Washington DC - Day Two and Three

I was too pooped last night to update my blog. Class was brutal and by the time we got out of class, I was fried! I ended up walked a couple of blocks to a Subway, bought myself a sandwich, went to the corner Walgreen's for a Diet Pepsi and came back to my room for the night.

Got a pretty darn good sleep last night and today class wasn't so brutal, so after class a group of us decided to venture to Georgetown for dinner and shopping. Boy, oh boy, could I do some damage with the credit card there...lol. Georgetown has all of my favorite shopping that Des Moines doesn't have....such as Anthropologie, Lush, Kiehl's, Dean and Deluca, a MAC store and that's just one street. I'm going back tomorrow after class to Wisconsin Avenue where the vendors sell fake purse...LOL!

We made it to the Paper Source. Cool store!...I bought a couple of sheets of some very cool paper and a couple of fun gift items. Anthropologie got the bulk of my money and I'm going back...I bought the yummiest Gardenia candle, a very cool "K" and a new coffee mug for the office.

We walked almost to Georgetown University because when we stopped in the Ugg store (I must own a pair of Ugg boots), the very cute saleman told us that the stairs from the movie "The Exorcist" was right down the street close to the university.

Here's a photo:



Here's a few more photos from the Georgetown area:

The home decor area of Anthropologie


Inside the Paper Source



Along Pennsylvania Avenue in Georgetown


A residential street in Georgetown


Well, I'm pooped and I gotta get some of my suitcase packed tonight if I'm going back out tomorrow night. I'm missing my boys!

Washington DC - Day Two

First day of training and I'm pooped. I spent too much of my brain cells today...LOL!

After the training, I walked down to the closest Radio Shack and bought another cell phone charger, then walked over to an Italian Restaurant close by to met up with some of my fellow classmates. Had some excellent Rigatoni Arrabiata and a Miller Light. I'm back in my room and I'm afraid it's going to be nighty-night soon.

Here's some more photos from my trip:



Washington Monument






Our nation's capital



A neighborhood in Georgetown




The National Portrait Gallery





The castle at the Smithsonian



The National Archives (where the Declaration of Independance, Bill of Rights and the Magna Carta is displayed)

More tomorrow....

Washington DC - Day One

Arrived at Reagan National around 9:30 this morning. Couldn't believe that we actually got here about 50 minutes early! and by the time I got down to the baggage claim area, my bag was there waiting for me. So far so good...LOL!

Since I was early, I knew I wouldn't be able to check into my room, but I still grabbed a taxi to the hotel so they could hold my luggage for me and I could so sight-seeing.

Had a super fun day, but everywhere I went, I kept thinking about how much more fun it would be if Fred and Connor were with me. We definitely need to plan a family trip here.

I got back to the hotel around 4:00pm and my room was ready. They had already taken my luggage up to the room for me. Great room!






The bed has a wonderful pillowtop to sleep on and lot of pillows. I have internet access and a nice desk to work on and the bathroom is to die for.....



The bathtub is HUGE and deep. I took a bath so I could soak my poor feet and I could stretch out full length in that tub! They also provide you with these wonderfully lush bathrobes to use (see back of door...lol)



The whole bathroom is marble and everything is separate. The toilet is in it's own little separate room.



The shower is separate from the tub. I love that! and the products they give you are BVLGARI. I'm gonna have to stash some of it...They even provide you with a crystal jewelry/ring holder on the vanity!

My meetings start tomorrow morning at 8:30, so I'm getting ready to read a bit and then lights out. I forgot my cell phone charger, so either at lunch time tomorrow or after the meetings are over, I have to hoof it over to Connecticut Ave. to the Radio Shack that was closed today to buy another.

I'll post more photos tomorrow night!

A Fabulous Opportunity!

I got to work today and received wonderful news! I am one of 12 appointees nationwide to serve on a committee that is going to study the future of the US Courts electronic filing systems. My boss encouraged me to apply for this appointment and last week we found out that there were 80 applicants for 12 spots. I am the only appointee from the 8th Circuit (the federal court circuit that Iowa is in) and it's a huge deal. My appointment letter is even signed by James Duff, the Director of the Administrative Office of the US Courts and a presidential appointee.

