the other Air and Space Museum

So out by Dulles Airport is the other Smithsonian Air and Space Museum. I bet you didn't know there were two, did you? The Air and Space Museum on the Mall is one of my favorites, so I had high hopes for the Stephen Udvar-Hazy Air and Space Museum when we visited a few weeks ago with my in-laws. It did not disappoint!

Space Shuttle Enterprise

rocket boosters!

the quarantine trailer that the first moon walking astronaut's, including Mr. Neil Armstrong, lived in when they returned to Earth... to ward off any "moon germs"

(that's a technical NASA term!)

SR-17 Blackbird

the place also had some super cool architecture

Peeps-o-matic

Every year, the Washington Post has an annual diarama contest every Easter, which challenges readers to make interesting diarama's using Peeps candy. It's an absolute hoot and I am always amazed at the creative things that people come up with.

This year, they displayed many of the diaramas at Artomatic, so you could check out the great work up close and personal. My absolute favorite was called "Please Peep to the Right." Probably only Washingtonians, or other mass transit riders will understand this, but when you ride the Metro here, there is an unwritten rule that if you're going to stand on the escalator, you stand to the right, so people can walk up or down on the left side. Since it's an unwritten rule, many tourists stand to the left, completely unaware that they're now blocking the way of hurried commuters who aren't too lazy to walk up 15 escalator stairs. The awesome diarama makers capitalized on this perfectly:

Look at that detail! From the Peep with its nose burried in the Metro map, to the fellow tourist Peep in the FBI shirt to the angry eyebrows on the other Peeps. That's probably my favorite part - the angry Peep eyebrows!

Check out some of the other fantastic displays:

Goodnight Peep - complete with bowl full of mush!"As Seen on Peep TV" - how many seen infomercial products can you count?

"Double Peep Strike" - complete with Captain Sully!

Five for... Monday?

Better late than never!!

1. I had last Thursday and Friday off of work. It was heaven. Whoever decided that we should work five days and get two days off was absolutely nuts!

2. Thursday was all around a great day. I hung around in the morning, watching SportsCenter and generally being lazy. In the afternoon, I went into Old Town and got a pedicure at my favorite place, did a little clearance section shopping at Ann Taylor Loft (bought my first yellow shirt!) and enjoyed a causal afternoon of strolling the brick streets. Once Brad got home from work, we went to our favorite neighborhood place for dinner, Monroe's. Afterward we were going to go for a neighborhood walk, but got a call that Dad, who was coming in for the weekend, got on an earlier flight, so we scrapped that idea. While we were killing time until we had to head to the airport, we decided to do some bowling. Yes, very random! The bowling center by us has "all you can bowl" from 9pm - midnight during the week, so we popped in for two games. We both did miserable :) After we picked Dad up from the airport, we popped by Hard Times Cafe so he could have dinner and I finished my day off with a brownie sundae. YUM!

3. So, yes, Dad was in town for the long weekend. It was a super fun, laid back, casual visit. And he cooked a whole bunch for us, which is always awesome!

4. Instead of going to see fireworks on Saturday night, we went to dinner and saw a movie. Somehow "dinner and a movie" feels just as American as fireworks, yet it was so much less crowded!

5. Last night, we went out to WolfTrap, this amazing outdoor amphitheater run by the National Parks Department, to see Glydis Knight in concert. We sat out on the big lawn and had watermelon and grooved to her beat. It was so much fun and the weather was perfect - an upper 60's, crisp, cool summer evening.

Five for Friday

1. What a tragic week it has been. We start Monday with the horrific Metro collision that killed nine people. Many thanks to all those who checked in to see if Brad and I were okay. We don't take the Red Line, we're Yellow Line-ers, but it's still scary none-the-less. I am glad to see that the train operator is being remembered in a positive light, since it appeared that she did everything in her power to stop the train. I really hope it turns out that she wasn't texting or on her phone, like too many of these sad stories often turn out to be. Riding the Metro is a bit weird these days, although I figure you statistically have a much better chance of something going on in a car, especially the way people drive around here! So I shall continue my Metro commute.

