So you guys know Jamie from C.R.A.F.T.  She's got a series on Create Really Awesome Free, Trips!
There's a linky party today. I'm participating. Aren't I the cool one? Totally.

Anyways! Some of you may know that I live in Gainesville, VA, which is 40 miles from Washington, D.C.

We are so blessed to live in the area, because having a Stay-cation here is so easy. The first major land battle of the Civil War was fought 5 miles from our house, at the Battle of Bull Run (or Manassas - if you're a southerner) :)

So let's get on with the list of free things to do in DC!

1) Smithsonian Museums
On the north side of the National Mall are a bunch of the Smithsonian Museums, and all of them are FREE!!! I would advise you to plan on having lunch on the Mall, because the restaurant prices inside the museums are a little steep.

The T-Rex at the Museum of Natural History. This is from Dev's birthday visit in December.

Here's a list of the museums in DC.

Smithsonian Castle 1000 Jefferson Dr., SW Metro Stop: Smithsonian, Mall exit African Art Museum 950 Independence Ave., SW Metro Stop: Smithsonian, Mall exit Air and Space Museum 7th & Independence Ave., SW Metro Stop: L'Enfant Plaza, Maryland Ave. exit American Art Museum Portrait Gallery 8th and F Sts., NW Metro Stop: Gallery Place-Chinatown, 9th St. exit American History Museum 14th St. & Constitution Ave., NW Metro Stop: Federal Triangle or Smithsonian, Mall exit American Indian Museum 4th St. & Jefferson Dr.,SW Metro Stop: L'Enfant Plaza, Maryland Ave. exit Freer Gallery Jefferson Dr. and 12th St., SW Metro Stop: Smithsonian, Mall exit

Sackler Gallery 1050 Independence Ave., SW Metro Stop: Smithsonian, Mall exit Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden Independence Ave. and 7th St., SW Metro Stop: L'Enfant Plaza, Maryland Ave. exit Natural History Museum 10th St. and Constitution Ave., NW Metro Stop: Smithsonian, Mall exit Postal Museum Massachusetts Ave. and 1st St., NE Metro Stop: Union Station Renwick Gallery 17th St. at Pennsylvania Ave., NW Metro Stop: Farragut West, 17th St. exit Ripley Center International Gallery 1100 Jefferson Dr., SW Metro Stop: Smithsonian, Mall exit

2) The National Mall

The Mall is a terrific spot to enjoy some lovely scenery, its also a National  Park, which is who the hubs works for, so please help support NPS!

So the Mall is free, its big, and its gorgeous. At one end of the Mall is the Lincoln Memorial, then the Reflecting Pool, Vietnam Memorial, Korean Memorial, then the absolutely gorgeous WWII Memorial and the Washington Monument. Then there are the Smithsonian Museums and finally the Capitol. There is so much to see, and you can visit these monuments during the day or at night. Personally, my favorite is at night, because the way all the monuments and memorials are lit up is just stunning.

3) National Zoo - 3001 Connecticut Ave., NW Washington, DC - Metro Stop - Woodley Park-Zoo/Adams Morgan or Cleveland Park


Off of Rock Creek Parkway is the Smithsonian's National Zoo, and admission is free, but unless you're a FONZ member parking will cost you. It's $15 for 3 hours and under, and then $20 for the day, the max you pay is $20.

 You should pack your lunch and enjoy the animals. Right now there are 7 new lion cubs in the Big Cats area. We visited on Saturday and had a wonderful time, despite a bunch of mishaps. The zoo opens up at 6:30, but none of the buildings open until 10, but in the cooler temps of the morning the animals are usually out more.


4) Georgetown
Georgetown is in the NW quadrant of DC and is home to lots of shopping, dining and history. The main thoroughfares are Wisconsin and M Street. Old Stone House is located in Georgetown, and is operated by NPS. It is the oldest standing building in DC. Admission is free to The Old Stone House!

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Georgetown is bordered by Rock Creek Park and the Potomac. More on the former latter. :)

5) Tidal Basin
The Jefferson Memorial and FDR Memorial are both located along the Potomac in the Tidal Basin. The sight of the Cherry Blossom Festival each March/April, the area is really picturesque all year long.  There is also the George Mason Memorial along the Tidal Basin. NPS administers these too, and they're free. :)

6) Rock Creek Park
Rock Creek Park is a wonder in the hustle and bustle in DC. Its a forest park along the edges of NW DC, and borders Georgetown. Its run by NPS and is completely free. There are trails you can walk, or you can just sit and have a picnic while enjoying some of the wonderful views the park has to offer.

