Shadow Sundays

I took these two shots several years ago on my trip to Atlanta with Alyssa. We had a great time and did quite a bit of sightseeing together, but also went out separate ways to see the things that were of interest to one of us, but not to the other.

One such solitary outing for me was the High Museum of Art. I loved the open and clean architecture, the use of glass and white beams. The sun light and the blue color of the sky were able to peak into the building easily and made perfect shadows for Shadow Sundays!

One Step Forward, One Step Back

I came home today, had stuffing (courtesy of Cindy) and mashed potatoes with buttermilk and dill for dinner (can you say carb overload?)...and then decided to go to the gym!

I haven't been to the gym in at least 2-3 months, maybe even longer. I know I go dancing twice a week, and that's a pretty good exercise, but I could definitely use a few hours at the gym.

That, however, wasn't my thinking tonight. Tonight I went to the gym in order to see Tom, Fabio and Stefan ooh so worth it!

And then I came home and had a slice of chocolate pecan pie (courtesy of Arianna and Cindy) topped with some light whipped cream and sour cherries: so very good!

Maybe I'll go back to the gym again next week to see my boys :)

Sky Watch Friday

Happy Sky Watch Friday!!! Here are some of my photographs from a trip to Puerto Rico three (or 4??) years ago.

Ruby Tuesday

I took this photo for Ruby Tuesdays this past Saturday. It is just screaming red to me :)
(Firestation in DC).

Shadow Sundays

Happy Shadow Sundays!!!

Sky Watch Friday

Here are 3 pictures I took for Sky Watch Friday last Saturday. It was a perfectly sunny, but very cold day.

Mini Rant: how hard is it to buy a winter coat?

I have 4 winter coats. One of them I've had for more than 7 years, another for 5 years, the third one for 4 and the last one for 2. I want a new coat. I want a coat that makes me feel cute, instead of making me feel like a penguin.

I've spent at least 3 hours looking for a coat at 5 different stores...and nothing! Either they are too big or too small. They have double row of buttons (something I do not want), or crazy fur on the hood (something I also don't want).

I finally found a beautiful red Kenneth Cole Reaction coat in Macys, only to find out they did not have my size. Even though the store computer said they had two coats in the size I wanted, the saleswoman said that it can actually mean they have none...seriously?

And so, I either continue my "hunt" for a winter coat, or keep on looking like a penguin in my black puffy coat.



This is a photo from about 2 years ago from my trip to Paris (I'm on the left) with Jen and Anna.

Mini Rant: your questions are so NOT funny.

If you haven't figured it out by now, I'm a twin. There is still some debate whether Anna and I are identical or fraternal, but people tend to go berserk when they see us. We went to the same University and even majored in Economics together, so for a certain period in our lives we were bombarded by "twin" questions and grew accustomed to them.

However, after college Anna moved to Dallas, and I moved to DC. The twin questions stopped other than when we visited each other. Most of the questions were asked when we went salsa dancing together. People were shocked to see the two of us at the same place and the staring, pointing, and dumb-founded looks persisted to follow us from Dallas, to DC, to Seattle, and even to Paris.

For the last month that Anna has been visiting me, the questions have made their way into our lives again. Below is just a small sample of the ones we get often:

*Are you you or your sister?
*Are you the good twin or the evil twin?
*OMG, are you twins?
*Do you have any funny stories about being a twin? Like if you dated someone and the guy mistook one for another? [really, that would be funny?]

People, please stop! We've heard these questions a zillion times before, and they are really not that amusing. We really don't look that much alike: and if I take my glasses off, we would not all of a sudden become even more identical. If you pinch Anna, I would not feel pain, and if you have more chemistry dancing with her than with me, we don't necessarily need to know that.

Ok, I feel a little bit better to get that off my chest.

Shopping time: out of the brown and into the green.

Last week I was bored with my brown short sleeved sweater & brown wrap-around-sweater outfit, and decided to go across the street to Union Station to do a bit of shopping. Express had nothing, Ann Taylor had nothing, and Lucy did not have too many options either.

But, as often is the case, I was being stubborn, and went back to Ann Taylor to try my luck again. Laura, from work, was shopping with me, and actually found this green sweater in my size! I bought it on the spot and wore it open over my brown short sleeved sweater :)

Note: ironically, the short sleeved brown sweater and the wrap-around-sweater I was wearing originally were from Ann Taylor Loft!

My sister: a star!

On Saturday, Anna and I went to Salsa Room, something I haven't been able to do prior to Anna staying with me (the place is not metro accessible). There was a bachata contest, and Anna entered with Parker as her dancing partner. I knew there was little chance of anyone else being better than them.

