when i woke up this morning in a rotten mood, i knew i needed to get out of the house and walk around to clear my mind. when i was trying to figure out what to do, i remembered an article i had read about an exhibit at the national portrait gallery of president obama's and president lincoln's faces made up of thousands of cupcakes. this seemed like a perfectly fun and whimsical thing to do, so i gathered up every. single. piece of energy and positivity that i had and headed downtown.
after stopping by the library to get some books, i went across the street to the gallery, where i walked through some awesome (read into that) modern art displays to get to the cupcakes.
after stopping by the library to get some books, i went across the street to the gallery, where i walked through some awesome (read into that) modern art displays to get to the cupcakes.
it was really cool! that's a shot from the second floor...
and here are some close-up shots from the first floor.
the BEST part, however, was the live webcam that was set up because i realized that i could call my mom and have her find the feed online so that she could watch me while we were talking on the phone!
luckily, it wasn't that hard for her to find the right website, and once the feed loaded she totally saw me! it was so fun to be able to talk to her on the phone and have her see me live at the same time, since she hasn't seen me since august.
i then called sarah and the kids and told them about the website as well. at that point i had been jumping up and down in front of the camera for a good, long while, along with a handful of other patrons. after realizing that the webcam had turned into a pretty big draw, one of the museum workers left and came back 10 minutes later with this banner so that we could all more easily guide the people we were talking to on our cell phones. i thought that was nice.
luckily, it wasn't that hard for her to find the right website, and once the feed loaded she totally saw me! it was so fun to be able to talk to her on the phone and have her see me live at the same time, since she hasn't seen me since august.
i then called sarah and the kids and told them about the website as well. at that point i had been jumping up and down in front of the camera for a good, long while, along with a handful of other patrons. after realizing that the webcam had turned into a pretty big draw, one of the museum workers left and came back 10 minutes later with this banner so that we could all more easily guide the people we were talking to on our cell phones. i thought that was nice.
i got to talk to all the kids and then i talked to sarah for a long time. she would ask me questions about the people i was standing next to, tell me where to go stand, etc. i probably shouldn't have been so entertained by being on a webcam and having my family see me, but i was.
during our conversation don was upstairs on another computer and took some screen shots of me waiving to the kids. i'm the brown one wearing the pink scarf...
{trying to play it cool..'can you see me?'}
{'ok, i'm waving.'}
{HELLO, EVERYONE!!!}
this is my favorite screen shot. i must have been talking to one of the kids because i look really, really excited. i also like the little girl in the blue sweater who is also staring at the camera and talking on a cell phone. i'm telling you, it was a big draw.
the woman in the bottom right hand corner is the artist. i heard her talking to someone about the design process and it was incredible how much planning had to go into the execution -- from the initial drawing, to turning it into a gradated graph, picking the colors, and then the trial mock-ups she did after figuring out the transportation issues.
she was telling the man exactly how many cupcakes could fit in one aluminum pan, how many pans could fit in one sterilite container, and then how she had to measure the containers to figure out exactly what size of u-haul she needed...mama mia. not a simple project.
anyhow, i must have been on the phone for at least 45 minutes until hunger and shame forced me to finally leave. that was after many false starts where i had hung up the phone and was walking away and my mom or sarah would call and tell me to go back so that they could see me again. i finally left and quickly stopped by some other exhibits...
as well as the family fair where i got an autographed picture from george washington to his 'favorite citizen,' then headed home.
sarah called me when i was a block away from my house and asked me if i had left for reals because they were still watching the feed. later, my mom told me that she had logged back on to see them dismantle the portrait and pass the cupcakes out to patrons.
i'm telling you, go find a public webcam and call your family. it was definitely the best free fun i've had in a long time.
during our conversation don was upstairs on another computer and took some screen shots of me waiving to the kids. i'm the brown one wearing the pink scarf...
{trying to play it cool..'can you see me?'}
{'ok, i'm waving.'}
at this point i was just lounging around talking to sarah. notice the jacket half on, half off, since i was getting a bit overheated. sarah saw me start taking it off and asked me if i was going to strip for the camera. i kept forgetting that she could see what i was doing!
this is my favorite screen shot. i must have been talking to one of the kids because i look really, really excited. i also like the little girl in the blue sweater who is also staring at the camera and talking on a cell phone. i'm telling you, it was a big draw.
she was telling the man exactly how many cupcakes could fit in one aluminum pan, how many pans could fit in one sterilite container, and then how she had to measure the containers to figure out exactly what size of u-haul she needed...mama mia. not a simple project.
anyhow, i must have been on the phone for at least 45 minutes until hunger and shame forced me to finally leave. that was after many false starts where i had hung up the phone and was walking away and my mom or sarah would call and tell me to go back so that they could see me again. i finally left and quickly stopped by some other exhibits...
as well as the family fair where i got an autographed picture from george washington to his 'favorite citizen,' then headed home.
sarah called me when i was a block away from my house and asked me if i had left for reals because they were still watching the feed. later, my mom told me that she had logged back on to see them dismantle the portrait and pass the cupcakes out to patrons.
i'm telling you, go find a public webcam and call your family. it was definitely the best free fun i've had in a long time.
7 comments:
That is e-mazing. Don't you regret not sticking around for the fun part of handing out the cupcakes? Just think...you could've eaten Obama's eye. Or Abe's beard hair. Nice. Also, those cupcakes are absolutely beautifully frosted. Amazing.
I like the screen shot of you talking to the kids...you are doing what we like to call "Wallace and Gromit hands." Do you know what I'm saying?
It was addicting to watch! It was like the home shopping network. I can't turn those channels once I see them! And I couldnt close the window on the webcam because the artist was talking and it felt so rude to shut her down.
Thanks for calling us! It was super fun to see you!
Excuse me missy, where was my phone call???????????
What a cool exhibitto go see and the live webcam makes it even more exciting! :)
rachel -- all rubbery like?
I'm listening to an NPR podcast about the cupcake display even as I type. It makes me feel connected to youuuuuu.
Did I tell you that at one point, Abe Lincoln, your bday buddy, came up and took photos there? But, you were gone. It was sad.
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