I'm leaving for Washington DC this Sunday for a weeks worth of initial meetings regarding this project. I'm also happy that one of my court friends from San Francisco is also one of the appointees so we can pal around DC next week. I get in to DC around noon so I will have plenty of time to sightsee. Since I have been there twice before and have seen all of the memorials and Arlington National Cemetary, I'm going to concentrate on the Smithsonian and part of the National Galler of Art that I didn't get to the last visit. I'm staying at the Ritz Carlton in the northwest part of DC, right by Embassy Row. I only wish that this opportunity wasn't so last minute as I really want Fred and Connor to see Washington DC someday and this would have been the perfect opportunity.

This is really a coup for my career and if any opportunities should arise within our court, this appointment will definitely look good on the resume.

A Nice Fall Weekend

My favorite time of the year. My decorating is done. The trip to the apple orchard complete (See below) and we're ready for Halloween.


Yesterday, we did get to drive up to Marshalltown to visit Appleberry Farms. The trees were loaded with apples and it didn't take us long to fill our bucket.



We ended up with 24 pounds of apples and only paid $10 bucks! I also scored on some bittersweet (one of my favorite things in the world and hard as hell to find) and we bought 1/2 gallon of apple cider.

I also did some scrapbooking this weekend. I caught a creative wind and finished up one page and actually started and completed two more. The photos of my Dad and the kids are from the same visit last spring. I don't have a photo of Dad and Gunner because Gunner wasn't here that day.



I used Basic Grey "Granola" for this page. Lori - Notice the buttons..LOL. The tag is an old We R Memory Keepers that I had and I used chipboard (which I have a ton of) for the letter and American Crafts brown rub-ons.


This page is done with all old old Chatterbox that I found when I was going through my patterned paper and it's from a sketch that I saw in the latest Scrapbooks Etc. magazine.


On this page I used some older My Mind's Eye Wild Asparagus and Deja Views.

I was surprised how quickly those pages came together. I also worked on what I'm making some of my family and friends for Christmas, but I don't want to share just yet. I'm stoked because I finished one of them earlier today and it's freaking awesome. Once I finish all of them, I take some photos and share. Hope to have the rest of them done by the middle of November.

Have a great week! I have tomorrow off and I need to switch out my closet. One would think with the closet space I have that I wouldn't need to keep my clothes in two different closets, but yes I do. I did recently do switch to huggable hangars which saves a TON of space and I've really pared down my spring/summer clothes, but I need to do the same with my fall/winter clothes. Once I do that, then switching out my closets won't be such a big deal.

I've been Tagged!

RULES:
• Link your tagger and list these rules on your blog.
• Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
• Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.
• Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.
My facts:


I've been tagged by Janet, so here goes:

1. I like the lights on during the day. Weird I know, but I like light!

2. I've been going to a 4 night a week "boot camp" at my local fitness center. 30-40 minutes of a grueling workout. There are 10 of us, 6 women and 4 men. I'm the oldest. Last week one of the women far younger than me puked after.....Chris the trainer aka Satan calls me "the machine"....LOL!

3. I surround myself with multiple types of shampoo. I like choice.

4. I like to grocery shop. It's a ritual with me. Sunday mornings when everyone else is at church. Me, my coffee and my coupons.

5. I love egg white sandwiches. Toast bread, spread with butter, top with hard boiled egg whites (not the yolks).

6. My mother *almost* named me "Elaine". Thank God, my Grandfather and Uncle stepped in with "Kristina" - no offensive to any Elaines out there.

7. I'm a scrapbook page "stacker". I will amass this huge stack of completed pages and take months to get them into their albums.

Pretty much everyone I know has been tagged....so I think this is the end of the line.

I'm waiting to see what the weather is going to do today. Our plans are a trip up to Marshalltown to Appleberry Farm to pick some Chieftain apples. Chloe is going to spend the day with us, so we will probably go out to lunch and then come back to the house. She likes to play PS3 with Connor. I've got a bunch of laundry today, all the bed linens need washed and I want to finish putting my lighted Halloween decorations in the windows.

I think later this evening, I'm going to sit down and make a point of watching
Chocolat. I've been wanting to see it forever and I finally got it from Netflix this week. Heard it was excellent and I like all of the actors in it. It sounds like a movie that's going to make me hungry...LOL!

