Tuesday, April 26, 2016

Birthday in DC



On April 22, I turned 16, which is apparently a big deal as birthdays go.  There are entire TV shows revolving around sweet 16 parties, but I'm not much of a party kind of person, and half my friends live in another state since I moved, so for my own birthday, I decided to forgo that tradition.  Instead, I took a weekend trip to Washington DC with my family and seized the hell out of that weekend.


Since I happen to be a huge nerd, my first priority was the Smithsonian museums, starting off with the National Air and Space Museum, which is essentially a collection of air planes, rockets, and space-related things.  I saw planes flown in WWII, touched a moon rock, and fell asleep during a phenomenal planetarium presentation narrated by Neil deGrasse Tyson.


I then dragged my family into the American Art Museum, where they all thought they were going to be miserable but actually loved.  Seeing Van Gogh, Monet, Renoir, and da Vinci paintings in real life is pretty surreal, especially considering that the paintings themselves were created centuries ago.  My personal favorite was this Van Gogh painting, which I bought a print of:


We went to my favorite pizza place for dinner in this little neighborhood that had a lot of character.  The buildings were all unique from one another and quite a few had painted murals.  Bonus:  I met a dog, which is pretty much the best thing ever.


Across from the pizza place is this little independent bookstore called Idle Time Books


We wandered around in there for a while, staring at the stacks of books.  I love the cozy, warm feel of small bookstores.


The following day we took the metro to go visit the memorials and monuments.  Can we talk about how cool subway systems are for a moment?  Not only are they super effective transportation, they also have this eerie, otherworldly vibe to them that probably has something to do with the fact that they're underground.  

First on the list was the Washington Monument, which I took about a million photos of. In person, it doesn't quite look real.  It is impossibly tall and I don't think my brain could quite process it.


We walked to the WWII, Vietnam, and Lincoln memorials next.  We did so much walking over the course of two days that I'm not sure my feet will ever recover.  All of the memorials are beautiful and extremely crowded, but the Lincoln Memorial was my favorite.

  
It wasn't until Sunday that we had my birthday cake since someone forgot it at home, but it was well worth the wait.  Turning 16 is insane.  Yesterday I could have sworn I was celebrating my 10th birthday, back when I had short hair and thought high school was like a Disney movie (but, really, I expected all situations to be similar to Disney movies).  

Being 16 probably isn't all what the movies have it cracked up to be, but hey, maybe I'll finally experience my sudden awakening of magical abilities.  You never know.

  
More photos:


20 comments:

  1. Whoop! Happy Birthday Erin!<33 I'm glad you had an amazing time! I've never been an art person, but I love history so I love going to museum and art gallery. They just have a certain feel that makes you feel comfortable you know? Anyways, have an amazing year ahead!<33

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    1. Thank you, Tasya! I love going to museums, they're so fun. I always get lost in them... Art galleries are so quiet though. Anyways, thanks for commenting! ♥

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  2. *pops out of nowhere*
    *starts throwing glitter everywhere*
    *blows on huge trumpet*
    *squeals*

    HAPPY BIRTHDAY ERIN!! By the way, that Van Gogh painting looks beautiful! I don't really have a talent of painting stuff with my hands (I'm more of a digital person) but I do like staring at pretty things. xD

    Glad to hear you enjoyed your trip, and I hope you'll have more fun birthdays to come! ❤️

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    1. THANK YOU, MARA! I love Van Gogh. I still can't believe he never sold a single painting! Thanks so much for commenting! ♥

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  3. Aw Happy Birthday!!!! Seems like an amazing time. I would so rather do a trip like that then have a party - when I was 16 and now in my 30's. I still have not been to DC which is insane because I am not that far. You make me want to go now!!! AND I hope you do wake up with magical abilities :)

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    1. Thank you, Grace! It was a lot of fun. I would choose a trip over a party any day. DC is so fun if you have the chance to go! And we'll see about the magical abilities--there's no sign of them yet. Thanks for commenting! ♥

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  4. HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Your trip looks like it was super fun. I'd love to visit that art museum, and THE LITTLE BUILDINGS ARE SO CUTE AND PRETTY.
    Cozy bookstores are the best - I bought wayyyyy too many books in local bookstores while I was in NOLA.
    THE WASHINGTON MONUMENT IS SO FREAKING TALL IKR?!?!? My favorite monument when I went was the FDR one, mainly because I was eight and I loved the little statue of his dog Fala. Things I wish I'd gotten to were the Holocaust and International Spy Museums. Oh, well - just an even better excuse for going back sometime!

