Ms. Cleaver Chronicles

Day Two in DC began with brunch at Afterwords Cafe, which is, I am told, an Institution. I was leaning toward sweet, so I got the French toast. Excepting blah scrambled eggs, the food was good and the service was quick and excellent. I also appreciated the complimentary orange juice.

Suitably fortified for the morning, I walked a block to the Dupont Circle Metro station, which has the longest escalator I’d ever seen  – seriously. I found the DC Metro to be very user-friendly and and efficient. The fares do change by destination and time of day, but $5 was more than sufficient to get me to the Mall and back again.

I came out at the Smithsonian station to a large crowd of people participating in an Epilepsy Charity Walk. One of the things that becomes quickly apparent is that the National Mall is equally a gathering place for locals and tourists. Throughout the day I encountered as many local joggers, kite fliers, and Frisbee players as I did international tourists with cameras.

The Mall itself is a very beautiful and, at times, very emotional place to wander.

I started my tour of the monuments at the impossible to miss Washington Monument. It’s hard to grasp the scale of it without standing right next to it. I checked for tickets to enter the inside, but by the time I reached the ticket stand (around 9:45ish) they were sold out for the day. I didn’t mind one way or the other, so I continued my way west toward the Lincoln Memorial.

Located between the Washington and Lincoln Monuments is the relatively new World War II Memorial, which was for me the most striking, and emotional, of all the monuments.

The monument is ringed with a series of bas-relief panels depicting various scenes, a family listening at the radio, soldiers in the pacific forests, nurses tending to the wounded, etc. The sculptures did an amazing job showing emotion on all the faces. I’ll admit as I went from panel to panel I began to cry.

The back center features the “price of freedom” wall, with one gold star for every 100 lives lost in the wall.  This combined with the panels puts a real human perspective on the war.

Next up was the Lincoln Memorial. With the Lincoln (and Vietnam) Memorial, my experience was akin to seeing American Gothic in a museum – it’s cool, but the imagery is so familiar, its hard to see it as anything other than the image.  The one surprise was the pennies people left on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in memoriam.

It was the memorials I was most unfamiliar with (WWII, Korea) that held the biggest impact. I think that impact was furthered by the fact that I knew people who had fought in those wars, whereas I didn’t know anyone who had fought in Vietnam.  The life-sized sculptures at the Korea Monument in particular made it easy to image my father-in-law among them.

After the emotion of the war memorials, it was a nice change of pace to the beauty of the Tidal Basin and its 2,000 blooming cherry trees located mostly between the FDR and Jefferson Memorials.

Blazer: J. Crew Outlet

Sweater:Manu, made by me

Shawlette:Ishbel, made by me

Cherry Blossom Pin: FDR Memorial Gift Shop

Denim Skirt: Old

Boots: Naturalizers

After I visited the Jefferson Memorial I worked my back to the Washington Monument, completing a five-mile loop of the major monuments. By this point my feet were killing me. I thought my boots were comfy, but not comfy enough for five miles. But the walking wasn’t done yet – I only had one free day in DC, so I had to see more.

After an encouraging phone call to Mr. Cleaver back at the home front, I pushed on Eastward to the Smithsonian Museum of American History. I enjoyed both the pop-culture-y bits like Julia Child’s kitchen and the ruby slipper, as well more educationa exhibits like Science in American Life.

Exhibits on American reactions to Atomic Energy and the Labor movement seemed especially timely in light of recent political events.

I was excited to discover the gallery of First Lady inaugural ball gowns at the museum and thought of how striking it was to see Michelle Obama’s dark-skinned mannequin after rows and rows of white mannequins just a few exhibits away from a sit-in lunch counter.

After several hours at the American History Museum, I went to the far end of the mall to satisfy my geek leanings at the Air and Space Museum – unfortunately I only had about 30 minutes to do a whirlwind tour do to some dinner plans, but it was well worth it.

My last day in DC was mostly spent at my conference (I tried to look very work-y).

Dress: Notary Dress, made by me.

Scarf: Vintage, purchased at Ferdinand.

Fortunately, I had five hours between the end of the conference and my flight time, so I got so see the one thing I missed the day before – the Capitol.

Unfortunately, my coworker and I were too late for the tour, but we went to our Senators’ office in the Russell building and got passes to the Gallery, which was very cool. Even cooler, I got to witness a roll-call vote for the confirmation of a NY District Court Judge.