A couple of fun projects...

Besides scrapbooking, I've finished a couple of fun projects in the last couple of weeks. The first one, I saw somewhere on the internet (I can't remember) and thought it was a cute idea for something I already had.

I took the large Fancy Pants Glittercut that has been hanging out in one of my baskets for awhile, punch a hole in the top of it large enough to do around a doorknob and then cut a slit from the hole to the top of the glitter cut so you can hang it from the doorknob. I took some old Hobby Lobby glitter letter stickers I had and spelled out "Do Not Disturb". I think it turned out cute.




Last weekend at the crop I attended, I spent the first few hours working on a Halloween House that I made from a Doodlebug House kit that I've also had forever. I came across it the week before the crop and challenged myself to DO SOMETHING WITH IT! I came out just lovely, if I say so myself. Even Fred has commented on it several times that he thinks it's "cute". I used paper from a DCWV paper stack that Cheri and I purchased together last year on our Omaha trip and scraps of paper from my scrap cart. I used 27 buttons ALONG (you seeing this Lori?...lol) and my scallop punch for window and roof trim. I found those darling velvet spiders made by Little Yellow Bicycle and thought they would be the perfect embellishment.




It was alot of work, but fun to do and the perfect addition to our Halloween decor. Do you decorate for Halloween? I love to decorate for Halloween almost as much as I like to decorate for Christmas.

Such a fun day!

Had a wonderful time cropping with Cheri and her gang up in Ames on Saturday. I didn't get as much as I would have liked to get done because that damn Halloween house took me so long, but it turned out awesome! Fred has even commented TWICE that he thinks it's cool.....I'll post pictures once I get them taken.

I did complete a one page and a two page layout also and I have another one that I started just about finished......Lori, if you're out there, I added a bunch more brads and buttons on my pages....LOL!

Here's the two I finished:




In the words of my friend Janet, click on the photos to bigify

A a bummer of a note....when I got home last night, Connor was complaining of not feeling well and by this morning he had a temp of 102, sore throat, earache. What is going on? This is the third weekend since the 3rd week of August that he has been sick. I've been dosing him with ibuprofen, but it doesn't seem to be doing it. I put a call into the doctor, but not much they can do until they can see him in the morning. Good thing that tomorrow is a federal holiday, so I'll probably be making a trip with him to Mercy East's Urgent Care clinic down the road.

Hope our week goes better than today!

Another Scrapping Weekend!

I'm excited about getting together tomorrow with some of my scrapbook posse. I can't believe that I've actually scrapped outside of my own room twice in the last three weeks and I have three more coming up before Thanksgiving.

I just finished packing up some stuff and made a trip to our fabulous brand spanking new Hy-Vee that just opened up on Tuesday for supplies. What a store! I'm overwhelmed by my choices now....lol

I've been wanting to share with all of you an organizing idea that I've been using regarding my jewelry. I love jewelry, especially Brighton and Silpada. I've been storing my jewelry in velvet trays in a couple of the top drawers of my dresser, but I was finding that it was hard to see what I had, so I decided to try something different.

I wanted my necklaces, pendants and bracelets out where I could see them, so I purchased a bag full of suction hooks ($3.79 at Walgreens) and since I really don't use my dresser mirror, I attached the suction hooks to the mirror to hang my jewelry from. Once obstacle....every time you walked by the dresser because it is on carpet, the jewelry ching, chinged against the mirror, so I decided to wedge a small piece of syrofoam between the upright side posts of the mirror and the wall and that took care of the problem.

Sometimes I even surprise my hubby with my ideas....lol

Because it's so IMPORTANT!

Don't Vote

We had a Blast!

Went and saw this lady last night at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.



We had a blast! Unfortunately, I didn't get to meet her, but there were 4,000 people at this show. I couldn't believe how many people were there.

This was also my first time to Carver-Hawkeye Arena and I must say, what a freaking awesome venue. The location and how they built that arena is too cool!

Today is my niece Chloe's birthday! She is 8 years old today! Happy Birthday Chloe! We are going to have her, her mom and her brother over later for Chicken and Noodles, presents and cupcakes.

Well, gotta go, have laundry left and want to decorate the front porch for fall.