Orchids

A few weeks ago I was at the National Museum of History (blog post here) and I noticed a sign for the upcoming 20th Annual Orchids Exhibition is on display at the National Museum of Natural History. This year's exhibition is named "Orchids: Interlocking Science and Beauty." I popped back into the museum when I was in DC this week to take a look at all the beautiful orchids. I am a sucker for orchids and loved this exhibition. There is a variety of orchids of all different colors at the exhibition. I particularly enjoyed learning about the variety of hybrid orchids.

The exhibition runs until April 26, 2015 at the Natural History museum - be sure to visit!

D.C. Nights

Top: The Limited | Jacket: Express | Jeans: Express | Scarf: Vela | Boots: Sam Edelman | 

Necklace: BaubleBar | Bag: Phillip Lim for Target (old) | Watch: Michael Kors | 

Bracelet: Alex & Ani | Ring: BCBG | Lips: MAC Ruby Woo & Stila Beso

It has been on my bucket list to visit Lincoln Memorial, Washington Monument, and National WWII Memorial at night time. I have heard from numerous people that visiting these monuments at night is completely different then visiting during the day. All the rumors were true! On Halloween night my bestie twin and I grabbed some tea & chai-cider from Baked & Wired and then headed on to the monuments. I must say I love the monuments at night - more than daytime! I was very excited to go to the Lincoln Memorial because I hadn't been there in about 12 years. I constantly drive by it but never actually climbed the steps since moving to the DMV area. My bestie twin is also an amazing photographer and she snapped all these amazing images - she puts my camera skills to shame. It was such a lovely walk and I wished I lived closer so that I could go on this walk at least once a week! 

p.s. Make sure to enter the Jamberry Nails Giveaway here. 
Giveaway runs until Thursday November 6 11:59 p.m. ET. Winner will be announced on Monday November 10.

DC Chillin

Shirt: The Limited | Blouse: The Limited | Jeans: Express | Jacket: Piperlime | Scarf: Haute Hijab | Bag: Rebecca Minkoff | Shoes: TOMS

The Washington Monument has reopened and it has been on my list of things to (re)visit. The last time I was inside the monument I was 11! Which is crazy because I drive pass the Monument on a weekly basis! My friend Z reserved tickets ahead of time for us and we got to skip waiting in line at the ticket office. After some running - we made our reservation time slot - and got to go to the top of the Monument. It was s bit cloudy that day but the view didn't disappoint. After the Monument we rented some bikes and biked around the National Mall which was lots of fun! 

Baltimore - Power Plant Holiday Light Show Spectacular

Baltimore Waterfront has a ton of events going on for the holidays!

Last night my family and I went to the The Power Plant Holiday Light Show Spectacular before heading to dinner. As described on the waterfront event website the light show is a display of synchronized lights, brilliant lasers, and state-of-the-art video mapping projections, all choreographed to music and set to the backdrop of the iconic Inner Harbor landmark, The Power Plant. 

Check out the short video I created from the show last night;

There are only two days left to catch this spectacular show! If you are in the area check it out on 12/30: 6, 7, 8 p.m. and on 12/31: 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 p.m. at the Baltimore inner harbor waterfront! The show is about 8 minutes long and it is completely free!! Happy Holidays!

ICE! at Gaylord National

The Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center has an amazing ice sculpture show during the holidays at the National Harbor. Last week I had the chance to check out ICE! at Gaylord National.

ICE! at Gaylord Hotels goes on until January 5, 2014. I went on a Thursday afternoon and it was not busy at all! There were only a couple people there and not many kids around. Therefore I was able to get a chance to roam around freely and take a bunch of pictures and not deal with big crowds! Get tickets and check it out before the busy holiday season!

Once you enter the line you are given a Parka to stay warm indoors. Apparently it is 9 degrees in the ICE tent! Before you enter the tent professional photographers take your picture that you can purchase at the end of the exhibit.

The sculptures are huge! The ice is colored and some are even lit up. It was freezing cold in there! I'm from MI and it was rather cold for me. Definitely bring gloves and a scarf because just having the parka on is not enough. My hands were ice cold near the end! Check some photos from the exhibit below;

They had a Christmas in NY exhibit this year and it was spectacular! There were sculptures of Statue of Liberty, Empire State Building, 30 Rock, Guggenheim Museum, Brooklyn Bridge, and even a red apple to represent the Big Apple. They also had a NYC taxi that you could pop into and take pictures! Very cool!

Afterward I went to the Gaylord Hotel to get some hot chocolate to warm up! At dusk inside they have a light and water fountain show. We stayed to watch that and took some pictures indoor.

It was definitely a festive experience and worth checking out. Ticket prices are a between $27-$34 for adults however my friend was savvy enough to find a Living Social deal and we went for only $15!

If you are in the area for the holidays definitely check it out!

Van Gogh Repetitions

I became a huge art history fan after taking Humanities class in high school. I had the most amazing art history teacher who got me hooked on everything and anything art related. Growing up Persian art was not a big subject discussed in our household - math & science were the hot topics. Therefore now as an adult I jump at any opportunity to visit art museums. 

Now on view at The Phillips Collection in DC is the Van Gogh Repetitions exhibit from October 12, 2013 - January 26, 2014. The exhibition features 35 paintings and drawings focusing on Van Gogh's repetitions. Van Gogh was known for his practice of creating more than one version of a particular subject.  

On the first Thursday of the month The Phillips Collections hosts extended hours from 5-8:30pm also knows as Phillips After 5. Last Thursday the museum hosted Seeing Double in honor of the new Van Gogh exhibition. They night included music, food, talks, and even a scavenger hunt! Due to my competitive nature I clearly participated in the scavenger hunt...and won. Prizes included Van Gogh postcards or The Postman beard!

The collection was wonderful and I really enjoyed it the Phillips After 5 program. My favorites were The Bedroom at Arles, The Postman Joseph Roulin, and Madame Roulin Rocking the Cradle! 

Check out the exhibition if you are in the DC area!

Hillwood Estate, Museum and Garden

I discover many things on Pinterest and Instagram. I have no shame in admitting that. I managed to discover Hillwood Estate, Museum and Garden on Instagram. I convinced my sister that we should go check it out and she happily agreed. 

What is Hillwood Estate? As stated on the website of the estate; Marjorie Merriweather Post (founder of Post Cereal Company) bought Hillwood in 1955. Her estate has the most comprehensive collection of Russian imperial art outside of Russia, a distinguished 18th-century French decorative art collection, and twenty-five acres of serene landscaped gardens.

The estate is open Tuesdays-Saturdays from 10am-5pm and on select Sundays. There is a suggested ticket fee - which means they have set recommended prices - however you can pay however much you can afford. 

An interesting fact about Marjorie is that when she passed away one of her requests was that every day there be fresh flowers in each room of her estate. When you visit Hillwood you notice that in every room there are flower arrangements in each and every room. The flowers are picked from her cutting garden and greenhouse. 

Have you head of the Fabergé eggs? Well Miss Marjorie has two on display at her estate. 

In addition to the vast art collection the estate has beautiful gardens. There is a beautiful rose garden, french parterre, putting green, Japanese style garden, greenhouse, and cutting garden.

French Parterre

  Japanese Style Garden

Cutting Garden

Greenhouse

It took a good 2-2.5 hours to explore the estate. We opted for the self guided tour instead of professional tour or audio tour at no additional charge. 

Hillwood is a great place to explore if you are local to DC or visiting from out of town. It is different from all the Smithsonian museums and DC tourist hot spots.