The Nation's Capital

Somehow, I got the awesome fortune to head down to DC for the last week of June. It was the Annual ALA Conference (you may remember this in Chicago from last year). With tons of great friends living in DC, I had an awesome time blending worlds together, catching up and exploring new things. We ate great food, drank stong drinks, and did a lot of laughing. Below are a few highlights...

(But first as always, I don't want you to think I didn't do ANY working, this is the ground floor at the convention center at ALA. We, the Syracuse iSchool are one of the tiny booths amongst the thousands way in the back. We spent time catching up with alumni and hosting alumni engagement events in the city, and recruiting new students looking to get library degrees).

The convention center is also right next to NPR in Mt. Vernon Square. I love NPR (yes, I'm a little bit of a nerd) but you can't fathom my delight at this fortunate coincidence. Unfortunately as far as I can tell, they don't give tours.

My first night in town I went out with an old friend affectionately referred to in the SU Tour Guide circle as "Jeffy K" -- you may have heard of him, he's kind of a legend around these parts.

We walked together around this up and coming, very young culturally influenced area of DC called HStreet NE... you may also have heard of this. If not, definitely go... try the dangerous pies.

And ended up having dinner at Jeffy K's most favorite restaurant in the city. It looks a little creepy from the outside but this Belgian gastropub makes some great mussels, and has tons of interesting beers on tap. Don't judge it by the outside, and order some frittes.

After that great night... I wasn't sure how I could top it. But I figured it out. The next afternoon I met my good friend Kristen for exploration of the NEWSEUM. It should officially be a stop on everyone's DC trip, and it may be my favorite museum of all time. It's really that awesome... I of course, was also a journalism major in college, so keep that in mind. But the whole thing is just captivating... focusing on the impact of journalism and news on the world, the world's impact on the existance of journalism, journalistic ethics, free press... it's all there. You can even be your own reporter, teleprompter and all (PS- buy your tickets online before you go and save a few dollars).

Newseum live truck on the ground floor...

The exhibits all start at the top and work their way down, winding around this 5 story atrium. The atrium boasts a hanging satellite (as news and information was more easily able to be shared with it's advent) a live Chopper and a HUGE high-definition screen.. where on the day we were there, Kristen and I watched a bit of the World Cup.

One of my favorite (and definitely most moving) exhibits was the 9/11 area. Journalism as a field really shined that day... and the curators/designers at the Newseum did a great job highlighting this tragedy respectfully.

On the top floor of the Newseum, there's a really awesome wrap-around walkway with great views of the Capitol and the city.

They really got some prime real estate and Kristen and I took advantage of the photo opp.

From the Newseum:

Kristen and I decided to make a night out of it and met back up with Jeffy K and another good friend of mine Lyndsey... we went to Jeffy K's second most favorite restaurant this time called matchbox right near the Gallery Pl/Chinatown metro stop. This man really knows his food. Everything we ordered was excellent. Some photos of our night together below.

I had much of Friday morning off, and conveniently so did Lyndsey... so I took the Metro down to Alexandria, VA to see her and her new place. After getting a quick tour of Lyndsey's life, we explored Old Town Alexandria... which is absolutely precious and provides a cool view of the city from just south on the river.

Alexandria is just south of Reagan National Airport so we watched the planes come in over the water for awhile.

Julie and Lyndsey.

Kristen and Kelly came back into the City on Saturday night for some dinner out with another friend from way back when, Katie. We went to this Mexican place called Luriol (which conveniently is right in between SU's Greenberg House and Dupont Circle)

We ordered some awesome Margaritas and settled into enjoy the night.
Katie, Kristen and Kelly.

As we were walking out we discovered the Obamas had been there with us at Luriol the whole time and we just had to take pictures... I'm not sure if it was the margaritas or just the silliness of this group together in general, but Luriol was ready for us to leave. However, I'm ready to go back, this place is delicious.

After all this fun, I had to fly home on Tuesday morning... but just before I did I found some time to explore a few last things... my favorite being the Smithsonian FolkLife Festival. The weekend I was there featured the Pacific Islands and Mexico, but both weeks are different and the exhibits are FREE and awesome. Right in the Mall, it's super convenient for all visitors to explore. If you're in DC next summer, be sure to schedule this into your trip.

It was just so need that these exhibits and demonstrations were set up right in the middle of the mall... there were tons of people and lots of student field trips. What an awesome way to learn.

I also took a walk or run daily through the National Gallery of Art's sculpture garden... a great place to get lost in your thoughts.. and just north of the mall.

One morning I also woke up early to check out the Eastern Market... right of the metro on Sundays they have local vendors and artists out in the streets. It's a really cool market with some neat shops and restaurants around it. Next time I might budget to spend more time...

Overall, as you can surely tell, I had a great week... and have found the key to working on the road so much is to squeeze in some exploring and fun to any downtime. Thanks to Kristen, Jeffy K, Katie, Kelly, Deanna, Lyndsey and all the friends who spent some time with me while I was there. Hope you enjoy your next trip to DC.

Father's Day weekend

(Though a little late, the photos were gorgeous, so I still wanted to post).

This past Father's day I headed with Mom and Dad, back to Fredonia to spend some time with Dad and Grandpa. It was a gorgeous weekend... which doesn't happen too often in the Buffalo area, so we took advantage of the weather by spending lots of time outside and at the lake.

Below are the empty docks at the Dunkirk pier... it used to be a pretty busy place in the summertime, but there just isn't the mass of people there once was. I loved the look of the lines in the following two photos though (and the little ducks seemed to be loving all the space all to themselves).




The community has been trying to do a few things to rally and has recently been putting on free concerts on the pier. This one the night before Father's day featured an Elton John cover band and tons of the locals were there.


I went with my Aunt and Uncle (on the left) and my parents on the right.

There's nothing like a good sunset over Lake Erie. This one was so cool to watch the sun turn the sky so many colors as it slipped below this row of clouds.



Sunday morning we went out with Grandma... to our family's favorite bakery. I've written about it before, called the Uppercrust in the Village of Fredonia.



We had a small barbeque with Grandma and Grandpa at their house that afternoon:

And my cousins and I took a walk down the beach and out to the end of the breakwall to enjoy the sunshine afterward.

Meredith and Lauren.

The Fredonia area is a beautiful small town place with a lot of hidden charm and history. Though not necessarily the most exciting place in the world, it means a lot to me... and it's always great to spend some time "at home" with Grandma and Grandpa.

The new look

Many of you know I spent most of the early days of this summer with my Dad (my Dad is awesome by the way) painting the exterior of my house. It was quite a project... as the house finished in the 40's had never been painted or protected and the alumninum siding was terribly oxidized... as we prepared the house for painting we found some extensive damage at points, which dragged out the whole process. But now, it looks great, and I'm so happy with the results.

Wanted to give you a little mental picture of the process and finished product. This is the side of the house before the paint... you can see some of the oxidation here.

This is the front of the house all faded and grey before the paint from the road.



I had lots of people come help throughout the month, so I want to be sure I give them a good thank you... Beyond Mom and Dad (pictured below), thanks to Timmy, Sean, Shana, Katie, Binh, and Jess... and anyone I might have missed.

On this one you can see the difference between the grey and green.

And this is the finished product. The base color is called "soft willow" which just means a very creamy light green... and the shutters are just a bit darker. I again couldn't be happier with the final product... and am so glad all the work we put in really shows.

Thanks again for all the help, and stop by for a visit anytime!