de Young

Before the holidays started, I bought myself a joint membership to the de Young and SFMOMA. I finally got to use it and I took Cole along as my guest. He had never been to the de Young, so I was pleased to be his docent. They have a Keith Harding exhibit running until February 16th and we both really enjoyed it.

Cole gets cultured.

I started taking photos of people taking pictures of the art

JUST LOOK AT IT! STOP!

My favorite area is the American Decorative Art gallery

xoxo,
Melissa

Favorite Apps

Thanks to this Mashable article, I spent a good hour organizing my iPad and iPhone (can you tell I love organizing and cleaning?). It made me question which apps were still useful and which ones had earned the right to be on my first page. So here are my favorite ones!

Candy Crush - I really held out getting this, but once I got hooked on it I really appreciated it for giving me something to do while I'm waiting for/on the bus or just with nothing to do. Kidding! I totally use it even when I should be doing something else.

Fit Brains - I play this once a day and instantly feel wicked smart. You can track your performance and even see how you compare to other players.

NextBus - San Francisco's muni is notorious for not having a reliable schedule. This app actually tracks the buses using its GPS and has been a time saver.

Lyft - For when something has happened with muni. 

sleepti.me - This isn't an app, but I keep it on my home screen. It calculates when you should go to bed and wake up using sleep cycles. I've had a history of insomnia, so anything that helps and allows me to feel well rested naturally is deserving of my praise.

Relax Melodies - Another sleep aid that helps, especially if the city is a bit louder than usual. You can keep it simple with just one sound, or combine some for your own personal lullaby.

Drybar - I'm not a fan of doing my own hair. I lack the skill and the patience, so when Drybar opened up in my neighborhood, I broke down their door. Having this at my fingertips allows me to book a blowout for a last minute audition in a few clicks.

Munchery - Cole loves this one more than me. Don't have time to cook or just don't feel like it? Local chefs come up with a different dish each day for you to order and have delivered to you. The brilliant thing is that you can order soup, salad, entree, and a dessert each from a different chef. Cole wants Thai food and I want Italian? No need to stress, Munchery's got this.

xoxo

Melissa

Cleanse

January is the month of cleansing to me. It's when I start going through EVERYTHING and either discard it or donate in the hopes that I can downsize and live simpler each new year. Usually I have the same crackpot idea about cleaning enough stuff out of our storage room that it can be turned into a tiny art studio. I swear that room is like something out of Mary Poppins. I keep finding STUFF in there and I can't even recall how it came to be. 

This month I cleaned and re-organized our bookshelf. The poor thing was bending at the ends and quite a few of the books were ones from college. None of them were conversations starters, "Wow, you guys have History of Theater and Writing Styles? You are so cultured and educated"; no one cares. So we came away with two bags worth of books to sell to a local bookstore. Anything that doesn't get sold will be donated to the Friends of the Public Library. 

Cole, when he saw what I had started.

I managed to find three tennis racquet's in the storage c̶a̶v̶e̶ room "Oh, I didn't know you played tennis Melissa", I DON'T! So those are out along with the jump rope and exersize ball that I convinced myself I needed and then never inflated. I'm the worst.

In the end I've made two trips to Goodwill and I'll be heading to the bookstore and clothing exchange this week. I'm still not close to getting my art studio but I'm slooooooooowly getting there.

How I feel

xoxo,

Melissa

Mount Vernon

Mount Vernon was recommended to me by a friend of mine who spent quite a few years living in D.C. It's a gorgeous property, and I was told that they host wine tasting events in the Spring/Summer out on the lawn. I know what I'm doing this summer!

Aladdin was brought in for the Holidays.

A discreet outhouse

George Washington's dentures! They were actually made of lead, cow and human teeth. Not wood.

 After Mount Vernon, we went to Old Town Alexandria for some dinner and drinks. It's such a cute place and I would love to check it out during the day.

One last shot.


xoxo,
Melissa

National Museum of National History

Cole and I snuck into D.C for a day while we were in Virginia. We took the train in and bounced around to the museums that didn't make it on our itinerary last time(s). I really wanted to see the National Archives Building, so we trotted over there first to see the Charters of Freedom (Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights). I was in for a treat when we discovered that their special exhibit was on handwritten letters from various dignitaries, Presidents, and even the likes of Johnny Cash and Frank Sinatra! There are no photos allowed in the National Archives Building (the flash can deteriorate the paper and fabrics at a rapid rate) so you'll have to see it for yourselves! It's quite awe inspiring and I did leave feeling a little more patriotic than usual.

After a quick lunch we made a detour to the National Museum of National History. It was closing earlier than the National Portrait Gallery, so off we went to see some dinosaur bones!

I just enjoyed how many Canadian flags were around the building.

Face to Face with his greatest fear. We can't go camping because of it.

Drinks at the W hotel with Obama in the background...way background.

As you can see, there weren't a whole lot of dino bones to take pictures of (we were also running around like maniacs because it was closing in 30min). We discovered during our mad dash, that they are renovating and expanding the dinosaur exhibit, so only a few were out while the rest are in storage awaiting the big reveal in 2019. Yes, 2019. We never made it to the National Portrait Gallery, but we've added it to our list as well as Newseum for our next trip.

xoxo,

Melissa

Ringing in the New Year

Cole's family flew us out to Virginia for the celebration of the New Year. This wonderfully thoughtful and generous gift came at the perfect time. We were both pretty bummed out that we would be missing my best bud's wedding because of the location and ticket prices, so instead of making raw cookie dough for one* and watching reruns of Murder, She Wrote*, we had an adventure!

*Note: Both of those things are delightful and I would gladly do them any day of the week, but in this case I would have been sad, and it's hard to appreciate how tremendous Jessica Fletcher is with tears in your eyes.

Stockings still hung by the fire with care.

We stopped for cocktails before our dinner party, and it was so festive!

Right before I ate 5lbs of lobster and put everyone to shame.

Happy New Year!
xoxo,
Melissa