I can't decide!

So I've been wanting to buy a pair of Tom's Shoes for a while now. I've narrowed it down to three pairs, but I just can't decide on the color.

PLEASE HELP!

Should I pick the canvas red one's...

The gold sparkly ones....

Or the ash canvas ones?

I know. Tough choice, huh?

Would much appreciate your input!!!

Happy Weekend!

And for such an occasion, I bring to you a song that I'm currently obsessed with. Don't ask me what it means. I really can't decide. And yes the video is a bit strange, but intriguing at the same time. The setting reminds me of the panelaks of Eastern Europe (could it be Ostrava?) mixed with imagery from The Road by Cormac McCarthy.

Have a looksy and a listen.

Walk-throughs, bombs, and Obama

I have to admit...working on the mall is pretty great. Yesterday, my supervisor, myself, and the interns did a "walk through" in preparation for a Teaching American History teacher workshop we are doing next week. The morning was relatively cool (meaning it had not reached 90 degrees quite yet), so our walk to the White House Visitors Center didn't leave us as hot and sticky as it normally would.

As we neared the International Trade Center, police were everywhere. I have never seen so many different forms of police transportation in my life! Buses, unmarked SUVs, motorcycles, cars, horses, bikes, you name it they were there. A crowd had gathered, so naturally, we joined them.

What is going on? we wondered.

The officer firmly directing us to cross the street did not let on. Not one bit.

But a nice young man in front of us sure did.

A bomb was in the building.

Seriously? A bomb? Good thing they cleared everyone out and secured the perimeter!

We crossed the street joking about the perks of living in the city, and walked the rest of the way to the southern lawn of the White House. Yet, something wasn't quite the same. The roads were blocked, and we weren't able to get as close as we once used to. We couldn't figure out why we were so far from the Southern Lawn. So I decided to ask. A policeman. Who looked pretty intent to pretend I didn't exist. (Seriously?)

Luckily he did decide to answer my question, and at that moment in time we found out that their wasn't a bomb in the International Trade Building, but that Obama was going there for a very important presidential meeting. The road and walk way south of the White House was going to be blocked off for the remainder of the meeting.

Cool, but it was messing with our plans.
We opted not to walk to the middle of the Elipse to see the White House, but to return to the White House Visitor Center. As we were waiting outside, all of sudden we heard sirens and saw a long line of motorcylecs, limos, and ambulances stream out of the blocked off road where we were moments before. The security guard standing outside told us that it was Obama going to his meeting, and if we looked close we could see him in the second limo.

He was not in the second limo. Did I miss my chance to see the President?

Oh, no! Not I.

He was in fact, in the third limo. And I had a pretty good glimpse of Mr. Obama. He happened to be sitting at the window on our side of the street, so our view was unobstructed.

From what I hear, I'm officially a resident of DC. I've seen the President!

Thank goodness there was no bomb!

Hermana Lyndsi

Today my good friend Lyndsi goes into the MTC.

{Miss Lyndsi on her birthday}

 By golly I'm going to miss her, but she's going to be the best missionary Lima, Peru has ever seen!

Into the Archives...

So, my good friend Connie, posted an amazingly awesome video of our time in Taiwan, and it reminded me that I still needed to post this beaut of a vid.

Date:                The last day of school
Class:               MK
Song:               Sorry, Sorry by the one and only Super Junior
Dance moves:  Classic

Funny Things Happen

Ha. It's funny how some things happen.

So I've been intrigued with all the new templates that blogger has to offer. I've been fiddling around with them on my practice blog. I did so again today, trying to find the perfect combinations. So much to choose from!

By accident I hit apply to blog, and then realized that it was for this blog. And there was no way I could change it back to my template that I had before. So, hence the new look.

What do you think?

P.S. For some strange reason my music player isn't compatible with the new blogger template, so I had to put it on a different page. Just click on the Music tab above and it will take you to my playlist.

Happy Fourth of July!!!

 Over the weekend I realized that this is my first Fourth of July in the States since 2007. The past two I've been in Taiwan. And I think I definitely made up for lost time. And how could you not by celebrating the 4th in our Nation's Capital?

Saturday started with a patriotic breakfast at our former bishop's house in North Potomac. Then my friend Maggie, myself, and others headed down to the district to enjoy food at Good Stuff Eatery, and to walk around Eastern Market. An uneventful trip? Oh, no!

