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I think this year I was even more excited to see all of the bulbs start to sprout and the days get warmer. The snow was a ton of fun, but after while it was just turning into a cold long winter.

For those of us on the east coast, remember this?

As I was working around my yard today, I remembered that last spring I had felt very clever taking pictures of all of my bulbs and where they are located. I had planned last fall to fill in with more bulbs and to try to divide some of them that no longer seem to bloom. Unfortunately, last fall I forgot all about planting and dividing the bulbs. This year it is in my calendar and I am not going to forget. Here are a few of my photos, let me know if you try it too and how it works out.

I also have to brag a little. I have been meaning to build for a very long time, or rather have my husband build, a small rock retaining wall near my driveway. Well, today I did it while he ran an errand and it only took me an hour or so. I wish I had a before photo of what a soupy mess it used to be there.

A group of eleven of my friends and I traveled down to South Beach to celebrate that three of us were turning forty.  It was wonderful to take off and fly away from the freezing temperatures and huge piles of dirty snow taking up all the great parking spaces.  South Beach offers all the fun of Las Vegas, minus the gambling, with an amazing beach.  We stayed at a nicer hotel and decided we would just pile in four to a room, Spring Break style.

There are so many things to do in the Miami/South Beach area that the only trouble we occasionally had was organizing everyone.  There are many museums, from Vizcaya, an amazing Venetian inspired home built during the Gilded Age to the World Erotic Art Museum in the heart of the South Beach Art Deco District.  There is also shopping, I loved the Lincoln Road Pedestrian Mall, there were unique shops and great people watching.  Our group almost motivated off the beach on the first day to Gator Park to go on an air boat ride through the Everglades, I think I should have kept to myself that they could get muddy and wet.  In the end, we spent most of our time on the beach, we had three wonderful dinners and managed to spend one entire day at the pool bar at the Fontainebleau where the bartenders were extremely entertaining.

I do want to point out the restaurant we went to on the second night, The Meat Market on the Lincoln Road Pedestrian Mall.  From the outside looking at the menu, I was initially a little disappointed thinking it may be a typical chain type steak house.  It was anything but typical or chain-like, the food was unbelievable.   What made it even more special was being immediately welcomed by the owner, having the menu explained with their specialties pointed out and advice given on how to proceed with such a big group.  We managed to sit there for hours enjoying not only great food, but also wonderful service and attention.

With a long weekend away like this, I can hardly wait to turn 50!

As I wrote in a previous blog post, I am relying on my daughter’s photos to help me write about a long weekend we took to DC. I decided with this one that I should also have her help me write up her own review of the butterfly exhibit titled Butterflies & Plants: Partners in Evolution.

She said that honestly what she remembers most is that is was VERY hot and humid in there and we were really bundled up because of the extremely cold weather going on outside. She really enjoyed that the butterflies would come right up and land on you, so that you could really get a close look at them. She also liked that butterflies hold still long enough that you can take good pictures of them. When we were there we were also fortunate enough to be able to watch a butterfly emerge from its chrysalis and fly away.

Unlike the rest of the Natural History Museum, the exhibit is ticketed. Tickets are $6 for adults and $5 for children 2-12. Tuesdays the exhibit is free, but you do need to pick timed-entry tickets.

Here’s a few of her photos-

We spent a long weekend up in DC a few weeks ago and had an amazing time. I admit I was happy to be able to see so many of the museums with the kids and that I would be coming home with lots of material to write about here on the blog. Well, unfortunately my very nice camera will still allow you to take pictures with no memory card and so my hundreds of pictures are gone. I know, I know what many of you are thinking…user error.

Fortunately, my eight year-old had her camera along and took many photos in the Natural History Museum. It was really interesting for me to see what she photographed and what was important to her. When she found something she liked, she also photographed the placard with the item’s description.

The majority of her pictures were in the Gems and Minerals. She definitely gets her interest in this from her dad, who has a pretty nice collection.

She also took many pictures of the giant sloth fossil. She remembered years ago her brother bolted from that room in the museum because he thought it was the Wampa who captured Luke in the Empire Strikes Back. I wouldn’t be surprised if George Lucas based the Wampa on this Ice Age fossil.  She had a lot of fun teasing the now middle schooler about it.

I don’t know that I would normally take the time to look through each of her pictures and be able to see through her eyes what is important to her in a huge museum where there are so many subjects. I love that we were able to pass down our old digital camera to her and that she is capturing her favorites.

*Shortly after writing this, my son read it and informed me that I had incorrectly called the sloth a dinosaur, that he was just a fossil.  After looking up dinosaur on Wiki, I am still not sure.  Does anyone know?

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As promised, Elizabeth and I wanted to try to highlight all of the artists we loved from this year’s Philadelphia Museum of Art Craft Show. Here are three more artists we loved-

Lucy Dierks - Lucy’s ability to capture birds in her ceramic work is captivating. The detail she shows in her tiny subjects, right down to the way their claws grip the branches, is amazing. Lucy also captures natural textures, including lichen, stones and tree bark, beautifully in ceramic. I was thrilled when I realized Lucy is a fellow Virginian and I look forward to going to the Quirk Gallery in Richmond and seeing more of her work.

Mike Libby – Mike’s unusual work was one of the reasons I loved the Philadelphia Show so much. Mike borrows from science fiction and fact, his Insect Lab customizes real insect specimens with antique watch parts and other tech components. The adorned creatures are a “unique celebration of the contradictions and confluences between nature and technology”. We also loved hearing from Mike the process by which he was chosen to be part of Neiman Marcus’s Christmas Catalog.