    Ellie | On the Other Side of Reality

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    1. THANK YOU, ELLIE! It was such a great trip. I love all the character and energy cities have. And they always have a lot of indie book stores to choose from. AND SERIOUSLY, HOW CAN SOMETHING BE THAT TALL? We didn't get to the FDR one, but I'm sure we will go back again to do all the things we missed. There's so much to do! Thanks for commenting! ♥

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  5. HAPPY BIRTHDAY YOU OLD OLD BEAN!! (Okay, I can't really say that since I'm older, ahem. BUT STILL.) Your trip and birthday just all look soooo amazing (including that delicious looking cake) and so much FUN. Bookstores! HUZZAH!!! And I love that Van Gogh painting too. Omg. AAAALL THE HaPPY FOR THIS POST.

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    1. I FEEL SO OLD. But also incredibly young. It was a MARVELOUS trip, honestly. The cake was the best part, obviously. And seeing all those old paintings was kind of mind boggling... Thanks so much for commenting, Cait! ♥

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  6. OMG WHY DID I ONLY SEE THIS NOW??? Happy birthday Erin! Seriously you've been such a sweet and kind blogger buddy, and I'm so glad to have met you so as to talk about books and blogs and the like <3 SWEET 16 THOUGH! Can't believe we're in the same year! I'm turning 16 later this year, haha. I've always thought I was one of the youngest in this community.

    I loved looking at your trip photos because I've been to Washington DC 8 years ago when I was around 7 years old. It makes me so nostalgic because it was a long time ago! The bookstore looks so lovely, and I wish I could check it out if they had something like that in Manila, haha. I hope you had a great time in DC, really! And belated happy birthday, by the way! <3

    Jillian @ Jillian's Books

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    1. Thank you, Jillian! I am so glad I met you through blogging, especially since we are the same age. 16 is strange, because it means I'm now the age of a lot of my old favorite characters, but my life is definitely not as interesting. DC was pretty exciting, though. I'm definitely going to visit it again soon. Thanks so much for commenting! ♥

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  7. I missed your birthday? OMG, I'm so sorry! *terrible friend alert*. Happy belated birthday, anyway!! It looks like you had such an amazing trip. It looks so sunny there too! *cries bc it SNOWED here yesterday. It's hailing now. rip*. Did you get any books from the book shop you went too? It looks like such a cute place - I love indies, especially if they're in a new place I'm visiting! The art gallery looks so beautiful too. I'm so glad you had such a good time! ♥

    Denise | The Bibliolater

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    1. I probably should have tweeted about it or something! Thanks, Denise! I love taking trips, and this one was no exception. The weather was perfection, even though it did rain one morning. But SNOW?! That's insane. And I didn't get any books from the bookstore, but I just love being inside of them. They have such a good vibe. Thanks so much for commenting, Denise! ♥

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  8. Woo, happy belated 16th, Erin! Looks like you had such an awesome time, I'm so happy you enjoyed yourself!

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    1. Thanks, Geraldine! I had a fantastic time for sure. Thanks for commenting! ♥

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  9. I know I'm really late commenting on this, and I've already said it, but I'm gonna say it again anyway - HAPPY BIRTHDAY ERIN!!!! Yay we're the same age again! I hope your magical powers manifest sometime soon, I'm still waiting for mine...
    DC looks so cool! You've made me really want to go; hopefully I'll cross the Atlantic someday XD And yes yes yes for Van Gogh and also underground subway transportation systems, haha!
    And that bookstore looks so cute. Also, in the birthday cake photo, am I right in saying that I think I can see someone in the background holding a Toblerone? Because y'know that's my favourite chocolate, so... good taste there ;-)
    I'm so glad you had a nice birthday! ♥

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    1. THANK YOU (AGAIN), REBEKAH! That few weeks where we weren't the same age was scary. This way we can experience our awakening of magical powers together. DC is super fun, though! I hope you can go one day. And yes! That's my brother holding the Toblerone. My whole family is obsessed with that chocolate. It's so good. Thanks so much for commenting, Rebekah! ♥

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  10. HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY ERIN!!!

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