All in all, it was a very satisfying first trip to Washington D.C. I’d love to go back and spent more time there with Mr. Cleaver, particularly at the other Smithsonian museums.

For a listing of all the places I visited, check out the Google Map of my Trip, with all the locations mentioned here and in yesterday’s post.

As mentioned in the last post, I’ve just returned from a weekend in D.C. for a work conference. It was my first trip to the Nation’s Capitol and I tried to cram in as much as I could in the day and a half of freetime I had. My edited photo batch from this trip contained 94 photos, so I’m going to break up covering the trip into two, maybe three posts.  Read on!!

I landed in DC around 2pm on Saturday afternoon and headed to Dupont Circle to check into my hotel. I stayed at the Dupont Hotel, located just on the circle.

My hotel was selected by one of my co-workers, a former DC resident. The hotel itself it was sleek and modern and the bed was super comfy. But I really appreciated his choice because of the neighborhood. Dupont Circle is a bustling area with lots of shops and restaurants. It was very walkable and since it is close to George Washington University, there were lots of 20-somethings milling around, both of which made me feel very safe (a huge plus when you’re traveling alone).

For a late lunch, I stopped into Sweetgreen for undoubtedly healthiest meal of my trip.

Sweetgreen focuses on salads, salads as wraps, and frozen yogurt. They’re very eco-friendly (literally everything is compostable) and they use local ingredients. It’s a quick eat, the service line is similar to a subway, and there are communal tables for eating.  I selected the Curry Gold salad and had it as a wrap and it hit the spot – the curry flavoring had a nice warmth to it and the cucumbers and beets gave it a nice cool crunch.

Since I was meeting my coworker for dinner later that evening, I decided to explore the neighborhood some. I continued up Connecticut Ave, poking my head in a shop or two when I came across a sign for a yarn shop. Bingo!!

Looped Yarn Works is an adorable, friendly, and well-stocked shop in a second floor former apartment. The store is well stock with a variety of yarn and covers most of the major brands, including Cascade, elsebeth lavold, Malabrigo and more.  While I was in the store, there was a learn to knit class happily cruising along, and a few ladies knitting on the sofas. It was such a happy shop – the kind of place I’d choose as my go-to shop if I lived in the area. Of course, I picked up a few skeins of “souvenir yarn.”

There were signs for a textile museum nearby, but it was too nice of a day to be inside for long, so I skipped it.

As if yarn wasn’t enough, after I went back to the circle and crossed to the other side of Connecticut Ave, I stopped into Hello Cupcake for a bite of dessert.

I wanted to try about five different flavors, but I limited myself to one (probably a good choice considering how much I ate over the weekend). Something light and pink seemed appropriate for a lovely (if cool) spring day, so I opted for the “Lucy” cupcake, which is lemon with raspberry frosting. The cake portion was serviceable, but the raspberry frosting was divine and clearly used real raspberries in it. I definitely want to try my hand at recreating something similar.

Continuing southward on Connecticut, I walked a little under a mile until I reached Layfayette Park and the backyard of the White House. It’s kinda amazing how, from this direction, it just appears out of a fairly normal looking neighborhood. It even seemed a little smaller than I imagined, but that may have more do with the distance between the fence where I stood and the White House itself.

There were a fair number of tourist and security everywhere. I quickly learned that in the National Mall area of DC there are blockades and barriers everywhere – a physical tribute to the security changes instituted post 9-11, and the ongoing upgrades and construction underway. Both of which meant that there were no direct routes to anything.

Just off to the West of Layfayette park is the small Renwick Gallery of American Craft, part of the Smithsonian Museums. Since all the Smithsonian Museums are free, I popped in.

The collection at Renwick is small, you could go through the museum in about 15 -20 minutes, but there are a few cool piece – especially glasswork.

After Renwick, I toured around to the front of the White House  trying to spot Mrs. Obama’s veggie garden, which I never saw, before heading back around to the park and taking my daily outfit shot because Lent doesn’t take a break, even for DC.

Blazer: J. Crew Outlet

Shawl Collar Sweatshirt: Banana Republic Outlet

Denim Skirt: Old

Magenta Tights: Target

Boots: Naturalizers

For dinner, I met up with my coworker and some of his friends for dinner at Acadiana, a upscale take on Lousiana-style food. I had the duck, which had a delicious glaze on it. We ate and laughed and made friends with the Birthday party at the next table and I made it back to my hotel at about 11:45 – tired and full.

