Lilly Pulitzer Backgrounds

I may have missed the Inauguration, but I still decided to embrace the cheesiness of the presidential memorabilia in DC.  First stop was the National Portrait Gallery's presidential portrait collection. It's terrible how many presidents I had utterly forgotten.  With almost each portrait I saw I muttered a little "oh yeah.... forgot about him.  Ooops!"  My 11th Grade American History teacher would smack me upside the head. It was interesting to the see the variation in portrait styles. From the classics to the updated Pointillistic  and the Abstract Expressionism-like brushwork of Elaine de Kooning. Personally I prefer this last one of JFK.  As much as the classic portraits portray power, prestige, etc, I like that the de Kooning offers something brighter and more accessible. Next stop was the National Museum of American History.  Personally I was beyond smitten by the exhibit on the First Ladies.  There may or may not have been some squealing whe...

As promised, the first story in my chronicles of an awkward 20-something .  I'll start small.... with me fulfilling a fear I have had since I was very young.  I'll admit that I'm not wholly secure with my physical self (who really is?).  I've used my long, thick hair as a bit of a security blanket for years.  As such, one of my biggest fears is losing my hair - by stress, by a bad hair cut, or by freak accident. Well my fear came true - I set my hair on fire!  I'd like to say it's because I was twirling flaming batons, cooking some fabulous meal on the stove, or blowing out candles on my birthday cake.  But nope! I set it on fire with a candle.  I have (or should now say had ) a candle on my nightstand.  I was in bed and leaned down to grab something off the floor.... next thing I know I smelled something terrible, jumped up, and saw my braid fly up ablaze with black ashes falling  off the ends! I suppose I should be thankful I'm so accident ...

I really need to stop traveling, because each time I visit another city, I'm terribly smitten. And of course DC was no exception. I visited 4 museums within 24 hours, saw the major monuments, got sucked into the romance of the city's history and political significance, and aimlessly wandered the streets of downtown and Georgetown soaking up the character of DC. And of course the nonprofit conference was very inspirational.  Hearing people talk about the creative ways they overcame the economic crisis, tapped into the stories of their organizations, and even turned around PR disasters (the last session I attended had representatives from Planned Parenthood and Livestrong, so it was incredibly fascinating!) made me happy that I can count nonprofits as clients. And everyone was just so engaging in the panel discussions and question periods. DC is just one of those cities where you can just feel like the world is turning and people all strive to make a difference in it.  I may be ...

I've been called an old soul, a 60-year-old in 20-something body, and, well, a snob (but I'm honest to goodness not!).  Sometimes it's because of the way I dress and carry myself, other times because of my many not-of-this-time sayings (goodness gracious is common one).  My taste in music certainly doesn't help my case. If, like me, you're a bit of an old soul in your music tastes, you love Cole Porter, Ella Fitzgerald, Dean Martin, and the like.  Well, you're in luck, because iTunes carries a myriad of these artists for incredible prices.  I like to keep a rotation of their songs in my music library for dinner parties, book club nights, weekend mornings working over brunch, and even singing in the shower. Thankfully iTunes sells "best of" collections with 100 or more songs for less than $8, so you can grow your collection faster than you can say (or sing) C'est Magnifique! Dean Martin ($5.99) | Ella Fitgerald ($5.99) | The Rat Pack ($5.99) | Fr...