Chris Roberts-Antieau – Chris’ work brought out the kid in me. I loved her piece “If I Had A Monkey”. I laughed and laughed, because I used to really want to actually have a monkey. Chris works with “fabric pictures” or “textile appliqué”. She uses swatches of fabric and hand stitched embroidery to create her whimsical works. They are then presented under glass in hand painted frames which are designed for each piece. Thank you so much Chris for your wonderful sense of humor.

I cannot wait to go back next year!

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Elizabeth and I would like to thank everyone for making 2009 a wonderful year for A Day’s Outing.  Since going live in March, we have been so thrilled to see all of the wonderful destinations our users, their friends and family have found.  Thank you so much for telling us about the great outings you have taken, giving us honest feedback and helping our company grow and get off to a fabulous start.

A few great events in 2010 to look forward to are-

East Coast Canoe & Kayak Festival 4/16-18 Charleston, SC

Ohio State Fair 7/28-8/8 Columbus, OH

South Carolina State Fair 10/13-10/24 Columbia, SC

Travel and Transportation in Early Maryland 1/28-3/31  Johns Hopkins University Museum, Baltimore, MD

Afternoon Tea at the Maymont Mansion 3/14-6/21 Richmond, VA

Fourth of July at Mount Vernon 7/4  Mount Vernon, VA

We wish you and your family a year filled with happiness in 2010!

*Update- Here is a podcast with Elizabeth discussing Christmas visits to downtown areas small towns broadcast on XM radio Hidden America!

It’s the time of year when I am thrilled to get out and go shopping. It sounds crazy, but I enjoy the cold air and all the decorations. There are presents to buy, goodies to make and holiday meals to prepare for. With big shopping malls everywhere, it can be easy to overlook the local shops that line the Main Streets in small towns, but those shops can offer so much.

Here is Charlottesville, VA we have a vibrant downtown area. There are art galleries which feature regional artists, small bookstores that carry the newest writers, as well as hidden literary treasures, family owned pizzerias that make the best slices and an ice skating rink that’s open year round.

There are also many small towns around us with their own quaint and welcoming Main Streets. Culpeper, VA has shop after shop after shop. I love to have lunch at It’s About Thyme and then head down the block to one of several antique shops to hunt for a treasure or two. Staunton, VA, in the Shenandoah Valley, is a town with a rich architectural history and a downtown area with a great local diner and fun gift shops.

When you’re thinking about your holiday shopping keep in mind the wonderful local shops that are all around you.  You can take a quick drive to a nearby town or make a day trip out of it and really get to know a new Main Street near you.

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I had a bold vision this past weekend. I thought I would make several Christmas wreaths — two for the sides of our front door, one for the back door and another to put out by the mailbox.  Four in all, which sounded reasonable at the time.

Several years back, I took a wreath making class at Monticello. I learned all the basics and I even went out and bought different wreath making supplies from an art store.  Of course, I needed fresh greenery.  So I cut some boxwood from the bushes, collected pine cones in the woods, clipped cedar from the tree and saved several Frasier fir branches from the bottom of our Christmas tree. With all these supplies and my prior lesson, I was sure this was going to be great.

What I forgot to factor in was our huge hound dog, the bitter cold day and my two Christmas crazed children. The dog snuffled around the different cuttings trying to make them into a nice bed to lie down on, the cold December air was freezing my hands outside and my two children were running around the yard happily screaming and playing a game. Apparently, this was one too many things for me and I ended up with only one wreath.  Now, it is a beautiful wreath, but there’s only one. So I’m off to my local nursery to buy the other three.  Next year, I’ll lock myself in my office and try again.

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Paddle Boarding is fun, really fun for all ages.  Paddle Boards are like long surf boards that you stand on and use a very long canoe like paddle.  With another family this weekend we rented two of them from a great family owned company in the Outer Banks, Outer Banks Stand Up Paddle.  They delivered the boards right to the house we were staying in.  After 15 minutes of instruction, we were off.  We initially brought the boards to the shallow sound and it was perfect for getting the feel of the boards and great for the kids.  The adults in our group had a much harder time learning to hold their balance, although I would have to say I was the best at it :).  All of the kids were able to stand and paddle and my son loved paddling his sister and her friend all around.  It was also great fun for them to play “king of the mountain”.

We then brought the boards to the ocean.  The waves were very high and rough coming in and so we didn’t allow the kids to try them again.  Once we got past the break, the water was smooth and perfect.  We were able to easily stand and paddle, it was so quiet and the dolphins would come in very close to us.  I did make a critical mistake and I did not account for the wind at my back which pushed us very far out.  I took me just under an hour to paddle back in and days later I have muscles that hurt that I didn’t know I have, or don’t have.

All in all, it was great fun for our whole group and I can’t recommend trying it enough.  I can’t wait to do it again when we are in the crystal clear shallow waters of the Florida Keys.

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It’s that time of year to get out and visit your local farmer’s market.  You’ll find beautiful vegetables, fruit, flowers, cheeses, meats, eggs and much, much more at farmers’ markets near you.

Here are some great reasons I like to try to by local and fresh when I can-

-Locally grown and produced foods are wonderfully fresh and delicious….. local farmers often pick and sell within 24 hours.
-Buying local gives you freedom of choice for your health and nutrition….. you know where your food comes from.
-You can try new and unusual produce….. just ask the farmer their favorite way of preparing what they grow.
-Local farmers can offer produce grown for its great taste….. not grown to stay “fresh” on a supermarket shelf for days and days.
-Buying local helps the environment….. on average conventionally grown food travels 2,000 miles from field to plate.
-You can support family farmers….. each local food purchase helps keep your surrounding communities strong.

So grab your favorite shopping bag and visit a local farmers’ market or two.  You’ll be amazed at what you will find.