DC { Recap }

The five days we spent in DC, Virginia and Maryland were so much fun. Despite the dreary, dark, rainy weather, we still had such a great time. Wednesday and Thursday night were spent with the Fitch's in Great Falls, VA - Friday and Saturday were spent with the Reynold's at their new home in Arlington. Here is a list of the sites we accomplished - we had so much more on our "to do" list, but with the crummy weather weren't able to do everything we had hoped (i.e. wine tasting in Virginia - planned by Stacie and Carrie).

☂ Downtown Baltimore

☂ Annapolis, Maryland - home of the US Naval Academy

☂ Smithsonian Museum of Natural History

☂ Smithsonian Air and Space Museum

☂ Smithsonian Museum of American History

☂ National Air and Space Museum - Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center (definitely the highlight of Steve's trip - all plane photos below taken here)

☂ International Spy Museum

☂ Happy Hour at the Australian Embassy

☂ Birthday-Eve drinks at the Reynolds local Pub - Bungalow Billiards & Brew

☂ Birthday dinner at Filomena's in Georgetown


Capitol Building


Abe Lincoln


Photo taken at the Lincoln Memorial with the Washington Monument in the background


Lincoln Memorial and the reflecting pool


Washington Monument


The next piece of jewelry I'd like to add to my collection


The same plane that Steve's grandfather flew in WWII


Blackbird jet - Interesting Fact: In 1990 this jet flew from LA to DC in 1 hour and 4 minutes! I could get used to that sort of cross-country travel


The B-29 Enola Gay - dropped the Atomic Bomb


Mrs. R, Mrs. R and Mrs. M


Appetizers and beers at Gordon Biersch after the Spy Museum - probably should have reapplied lip gloss as I'm looking a tad pale


An attempt at a fun shoot to show off Carrie's Hunter boots...in the parking garage. Definitely fun and a great laugh, but her jeans were SOAKED after the 30 photos that were taken in this sequence


Just the perfect drink to get the birthday night celebrations going


Birthday dinner at Filomena's Ristorante in Georgetown - hands down best Italian food I've ever had!


Mr & Mrs R at Filomenas


Kev and Stacie


Cousins - Steve will forever be the tallest in ALL family photos


Baby Cousin Paul during breakfast. Also, the first photo taken with my new lens!! Thank you to my wonderful husband for buying my dream lens the Nikon 85mm for my birthday!

A Huge Thank You to Matt, Lisa, Carrie, Erik, Stacie, Kevin, Ben and McCarthy for celebrating with me and another huge thank you to all of you that called, texted and sent me birthday wishes - I feel very loved and thankful for all of you! Thank you for helping to make my 30th Birthday more perfect than I ever could have imagined.

Celebrating My 30th { Patriotic Style }

Tonight, Steve and I are headed back east for a five day visit to our nationals capitol and I can hardly wait!

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I haven't been to DC in about 12 years, but now with friends and family living there - we really have no excuse to not visit.

Cousin Matt, Cousin Lisa and baby Paul

Mr. and Mrs. Reynolds - loving their German attire at Oktoberfest

The reactions I've received when I've told people that we're going to DC to celebrate my 30th birthday have been quite funny - they seem to think it's an odd place to for a birthday - not to me - I'd rather check out the museums, monuments, take photos, etc than party in Vegas...apparently I'm a tad different. Plus the East Coast in the fall is one of the most beautiful places in the country.

Added Bonus -- Stacie and Kevin are flying in, on Friday, from Boston to spend the weekend with us!

Can.Not.Wait to celebrate the start of a new decade { ack...that sounds old } of life. I've been wondering this past week - where has the time gone? How am I eleven years out of my teens? I'm now closer to 40 than 20. To be honest, I'm embracing 30 and looking forward to a fabulous year!