Over the last couple of weeks we have been getting our bathroom renovated. Our good friend Jesse's company, ConnellSchmidt, has been doing all of the work and they have done a fabulous job. The bathroom is almost done, just some finishing touches are needed, but the transformation is amazing. ConnellSchmidt and all of their workers did an incredible job of dealing with our 1902 house and all of its intricacies and outdated plumbing. Jesse even recreated the original molding in the bathroom since it is no longer available. I have posted a play by play below.

Our Bathroom Before the Renovation

Notice the gross tile, no tub, and mix-matching colors

Day One: Everything out, tub in!

Oops...slight leak from 100 year old pipes. I think this is when I had a nervous breakdown. Seven and a half months pregnant and I come home to this. Not cool.

Toilet is back in, we can return home. Showering with plastic and no shower curtain is interesting. Floor is one quarter finished. I think this may have been my meltdown weekend. Fortunately my mom came for a visit this weekend and totally took my mind off of our bathroom. But can you imagine making your mom shower in this? And making her brush her teeth in the kitchen sink?

Floor is finally all in.

Floor and shower tile done!

Waynescoating is up and first coat of paint is on the walls.

Cabinets are in but still waiting on the vanity top and sink.

I'll post the completion of the bathroom tomorrow after everything is finished. They are hopefully finishing up tonight! YAH!!!

32 weeks pregnant plus need for cold bubbly beverage = Craving #4- Root Beer

Several years from now when I look back on my first pregnancy I will think of only four things:
Orange juice, eggo waffles, fruit, and now root beer.

Each trimester can be described by the food that I craved in each. The first I was sick and orange juice was the only thing that made me feel better. The end of the first to the beginning of the second I craved eggo waffles. One weekend I ate waffles for every single meal. I didn't even switch up the syrup from regular to blueberry. I literally just ate eggo waffles with maple syrup for every single meal. That carb-packed couple of weeks led to my body needing/craving/yearning for fruit. I couldn't (and really still can't) get enough. My favorites are watermelon, blueberries, raspberries, and pineapple. And now that I am in my third trimester I average a can of root beer a day. I love it.

Last weekend my two friends Kristen and Cynda threw me the most incredible baby shower. It was so surreal. Everything was perfect. The invitation declared that the "2008 model has arrived" and the theme was red and yellow cars. It was so adorable. Kristen even spent the entire previous night making pound cake mini cars for favors. I was completely blown away. They had all of my favorite food: quiche, strawberry and banana muffins, salad, and a huge fruit salad.

It was so wonderful to see all of my DC friends gathered in one place. Did I mention I was blown away? I am still overwhelmed by everyone's generosity. Tim and I got some amazing gifts for our baby. I am definitely feeling more prepared for this baby post shower. Thank you Kristen and Cynda!!!!

Some of the scrumptious quiche.

Opening an adorable outfit.

Santorum girls!

The AMAZING Hosts!

Catching Up and Counting Down

The last couple of weekends Tim and I have had family in town which has been so much fun! It started with Tim's mom visiting while in DC for work, then my Uncle Dave and Aunt Courtney and their three kids, followed by Pete, Matt, Abi, Becca and Geoff two weekends ago. We had such a wonderful time with everyone. I wish they would all come back! Below is a picture of Abi, Matt, and Pete on Pete's 27th birthday. I also posted a picture of Abi and I which shows my baby belly.



This past weekend Tim traveled up to Maine to celebrate his friends 30th birthday while I drove to PA to visit with my family and my great friend Danielle. Danielle helped me pick out a super cute dress for my shower in June and my parents helped me pick out a glider for the nursery. Slowly but surely things are coming together.

I am now in my third trimester and I have constantly been craving fruit. I put fruit on everything: waffles, cereal, oatmeal, salads, icecream. The problem is that along with the fruit I have also been craving bread, and not the healthy whole wheat bread, nope I have been craving white bread especially bagels. I made waffles the other night after eating pasta and a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Bisquick is my best friend right now. As I write this I am now craving strawberry shortcake. Yum!


