Bluebells at Bull Run Regional Park

Now is the time to go to Bull Run Regional Park to see the bluebells in all of their glory!

A Roman Birthday Party

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ANDREA! MAY YOU HAVE MANY MORE!

My husband celebrated his birthday with friends, Roman style.

We started out with a delicious pasta dish, fettuccine Alfredo.

The dessert was similar to Andrea's Delight, ricotta, coffee, and chocolate.

A special guest graced us with his presence.

Good friends - the spice of life!

A good time was had by all!

Sports in Loudoun County

My grandsons participate in sports activities, Christian baseball and Colin soccer.

Norwegian Fiddlers

I went to the monthly meeting of my Sons of Norway lodge. The program was a concert by Norwegian musicians. Loretta Kelley and Andrea Hoag are well-known fiddlers (playing on the Norwegian Hardanger fiddle). The guitarists are the Berntsons, mother, son, and granddaughter.

Founding Farmers, A Green Restaurant

The DC Dinner Club chose the new restaurant, Founding Farmers, for its April outing. This restaurant on 20th and Penn NW serves only organic food, most of which comes from local farmers. The ambiance was pleasant and the food very delicious indeed.

We began with cornbread, a choice from the list of "small plates." It was delicious and it actually had whole kernels of corn in it. It tasted very, very fresh.

For their main course Synthia and Mary both chose the chicken salad.


Christine chose the butternut squash ravioli. They were extremely tasty.


The drinks were exotic. Synthia chose a cranberry-cucumber cooler while Christine ordered a mint limeade.


The consensus was positive. We shall return!

National Gallery of Art

My favorite Smithsonian museum is the National Gallery of Art (even though it is technically not part of the Smithsonian complex).

On the Saturday before Easter I took my grandsons to this museum. They had never been to an art museum before and they enjoyed it. One of their favorite statues was David and Goliath.

FDR Memorial

One of my favorite memorials in Washington is the FDR Memorial, dedicated to President Franklin Roosevelt. I went there the other day to get a view of the cherry blossoms. The FDR Memorial and the Jefferson Memorial can both be found on the Tidal Basin.

Here are two photos of the statue of FDR at the entrance to the memorial.

Cherry Blossoms

Spring is the most beautiful time in the nation's capital. The cherry blossoms are in bloom. My grandson Colin is in seventh heaven. All he talks about these days is "the pink trees."

Celebrating CAL's 50th Anniversary

Hotel Monaco

I went to a marvelous reception this evening to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Center for Applied Linguistics. It was held in the Paris Ballroom of the Monaco Hotel at 7th and F Street NW, just across the street from the Verizon Center.

It offered a wonderful opportunity to see old friends.

Joy, Shelley, and Christine

An opportunity for delicious food as well!

Shelley helps herself. Christine abstained since it is Lent.

St. Patrick's Parade in Old Towne

Andrea and I took the boys to the St. Patrick's Parade. It was a marvelous local event. The parade went down King Street for 12 blocks. I especially liked the bagpipers. Christian liked the sheriff and the Fairfax County police motorcyclists. Colin loved all of the dogs, especially the littlest ones. We all found the Irish wolfhounds very impressive (they looked like ponies!).

The weather was perfect. Can you believe 74 F on March 8th in DC? Wow! Below is a photo I took of our house four days ago!

Arianna's Lebanese Restaurant

Chas, Rosemary, Christine, Andrea

Andrea and I went out to dinner with friends Chas and Rosemary. We dined at a new neighborhood restaurant called Arianna's that is located in Bradlick Shopping Center in Annandale. It was my kind of restaurant. I would highly recommend it!

We began our meal sharing two appetizers, falafels and sambosas.

Chas and I had the vegetable platter which included eggplant, pumpkin, spinach, and rice with lots of afghan bread. It was all delicious!

Rosemary had the chicken platter that included large pieces of chicken, eggplant, and rice.

Andrea had lamb and rice. It was not interesting enough to photograph! And he complained that there was too much rice and too little lamb.

Morandi at the Phillips Collection

George and Andrea at the entrance

Andrea and I met our friend George at the Phillips Collection to visit the Morandi exhibit. It was quite a remarkable exhibit. Morandi is an Italian artist who specialized in still lifes. I will provide more information about Morandi soon.

George and Christine at the entrance

Smithsonian Museums: My Kind of A Day!

I had a wonderful day today! I visited three Smithsonian museums.

Ripley Center


I attended an all-day workshop on Memoir Writing presented by GW Professor of English H.G. Carrillo in the Ripley Center. It was stimulating and informative.

During the breaks I visited the two new photographic exhibits, "Road to Freedom:Photographs of the Civil Rights Movement, 1956-1968," and "After 1968: Contemporary Artists and the Civil Rights Legacy."


National Museum of the American Indian

A view of the Indian Museum

Another view of the Indian Museum

For lunch, I dashed down to the Indian Museum. I love its food court with foods representing the cuisine of all the Indian tribes in North and South America. I had a wild rice and watercress salad and a red beet potato side dish.

Wild rice and watercress salad

Red Beet and Potato Side Dish (hard to photograph white on white)

Hirshhorn Museum

The Hirshhorn Museum (affectionately known as The Doughnut/Donut)

On my way back to the Ripley Center after lunch, I ducked into the Hirshhorn to see the much-publicized exhibit of American artist Louise Bourgeois. It was fascinating! I particularly liked the spiders and the cave sculpture in which she and her siblings feast on their father's remains.

This advertises the exhibit and shows the first sculpture in the exhibit which is breath-taking (notice the body has no head).

Crouching Spider