Since it had been 5 years, I went to see the POTUS on his bday

Just like me, the city is home improving

Man! A habit has obviously been forming. Charlotte is down to an annual trip vs. a few times a year. D.C. -- a place I visited annually for years -- has not seen my face since 2010 when I was secretly pregs with D. No wonder I keep randomly thinking about cherry blossoms.

This visit was a quick biz trip and I was fortunate enough to spend time near the Smithsonian and in Logan Circle, an up-and-coming historic neighborhood. Nail Saloon (trendy nail spa with the best light fixtures I've ever seen), Donovan House (renovated Kimpton hotel with a fun rooftop pool & bar) and the seasonal small plates restaurant Lincoln (bacon-infused bourbon!) were great spots in Logan Circle.

Rooftop pool bar view at Donovan House

Although I could have spent days visiting my favorite museums, I focused on the Freer Gallery of Art, one of my all-time favorite museums, known for its harmonizing collection of American and Asian art by a Detroit collector. There was an interesting exhibit on display that dove into all of the dirt between Whistler and a collector (not Freer) about the Peacock Room, an over-the-top dining room and living work of art, which was shipped to America in something like 27 crates. Although I've visited the museum many times, today I learned a bit more about Freer himself, who grew up with modest means, and the artists he commissioned. Fascinating as to how he created enough wealth in order to retire at 45 and then travel to collect enough art to partner with Teddy Roosevelt to build and establish the first art museum as part of the Smithsonian. Give me that life!

Hoping that I make it back to D.C. before I am schlepping my children there on a Spring Break years from now to help them appreciate our nation's history. :)

Happy New Year!

Hello, 2011! 

 

Yesterday, my brother and I were chatting about the Back to the Future Movies, and he said one was set in 2015...where are our flying cars, yo? We've got four years to bust them out. 

 

2010 was a milestone year for me. I welcomed a new travel companion into the world, and wow, is my life different...in a good way, of course. Before I had a baby, I had always hoped to be really mobile with my child, and The Pickle is a trouper. (He's actually helping me type this, which is why an early draft published before I was finished.)

 

Here's a recap of 2010:

• I survived first-trimester nausea on a work trip to Chicago
• I took a road trip to D.C. while still hiding my bump. I discovered my new prego bladder-emptying threshold (every 45 minutes)
• Phil and I took an amazing babymoon to Key West
• Dylan and I took our first trip together to Dallas (it was a blast, but I came home exhausted)
• I took my first work trip to NYC and endured the pain in the ass of mobile pumping (airport bathrooms blow for this)

Here's what's coming up in 2011:

 

I'd love to take an international trip with Dylan...can you imagine how cute his passport will be?! There are two possibilities for this: a Morocco trip with Sarah or somewhere in the Caribbean for a friend’s destination wedding. Fun!

 

Most likely, I'll have multiple Vegas trips, both for work and fun (Phil and his best friends will be celebrating their 40th this year). Dolla dolla bills, y'all!

 

Happy travels to you all!

Traveling for two

So...I'm five and a half months pregnant today and due in August. Whoa.

Phil and I are really excited, but I'm still processing everything, which is why I've been pretty private about sharing our news. I told my extended fam and work my news a month ago, and I'm finally ready to admit on the interwebs that I have a new traveling status: Christina + 1. (No, this is not an April Fools joke.) Some of you might have noticed my bump in my last post while in D.C., so I figured it's time to spill the beans.

Baby K, aka Mingus (our official nickname...long story) has been an amazing little traveler to-date. (Actually, I've had a super easy pregnancy so far.) He/she's been to St. Louis (which I never end up writing about because they're quick day trips for work), Vegas, Chicago and D.C. without incident. And, Mingus will get to experience Key West in a couple weeks. Woo hoo!

My fam keeps asking if I'll still travel while pregs (obviously, yes) and after the baby is born. Of course! I thrive on planning trips, and I don't expect that to change. I'll just need to make some adjustments. My friend Sarah has been an amazing role model for me. She traveled by herself with Ella, who was one, a couple years ago for our San Francisco trip, and she took Ella and her newborn to Dallas by herself a couple months ago. She started a blog to write about being a working mom, Postpartum PR, which I love reading.

In any event, I'm excited to have a go-to traveling companion. This kid is going to experience the world, one city at a time!

Sunshine, Asian art and the Eastern Market

The weather yesterday was delightful, and lots of people were out to celebrate the start of the National Cherry Blossom Festival, which kicked off with kite flying near the Washington Monument. We took the train in to Union Station and took a leisurely stroll to the Freer Gallery, one of my all-time favorite museums. Along the way, we walked through more groves of cherry blossom and magnolia trees...the air smelled so sweet!

