Miss Swan Goes to Washington: January 2013

Friday, 25 January 2013

'Tis the Season

'Tis the season for decking the halls,

the city,

and the gravestones, too.

Arlington Cemetery

'Tis the season for finding true love . . .

Caught my roommate and her brand-new fiance smooching in the balconies at the National Cathedral's Messiah performance.

. . . Or being alone forever.

Tis the season for magical performances . . .

The opening number of Elf The Musical is "I'm happy all the time." How could the show NOT be good?

Peter and the Starcatcher didn't win 5 Tony Awards for nothing

. . . and Christmas parties with 2,000 accountants.

'Tis the season for puckering up . . .

Well I can't say I'm surprised to see you waiting under the mistletoe. Our house's 2nd annual ugly sweater party.

Domineau's kiss (left) and mine (right). I need some pointers

. . . and rocking out.

Ashley's rock 'n roll birthday bash

'Tis the season for this country,

and these children,

Look, they can almost see over the board!

Never mind all the toys and candy, Daphne just kept hugging her Christmas orange

World's next T-Swift

Sleepovers with Bieber

and subsequently these sicknesses,

Every time I go to Canada WITHOUT FAIL I come back with some sticky kid's germs. This year's model: sinus infection, pink eye, and strep throat. Thanks to my brave friends for visiting me and taking every needed precaution.

and a lot of watching this:

The humans are dead (or at least this human feels like she is almost there)

And best of all, 'tis the season for welcoming some newcomers to the Swan clan!

Little Rosemary and Evangeline, born two weeks apart!

Fa la la la la la la la la.

Wednesday, 2 January 2013

Miss Swan Goes to Iceland: Part II

When you visit a place as magical as Iceland, you can't help but build up some expectations in your imagination. Did Iceland exceed everything I dreamed it to be? You be the judge.

Who I thought I’d meet:

Elves, elves, and more elves

Who I actually met:

Dear Raol, the crepe man who likes to party.

Jensen wouldn't stop talking about his new friend Rafi, who gave him a panini one night when he went out alone. We all thought Jensen was off his rocker, until one day who should show up in the city square but Rafi, the panini saint! Jensen was never happier.

What I thought I’d eat:

What I actually ate:

Ok, so we didn't really eat sheep's head soup. But we did eat fermented shark, whale, and reindeer

What I thought Eyjafjallajokull would look like:

What Eyjafjallajökull actually looked like:

What I thought we’d do for fun:

Chess, anyone? Apparently Bobby Fischer is the first honorary Icelandic citizen and lived here until his death in 2008.

What we actually did for fun:

"Don't you think that black-tie party downstairs could really use some jungle animals?"

Initially, people were taken aback by the monkey, zebra, cheetah, and fox who crashed their party...

But pretty soon, they embraced their animal spirit and joined us.

...they even let us up on the stage!

Party animals all tuckered out. Dancing in flanel is steamy.

What I thought we'd wear:

What we actually wore:

Rufio! Rufio! Ru - Fi - OHHHHHHHH!

The dogs I thought I’d meet:

The dog I actually met:

Basically the same thing.

What I thought I’d see in the sky:

What we actually saw in the sky:

And what we thought about that:

I don't know about you, but sans the northern lights downer, I'd say the magic of Iceland was beyond my wildest dreams, elves or no elves!

Miss Swan Goes to Iceland: Part I

In the cinematic classic D2: The Mighty Ducks, Coach Bombay helped children everywhere learn all about Iceland.

Coach Bombay: I thought Iceland was covered with ice?
María: No, it's very green!
Coach Bombay: I thought GREENLAND was green!
María: Greenland is covered with ice, and Iceland is very nice!

Since The Mighty Ducks was my only baseline for this misnamed arctic country, I had a lot to learn about elves, Bjork, and volcanoes before taking off. Some tidbits I picked up:

Iceland is...

the newest geological land mass in the world
the only place where it's "Talk Like a Viking Day" EVERYDAY. (No serious, Icelandic is closer to Old Norse than any other modern language)
an army-free country
the first country to directly elect a female president
the first country to have an openly gay head of goverment in 2009

Icelandair promotes cheap and flights from DC, NY, and Boston as incentive for people to layover in Reyjavik en route to mainland Europe. It's much more accessible than you probably think; going to Iceland took half the time and was cheaper than my trip home to Calgary for Christmas. This country is nothing short of magical.

The Blue Lagoon

The water is so packed with minerals in this region that it looks turquoise

Salty Icelandic mud masks...mmm

Just because.

Legend has it these waters are enchanted by mermaids

We found Megan Fox in Iceland!

Reykjavik

Hallgrimskirkja Church

View of Reykjavik from the bell tower

I'm convinced the houses are all so brightly colored to compensate for the 6 hours of daylight they get during the winter

Oh my. Oh my. Yoko Ono (sabatoger of the Beatles and all things good) had this "Imagine Peace" tower built in honor of John Lennon. Each year, she comes out to light it on his birthday (October 9), and it shines a powerful geothermal light shaft for a few months until his death day (December 8). Thanks, Yoko.