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The National Zoo is also close to Rock Creek Park. Isn't nice that everything is connected?

7)The Waterfront
The Georgetown Waterfront Park provides a green space for visitor recreation and contemplation. Cyclists, skaters, and pedestrians have their own car-free pathways with views of individual boaters, kayakers and competitive crews as well as of Roosevelt Island and the magnificent Key Bridge. The park curves along 10 acres of the Potomac extending from the Washington Harbour complex to Key Bridge. This is also run by NPS. Are you sensing a theme yet? 

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8)Union Station - 50 Massachusetts Avenue NE, Washington, DC
This is a wonderful example of gorgeous architecture near the Capitol. It's also helpful that its a transportation hub. :) Its also a mall. Score! There are no guided tours of Union Station right now, but just wondering around would be an experience in and of itself.

My father-in-law took this stunning picture.

9)The Capitol
Located at the end of the National Mall, the US Capitol is an impressive and stately piece of historical architecture. In the visitor's center, you can look up through skylights to see the Capitol's dome. Admission is free to the Capitol, but a tour pass is required.

Another Harry B photo :)

10)The White House
So who doesn't come to DC and gape at the White House? Its behind the Ellipse and can be seen from the Washington Monument. Some pre-planning will be required if you want to take a guided tour of America's House, but self-guided tours are welcome, but only available during certain times and days. You would definitely want to check out the schedule here. I have lived in the DC area almost my entire life and have never been to the White House, which is a shame, but someday I'll get there. :)

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Well I hope you guys enjoyed today's post, and go out and find something free to do in your town. :)
TTYS!

To all of our men and women serving our country, past and present -

Happy Memorial Day

I hope everyone has a safe and wonderful Memorial Day.

I would like to give a shout-out to my Aunt Toni for providing this week's recipe, though she probably doesn't even remember giving it to me. It was about five years ago at my pre-wedding pounding party. In case you don't know, a pounding party is a fantastic type of bridal shower where everyone brings a pound of something (rice, flour, sugar, whatever) for the bride so that she doesn't have an empty kitchen when she gets hitched. Seriously! I LOVE this idea and loved my own pounding party. I imagine if there's a male equivalent, there would be a lot of frozen pizza and Ramen noodles. Well, there was a really fun twist put on my party in that everyone was supposed to bring one or two of their favorite recipes. Everyone who was at my party all brought absolutely wonderful recipes and lovely kitcheny-type gifts as well, but I think my Aunt Toni's made me laugh the most. Toni gave me a pair of pans (one for cooking and one for keeping the hubs in line, she said), a garlic mincer (which I am somewhat embarrassed to say I didn't know what it was), and today's recipe. Without further ado...

Ultra-Quick Lasagna
1 32 oz jar tomato sauce
1 garlic clove, pressed
1/2 cup dry red wine
1 1/2 cup water
1 tsp dried oregano
2 lg eggs
2 cup ricotta cheese
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 lb uncooked lasagna
1 lb mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven to 350. In a large bowl, combine the tomato sauce, garlic, wine, water, and oregano. In a medium bowl, beat the eggs, ricotta cheese, parmesan cheese, and nutmeg.

Pour a generous amount of sauce in a 9"x13" pan or baking dish. Alternating the lasagna, sauce, cheese mixture, and mozzarella, make about three layers, ending with the mozzarella.

Cover the pan with aluminum foil, bake one hour, remove the foil, and bake for another 15 minutes or until sauce has thickened and noodles are tender.

Let sit 10 minutes before cutting.

Did you catch the name of the recipe. Ul-tra-quick...lasagna? You may think that 's an oxymoron, but I can confidently--and excitedly--tell you that that is not the case.

The beginning! If you look at the bowl there, you'll see that that's a lot of liquid. Yes, that's the ultra-quick part. The ingredients do all the work for you. Awesome.

And now you begin to build the layers. You may notice a meat layer slipped into my dish there. I'm pretty sure Mike would be rather unhappy if I served him a meat-less lasagna, so I spread a single layer of ground beef into this.

And into the oven to work its magic. No extra assistance from me required. :-)

Ahhhhhh, smells delcious! Or it did at the time. I paired it with some garlic roasted broccoli to round out the meal. SO good!!!

