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until I took a trip to West Elm this weekend. They had so many attractive storage options for the home office that it prompted me to do an internet search to see what other items I could find. I really love the products by Russell and Hazel. The colors are subtle and blend well together. I love the espresso and celery colors. Hmm… maybe some new organizational goodies would be good for all the new school supplies I’ll be buying soon.
Russell and Hazel Letterboxes
Compilation of the best storage options I came across:
I just finished watching Junebug, my latest Netflix acquisition. I thought it was a great movie- it really captured the small town North Carolina and Southern culture. The characters were slightly exaggerated, but charming none the less. Amy Adams was amazing in her role as Ashley- the hospital scene was really amazing and touching. I don’t know how this movie has escaped me, but I’m happy to have finally seen it. Next up, Gosford Park.
Belgian frites have officially infiltrated the DC area. Served in paper cones with trios of mayonnaise, they really are somewhat irresistible. Just this past Sunday I had frites at brunch and frites at dinner. I have to say, they are a nice compliment to a glass of Kasteel Rouge. The restaurants that serve the ultimate in frite goodness: Brasserie Beck, Belga Cafe and Marvin.
Every popular District restaurant seems to be Belgian right now. One has to wonder what the tipping point was.
The National Portrait Gallery is one of my favorite museums in DC, mainly because the exhibitions are ever-changing but also because I have seen some amazing works of art during my visits. Among my favorite permanent works are the portraits of Toni Morrison by Helen Marcus and Tom Wolfe by Everett Raymond Kinstler. Two of my favorite past exhibitions–Henry Benson: Being There and the Outwin Boochever 2006 Portrait Competition were so awesome that I took several trips to see them while they were on display.
Yesterday I went for a gallery visit to find some interesting new exhibits. The current Portraiture Now exhibit “Recognize” features contemporary work inspired by hip-hop. The walls of the gallery hallway are lined with panels of graffiti and hip hop music emanates from one of the side rooms. Several of the other rooms feature larger than life paintings by Kehinde Wiley. His works of the kings of hip hop were visually sophisticated and included bright colors and ornate patterns. I was interested in his combinations of baroque style with contemporary subject matter. I was especially drawn to the colors in the portrait of LL Cool J. (below) And I have to say, I loved the portrait of Ice T, mainly because it was of Ice T (his one-liners on Law & Order are always classic).
I also got to view the limited-time portrait of Stephen Colbert, positioned between the men’s and women’s bathrooms outside the American President’s gallery. Among the other excited gallery-goers who were happily snapping shots of their kids standing underneath the comedian’s portrait, I must say I was somewhat disappointed. The quality of the painting was horrendous. It looked like a bad photo to which someone had added the Photoshop blur filter. I guess that’s the point, but the fact that people were crowded around that painting in the same fashion as people crowd around the Mona Lisa at the Louvre, well, that’s even more disappointing.
Another piece that I have long wanted to see was the enormous light installation of the map of the United States, part of the museum’s modern art collection. Each state on the map was outlined in neon light piping and each one contained a grouping of television sets upon which a video pertaining to the certain state was playing. Clips from “The Wizard of Oz” played in Kansas, the Empire State Building was featured in New York and a simple pan of a mound of potatoes made up Idaho. Much to my chagrin, North Carolina featured a rather dark clip of packs of cigarettes lit on fire. What? Um, what about the Wright Brothers? Or maybe the Blue Ridge parkway. I hate that tobacco is my home state’s “claim to fame.” All that aside, the piece was rather incredible and one that I’ll have to revisit while I’m still in the District!