2. They always say that people die in threes, so I guess you got your trifecta with the deaths of Ed McMahon, Farrah Fawcette and Michael Jackson this week. I'm a little young to appreciate Ms Fawcette in her hay-day, but I do know that she put on an incredibly brave, and public, battle against cancer. My most fond Michael Jackson memory is probably way back in fifth grade when I was in an exchange program and went to France for three weeks. I clearly remember riding on a charter bus, with a bunch of French students, listening to the same Michael Jackson cassette over and over and over again. These kids barely knew a lick of English, but they certainly knew MJ's lyrics! I hope he is remember in the fond light of his time at the top, since things haven't been going so well for him the last few years.

3. On a happier note, tonight Christina Saull Photography is hosting its very own Meet the Artist Night at Artomatic! I'll be hanging out by my wall from 6-10pm, serving cookies, handing out coupons for free prints (one per hour!) and chatting it up with whoever stops by.

4. On another Artomatic note, I can't believe it's almost over! The show closes July 5th, after a great six week run. I've sold a few pieces, more than I expected to, and I've met some other great artists in the process. The whole thing has been a neat experience, one that I hope to repeat next year!

5. As if life weren't busy enough right now, my in-laws are driving into town as I write this. They're here until Monday and then my Dad arrives on Thursday! Two straight weeks of parents means that Brad and I will be in hibernation the weekend after :)

Have a pleasant weekend everyone!

Artomatic talent

Following Meet the Artist night on June 13th, Brad and I spent some time exploring three floors of Artomatic (to do all nine at once is insanity). For those who can't make it down to the show, I wanted to share some photos of the amazing art we saw!

Don't forget: Artomatic runs through Sunday, July 5!

fire dancers!

done by a 12-year old!

Five for Friday

1. On Monday evening, Brad and I went to see "An Evening with Ellis Marsalis" at the Kennedy Center. For those of you who are not familiar, Ellis Marsalis is a jazz pianist and the father of Wynton Marsalis, the trumpter and founder of the combo that performs on Jazz at Lincoln Center. It was a really neat concert, which featured Ellis, Wynton, his three musically inclined brothers, one of his non-musical brothers (who read a great poem - he's apparently very literary - they call him "The Oracle") and Harry Connick, Jr. The music was great and it finished with a NOLA-style parade through the audience, complete with Harry Connick, Jr. on cow bell and a large twirrling umbrella. I have certainly never been to a Kennedy Center performance that included dancing in the aisles by both the performers and the audience!

2. It has been a crazy long week at work.... but a good week - one that just ended on a great note. But I'm still glad it's Friday!

3. Thanks to everyone who came out at Artomatic's Meet the Artist night last Saturday! I was really nervous going into it, but so many lovely people stopped by and chatted it up. I sold a few pieces and have a few more sales pending. If you weren't able to make it down, I promise no hurt feelings since you'll have another opportunity on June 26th :)

4. I am having the urge to do something fun. Anyone have any suggestions? If it's summer-esque, you get bonus points!

5. Can't think of a number five, so I thought I'd just leave you with a photo - the one that is selling like hotcakes at Artomatic!

Five For Friday

1. Artomatic Meet the Artist night is tomorrow evening! From 7:00 - 9:00pm, artists of all kinds will be hanging out by their displays, ready to talk about their art, their inspirations and their life (myself included!). Oh, and an extra incentive to come: an awesome coworker of mine is baking 90 red velvet cake bites. For those of you unfamiliar, they're basically little balls of cake, frosted and on toothpicks. Mega yum :)

2. I've been going through some old pictures in my Flickr. I've been trying to go through the gazillion pictures I took on our honeymoon, edit them and organize them, since we still don't have an album. I found this one and it makes me miss Italy SO much!

3. Last Saturday, I worked my volunteer shift at Artomatic (all artists are required to work three, five hour shifts). It was pretty fun, I worked in the store. I managed to not break the cash register, which was great. While I was there, my aunt, uncle and cousin stopped by to see my display. They were in Maryland for a wedding and then were driving down to Virginia Beach for another wedding ('tis the season!). It was great to see them for the first time since our wedding, even if we were only able to catch up for a few minutes. A special shout out to my cousin Megan, who I know reads my blog :)

4. I just had a phone conversation with a recruiter for a job one of my best friends is applying for. It was the first time I've actually acted over the phone as a reference for someone. I love this girl, but it was hard! I felt like I was trying to convince the guy that she is awesome - a job interview about someone else. Definitely an interesting experience...

