International Spy Museum

Have you ever thought about becoming a spy? At the International Spy Museum in Washington, D.C. you can find out if you've got what it takes to be professional spy. In one of the first exhibits there's a crawl vent for those willing and able to literally crawl above other visitors and spy on them. I was pretty happy to try my hand at spying and distracting my dad. In a room devoted to Russian espionage, around the turn of the 20th century and the Bolshevik revolution, they featured a chess board that included Lenin. The room also included a recreation of a false door, the Butyrka Prison door, that was the secret entrance to a political prison in the heart of Moscow that still exists. 

From Hollywood and James Bond to real spies and the real political implications of national security, spies and spying definitely play important roles as made apparent with the new presidential administration.

Virgina (Part 2)

Whenever I go home I've been making it a point to go to one of my favorite bakery chains, PAUL. It has many franchises in Paris and London and beyond, but has only a handful of locations in D.C. and Boston. I'm not sure why it hasn't branched out to New York or Chicago, but they would definitely have a committed groupie waiting in line on opening day if they did.

Below are more photos from my trip to Virginia. After the big baptism day, I caught up with my friend Jenna, who has a congressional internship in D.C., I got to see Peter and Leslie's home in Winchester, VA, I had dinner with my great Aunt Lee and Uncle Milt, and I also go out to dinner with friends Flannery and Xuan. I was lucky to meet Xuan and Ryan's adorable baby Sierra. 

I had a fantastic weekend home eating lots of food and seeing lots of friendly faces. Looking forward to going home in the fall!

Virginia (Part 1)

This past March, I was able to go home to Virginia to celebrate the joint baptism of my niece Ellia and nephew Tyler. The first photo below is of my parents' new neighbor--Ben Carson! As a friend  mentioned, "the lights are on, but nobody's home." 

The rest of the photos include Ellia, Tyler, various family members, little doggies, and lots of food. It was nice to go home for a couple of days to catch-up with family and friends.