House of Sweden

The Swedish Embassy is located on the Georgetown waterfront, with its adjacent counterpart, the "House of Sweden." A great rooftop view of the Potomac from this nouveau architectural wonder with water running down its glass wall entryway.

Photo: Francis in concert at House of Sweden.

House of Sweden often throws fun events, like last Monday night's free concert with Francis and Miss Li. Those Swedes know how to rock.

Photos: House of Sweden night and day.


Check out House of Sweden's event listings here.

Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona

I've been working on a project in Petrified Forest National Park, northeast Arizona. This cover photo of one of the Park's planning documents struck me. Do you see the person standing among the rocks? It provides a scale of some of the outstanding vistas and mesas there.

The 93,533 acres of Petrified Forest contain America's largest deposits of petrified wood, a rich and colorful desert, many fossils of dinosaurs and other creatures, and more than 500 archaeological sites including amazing petroglyphs left by ancient cultures.

Photo: Blue Mesa, east central section.

In 1906 President Theodore Roosevelt created the nation's second national monument in the southern portion of the current park. His friendship with famed conservationist John Muir influenced his decision. While Muir is better known for his work in California and Yosemite, he spent time exploring this area and called it "a kaleidoscope fashioned by God's hand. After 56 years as a national monument Petrified Forest was finally made a national park on December 9, 1962.

Theodore Roosevelt

John Muir

Find out more about Petrified Forest National Park at: http://www.nps.gov/pefo/index.htm

Photos and research for this post also from this great "Park Vision" link: http://www.shannontech.com/ParkVision/PetForest/PetForest.html

Jamaica!

I just returned from an incredible trip to Jamaica. A great warm trip after a few blizzards here in D.C. and completing our busiest work season. Tom's work provided a free trip to Sandals resort for the both of us and his co-workers. We were hoping to see Michael Scott and Jan, but they weren't at this location.

1960's Mad Men Party

A co-worker threw an "Early 1960's Mad Men" theme party, complete with a era-themed drink station, recipes from a 1959 cookbook, 1960s decor, and Mad Men episodes playing alongside Mad Men dressed guests. A fun party, especially to mix up our cold post-blizzard days here in the Mid-Atlantic.

Photo: Tom and me

I have photos of the food and "sandwich loaf" making process, but they are not uploading. Here's an example:

Here are the actual photos from the party.

Photo: party host and the spread - orange Jello mold with marshmallow dessert in middle, Swedish meatballs, grapefruit with nut-coated chicken spears sticking out, herring spread, sandwich loaf, tartar sauce mold with seafood cooked in, plus other "delights."

Photo: real sandwich loaf! with olives on top. Easy cheese, mayonnaise, egg salad and other squishy ingredients make up the layers in between the multiple white bread slices in the middle.