC (the DC Explorers Club, formerly known as DCDC, the DC Dinner Club) met at the Phillips Collection this morning to see "Marking the Infinite: Contemporary Women Artists from Aboriginal Australia."

Text introducing the exhibit:

In the late 1980s women artists took the reins of the contemporary Aboriginal art movement in Australia. After years of working in the shadows, assisting their fathers and husbands, they burst onto the scene, giving it a new vitality and dynamism. Women artists redrew the boundaries of Aboriginal art, and continue to be among its most daring innovators. Though cultural activity has always been central to the secular and sacred lives of women, art making in recent decades has offered a key means for women to also maintain their social and economic independence.

 The nine artists whose works are on display

Lightning on Stone (painted on a piece of bark)

The Yolngu say that lightning is the tongue of Mundukul, the lightening snake.

Spiders 

Stars 

Larrakitj Poles - originally created by the Yolngu peoples to house the bones of their dead

Fishnet 

Lunch on the Tryst Cafe's deck 

From left to right, Mary, Christine, Synthia, Ginny, Jodi

                                        Mary next to the sign in front of the museum the Infinite spotlights nine leading Aboriginal Australian women artists: Nonggirrnga Marawili, Wintjiya Napaltjarri, Yukultji Napangati, Angelina Pwerle, Carlene West, Regina Pilawuk Wilson, Lena Yarinkura, Gulumbu Yunupingu, and matriarchs, commanding leadership roles and using art to empower their respective communities. The subjects of their art are broad, yet each work is an attempt to grapple with fundamental questions of existence, asking us to slow down and pay attention to the natural world. ya Napaltjarri, Yukultji Napangati, Angelina Pwerle, Carlene West, Regina Pilawuk Wilson, Lena Yarinkura, Gulumbu Yunupingu, and Nyapanyapa Yunupingu. Hailing from remote areas across the island continent, they are revered matriarchs, commanding leadership roles and using art to empower their respective communities. The subjects of their art are broad, yet each work is an attempt to grapple with fundamental questions of existence, asking us to slow down and pay attention to the natural world. 

Lunch with WG

I met my friend Bill for lunch at my favorite place in Shirlington Village, Busboys and Poets. Enjoyable company and interesting conversation. Good food, too!

Cottage

Our Cousin Alden is in town. I was able to spend a wonderful day with this fine young man.

In the morning John O and I met Alden and my friend Larissa at Foggy Bottom and then drove to a very interesting national historic site in Washington, President Lincoln's Cottage.

President Lincoln's Cottage

We took a tour of the Cottage, led by a very enthusiastic and knowledgeable tour guide.

From the Cottage's website:

During the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln spent June to November, 1862-1864 in a 34-room Gothic Revival "cottage" there.  He reportedly made his last visit to the house, on April 13, 1865, the day before his assassination.  He found cool breezes and quiet, but he brought his wartime responsibilities with him.  Lincoln was staying in this house when he wrote the final draft of the Emancipation Proclamation in September 1862.  Frederick Douglass, the famous African American abolitionist and writer, called the proclamation “the immortal paper, making slavery forever impossible in the United States."

After the tour, we took advantage of a great photo op. See the photos below.

Cousins Alden and Chris flanking President Lincoln 

                                                   John O and Christine with The President 

Larissa and Christine, who makes a point of bringing the lovely horse into the photo

The National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception

John then had a good idea - to visit the nearby National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, the largest Roman Catholic church in North America and one of the 10 largest churches in the world.

We had lunch in the cafeteria there and then visited the church. I hope to add photos of the Shrine taken by John.

Alden and Arthur: The Cousins Meet

Alden and I then came back to our house so that he could meet his Cousin Arthur. Unfortunately, his local cousins were out of town, Christian in Charlottesville and Colin in Miami.

Alden and Arthur got involved in a heavy tech conversation and it was all Greek to me!

We then enjoyed a pizza together before I took Alden back to his hotel.

I enjoyed seeing Alden again. He is an impressive young man who knows a lot about a lot of things. I enjoyed talking to him, in particular about history and architecture. (Not technology!)

Cousins Arthur and Alden

Indoor Picnic

Arthur and I made an Italian Love Cake for our family picnic to celebrate my birthday.

Cake in the making - three layers of angel food cake with pistachio ice cream, then  strawberry ice cream, and then whipped cream on top and sides. Amaretto in the cake and frosting.


Final product missing one slice! Note Junior Mints on the top.

 A slice of the cake

Indoor picnic with hot dogs, salt and vinegar chips, baby carrots, cake, and watermelon 

The paper plates make it look more like the Fourth of July than a birthday party! 

Arthur, Christian, and Marcello were in attendance. Michelle and Colin called in sick.

   

Arthur, Marcello, and Christian