Pattiwagon Takes DC: Part 1

Tap, tap. Is this thing still on? It’s been a minute, loyal Pattiwagoneers. I hope you’ve found your way back here, and I hope you’ll stay a bit because this post is going to be epic (and drawn out into multiple posts). Why epic? Because I just returned from the magical fairy dreamland that is Washington, DC. And, still awash in the glow of our nation’s capital, I want to tell you all about it. (Correction: I wrote this right when I returned, let it sit for a few weeks as I am wont to do, but I’m back in DC for a long weekend to enjoy the sites, sounds, smells, and of course, the citizen(s). So, yeah, I figured now would be a good time to publish, awash anew in that glow.)

The Background:

Mike and Denise Dickens are long-time friends of my parents, and they were going to be traveling to Iceland and London for a month this summer. Knowing that I have the summers off and a healthy supply of wanderlust, they asked me to housesit for them. It was a symbiotic proposal, but I really feel like the bigger beneficiary. Although, I did keep their plants alive (for the most part) and house kept (for the most part).

Here I am, posing outside the house in my last moments before leaving. Awash.

This first post is going to focus on the museums I visited. Subsequent posts will be on food/drink and other activities. So consider me your DC museum tour guide for the next thousand words or so. (Yikes. Feel free to skip around.)

Museums Visited: 14 (12 of which were free)

Before I get into my list, I need to express how grateful I am to live in a country that supports these institutions. [Pattiwagon ‘bout to get political.] We are currently living under an administration that ostensibly denies the existence of climate change and feels very dicey on evolution. The National Museum of Natural History stands out as a particularly bright spot in this, our current political and educational sojourn to the Dark Ages. According to the Smithsonian, climate change and evolution are not up for debate. I am thankful that children (and adults) who may not be hearing that on the reg have a place to go for free, legitimate science education.

I was refreshing to see that the government-funded museums are not controlled by the impulses of a capricious president, but rather, the research performed by measured scientists. As far as government goes, I am much more Leslie Knope than Ron Swanson, and the Smithsonian Institution really speaks to the reasons why.  

So, without further ado, my museum list…

Newseum ($25): Always a winner, unfortunately we went two days before David Fahrenthold’s most famous notebook went on display. Next time.

Building Museum ($10): Following a recommendation for toddler activities in DC, Laurel and I took Henry here during nephew’s first DC trip. They have a miniature children’s museum here that encourages…building? Really, it was a giant playroom packed with toys. Henry loved it. In addition to housing the Building Zone, as it is called, the museum had exhibits on Frank Lloyd Wright and Architecture of the Asylum that I’ll save for next time. Maybe more so the FLW than the AotA though.   

National Air and Space Museum: Hadn’t been since elementary school. Very cool, but very overrun with middle schoolers. Of course I enjoyed the IMAX on life on the International Space Station. 

National Museum of Natural History: See above. I’m definitely more of an art museum girl (see below), but I’m really glad I went. And I saw a great IMAX on national parks. 

Hirshorn: Modern art museum with several unorthodox works by Yoko Ono currently on display. I hung two wishes on the Wish Tree, one personal wish and one political wish. You might be able figure out the latter. Periodically, the wishes are "harvested" and sent to Ono's Imagine Peace Tower in Iceland.

National Gallery of Art: Typical, overwhelming art museum spanning centuries. I downloaded the audio guide on my phone and was perfectly satisfied to spend the morning here. They are hosting a Vermeer exhibit in the fall with twelve of his forty paintings on display. Who's up for return? 

National Gallery of Art East Wing: Modern art – LOVED! Favorite parts were the Alexander Calder mobiles and the Byron Kim Synecdoche. Most memorable, however, would have to be this. Uh heh. 

Sackler Gallery: Asian art – liked it. Best exhibit was on Turquoise Mountain, a project that promotes artisans in Old Kabul, Afghanistan. They have rebuilt the city and are reviving the art industry with some amazing work in design. 

National Museum of African Art: Attached to the Sackler, great exhibit on the role of water in art. As an aforementioned (On the blog. Many years ago. No hard feelings if you don’t remember.) lover of all things water and all things art, this obviously spoke to me.