On the way to Eastern Market we were pulled over for almost side-swiping a policeman, or should I say policewoman. (No, I was not driving! I don't own a car at the moment).  She was very testy, as I'm sure you can imagine, as she came to the door, but warmed right up when she learned that we were lost trying to find the correct turn off for the market. She was so kind as to give us directions. We followed her part way, and when we were stopped at a stop light in front of us, we were afraid that she changed her mind when she turned her lights back on and hopped out of the car.

         Did she give us a ticket?

                                               Nope.

 She had given us incorrect directions,

 and didn't want us to get lost again. 

We strolled through the market on our way to Good Stuff Eatery. Have you ever heard about this place? It's pretty darn amazing.

                               Really. 

                                         It is. 

Spike Mendelsohn, the  chef, was on Top Chef.

Pretty impressive. 

But what's even more impressive is that instead of opening up some big fancy restaurant he decided to open up the very best burger joint he could. And boy did he succeed! Seriously the best I ever had. And all you lovers of In-N-Out, Fat Burger, and might I dare, even Dick's, get thee hence. You'll taste what I'm talking about. 

Food--excellent. 

Service--lacking. 

World Cup game upstairs--rowdy. 

A bottle was thrown from the upper level and knocked a guy in the head. This grown man was brought to tears, and the perpetrator blamed it on his 6 year-old son. Did not even offer an apology! What has this world come to?

Maggie, Gina, Julie and I headed back to Eastern Market and looked at the various goods. Have I ever mentioned how obsessed I am with markets? Well, if you didn't know before, you know now. It's so hard for me not to want to buy everything in front of me. But I showed considerable self-restraint and didn't buy a single item. Unless you count goat cheese.

Maggie and I went to the most amazing second-hand bookstore afterwards. Not only am I obsessed with markets, but I may be even more obsessed with reading and books. As we speak or whatever it is we're doing, I have 5 boxes of books just waiting to be placed on my non-existent bookshelf. That's right, FIVE. I have such a hard time not buying books when I go into book stores, and I normally come away with one, if not two books that a need. And I really do need them. 

But I digress.

This fabulous bookshop was stuffed to the brim with books. I'm dead serious. Lining the walls, blocking the windows, creating obstacles on the stairways. Foreign Lit was int he bathroom. Poetry in the kitchen. The shop keeper himself was quite the character. But I don't feel like commenting anymore on him. So that's that. 

Our real goal of the day was the Capitol Concert dress rehearsal. On our way to the Capitol we ran through sprinklers at the Library of Congress (Yes, you read that correctly. Jealous?). Then we went through our security check, sat in the hot, hot, hot sun for hours, staking out our spot for us and 8 others. It was wonderful. And we even got to see David Archuleta and Reba McIntyre perform live. Pretty sweet deal?

And this was all on Saturday.

Sunday night Maggie and I headed back downtown to the Jefferson Memorial to watch the fireworks. We took the Metro as far as Metro Center, and decided to walk the rest of the way. As we approached the Washington Monument I got teary seeing the thousands of patriotic people waving flags and decked out in their red, white, and blue. Families, kids on bikes--it was pretty awesome. 

As we went through several check points and had a funny interlude with one of the security guards and walked around the Jefferson several times looking for our group, we finally caught up with them on the edge of the Tidal Basin.

Best spot ever! 

Here's a video just to prove it:

All in all it was a great 4th. Eventful. Fun. Just what I needed.

What did you do for the Fourth?

Sunbursts

Did I ever tell you that I work for an amazing institution? If I haven't already, let me just reiterate how incredibly cool it is to work for the Smithsonian Institution. Some days I might gripe about my job, but the fact of the matter is, I love being apart of something much, much larger than myself. 

Thursday, myself and 3,999 of my fellow employees were able to participate in this historical event. This is the very first time that all of the Smithsonian staff, volunteers, interns, and donors came together to make this epic sunburst--the Smithsonian's symbol. 

{Where's Shannon? I'm behind the woman wearing the raspberry pants and white shirt. In the yellow. Waving. At someone I didn't know. Can you see me?}

It's an experience I'll never forget. 

Here's to the Smithsonian and all its goodness!

Check out the website--it's a wealth of free knowledge!