Sorry for the delay...

There has been quite a delay in posts here... but for good reason! T.J. and I undertook a huge flooring project that involved ripping up carpet, taking down doors, painting lots and lots of trim, and laying new floor. It is still in progress so I'm not quite ready to share. In the meantime we also took a trip abroad to London! It is a dirty crowded city, but also had some pretty cool architecture and lots of great chandeliers (kind of like DC, which I shared here). While we didn't see many, the gardens were definitely a treat and something we don't have enough of in the US. I would argue that Charleston SC is just as beautiful though.

Tower Bridge

Victoria at Kensington Palace and below: Kensington Palace gardens

 

Buckingham Palace gates

Big Ben (they even have crowns on the top of their fences)

One of the coolest things we did was visit the V&A Museum and see the fashion exhibit - 

they had clothes dating back to the 1700's. 

At the Victoria & Albert Museum 

1950s - Notice the adorable black and white polka dot one in the middle!

Check out the funny knob right in the middle of the door on the picture below on the right. We saw those all over the place! They made the doors look like faces.

 It was quite the trip and I think we both have the travel bug now... who knows what we will see next.

Historical Art

On my recent trip to DC I visited the National Archives.

The National Archives is where important documents like the Constitution, Bill of Rights, and the Declaration of Independence are kept. They also have a shop of course - and this shop had really cool reprints of old government advertisements, something like public service announcements but in print. In my opinion, the coolest ones were about food. Farming, healthy eating, etc. I looked for one that I liked + would match my kitchen.

This one is from the 1940's. Notice there are 3 categories for fruits and veggies. I love that at the bottom it says "in addition to the basic 7 (food groups)... eat any other food you want." Yikes! Oh how things have changed.

I think it looks good in my kitchen and draws out the green accents and yellow wall it is next to.

Chandeliers of DC

I recently spent two and half weeks in Washington, DC. They don't mess around with their chandeliers in that city. They were breathtaking and I must have taken a million photos of them. I used to think the chandelier in my kitchen was big... I was wrong. See the highlights and what building they were in below:

First up: Chandeliers of the Capitol

This chandelier is in one of Speaker Boehner's conference rooms.

Another conference room in the Capitol - this room is for one of the committees.
These two win "most beautiful."

Chandelier in the original Senate

Next: Chandelier in the Mayflower Hotel

And: Chandelier in a meeting room at the Supreme Court

Notice the star shaped crystals on this one

 Next: Chandeliers in the State Department Reception Rooms

This Reception Room was set up for a diplomatic dinner.

Chandeliers in the National Gallery of Art

So this one isn't a chandelier -
but it hangs from the ceiling and it was pretty impressive!

And Finally: Chandeliers in DC Restaurants

Pizza Pi and Beer Chandeliers

Chart House bubble chandeliers in Old Town Alexandria, VA