Heading North for the Holiday

Christmas snuck up on me this year - For some reason, I've found myself being forced into the Christmas spirit. With Christmas two days away and all of my shopping done, I've had some time to sit back and think how different Christmas is going to be this year. Frank & I are heading to Long Island in about an hour to spend Christmas with his family. In all honesty, I will get to see a lot of my family, too - My grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins - Even Dad & Laura are making the trip up on Friday for our 'Christmas at Grammy's'. Still, with everyone around, I can't help but think how different it's going to be not waking up at my mom's house on Christmas morning. Frank's family has been asking me what I want for dinner, dessert, etc to make me feel more at home - Since we'll be heading out to Winchester next weekend, my mom is planning Christmas dinner on Sunday, so I'll definitely get my fair share of her cooking! I know it sounds corny, but I'm not dreading Christmas away from home as much as I thought I would. My inlaws are great and I'm looking forward to seeing how the DeMarco's celebrate Christmas Eve and Day. The one thing I'm really going to miss is attending Midnight Mass with my mom and Laura. I can't remember when my church started this tradition, but for the past several years, at the end of mass, they turn all of the lights off except the white lights on the Christmas trees and sing Silent Night - It is really one of the most beautiful, serene moments. It always brings a tear to my eyes. It's a good reminder of what the season is about - It's my cue that all of the hustle and rush of the season is over and all that is left is to sit back and enjoy time with family & friends. Yes, this Christmas will be different for me, but it will also be the start of new traditions. Merry Christmas Everyone!

The Office

No, not The Office as in Michael Scott and crew...Our home office! It's so nice to finally have a desk for our computer versus the file cabinet it used to sit on and a bookshelf versus our books resting in piles on the floor. I'm embarrassed by how long we functioned like that! Here are a few pics of the almost finished room. (I say almost finished because I still need to add some things to the walls to truly complete the room.)

Christmas Party-rama

Frank & I don't have too many Christmas parties this year - But most of the parties we do have fell last week. On Wednesday night, I had a small dinner party for one of the contracts I support at work. Thursday night was Frank's company's big party at the Clarendon Ballroom where we both had a little too much fun. ;) Both leading up to the grand finale party of the week...The DeMarco Christmas Party!! Luckily my sister & her boyfriend came early on Saturday to help prep. Frank & John (Laura's BF) spent the day getting the office ready. Frank & I finally ordered furniture - The bookshelf came in about a month ago and the desk arrived just in time for the party. Both pieces had to be assembled (due to the doorway size of the office), so the boys had their work cut out for them. While they were constructing, Laura and I cooked our tails off! I may have gone a tad overboard with my party menu, but I think it was worth it. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves - I know Frank & I certainly did!

Weekend with Mom

Frank's mom came to visit this weekend so we tried to spread the DC Christmas cheer to her. Friday night we went to Pentagon City for dinner and "Miracle on 23rd Street" which didn't turn out to be the grand tree lighting ceremony we had in mind. After driving around to look at Christmas lights and discovering that most of our fellow Arlingtonians are Scrooges, we headed home for an early night. On Saturday we took Mom into DC to check out the National Christmas Tree and White House. No matter how many times I see the tree lit up, I can't get over the beauty. We also did a quick drive-by the Capital Christmas tree which wasn't nearly as impressive. After a stop at home for some dinner (I broke out the crock pot and did a pork tenderloin which didn't turn out too bad), we headed out to Centerville for the Bull Run Festival of Lights. It definitely took us longer to drive out there than it did to navigate through the park and admire the cheesy lights. They had nursery rhyme displays - Please tell me how Jack & The Beanstalk relates to Christmas!? Oh well, I think his mom enjoyed it. To top off the festive weekend, we caught a matinee showing of Four Christmases on Sunday - A pretty good movie, Although next year if we lie and tell Frank's mom that we're volunteering to help save the dying elephants in South Africa at Christmas time, I think she'll be on to us. ;)

Catch Up

Somehow time got away from me between my birthday, our trip to NY, and Thanksgiving and three weeks have flown past since my last blog. I think this might be the longest stretch I've gone without posting anything. To briefly catch everyone up, here's what's happened since my last posting:

1. I turned 30! Yes, hard to believe, but I'm now what some may refer to as 'over-the-hill'. At first I wanted a big birthday bash to celebrate my milestone, but then as the day grew closer, I decided that I wanted a simple dinner party. Well, I really didn't get either (don't get me started), but none-the-less, I did enjoy my birthday celebrations - a mini party with my family in NY, a dinner and spa day with my mom, and a delicious Melting Pot dinner with Frank on my actual bday. Guess I can't complain too much! ;)
2. Frank and I spent a long overdue weekend on Long Island visiting our families. We made the trip to NY for the baptism of Keith & Deaneen's baby, Thomas, but also got to spend QT with both of our families. I love this picture of Frank & Kate from the weekend:

She's getting so big and is a blast to hang out with! We can't wait for her little sister to get here!
3. We celebrated Thanksgiving at my mom's house in Winchester for the first time in several (I think 3) years. Typically we've been spending Thanksgiving in NY, but this year we've swapped and are doing Christmas in NY. I headed out to Winchester Wednesday afternoon and spent the day baking and prepping with my mom and sister. Frank joined us later that evening since he had to put in a full day at work. After stuffing ourselves silly, Laura & I decided to help the economy by hitting the Hagerstown Outlets when they opened Thanskgiving evening. We shopped from about 10pm to 2:30am Thursday night into Friday morning. I have to say, I was surprised at how awake we were although Laura did get a little grumpy towards the end. ;) All in all, I didn't think the sales were that great - I definitely have had better luck in the past with the outlets on Long Island. We still made out with some good deals and most importantly, got to spent sisterly QT together! After a few hours of sleep, I was able to hang out with my mom all day on Friday - We actually did a bit more shopping and a lot more relaxing at home!
4. Yesterday, Frank & I made our annual trip out to Chantilly (or maybe it's Haymarket) to chop down our Christmas tree. This is the 5th year and it's become somewhat of a tradition now. We typically get our tree on the Sunday after Thanksgiving, but since the forecast was calling for rain on Sunday, we decided to push it up a day, so our house is all decked out for the holidays a day early! I'll post some pictures later.

That about sums up the last few weeks - We have Frank's mom coming to visit this weekend, so we're mapping out some fun Christmas things to do around DC. Then our Christmas party is the following weekend...Phew - Looks like December's going to be another busy month for us!

Two Bday Celebrations in One Weekend

Friday was Dad's Bday, so to properly celebrate, my fam came to visit on Saturday. We hit the National Archives for a peak at some of our country's most important documents and then stayed in for the evening - Frank & I made dinner for the crew. (Yes, you read correctly - Frank helped by making the antipasto appetizer!) The main course consisted of red snapper, veggies, and stuffed tomatoes, followed (of course!) by homemade chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting (my new fav). Somehow dinner and dessert took us late into the evening - We stayed up to chat for a bit longer before turning in at almost midnight.

After breakfast (which my sister convinced me to make versus my original plan of just buying bagels), Mom, Laura, and I metro’ed into DC for the Metropolitan Cooking & Entertaining Show. (For Mom’s Bday back in August, Laura and I got her tickets to the convention and to the Paula Deen show.) We had a great time sampling countless dips, spreads, sauces, drinks, etc and I was literally in tears from laughter during the Paula show. Her sous chef was a hilarious English gent so between both of their accents, they couldn’t understand one another. I guess you had to be there! ;) Bobby Flay even made a guest appearance during our showing. Another great day – and overall great weekend with the family!

Red Light, Green Light

This past Saturday can be summed up in three words: MEAT, MEAT, MEAT! We celebrated Mike's bday at Fogo de Chao, a Brazilian steakhouse...which means we gorged ourselves on red meat - The gauchos run (literally) around with swords of various meat cuts (filet, sirloin, sausage, bacon wrapped anything, ribs, ribeye, etc etc etc) and serve them at your request. I ate more red meat on Saturday night than I have all year! After the meat fest, we headed to Fado’s to continue the party; however, it didn’t last too long – We were all pretty spent after such a huge dinner! Here’s a pic of the birthday boy along with his GF who organized the whole evening:



This weekend, the November bday celebrations continue with my dad’s birthday. My family is coming into town Saturday afternoon to do some touristy things and wish my dad a very Happy Birthday! More to come on that post weekend…

Happy Halloween!

