Things to do with Mom
My Mom is the type that needs schedules and planned activities. She is not of the type that will wander off to a coffee shop and read the latest James Patterson (that would be Dad). And as this is like her zillioneth trip here, we have already covered the basics - White House, Congress, National Monuments, War memorials, and museums.
So whats a girl to do to show Mom a good time around town?
1) Mom-daughter manicure/pedicure: this is where you sit side by side and chit chat while 2 Korean ladies attend to both your hands and feet. Typically all zen and relaxing... except if you end up in some place with a crazy old lady and her 60 year old husband who is 'in training'.
2) An indie Art Gallery: A collection of photography and artwork under the theme "Love brings us together, Love tears us apart." Uplifting and melancholic at the same time. I thought my mother would find it too 'edgy' but she loved it. I liked it too, and even got some ideas for a collage I want to do with old faded family pictures.
3) Author reading @ Politics and Prose. One of my favorite writers, Anne Lamott, who writes modern memoir with a spiritual bent, has got a new book out called Grace (Eventually). She writes in an wry, irreverent and contemporary way about old subjects like faith, compassion, and "learning to cooperate, with grace, when life rears its very confusing head".
4) DC Environmental Film Festival: screening of a short film about Rachel Carson's cult book Silent Spring followed by a talk on it, at the National Archives. Very important book, credited with founding the modern environmental movement.
5) An intimate dinner out with your closest friends and Mom. They'll all jabber away while you sit back, relax, and take in the place. But try to avoid having your friends and your Mom ganging up on you with "anecdotes" that only they find funny.
6) Looking for aprts/homes on Capitol Hill. If you are thinking of buying anything, getting parental involvement/approval early on is always a good thing. a) They love that stuff, and b) otherwise you'll never hear the end of it. They like to ensure its a 'suitable' neighborhood, that the walk/drive to the dry cleaners is 'reasonable', and that the guest bedroom is 'large' enough for them. All critical matters.
7) Shopping, shopping, shopping. My mother and I are the exact same size and body shape. The same stuff looks good (or hideous) on both of us. We also have the exact same taste (except I'd say I am a little more classic, she is a little trendier) and we have similar budgets. So its fun picking clothes to try on, and buying a handful of stuff that either one of us can wear.
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