free-wheeling

our big accomplishment this weekend was riding our bikes up to mt. vernon.

and back.

we underestimated the round trip by, oh, about 10 miles, so it was pretty slow going there at the end.

but it was also a perfect day for a long, leafy bike ride. and it's always worth it to say hello to george.

powering down

the weekend started out all normal and fun and then a hu-uge storm blew through friday night and knocked out our power and it's been out ever since.

so, it wasn't a very normal weekend at all, though we did still manage to have some fun. like eating out every meal, driving around in the car so we could charge our phones and be in air conditioning, and throwing away everything in our fridge and freezer.

to help myself have a better attitude about the whole thing, i made a list of all the things we could still do with no power, but the first thing i thought of to write down was "complain," so i don't think it really worked.

one silver lining was celebrating sweet and much favored dana's birthday (in the air conditioned comfort of her new and fabulous apartment) and our friends sarah and kc threw open their doors and we've been crashing at their place to escape the stifling heat of our place.

they said 90 percent of customers should have power by thursday. then they said friday. and then they said by the end of the weekend. so, we'll see about that. we're at 62 hours with no power so far but, who's counting?

lost and found

yesterday was the perfect day for a bike ride. so, that's exactly what we decided to do.

and, on our third attempt, we found the way to the iwo jima memorial!

this was actually AWD's originally intended destination for the bike ride on which we got engaged so, for good measure, he asked me to marry him when we stopped in front of the memorial.

i said yes.

come josephine, in my flying machine

it was the air show at andrews air force base this weekend.

and we went.

and it was awesome.

we got to crawl around in transport plane cargo holds and sit in helicopters and touch fighter jets and stand inside one of the planes used during the berlin airlift.

it was sunny and warm and there was nary a cloud in the sky.

we saw stunt pilots and stealth bombers (conclusion: approximately 100 percent of UFO sightings are probably stealth bomber sightings) and ended the day with a rather dazzling display from the blue angels.

in short, it was maybe one of the coolest things i've ever done.and it made me want to watch "top gun" something fierce.

blossoms on parade

the other main event of the weekend was the cherry blossom festival parade. it was a little weird because the cherry blossoms peaked and blew away about a month ago, but i suppose it's a little hard to predict these things.

it was a pretty crowded jumble, but we did catch a glimpse of debbie gibson, kristi yamaguchi and maybe a miss america/usa/universe/galaxy contestant and/or winner. we missed buzz aldrin, which was something of a disappointment.

mostly, it was just really nice to be outside in gorgeous weather (no coat! bare legs! sandals!). AWD and i both got a little sunburned, which i think is a sure sign that spring is here and summer is not far behind.

yep, this happened.

and i am not even embarrassed about it.

on friday night AWD and i went to see "titanic" in (sort of) 3D. and it was totally worth it. it's a fine film and a fine love story and we enjoyed all three hours and change.

(we'll never let go!)

and then, since we were on a roll, on saturday we headed over to the national geographic museum, where they currently have an exhibit about the titanic. and where this happened.

and i am not even embarrassed about that either.

the exhibit had some set pieces from the movie, which was pretty rad, and tons of interactive displays (i learned morse code!), plus a list of all the supplies titanic sailed with (6,000 pounds of butter and 30,000 eggs!) and a video of the man who discovered the wreck in 1985 talking about what that was like.

he said the first thing they spotted was a boiler and everyone started shouting "a boiler! it's a boiler!" (except for the frenchie on board who shouted "ze boileh!") and they were so jubilant at having discovered this treasure. and then they realized it was 2 a.m. titanic sank at 2:20 a.m. and suddenly the mood shifted and the tragedy sunk in. (no pun intended. but it was a pretty good one, no?)

anyway, the whole thing was fascinating and we did a bunch more reading and research afterwards. you should all come visit and see the exhibit, ok? i think it's what jack and rose would have wanted.

blossoms in the sky

saturday night was the cherry blossom festival fireworks show at the southwestern waterfront.

EH and i went, watched fireworks (our favorite) and had chicken on pita from the tasty kabob food truck for dinner before strolling home.

wish you could have been there. it was lovely.

flower gazing

in japan, the phrase for going to see the cherry blossoms is "hanami," which basically means "flower look." i love that phrase because that is exactly what you want to do when you go to see cherry blossoms: look and look and look.

which is what we did friday night.

though we also spent just as much time talking to friends we ran into around the tidal basin, which is another thing i love. a big city can really feel like a cozy home when you find the people you know in the midst of it.

that's the magic of hanami, i suppose.

my funny valentine

for valentine's day (so we are a little behind around here), AWD took me to paris... virginia. for a lovely dinner at an old, old inn with delicious, delicious food. he even set up the car like an airplane, with a bottle of water at my seat and everything. it was heart-melting-ly charming.

and for valentine's day i got AWD a swanky hotel room downtown (thanks, living social! thanks, obama!) for a little weekend staycation, which we cashed in this past weekend.

we had brunch with the klemturas (including baby penny), checked out the new exhibit at the newseum about press coverage of presidential elections, watched the oscar nominated live action and animated shorts at the e street theater, ran into some anti-bashar protesters, saw the new annie leibowitz exhibit at the american art museum and the new MLK memorial on the mall and ate late night amsterdam falafel, shake shack burgers and crumbs cupcakes. delicious.

and then we watched the oscars in our big, soft, hotel bed.

it was a great time being tourists in our own city, and it was great to have a little getaway without having to go too far. and mostly it was great to have the whole weekend, and each other, to ourselves. i have to say, before we got married i was a little nervous about the prospect of being with one person all the time. would we get sick of each other? what if i wanted to do something with someone else? i knew of couples who really only wanted to spend time with one another and didn't really care about seeing other people, but i didn't quite feel that way and i worried about what that meant. (meaning, i worried that it meant we might be doomed.)

now that i am older and wiser about these things i am happy to report that such a thing does not mean you are doomed. but i am also happy to report that, as time goes on, AWD really has become my favorite person to hang out with and i am not sick of him yet. i would rather be with him than just about anyone, and so a weekend of adventure together was really the perfect gift. for me, that is.

this was my weekend. how was yours?

friday night a storm rolled in with thunder so loud you thought the sky might split open right above your head.

it was the perfect kind of night to curl up with AWD, a sewing project and a little "friday night lights." so that is exactly what i did.

saturday dawned sunny and warm, so we loaded up our bikes and drove out to antietam to bike the battlefield. the only thing that could have possibly made the day better would have been if we had remembered to bring sunscreen. i am rocking a pretty sweet farmers' tan that better be gone by the wedding.

we stopped at the most luscious farm stand on our way out of town for fresh peaches and corn and squash and zuchini bread, and then made our way to winchester for an early birthday celebration with AWD's family.

it was nice to get away from all the wedding madness and spend some time thinking about things other than mini cupcakes and seating charts and dress fittings.

actually, who am i kidding? i love thinking about mini cupcakes any time.

root, root, root for the home team

it was mormon night at the nationals tonight, so AWD and i headed to the ballpark to watch the home team defeat the atlanta braves.

the game was OK, but the stormy sunset sky was spectacular.