These Little Piggies Went to Market

   Mid-August is my new favorite time of year, especially in Virginia.  I might not like the ridiculous temperatures and the off-the-charts humidity, but the food is absolutely heavenly. 

 

   Last Saturday, we all went to Eastern Market for a special trip to the farmer's market.  Last summer I often shopped for produce at markets,  but we haven't been able to this summer.  We considered this our special treat, and our trip happened to fall on National Farmer's Market Week, too.

 

    Overall, Eastern Market is my favorite outdoor market in Metro DC.  It's right up Constitution Avenue from the Capitol Building in a historic red-brick building where they have a huge deli, a flower shop and a restaurant.  On Saturdays and Sundays they have an outdoor flea market and farmer's market. 

   I was somewhat disappointed that the flea market didn't have many resale vendors with used home goods or clothing, and the ones that do won't negotiate prices.  There are many artists there I would love to support if I had money to spend on novelties and artwork.  The deli and the farm stands are really where this market shines, and where you can find the most variety.

  

  Many of my favorite foods were in season like berries, peppers and peaches.  I honestly can't pick favorites when it comes to fresh, organic produce.  

 

 

And, oh, the tomatoes!  Cherry tomatoes, chocolate tomatoes, beefsteak tomatoes, grape tomatoes and heirloom tomatoes of every color, shape and size; I was sad I could only pick three kinds.  

   Little's favorites were the blackberries, which were like juice-bombs, and my home-grown grape tomatoes.

Cherry Blossoms (or Lessons in Child Photography)

Spring is in the air!  The trees are blooming and the bulbs are budding.  Last week was the end of the Cherry Blossom Festival in DC.  After WWII, the Japanese gave cherry trees to the US as a sign of friendship and now we throw a festival every year to celebrate.  The entire mall and its Metro stations were packed with people.  Little and I sat under the trees by the monument and had a picnic while we watched tourists and families play and take pictures.  A huge group of Asian people came and talked to Little and took pictures of her while I acted as baby-prop. 
Later we met David at St. Thomas Parish where he was studying.  We stopped by Filter for coffee, then went home and slept for the rest of the day.  It's no wonder why Sunday is my favorite day.

Just a Typical Day: Family Field Trip

David is currently studying church parks in DC, so every Sunday we will be going to a new church garden.  David will creep out the park goers by walking around taking notes in a notebook while Nora and I smell the roses and play in the grass.  Last week we visited the National Cathedral.  We spent all afternoon in the garden and took a brief tour of the cathedral.  It was so beautiful.  I can't wait to go back!

Since We've Been Gone

So, I was away from the blog world a little longer than I intended, but now I'm back and ready do dive back into writing!  I'm sure you're all over the Chtistmas/New Year posts, so I won't bore you with the details.  I know what you're really here for anyway, and it's not to read about my life.  You're really here to see the Little.  So here's what we did while we were away from Wiggle Wagon:

We visited Santa and the elves with our cousins.

Little learned how to sit so we could give her her first real bath.  Her favorite part about baths: making squeaky noises with her feet.

 

Grandpa had his traditional Christmas nap during present-opening.

 

Little opened her first presents

Cutest play-suit EVER from Miskabelly Vintage!

Little fought off all of the cousins to sit on Grandma's lap.

 

We visited Great-Grandma and Great Aunt Brenda in Ohio.

 

We mined for babies at the Natural History Museum.

 

We ate Krispy Kremes on the way to Mount Vernon.

 

Little sampled the wildlife at the Arboretum.

 

She tried on Mommy's gypsy hat.

 

And helped Mommy with the laundry.

Now you can continue with your life as usual.

To Market, To Market

I haven't had too much motivation to write this week.  I've been on a roller-coaster of emotions, mostly because of the Little's reflux.  She goes from screaming to giggling and back again every two hours, I could almost do a countdown to when it happens.
Despite the fussing, we've still been able to get out and have fun together.  Last week Little made her first trip to the art museum!  We went to the National Gallery of Art.  I was surprised she stayed so quiet, and she even spent a good deal of time facing out and looking around.  She didn't really care much about the pictures, though. 

