She Knows His Love's in Tulsa..

I'm back from my four day trip to Tulsa. It was a fun city to visit - got lots of good work stuff done, really got to see the entire area (which is rather vast and flat), hang out with some great people, drive down Route 66 and eat lots of fried, bad for you food (Sonic, Quick Trip, Coney Islander... ugh...). I (stupidly) didn't take my camera, which is unfortunate because there is so much cool art deco architecture. So I thought I'd steal a few pictures from my photo savvy coworker so you could get a glipse of Green Country (thanks Tidwell!)

a huge, art deco Methodist church on the edge of downtown
the famous Cain's Ballroom concert hall - a Tulsa treasure!

Happy Spring!!!

Spring has finally arrived in Washington (I hope!!!) Thought I'd share some fun tulip macros with everyone to celebrate its arrival. I'll be in Tulsa Tuesday through Friday, so hopefully I'll have some fun Tulsa pictures to share upon my return.

So you say it's your birthday...

I had a great 26th birthday celebration yesterday! Thank you to everyone who was so generous and made it special.

The festivities actually kicked off Friday night when Brad treated me and two of our good friends, Laura and her boyfriend Saiful, to dinner at The Majestic, a restaurant I've been dying to try since they reopened a few months ago.

Brad was very brave and ordered a whole Branzino (a European seabass), which came with the head and tail still attached (eye ball included!) and all the bones still inside. I'm very proud of him - he ate the whole thing!

Laura and Saiful enjoying their yummy dessert

I waited all of Lent to have some chocolate on my birthday and it was well worth the wait!

Festivities last night kicked off at dinner at my favorite neighborhood Italian place, Monroe's. Nicely located right across the street from our apartment, we frequent the place about once a week, so it's nice that the waitstaff and hosts kind of know who we are. I had a great meal of scallops and pesto pasta and Brad had their amazing porkchop. I was surprised with a big hunk of chocolate cake with a candle in it. We we got home it was time for more cake and presents...

the candles were like mini 4th of July type sparklers - they were sparking all over the place!

chatting with Dad to thank him for the awesome travel books and photography class

thanks for the fun springtime stuff Noni and Papa!
being so happy that I'm finally not the only person in the entire world without an iPod. Thanks to EB (my boss) and Senger (a coworker) for helping Brad navigate the iPod world :)
loving my new camera bag from Brad
Brad made it a very techie birthday with an iPod AND an external hard drive that can store up to 145,000 photos!!
Gena and Sophie made me some very yummy birthday cookies - thanks ladies!

Reflecting...

As the big 26 comes one week from today, I've been thinking about how awesome my birthday has been the last few years since Brad and I started dating. This Friday we will be headed to dinner at one of my favorite restaurants, The Majestic, with my good friend Laura and her great boyfriend Saiful. I can't wait!

The first year we dated, we went on our first date the week after my birthday. I has only been in D.C. for a few weeks, didn't know a soul and this stranger from one of my OSU poli sci classes remembered me and that it was my birthday. He took me out for a fabulous dinner and it turned into our first of many dates.

The second year we dated, we decided to do something low key. I think we went to dinner somewhere and hung out at my house afterward, hence the crappy sweatshirt in the picture below with my yummy ice cream cake:

Last year, Brad took me out for a great dinner to celebrating the big 2-5, even though we were broke saving for the wedding and never went out. Afterward, he got me and AWESOME cake from CakeLove, this amazing bakery in D.C.

my fancy drink at dinner!

Orchid photography class is over :(

Tomorrow marks the last day of my orchid photography class at the U.S. Botanical Garden. Luckily, my work staff retreat got cancelled so I get to go to the class! Below are some shots from my portfolio that I submitted for a critique to the instructor. Overall, he was impressed and had some great suggestions.

Ok, not an orchid and not even photographed in the U.S., let alone the Botanical Garden... this is from outfront of my Dad's place in Barbados

the "theme" of the orchid display was "An Alphabelt of Orchids," so they have these giant letters all over the garden. It makes for some neat pictures!

Its been a while...

I feel bad that I haven't written in over a month... Things have been very busy. Chief among them: Brad and I went to visit my Dad in Barbados for five days in the middle of February! It was absolutely beautiful! My Dad lives in this beautiful community of apartments and villas, called Port St. Charles, full of yachts, swim up bar's, a yacht club and two beaches.

beaching at Port St. Charles beach

lilly pads outside Port St. Charles
sand dunes in the Caribbean Sea
President Reagan and Mrs. Reagan attended St. James Church when they visited Barbados before and during his presidency (interesting note: this plaque is from the day after Brad was born! April 11, 1982!)
beach shack in Bathsheba, on the Atlantic Ocean side
an old church in Bathsheba (yes, the sky was that blue!)
none of the windows on the island, in my Dad's house or anywhere else, had glass or screens, just these cool shutters
a surfer in Bathsheba
Frog Rock in beautiful Bathsheba