Green Glasses in the District: Spending the weekend with my city.

The first weekend at home and not playing hostess in almost 2 months and it was glorious! Both mornings I was able to read, knit, and just relax.

Saturday, Vara and I ventured in to Union and did a mini walking tour of some of the Capitol Hill area, ending up on the Mall.

We stumbled upon a huge stage with a band and thousands of people. It turned out to be a big pro-life celebration. It was a breath of fresh air to see this form of rally versus the dead baby, awful accusations, and gruesome pictures approach that they had on the Roe v. Wade anniversary. **edit note: I still don't agree with the point of view, but I defer to Voltaire...I may disagree with what you say but will defend to death your right to say it. And at least they're saying it without the dead baby posters.**

These people were much more subdued.

Except this guy. All of the Life people were pissed at him, and we couldn't tell exactly what he stood for. He was rambling but none of it made any sense.

We headed towards the Hirshorn. Vara had never been and I hadn't been since the Winter. We were in a bit of a time crunch, but we still had time to check out the video exhibition, the new acquisitions, and some of the permanent collection.

Paul Chan, 1st Light (2005)

Franz Kline, Delaware Gap (1958)

Vara wandering in the new acquisitions exhibition.

Maggie Michael, Genie (2003)

Heidi, Vara and I (2008)

William de Kooning, White Nude (1967)

Saturday night I was finally able to make it out to X, a big artistic collaboration and performance that Danny has been telling me about for months. It was awesome. Awesome. Easily the most interesting place to be on a Saturday night. But first we stopped at Old Dominion Brewhouse near McPherson Square. I tried the Smuttynose Brown Dog (yes, mostly because of the name) microbrew. Delicious. We created a beautiful brownscale with our choices of beverages. (Sean, Heidi, Kelsey)

Then up the road to X. Danny had hooked me up with Graham, who called Wednesday to see if I could perform at this one. I asked if I could please see the whole thing before committing. Two of the designers were really good, the third I could have totally beat (even with my beginner graphic design skills). I threw Graham to Sean and I think he's brave enough to do it next month.

So basically they have 3 graphic designers who get 3 words when the arrive and the have until 11 to make a poster. The theme of the evening was Obama and the three words were Change, Peace, and Restoration. Each of their screens are projected on the wall so you can watch the design process. They also had a woman doing a live painting (which Danny usually does.) Aligning Minds, the awesome group we saw at Crafty Bastards, was performing along with a hip-hop artist who was singing. And then there was another guy mixing the video projection on the stage.

The space was incredible as well. It was all white with couches and textured walls. Then there were ambient lights in different colors that changed with the music and projection. At some point a belly dancer came out and was performing.

After the competition was done, another DJ from Detroit started mixing some great house music and we all joined the little dance party in the back. Here's Danny chillin with the gnome before we busted out the dance moves.

Eventually it was time to go home. Sean rocked the monocle.

Kelsey and I. I'm happy to say that Kelsey traveled all night without deactivating her metro card. Woo!

It was a lazy Sunday morning for the roommate trio. They were interested in checking out Eastern Market after I raved about it last weekend, so we decided to head in. We didn't get there until about noon, but there was still plenty of time to wander around for hours, taking it all in and enjoying the beautiful weather.

The ladies found lots of great jewelry, clothing, and other interesting trinkets.

There were some booths with beautiful tapestries and cloth.

And cool purses. The market has a wonderful international feel with products from all over.

Hi Emily!

Lots of great produce. I ended up with some delicious nectarines and plums. Yum. Check out these huge carrots -

And some crazy cool flowers (plants? I'm not really sure what this is.)

Danny joined us for some delicious mexican food and then I took them to see Capitol Hill Books.

Knitting Encyclopedia! Emily was enthralled.

So many books. Everywhere.

A quick jaunt down 8th to Stitch DC and it was time to head home.

I found this really great Arts and Crafts book at the bookstore. I wish the content wasn't so great because I kind of want to make the cover into something cool.