DC: The Smithsonian Museums

Thursday was our big sightseeing day, I knew that I had to capitalize on what I could see in the smallest time and make sure that I hit some of the big sights. One of my goals was to see several of the smithsonian museums: three of them to be exact. 

Getting off the metro

At the first Museum

Air and Space: This museum was incredible. I loved seeing so much of the space history, the shuttles and the lunar landers. I have been fascinated by space for many years and I am just excited to see what comes next for NASA. I also enjoyed seeing much of the flight history. I think the only exhibits that I breezed through were the ones about the planets, although I did step in one and see that Pluto was still a planet! Way to go Smithsonian!

Inside the space lab... I think

Model of the Wright brothers plane

Hanging with Amelia Erhart

Natural History: This was the second museum that we hopped into and at this point we were in a rush to see as much as possible and time was starting to run just a tad short. We set a goal of seeing as much as we could in 35 minutes. I walked in and took a moment to acess the situation and decided that I wanted to see the dinosaurs and the animals. We did not see the rocks or the gene exhibit (which I was interested in, but not enough time). I loved what we got a chance to see, it was just so fun to see the dinos and the animals.

Watch out the dinos will get you

Deadliest catch is one of my favorite shows... this crab is HUGE!

This wolf reminded me of Lily... vacay is hard without the pup

American History: The last Smithsonian that we went to was the American History Museum. I was sold on this when our tour guide called it the American Garage Sale Museum, I figured that there would be lots of cool things to see. The first thing we did was grab a sandwich, mine was pretty terrible but my dad's was good. I would guess that I just picked a bad one. After lunch my father and I decided to hit the museum in 30 minutes, it was a challenge that we mastered. I will admit that this was kind of a let down to be honest, and the reason for that is that many of these exhibits were being renovated or being changed out. The best exhibit was the one about cooking in America, they had some of Julia Child's kitchen and some things about how different cooking was in the 60s. After that I could have done without the rest of the museum, most of the pop culture exhibits were closed and that it what I wanted to see.

Julia Child's Kitchen

Hanging with Julia Child!!!

This was a great day in the city of DC. I was so glad to get a chance to see several different museums, I would have loved a little more time in some of them but to get to see most of three museum in a single day I was pumped. I would love to head back to the city and see more of the museums and be able to spend days walking through them. 

Washington DC: Monuments by Moonlight

So the first day in DC my dad and I went on a Monuments by Moonlight tour, which you could register for or read about more here. We left my grandfather with some of his KWVA buddies while we went down to Union Station. 

Off to find the metro

Before the tour started we wandered around Union Station and look in the sights that were to see around there. It was so interesting to see the trains, there aren't really commuter trains here in Texas so I am somewhat fascinated by what I can see in the northeast. We had a little difficultly getting on the trolly but I think it was worth it, since our guide was phenomenal! 

The justice building is being restored, but you can see a fake cloth replica when you go by.

I loved seeing so much of the architecture that is found in DC. Some of these buildings I am not totally sure what they are but they are so pretty to look at. In many ways I think I would love being in DC permanently, I don't think that would happen. But it is soo pretty to look at.

Loving the trolly

The capital building

The Jefferson Monument

After the earthquake in DC two years ago, several monuments and historic structures were damaged. The Washington Monument is still closed due to the damage, it is covered in scaffolding. I will admit that the scaffolding is done in such a way that the monument still looks beautiful. In addition, they have added lights to the sides of the monument so that at night it looks super cool. I would have loved to be able to go up in the monument so that I could have seen more of the city, but such is life.

Washington Monument

Washington Monument at Night

Our tour allowed us to get out at several different monuments and see what they have to offer. The first place we got off was the FDR and MLKJ memorials. These were pretty cool. It was nice to be able to get off the bus for a few minutes and see some of the monuments up close and personal. We took a photo by the lake with the Jefferson Memorial in the background, however we look terrible. But it works.

After the FDR we went to the Iwo Jima memorial. I wish there were pictures of the memorial at night, it was amazing. My camera doesn't take great pics at night, it seems to have a delay that doesn't allow the pics to turn out right. It was so moving to see all of the different wars that the Marines have fought in. As my grandfather was a marine it was so much more moving for me.

From there we drove around a bit longer seeing the eternal flame for JFK and a few other monuments. And then we headed over to the Korean War Memorial, The Lincoln Memorial, and the Vietnam Memorial. Again these were just so moving to see them in the dark, the Korean Memorial was almost lifelike, it was insane. You should definitely stop by these after the sun sets.

