Happy Halloween & Other Misc Pics

This past weekend I saw an old friend, went to a pre-Halloween Party and went to the Naval Academy in Annapolis, MD. JT, one of my oldest friends (from 3rd grade) came into town to run the Marine Corps Marathon. We got to visit with one another on Saturday - went to lunch in Alexandria and then went to a couple of museums. Congrats to JT for finishing the 26.2 miles with a broken foot! Saturday night I went with Kelly to her friend's Halloween party. I borrowed her costume from last year (flight attendant). We had a great time! Sunday I went to Annapolis, MD, with my new pal, Jack. It's a small, quaint town and home of the Naval Academy. It was right on the water and a beautiful day to be outside! So, I hope you enjoy the pictures below to document my last few days/week in the area. It's hard to believe my time is almost over here - only two more weeks! I leave on my birthday (Nov 8) for Brookville, Long Island, NY. I will be living with the headmaster & his family, along with two student teachers. It'll be nice to be in a house with a couple of people my age. It should be a great experience!

JT & I in National Mall - Capitol Buliding behind us.


Jennifer, Kelly, myself & Joe "the Plumber"


Jack & I in Annapolis, MD.


Go Navy!

Amber & Merry Michael's Visit!

I was very lucky to have two great friends come into town and visit me this weekend! Amber & Merry Michael flew in Friday and stayed until today, Monday. We had loads of fun! Friday we went to the National Mall area and walked from the Monuments to the White House. We even managed to have a great jumping picture by the Reflecting Pool, where Amber literally lost her shoes! She stalled hoping the man who took our picture would get them, but nope, he wasn't going in. She had to roll up her pants & get in. It made for a great DC memory! Saturday I had class, so they went to the Holocaust Museum & Smithsonian American Art Museum. Saturday night we went to dinner with some of my new, random DC friends, Jack & Andy. I met Jack on the flight from DC to Birmingham last weekend and Andy went to college with a girl I met in Boston through Readak. They were great fun - we all had a wonderful time. We ate & went out in Georgetown. Sunday we ventured to VA Wine Country. It was a beautiful day and was so much fun. Despite having my string of bad luck this weekend with my car, it was totally redeemed with the company of my bestest buds from Birmingham. You can also see in the pictures how fall is really here in DC. We all about froze this weekend - the high was in the low 60s each day. Amber & MM - thanks for coming! xoxoxo!


Us from Lincoln Monument with Washington behind us.


The big jump! Look for Amber's shoes falling...


Hahahahahahaha...


Reflecting Pool with Lincoln Monument behind us. Amber, me, Memi.


Rolling down the hill from Washington Monument.


Amber & I @ Washington Monument.


Hillsboro Vineyard.


And...another jumping pic! Tarara Vineyards.

Happy Columbus Day!

Kelly & I explored the city on Monday due to us both being off. We went to three musuems: African Art Musuem, Asian Museum and Japanese Museum. I must say, all three were very interesting. The Smithsonian has some 18 different museums in DC. The great thing about them - all free! Here are a few pictures from my weekend in Atlanta (Tonya & Chad's wedding) and DC.

Tonya & I at her Atlanta Wedding!


John & I at Atlanta Aquarium.


Garden area behind Smithsonian Castle. It's truly beautiful back there!


Kelly & I at Smithsonian Castle.

Fall is here!

This weekend Kelly had a huge wedding to attend Saturday night, so I got to meet a lot of her college friends & even see some old friends from Birmingham - Lauren & Ryan! Lauren's brother was the one getting married. Thursday night we all went out to Arlington to watch the debate. The rest of the weekend I went into the city to visit a few museums. I went to the Georgia O'Keefe/Ansel Adams exhibit at the Smithsonian American Museum of Art on Saturday. It was great! I then made my way to Dupont Circle and bought a cupcake from Hello Cupcake & sat on a bench & people watched. I even took the book I'm currently reading & sat & read it for a while. There was too much going on - I was easily distracted. I returned downtown on Sunday afternoon to visit the Holocaust Museum. I must say, it was one of the most emotional places I've ever been. It was unreal - the pictures, videos, testimonals, things I saw there will haunt me the rest of my life. It was disturbing, disgusting, sickening, enlightening, and very sad. People were sobbing as they were walking through the halls. I'm glad I went. It was an awakening experience. After the museum I strolled through the National Mall and sat on the steps of an art gallery & ate my first Italian sausage hot dog.

Fall is really showing itself in DC! The leaves are changing & it's beautiful. I will post more pictures of that as I get more pictures!

Smithsonian American Museum of Art


Hello Cupcake! in Dupont Circle - aren't they cute? Who could hate cupcakes? Urban Standard's are still better than these.


Dupont Circle


National Mall area