There were 8 couples total competing, and there was only one couple who danced at the same level as Anna and Parker. After 2 rounds of dancing, the audience applauded for their favorites, and Anna & Parker moved into the finals with another couple....that couple was HORRIBLE. The girl was a total skank: not only could she not dance to the beat, but she was pretty much just grinding on the guy. Unfortunately, it seemed she knew a lot of people, who clapped pretty loud. For a few moments I was afraid the skanky couple would win the contest.

Thankfully, the judge announced that this was a dancing competition, and the deserving couple was Anna & Parker. I was thrilled!!!! Anna absolutely deserved it! I was so proud :)

Today in the morning one of the girls who used to be in my rueda group emailed me congratulating me on the win...lol: I wonder how many people are going to think it was me dancing and not Anna :)

Today's Flowers

These are just a few photographs I've taken during my various trips....the week has been too busy to take new photos...but my orchids are hopefully going to be opening up soon, so I'll post those in the next few weeks. Check out more of Today's Flowers.

Note: the pictures were saved before I realized I could adjust the color saturation...

Shadow Sundays

Here are a few shadow shots I took today on the way to class for Shadow Sundays. (I know it's still technically Saturday, but it is Sunday somewhere in the the world.)

Sky Watch Friday

Here are some sky pictures I took last Saturday around 4 pm for Sky Watch Friday.

Ruby Tuesday

Ruby Tuesday time!!! I took these pictures on my way to GRE class last Saturday. Looking for something specific really makes you pay attention to your surroundings: you never know what you can find!

Patterns

This past Saturday, Anna and I hung out with Wendy, and when we were leaving at 7 pm it was already very dark. I saw a tree with completely bare branches, other than a few red leaves. The tree looked beautiful, and I decided to take a few pictures.

I did not turn my flash off, and here is what came out: the pictures remind me of patterns you might find on a pretty pillow or a bed throw...what do you think?

Shadow Sundays

I waited a bit too long to take a picture for Shadow Sundays, so here's the only one that I have (I took it today).

Today's Flowers

I had my GRE class yesterday morning and decided to take my camera along in order to snap a few shots for Today's Flowers: here they are!

What am I a hotel or something?

Anna has been staying with me for 3 weeks now (ever since she graduated from the CIA). It is nice having another person in my apartment: we go grocery shopping together, watch TV, cook, go dancing (because she has a car, we can go to a salsa place that I could not go to before...yay).

But I have limited space. My apartment is a studio and really can't fit that many people. It reminds me of when my family lived in Moscow, Russia, and our distant relatives stopped over for a few days because they were in Moscow to get their documents ready to move to Israel or US.

Last night, Anna and I were sitting on the couch, and all of a sudden Anna started screaming! Turned out we have a new (unwelcome!!!) guest. I think it's related to this being. I mean, seriously? Another mouse! It completely grosses me out, and all that my apartment maintenance person was able to do was to block a small hole (that apparently wasn't fixed the first time I had a problem) and put more sticky-gluey-things around my apartment for the mouse to step into.

It's a nightmare!

Sky Watch

I decided to join yet another on-line group: Sky Watch. Here are a few pictures in Montreal a few months ago on vacation with Anna and Erica.

Ruby Tuesday

Here are a few pictures from my trip to Montreal for Ruby Tuesday.

Today's Flowers

My geranim is blooming again: it's such a pretty red color. Enjoy :)

Shadow Sundays

Here's a photo I took of myself at Bethany Beach, where I went for a little vacation with Jenn this summer. I'm submitting it to Shadow Sundays: check out some of the other people's pictures.

Power Lunch Is Back!

Yesterday I had my fist Power Lunch of this year. I started mentoring for this program last year and was eager to return. I will be working with the same student, let's call her N.

First of all, I was happy that N finally remembered my name :) That's a good sign, right? The school also did a good job remodeling the library to make it more open and inviting for students and their mentors.

After filling out a bit of paperwork, N and I started reading our first book together. She is still having a really hard time concentrating on the words, and instead her eyes look everywhere, but the book.

We were reading a story about lost toys, and I was trying to ask her questions as we read to make sure she was following the story and could anticipate what was about to happen.

One of the words in the story was shelter. I asked N what that meant, and she said: "a place where you go to be safe." I told her she was correct, and added that's a place that keeps you safe from cold, rain, etc.

What N said next almost broke my heart: "it is also where homeless people go, and where you can be safe from alcohol, drugs and crack." This completely shocked me. I don't think I was aware of these issues when I was 8 years old. Was I sheltered, or was the world a better place?

An Award for Me!!!

Last night after I came home from studying in the library, I had an email from Paz, telling me that she has given me a Kreativ Blogger Award: that totally made my day!

Now this blog no longer has to be jealous of Mango & Tomato, which has already won several awards :)

Great Falls

This past Sunday Wendy had a bunch of girls over at her parents' house for brunch. Afterwards we took a quick walk to Great Falls. It was a gorgeous day, and I was very happy I took my camera along.