It also seems that every two weeks our little baby boy goes on a growth spurt. I get dizzy and faint as he saps me of energy and food. I have to eat constantly to stop myself from passing out. Just this morning I had to pull over the car in downtown traffic and shove gum in my mouth to stop myself from fainting. IN addition, baby boy has decided that he will kick non-stop as he drains me of my energy and every piece of food I put in my mouth. Kicking is one of the very bitter sweet aspects of pregnancy that I will never get used to.

Getting Ready

Tim and I have been doing a ton of work around the house getting it ready for our little baby boy. Other than selling all un-needed furniture on Craigs List we have also been starting to collect a few necessary baby items. This adorable bassinet is on loan from our neighbors. It is just so cute and matches our house perfectly. The bassinet which will sit by our bed will serve as our baby's sleeping spot for the first couple of weeks. Pippin was very curious about this new piece of furniture. In fact he was so excited about the new bassinet he actually jumped into it.
Other changes to our house in the last few months have included:
- getting a new bedroom rug and thus moving our old bedroom rug to the kitchen
- getting a new rug for the living room (since we have all hardwood floors I feel like we need to start baby proofing our house and covering up these hard surfaces)
- New curtains and bedding in the nursery/guestroom
- Selling a cedar armoire on Craigs List
- Landscaping and gardening our front yard (this really has nothing to do with the baby)
- Purchasing adirondack chairs for our back porch
- Buying a new kitchen table
- Starting to landscape our back yard

We have also decided to completely remodel our bathroom before the baby arrives. We currently don't have a tub so we will be putting in a tub and all new tile, fixtures, paint, furniture, etc. I am so excited for this to be complete.

I feel like these last few weeks have completely flown by. We have had several weekend visitors including my aunt and uncle and their three precious children this past weekend. With all the work we have planned over the next couple of weeks I have a feeling the baby will be here before we know it. Here is a picture of me at 27 weeks. It is not great since it is on a self timer and I am talking to my mom and trying to take the picture at the same time.

Carmel

Al British novelist once said, "You can fall in love at first sight with a place as with a person." Well I totally fell in love with Carmel, California when Tim and I went there on our honeymoon almost six years ago. We recently had the chance to go back again for the third time.

We stayed in a cute little bed and breakfast a block from the beach. Tim got to play his favorite course again and they actually let me walk it this time. I grew up going to golf tournaments with my parents and have always felt at home on the golf course. Well, Cypress Point blew my socks off. It is absolutely stunning. Every hole is picturesque.

The same can be said for the beach and town of Carmel. The quaint homes with fabulous gardens and cypress trees suggest that you are walking in a fairytale. Tim and I took several walks along the coast and thru the neighborhoods.

We had an amazing time visiting with Tim's grandparents as well (they live there several months out of the year and have the most darling house and front garden). On Easter Sunday we worshiped in the church where they were married. We walked in the courtyard after church as the children found hidden easter eggs in the lilac trees.

You can view our pictures at this link (you may need Internet Explorer instead of Firefox to view them. ) Carmel Pictures.

Sorry I haven't posted recently. And yes, this is a post just to post post. I have been feeling guilty lately about not blogging but my creative juices just aren't really flowing right now. My friend Steph's blog is hilarious and I literally laugh out loud when I read her blog. I feel very inadequate after reading her blog...she is just so darn funny!

I have another good reason for not posting. Tim and I recently went to California for a mini vacation. We had such a great time and the coast was absolutely stunning. It is hard to melt back into reality after visiting such an enchanting place as Carmel, CA.

Not sleeping has also taken its toll on me. I sleep for literally 2 hours a night if I am lucky. The rest of the time I stuff my face trying to coax my baby boy into a food coma so that he falls back to sleep and stops kicking me in the bladder. It doesn't always work and therefore Tim and I have become zombies and somewhat reclusive (if I don't sleep Tim doesn't sleep). We close our shades at 7pm hoping we can fall asleep early. It doesn't work so I have started to become most productive between the hours of 2am and 5am. Pippin's schedule is totally screwed up. Our neighbors are confused by our trash appearing on the curb at 4:30am. I have already planned my spring cleaning during sunrise hours next week.