Granted, someone who is inexperienced with making lasagna may think that an hour plus does not equal ultra-quick. Those of us who have made lasagna from scratch, however, know that this is quite a bit faster than the traditional method. It usually takes me about three hours. Go ahead and give this recipe a try and then kick your feet up because this dish takes care of itself.

Bonus: My hair has a pretty good tendency to make me angry. It gets uppity and decides to ignore what I ask it to do...a lot. What can I do about that? Chop it off!!!
Aw yeah, we're going pixie. How fitting for me. :-) What do you think of my new doo? Hey, Heather, get a load of those earrings. Jealous? :-p

OMG! It's a red letter day! For the first time a in a while, I'm actually writing this post ahead of schedule. :)

Yay me! I'm just going to go ahead and pat myself on the back. You don't mind, do you? I hope not, cause its happening. :)

So without any ado - HERE'S MY NEW CRAFT SPACE! *slightly excited, can you tell?*
There are still holes to sand and paint.
 Not everything is in its place.....yet.

But I have space! Lots and lots of space!

And I love it!

What do you guys think?

Oh yea - the desk. Totally an Ana White design. Find it here! :)

Have a great day guys. I'm going to finally get back to sewing.
Heather

Sorry about yesterday guys. I didn't think my dentist appointment would take it out of me like it did. I'm usually pretty good about dental work. Not this time.

Not to get into too much detail, don't want to go TMI, ya know, but I have inherited gum disease from my darling mother. :) Thanks Ma! Not.  I had to have scaling done. Yesterday was the final half of my mouth to get done, and boy did it take it out of me. I don't know why. I couldn't feel a lot of, but the sound. Oh the sound. I hate the sound of metal against my teeth. Its like nails on a chalkboard. I think I cringed the whole appointment, and if I wasn't cringing then I was wringing strangling my hands. Not. A. Fan.

So anyways, after my appointment the only thing I wanted to do was pass out, so the hubs graciously let me sleep the entire time that H was down. He'd gone down for his nap about 20 minutes before I got home, and then let me sleep for the next 3 hours - you have to love when the baby sleeps for 3.5 hours. I felt a lot better when I woke up. Not 100%, but at least 90%.

Today, however, I am 110%. I got up at 5:55 this morning with Harrison, and we had some nice time together before Dev joined us. We had breakfast, we chatted it up, I told him to get over himself. :)

Then while I was walking the dog, I decided to snap some pictures of the awesome thrifty find I talked about on Monday. At least until she got herself tangled under the car. I don't know how she did this, but suffice to say she's an idiot. A cute idiot, but an idiot nonetheless.

So here are the shots of the thrifty find and the next project in the list. :)

There is a mirror with this dresser. Its a lovely harp shape and the mirror swings. The dresser looks like its an old dressing table.

Want to know the best part about this piece? It cost me $53. Amazing right? And there's more! All of the profit from this piece went to benefit people with disabilities. Cool, right? I think so. :)  As you can also see the garage is a MESS right now. There are like 8,000 projects going on in there right now.

This poor darling also needs some good TLC. I'm thinking of stripping her down and pickling her, and then adding some glass knobs to the drawers. What do you guys think? She'll end up in our guest room. The current dresser in there will be refinished and then I'll put that one up for sale. :)

So here's the next project on the list. Stephen is actually hounding me to get this one done, but there's one small problem.
He's using the new TV console as a stacking area for the bookshelves he's putting in his study, which I still haven't shown you. I'll get there. :) Makes it a little difficult to get the piece ready for paint and stain. I've already run some liquid sander on her, but I forget why I stopped after that. Oh yea....I started working on the Faux Bois Nightstands. :)
 The cabinet is a good height. Small hands will not be able to reach the electronics, which will actually go on the top of the unit. I don't mind having them in plain sight. I can always build a riser over them to put stuff.
 Look at all the detail on this thing. I hate the color, but love all the moulding work. I'm painting the body of this piece and then the top will get stained a nice walnut color. I'm hoping that I can stain the top. There is some damage to it, and I'm hoping its not veneered. We'll see when I strip it! Oh and I got this little number for $63 at the Salvation Army on 25% off Wednesdays! Love me a sale. :)

So that's the next big project on the list. I have things I want to sew and a few other small projects. Wow, the list is still growing. Oh well. I guess I better get started.

See you guys tomorrow! I can't wait. :)

Heather

So I haven't had a good haul while out scouring the thrift shops lately.

I don't know why, and it kind of makes me sad.

My luck has apparently changed though, which makes me super happy.