A bit belated, but Happy Halloween Everyone! Once again, the residents of Pocomoke Street didn't have too many treat-or-treaters. For what has seemingly become tradition, most of the neighbors within a few blocks of our house all gathered for our street's Halloweenie Roast. As the name would suggest, lots of hot dogs are cooked, but the menu also consists of Guinness Meatballs, various kinds of chili, and countless side dishes. It's a great excuse for the 'grown ups' to get together before leading the children around to trick-or-treat. Once dusk settles upon us, at least one person from every residence heads home to man their candy bowls. Frank & I both headed back to the house this year to hand out candy to the neighborhood kids. After the first wave of kids from the Roast, the goblins and ghosts were few and far between, so we headed back to the Roast to enjoy a few more drinks and goodies. A pretty uneventful Halloween, but fun none-the-less!

Pumpkins Everywhere!

Mom and I headed to NH for a long weekend with the family. It was a nice, relaxing trip (especially compared to our last one). I got to enjoy not one, but two delicious New England lobsters (pronounced lobstas!), catch Alyssa's HS football game (she's in the band), peep a little fall foliage (most leaves were already passed their peak), and see 22,568 pumpkins! On Saturday, we drove to Keene, NH for the annual pumpkin festival. The town had set a world record in 2003 for the most pumpkins in one place, but was beaten out last year by Boston, who topped 30,000. Despite not breaking a record again this year, it was still a phenomenal site! Pumpkins lined the streets everywhere - The entire festival was so New England-eque, complete with a church in the middle of the town square. I especially loved that no vendors were allowed - All artists and food booths were locally run, with proceeds benefiting local schools and organizations. (My Italian sausage money went to the NH Special Olympics.)

We left early Sunday morning, putting us home with plenty of time to unwind from the quick vacation. The whole pumpkin festival thing got me in the mood for some Halloween carving myself – So, Frank & I created our own pumpkin masterpieces Sunday evening. They looked good while they lasted…I came home last night to find Frank’s ghost eaten out of his pumpkin and little teeth marks around my witch. I’ll give you one guess where those came from…

Some pics for your enjoyment:

Why did they make it on the ark?

I used to be the type of person that would swerve while driving to miss a squirrel. Now I have to admit, the other week as Frank & I were driving down the beltway, a squirrel darted out in front of us and there was no way we could avoid it. Oh well - I felt zero remorse - BECAUSE I HATE THEM! All throughout the summer, the little furry creatures munched on my tomatoes from my garden. I would frequently find green tomatoes scattered around our lawn with a few bites taken out of them. Frank even saw one running across the power line with one of my tomatoes in its mouth! THE NERVE! This weekend, I officially had enough of the rascals. As mentioned in my last blog, I planted tulip bulbs on Saturday - Well, I'm not sure if the squirrels can smell the bulbs or if they just sat there and watched where I planted them, but by Saturday evening, I noticed holes were dug in each spot where I planted the bulbs! Luckily, it seems that I planted the bulbs deep enough that the squirrels weren't able to get to them. I bought some mulch to lay on top, so hopefully that will throw them off the scent! Oh - Did I mention that on Sunday I came home to find a hole in one of my pumpkins!?!?! Yes - one of the little rats had eaten right into the center of my pumpkin! Why, oh why did two of the things have to make it on the ark!?!?!

Check, check, and check!

This weekend could be summed up in one word - Productive! I spent Saturday checking items off of my To Do list - By noon, I had cleaned two of our bathrooms, done two loads of laundry, changed the sheets on our bed, washed the kitchen floor, done a little other housekeeping, planted some tulips in our backyard, and even squeezed in a 5 mile run! The rest of the afternoon consisted of Frank & I running to Home Depot to pick up shelving that we (I) wanted to install in our basement storage room and a run to the grocery store. We successfully hung up the shelves which now provide me with a great storage spot for my Costco goodies and some other miscellaneous items. After dinner at our sushi place, we nested back at home to watch the VT & Red Sox games.

Sunday wasn't as productive, but was certainly just (if not more) enjoyable. After church, I headed out to Long Branch (just passed Middleburg) to meet Rachel, Kristy, and Domenic at the Long Branch Hot Air Balloon & Wine Festival. The day was a little chilly but overall a great fall day to enjoy outside. It was great to see the girls - along with one of my new fav guys - again!

I love packing so much in a weekend - It somehow makes them seem longer. This weekend I'm off to NH for a quick visit with the fam. (Somehow I have a feeling this will seem like a long weekend, too. ;) )

Phantom Ghost

The Phantom Ghost struck our house last night, which meant Frank & I had two nights to pass the ghost on to two of our neighbors. (For those of you that aren't familiar, the Phantom Ghost is a Halloween game where neighbors deliver treats to your front door without being detected. I.e. drop the bag of treats, ring the doorbell and run! Also in the treat bag is a poem to explain the game along with a ghost to display on your front door so other's know you've already been 'ghosted'.) We decided to deliver our two ghosts tonight but didn't anticipate being chased! We dropped our first bag of treats off at the home of one of Frank's soccer kids - I hid behind a neighbor's bush while Frank made the drop and ran. As we were waiting behind the bush to make sure someone came to the door, all of a sudden we heard the kids come running out of the house screaming "we're going to catch you!!!" CRAP! We had to sprint down the street and quickly dart into another neighbor's back yard in order to avoid being caught. Thankfully we were faster than the 8 year olds! :) Our second drop wasn't as eventful - or as tiring! Remind me next year to pick a house without kids!

Surprise!

This week is Spa Week which means $50 facials, pedicures, and body wraps at Red Door (and various other spas) for those who are quick on the draw and make appointments as soon as the announcement comes out. I called a few weeks ago only to find that I was too late. The receptionist asked if I wanted to be put on a wait list, so I figured, "why not?", at the same time thinking nothing would come of it. Well, yesterday I got home from work to find a message from Red Door that a slot had opened up! Swwwweet! So, at 6pm tomorrow evening I will be relaxing at the spa enjoying a facial. Can't wait!

I Got One Word for Ya...

Braces! I'm sitting here watching a recorded episode of Rachael Ray from about a month ago and she's interviewing Shannon Doherty and man, oh, man, does she look rough! (Shannon that is - I would never talk bad behind Rachael's back!) Her face has definitely aged since the West Beverly High days and good Lord, you could park a mini van between her front teeth! Maybe she should take some of that money from the new 90210 and invest in a good orthodontist!

No Soccer!

Frank and I actually got to spend the ENTIRE weekend together...He didn't have any soccer games at all this weekend! (It was a tournament weekend and his teams didn't play.) We spent our weekend together very busy...On Friday night, we headed out to Winchester for my sister's open house at the hospital. You may recall she's in the radiological program at Winchester Medical Center - Her school hosted an open house where friends/family could meet her class/professors and also tour the hospital. Mom, Dad, John (Laura's BF), Frank and I all went to support Laura - We are super proud of her! After the open house, Frank and I headed home to quickly change our clothes and metro in to RFK Stadium to tailgate with some friends before the US/Cuba World Cup qualifier. (When I said no soccer, you didn't think the entire weekend was completely soccer-free, did you??? ;) ) The game was actually pretty exciting - The US won 6-1, which made me happy because the games with more goals definitely hold my interest more! After the game, we headed back to VA for a party at Greg's. We finally made it to bed around 1am and then slept in until 9:30 this morning! It was heavenly. Today we spent the day around the house doing yard work and cleaning out some of our closets. Now, we're getting ready to veg out on the couch and watch Desperate Housewives with bowls of chocolate ice cream. :) What a great weekend with just the two of us! I can't wait for the next soccer-free weekend - I'd better not hold my breathe though, because I'm pretty sure I have another month of the fall season.

Dinner with a side of Rice

Last night I had dinner with some co-workers at the 600 Restaurant in The Watergate. Towards the end of dinner we noticed two men standing near the front door with ear pieces - pretty obvious that they were Secret Service. Of course, we scoured the place for which government official we were dining with - And on the way out solved the mystery...in a separate dining room with the glass doors closed, sat Condoleezza Rice enjoying dinner with a few other people that we didn't recognize. I was quite excited about my mini 'celebrity sighting', but Frank wasn't as impressed when I shared the news after getting home. Oh well!

Where Did the Time Go?

I can't believe we're heading into the second week of October. Where on earth did September go? I'm not sure what we've been busy doing, but the month flew by! I'm hoping October goes a little slower so I'm able to really enjoy one of my favorite seasons. This past weekend, I headed to Delaware with Laura to visit Dad and Angela and got to spend some time outside. Uncle Mike and his family came down for the day, too - A mini family get-together. We played outside with the kids, tried to wrangle the 7 cousins that were there for a group picture for Grammy (what an ordeal that was!), and enjoyed toasted marshmallows over the fire pit. Yummmmmmmmm! After a little more family QT Sunday morning, I was back home with plenty of time to finish some work, do grocery shopping, and make a good macaroni and meatball Sunday dinner. Hopefully the remaining October weekends will be just as enjoyable!

