I feel a bit like Rita Konig as I've just returned from a short trip.  But instead of Barcelona or Montenegro I went all the way to our nation's capital, Washington, D.C., where they make the laws! The generous powers that be at domino sent me down for a couple days to do my deal hunting thang on new turf, and also meet with a writer for the Washington Post Style section, a cool dude named Cory.  More on that later.  To begin: 

The National Building Museum wasn't on the itinerary for my first trip to DC -- the 8th grade class trip -- but it should've been! Their BIG shop alone is worth a visit.  I love museum stores for the souvenir fix and the sheer volume of design-y books and objects in one settting. I bought a simple pop-up card of the White House and almost grabbed one of these Flensted mobiles:
But they didn't have the black and yellow version I wanted for $38. To be honest I kept circling a scale model of Le Corbusier's Villa Savoye made out of balsa wood (to paint white and set atop my kitchen cabinets) ... it was $250! I found it on mxyplyzyk.com -- go to "mxy's picks."  Too outrageous? I'm on a model kick lately, fun and unexpected. A company called Paper Landmarks will apparently introduce their version next month but it requires assembly.  Neither practical nor patriotic! Ha.