National Dance Day

As a fan of So You Think You Can Dance, I heard about National Dance Day from Nigel Lithgow.

NATIONAL DANCE DAY, a grassroots initiative that encourages the nation, young and old, to move! Individuals, families, organizations and communities from across the nation come together through their creative expression in dance. Any style of dance is welcome and imagination is recommended in order to get the most out of this celebratory day.

To continue to generate national awareness for dance, a medium of expression and storytelling which, through shows like So You Think You Can Dance, has proven its value in bringing individuals from all walks of life together through a positive platform that has no boundaries and cultivates imagination and passion. Most importantly, the day is intended to promote health and wellness nationwide.

Learn more about it from the Dizzy Feet Foundation.

Ladies Night

Went to dinner with some friends last night at P.F. Chang's. It was my first time eating there and thanks to my friend Slav who gave me a giftcard for my birthday, dinner was free for me! Service was only okay - would have expected better for a Wednesday night but the food was good. We shared the spring rolls and crispy green bean:

For dinner I had the VIP DUCK - A tender half duck served Cantonese-style and glazed with a sweet soy plum sauce. Served with flatbread, scallions and cucumbers.

Thanks Ladies for a great night!

Laugh Medicine

Open Mic: FREE Comedy SHOW
8:00pm to 10:00pm
The second and fourth Thursday of the month.

Pizzeria Venti
301 John Carlyle St
Alexandria, VA 22314
One block off of Duke Street
(703) 299-9820

Hosted By:
Adaylah Banks

New York

Max and I spent the weekend in New York City. On Friday we had dinner at Dos Caminos as part of Restaurant Week.

Saturday we walked around Soho (despite the 90+ temperatures). I had a bagel and cream cheese for from Dean & Deluca on Broadway - that place is heaven! Max had a small red velvet cupcake from a street cart, followed by a gyro from a street fair (on Bleecker St. from Broadway - 6th Avenue). He bargained in Mandarin for me to get three pairs of earrings for $20.

Also walked through the crowds on Canal Street. Crazy

Saturday night was Angela & Alan's wedding at the Tibeca Rooftop. What an amazing space! Perfect for a New York wedding.

Sunday we had a light breakfast at Jacques Torres Chocolate. Took the Acela train back to DC.

The makings of an art installation

City of Alexandria Department of Recreation, Parks & Cultural Activities

Today at lunch I went to listen to the Joe Rathbone Band, they were playing in John Carlyle Circle. They were good! And it wasn't too hot out, which was nice. While I was there, someone from the City of Alexandria gave me the list of events for August, so I thought I would share it with you.

Summer trip to Canada

It was an action packed week with the family! On Sunday, my parents took us to Stratford to see The Tempest (with Christopher Plummer).

On Monday, my Dad took us ona tour of some of the Niagara wineries. We went to Puddicombe Estate Farms and Winery, Kittling Ridge Wine Estates and Spirits, Magnotta Winery, and Legends Estate Winery. I tried lots of ice wine - delicious!

On Tuesday, I baked a Rhubarb Upside Down Cake.

On Wednesday, we had dim sum with my brother and sister at Harvest Moon Chinese Cuisine. Then we went to see my sister's new house.

On Thursday we went shopping and then to Webster's Falls for a picnic lunch.

On Friday, my brother and his girlfriend took us swimming at McMaster University's athletic center. We had lunch with my parents and then all of us drove to Port Dover.

The week went by quickly!

Urbanspoon

Capelet

I knit this up over the weekend:



It's for me to wear in the office when my shoulders get cold... which usually happens in the summer when I dress for outside instead of inside.

Funky mushrooms

Gipsy Kings

Last night Max and I went to Wolf Trap to see the Gipsy Kings. We got the tickets for free from a neighbor and it included access to the Encore Circle - free drinks and free food! It was such a great night. We had alot of fun and really enjoyed the music.

Baptized

Cold Sleep Permanent Afternoon

by Ray Hsu

A long-awaited new release from Ray Hsu.

Cold Sleep Permanent Afternoon, the follow-up to Ray Hsu’s award-winning first collection, Anthropy, is the second book in a prospective trilogy that explores the “grammar of personhood.”

Whereas Anthropy approached the human condition through the prism of first-, second- and third-person perspectives, Cold Sleep Permanent Afternoon uses the grammatical concepts of singular and plural as grid-lines to chart contemporary life and concerns both harrowing and humane. Extending from this principal division, Hsu explores the borders between civic engagement and domesticity, dissent and accord, freedom and restriction—each of these are tested against another and framed by the tension between the collective and the individual. With Cold Sleep Permanent Afternoon, Ray Hsu presents our landscape in stark light, confronting the human drama that is manifesting within our lives, and investigating how we make sense of ourselves and the world we have wrought.

Ray is a friend of mine from the University of Toronto. We both studied English and were neighbors for several years.

East Moon Asian Bistro

Last night, Max and I went out to dinner with our friend Slav. Tried out a new restaurant in the Kingstowne area, East Moon Asian Bistro. They just opened last month.

Max and Slav had sushi to start. They seemed to like it very much. I had the strawberry! :)



For dinner I had the crispy duck which was fantastic. Slav had the pad thai which he enjoyed. Max had a chicken cutlet like dinner which was also very tasty.



Plus the price is right! Half the entrees were under $10. And Slav got to try a new Japanese soda, Ramune. It's very interesting - there's a marble in it. Oh, and my fortune cookie:

Do the right thing because it is right. Have the courage to face it.

Happy Canada Day!

"Canadians have been so busy explaining to the Americans that we aren't British, and to the British that we aren't Americans that we haven't had time to become Canadians." - Helen Gordon McPherson

"Canadians are generally indistinguishable from Americans, and the surest way of telling the two apart is to make the observation to a Canadian." - Richard Staines

"Americans are benevolently ignorant about Canada, while Canadians are malevolently well informed about the United States." - J. Bartlet Brebner

"When I'm in Canada, I feel this is what the world should be like." - Jane Fonda

"Canada has never been a melting-pot; more like a tossed salad." - Arnold Edinborough

"I read and learned and fretted more about Canada after I left than I ever did while I was home. I absorbed anything I could on topics that ranged from folklore to history to political manifestos... I ranted and raved and seethed about things beyond my control. In short I acted like a Canadian." - Will Ferguson

"The natural beauty of Canada is extraordinary." - President Barack Obama

"In history class, in seventh grade (or as we like to say in Canada, grade seven) we learned the story of the American Revolution — from the British perspective. Turns out you were all a bunch of ungrateful tax cheats. And you weren’t very nice to the Loyalists. What I miss most about Canada is getting the truth about the United States."— Malcom Gladwell