STOP CALLING ME!!!!

Do you think I could eat dinner without being interrupted by the phone ringing? Last night as I was making dinner, Danielle, my sister-in-law called. Ok - Perfectly fine, no big deal; We chatted as I cooked. Five minutes after we hung up, as I was taking dinner out of the oven, I get a call asking if I want to participate in a focus group Tuesday evening. No thanks. As I sit down to eat, the phone rings again - Virginia State Police begging for more money. I politely told her she was interrupting my dinner and asked if she could call back. Halfway through my meal, ring ring...Frank calls telling me he's on his way home from soccer. Ok - great; Can we talk when you get home? Just as I sat down to finish dinner, Discover calls. Seriously? I had enough at this point and said "Unless someone has stolen my identity and is maxing out my card, I AM NOT INTERESTED IN WHAT YOU'RE CALLING ABOUT!" Obviously I need to revisit that Do Not Call List to make sure our number is on it.

Clay Aiken: I'm a Gay Dad

Shocker! Is this really news? Helen Keller saw this one coming...

With the lack of economic and political issues to report on, I can see why CNN had to resort to reporting this revelation on their headlines (she said with sarcasm). ;)

http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20228488,00.html?xid=rss-topheadlines

Remembering Grammy

The last few weeks have been pretty tough for my family. On my way home from my California vacation, I learned that my mom had just rushed to New Hampshire after learning that my Grammy, her mom, was again in the hospital and being told by the doctors that she wasn't likely to make it out this time. Grammy has had a rough couple of years - Ever since breaking her hip about 3 years ago, she has been in and out of rehab/nursing homes and then recently went into assisted living. It's been tough on her, and tough on us seeing her struggle. Upon first learning that Grammy was now terminally ill, I was, as you can imagine, extremely upset. She had gone into hospice care because her kidneys were failing her and her lungs were slowly filling with fluid. During the past three weeks, every time my mom would call me, I would tense with anticipation of the dreaded news. Last Friday morning, 9/12, a little after 5am, I finally received the call from my mom that Grammy had passed away. In a weird way, it almost came as a relief - No more waiting, no more suffering for Grammy. I immediately flew to NH with my mom where my sister then joined us Sunday afternoon. Monday morning my family put Grammy to rest. I can't exactly explain how I'm feeling now - more comfort knowing that Grammy is resting in peace with my grandfather now rather than struggle through each day. We will all miss her dearly and I will never forget her...Her homemade cookies, donuts, the numerous scarves and mittens she made for us, her teaching me how to knit, planning her days around where we were going to eat next...I could go on and on. I love you Grammy and you will always hold a special place in my heart. Thank you for the loving memories, thank you for making me a better person.

Be Careful What You Wish For

The next time I hope for rain, please, someone slap me in the face. My morning started out so nice - sleeping until almost 8, lounging around, etc. I was all set to hop in the shower for my hair/massage appointments - But figured I should check the backroom of the basement for flooding first just in case...Much to my chagrin I discovered the waters had begun. I yelled for Frank and quickly realized it was going to be bad...I made the sacrifice and canceled my hair and massage appointments (the horror!) to stay home and help my husband bail out our basement. After about 6 hours of work, which included two trips to Home Depot - one for sandbags and one for a wetvac, I think we can safely say the worst is behind us. Thanks to Hanna, Arlington got around 6 inches of rain and we can contribute the worst flooding of our basement to her. Up to this point, we had only experienced minor water problems that were isolated to the back storage room of our basement, but unfortunately today, the waters seemed to be coming in everywhere - even the carpet got wet in quite a few spots. We're hoping to save it (considering it's not even a year old) so we've wetvac'ed what we can and Frank is on a mission to buy a dehumidifier as we speak. I think I need a drink after this day...

Rain, Rain

I have been saying that I want a rainy weekend day so I have an excuse to stay inside and do absolutely nothing. Well, thanks to Hanna, it looks like my wishes are coming true this Saturday! On my agenda:

Sleeping in
relaxing
relaxing
1:45pm hair appointment
3:00pm massage
more relaxing

AHHHHH....Rain, rain, please come on Saturday!!!!

Rock n Roll!

I can't believe how extremely excited I was on Saturday - You would think I was anticipating something a little more exciting than just running 13.1 miles! We made it out of the house by 10am on Saturday morning, and to VA Beach in about 4 hours, checked into our hotel, and then headed to the Convention Center to pick up our race packets. We then met up with Chris, Amy, and Lee for a high carb dinner and lots of water, and then turned in early in preparation for our Sunday morning 5:15am wake up call. Frank & I were on the shuttle bus to the race start a little before 6am. We had expected to step out of our hotel and feel a bit of a chill in the air, but unfortunately we were instead welcomed to typical Virginia summer humidity. There were a little over 16,000 people in our race, plus there was a wheel chair race and an elite men/women's race (for the 'true' runners). The atmosphere was thrilling - I had so much fun! The bands, cheerleaders, and volunteers along the way were great! The bands really got me going sometimes...Pour some Sugar on Me, Sweet Caroline, Enter Sandman, Born to Be Wild - Great songs to get us pumped up! Unfortunately there weren't bands at every half mile - Maybe my time would have been a little better. ;) All in all, I'm happy with my 2:05:58 finish - I felt great throughout most of the race until the last two miles. And I have to admit, a part of me is extremely excited that I beat Frank's time by 10 seconds!!! :) Granted, he has been having foot pain and recently found out from the doctor that he has tendonitis in his foot, but decided to run anyway. He suffered through the pain and finished in 2:06:08. After coming across the finish line and reuniting with the rest of our group, I said, "I'm pretty sure I never want to do that again!", but looking back on it, I can't help but think...I wonder how much time I could shave off next time? ;)

Birthday Madness

On Friday evening we celebrated Kristen's birthday with an early dinner at Sequoia on the waterfront and then headed over to the Kennedy Center for Shear Madness. In all the years I've lived in/around NOVA, that was actually my first Kennedy Center show - Hard to believe, huh? And what a great show it was - I was hysterically laughing throughout the entire show. Definitely one I would recommend - and also something to keep in mind for future visiting family/tourists. After the show, most of the group made it out for desserts and drinks, but Frank and I turned in early in preparation for our Saturday morning departure for VA Beach and the BIG RACE!!!

East Coast Girl

Don't get me wrong...I had an INCREDIBLE time in California this past week - but despite the fun I just don't think I could ever live there. I'm truly an East Coast Girl at heart. Rachel & I flew into San Jose on Tuesday morning and then spent the afternoon/early evening in San Fran...which was freezing! I imagine the 60 degree/windy weather is nice in December, but I couldn't handle that all year round. On Wednesday afternoon we hit the road for Yosemite and didn't waste any time before exploring the park. We quickly checked into the hotel and then headed into Mariposa Grove to check out the big trees...
On Thursday, Rachel and I squeezed in 2 quick hikes before our 1:30 horseback ride with some of the rest of the gang. The views were so-so and the trails were dusty! We were literally caked in a layer of dust by the end of our two hour tour. We had just enough time to shower and head to the Tenaya Lodge for Tyler's birthday celebration. Friday was our best day of all - We hiked to Glacier Point to check out the incredible views of Half Dome and Yosemite Valley and then drove down into the Valley and hiked to Vernal Falls...


On Saturday, deciding that nothing could top our views from the previous day, we took it easy and drove around Bass Lake and then relaxed by our hotel pool. Then it was off to celebrate the wedding of Stephanie and Tyler! Stephanie looked completely stunning and their handwritten vows had almost all guests in tears. The reception was a blast - We danced the night away to some of our old VT favorites. Congratulations Tyler & Steph!
On Sunday we had a rough drive back to San Jose and then headed to the beach to recover a bit in the fresh air. We weren't anticipating the frigid temperatures and wind gusts! (Ok, maybe not frigid, but certainly not the beach weather I had in mind!) After a quick walk, we headed back to Evan's for dinner and a good night sleep, ready for our Monday morning departure home. Truly a great weekend with great friends - One for the memory book!

West Coast Bound

Tomorrow morning, Rachel and I are catching a (very) early flight to San Jose, Cali for our friend, Tyler's wedding. We're only staying in San Jose for one night and then driving out to Yosemite where Tyler & Stephanie are getting married. I'm looking forward to a girl's week on the west coast packed with sun, hiking, horseback riding, wine tasting, and some wedding fun! I'll be sure to post pics when I return. Bye until next week!