I've scored at two different shops in the last month and I'm going to share the latest haul with you.

Its  not a big haul. I small one. One item. But then I'm going to share something the hubs bought for me, cause he's awesome like that. :)

So here's the hubs gift.
Isn't it perfect? For me, at least? :) He was shocked that I wanted it and that I put it in the kitchen, but I love the grubbiness of the sign, and the phrase is oh so true. :)
I wanted to put this sign above our cabinets, but it was too big. :( I need to put a sign up there, but it'll have to wait till I find perfection. I hate that masterpieces take forever to complete.

However, I did find something to put above the cabinets. She's perfect. She has a gleaming personality, albeit a little dented here and there.
 LOVE!!! I found this copper beaut at the Salvation Army store for $12, but I went on Wednesday and got her for $9. :) Love 25% discount day.
 Just look at all her texture! I love the hammered look.
 She's copper all the way through. She weighs a small ton.
And now she sits atop my cabinet, but I'm not sure if she'll stay there or not. She kind of blends. Wouldn't a small wildflower bouquet look precious with her? I do. She may have to come down from that perch.

Anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed my finds. Have you been shopping lately? Find anything good? Tell me about it. :) I like to chat.

Tomorrow - I may share the other find. Maybe.

TTFN!
Heather

You may have heard somewhere--I can't imagine where :-)--that my best friend Sally came to visit me for two weeks. As is my duty as an American foodie, I introduced her to some great American classics. First I made chilli, which I have no pictures of, but here is the recipe...

Chilli

2 lb ground or cubed meat
1 clove garlic, minced
18.5 oz water (or beer)
2 tsp oregano
2 dashes paprika
2 dashes hot sauce
1 Tbsp chili powder
1 sm onion, chopped
2 boullion cubes
2 tsp sugar
1 tsp cumin
2 bay leaves
8 oz tomato sauce
2 Tbsp cornmeal
Shredded cheddar cheese for topping

Throw it all in a slow cooker on low and cook for 6 to 8 hours. Top individual servings with a small handful of shredded cheddar cheese for garnish.

Pretty easy, huh? You can also toss it into a pot and cook everything up really quickly, but the flavors don't meld quite the same way. Still awesome, though. Sally really loved it.

Then there was, what I consider, the quintessential American food: Jambalaya. I don't know anyone who doesn't like this stuff. Here's the recipe that Heather, our mum, and I all use...

Jambalaya

1/2 lb smoked sausage, halved and sliced
2 cup cubed fully cooked ham
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 celery ribs, chopped
1 lg onion, chopped
1 med green pepper, chopped
5 green onions, thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 can (14-1/2 oz) diced tomatoes, undrained
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
2 cans (14-1/2 oz each) chicken broth
1 cup uncooked long grain rice
1/3 cup water
4-1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
2 lb cooked shrimp, peeled and deveined

In a Dutch oven, sauté sausage and ham in oil until lightly browned. Remove and keep warm. In the drippings, sauté the celery, onion, green pepper, green onions and garlic until tender. Add tomatoes, thyme, salt, pepper and cayenne; cook 5 minutes longer.

Stir in broth, rice, water and Worcestershire sauce. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 20 minutes or until rice is tender. Stir in sausage mixture and shrimp; heat through. Serve immediately. Yield: 10-12 servings.

I picked up some FABULOUS Andouille sausage from Whole Foods for this dish. Expensive, but worth it. I wanted Sally's experience to be as authentic as possible. Plus, Andouille has just the right kind of spices for this dish.

The ham I wasn't as picky about. Ham is ham. I started to cut these slices with a knife and then had a better idea. Pizza slicer! That made very short work of my ham. Brilliant!

Can you believe this is just the non-shrimp meat that goes into the soup? A pile of meat like this lets you know it's going to be good.

And now for the veggies. Oh. My. Goodness. So much chopping. This dish actually takes longer to prep than it does to cook. Be sure to take that into account when you start this dish. Give yourself lots of prep time.

Mmmmm, anything that has to sweat in animal fat is destined for greatness. Okay, that's probably not universally true...think about it...okay, enough about that.

A bit more cooking, a few more additions (look at all that shrimp!!!), and we are...

There! Pure deliciousness! As I said, I don't know anyone who doesn't like this dish. Sally loved it, Mike loves it (yes, my picky, meat-and-potatoes husband!), I love it, and you will too! Plus, it's a one-pot meal that's pretty much impossible to mess up. Why wouldn't you make it?