Small Updates While I Wait Patiently

2016 has been pretty slow when it comes to home improvements. We’re in super-saving mode in preparing for a new kitchen and bathroom which is why we aren’t going to Europe this year (…boohoo, I know). This also means, no other décor changes should happen until we at least have our plans in place.

These are times when I wish I had a patient bone in my body. Is just one too much to ask for?

One thing that couldn’t wait though, was a change to the area just inside the front door. Every single day this was a disaster. We used the coat tree I bought at Ikea when I first moved to DC, combined with a side table we didn’t know where else to put, in an attempt to organize the area that should be a closet.

As you can see, even if it was at its cleanest, it would have been a mess. Coat trees, while cute in theory are just an eyesore. Kyle was out of town for a weekend this spring, giving me the opportunity to at least start changing things up – since he wouldn’t be around to tell me no…

Before:
Untitled   After:

IMG_0742

The wood carving is from my grandparent’s house, and until I started playing around didn’t know where to put it. The two images are small pieces of art Grandma and Grandpa had picked up in Paris on one of their travels. Putting them right where I’ll see them each day, reminds me of my grandparents and our shared love to travel.

Copenhagen on No Sleep

20140406-180817.jpg After too many years I finally went to visit my friend Jana in her new home – Copenhagen! Now that KZ and I are “seasoned travelers” we didn’t miss a beat when flights went on sale.

Like we did when we went to Rome, we took an overnight flight so we’d wake up in our final destination. Unfortunately, the prior experience had taught us nothing because we stayed up ALL night watching the on-demand movies and talking… just like we had done on our way to Italy.

The sleepless night however was well worth it to see the sunrise on the horizon out the plane window. If that doesn’t keep you up, I don’t know what would.

20140406-180849.jpgAnyhoo, day 1 of Copenhagen was not to be missed with wasted time sleeping so we hit the road as soon as we dropped our bags at Jana’s… so the first thing we saw was this gorgeous church with a steeple that MUST be climbed immediately. Tell me you wouldn’t look at this church and make another choice?

DSC_2039*The stairs to the top:

DSC_2043*Oh and there was about a dozen giant bells that decided to ring the second we got right next to them (lovely right?) – good thing they have this sign and light that blinks when they’re going off – you know, just in case you didn’t know what that sound was. 
bells

The views were spectacular and completely worth the slight loss of hearing and leg burn!DSC_2051* DSC_2055 DSC_2056** DSC_2058* DSC_2062 DSC_2068 DSC_2070*

Back on the ground we were treated with a postcard worthy day in this lovely city. The entire city has canals running through it, full of boats and swans.

DSC_2077 DSC_2078

Apparently marching bands are common to see just marching around town, we followed this band for a little while until they brought us to a castle that we definitely needed to see.

DSC_2105* DSC_2106* DSC_2115 DSC_2121The Rosenborg Castle was used by Danish regents as a royal residence until around 1710, today it is a museum of royal items and is used as a vault for the crown jewels. The entire museum is void of information on the artifacts, if you want to know what you’re looking at, you’d have to purchase a pretty expensive guidebook. For this reason, I have no descriptions of what these things are, but you can reasonably assume they’re a) royal something and b) old.

DSC_2132 DSC_2134

Lacking sleep and running purely on a cocktail of coffee and adrenaline, this is the point where I started to get a little goofy. This is me, trying to pet the lions guarding the royal throne. The docent started coming after me though, so I didn’t actually get a pet in. Disappointing.
DSC_2143 DSC_2145 DSC_2147 DSC_2150 DSC_2151

crown jewels DSC_2160 DSC_2162 DSC_2164At this point it was time for some Danish Dogs and a nap. Next post will be our day2 which was full of all the major sites around Copenhagen. 
image-6

Google Glass + Art @ National Portrait Gallery

When I see the opportunity to try out new technology, it’s not a hard sell to get me in line.  This weekend only at the National Portrait Gallery is a special piece that is pretty neat on it’s own, but you can put on Google Glasses for an interactive experience with the art.

Here is a little more on the art (excerpted from the National Portrait Gallery site):

Portrait of America, from David Datuna’s “Viewpoint of Billions” series, is a 12-foot multimedia American flag covered in hundreds of eyeglass lenses. Try on Google Glass and explore historical and contemporary figures from American culture embedded in the artwork. Videos and interactive experiences are activated by different images in the piece and by your voice!

After an hour and a half waiting in line, we geared-up and took advantage of our 3 minute viewing time.  When you put on the GG and look through the lenses on the art piece you can see little pictures and news clippings from various famous Americans (I saw JFK, Lady Gaga, George Washington…) with your own eye, and those photos trigger little videos to play through the GG (like a JFK campaign video, and a Lady Gaga performance clip).

Below are a few photos from the experience, unfortunately the last day it is in DC is today – but there are hopes (according to their PR rep I tried to BFF) to take the “show on the road” to other cities.

20140217-103925.jpg

20140217-103941.jpg

20140217-104039.jpg20140217-104002.jpg My only real gripe with the event is that 3 minutes was not nearly enough time to spend with the piece. It took about a minute to figure out the Google Glasses (probably more for those a little less tech-savvy). By the time I got into the groove with navigating the piece I was being shuffled out.

Read more about the piece and artist (and experience the art from those viewing it) by visiting the artist’s site atwww.datuna.com