Yesterday, my husband and I returned from a three-night getaway at the lovely Salamander Resort & Spa in Middleburg, Virginia…and I already miss it. My husband will be super swamped with work soon so he wanted to do a mini vacation while he had the chance! We initially considered going somewhere tropical like Puerto Rico, but we dialed it back and chose a place located just an hour and ten minute drive from DC.
1. Nocking Point Wine Club: I signed up for this club months ago and received my first shipment in March, then completely forgot to post about it because I’ve had so many DC-related things to share each week! Nocking Point is Stephen Amell‘s winery (you might know him as Oliver Queen on Arrow*) and it offers a wine club shipment for $100 per quarter. So every three months, members receive a selection of the winery’s wines, plus NP coffee beans and gear. For my first shipment I received three wines (a sparkling, a Malbec, and a Sauvignon Blanc), a bag of coffee beans, and a wine bottle insulator. So far I’ve consumed the coffee (tasty), the Malbec (pretty good), and used the insulator a couple of times. The June box will have Nerd HQ-branded rosé…and I can’t wait!
1. The Handmaid’s Tale: Hulu’s TV adaptation of the Margaret Atwood novel is simply stunning, disturbing…and terrifyingly relevant, given the current tenor of our world. The cinematography, direction, music, and above all, the acting, are top notch. The cast is jam-packed with incredible women: Elisabeth Moss, Ann Dowd, Yvonne Strahovski, Samira Wiley, and Alexis Bledel, to name just a few. I’m only three episodes in, but I’m hooked. Somehow I haven’t read the book yet, but it’s en route to my house and I’ll be diving in as soon as it arrives.
1. Statue of Freedom: on a recent lovely day I took a stroll on over to the U.S. Capitol Building Visitor Center and wandered around inside for a bit. I was very impressed by this full-size plaster model of the bronze statue that sits atop the Capitol dome. Just compare the size of the people in the photo to the size of the model. She’s quite grand, isn’t she? What a beauty.
I’m totally going to self-promote here for a second: did you know that I make soy candles and sell them on Etsy? I started this hobby after taking a soy candlemaking workshop and then getting a kit so I could make my own candles at home. I came up with the idea to make candles in twelve scents, one inspired by each month of the year, and all are available on my Etsy store, Zoe Walter Candles.*
So if you’re looking for a Mother’s Day gift, why not order a candle or two from my Etsy store? Mother’s Day is on Sunday, May 14 this year so there’s still time to get your order in. You can purchase a candle that represents Mom’s birth month, her favorite month, or even a set of candles for her favorite season. I don’t currently have a ton of inventory because I make small batches of three candles at a time, so get ’em while you can. 🙂
You can always find my candle shop through the link in the menu bar at the top of each page here on my blog. Or go ahead and favorite my shop directly on Etsy for easy access. Happy gift shopping!
*I named my store after our two wonderful cats!
Every year I look forward to the two Sephora VIB sales: each April, members get to take 15% off and in November, we get 20% off! The sale applies to everything in store and online, and is basically a feeding frenzy for beauty geeks like myself. I’ve done a pretty good job of restraining myself during these sales, but I ALWAYS take advantage of them because they’re too amazing to pass up!
1. Yayoi Kusama Infinity Mirrors: when I visited the Hirshhorn Musem to see the Orchids: A Moment exhibit I witnessed the insane lines for walk-up passes to the infinity mirrors exhibit, so I decided to start trying online for timed passes. Each Monday the museum releases free timed passes for the following week; I struck out on my first two Mondays, but the third time was the charm! I managed to snag three passes for last Friday, which coincided with a visit from my mom. So my husband, my mom, and I got to see this exhibit, and guys…it is so cool! There’s a lot of line waiting to get into the rooms—there are six of them and you only get 20-30 seconds inside each—but the museum has plenty of Kusama’s other work on display that you can wander around and view as well. The longest wait to enter a room was about 30 minutes, and the shortest was about five. It’s hard to say what my favorite part of the exhibit was, but I’ll go with the Love Forever peep show, pictured below. I highly recommend checking this exhibit out if you can (it runs through May 14)!
Remember when I got really excited about tarte cosmetics’ huge friends and family 30% off sale? I received my box of goodies within a few days of ordering and have been playing around with most of the products so I can tell you about them here. First things first: my order came packaged with unicorn-printed tissue paper that I’m totally keeping so I can re-use it in my niece’s birthday present!
My April Play! by Sephora box showed up last week but I’ve been busy with family visiting so I’m just now getting to sit down and write about it. April’s theme? Step it up!
1. Crumbs & Whiskers: last Friday I visited DC’s cat cafe, located in beautiful Georgetown. I made a reservation in advance online, which I highly recommend doing—several walk-ins stopped by during my session and were turned away because the place was at capacity. I spent $18 for 75 minutes of hangout time with the kitties (all of whom are up for adoption) and enjoyed my session there. When you arrive you can order coffee, tea, macarons, and other goodies and they’ll have them delivered from a nearby cafe. Then you get to play with and pet the cats! Last week they had 20 cats in residence, so it was a pretty full house. I was in love with this stunning Siamese guy Sammie, who literally just chilled in a furry chair the entire time. Crumbs & Whiskers is a must-visit for cat lovers!