Eventually, I did have to feed her so we spent the rest of the day walking.  And walking.  And walking. 

We stopped by the Sculpture Garden (call me biased, but I think the Walker's is WAY better.)  We dipped our toes in the fountain for a while before making the long trip down the Mall to see the Capitol. 

We watched the wildlife for a while...

Then we finally arrived!

I have to admit, I love my country, but I'm not crazy patriotic.  Especially when it comes to looking at big stuff.  But standing in the shadow of our capitol building made me a little foggy eyed, and grateful to live in one of the most blessed and free countries in the world.

This weekend I planned to be very productive and see lots of cool stuff in DC.  It ended up not being as productive as I had hoped, but I did learn a few things.  I went to U street on Friday and stopped by Busboys and Poets.  It was a really cool restaurant.  If you get a chance, you should check out their website and read their mission statement.  I was impressed, and continue to be as I follow them on Twitter and see all the events that they host.  Their mission is similar to the one that I have in mind for my coffee shop.
Saturday I checked out the Eastern Market, but was a little disappointed that they didn't have much for antiques or hand-made products.  They did have  some cool produce vendors and I was particularly intrigued by the heirloom pumpkins I saw.  I might have to go back next week just to pick one up. 

Click to see photographer's website

Sunday I went to Friends in the Market, which was more like a real flea market.  Think, a parking lot full of unsorted cardboard fruit crates.  Unfortunately, it was in a neighborhood I didn't want to come back to, especially alone, so I found the fastest route out of there and looked for a coffee shop.

I finally found Big Bear Cafe.  It was amazing!  They served Counter Culture coffee and made me a cappuccino to die for.  It was more the college student/anarchist crowd than the young mothers and babies crowd.  So, despite the heat, I sat outside where Little could cry and poop as loud as she wanted.   And she took full advantage of the opportunity.  She turned a few heads, but not for the usual reasons.

David is in the midst of mid-terms right now, so we don't see him very much.  Once those are over, he promised to spend lots of special time with us, which I'm looking forward to this weekend.  I don't mind wandering around aimlessly when he's around.

Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Funday

What a better day than Wednesday to write about your weekend?  Haha.  I admit I'm a little slow on the draw this week.  There's really no excuse for it either.

Anyway, I did have a great weekend.  Saturday I went to a blogger meet-up in DC, hosted by Emily.  We met at Sweetgreen, which was a cool salad restaurant where you could make your own salads with a huge selection of veggies and toppings.  I met tons of people a had a lot of fun talking to them.  I was the only mommy blogger there, but everyone loved the Little and loved how social she was.
 Afterwords, we went to Tryst Coffee Lounge.

 

I loved this place!  It was set up more like a pub than a traditional coffee shop, which I thought was way more fun.

They had a good menu with a lot of different options depending on your diet.  I had bruschetta with roasted tomatoes and a cappuccino. 

The coffee was sooo good.  The espresso was mellow and sweet and the milk was a smooth, creamy and finely frothed.  Plus, it came with animal crackers, how fun!

Sunday, we meant to check out a church, but missed our bus and then got lost looking for a different church.  It was a cool windy day, so we were all bundled up.  The Little looked so cute in her hood,  I had to take a hundred pictures of her.

 

 

 

After wandering all over Alexandria and accomplishing nothing for four hours, we picked up some groceries at Trader Joe's and went home to veg for the rest of the night.  David has been so busy with school that I only get to see him about an hour a day, so it was really nice to hang out and watch Hulu together all night.

Monday I found out that I can finally wear pants again,  Hooray!!!  All my baby fat is gone, and in record time, thanks to not owning a car for the last month.  Being poor and restless is good for your body.  The only one I have to worry about now is losing a tooth with every baby...