Ready!

On Saturday, Frank & I put in our longest runs in prep for the 8/31 Half-Marathon...12.4 miles. I was pleasantly surprised that while exhausted afterwards, I did not feel like dropping dead! Frank completed his run in 1 hour 38 minutes while I came in at 1 hour 49 minutes...which puts me in even better shape for my hopeful 2 hour completion. We were feeling quite proud of ourselves until we watched the Olympics Women's Marathon - The winner finished in about 2 hours 28 (or so) minutes...unbelievable!

Editor's Note

On Monday it was blogged that my little sister turned 24. Whoops! She ever-so-nicely informed me that she is now 25. (And how old am I turning, 70 or 30??) ;)

HBD Laura!

Today my little sister turns 24! Geez, it seems just like yesterday that she was forcing me to play Barbies with her. (Wait - maybe that WAS yesterday!) ;) On my way home from Blacksburg yesterday, I met my family at Lake Anna for some boating/jet skiing/tubing fun in celebration of Laura's birthday. We had a great time - And Laura, I hope you had a very, Happy Birthday today!

Pleased to Meet You

This past Saturday, Rachel and I hit the road to Blacksburg to meet our newest (and first!) nephew, Domenic Joseph Scalise. At only one week old, he's certainly already stole our hearts! We just couldn't get enough of him - I think Rachel and I took turns holding him just about the whole time. It's amazing to me to see Kristy as a mom and how natural everything seems - She's definitely been blessed with an adorable son, and Domenic is certainly lucky to have two wonderful parents. I can't wait to watch this little guy grow up!

Vegetables of My Labor

Ah - What satisfaction...So far I've only gotten a few cherry tomatoes from my little vegetable garden, but tonight I picked two huge zucchinis! I can't wait for all of my green tomatoes to ripen and I'm really looking forward to some home-grown squash. What a great feeling to go out in my back yard to 'shop' for vegetables!

Disturbing Run

I usually always run on the W&OD trail – which means I have to cut off the main road and cut over to the trail on a small path. I’m always a little leery of running on the trail early in the morning when it’s still dark – I know we’re in a safe area, but you just never know. I even stopped running with my iPod so I can instead be in tune with everything around me. This morning as I was cutting over on my usual path, I noticed some items lying in the grass near the trail. As I got closer, I realized it was a belt, children’s clothing, a backpack, and a baseball mitt. Immediately freaked out, I started looking around and didn’t notice anyone and made a mental note to be extra aware of my surroundings and call the police when I got home if everything was still there on my way back. Well, when I returned, about an hour later, everything was still there – along with four police cars and numerous police canvassing the ‘scene’. As I passed, I let them know that I had seen the stuff there on my way out on the trail, and they said they were trying to figure out what happened. I hope and pray that a little kid did not get abducted on his/her way home from baseball practice or something – Trying to look at this optimistically, I’d like to think that the bag was on the back of someone’s bike and it fell off without their knowing. This is a good reminder to me to be extra careful when I’m out and about by myself before sun rises, or at any time, for that matter! I’ve been scouring the internet this morning trying to find a story that relates to what I saw this morning, but haven’t come across anything yet. I’ll keep you posted – Hopefully it’s nothing.

Get Well Morgan

http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20216749,00.html?xid=rss-topheadlines

Morgan Freeman is one of my favorite actors (I think it's the voice). I just saw that he was in a severe car accident last night. I love the fact that this guy has boat-loads of money, but was driving his 1997 Maxima. At any rate, I wish him a speedy recovery.

Weekend Recap

This was our first weekend that we stayed in town since, oh - around the beginning of June. Needless to say, we were extremely looking forward to relaxing and getting some chores done around the house. We started the weekend off with dinner out on Friday night and then a movie at home - We rented 21 and both gave it thumbs up. On Saturday morning, I dared to go running but kept it to 5 miles - and then stopped by the chiropractor for a quick adjustment 'just in case.' I think I'm good to go now (I hope!). After running some errands on my own on Saturday, Frank and I ventured to Costco to check out the TVs...and left with a 46" Samsung LCD TV! It is definitely long over-due - our basement has been finished since January. This week Frank has been tasked with arranging to set up the HD cable, so hopefully we'll get to catch the Olympics on our new TV! On Sunday after church and a bit of lounging around the house/yard work, we stopped by Megan and Brian's house to get some QT with little Brennan, who is just as cute as when I first met him. It's hard to believe he's already 4 weeks old - My, how time flies. (Speaking of which, I can't believe it's already Monday!)

It's a...

BOY??? One of my best friends, Kristy, had been expecting a baby girl on August 2nd. Well, the doctors were pretty spot-on with her due date, but not so much on the sex of the baby. Kristy went into labor Saturday evening and gave birth to an adorable baby boy early Sunday morning. I am super excited to meet him - Rachel and I are hoping to take a trip to Blackburg this weekend to see Dominic Joseph. Congrats Kristy & John!!

Back to Reality

After a fabulous week of sun, sand, ocean, ice cream, movies, and books, all mixed in with tons of relaxing, I'm now back to reality. Frank and I left Nags Heads yesterday morning after breakfast with Dad, Angela, Joey, and Michelle (who had come down for a long weekend). Our Nags Head vacations get better each year – I can’t tell you how much I look forward to spending a week at the beach doing nothing but enjoying every minute outside. I’m so glad that Dad keeps this tradition going…Despite talk of downsizing to a condo (gasp!), Frank and I quickly listed all of the cons relative to the house we’ve stayed in for the past ten, or so, years. Thankfully, I’m fairly certain we can already start looking forward to staying in the Green Wave another year in 2009. Thanks for another great vacation, Dad!

Unfortunately my clash with reality has been coupled with excruciating back pain – It all happened so quickly as I was simply bending down to put something in the trash can…Something happened to my back and I could hardly stand up straight. I’ve been living on Advil for the past few days and finally decided to make an appointment with the chiropractor tomorrow morning. He better perform a miracle for me because I need to start running again – This race is only about a month away!

On another note – You can start calling me Word Challenge Supa-Star! (I beat Frank’s score Friday night by about 1,000 points!)

One Addition to my Vacay To-Do List...

Frank has got me hooked on Word Challenge, a game on Facebook...I'm currently only about 40 points behind him and I've made it my vacation goal to surpass his score!! Back to the grind-stone...

I love the feeling of being so relaxed, so oblivious to the outside world, that you're not even 100% certain what day it is. Today is (I think) Thursday, day #4 of vacation, which I’ve so far successfully stuck to my strict schedule of DOING NOTHING. I spent all of Monday and Tuesday reading on the beach – Yesterday and today were iffy with off-and-on rain showers, which in years past would have disappointed me, but honestly, I am so relaxed, I just don’t care. Despite the clouds I’ve been out on the sand, engrossed in my books, occasionally napping with the sound of the crashing waves in the background. The showers have finally passed, the sun is out for the rest of the week as I sit on our deck overlooking the beach, writing this, with my Corona by my side. Does it get any better? Work, real life, stress, to-do lists…they all seem so far away…

Never Ending!

This past week seemed like it was never going to end. I think the fact that we’ve been on the go constantly for about the past month caught up to me – By the time Friday (finally!) came around, I was exhausted! Last weekend we headed out of town again, this time to Delaware to help one of my cousins and her family move from Staten Island. I’m super excited because now they’re only two hours away from us – which hopefully means we’ll be spending more time with them. We did get back pretty early on Sunday, around 2:30, just in time to do some weekend chores (does a mani/pedi count as a chore? ;) ) and relax a little bit before the start of another work week, which couldn’t end soon enough. My goal was to sneak out of work on Friday by 3pm to get an early start on my vacation. I finally escaped the office around 4:30 and headed home to run some errands and start packing for our Nags Head vacation. I can’t tell you how much I’m looking forward to a week of doing…NOTHING! My plans consist of a few early morning runs, sitting my butt on the beach, reading, napping, catching some rays, and RELAXING! I got a little head start on my rays yesterday before we left…Frank spent the day golfing with Mike & Chuck while I lounged by the pool with MK and Kristen. After a BBQ and some Wii Fit with the gang, Frank and I finished up our packing, caught a movie, then hit the sack, ready for our 10am departure to relaxation – Nags Head, here we come!!!

Six for the Price of...NONE!?!