So, yes this post was full of excuses but I do feel better now after getting them all out. Promise to post pictures of our babymoon soon!

Trip to Connecticut

Last weekend I FINALLY got the chance to go and visit my older sister Sally, her wonderful husband Seth, and their two precious children- Cate and Will. Will is now a month old and he is the best baby I have ever met. Sometimes I didn't even know he was there. I heard him cry once and it was only for 45 seconds. I am not lying. He is the best baby ever!

I am told this is not always the case with new babies (I am being sarcastic if you didn't pick up on it). I am hoping and praying though that my little boy learned a few things from Will when he was visiting.

My sister lives in the cutest town - West Hartford. The neighborhood streets are wide, clean, and lined with tall trees. The village is so quaint and has great character. After picking me up from the airport Sally, Cate, Will and I headed to Target where I finally found a somewhat decent maternity bathing suit. What is it with maternity clothes designers? Just because we are already huge and feeling 5 pounds away from being a whale doesn't mean that we also want loud hideous patterns on our clothes. Isn't the stomach bullseye enough?

Anyway, after Target we went to Bed, Bath, and Beyond so Sally could buy me a fan, which I told her I didn't need in order to sleep. But she bought it anyway. With all my pregnancy snoring, they probably needed the fan more than I did. Then we went to Babysrus- and boy was it crazy. Cate and I had a great time trying out every single glider. Cate also told me (she likes to tell people what to do) that I was a baby and couldn't talk so for half of our time at Babysrus I had to speak by crying at different octaves. I was able to add some more stuff to my registry though which was great! It is so fun shopping now that I know I am having a boy. After our excursion to Babysrus we went to Starbucks to refuel and then on to West Hartford's premiere toy store.

By the end of the afternoon we were exhausted. We had just enough time to relax and change before hitting the road to go and see Jake Armerding perform. Jake went to camp with Seth when they were younger, and also went to Gordon College. He put on a great show and we had an awesome time.

The trip was wonderful and definitely too short. Since Sally has gone through pregnancy twice now she is a great source of honest information, and I stress the word honest. I can't wait for our little boys to meet! I have posted pictures below of the trip.

We Are Having a Boy!!!!




How do you top that sentence? You can't really...so I am going to wait a couple of hours to post about my trip to West Hartford, CT to visit my sister this past weekend.
In the meantime, feel free to peruse my baby registries - there are links on the sidebar.

A Little Taste

For a little taste into what it is like being pregnant...
- being pregnant is sleeping for two hours, then laying in bed for two hours making a mental list of everything that you need to do before the baby is born, going downstairs to get a glass of orange juice hoping the hunger pains will subside, getting up to use the bathroom 8 plus times, getting completely and totally frustrated with your husband and dog who are both snoring and seem to care little about the fact that you are carrying their baby/sibling and are having an awful time resting, finally giving in and getting out of bed around 4am to read blogs and finish off the box of saltines that you opened earlier that day.

Luckily tomorrow is Sunday and other than church we have no real plans.

To take my mind off of the fact that I can't sleep I am remembering the delicious meal that Tim and I shared earlier this evening (which to think of it probably is the cause of this sleepless night)...Tim and I finally went out for Valentines Day. Our friends love Montmartre, a French restaurant on 7th Street, SE near Eastern Market so we had to see what all the fuss was about. Boy did it live up to the hype. We had an amazing meal (rockfish with red beet risotto and roasted asparagus followed by a scrumptious blueberry tart), the service was efficient, and the whole evening was just relaxed and totally fun! Then we came home and I made Tim watch Con Air which is probably one of THE most cheesiest movies ever, but for some reason I love it.

