Ben and I planned a little getaway for the upcoming weekend, so we put our celebration off until then. Thursday we flew into Reagan airport and minutes after arriving, we were already enjoying the company of Taryn and sweet baby Reese! This was Ben's first trip to DC and so we had a lot of ground to cover.
Friday we headed across the Potomac into Georgetown and decided to "do a lap before we commit to a location." My friends for the day, Ben, Taryn and Reese, were nice enough to park right near Ann Sacks, Baker Furniture, and Waterworks. How fun to walk through these showrooms. It's great to see actual products after seeing their ads and spreads in design magazines. After that we strolled down M street and visited Georgetown Cupcake. We HAD to! The line was out the door but that isn't saying much, as only four people can fit inside at a time. We were later told by people all over town, who saw us carrying the pink box, that it was a 'short' line and how lucky we were to have gone when there was only a ten minute wait. We split a half-dozen and they were all equally delicious!
We stopped into Five Guys for lunch and the place was packed. (Also another 'must', as I've heard east coast people talk about Five Guys the way west coast people talk about In n' Out). It was delicious - and a little more meaty and down-home greasy than In n' Out. Yum.The weather was so nice and we walked around for a few more hours, window-shopping among all the beautiful storefronts. I took a picture of the Ralph Lauren storefront because I thought it was so classic-looking. The holiday decorations were beginning to go up and it felt so festive all around. We stopped into spend our 'souvenir money' on goodies at my new favorite store, lululemon.
Afterward we drove to the Smithsonian to see the exhibits. The place was huge and we only had a little time, so we went straight to the important stuff: The National Gem Collection, including but not limited to the Hope Diamond. My eyes were as big as saucers the entire time and I may or may not have shoved people out of my way to be closer to the glass. Here are a few items I'm adding to my Christmas list:
We met up with Michael for a yummy dinner at La Sandia at Tyson's Corner. I was hooked the moment the waiter came out and started making fresh guacamole at our table. It was altogether very very tasty - great recommendation by Taryn.
Saturday we went to a preliminary tour of the new Capitol Visitors Center. It is underneath the Capitol and it's pretty incredible. Reminds me a lot of the Conference Center with all the angular columns and white stone inside. Taryn parked us at one end of the mall and on our way to the Capitol we passed all the monuments and museums. There were thousands of people walking the mall, from joggers to tourists, from Prop 8 protesters to Segway tour groups and everything in between. Talk about leaving the bubble!
The downpour started and Taryn and Mike made the trek back to the car while Ben and I took Reese to see the Supreme Court building and the Library of Congress. What incredible buildings. The Library of Congress has mosaic tile murals and ceiling treatments that you have to see to believe. The rest of it reminded Ben of the movie National Treasure. :) Here is a picture of the stained glass panels in the ceiling that must have been done by Louis Tiffany - they were so beautiful I could hardly take my eyes off them.
That night we went back to Arlington for dinner and met up with Chris and Maeve at Ted's Montana Grill. It was so nice of Chris to share his order of onion rings as we awaited our Bison burgers. Yummy and juicy! Sounds weird but it was quite the treat. It was great to see the Baughman's and catch up with them now that they're big city folk. (Maeve good luck with the Christmas tree! I know it will turn out fabulously!)
We flew out Sunday evening but before we left we went by Arlington National Cemetery. We really could have spent all day there, the place is huge. We power-walked up to see the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknowns and then walked into the Memorial Amphitheater. It was really cold outside by now but the afternoon sun was shining through and the amphitheater was so majestic. My heaven has an amphitheater like this one.
Ben and I had a fantastic time. Three days was hardly enough time but it was a good start... Taryn and Reese make a wonderful tour guiding team! Maybe we can come back for the cherry blossom festival, what do you say Tar? On the flight home I asked Ben what his favorite part was - thinking it would take him a while to run through all the things we'd so enjoyed - he quickly replied, "The fajitas Taryn made on Thursday night... yep, that was my favorite part."
concrete dogs flanking an entryway - Derek ordered these for his client's gothic revival house in Huntsville
rooster aubusson needlepoint pillow at Gerry Nichol - I know it seems kinda old fashioned but these are absolutely beautiful - and retail for over $400
a vignette at Old Hickory Tannery - how fun is this set-up? Matching upholstered beds, my fave, and fabulous bedding, etc. I want to package this room up and have it as a guest room! 
We saw this giclee (canvas reproduction) at Picture Galleries. The picture doesn't do it justice but something about this photo caught me - isn't it incredible?
And here's me in this HUGE chair we saw at IHFC. I had to climb/jump into it. (notice the uggs, sweater and strange hair-do, can you guess it was our fifth and final day?) And at the top of this post is the Baker Furniture building. The topiaries, the artichoke finials, the iron gates, the awnings, the ivy! I fell in love with the building's cream, gray, black and green look and its iconic historical styling.
