Everything is blooming right now as DC transitions from the grey, barren winter to it's lush summer.  Spring around here is beautiful.  We got brave and joined the masses on the mall so that Elodie could experience her first Cherry Blossom Festival.

Her dad really knows how to make her smile.

The festival was packed and the metro was crazy.  Elle loved her first metro ride, flirting and smiling with everyone that looked at her.  We didn't end up staying too long, but got a few pictures to prove she was there :)

Meanwhile, the trees in our neighborhood are out of control beautiful.  One neighbor's dogwoods are just gorgeous, so we make sure to go past them on our evening walks.

It's hard to believe that Elle will already be 5 months old this week.   She's getting bigger every day!

it's cherry blossom time! 
the national cherry blossom festival has been going on for the last two weekends, but the blooms weren't really happening until late last week.  with the freezing cold front moving in today, i'd say they barely got a good week of blooms in there, poor trees!

nevertheless, the festival has brought in lots of tourists and we've ventured out a few times ourselves to get a look at all that's happening.

last weekend we went to the southwest waterfront festivities.  there were market stalls, food trucks, the fish market, and fireworks!

there have also been a couple of days that i've walked down to the mall from the office to check out the flowers closer to the lincoln memorial.  one evening i walked down with a high school best friend who was in town visiting!

snow is falling outside of my window again this morning.  is winter ever going to end? with february almost over and march quickly approaching, i think it's safe to assume that most people are daydreaming of a warm, tropical beach somewhere.

in the midst of the snow, polar vortex temperatures, and dark, windy days, i found a reprieve that transported me, at least for a little bit, to the warm, sunny tropics i've been dreaming of.  and i wanted to share it with any other dc peeps out there needing a break from the cold.

the butterfly pavilion.

since my office happens to be a block from my favorite dc museum, the museum of natural history, i frequently use lunch breaks to walk through a new exhibit or wander around the hall of oceans.  one tuesday (the day it's free), i finally made it upstairs to the butterfly pavilion and loved it.

the first few minutes, there were excited kids oooing and ahhing over the hundreds of colorful butterflies flying around and landing on heads, arms, and cameras.  but all of the kids and their parents got bored pretty quickly and left me alone with an older couple and a guy taking pictures for the rest of our 30 minute session. 

the pavilion is peaceful, quiet, and humid.  and it's easy to get up close to study each butterfly.

the best part is that it's bright and warm.  you forget where you are and it's the perfect mini escape from winter.  even if only for half an hour.

life lately has consisted of many indoor activities.  almost everyone i know is so over this cold weather that doesn't seem to have an end in sight.  how do we entertain ourselves?

indoor activity #1: doggie photo shoot

 ^^bella doesn't allow me to put her in costume^^

indoor activity #2: music!  we got a piano and can't stop playing it.  all day and all night.

 ^^wtf, mom^^

indoor activity #3: get out of the house and do something!  we saw violet at ford's theatre over the weekend.  the play was a lot of fun, it's a cool space, and we both recommend checking the theatre out.

come on spring, get here soon.  you can do it.

we celebrated halloween last weekend with friends by going out for nightmare on m street, which was basically just us going out in dupont dressed up.  we met up before hand at elena's to finish getting ready and to get into the spiriting spirit.  hot spiced cider with applejack brandy was a-flowing.

i did sugar skull makeup and, though it took a while to get it on my face, it was a really fun costume to create.  i maybe should have used more colors, it kind of looks like a prettier version of my zombie makeup last halloween.

doing something to commemorate dia de los muertos made me feel like i was home in texas, but oddly not many people had any idea what my costume was.  still, i got a lot of compliments.

 eric was a handsome lumberjack.  i'm trying to get him to keep that beard growing so i can take a pic to submit to the beard collective.

the girls were the girls from clueless (except me and allie).  i think they look great!

while we were getting ready, eric made this lovely, obviously unofficial, commercial for simpler times, a cheap but yummy trader joe's beer.

 ^^allie, chris, and a blind ref?^^

we saw some pretty creative costumes throughout the night.  i was really impressed.  every once in a while i was able to stop someone for a pic.  some favorites below :)

^^these two were the best.  that girl was freaking us all out!^^