Recently I've come to the conclusion that it's ridiculous to spend $20 on a book that I read once and then give away or set it on our bookshelf to collect dust. Since not reading wasn't an option, last week I decided to sign up for a library card! I haven't had a library card since I was in middle or high school - Heck, I'm pretty certain I haven't even stepped foot into a library since my senior year of college. My card came in the mail today and I couldn't get to the library fast enough! I have already put numerous books on hold and today I came home with 6 books! (I felt the need to stock up for the beach in two weeks.) Even more exciting...as I was checking out, I looked over and saw one of James Patterson's newest books on the shelf. "Are those on hold?", I asked. "Nope, just getting ready to go back on the shelf." Yay! So, I even scored that one! Now I guess I should sign off here and start reading!

Welcome Brennan!

On Sunday during our drive back from LI, I texted my friend, Megan, who was, as of Sunday, one week past her due date. I wanted to check in to see how things were going - Well, I never received a response, so after anxiously awaiting her reply, I decided to give her a ring. Nothing. Ok, that could only mean one thing - Sunday was THE day...On Sunday evening a little before 6pm, Baby Pecorino came into the world - Brennan Kyle. I left work a little early on Monday so I could head to the hospital to visit the happy family. He is ADORABLE! You all know that I'm not one of those people that thinks every baby is cute - Let's face it, some are just plain scary...especially right after they're born! Well, I can honestly say that Brennan is truly a beautiful baby - Full head of hair, perfect complexion...And (best of all for the parents) he was quiet as a mouse while I was there! Only a few little cries and noises. (Let's ignore the fact that one of the biggest cries was when I held him.) I tell ya, with all these cute babies, it almost gets me thinking... ;) Congrats Megan & Brian!!!!

Happy 4th!

Wanting to steer clear of traffic, Frank & I left Arlington super-duper early on the 4th in route to Long Island. We were up at 4am and out the door a little before 4:30 – Our ridiculously early departure time paid off – We made it to Frank’s sister’s house in 4 hours (a record for us)! We fit in lots of visiting family and friends over the weekend – On Friday, we spent the day with Frank’s sister and our niece, Kate…Then scooted out east to visit Keith and Deaneen (more friends who are expecting! Baby Thomas is due 7/19…) We spent Friday evening in Commack at Uncle Mike’s, drinking wine and watching the fireworks from his back yard. His neighbor put on an incredible show that actually wasn’t too far off a professional display – I was quite impressed! On Saturday all of the visitors came to us – Danielle had a BBQ and lots of Frank’s family came over – even my Dad stopped by for some pasta with crab sauce and burgers (good ol’ Italian BBQ). Today, we swung by Huntington on the way home to meet my grandparents for breakfast and then were off by 10am. We got lucky with the traffic and were home right before 3pm – Just enough time to unpack, enjoy some left over crab sauce, then head to Frank’s soccer game, one that he actually played in instead of coached. I went to cheer him on from the sidelines, which seemed to work out well since they won – just in time, too…right as the game wrapped up, the skies opened up with an evening summer t-storm. Packing so much into one weekend makes it feel so much longer, which I love. Unfortunately now I have a five day work week looming ahead...

Shout Out!

Ok, I am extremely excited...Frank had received a gift certificate to Liberty Tavern from one of his soccer teams and last night we realized that we had 'misplaced' it. We scoured the office and living room last night to no avail. Thinking it was gone forever, I figured I would try calling the restaurant to see if they have any way of tracking them. (It was only a paper gift certificate but I figured it was worth a shot.) After talking with Stephen, the owner, he said he would reissue us a gift certificate in good faith!!!! I didn’t even have to do any sweet talking (or evil talking)! So, tonight on our way home from work, we’ll stop by and pick up our second $100 GC and will definitely put this one in a safe spot! :) Thanks, Liberty Tavern!

The Early Bird...Sticks to Its Workout Schedule

On Saturday I decided to sleep in! No alarm setting, just waking up with the birds when my body decided to on its own. It felt great! I slept until almost 9am! Knowing that I still needed to get a good run in, I didn't waste any time getting ready and was on the road at 9:16am. A short 5 minutes into my run I knew sleeping in was a mistake - It was already extremely hot and I had decided to run west on the trail which means less shade...and a few more hills. After 30 minutes and one hill too many, I decided to call it a day and turn around then, only getting in 6 miles. (Needless to say, my "Can't Stop, Won't Stop" mantra didn't push me far enough that day!) Oh well - that's still 1 mile ahead of my original planned training schedule, so I guess I can't complain!

I spent the rest of Saturday doing a little yard work and then headed out to mom's in Winchester for a low key BBQ. Rachel & her BF decided to join us too, so I was psyched to get to spend some time with her (and get to know her lova). I went to bed stuffed and left early the next morning to prepare for my husband coming home!!! After over a week, Frank finally returned from the far corners of MA around 6pm Sunday evening. It's so great to have him home - I'm honestly a little surprised how much I missed him! (Just re-reading that, I realize that might sound a bit cold-hearted, but being a pretty independent person, it did surprise me that I found myself extremely lonely without my other half...)

Lions and Tigers and Bears - OH MY!

On Thursday night, my mom and cousin came back into town with one extra addition – They had picked Aunt Colleen up from the airport. (She had flown down from NH to spend the weekend with us and so Alyssa wouldn’t have to fly home alone.) With our packed lunches in tow, we headed out Friday morning for the zoo. Despite the heat, it turned out to be a really nice day – The gorillas, orangutans, and pandas still have my vote for fav. zoo animals. It actually seemed like a lot of exhibits were closed from what I remember – for which I was thankful after spending 6 hours walking around in the heat. (I can only take so much animal watching!) After an impromptu BBQ back at my house, they headed back to Winchester and I spent another quiet evening at home alone (missing Frank!).

Day at the Lake

I usually end up running all of my errands on the weekend, but with my cousin in town I didn’t get to check anything off of my list yesterday, thinking I could use today as my errand day. Well, with the weather turning out to be so great my mom instead convinced me to meet her, Andy, and Alyssa at Lake Anna for the day. With Frank out of town (he’s in Mass. for the week at the U.S. Soccer National "B" License Course), I figured “what the heck? Errands can wait!” So, I was out the door a little after 9:30 this morning and made it to the Lake by 11:30. We all met at Tom’s house (a friend of Andy’s) and spent the day on the boat and Jet Ski – What a blast! Can you believe I had never been tubing before? I’ve been water skiing plenty of times, but today was my first time getting pulled behind a boat in a tube…Soooo much fun! Putting off errands was definitely a great idea – Well worth it!

Can't Stop...Won't Stop

I've decided to make this my summer motto. I’ve mentioned before that Frank and I are doing the Rock n Roll half marathon over Labor Day in Virginia Beach - Up until last week, I was getting really scared and possibly thinking I couldn’t do it. After running 4 to 5 miles, I would be exhausted. Last week I officially started my training and ran 5 to 6 miles 3 days a week, did weights one day, and then light cardio at the gym another day, then had my longer 7 mile run on Saturday. This week I did the same thing, but today I pushed myself to do 8 miles. I realize I don’t need to be doing these distances this far in advance, but I feel better pushing myself sooner just to prove that I have what it takes. While running on the W&OD trail earlier this week, I noticed that someone had spray painted “Can’t Stop Won’t Stop” on one of the overpasses, so I’ve decided to use that as my inspiration while I’m running. After completing the 8 miles today, I’m now convinced that I really can do this! (For anyone curious about Frank’s training, his motto is, “It’s just 13 miles, I don’t need to train, I can just jog it!”)…We’ll see about that… ;)

Tourist for a Day (or Two)

Phew - Being a tourist is exhausting! On Thursday evening my cousin from NH came to visit – She stayed Thursday & Friday night with Frank & I and then is spending the rest of the week out in Winchester with my mom. On Friday, we decided to check out Mount Vernon and spent most of the (gorgeous) day walking around the grounds and touring the house. I’ve lived in this area how long and have never gone!?! It was time – and worth it – We had a great day. Then, last night, we caught a Nats game – They were in town playing the Texas Rangers. Even though we didn’t stay until the end of the game, it was a pretty good one – The score was 2-3, Rangers, when we left. (We decided to leave in the 8th inning to beat the inevitable crowds that would decent upon the metro.)

Today, my mom met up with us while we explored the Museum of Natural History. I forgot how crowded DC can get in the summer time with all the tourists – the metro and museum were packed! After spending a good 3 hours in the museum, I had enough of dinosaurs, gems, etc and thank goodness Mom and Alyssa had as well…We strolled over to Cosi and enjoyed a light lunch outside, then headed back to the house to relax for a bit. Mom and Alyssa just left for Winchester and I have to say…I am exhausted from all the walking, dealing with crowds, etc. I think I could hit the sack right now!!

