Shows, a Narwhal, the Sky and Winter Lanterns!

I must admit the first half of January was a bit rough. I did a lot of crying and staying at home watching movies.

Although the first half of the month was hard, I am doing much better now. And can I just say that I am sooooo grateful for my friends and family!

Below are some randoms photos from this month.

I received an unexpected package from my sister, K, with a stuffed narwhal, a narwhal blanket and chocolate. :)

I love going on walks in my neighborhood. If I go out at sunset I can get some cool shots. The sky is just so pretty!

I went to see My Fair Lady at the Kennedy Center with Cat, Rachel, and Shari this month. The actors were awesome, the staging was cool (a rotating set piece), and the costumes were beautiful. I'm actually not a big fan of the story line but I still really enjoyed the production!

I also saw Silent Sky at Ford's Theatre with two of my co-workers, Heather and Sandy. It was sooo good! It's a relatively unknown show so I didn't know what to expect but I ended up really liking it. It was funny and interesting. It's based on real life about Henrietta Leavitt, an astronomer at Harvard University in the early 1900s.

Part of the reason why we went on this particular night was because the playwright was going to talk after the show. She was a very interesting person! I enjoyed listening to the answers to the questions people asked her.

One day I was looking up shows at the Kennedy Center and saw the announcement about Winter Lanterns for the Lunar New Year. The Kennedy Center had these beautiful, colorful lanterns set up outside in celebration of the New Year. :)

They had Chinese Four Symbols lanterns that represent four mythological creatures who are the guardians of the four cardinal directions and appear in the Chinese constellations.

The Azure Dragon of the East.

The White Tiger of the West.

The Vermillion Bird of the South.

The Black Turtle of the North.

They also had a lantern for each of the 12 signs of the Chinese Zodiac. I was born in the year of the Pig. Isn't he cute?!

And the lanterns continued and they were beautiful! I really loved this whole exhibit!

 Under the sea!

 Beautiful flower lanterns!

 Mushrooms!

 So whimsical!

 I loved these panda lanterns! So cool!

 Aren't the pandas just so cute?!

I really loved the Winter Lanterns! It was seriously so cool!

After Heather and I were done looking at the lanterns, we got some food at an empanada food truck on the grounds. I got one empanada and fries and both were delicious! (I loved this exhibit so much I went back the next evening with my brother, Tim.)

Overall I've had a decent month with it's ups and downs. And I'm grateful for the things I was able to do.

End of December Activities!

December was a good month! This post will have the rest of the Christmasy stuff I did in December. :)

I went to the Bull Run Festival of Lights with my friend, Rachel. I'd never been before and it was cool! You drive really slowly through the park as you look at the lights.

 It was hard to get pictures that weren't blurry.

I really enjoyed the lights and would say it was worth the drive and money to go! 

Walking out of work one day the clouds looked like this! Aren't they beautiful?!

 Another dramatic scene!

Although I've seen this show at Ford's Theatre before (about 7 years ago), I went again with my co-worker, Heather, who had never seen it before. I, of course, was okay with that since it's a good show with a good message and they do this show every year so they change it up too.

 The production was fun! The actors were awesome and the staging fun!

In case you don't know, I love Brian Stokes Mitchell. :) One of my friends let me borrow her Brian Stokes Mitchell / Mormon Tabernacle Choir Christmas concert DVD.

I actually have this CD and listen to it all of the time at Christmas time but I had never watched the DVD. I watched it and loved it! It had a different power watching it than it does listening to it and it was awesome!

A few months ago, I had mentioned to a couple of my friends a restaurant I had been wanting to visit in D.C. that the Washington Post food critic recommends to people all of the time on his weekly online chat. One of my friends decided to make a reservation for four of us to go on New Year's Eve. :)

So we went to Unconventional Diner for dinner on New Year's Eve and it did not disappoint. For the appetizers we got Kale chips and Cornbread muffins with habanero butter. The kale chips were okay. The cornbread muffins were amazing though! They were warm and moist and that butter was oh sooo good.

For my main dish, I got meatloaf and it was delicious! The meat was tender and flavorful and I would totally get it again. :) And everyone else really liked what they each got too!

Outside of Unconventional Diner afterwards. For dessert, we stopped by Insomnia Cookies in Georgetown. 

Then Cat, Rachel, Kara and I went back to Rachel and Cat's place and talked and laughed and ate the cookies and drank sparkling cider and watched the ball drop on Times Square. It was a lovely night full of awesome company and delicious food! 

Happy New Year! :)