National Museum of African American History and Culture: If you haven’t heard, this may be the hottest museum in the country (world?) right now. Presold tickets are sold out months in advance, so in order to go, one must reserve day-of tickets online at 6:30AM. I woke up five times at 6:29AM in order to reserve, and on the fifth try, I finally lucked out. WORTH IT. I know that I may have a proclivity for the hyperbole, but I cannot overstate how wonderful this museum is. I started on the upper floors with exhibits that celebrate African Americans in sport and culture. I really enjoyed it, but what I came away with was, in two words, white appropriation. However, that was definitely a product of my white guilt and not something on which the museum curators focused. It truly was a celebration. I felt like this quote summed it up nicely: 

The bottom three floors guided me through the history of African Americans, beginning with slave trade and ending present day. The exhibits were numerous, and one thing I noted was how many of the artifacts had been given as gifts by the original owners. Really shows how committed those involved with the museum are to the educational mission. One of the coolest parts of the museum was the serenity room at the end of the museum. The indoor waterfall serves as a soothing presence after all the pain of history. As soon as I walked in, I saw the Sam Cook lyric, “A change is gonna come” on the wall, and tears sprung from my eyes. Hope springs eternal.

Postal Museum – I would not have visited this museum had Ellen not been visiting and wanting to scratch her philately itch. I’m so glad we went. Lots of exhibits and lots of stamps (who knew?!) to look at which were surprisingly interesting, but my favorite part was the kiosk in which we got to design our own stamps.

My surprise at the interest level of the Postal Museum immortalized in a stamp 

National Museum of American History – Honestly, not a lot to say here. First Lady exhibit was fine, but it felt very outdated. While I appreciate the “culture” that the First Ladies brought (and bring) to the White House, it feels a bit anti-feminist to go gaga over their china patterns and gowns. Perhaps a few more exhibits on their non-hostess-related contributions could create a better balance. Abigail Adams, where you at?

National Museum of the American Indian – Ellen and I went here, and full disclosure, I slept (sitting straight up on a bench, mind you) through the intro video. (I don’t know if my issues of sleeping through movies shown in public are well documented on this blog, but they should be.) The rest of the museum was interesting, but we both thought it was a little glossy with regards to the white man’s exploitation of American Indians. Granted, American Indians are much more than their mistreatment, so probably another case of white guilt.

United States Botanic Garden – Lots of winding paths through areas with plants from all climates, both indoors and out. Beautiful visit on a beautiful day.

National Portrait Gallery – Breezed through here one afternoon. Lots of portraits. Something about cat art before the age of the internet. I went to a lot of museums. May have been a bit delirious.

Perhaps you are feeling the same way if you made it down this far, so congratulations! Even though I visited all of these, in some ways, I feel like I just scratched the surface with regards to the cultural and educational opportunities in DC. So, next visit. I see a trend. 

Epic DC post #2 will cover many of my non-museum activities, so keep your eyes peeled for that. And, welcome back to the Pattiwagon!

Catch-up Post #3: #MeMadeMay

For those who follow me on Instagram, you know I (kind of) participated in the Me Made May project, in which crafters are encouraged to wear homemade items every day in May. I took the opportunity to make some new garments. Hopefully I'll make even more at Sewing Camp this week.

A tank and a romper made from the same batik. A nice batik makes any piece beautiful.

 

Work-appropriate top with hounds tooth and lace. 

Simple, no pattern chambray skirt. 

Refashioned shirt into tank with a great-grandmother lace overlay. 

Catch-up Post #2: PSAT Camp

As I alluded to in my last post, I've spent a big chunk of my summer getting ready for PSAT camp. For the past six years, our theme has been Hollywood, but this year, we're going Around the World. My co-teachers are crafty, but I'm not sure they enjoy it as much as I do, so I usually take the lead on the decor. Here's a post about Hollywood. Pretty impressive, right? We go big. Here's what I've done so far this summer: 

Painted flags on candy buckets. Kids love candy. 

Made four Brazilian fruit hats. We bought hats for each of our groups and could not find inexpensive and accessible hats for the Brazilian group. So I made them. More photos available on my Instagram. I like to pose.

Drew a bunch of signs. Inexplicably, I did not photograph the giant airplane I made, but these are the group signs, and photos of the kids will go in the head spaces. I am in love with these.

 

So suffice it to say, I'm excited for camp!

Catch-up Post #1: Tie Dye

This July I'll be teaching my usual summer camp. This will be the 7th year I've done it, and while you'd think we'd be good to go this year, we have a brand new test, brand new theme, and brand new school. So, yeah, not good to go. But we still have a month to get there.