Lincoln Memorial

Hanging out on the steps

I know that I loved this tour, it was a great introduction into the DC area. I knew that I didn't have too much time to see everything that I would want to see, but this way I could see the majority of the memorials or monuments. I am sure that there are more that I would love to see but in these three hours we were able to hit some of the highlights and it allowed me to orient myself as to where I am for the rest of the trip.

I would totally recommend this tour to any first time visitor to the DC metroplex. I am just so impressed with the architecture that was found throughout the city and all of the different ways that we have honored those that have gone before us and changed the world. The tour guide brought another side to the city and it was fascinating to hear the parts of history that he loved. He was very witty, his name was Adam and I really enjoyed what he had to say. It was so great to have a little time with my dad. Come back tomorrow (hopefully) for a recap of our whirlwind tours of the Smithsonian Museums.

Fourth of July Cupcakes

The Fourth of July was a few weeks ago and it took me a few days but I finally figured out what I was going to make for the family party... cupcakes! I will admit that I am somewhat obsessed about being able to try out different recipes for my family events. I opted for red white and blue cupcakes. I have no idea where I originally saw this but if it was your idea I will gladly give you props. 

I made the cake as directed and then split it into thirds, dying some red and some blue and leaving the rest white. Apparently I have girly pastel colors so it looks more like baby boy blue or baby girl pink, but whatever. 

Some of the cupcakes I layered the colors in and some I just splattered the three colors together. The splatters started because my layer cupcakes were a little on the thick side so I kinda ran out of some of the colors. Oops live and learn.

My little helper...

The layered cupcakes rose more out of the pan and looked more like what you get at a cupcake place. I was thrilled by this result. I think I would rather have fewer large cupcakes than so many small cupcakes in the future. I attempted to ice the cupcakes all cute and stuff but that failed so I just iced them with a knife the normal way.

These were sooo good. I will definitely be bringing them to another party whenever that may be, but I think I will be getting new food coloring at some point soon.

Washington DC Trip

Tomorrow morning I head out bright and early to the fun city of Washington DC!! I haven't ever been to the capital and I am so stinking excited about it. It looks like the weather will be nice and cool (at least compared to the 100+ we will be having here in Dallas).

Should I pack a sweater?

I will admit that I have no idea what is going to happen when we are there and I am learning to be OK with that. I tend to be a little over planned but I think they in the end this is going to be great. I am traveling with my grandfather and meeting my dad in DC. We are going for the 60th anniversary of the Korean War Armistice (I think). I am excited to hear my grandfather hear all about the war and see the city with two generations of Malcolm's.

At the risk of being lame I should get into the bed since we have an early flight. I am looking forward to sharing this trip with you when I get back!

My top three sights are:
-The white house
-A smithsonian museaum
-the president (yes, I know this is a long shot but it is good to have goals right??!? Also, I totally believe that seeing him from afar totally counts)

See you in a few days!

Cleaning my pans: PinFail

By now I am sure that just about everyone has seen the pin on Pinterest about how to clean your pans with hydrogen peroxide and baking soda. There are a few variations in how you apply the two ingredients but for the most part they are all the same. I will be honest that I have no idea where this has originated but here is one good post that you can see here.

As you can see this pan has been abused for years, literally. I will admit that at this point I was getting pretty excited.

Supposedly you make a paste of the baking soda and peroxide, so I did that in a different container. I did wear my yellow cleaning gloves for this, I didn't want to get this on me.

 Then I smeared it all over the pan... not enough. This time I just poured the baking soda and peroxide all over the pan and rubbed it around. I waited about 30 minutes before I started scrubbing. And nothing happened, the pans are not cleaner and they mostly look the same. There might be a few places where it looks better but mostly no.

I am going to call this a PinFail, I have no idea what people are doing differently than me. I will admit that my peroxide was old so maybe it was dead? I have since bought some new peroxide and truthfully a new pan. I don't think I am going to try this again because, it was sorta expensive (about 1/2 a box of baking soda and 1/4 bottle of peroxide). I will admit that when I found the link to the post that I used to cite my source almost all of the comments are about how it doesn't work, oops should have read that. On a side note: this mixture somehow leaves a fine white powdery film all over your kitchen... wish I had known that.