5. It has been a good week at work. But I am so ready for the weekend. What are your summer weekend plans?

Fun shots with MK

Last Tuesday, I met up with my incredibly talented wedding photographer MK to take some fun pictures. Since I'm always behind the camera, I have no good pictures of me, with the exception of tons of pictures of me taking pictures (my hubby's favorite thing) :)

I thought I'd share some of my favorite shots from the session:

Five for Friday

1. It's a rainy day here in Washington, D.C. Actually, it's the second day in a row where it has been rainy, gloomy and chilly. I can't believe I'm wearing a long sleeved light weight sweater in June! The good news is that this weekend is supposed to be gorgeous.

2. Artomatic kicked off last Friday night with huge success. So far, 63 people have entered my fishbowl giveaway for a matted 5x7 print and, judging from how dirty the rug in front of my space is, I have definitely been getting a lot of foot traffic at my site.

Tomorrow is my first volunteer shift at Artomatic (all participating artists are required to participate in three, five hour volunteer shifts). Since I'm a pretty Type A person, I'm excited to get there and meet the public! If you're looking for something to do tomorrow, come on down. I'll be there from noon - 5pm, but Artomatic goes until 1am.

3. My summer vacation has officially been booked, thank goodness! Brad and I will be cruising on the Carnival Pride August 21-29 down to the Caribbean. We went on an Eastern Mediterranean cruise on our honeymoon and loved it, so we're looking forward to trying out a different destination this time. Really, all I wanted was a lounge chair where I could sit and read for a week. Cruises are an absolute steal right now, and we're lucky that the Port of Baltimore is close by, so we don't have to fly.

4. Speaking of flying, isn't the story of Air France flight 447 heartbreaking? As someone who is a nervous flier anyway, I tend to have a morbid fascination with airline disasters. My heart goes out to those who lost loved ones in this somewhat mysterious circumstance. Having been on several transatlantic flights, you go into it with the mindset that once you're cruising a few hours into the flight, it's almost like you're not even on a plane any more. To have the plane go down in such a dramatic fashion (whatever that fashion turns out to be) must have been incredibly frightening.

5. On a happier note, I met up with our wedding photographer, the very talented Mary Kate McKenna to do some fun shot searlier this week. I realized when I launched my web site that I had zero decent pictures of myself, so I thought it was time to rectify that. I received the edited images from her last night, so I'll post a few over the weekend. For now, I leave you with this teaser:

As you can tell, she and I had a lot of fun together. And, yes, that is a Segway tour going on in the background!!!

Happy weekend everyone!

Five for Friday

1. Artomatic opens TODAY. I could not be more excited to participate in such a huge show with so many other talented artists. If you're in the D.C. area, please come down and take in some of the mega talent this show has to offer. If you're not in the D.C. area, it's seriously worth thinking about hopping on a plane for :)

2. See #1. Artomatic is basically consuming my thought process right now!

3. It appears that we have officially skipped over spring here in Washington and moved straight to summer. The weather outside today should only have to be tolerated if you're sitting on a beach. Gross.

4. In looking at my calendar yesterday, I realized that every weekend in June is booked, as is much of July. When did my life get this crazy? (see #1 for the answer!)

5. Does anyone else feel like short weeks at work (like this week when we had Monday off for Memorial Day) go by so much slower than regular weeks? I think it is because you have more to do and fewer days to do it. Or because your mind is still in vacation mode.

Artomatic Opens Tomorrow!

So here's the 411:

Artomatic opens TOMORROW, Friday, May 29th at noon.

55 M Street, SE, Washington, D.C. 20003

Take Metro, you already know it's going to be easier than parking in D.C. Green line to the Navy Yard stop, go out the exit for the Nats ballpark

Hours throughout the whole show are:

Sunday, Wednesday, Thursday: Noon-10 pm

Friday and Saturday: Noon-1 am

Closed Monday and Tuesday

Admission is always FREE.