Come Sail Away with Me

This Saturday, Frank & I headed to Tilghman's Island, Maryland for a little post-1 year anniversary celebration. After getting a bit of a late start (don't ask!), we arrived at our bed & breakfast around 1pm and then headed over to the docks for our 2pm sail, which turned out to be great! It was pretty hot on land, but the breeze was perfect once we got out on the water. After our sail, we drove around to check out the island (which took all of about 20 minutes) and then headed back to the B&B to reeeee-lax! Our hosts had fresh lemonade and green mint tea waiting along with some light snacks, which we enjoyed on the back porch while watching the boats slowly glide by. We finally (reluctantly) drug ourselves up to our room to shower and get ready for dinner at the Tilghman Island Inn. It wasn't anything over the top - Frank didn't quite care for his rockfish & crab risotto, but I thought my crab cake and soft shell crab were pretty tasty. After dinner (and a mean game of chess in the restaurant lobby) we headed back to the B&B and enjoyed our wedding champagne on the front porch. (The bottle never made it into our car the day of the wedding, so we had decided to save it for our anniversary.) The next morning we experienced a first for both of us - The first course of our breakfast consisted of a french apple tart with ice cream! (Yes, I said breakfast!) That was followed by a fresh omelet with broccoli and cheddar, black beans, and some type of corn/grit cake. The breakfast was much better than the basic scrambled eggs and bacon that I had anticipated (or the bowl of cereal that I'm used to!). We spent some time walking around the shops of St. Michael on Sunday morning and then headed to Kent Island to meet my dad for a Father's Day linner. What a great, relaxing weekend!

Last year at this time...

All day yesterday I couldn't help but think, "Last year at this time, I was...getting my hair done...getting pictures taken with my bridal party...GETTING MARRIED!" Yes, it's hard to believe one year has gone by already - Yesterday was Frank & my one year anniversary! Since it fell on a Monday, we didn't go all out celebrating - we exchanged cards, I got a dozen roses, then had dinner at 'our' sushi place. To honor tradition and for good luck, we also dug into the top tier of our wedding cake. I had forgotten that there was fruit mixed in with the filling - The whole cake tasted a little too much like bananas for me. (I wasn't expecting much of a year old cake, though!) This weekend we're heading to the eastern shore of Maryland for our little anniversary celebration - We're staying in a bed and breakfast on Tilghman Island and doing some sailing. We're hoping for a relaxing weekend away from all of the stresses of our normal life.

I’ve heard mixed reviews from people about how their first year of marriage goes – I have to say, I couldn’t imagine a better year. Frank and I are blissfully happy – I couldn’t imagine a better husband or marriage. Happy 1 year, hun – Here’s to many more! :)

Birthday BBQ

In celebration of Frank's birthday we decided to throw a rather large BBQ party on Saturday. (We didn't pick the best day considering temps topped over 100 degrees with the heat index - URG!) Despite the heat, I think we could classify the party as a success - We had nearly 60 people stop by! Who would have thought our little house could handle such a crowd. Thank goodness for our screened in porch with the ceiling fan - A surprisingly good amount of people opted to stay out there versus inside in the comfort of the AC. By 10pm everyone had left and since we'd mostly used disposable dishes and serving trays, clean up wasn't bad at all.

Frank's actual birthday was Sunday - Since we'd had the party on Saturday, we kept his actual birthday pretty low key. I made him breakfast - pancakes - and gave him his gift - a Garmin GPS so he can easily navigate to all of his soccer games now. I went out on a limb this year and am really glad I did - He loved it! We then topped off the day with...what else???...a soccer end of season pool party and then some carrot cake when we got home.

Happy Birthday, baby!

Go Away!

Frank and I have recently discovered that our basement leaks water...It definitely sucks but could be much worse. Luckily, the water only comes into the portion of the basement that we left unfinished during the remodel; however, when it's bad it sometimes seeps through to the bathroom and onto the tile in the hallway. Well, with yesterday's storms I was dreading going home to a house full of water...to top off my miserable commute. I left work around 6:10 to catch the 6:18 bus...which never came...then the 6:35 bus didn't show either. With the line for the bus stretching down the block and the rain starting to come down in sheets again, I got frustrated and decided to metro home and walk the 3/4 mile, which consisted of dancing around countless puddles and numerous fallen trees. After walking through the door soaking wet, I went downstairs prepared for the worst - but was so relieved to find a dry basement! We had put some towels up against the wall to soak up the water and it worked! I switched them out for some dry towels and headed to Costco to stock up for our BBQ on Saturday. Unfortunately I came back home to find Frank in the basement mopping up buckets of water - Somehow in a matter of 20 minutes the waters decided to pour in. Bla! Thank goodness nothing has been ruined since we everything in the storage part is in plastic containers, but I’m getting sick and tired of mopping up rain water! We need to get this fixed ASAP! Rain, rain, GO AWAY!

Love and Forgiveness and the City?

(WARNING: May contain SATC Spoiler)

Last night Kel and I caught the 8:10 showing of Sex and the City after a great dinner at Me Jana, a newer Lebanese restaurant in Courthouse. Before the movie, we were both debating on whether we may need some popcorn or snacks to keep us awake during the 2 1/2 movie - We opted not to over-indulge since we'd just pigged out on quite a few 'mezzas' - And we certainly did not need them - The movie was FABULOUS! Both funny and sad, we left the theatre feeling emotionally drained – I think I literally cried throughout almost the entire movie. While the characters were certainly true to their roles from the HBO series, the movie seemed to focus a little more on love and forgiveness versus the usual theme of sex, sex, and more sex. I suppose in the series, the girls were always looking for love, but they always seemed to put having a good time over it! I know Carrie has crawled back to Big countless time already, but I’m not sure anyone should be forgiven for leaving someone at the alter! Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for happy endings, but I also could have seen it ending with Carrie and Samantha both single again…Despite Big getting his way, I loved the movie anyway!

Round 4

Weekend Visit #4: This weekend, we had our fourth round of company within the past five weeks – Frank’s mom, dad, Aunt Marlene, and Uncle Carl paid a visit from LI. They arrived Friday evening and left Sunday after breakfast. It was a great, relaxing visit. On Saturday we had brunch at Harry’s Tap Room where I had my usual crab cake eggs benedict – As my idol would say, “Yum-o!!” The rest of Saturday consisted of lounging around the house, doing a little shopping, and mostly catching up with the family – all topped off with a BBQ and a Carvel cake in celebration of Uncle Carl’s birthday. I love when family comes to visit, but I think I’ve had my share for a little bit. Looking forward to a Thursday night when I can relax and don’t have to go crazy cleaning the house in preparation! Too bad my reprieve won’t come this week – I’ve got to spend the end of this week preparing for our BBQ on Saturday for Frank’s birthday – We’ve got about 30 people coming so far and I anticipate at least another 10 from the neighborhood. Should be quite the celebration.

Fun in the Sun

Frank & I spent this Memorial Day weekend outside enjoying the beautiful weather – although not so much together…Frank had a soccer tournament (of course!) in Germantown and was gone most of Saturday and Sunday for games. On Saturday evening we joined Chuck for his SURPRISE 30th birthday party – A BBQ thrown by his girlfriend, Kristen. On Sunday I spent most of the entire day outside doing yard work – digging up bushes, replanting bushes, planting our veggie garden and flower garden, laying mulch – Let me tell you, yard work is serious business; I was exhausted at the end of the day! Monday was much more relaxing – Instead of going for a morning run, I decided to join Frank in Germantown to cheer his team on in the championship game. Unfortunately, I didn’t bring them good luck – They lost 1-0. We spent the afternoon at Chuck’s again for another BBQ and some pool action. So far, I’m not missing our old apartment with the pool – Honestly, I have no idea how I used to have so much time to just lay by the pool! I guess when it’s there, you make time. :) For now, I’ll have to be content with getting my dose of sun by doing yard work. Although, I did get a tip on Saturday night about a local Arlington public pool…I have a feeling I’ll be checking that out at some point this season.

