Last month, Benjamin Finley celebrated his second birthday. Like many 2-year-olds, Benjamin is obsessed with Elmo.

For Benjamin's 1st birthday I made him this Tony Chachere's tee. This year I one-upped myself, or maybe two-dozen-upped myself, with a small army of cake pop Elmos.

I'd been hoping for an opportunity to try out Bakerella's Sesame Street Cake Pops.

First Benjamin was a little scared to eat Elmo.

He got over it.

Eek. Chilled Elmo brains!

Benjamin is rumored to have learned how to say "Elmo Pop." I'm sad his dad, my friend Aaron, wasn't able to get a sound clip.

Cake Pop Success

I tried to take some shots of the Elmo pops myself. It ended up looking like Elmo went to Anthropologie, much like everything else I do.

via etsy.com

via etsy.com

Tina Phan needs this camera bling.

Classy Black Camera Necklace, Tistjewelry on Etsy, $25

She also needs the earring cousins.

Vintage Style White Camera Post Earrings, Tistjewelry on Etsy, $12.50

And the older sister.

Vintage Gorgeous Camera Necklace, Tistjewelry on Etsy, $25.50

Last weekend, the redhead, my sister and I took a mini-vacation to Washington, D.C. We were all in desperate need of an adventure.

I'll start with my favorite adventure from the trip: The Renwick Gallery.

The Renwick Gallery is part of the Smithsonian Institution Museums and features Arts and Crafts. If you've read some of my past posts, you'll already know that I love arts and crafts.

The temporary exhibit downstairs featured the work of Japanese Americans during internment. This really resonated with my passion for Asian American Studies and my love for arts and crafts. But the sad truth is that my favorite adventure wasn't a very happy one.

During World War II (starting in 1942 but actually stretching into 1946), nearly 110,000 Japanese Americans, the majority of whom were U.S. citizens by birth, were taken from their homes and forced into hastily-builty camps across the U.S. United States History classes often skim over internment, it often barely garners a mention. After the war, many Japanese Americans did not ask for reparations because, despite the shamefulness of the situation, it was better relative to that of the European Jews and other Holocaust victims.

In The Art of Gaman: Arts and Crafts from the Japanese American Internment Camps, 1942-1946 displays of carefully crafted furniture, drawings, intricate bird pins, dolls, clothing, hair pins, sat in glass cases and hung from walls. These objects were often found locked away in attics for decades along with the memories of internment. It was both awe-inspiring and heart-wrenching to see the subjects I've studied in school expressed and documented through art in front of my eyes. Unfortunately, photography was not allowed in this exhibit.

What I found fascinating is what the internees did with their time when they were displaced and the future was extremely uncertain and bleak. They toiled away because they had nothing else to do, and the outcome was these amazing works of art. What might you do with your time if you were sent away and uncertain to ever return?

I highly recommend seeing this exhibit if you get the chance to go to Washington, D.C. this fall or winter. The Art of Gaman is at the Renwick until January 30, 2011.

Here are some pictures from the "happier" 2nd floor of the Renwick, which did allow photography.

Photos by Tina Phan

To celebrate her 26th, my super sporty friend Paycheee did not have a sports party - instead, she threw herself a suburban luau. No self-respecting luau is complete without tropical themed cake pops.

I wanted to make a roasted pig cake pop or two, but the test pops turned out to be cake (pop) wrecks. They were so ugly that I had to go with pineapples.

The pineapple cake pops were a touchdown (I mean, hit) and I think they went perfectly with the coconut bras and plastic leis. A lot of birthday partygoers didn't realize what they were. But they had already been drinking for hours...

Happy Birthday Paycheee!