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Happy Presidents' Day to you! Things are very quiet in the nation's capital, but I am busy packing for an adventure. I will be rather "far from home" for the rest of February, and away from this space. But, I promise to bring back lots of wonderful things.

Be well. See you in March.

trouvée: a tough choice

Milk or wine? You choose. Found last week on eBay. The upside to the lousy economy is that there is almost no competition when bidding for old snapshots (I can't attest to anything else). So, I have a pile of new images to share with you!

Some friday photo links:

* Sailors' Valentine
* Colleen Plumb
* and Gaylen Morgan

Wishing you all a lovely weekend and a happy Valentine's Day!

two warm days

Two days of blue skies and 70-degree temperatures in Washington ~ and forsythia makes an appearance (though I fear it will be shivering by weeks' end). I managed to escape from the office a little early yesterday afternoon as I needed to run over to the ANA offices to pick up a JR pass (I wonder if you all can figure out what that means?!?), and decided to walk home afterwards. What a joy to have a little sun on my face and a warm breeze at my back!

Anyway, I stopped by Borders to pick up a copy of Jamie...to see if it is indeed as good as all the buzz proports. Well, it is a culinary feast in print and packed full of recipes! Well worth the splurge ($9.99).

a winter meal

As the produce selection dwindles at the farmers' market, I am getting creative. Very creative. This week, however, I thought I had finally hit rock bottom. Seriously, what the heck can you do with wild mushrooms and Brussels sprouts? (Again with the sprouts, I know.) Well, apparently, Gourmet has an answer for everything. Hallelujah...some seriously divine inspiration.

And gosh, don't these look good?

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I was a little outside the perimeters on this one ~ 2.07 miles from home to be exact. But, it's okay to cheat a bit now and then, right?

A few things to enjoy:

* the March/April issue of Inside Out

* the February issue of World of Interiors

* and Debi Treloar

Happy monday!

trouvée: daisies

A recent acquisition. Inscribed: "Anita 18 months / 1912."

Today marks the 2nd anniversary of this blog and if I could, I would give each one of you a fist full of daisies. I can't thank you enough for stopping by and taking this journey with me. I am the richer for it.

As usual, some friday links:

* Sally Gall (via indigoalison)
* so much fabulous fashion at ICP
* and Women in Photography

And, very rarely do I get political, but please: speak up for museums.

the traveler

Thank you to Courtney at Style Court for including me in her "mental traveler" series. She never fails to delight and inspire me with her daily discoveries, so I am truly honored.

And speaking of travel, I can't help but wonder if Mr. Ferren has been reading my blog...!? What a treat to see the city of Washington featured in such a positive light.

bits of inspiration

We woke up to snow flurries this morning in Washington. And cold. Always more cold. However, I saw some lovely things out there in the virtual world:

* Admirals' Row (via EEE)
* Cafiero Select (via Style Court)
* and Laurie Reid

Stay warm.

historic house tour: tudor place

As part of Sunday's belated-birthday outing, we decided to pay a visit to Tudor Place on opening day (it was closed in January for a deep cleaning). And so you all get a surprise house tour! I had been several times before to do research, but had never taken a formal tour, so it was fun to play tourist for a change.

The elegant five-part, neoclassical house is set on 5 1/2 acres of land above Georgetown, with a view of the Potomac River. It was designed by William Thornton, the first architect of the US Capitol, for Thomas Peter and his wife Martha Custis Peter (the granddaughter of Martha Washington). The house was completed in 1816 and remained in the Peter family for almost 180 years. So naturally, it is full of treasures! Because of the close connection to the Washington family, there are over 100 objects once at Mount Vernon, including pieces of the Washington Sevres porcelain dinner service, magnificent Chinese export ceramics, George's chest-on-chest, and Martha’s Chinese Chippendale tea table (my personal favorite). Photographs were not allowed inside, but you may find some here. One of the highlights of the tour was getting to see the recently restored kitchen, which until recently had not been open to the public. The exterior of the house sports unusual buff-colored stucco over brick and a distinctive temple porch. The structure has seen very few changes over time, and so remains delightfully true to its Federal origins. For a bit more ~ enjoy!

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Blue skies and melting snows in Washington this weekend. Mild temperatures lured people outside to bask in a brief break in the weather ~ and prompted me to explore the outer reaches of the "close to home" limits (walking, not scurrying). Sunday afternoon there was a long-planned and rather belated birthday outing for two capricorns ~ a bit of history, some hot cocoa (with whipped cream!), and warm crêpes at Café Bonaparte made it worth the wait. However, I must say that our real treat was the sun (especially since a certain groundhog saw his shadow this morning).

And tomorrow, a surprise!