Weekend with G&G

Grammy & Grandpa paid us a visit this weekend - They arrived on Friday afternoon, so I scooted out of work early enough to make it home a little after 4. We hit up Cheesecake Factory for dinner Friday night and then relaxed back at the house. On Saturday, I brought them to Frank's morning soccer game where we cheered the Firestorm on to a 3-1 win. Afterwards we checked out Metro 29 diner, which Frank and I had been wanting to try - Definitely worth many return trips! Back at the house, G&G volunteered to help with some yard work - How could we turn that down?!!?! We pruned some shrubs, took out a few nasty plants the former owners had let get out of hand, and weeded. We then headed into Georgetown for a little sight-seeing and a relaxing dinner. We sat by the waterfront for some great people watching and then ate at Filomena's, which was fabulous, as always! Grandpa especially liked the after-dinner drinks - He had two small glasses of each! (Sambuca and Amaretto) Good thing I was driving! After a quick breakfast at the house this morning, they were back on the road to LI. Somehow spending time with my grandparents always makes me feel like a little kid all over again - I just can't get enough of that! Thanks for making the trip, guys!

Happy Mother's Day

I just want to take a moment to thank both of my moms for being so special and caring. I got to spend this Mother’s Day with my mom in Winchester – A relaxing day that started with a homemade breakfast of BLT Bagels, mom’s favorite, then a little antique shopping, followed by pedicures for three (mom, sis, and I).

…On a side note, I think my mom & sis may have enjoyed their pedicures a bit more than I, considering my pedi lady basically called me fat! Her: I like your jeans, what kind? Me: The Loft Her: What size do you wear? (Who asks that anyway???) After I proceeded to tell her my size, she says, “Oh, me too, but I look smaller than you. It must be because I’m short.” Look lady, in China maybe 5’3” is tall, but there ain’t no way I would pass as tall in the States – And thanks for calling me FAT!...

Ok – back on track…After a really yummy ‘linner’ (late lunch, early dinner), I went home with mom while Laura went to work. After a little mother-daugher QT, I hit the road back to Arlington.

Splash of Color

Our painting crew paid us a visit this weekend! I have THE BEST family EVA - On Friday morning, Uncle Mike and Cousin Ed drove down from LI to help paint our basement. (By help I sorta mean that they did all of the work!) My dad even drove in from DE to pitch in and my little sis paid a visit, too – More to socialize, though. ;) Laura picked me up on Friday from work around 2pm and we arrived at the house to find the basement guest room already finished! Between Uncle Mike, Cousin Ed, and Dad, they had the majority of the basement knocked out in no time…By 7:00, the guest room was painted a lovely light blue and the TV room had transformed into a beautiful beige…and we were all sitting down enjoying some cocktails! We ventured into Gtown for dinner at our new family fav spot, Bangkok Joe’s, which was deeee-lish as always. After dinner, we convinced my Dad and Uncle to hit up Mr. Smith’s piano bar with us, where a good time was had by all! (I believe some – no names mentioned - may have had too good of a time – hehe!) On Saturday, after another quick painting session, the bathroom was complete and everyone was back on the road by 3pm. I mean, how lucky are we? We invite family to come visit and then put them to work! Thanks everyone – Our basement looks awesome! (Now we just need a big flat screen TV…)

This Run's for You!

In preparation for the Rock n Roll Half Marathon that Frank & I signed up for this Labor Day weekend in Virginia Beach, I completed my first 5K of the season yesterday - the 11th Annual Cassidy & Pinkard Colliers Race for Hope, which benefits the brain tumor society. I picked this particular 5K in support of my cousin, Lea, who is dealing with the after affects of being born with a brain tumor. I usually like to run about 6 miles, so I wasn’t worried about the 3.2 yesterday – Instead, I set a goal to complete it under 28 minutes. I typically run at a slower pace, about a 10 (or so) minute mile, but figured since I was only doing about 3 miles, I could pick up the pace. After metro’ing to Freedom Plaza, I was quite surprised at the turnout for the race – about 8,000 people! It was organized really well and proved to be a nice, short (and more importantly, FLAT) run in front and around the capital building. To make the race even better, I beat my goal by almost 3 whole minutes! :)

Whoops!

Sometimes, I am undeniably, simply, a big klutz! As I was leaving work today, crossing Wilson Blvd. (a quite busy, main road), I slipped and fell. Yes, I fell in the middle of the road. I had even switched from my daytime heels to my commuter flats, but their (apparently) slick bottom, coupled with the wet road showed me no mercy. Luckily I did at least have the ‘walk’ sign so didn’t get run over, and I was able to catch myself with my left hand, so didn’t go all the way down – These facts didn’t help my embarrassment much, though! I got up so quickly and raced (more carefully) across the street safely to the other side and ended up making it home all in one piece!

April Showers

In this case, April showers bring…summer babies!! Saturday was Kristy’s & Megan’s baby showers. Since they were both at the same time and 6 hours apart, unfortunately, I couldn’t attend Megan’s – But will be seeing her this weekend, which I’m really looking forward to!

Kristy’s shower was at her mom’s house in Brucetown, right outside of Winchester. Rachel and I arrived a bit early to help her mom with a few last minute preparations and ended up staying until 5:30. Despite all of the baby gifts and seeing Kristy’s tummy grow each time I see her, part of me still can’t believe she’s going to have a little baby girl in a matter of a few months! Don’t get me wrong, I am super excited, but in my head, we don’t seem much older than those sweet, innocent (ha!) girls that we were back at James Wood High School. Guess it will get real for all of us on August 2nd!! :)

What in the hill?

These warm spring days have me jonesin’ for spring/summer to get here permanently! On Saturday morning, I took advantage of the beautiful day and went for my first long run of the season outside. Wanting a change of scenery, I decided to head through the neighborhoods towards McLean instead of towards DC or the W&OD trail. Well, I never realized how freakin’ hilly the neighborhoods of Arlington are! I think I literally must have picked the steepest streets to turn down – Halfway through, I started looking for easy ways out and would turn down a different side street when seeing a hill looming in front of me, only to find a steeper, longer hill! I have to admit, one hill was so steep that I gave up and walked it – In my defense though, I think even Frank’s Honda would have struggled up that one!

Do I have to be nice to the neighbor's dog?

I love our neighborhood – Lots of great, fun couples/families. HOWEVER – I DO NOT LOVE EVERYONE’S DOG. As most everyone knows, I’m not what you would call a ‘dog lover’ but I do tolerate most dogs and you might even say that there are some that I like. Well, one of the couples in our neighborhood recently got a little dog (no clue what kind it is – white with black splotches, but I know it’s not a Dalmatian!) and I feel obligated to be nice to it but truthfully I can’t stand it!!!! For example, yesterday as I was walking home, the guy was out walking the little thing. (Regina’s internal monologue: Great, now I have to stop and pet this dog.) So, I did stop and talk to the guy and played/pet the dog. This dog is insane though – He proceeded to jump all over me and bite me – Literally at one point, he was practically hanging off my shirt sleeve. (Regina’s internal monologue: Jesus, if this bastard rips my shirt, I’m going to be very upset. What the hell? I wish this guy would stop going on about the dog walker and notice his dog is hanging from my arm and help me get him off!) So, this left me asking Frank when I got home, “Do I have to be nice to our neighbor’s dog????”

Girl's Day

On Saturday, in celebration of Kelly's birthday, we hitched a bus to Charlottesville for a day of wine tasting with the ladies - And what a perfect day for that it was! We left Tyson's Corner a little after 9am and were enjoying the first vineyard before noon (after a bit of a detour by our bus driver - he took a wrong turn!) - Blenheim Vineyards - owned by Dave Matthews! His sister runs the winery and dished out our tastings. (Unfortunately none were that great.) The grounds and building were gorgeous though - Beautiful rustic look. From there, we stopped in downtown Charlottesville for a bite to eat and then made our way to Barboursville - a huge winery with many, many wines to taste. They were having a special barrel tasting where they unveiled their 8th edition of Octagon - a mixture of 4 different wines. Unfortunately after sampling countless reds (and a few whites), I ran out of time to buy - The bus had to be back in Tyson's at 7:00. All in all, it was a gorgeous, fun day with some of my favorite ladies - I only wish the day could have been a bit more leisurely...Guess I'll just have to go back for that! ;)

Grillin

Last Sunday, I picked up our new grill from Sears...And on Wednesday, Frank invited Chuck and Kristen over for our first BBQ. Thank goodness Chuck knows Frank by now and understood that nested within Frank's invitation it was also implied that he would have to help drag the grill out of the back of my truck and put it together. I was quite impressed with how quickly the boys had the grill in place - Honestly, in the back of my mind, I had mapped out how to cook the chicken and burgers inside just in case the grill took a bit longer than expected! Turns out that I never should have doubted the grill masters - We were enjoying our first BBQ by 8:30. The grill, coupled with our patio set that arrived on Saturday, have us all set for many cookouts this summer - I can't wait!

In Remembrance

Please join me and the rest of the Hokie Nation as we recall the tragic events that happened one year ago and pay tribute to all the heroes and victims of 4/16/07.