You can see where I am from the map below. Second floor, east side of the building, between the elevators and stairs, right down from the ladies room, second wall in. Swing by the lounge, grab a drink and enjoy all the talent throughout the building.

I will be there Friday night for the opening and possibly Saturday and Sunday. I hope to see many familiar faces there!

Building an Art Space

Artomatic opens this Friday! I am filled with excitement and a bit nervous too. Brad and I stopped by the space to put a few finishing touches on my wall last night and I am proud to say that it is done!!! It truly was a team effort between the both of us, I could not have gotten it done without him. So a big, big thank you to Brad :) It's amazing to see how it came together....

Five for Friday

1. I was supposed to have today off of work, but now I find myself sitting in the office trying to get out a press statement on a court case. No rest for those who work on the media team I suppose... :)

2. This week has been an amazing week at work. As you know, I work for the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, the advocacy affiliate of the American Cancer Society. While every day is rewarding, this week was rewarding times 500 million. On Tuesday, we flew 15 cancer survivors, some still in active treatment, and their caregivers into Washington, D.C. for two days. These are all people who have suffered severe financial hardships due to their cancer diagnosis, including having to file for bankruptcy and having hundreds of thousands of dollars in medical debt. One of the most inspiring stories for me personally was of Taylor, an 11 year old childhood leukemia survivor, who has reached her lifetime maximum on her parents insurance (the maximum amount your insurance will pay out over your entire life). This means she is going to struggle for the rest of her life to find adequate insurance and treat the side affects from her cancer treatments (like the double hip replacement she needs now in order to be able to properly walk again... too bad insurance won't pay for it). Yet, despite these set backs, she has the most amazing spirit and maturity and was an absolute joy to spend the afternoon with. Watch for her story, and the story of other patients, coming up in the next few weeks on the Today Show. Here's a picture of Taylor that a photographer from United Press International got at our press conference Wednesday afternoon... she's greeting Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro and that's her awesome mom Amy in the background taking a picture:

3. I have had the most random Bowling for Soup (yes, it's a band) song stuck in my head all day. I think it must be on my "commuting mix" on my ipod.

4. It's supposed to be beautiful here in D.C. this weekend. I'm looking forward to a long weekend of BBQ's, hanging out with the hubby and sleeping!

5. Artomatic begins one week from today on Friday, May 29th! I have a few more minor details to take care of and my wall will be done. It is going to be awesome!

Per Mark's request....

Florida vacation photos with sassy commentary :) (Captions are below the pictures)

Ahhhh yes, Friday night, post graduation party. This is a pretty cute photo, although my hair is doing something absolutely crazy.... just a massive amount of frizz going on.

Funny story about Friday night: after leaving our adult beverage establishment, a group of us went for a walk on the beach (along with half of the rest of Fort Lauderdale... apparently it's the "thing to do" there). Anyway, Mark had to use the rest room, so he popped into a CVS to ask to go. Those of us standing outside then saw him pull out his wallet, slam a pack of gum down on the counter and saunter off - clearly, they told him rest rooms were for customers only and made him buy something. Fast forward about 30 minutes, when nature came calling for me. I walked into CVS, smiled sweetly and asked the cashier if I could use the rest room. He handed me the key. Moral of the story: it pays to be a woman sometimes!

Mark and I "reflecting" at the beach. It really looks like we were having a much more deep, meaningful conversation than we were.

Growing up in Tampa, I have always been a sassy Gulf Coast girl. But you know what? The beach in Fort Lauderdale was gorgeous. The sand was soft, the waves were nice (HUGE the day we were there), it wasn't too crowded or touristy. Mark, you have made me an east coast girl - and yes, that's your heel in the lower right hand side :)

"Postcard" shot

Mark beaching and Men's Health-ing

view from lunch

Please excuse the minor male nudity, but there was no way I could leave the picture out. Only my good friend Mark gets ready to go out by brushing his teeth... with Dolce and Gabana sunglasses on :)

Fun night out in South Beach. We later found out that this bar has two locations: one in South Beach, one in DC at 14th and P - small world! That's Gail (Roy's friend who was in town from Gainesville), me and my sunburned right shoulder, Mark and Roy (Mark's friend from the gym)

P.S. my hair is not that big, although it was frizzy from the humidity... it's a shadow from the flash people!

