Spring in D.C.-Cherry Blossoms Bring Out the Best of Everything!

Spring in Washington, D.C. It's my favorite time in the nation's capital. Why? The misery of winter has faded away along with the gray skies, snow, sleet, rain and wind (well, the wind is still around) ...replaced with longer days, warmer temperatures and cherry blossoms! When the cherry blossoms bloom so does the city. There is a sense of excitement in the air and you can see it and feel it everywhere. Scarfs, winter coats, and unhappy people have been replaced by smiling faces in bright colors-happy to be outside.

Restaurants create menus around the festivities. Bakeries create commemorative cherry blossom cupcakes in honor of the festival (check out Hello Cupcake) and local mixologists concoct unique cocktails around them.


But, it's the cherry blossoms themselves that always steal the spotlight. Thousands of people from across the nation and abroad always find themselves in awe as they walk through groves of cherry blossoms, search for the perfect spots to have picnics and click hundreds of photos, hoping to get the perfect one.


This was my fourth time to experience the cherry blossom festival in D.C. The first time I had ever seen these delicate flowers was in Okinawa, Japan, in February. I was only a teenager then and don't think I appreciated them the way I do now. As we meandered through the tidal basin to the Jefferson Memorial, our final destination, I found myself experiencing so many emotions--happiness, peace, excitement. I don't know if it was the pink that tickled me or simply knowing that spring had finally arrived, but I can tell you this-it's my favorite time of year in this amazing city!

What do we wish for ....

Last night, I watched one of my favorite movies, which also happens to be one of my favorite books: Under the Tuscan Sun. I don't know what it is about stories of Europe or stories of people who desert their tired, unhappy lives to somewhere new and different to revive them. In Under the Tuscan Sun, Francis Mayes finds herself unhappy and alone after a terrible divorce. During a trip to Tuscany, she bumps into a beautiful home owned by an Italian countess, makes a quick decision and and becomes the owner of this old home. Though, life isn't what she first pictured it to be--it becomes it. She is given everything she wishes, and in the meantime, she absorbs herself into a new culture, absolute strangers become best friends and the most important thing is that she finds happiness!


One of my other favorite books is called Almost French. I came across it at a bookstore one day, picked it up and couldn't put it down. Sarah, a freelance travel journalist, finds herself in Paris, after meeting a young, French journalist in Budapest who insists she must come to Paris. Wearing shorts and a t-shirt, she lands in Charles De Gaulle Airport, worried that she's made a huge mistake-but that all changes the minute she is greeted by her new friend who later becomes her husband! She learns the dos and don'ts have French life (and it's hysterical and eye-opening). She learns how not to walk out to grab breakfast in your sweats (even if you're just picking up breakfast from the local patisserie), or at a party, it's not proper to become bartender, refilling glasses of champagne. But, as she spends more and more time in Paris, she finds herself becoming a Parisian (well almost). It's a fun story and one that I am so happy that I bumped into.



I'd been living in Washington, D.C. for more than a year and it hasn't been easy. I have been torn between Charleston (my hometown) and D.C. I've been wanting to come home because I feel that I belong here, people know me, and respect me. I miss Charleston, but is it the right decision to return? I don't know now. Right now I am alone (well, it's me and Nikki) and D.C. can be a cold city, but isn't that how any new place can be? I've had more ups and downs, but isn't that everyone's story? It may not be Paris. It may not be Tuscan country, but each of these women found themselves again.