Yo Yo Check it Out!!

DAVID COOK IS IN THE HOUSE! Frank & I are big American Idol fans...As we watched tonight, we were both blown away by David Cook - He's amazing. We literally rewound the show to watch his performance three times. As part of Mariah Carey week, he sang “Always be my Baby” and, as Randy would say, “brought the house down, dog”. I’m also a pretty big fan of Carly, Brooke, and Jason, but I think my vote for the next American Idol goes to David. (I’m almost tempted to vote for him, but I try not to get that involved.)

New Beginnings

Today is my last day as a ‘consultant’ with Accenture – As of tomorrow, I will officially be part of our internal finance team, which I am thrilled about! It was time for me to move on to something else, and not wanting to leave the company coupled with wanting to get back to my finance roots, CFM seemed like a natural transition. As I packed up the few things on my desk and left my client site today, I have to admit that a feeling of sadness did pass over me. It was; however, short lived. By the time I drove the 30 minutes to Red Door for my facial, I found myself asking, “Verizon? What?” ;) Wish me luck in my new career path!

Take Me Out to the Ball Game

On Saturday, Rachel and a few others from Winchester came into town to check out the new Nationals stadium. The forecast was calling for scattered showers and thunderstorms in the afternoon so we had our fingers crossed that the game wouldn’t get rained out…Well, towards the end of the game I was hoping something would cause them to call the game! I never really realized how boring baseball games can be. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I think I would rather attend a soccer game than a baseball game. Is that a faux pas since baseball is the “great American past time”? At any rate, I’m glad we got to check out the new stadium – They did a really nice job and based on plans, it seems like that area of town will eventually be really nice.

Even though the game didn’t get rained out, there was a rain delay of about 1 ½ hours – We spent most of this time at the Red Porch (bar in the outfield), where we randomly ran into three of our friends from high school. Catching up with them might have been the highlight of the game – I’m sure the Nationals didn’t enjoy the day too much either since they lost 10-2 to the Braves.

First Cut!

While we were away in Vegas, our new lawn mower arrived and was awaiting us upon our return. Yesterday being the first really nice day since we've been back, Frank took the opportunity to break out the new mower and give our lawn the first cut since we've been in the house. We opted for an environmentally friendly electric mower which seems to work pretty well for our small yard - You just have to be careful not to run over the cord! (The front lawn did give Frank a bit of agida...sine it was so thick, the mower struggled through most of it. Hopefully the next cut will have less issues!) I love having a yard to maintain (and I'm not just saying that because Frank took care of the mowing yesterday!) and can't wait for the rain to stop so I can start planting flowers. On another landscaping note, about a month ago, we fertilized our lawn and also planted new seed in the sparse areas, which is just starting to come up! I'm hoping my usual brown thumb has turned green and we end up with a great yard this year!

Endless Food

Last night I met Kelly and two of her roommates at Grand Cru - a fairly new wine store/cafe in Ballston, that proved to be wonderfully delicious. Since Min (one of the roomies) moonlights there, we not only got excellent service, but also scored some free tapas! We started off with a bottle of Malbec and then each had a tasting of the white shiraz, which turned out to be quite nice for a 'white red wine' - nice and buttery which I love. We went a little overboard on the apps - ordering salads for each of us plus the bread basket, tuscan crisps with spicy avocado dip, spicy nuts (YUM!!!), mushroom strudel, and the veggie fondue platter. Plus...the chef was nice enough to send out the ceviche and escargot (in pastry, which turned out to be even better than the snails I had in French Polynesia) - and a dessert platter with chocolate mousse, white chocolate bread pudding, and cookies that were to die for! By the end of the evening, the 4 of us needed to be wheeled out of there! Too stuffed (and tired from the wine), I ended up calling my loving husband to pick me up so I didn't have to metro home - Thanks Babe!

In the Red

I've never labeled myself as 'lucky' since I've never really won anything in my life and our latest vacay to Las Vegas certainly proved that to be true. Frank & I left DC on Wednesday morning and arrived at our hotel in Las Vegas around 2pm PT. We stayed at the Paris which was quite elaborately designed, as are all of the newer hotels out there. On our first night, we stayed away from gambling and instead hit the infamous buffet at the Bellagio and then caught the 10:30 Cirque du Soleil O show, which was phenomenal! The stage set and acrobatics were amazing – definitely worth it. On Thursday, we rented a car and headed to the Nevada/Arizona border to see the Hoover Dam – another quite amazing sight. After taking the tour and walking around, we headed back to Vegas to meet up with Frank’s parents (who were also in town for vacation) for a late lunch and my first taste of Las Vegas gambling – I decided to keep it simple and just stuck to the slot machines, where, at one point, I was up over $100 but by the end, lost everything. On Friday, I figured I needed to up the ante and hit the table games – I tried Roulette (which I really just don’t get – I mean, you’re just simply betting on numbers and there is absolutely zero logic) and then Blackjack (at least that has a bit of logic) and lost sorely at both. I at least lasted about 1 ½ hours at the Blackjack table before loosing everything. On Friday night, we also saw Jersey Boys with the in-laws and their good friends from Washington – Another fabulous show with fun music and great acting. (It’s the story of Frankie Valli and the 4 Seasons.) In the end, neither Frank & I ended up winning – Vegas is definitely a sight to see but just not the city for me.


Me and Flat Stanely at the Hoover Dam. (Flat Stanely is visiting us from Staten Island for my cousin Joey's 1st grade project.)


And Frank & I in front of our hotel.

New Job, New Ways

Today was my first day of my new job! As most of you now know, I’m staying with Accenture but switching from Consulting to our Enterprise workforce, which is our internal group. I’m working with the Client Financial Management (CFM) team on the US VISIT project in Roslyn and am super excited! Since my new gig is so close to home, I decided that I would try out this public transportation thing – to avoid the high cost of parking and also try to help the environment. Turns out it’s really not that bad; although it is quite annoying that my trip home from 10 miles away took about 45 minutes from the time I left the office, walked to the bus stop, waited for the bus, and then rode it home amid all of the stops in between. It also didn’t help that I was so worried about passing my stop, that I pulled the ‘Stop Request’ cord way too soon and ended up walking an extra 7 or so blocks home. With a little practice, I think I could get used to it, though.

On a completely different note, it’s so gorgeous outside today – I’m currently relaxing on our deck as I type this (and stuffing my face with Peanut Butter M&Ms). It seems as though spring is finally here – I hope this is not Mother Nature’s way of playing an April Fools joke on us! Regardless, more nice weather is in store for Frank & I – We leave tomorrow morning for Las Vegas!

Confirmed!

Look who's apprearing on the Today show this week:

http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20187202,00.html

Looks like the reunion wasn't all rumors.

Did I say that I surrendered to my age?

Ok, I know the other week I said that I had come to terms with the fact that I’m getting old. Apparently part of me still thinks I’m 21 and can stay out all night with the girls. Sunday morning was a harsh reminder that I am most definitely not 21 and I certainly cannot party like I used to. Saturday, after running some errands, Kelly and I headed to Winchester for some girl’s time with Rachel and Kristy. We started out relaxed, eating some munchies, gossiping in Rachel’s living room. Dinner at Brewbaker’s was even low-key. Some decent bar food and a few drinks. Once the crowd rolled in, somewhere we lost our self control and started ordering a few too many drinks. It was a great time with the girls, some old friends, and even my little sis who made it out, but I most definitely felt the ‘good time’ the next morning!

On Sunday, I got to spend some QT with mom and Laura – shopping, dinner, PACK’S ICE CREAM…A fun day. We were supposed to get pedi’s too, but were turned away at the door because it was only 30 minutes until they closed. We were not happy campers and vowed to never return to Elite Nails again! Another place I may never step foot in again…Wal-Mart. I have been in search of a decent patio set that it not $1000 and finally found one yesterday in Wal-Mart of all places. All set (and excited!) to make my purchase, I was told they had no way to get the boxes down from the top shelf. (Something about not knowing where the keys to the lift were.) Needless to say, after standing around for 20 minutes while they searched for #1 someone who knew how to operate the lift and #2 the keys to the lift, and then being told I had to leave empty handed, did not sit well with me. After getting into a bit of a tiff with one of the assistant managers, I left almost in tears (of rage). Today, I’m not quite as upset…After calling both customer service and the store manager, I am having the patio set delivered to my house for free! (Well, I have to pay for the set, but not the shipping.) I have to say, I would feel a little bit better if Nichole was canned as well, but I guess I can settle for the free shipping.