kitchen curtains and a tour, while we're at it

 {before}

when my parents came to visit a few weeks ago the housewarming gift i asked for a sewing machine. since then, and in preparation for a sew sew darling class i signed up for with my friend renae, i've been experimenting with little projects - namely, these reusable cocktail napkins. last night i finished some simple curtains for the kitchen. since i had the forethought to take pictures of the apartment (i do share an office with a housing attorney after all), i figured i would share some before and after pics of the kitchen... bear in mind it's a work in progress (especially the wall art - suggestions are welcome :)

 {after}:

 my succulents i've managed to keep alive, in some vintage planters i've started collecting

 another yard sale find: an incomplete scrabble set we bought for $2 that i turned into magnets for us to write notes to each other

this & that... or, i love instagram

1. baked mac & cheese for the lsu/bama game (recipe here) 2. matching minnetonkas 3. new tradition: records on sundays 4. a new - seriously discounted - steven alan plaid 5. $25 mint condition panasonic record player - thank god for craigslist! 6. upcycled stoplights 7. blackened redfish tacos from juan's 8. kicking my butt at trivial pursuit - genius edition 9. dinner from pantry remnants 10. new missoni iphone cover... and yes, my shirt does have a new orleans roach on it

washington, d.c.

 i got to go to dc again a couple of weeks ago for a conference and this time marty joined me for the last few days of my trip. we were super tourist-y and covered the entire district by foot. the weather was perfectly cool and crisp (enough to get a hilarious woven cat hat and break in my new jacket). 

i spotted a street vendor selling some afghani kilim pillow covers for super cheap. looking back, i probably should have just bought the lot.

we headed to the american history museum where we saw the original muppets (!!!) and an el train from chicago

after walking through the national mall we went to the air & space museum for marty to get his nerd on and watch "journey to the stars." they played the show in a dome-shaped theatre with super reclined seats and whoopi goldberg narrated. so obviously i promptly fell asleep.

we ended our saturday at 7th hill pizza and shared the seward square and potomac ave pizzas.

on sunday we got to go to the flea market at eastern market. after ogling all the awesome art, jewelry and antiques (by some miracle i walked away empty-handed), we went inside the market to eat lunch.

 marty's head (which is above average in size) for scale

 for lunch, we had a random assortment of goodies from the market, including chicken & cranberry and spinach empanadas, and macaroni salad.

earlier in the week i had gone to the zoo! i just had to share some photos since it was so cool - especially watching the pandas eat bamboo.