Cherry Blossom Festival, Washington, DC, 2006

Blooming Cherry Blossom Trees in Washington, DC

(Originally written on March 30, 2006)

Today I managed to sneak down to the Tidal Basin in the afternoon to check out the blooming cherry blossom trees. The local media said that today was the day that the cherry trees were reaching their height in terms of pink and white blossoms. Today was also the only day that I could see the cherry blossom trees in their full splendor. I also brought two of my dolls with me. Even though I brought my Dollfie Dream, Sakura, to the cherry blossoms last year, I took her again this year because I wanted to get some shots of her near the famous stone Japanese lantern that's along the Tidal Basin. I wasn't able to get them last year because I had strained my hip doing this exercise program that I've since dropped and it was painful walking. This year I decided to bring my Soom Mini-Gem Uyoo as well. I know that she's a Korean doll and I don't know if the Koreans revere the cherry blossoms in the way that the Japanese do but I decided to take her anyway.

So I snapped a whole bunch of photos of my two dolls among the cherry blossom trees. I decided to dress both of my dolls in traditional Asian outfits. Since Sakura is originally from Japan, I dressed her in her cherry blossom kimono, obi (belt), and juban (kimono-like underwear) outfit. (I originally sewed it myself last year using a silk-like brocade fabric for the kimono that is pink with tiny cherry blossom flowers embroidered into the fabric.) Since Uyoo is originally from South Korea, I dressed her in a traditional Korean outfit that consists of a purple hanbok (dress) and red dangui (jacket). Here are the photos--just click on the thumbnails to see a larger version open in a new window.

Uyoo sits in a cherry blossom tree.

Sakura takes her turn sitting in a cherry blossom tree.

Sakura sits next to a stone marker commemorating the original cherry tree plantings (they were given to the United States as a gift by Japan back in 1912 to enhance the growing friendship between the two nations).

Here's Sakura resting in a cherry blossom tree again.

Sakura and Uyoo rest together in a cherry blossom tree.

Uyoo rests on a stone lantern that was another gift that Japan gave to the United States along with the cherry blossom trees in 1912. At one point a U.S. Park Service ranger came by the stone lantern and she said that the lantern was already hundreds of years old when it was shipped to the U.S. and there is one other lantern just like this one that is located in a park in Tokyo.

Sakura takes her turn sitting on the stone lantern.

Here's the Washington Monument that's framed by a few blooming cherry blossom branches.

Here's Sakura posing with the Washington Monument in the background.

Here's Uyoo posing with the Washington Monument in the background.

Another shot of Uyoo in the cherry blossom trees.

Here's Uyoo in a cherry blossom tree that has the Jefferson Memorial in the background.

Yet another shot of Uyoo among the cherry blossom branches.

Yet another shot of Sakura among the cherry blossom branches.

Here's Uyoo in a precarious position as she struggles to hold on to a thin cherry blossom branch.

Sakura and Uyoo stand together in a grove of cherry blossom trees.

Sakura and Uyoo end the day by sitting among the grove of blooming cherry blossom trees that has the top of the Washington Monument peeking out in the background.

>The only downside to visiting the Tidal Basin today is that so many other people had the same idea so it was very crowded. I originally wanted to walk all the way around the Tidal Basin as I snapped various photos of my two dolls along the way but it was way too crowded to do so. Basically I cut my trip to the Tidal Basin short because I grew tired of bumping into people. At some point I'd love to snap some photos of my dolls among the various Washington landmarks but I'd like to wait until after the cherry blossoms die off because there will be far less tourists crowding the popular spots. (But I don't want to wait too long because it'll start getting hot and humid later down the road.)

It was just as well that I cut my trip short because I promised my husband that I would meet him at the local movie theatre in our neighborhood to check out the film Mrs. Henderson Presents (which is a good movie by the way). After going down to the Tidal Basin (with my two dolls), going out to dinner at a local cafe, and seeing the film (I left the dolls at home while I did the last two things), I'm pretty tired.

This Saturday some people on the Den of Angels forum are trying to organize an outdoor picnic at the Tidal Basin with their dolls (of course). I wanted to go but, unfortunately, I had already committed to attending my religious denomination's regional conference in Arlington on the same day. That sucks because I always love going to doll meet-ups because I get a chance to see so many beautiful dollies in person. The only silver lining is that the weather forecast is calling for rain this Saturday and if it really happens, then I'll feel less bad about missing this meet-up. Of course I hope the organizers will schedule a rain date for the following day (when I would be able to make it) but I'm not going to hold my breath waiting for that to happen.

Aie is trying to organize a meet-up of her own at the annual Sakura Matsuri street festival next Saturday, which I can definitely make. I don't know if the meet-up will actually happen or not but I'll probably end up going to the festival nonetheless because it's a pretty cool event.

Springtime Doll Photos

(Originally written on April 2, 2006)

Today I went over to a friend's house where she was giving a special one-day class in making fused glass items. I got invited at the last minute (mainly she caught me after church this morning) so after I ate lunch at home and before I headed off to my friend's place I decided to pack a few of my smaller dolls in a grocery bag along with my digital camera.

Today the weather was very sunny and warm. I originally intended to spend about an hour or so photographing my dolls among the blooming cherry blossom trees in my own neighborhood because I wasn't able to cart too many of my dolls to the Tidal Basin in downtown Washington, DC the other day (mainly because it would've made my duffel bag too bulky and heavy). It was far less crowded to take cherry blossom photos in the suburbs and, unlike DC, I didn't have to compete with tons of people from all over the world for a spot where I could set up my dolls to take photos. (FYI--The Cherry Blossom Festival is still continuing in DC until next weekend, although it's very likely that the cherry blossoms will die off before then.)

I went to my friend's class (but left the dolls in the car) for a couple of hours. Afterwards, I drove to a local public garden right in my neighborhood where I took the following photos. (Click on the thumbnails to see a larger version open in a new window.)

Here's my Soom Mini-Gem Uyoo standing among the daffodils. My doll is almost as tall as the flowers!

My two Dollfie Plus dolls--the Blue Prince and the Blue Lady--snuggle in the cherry blossom branches.

The Blue Prince and the Blue Lady snuggle underneath the daffodils.

My Namu Trunk and Pullip Latte dolls snuggle among the cherry blossom branches.

Pullip Latte and Namu Trunk sit on a rock among the blooming daffodils in the late afternoon sun.

Pullip Latte and Namu Trunk sit among the daffodils.

It's Raining Today :-(

(Originally written on April 8, 2006)

I want to go to the Sakura Matsuri (Cherry Blossom Street Festival) in downtown DC today but it's been raining non-stop since early this morning. Man, this sucks since today is the only day that the street festival is happening! Right now, as I'm typing this, I'm wearing one of the official 2006 Cherry Blossom Festival t-shirts that I purchased at a hotel gift shop on impulse in Arlington last Saturday while I was attending a religious denominational conference. I bought it because the design is very pretty and is a far cry from the usual tacky souvenir t-shirts. I was looking forward to wearing it at the festival today but I really don't want to go out in such a downpour. (The only silver lining is that I'm willing to bet that the street festival is far less crowded than last year.)

I'm still pissed off about the constant rain, though. Even though some doll people talked about getting together at the street festival on the doll forums, nothing was really set and I was just going to go on my own with my Uyoo in my purse in the off-chance that I would meet a fellow doll lover. Oh well.

Cherry Blossom Festival, Washington, DC, 2006

Blooming Cherry Blossom Trees in Washington, DC

Springtime Doll Photos

It's Raining Today :-(

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