top 10 of 2008

My friend Laura challenged her friends to do this at the onset of the new year: write down your top 10 happenings of the previous year. These can be anything but try to be specific. So think back, way back to last January, February, and March and write them down. It's guaranteed to help you see the blessings in your life and is much more fun than setting resolutions for yourself.

So, here's mine. (fashionably late)

10. Netflix
9. Traveling to Munich with my sister
8. Designing and completing The Aztec World at the Field Museum
7. The adoption of my dear cat, Lila
6. Barack Obama
5. The first spring sunrise of 2008 (it happens every year, you'll know it when you see it)
4. Improving my knitting skills (among others)
3. Fantastic concerts: Fleet Foxes, Bon Iver, Eef Barzelay, Rue Royale, Andrew Bird, Phosphorescent, Rogue Wave, Dr. Dog (among several others)
2. July 3 fireworks! (and the whole summer, really)
1. Building a new relationship (JZ) / Welcoming new life (nephew Noam) (these tied for first)

DC

i love productive days off. laundry, cleaning, errands, freelance, cooking...blogging (finally) :) Things seem to have settled down a bit since the holidays and it's good to be able to catch up on some things that were neglected.

and hey, tomorrow is inauguration! woohoo! I won't be attending the festivities in DC, but I was able to check out the scene at the National Mall last weekend while visiting John. The Capitol's west lawn was being prepared for the millions of people who will be attending this year's swearing-in ceremony and inaugural address. I've never seen so many lawn chairs!



While in DC we also checked out a few museums: The National Gallery of Art, The National Museum of the American Indian and the Air and Space Museum. The National Gallery was my favorite on this trip (both the East and West buildings are phenomenal) but the National Museum of the American Indian was beautiful in it's own way. I felt the architecture of the actual museum out-shined the display of the artifacts. (I'm having some troubles posting more pictures, I'll try again later.)

I got some really exciting news last week from my boss. This spring I'll be attending the American Association of Museums annual conference in Philadelphia! I'm very excited about it. Museum exhibitors, designers, curators, and administrators from across North America gather for this event every year and this will by my first year attending. Lots of great minds and ideas to share and be shared. I can't wait.

Hey guys, Lila here. I'm just keepin' the keys warm while Sarah gets a glass of water. She hasn't blogged in a while so I thought I'd quickly say 'hi' from the both of us. I'll tell her you all miss her and that she needs to blog again soon. ciao!

supersized

You know what's annoying? big croutons.
Sure they're tasty and are a nice alternative to crackers for an afternoon snack, but in a salad? with a fork? Am I missing the technique or are fingers an approved method?

There are, of course, lots of annoying things in this world, least of all croutons, but they randomly came into my head today. This morning, actually. On my way to work. With not a large crouton in sight.

Happy belated thanksgiving to you all.
Sarah

one nation.

I'm a bit behind on this, I do realize, but I'm going to post about it nonetheless.
Election day is finally over! Hooray for that and hooray for change.
History was made 12 days ago and I was able to participate in the celebration first-hand at Obama's election night rally in Grant Park. i took lots of photos

finito!

Well friends...the exhibit is finally open. And I'm proud to say that it's received nothing but rave reviews and encouraging words thus far. I don't like to beat a dead horse, (what an incredibly horrible cliché) by talking about it all the time, but I'm really excited about the completion of 19 months of work :) Click HERE for some pictures of the process.

Next thing that needs to be wrapped up: this election.

amen?

mosaic of me

The above mosaic of images represents my visual answers to the questions below.
1. What is your first name? (sarah)
2. What is your favorite food? (cheese)
3. What high school did you attend? (Unity Christian)
4. What is your favorite color? (turquoise)
5. Who is your celebrity crush? (George Clooney)
6. Favorite drink? (coffee)
7. Dream vacation? (greece)
8. Favorite dessert? (banana cream pie)
9. What do you want to be when you grow up? (wise)
10.What do you love most in life? (relationships)
11.One word to describe you? (silly)
12.Your Flickr name? (sarahcfranken)


To create your own 'mosaic of me' image: Type your answer to each of the above questions into Flickr search. Using only the images that appear on the first page, choose your favorite and copy and paste each of the URL’s into the mosaic maker (3 columns, 4 rows).


Here are the sources of my selections:
1. Before the world was made… the innerlight of Sarah.K was!!! :))), 2. Day 158/365: Grilled cheese - yummm, 3. Watering the Wall of Indifference, 4. frame, 5. 9. The original., 6. coffee & the city, 7. Downstairs to the volcano, 8. Mini Chocolate Banana Cream Pies, 9. Black Hmong woman Song…, 10. SCALA, 11. May & Momo, 12. light values

Signs of Hope and Change

I have never gotten political on this blog before and I don't really intend to start now, but I have to share this video with you. It's powerful, it's concise, it's the message Obama is trying to send out: that we're all in this together and we all have a responsibility when it comes to bringing about the change America needs. We are our brothers' keeper.

Music by one of my favorites, The National.

interesting commute.

I waited for the bus for 25 minutes this morning, which is an unusually long time to wait, especially during rush hour.

Since the number of people waiting for the bus compounds every minute a bus fails to appear, the final tally of people who swarmed the door was comparable in size and fervor to the group of people protesting the republican national convention last night.

Pretty intense.

When I finally got my turn to step on the bus, it was already standing room only, which was fine by me since I had a good view of the lake and the constantly changing landscape of cars riding next to the bus.

One driver was texting with BOTH hands and steering with her knee.

Then a very expensive looking Mercedes SUV pulled up and the attractive young man driving was. rocking. out. Complete with head banging, lip-syncing, and full-on-two-handed-air-drumming (don't forget the cymbal crash). What struck me as the most comical was the beautiful young lady sitting next to him looking unamused, annoyed, and very tired. Poor girl.

In the back seat of an upcoming subaru sat a teenager (looked to be around 13) reading the Wall Street Journal, while his intelligent looking parents sat up front having a very heated discussion.

The next car contained a lady talking into her bluetooth headset while animatedly flailing both her arms about. So much for a hands-free device I guess.

Make-up applying, coffee drinking, cell phone talking, radio adjusting, head banging commuters....and that doesn't even include the people on my bus.

sangria!

Then Labor Day came and went
And we shed what was left of our summer skin.
— Death Cab for Cutie, "Summer Skin" (Off their 2005 album, Plans)

In celebration of the unofficial end to a truly fabulous summer, I made some sangria yesterday and invited some friends over to drink with me on my roof. It was a lovely dark night, the company was pleasant, and the sangria was delicious. Here is the recipe I used:

Ingredients:
2 bottles red Spanish table wine
1 cup brandy
1/2 cup triple sec
1 cup orange juice
1 cup pomegranate juice
1/2 cup simple syrup, or more to taste (equal parts sugar and water, heated until sugar dissolves, cooled)
Orange slices
Peach slices
Blackberries
Pomegranate seeds

Directions
Mix all ingredients together and let stand in a tightly sealed container or pitcher for at least 24 hours in the refrigerator before serving.