I’ll cover the other two days of my trip later, but if you’re interested, I’ve made a Google Map of my Trip, with all the locations mentioned here and *spoiler alert* on the other two days of my stay.

Yesterday I went to the optometrist for my bi-annual eye exam (everything’s the same as before) and while at their office, I got about five compliments on this skirt. Then one of my co-workers called it “very European” – which I think is more due to the beret than anything else.

Beret: Designed and knit by me

Scarf: Express, thrifted

Cardigan: Joy by Kim Hargreaves, made by me

Skirt: New York & Co., clearance for $5-$8!!

Wool Tights: warmlegwear.com

Shoes: Clarks outlet

Today I went for a tone-on-tone look in classic Leah teals. It’ll be quiet around here for the next few days as I’m leaving for DC tomorrow for a work conference – I’ll be back Monday evening, with a new post on Tuesday. Until then, have a great weekend!!

Necklace: Gift

Cardigan: Old Navy, years ago

Tank: Gap outlet

Skirt: Wallpaper Skirt #1, made by me

Shoes: Bass outlet

Back to work today in something a bit more subtle pink than yesterday’s outfit.

Necklace: Cameo locket, gift

Tank: Express, gift

Cardigan: Express Outlet, purchased a bazillion years ago.

Skirt: Granny skirt, drafted and made by me.

Wool Tights: Warmlegwear.com

Red Shoes: Clarks

I’d also like to give shout-out to Mr. Cleaver for being super helpful in this Lent challenge, from taking photos minutes before work, to giving second opinions on shoe choices. (You’re right, the red is better here).

In other pink-related activities, inspired by a how-to article in the April 2011 issue of Everyday Food, I cooked my first risotto tonight. I added about two slices of shredded prosciutto and about a cup to 2 cups of frozen peas to their basic recipe. It was delicious, if a tad salty (when Martha says low-sodium chicken broth, Martha means it!)

Both Mr. Cleaver and I really enjoyed this dish and are thinking of countless other ways to enjoy it (shrimp and asparagus anyone?)

Whenever I log into WordPress to update this blog, it shows me a list of the most frequent/recent search terms people used to find my blog. The list usually looks something like this: ms cleaver chronicles, ms cleaver, chocolate chip cookie ingredients, abercrombie and stitch, chicken satay, s’more pie, smore pie, ms cleavers chronicles. (You’d think I post way more about cooking than I actually do – though if you’re interested in that see the Recipes page.)

One time the list included the following: “knitters who love pinball”

I have no idea who searched that, but I wish they’d left a comment, because I’d love to know who they are, and why they were searching it (presumably they are also a knitter who loves pinball).

In any case, I’m an accurate return for that search query and proven by this post on a trip to FunSpot last year.

Since Mr. Cleaver’s currently on spring break we took a return trip yesterday.

The drive out to New Hampshire was lovely, as all the trees were heavy with the previous evening’s snow.

Though the initial “wow” from the previous trip had worn off, FunSpot is still a lot of, well fun. Even if both Mr. Cleaver’s and I favorite machines were out of order.

I got in a variety of pinball action.

Mr. Cleaver played a lot of Tetris.

Mid-day we took a break and ate lunch at George’s Diner down the road in Meredith. My burger was okay, but the onion rings were delicious and the fries tasted exactly like In-N-Out fries. I got a few “you’re not from around here” looks entering the diner, presumably because the folks in Meredith don’t typically sport magenta nylons.

But if you’re not going to wear magenta nylons to spend a day playing at an arcade, when are you?

Praying Mantis Tee: local artist, purchased at Ferdinand in 2005.

Purple Tank: Gap outlet

Skirt: Ann Taylor Loft, gift

Tights: Target

Boots: Naturalizers, Macys.

One of my favorite things about the new house is the absurdly large number of birds that live in the trees in our yard. I’ve spotted chickadees, tufted titmice, blue jays, cardinals, hawks, grackles (I think), woodpeckers and more. This morning I spotted my first robin. Quite fitting for the first day of spring (and more fitting than the current snowfall).

For today’s outfit I pulled out an old sewing project. I had this skirt in the “to mend” pile, but don’t remember what needed mending. It might have been that I wanted to hem it differently. I was pleased to discover I had done a really good job lining and finishing this skirt – despite having made it a long time ago (over 2 years!!), before I had started focusing on finishing.