Our theme is "Around the World" (a post on that later), and we'll be reading and doing activities from four countries. We have to find things that appeal to kids but can still involve learning. One of the activities we are going to incorporate is tie dyeing. Who doesn't love tie dye? And there's gotta be a math lesson there, right? In preparation for leading forty kids in a tie dye lesson, I needed to practice, and practice in bulk.

So, long story short, that's how I came to be tie dyeing here on the Patti Wagon. I spent one day last week trying out different methods and dyes on over-sized t-shirts. Not really having any use for a bunch of over-sized tees, I refashioned them into swimsuit coverups and tanks.

Annnnnnnddd, you can buy these tanks on my Etsy! That's right, Patti Wagon Designs has an Etsy.

This purple one is my favorite tie dye design.

    

     

But this macrame is my favorite shirt design.

I'm not a huge fan of this tie dye, but I would like to do more with the weaving macrame. After I hone my six pack, that is.

Spargelzeit!

Spargel is German for asparagus. And this is how Spargel usually appears on German plates:

What's that you say? You'd like to learn more about Spargel? I thought so.

• Germans go gaga for white asparagus for the two or so months that it's in season. What the tomato is to Ripley, TN in August, the Spargel is to Germany in May. 
• White asparagus is actually the same variety as green; it's just grown underground to prohibit the chlorophyll (or something science-y like that). 
• Asparagus was brought to Germany by the Romans and has been used as both an aphrodisiac and contraceptive over the years. 
• Germans love Spargel so much that they even shape their (vanilla) ice cream into asparagus spears. 

To celebrate the commencement of Spargelzeit, I made a new asparagus recipe. I followed the recipe here, but it's very simple. After washing and trimming the spears, dunk them in an egg mixture and then in a bread crumbs + parmesan cheese + corn starch mixture. Bake for 12-20 minutes at 400 degrees, depending on how narrow your spears are. I baked these for 12.

After they cooled a bit, I ate them dipped in a mayonnaise + lemon juice + S&P mixture. Delicious! (But if we're being honest, an old piece of leather would be delicious if dipped in mayo and LJ.)

I liked them so much, I decided to do the same treatment to some cauliflower florets. Again, yum! I'm thinking broccoli would also work.

Happy Spargelzeit!

My Big Break

My school was featured on one Memphis's local news stations as the "Cool School of the Week." Lucky me, I got to be interviewed, and I thoroughly appreciated the 30 seconds of notification I got. I'm generally terrible in front of the camera, and the more time I have to think about it, the worse I get. I think I did a'ight here. If the video doesn't play, you can go to this link for another view. And if that doesn't work, sorry, this is a low-tech blog.

In other school news, we are changing the theme of our summer workshop to "A Trip Around the World." For the last three years it's been Hollywood, as seen here. So my beloved MGM and Hollywood signs need to be replaced by maps and airplanes. I started work on a world map, and it's even bigger than Hollywood, clocking in at 8' by 14'. I'll keep you updated on my progress on what's beginning to feel like my life's work. 

How I Spent My Mourning

The undefeated were defeated, and I felt simply deflated. In order to soothe my fandom suffering, I threw myself the perfect Pattiwagon day today. Easter Monday was school holiday, and the Charleswood air improved my mood and got me psyched for summer.

My agenda: 

1. Sleep in, drink coffee and linger over my favorite crossword puzzle. 

2. Get to baking. While I haven't made very much sourdough lately, I've kept my starter on life support. I got two loaves of bread going, and with my discard cup, I made pineapple/carrot/banana/coconut muffins. LOVE that combo! The muffins are a little strange but a lot edible.

3. Go for a run. 5 miles. Not too shabby. 

4. Make a completely easy and completely inauthentic arroz con pollo.

5. Refashion a shirt, make a skirt, and top with great-grandmother lace.

The shirt started out as a giant long-sleeved top, which I turned tank. The skirt was a new creation. I bought five yards of this versatile chambray denim a few months ago, and a gathered skirt seemed like the perfect opportunity to use it. I wanted to incorporate some lace into the outfit and debated between making side cutouts or putting a patch on the back like I did here. I settled with just putting on this mini lace vest over the top. I love the juxtaposition of prison chic and delicate antiquity. I might end up chopping the skirt off a few inches, as I have a well-documented love of short skits, but at least now, I can wear it to work. 

6. Watch the championship (maybe) and cheer for Duke (maybe). And begin the countdown until next season.