How do you get your pans clean? I tend to wash mine and I think sometimes they just age over the years and it isn't really a bad thing but it happens. Who knows, I will not be trying to clean my pans this way again.

Fiber One Cookies

I will admit that I have been at a loss for what to post this week or what I want to post takes much longer to write than I have time for most days. In light of all of that, I thought that I would tell you about my newest snack addiction: Fiber One Cookies. These are amazing! If you know me well you know that I love to eat sweets well to be honest I just love to eat anything and everything. At first I grabbed the chocolate chip cookies and those were really good but the brownies were on sale so I am having those this week. Most days I eat my cookie at the end of the workday so that I have time to cook when I get home and I am not soo hungry that I eat everything in sight. 

So why should you buy these, you ask. I find that they have just the right about of sweetness and cookie flavor. I eat mine in about four bites, they aren't that large. They are under 100 calories, which is just about right for a snack. I have tried the fiber one bars and I wasn't really a fan, but I do like these. I started eating these because someone told me try are a good way to feel full and lose weight. I don't know about all of that but they are yummy so I like them. 

I am sure that you have been riveted by this post but let's be honest it isn't the thrilling content that brings you back each week it is the randomness that I provide for your day! 

This post was not sponsored by Fiber One or any of its affiliates in any way, it was however sponsored by the newest craze Hannah wants to lose weight. But should Fiber One want to send me more or these I certainly won't say no, they are that good. Let me know if you try them. 

Chinese Chicken and Broccoli

I have realized a few things about food here in Dallas, some is amazing and some is terrible. When I was in St. Louis I ate Chinese food once or twice a month and typically regardless of venue I was happy with what I got. I am not going to lie I have tried several places in Dallas and I am always disappointed. Over the last few months I have been working on my Chicken and Broccoli recipe. I will admit that this should be easy but I like recipes so I decided to figure this one out. I am totally in love with this recipe.

I started with this recipe and have modified it pretty heavily but you can still check it out here. I am trying to be healthier so I tried to get away from frying everything.

Chinese Chicken and Broccoli

Cubed Chicken Breasts (I tend to use 2)
1 egg white
1 Tbsp plus 1tsp Corn starch
1/4 tsp salt
2 garlic cloves minced
2 Tbsp oyster sauce
2 Tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp plus 1 tsp water
1 lb Broccoli cut into bit size pieces, I tend to just use the florets and not much of the stalk

1- Mix egg white, 1 tbsp corn starch, salt. Velvet the chicken for 30 minutes in the fridge. (This means to toss the chicken into this mixture, don't over do this mixture or you will have weird egg chunks in your dinner).
2- Mix oyster sauce, soy sauce, and one tbsp water. Set aside. Mix 1 tsp corn starch and 1 tsp water, set aside (in a separate container)
3- Toss chicken into a pre-warmed skillet. After about 4 minutes add the broccoli, garlic, and a dash of salt to taste. Add 1/4-1/2 c of water to deglaze the pan and kinda steam the broccoli.
4- When chicken is cooked add the sauce made in step 2. Then add the thickener made in step 2.
5- Stir around until ready and you like how the sauce looks.
6- Serve over rice.

I am not going to lie this is so yummy. It makes great leftovers so I don't mind eating it for a few days in a row. I think the hardest part is not ending up with supper soggy broccoli. This has happened to me but I think this version of the recipe solved some of that. I think if you only wanted to make one serving you definitely could, as it is I think I tend to eat this 2-3 times depending on how much broccoli there is.

I hope that you enjoy this recipe as much as I do. I am pretty impressed with my skills on this one. Let me know if you try it. I would assume that you could add more or different veggies if you wanted to. So yummy.

Redeem the Day!

Over the last few months I have been trying to reconfigure my mornings to allow me to be more productive. In the past I have found myself going to work later and working later so by the time I get home it is late and I have so much to do so I go to bed late. This is a viceous cycle because they are all intertwined if you are late on one step most of the others will fall into place. My goal right now is to work 10 to 6-630 most days, I know this is strange for you non-academics but this works for me. Our schedule is pretty flexible most of the time and I hate traffic so this works out really well. The problem that I was having is that I felt as if I had to head out the door as soon as I was ready and I just never had a chance to do things. As I was talking to my mom about this we both realized that if we got out of bed and did what we needed to do while we were at the house before work then I wouldn't have to do it after work when I was tired.

