Art, Argo, Lavagna

Friday night, I went to see Argo. I have not kept my dislike of Ben Affleck a secret, but people kept telling me the movie was awesome and a friend wanted to see it so I figured I'd give it a shot. It was amazing. One of those movies where you leave feeling really satisfied at the end. The movie is about the Iranian hostage crisis which, if you stopped paying attention in AP U.S. history after the Cold War like I did, was a huge deal. After the recent tragedy at the U.S. embassy in Libya, I think the movie was especially relevant too. Definitely worth going to see.

After Argo, I stopped by Georgetown's Gilbert and Sullivan Society rehearsal for Drood, getting there just in time to hear Mike sing. Mike sings well, but not really unless he's on stage or unless someone's playing a piano. Given my recent string of failures in getting him to sing White Christmas for me, this was a real treat. Also: the show's going to be awesome. It's a Choose-You-Own-Ending style musical based on the only unfinished novel by Charles Dickens. lots of Cockney accents, comedy, and fun.

After rehearsal, Mike and I also caught up on our new Netflix obsession: Legend of the Seeker. It is guilty pleasure FANTASY reminiscent of LOTR, but with really pretty people instead of hobbits. Much of the dialogue makes me laugh, but I'm unable to stop watching. So that has taken precedence over Doctor Who for the time being.

Saturday, I spent some time at the American Museum of Art/The National Portrait Gallery. This is my second favorite museum in the city, my first love being the National Gallery of Art, of course. Whenever I start to feel trapped or crowded by the city, I like to spend a few hours in a museum and remind myself that I am so lucky to have so much culture and history at my fingertips whenever I want and within walking distance. Here are a few of my favorite pictures from that outing.

My favorite statue in the American Museum of Art.

My favorit painting. It's huge and if I stand really close to it, I feel like I'm in Montana.

Third floor. 

There is a secret wing on the third floor where they have free tea and coffee Thurs-Sat 11am-3:30pm.  Free coffee attracts so many different kinds of people. 

One of my favorite pieces in the modern art wing.

Love this.

More modern art. So real.

After the art museum, I met up with Mike who had been hard at work in the library, and we made pesto chicken pasta for dinner. When we got back to his house he gave me some of his mail to open (because he had gotten some packages that I figured he was just too lazy to open). When I opened the first box, it was a DVD of The Santa Clause, which was only the movie I had been talking about/quoting every day for the past week! The second box was a yoga mat since the floor at my apartment is so hard I need two mats to do yoga comfortably. It's safe to say that Mike is the best present giver ever. However, anyone who will put up with watching The Santa Clause with me while I quote most of it knowing full well that me having the DVD will probably make this a regular occurrence, is a keeper.

On Sunday, Kelly and Alex invited us to Lavagna, one of up-and-coming brunch places in DC. Kelly read a Lavagna review on a blog and told me about their $10 bottomless mimosas and locally-sourced menu. I mean, she had me at bottomless mimosas, but I couldn't wait to try their food either. For some reason, Mike got a wine glass rather than a champagne flute for his mimosa and that led to mimosas twice the size of everyone else's. I can't take him anywhere.

Mike and his VIP treatment Mimosa.

Mike and Alex each got the Biscuit Egg Sausage Gravy with italian sausage. Meat is not my thing, but, trust me when I say that it's the best sausage gravy and biscuits you will ever have. And I'm from the South. Kelly got the Veggie Frittata which looked amazing. I got the Mascarpone Pancakes with honey nutella mascarpone. If you only get one thing there, it must be these pancakes. They tasted like warm buttery christmas in your mouth. The mimosas and coffee were delicious and so was the conversation. I threw out the idea of a Williamsburg reunion  for NYE sometime soon with much support. Alex and I talked about the football games later that day, and Mike chimed in with his analysis of the footballs and how "his team" the Panthers were going to beat the Redskins. Because the Panthers had a 1-6 record and the Redskins were OVERDUE for a win and I get super defensive of my team, I told Mike that the Panthers winning would put our relationship in jeopardy. Bad news: the Redskins were slaughtered and I'm not dealing with it well. Good news: Mike and I are trying to work things out.

All in all, a success of a weekend!

This week is not only election week, but registration week for my students so work will be crazy, but it is also crazy for a lot of my friends who work on Capitol Hill or who are starring in GGSS's The Mysterious Case of Edwin Drood which opens this week or who do both. Show weeks mean a little more stress, a ton of fun, and looking forward to the day when Mike finally gets to shave his muttonchops!

Happy election/show/registration week and GO VOTE!