1. I am excited to have this picture. This is the first decent picture (minus the one from my wedding) I have of Mark and I since the summer after our senior year of high school... and, yes, I realize that was nine years ago. Perhaps I can replace the one on my dresser from the last day of tenth grade with this one. Or not :) This picture makes me smile, it was such a great time!

2. Yes Dad, on my right leg is the corner of the Kenneth Cole purse you gave me for my birthday like 50 million years ago - it's my favorite going out bag!

3. A note about my shirt: I bought that shirt while killing time in Express, a store I never shop in, while Brad renewed his driver's license in the Springfield Mall DMV last December. I bought it, knowing it was going to be my "going out in South Beach" shirt, whenever it was that Mark and I were finally able to get a trip together. The Express bag hang off my closet door for months and last Saturday night, it finally made its appearance. And it was great :)

Best of Fort Lauderdale and Miami, Christina style

My favorite new places, based on my recent visit...

Best Gelato: The Gelato Station - freakin' AWESOME gelato, right around the corner from Mark's pad, right across the street from the chinese laundromat where they do Mark's laundry for $.99 per pound. I had super good chocolate peanut butter gelato, that rivaled the mocha flavor I had in Florence.

Best subs: Publix (duh!) - Is there even a competition?

Best dive-y beach bar with a view: Fat Tuesday - I am usually super anti-chain establishment when I'm on vacation. But the great open balcony at Fat Tuesday won my heart. It was so great to sit on a stool, sip a drink, chat and look out over the beach.

Best dive-y breakfast: The Floridian - Great, historic breakfast place we went to in a neat section of Fort Lauderdale. I had a great omelet, although the pancakes the size of your head I saw coming out of the kitchen looked pretty tempting as well!

Best lunch on the beach: Margarita Cantina (yes Mark, that is the real name) - Great atmosphere! We sat on the shaded patio next to a steel drum player, had some amazing crab and artichoke dip and a great blackened mahi sandwich.

Best beach to hang out on day and night: Fort Lauderdale beach - As I said in my last post, this beach really convinced me that nice beaches could be found on the east coast of Florida, something I seriously doubted the entire time I lived there. Great sand, not too touristy, good crowd. Can't complain!

Best brunch with a hilarious menu: Rosie's - We went to Rosie's for brunch on Sunday and had a fabulous time. Their bloody mary's were spicy and perfect. My frittata (a brunch staple for me) was really good as well. However, we have to go back because the french toast looked amazing!

Best South Beach pedestrian mall: Lincoln Road - We hung out on Lincoln Road Saturday night. Despite the fact that we didn't sit down to dinner until 11:15pm (!), the place was packed! Stores that were open had shoppers coming in and out, restaurants had waiting lists and there were lots of people out walking around, even with their kids and dogs. I would like to go back during the day, as it seemed like a great place to shop and hang out.

Best non-sushi food at a sushi restaurant: chicken teriyaki at Sushi Siam - sushi makes me go *ack* so I was relieved to get a plate heaped full of teriyaki chicken and a nice serving of vegetables and rice. If I went back, I'd probably try the thai as well.

Best pedis (aka "I just got married last week, so I guess he's my, eww, husband? Oh, and I'm a runner"): Venetian Nails - Despite the drama queen sitting next to me, Mark and I both got lovely pedicures at this place. They did a great job with my polish and didn't cut my toe nails too short, both important criteria to me for a good pedi. The customer next to me was just too much, but she made for some fun banter back and forth between Mark and me. And the prices couldn't be beat - $25 for a pedi? HELLO!

Best store for fabulous pink paisley bathing suits: Express at the Aventura Mall - I had to throw this in there because even the sales associates were shocked that anyone bought the swim trunks Mark did. But he will be pulling them off fabulously on his cruise!