wanna visit me?

the correct answer to that question is yes :)

this year, i'll be hosting at least three fabulous visits. 1) InSlut came down at the beginning of spring break 2) HB is coming to town for a few days in april and 3) my girls will be in town for our quarterly awesomeness later in the year. i'm all about being a good hostess so i'm always searching fun things to do around town

for InSlut's trip, i kept it simple. there may be a ton to do between baltimore, annapolis and dc (i love living in this area), but i want to pace myself. while the girls and i enjoyed a whirlwind visit last year, we didn't have a chance to do everything on my checklist. additionally, he has a few personal constraints that make certain activities less ideal. as such, i figured we'd have a lazy day one day and visit two of my top three places (papermoon diner and the american visionary art museum) the next day. rounding out the top three is the aquarium, but i wasn't in the mood to wade through a sea of children to see the sharks. i'll save that for another time :) since InSlut is an artist, i was a bit hesitant that he wouldn't enjoy the eclectic aesthetic of papermoon and the visionary. he, however, enjoyed both immensely. he was critical of some of the works at the visionary ("i could probably get my stuff in here"), but we were both falling over ourselves when we reached the final exhibit. if you're following me on twitter, you may vaguely recall my gushing over this a bit

the exhibit contains a few select pieces from the collection of eugene von bruenchenhein's paintings. you can view the nearly complete online collection here. unfortunately, the online database does not capture how truly amazing von bruenchenhein was. i was blown away by the colors used in his works. even 50 years later, the paintings are so vibrant, the paint as vivid as they day he painted. J loved his technique, how von bruenchenhein used various household objects to create varying textures in each image. the paintings leap at you; every angle reveals something new and intriguing. we (mostly) joked about having a couple pieces translated into tattoos. if my boy gets a sleeve*, i already know what it will look like :) our only disappointment is the newness of the exhibit. because it was only a little over a week old at the time, the sideshow (visionary gift shop) didn't yet have any corresponding take home items. i've got my fingers crossed for postcards in the coming months. the exhibit will run until march of next year, and you can bet your sweet tushie that i am taking HB to see it next month :) 

*sleeve: tattoo that covers the arm from shoulder to wrist
[cross posted/edited]