Blue Blazer: LL Bean Outlet

White Tee: Target

Butterfly Wing Necklace:  D. Cole Jewelers, gift from Mr. Cleaver

Brocade Pencil Skirt: Burdastyle Alexis, made by me.

Shoes: Bass Outlet

In other news, my Krona knitting patterns were featured today on the Quince & Co. Website. Much thanks to Pam for including me!!

It feels like forever since I’ve put out a pattern, but I’ve got something very springy currently in testing and it should be out by April 1st. For at least one reader of this blog it will look very familiar…

I had an amazing productive weekend – maybe it’s all the sunshine and hints of spring.

On Saturday, while Mr. Cleaver watched March Madness, I went into my studio and whipped out a muslin for a Beignet skirt. I need to take in the two front seams (it’s kinda pinned in the photo), but other than that I found the pattern to fit really well. I have a sky blue twill in my stash I hope to make it from – I have less fabric than the pattern envelop calls for, so fingers crossed that all the pieces fit!

Then, this morning we stopped by the open house at Skillins Greenhouse and picked up some seed starting supplies. I had already ordered my seeds a few weeks back from Johnny’s Selected Seeds and put them directly into my new seed flats. I won’t be able to put anything outside until mid April at the earliest, but it doesn’t hurt to plan ahead.

Now, onto the Lent.

If you’re thinking I missed a day there, you’re right – I never got a photo of Day #11. But if you guessed I wore the same denim skirt all last weekend, you’d be even more right.

On Day #12 I went to my closet and I just couldn’t bear the thought of wearing tights today, despite the cold. (Remember when I said the warm weather wouldn’t last? I woke up the next morning and it was snowing – how’s that for not lasting?) So instead of tights I threw on my hand-knit knee-highs and braved chilly knees (and mostly stayed indoors).

Tiger scarf: Gift

Green Tee: Target

Skirt: Ann Taylor Loft, gift

Bracelet: Gift

Socks: Made by me.

Boots: Naturalizers, Macys.

Ahoy there! Contrary to yesterday’s post, it’s actually been freakishly warm (over 50°F) here the past few days. I took advantage of the warmer day to put on a slightly less bundled-up outfit for today. Of course, I’ve lived in Maine long enough to know this warm weather won’t last, but it hasn’t stopped me of dreaming of the barbecues and gardening that are sure to be in my future.

Sailor Striped Shirt: L.L. Bean

Necklace: Fallen Horseman Coin. Coin purchased on ebay, hole made by me. A nod to that classical studies minor I got in college.

Navy Tank: Gap Outlet

Dark Denim Skirt: New York & Co.

Shoes: Bass outlet

Bracelet: Puka shell necklace, worn as bracelet

I hope it’s sunny where you are today!

Happy St. Paddy’s Day!!

Tonight Mr. Cleaver and I will celebrate in our usual fashion – Corned Beef and Cabbage.  In honor of the holiday, I’m wearing my brightest greens today, which includes a silk scarf that is hands down one of my favorite things in my wardrobe.

Velvet Blazer: Rafaella, ebay

Green Long Sleeve Shirt: Old Navy

Silk Scarf: Birthday gift

Dark Denim Skirt: New York & Co.

Pinstripe Tights: Target (currently on clearance)

Shoes: Bass Outlet

There are signs of spring peeking out in our yard…

But it’s still pretty cold!!

For days seven and eight, I mixed it up with some dresses. Thanks to “Springing Forward” it’s not as light in the mornings right now, which has made getting photos a little more difficult (or at least blurrier), but I boldly strive on in the name of Lent.

Yesterday I wore a dress that arrived in the mail on Monday. I had pre-ordered it a while back, and while initially hesitant to purchase a red dress, I’m glad I did. It’s a bit hard to tell in the photo, but there are scalloped tiers going down the length of the dress – which makes for a fun dress. The black and red might be a little harsh, but I think I’ll have fun trying different ways of styling this dress, particularly as it warms up some.

Necklace: Sears

Dress: Red Fox by Shabby Apple

Cardigan: Joy by Kim Hargreaves, made by me

Shoes: Clarks Outlet

This morning I was feeling a little crummy when I woke up, so I went with the dress equivalent of comfort food. I bought this wool-poly knit dress a few years ago and it’s easy to throw on and go.

Also comfort food? Tea and toast with marmalade.

Dress: Brief Originals, Vintage (from the store above Strange Maine in Portland, ME)

Wool Tights: WarmLegWear.com

Boots: Naturalizers, Macy’s