I got to show Carli the Peacock Room at the Freer and some of my favorite Whistler and Dewing paintings, but the Thayer angel paintings weren't on display (or I couldn't find them). Carli started not feeling well, so we never made it to the Sackler galleries below. 

We headed to the area near the Eastern Market to grab lunch and then browsed the stalls, which were a smaller version of Cleveland's West Side Market. We bailed on a play we were going to see at the Woolly Mammoth since Carli looked like death. Poor girl almost made it home before puking (if you're walking on Colesville Road today from the Silver Spring metro station, stay clear of the flower beds).

We watched the West Virginia v. Kentucky game and a movie and then called it a night before Carli went to bed with her bucket. 

Today's a little gray and I'm hoping that the rain stays away for my drive. Phil had his softball banquet last night, so I'm also hoping he's not curled in the fetal position in our bed. :)

Everything's better with cherry blossoms

 

Last night I had the privilege of experiencing Carli's infamous evening monument tour. She was right -- they look amazing at dusk and in darkness. It was chilly last night, but definitely bearable from all the walking we did. Oh, my piggies were oinking.

Today starts D.C.'s two-week long Cherry Blossom Festival. This year marks the 98th anniversary of when Tokyo gifted the trees to Washington. I read on the train yesterday that the festival is the district's highest-grossing tourist event, but we barely saw anyone as we walked around the Tidal Basin. I'm sure today will be a different story.

I can't believe my Japan trip was a year ago. Walking around the Tidal Basin reminded me of when Gina and I walked around the moat surrounding the Imperial Palace in Tokyo, which was lined with cherry blossom trees (and young professionals wining and dining on tarps beneath their branches). I hope Carli and I see tarps filled with people today!                                                                                                                                                           

She's been spoiling me with her new domestic diva skills -- homemade guac when I arrived, pesto pasta last night and now hashbrowns this morning...mmm! She's a girl after my own heart (love you, Jen)!

It's time for cherry blossoms! (this time in D.C., not Tokyo)

I just read that Tokyo's cherry blossom season has officially begun. Last year, I had the fortune of timing my Japan trip to coincide with the opening (Kyoto) and closing (Tokyo) of cherry blossoms. It was such a lovely experience. The impermanence of the cherry blossom season, which appears and then vanishes within 10 days every March/April, always reminds me that life is short and should be seized and treasured. 

This year, my friend Carli invited me to visit her in D.C. to view the cherry blossoms for our National Cherry Blossom Festival. I've been on bloom watch via this site and looks like this weekend will be perfect for a visit. Carli said she's been seeing blooms here and there, so hopefully it warms up and they're all in full view soon.

I haven't been to D.C. for fun since college when my roommate and I would stay at her aunt's in Maryland and take the train in to go to our favorite museums like the Freer Gallery and the National Gallery. (I've always been a museum nerd. Most kids spent all their money on booze in college and I was the dork buying prints to frame.)

Can't wait for this weekend!

Charles Allia Art Museum Mansion

Milwaukee seems to have a good mix of public and private art galleries. We got a glimpse of the Milwaukee Art Museum earlier today and then headed to Charles Allis Art Museum, which is the former Tudor mansion of a Milwaukee mover and shaker couple from the turn of the century. The Allis family amassed a large collection of art from around the world with the intent to bequest their home and collection to Milwaukee County so it can be appreciated for centuries to come.

For me, there’s something special about walking through a museum that used to be a private residence. Paintings seem more spectacular when hung above a fireplace where their former owners admired them as opposed to in a formal gallery. (In college, I wrote a paper on the differences in viewing experiences for public and private museums and used the National Gallery and Phillips Collection in D.C. as examples.)

The Allis collection includes a lot of Asian art (check out the 18th Century folding screen photo) and American paintings. The home’s décor is beautiful, and I was tickled to walk through the butler pantry and see the old intercom system with the rooms still labeled.

I wish we were able to spend more time in the Riverwest neighborhood, which has a lot of independent galleries and shops, but we just drove through quickly on the way to our brewery tour.

5 Most-Visited Museums in the World

My mom just called to say she read an article that listed the five most-visited museums in the world and wanted to know if I've visited them all. Yeppers!

Here's the list:

Louvre in Paris, with 8.5 million visitors (I visited in 2001 and 2008)
British Museum in London, with 5.9 million (2001 and 2008)
National Gallery of Art in Washington, with 4.96 million (last visit was in college)
Tate Modern in London, with 4.95 million (2001)
Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, with 4.82 million (a couple years ago)

I'd also add the Freer Gallery in D.C. (lovely Japanese and American art) and Musee d'Orangerie in Paris (displays Monet's water lilies in a 360-degree-view) to my top personal list.