cute stuff from dc

here is a quick look at some cute things i bought while in dc. all of these were purchased while running around with city girl.

vision board a la staycation

i decided to post the vision board that i made during my summer solstice staycation w/ kimberly wilson. the idea was given to me by sarah over at the analyst. thanks for the idea sarah.

my vision board was focused on "zen & beauty."

those glossies really make for some major glare, :(
photos by moi

summer solstice staycation

all of you that read kimberly wilson's & city girl's blog know that i attended the summer solstice staycation in dc. i had the most awesome time!!

i've been blogger buddies with the darling city girl for several months now but this was the first time we got to meet in person. we had a fabulous time. i visited a few of the places that she has blogged about such as sweet green (which i had visited before but always a treat to return), hana the japanese grocery store and the wonderful biagio fine chocolates.

this was the third time i had met the ever lovely kimberly. the first time i drove 3 hours to a get your yoga on workshop with her in leesburg, va and the second time was when i was in dc for the cherry blossom festival and went to tranquilspace to take a yoga class.

the 6-hour staycation was a combination of journal writing, yoga, making a vision board, and a presentation by a hilary wentz, a holistic health counselor. hilary also prepared us a wonderful vegetarian lunch with tea sandwiches, fruits, veggies, lots of tea, dark chocolate and cheese.

photo credit: kimberly wilson

photo credit: city girl

i took my camera with me, however i left the battery at home. i know, major bummer since i'm such a shutterbug. to see more of the pics from retreat please visit kimberly's and citygirl's blogs. so, i had city girl to take some pics for me & used her camera a couple of times to take a few pics while in the meridian hill park.
photos of park by moi using city girl's camera

salty oatmeal cookies & much gratitude

i wanted to give a HUGE shout out to jennifer over at pink heels. her latest post is all about teaism's salty oatmeal cookies (and the recipe!!) so, get yourself to her blog and check it out!!!

i first heard about teaism from fellow blogger city girl's post here. being a tea girl (who does like coffee from time to time) i knew i had to check this out. i fell in love when i was in dc during the cherry blossom festival. the next time i go back to dc, teaism is definitely on my to do list.

thank you again jennifer & city girl for introducing me & sharing teaism and their beloved salty oatmeal cookies!! you girls rock!!

finally, the post you've all been waiting for... our dc trip

i want to apologize that this post is so far behind. as you know from my previous post i've had a rough time recently. i have been keeping in good spirits but i'm now ready to get back into the full swing of things. i wanted to thank you all for your words of encouragement during this rough time. you all kept me smiling even when i was feeling down. thank you!!

ok, so now, what you've all been waiting for......

our trip to dc was fantastic (besides my poor boyfriend being sick as a dog on sunday and not getting to enjoy anything. luckily i didn't get sick until after we got back home). we had originally planned to go spend friday night with ryan's dad (who lives in the eastern panhandle of west virginia) and then go onto dc saturday morning. we found out that he already had plans and wouldn't be home. while dc is only about 3 hours away, i'd prefer to start my morning out there instead of driving 3 hours and then starting out the day. i booked a room at the wyndam garden hotel in gaithersburg, md and we spent friday night there. first thing saturday morning, we hopped on the metro at shady grove and rode it into dc. we were able to leave the car at the metro parking for free on the weekends.

we arrived at the dupont hotel before check in so we checked our luggage and headed down to the sakura matsuri japanese street festival.




from the festival we headed towards the tidal basin by way of the washington monument. along the way, we ran into a patch of cherry trees that were absolutely gorgeous. there were lots of people under and around the trees have a great time.




from the tidal basin, we walked over to the arthur m. sackler gallery specifically to see the exhibit the tale of shuten doji. we had a fun time playing around with the big mirror that was in the lobby of the museum as well. we rested a bit by the gardens of the smithsonian castle before heading back to the festival for some food.




just before we got our food, we ran into some impromptu entertainment. this is something i miss when i'm away from cities. it appeared that dad and his two kids were entertaining the crowds just as much as the festival with their drumming. the acoustics where they were at made it even more amazing.


after getting just enough food to tide us over a bit, we headed back to the hotel to officially check in. um, by the way, if you've never stayed in the dupont hotel and are going to dc, i highly recommend it!! the location is perfect and the heated floor in the bathroom is enough to keep me going back!

my sweet blogger buddy over at city girl lifestyle wrote about teaism in here blog here. being a lover of all things tea, i knew i had to check it out. i was definitely not disappointed! they had amazing food and amazing tea and the most amazing salty oatmeal cookie that i have ever put in my mouth! (yes, a bunch of amazings and all worth it). (if i would have been in dc longer, i would have tried every one of city girl's recommendations - thank you again).

after dinner and tea at teasim, we headed to one of my favorite spots in dc, kramerbooks & afterwords cafe. i am such a sucker for bookstores. (in fact, i used to work at one when i lived in virgina beach, va). i picked up a copy of french milk which i enjoyed very much. before heading back to the hotel, we noticed a store called sweet green across the street from kramerbooks. i wasn't quite sure what it was so we decided to head over and check it out. if you haven't been there, check it out, i recommend it highly. they have an amazing selection of salads to choose from and the most fantastic frozen yogurt! we got a large yogurt with mango, blueberries, and raspberries and shared it.

sunday morning i woke up excited because i was going to tranquil space to take a yoga class before we left for home. my boyfriend didn't wake up to such excitement as i did. the poor dear spent sunday in misery from a stomach virus. he went with me to afterwords cafe for brunch. any other day he would have loved it but, he was feeling so horrible that he went back to the hotel. he stayed at the hotel while i headed to tranquil space. when i walk in, my face just lit up because kimberly wilson was there. it was so good to see her again. i also got to meet her beau, tim and her beloved pug, louis. since i had only met her once before, i was honored that she remembered me and my name. (melita isn't exactly an easy name to remember for most). i was also honored that she let me be her guest so that i didn't have to pay for the yoga class i attended. she's such a sweet heart! i simply adore her!! the level 1 yoga class i attended was amazing. after yoga, i browsed around her boutique. i ended up with a tranquil space yoga t-shirt and a tranquilit men's t-shirt for my boyfriend. (i have so many pieces of the tranquilit line that i just had to share with ryan so he could experience it for himself - he was thrilled to get it and loves it).

after yoga, i decided as much as i'd love to stay and play some more in dc, it wasn't fair to ryan who wasn't feeling well. on my way back to the hotel, i ran across this tree branch (maybe vine??) that i just thought was very interesting. i just had to take a picture of it. look at the way it is intertwined with the iron fence. the place looked abandoned, but i'd live there (after it was fixed up a bit that is).


photos by moi

transformer hooter??!!

knowing my love of owls, my boyfriend sent me a video this morning that is absolutely hilarious!! japanese tv is great!!

to be amazed or for a laugh, check this out!

we are headed to dc for the cherry blossom festival tomorrow. i'll give you all the scoop when we return. until then, have a great weekend all.