Now I have a little bit more flexibility and if I have chores around the house I take the 5-10 minutes that it takes for them to get done and do them before I leave for work. I also have time to walk the dog and really enjoy our mornings together. Sometimes I try to do too much and it makes me late for work but I am trying to make sure that I am making the most of the time that I do have, even if it is only ten minutes.

Yesterday, I got up early and got so many things finished before I headed out the door to work. I accomplished:

What a mess

All clean and ready for the day ahead

-Cleaning the kitchen
-1 mile walk with Lily
-I had a quiet time
-Made my lunch
-worked a few minutes on this post (didn't finish until today)

I know that doesn't seem like a whole lot but to come home to a clean kitchen and have already spent time with the Lord I just feel better about my day. This doesn't happen everyday sometimes I take a few extra minutes to send emails or check some of the blogs that I read. It is just nice to feel like I have already accomplished something when I leave for the office. In many ways this gives me a better attitude about the day and I know that I have at least finished some of what my goals were for the day.

How do you spend your mornings? Do you just get up and go to work or do you spend some time getting things done around the house? Some days I will admit it takes all of my concentration to get out the door and nothing extra gets done but when I have a few minutes it is nice to get stuff finished.

Kentucky Peach Punch

Several months ago my friend and I checked out a new restaurant (for us, not Dallas), Gordon Biersch Brewery. I am not a huge fan of craft beers, as in I really prefer Miller Lite. I am aware that this is the champagne of beers and it tastes like water. I really like it so that is what matters to me. Anyway this is not about how much I like beer that taste like water it is about the amazing cocktail that I ordered while I was there. It is called the Kentucky Peach Punch.

Kentucky Peach Punch

The Kentucky Peach Punch is amazing!!! I will admit that I was sold when she mentioned that it was made with Maker's Mark Whiskey, which is strong but so good. I realized that it was mainly: Maker's Mark, Peach, and strawberry lemonade. It is so good, I tend to only order one since they are almost 10 a pop. With a little google investigation I realized that I could probably make this at home. And that is just what I did when one of my BFFs, Jessica, was in town.

Hannah and Jessica's Kentucky Peach Punch

1 shot Jack Daniels
1/2 shot Peach Schnapps
Fill the glass with Lemonade

Drink up!

I have actually made this with both Strawberry Lemonade and Lemonade depending on which type of kool aid I have around the house. I found the strawberry was a little sweet but I also over did the peach which is not a good move. I really enjoy one of these after a long day of work or if I am going to go lay out by the pool. It makes me think of my friends while I drink up.

Upcycling an Old Dress into a New Skirt

Over twenty years ago I went to Indonesia with my family for a mission trip, it was such a great learning experience. I will admit that I didn't really understand what a great gift it was to get to go overseas at such a young age but now I really see what a gift it was. The best part of that is actually that I got a dress that was super cute and it hung in my closet at my parents house for years. One of the last visits home that I had my mom asked if I wanted the dress to remake into something else. I wasn't quite sure what I would make with it. As I looked at the dress over the next few weeks I finally realized that since graphic prints were back in I was going to remake the dress into a skirt.

I cut the top of the dress off and since it was a free flowing dress there was lots of room. In the end I decided to cut the dress off at a length where it would hit about knee length and would sit about two inches below my belly button.

I made sure to cut the dress evenly and then I ironed it so that I could turn the edges over just a bit and then fold the edge over one inch and pin down. This is the casing for the elastic so that the skirt stays on my body.

I will admit that I wanted to use a 1 inch elastic but unfortunately the casing was not quite large enough once I sewed it shut so I used the 3/4" elastic that I bought. To thread the elastic I attached a safety pin and then pulled the elastic through, this was much more difficult than I expected since it was a tight fit...

Once that was done I remeasured my waist and subtracted about 1 1/2 to two inches from that for the elastic. I sewed it together and then sewed the elastic ends together and then the hole shut.

Check out the super cute skirt that I made!!!

I really enjoyed wearing this the other night out with friends. It was good, the only downside is that I think the elastic is just a tad too big so it doesn't seem to really be a great fit. I think I need about 1/2-1 inches smaller in the elastic. Oh well for now it is going to work out just fine. I styled it with gold jewels and some cute flat sandals. I look terrible in these pics but I thought that I looked really cute in person. This upcycling could be addicting but I don't know how it is going to go, hopefully there will be more of these posts soon.