Here is to hoping that all of my other fellow pregnanties are fast asleep...and if not please google chat me.

Almost halfway

On Sunday I will be 20 weeks. Thankfully these last couple of weeks have gone by much faster than the first 12 weeks. I recently found out that two of my friends are also pregnant so it has been so fun sharing stories with them. Also, I am now officially over morning sickness (at least I hope so). I went through about 10 weeks of nauseua, followed by 4 weeks of stuffing my face, and now I seem to be on the other side of all of that.

Last weekend I went shopping with my mom and sister and had an absolute blast looking at cribs, gliders, and changing tables. Then we went to Babysrus and practically finished my registry. After all of that we mustered up some energy to go maternity clothes shopping because boy did I need it. We found some great deals, and I can now bend over without popping buttons. We had such a great time and I can't imagine doing any of this without them. My sister Emily is a teacher and she along with my mom totally guided me through the baby store. Everytime I was stumped or overwhelmed they helped me to make the right choice. They were even kind enough to tell me when a certain maternity shirt made me look hideous. Although I did end up getting it because it was only $4.99. Can't possibly pass up a deal that good.

Oh, and..... We find out the sex of the baby one week from today! We can't wait!

We have deer in DC

The weather this morning in DC was just absolutely glorious! I can't really go into that much detail on what a little sunshine and warm weather does for my spirit, because it would take all day, but let's just say that it got me out of bed (the first since Thursday night) and to the National Arboretum on a walk with Pippin (who I hadn't walked in over a week because of the flu).

So we were just walking along, and what do you know...two huge deer just galloped right past us. They literally stopped me in my tracks. And of course the first thing I did was look around to see if anyone else had also witnessed this deer crossing. No witnesses were found. I did just see that right? I looked to my side for confirmation from Pippin. Of course he didn't even bark at the two massive deer, he was more interested in a pile of geese poop on the side of the road. It was one of those odd experiences when you see something totally out of its element right in front of you. I mean, deer do not belong in DC, and especially not in this area of DC. The Arboretum is bordered by the dirty Anacostia river, a four lane highway, and rows and rows of projects. I did start to doubt myself for a moment thinking that hallucinations may be a symptom of pregnancy, or maybe it was just that I had eaten nothing but eggo waffles and tea for the last five days. But I swear, I saw two deer in DC today! Of course, now every time I look out my window I expect to see two deer run by our house, sniffing at our trash, and jumping over our metal fence on their way to catch the bus to Union Station. It is like a bad episode of Lost.

On a totally unrelated but just as serious a topic, I realized today while walking our dog that I have already started to waddle. This is totally not cool! I am only 18 weeks pregnant. Could it be that my hips are really starting to grow that significantly? Ick. I hope it is not God prepping my body for a large baby. I am totally praying for a 5 lb. 9 ounce baby that miraculously gains a couple ounces upon birth and is just safely over 6 lbs once I bring it (and by "it" I mean our precious little baby) home.

Introducing Baby Will

My older sister Sally just had her second baby, William Matthew. These pictures are just too cute!!!

18 Weeks

Well I was really looking forward to a romantic dinner on Valentines Day with Tim. I pictured us sitting there holding hands across the table (although that NEVER happens) and dreaming about having a little baby, deciding on a name, etc. Instead we both got the awful flu. We were so pathetic for about a week. Our dog even got sympathy sick as well. He was going to the bathroom and throwing up every two hours. Good practice for having a baby.

Now that we are both feeling better we are spending our long weekend, (which was supposed to be spent visiting my sister in West Hartford, CT and her new baby William Matthew but got canceled because of our sickness,) fumigating our house, drinking tea, and trying to heal our chapped noses.

If we are feeling up to it tomorrow night we are going to finally go and try Montmarte, a french bistro on Capitol Hill for dinner. Then we can talk about how at 18 weeks I am still having weird food aversions, starting to have heartburn, and definitely busting out of all my pants. We are only two weeks away from finding out our baby's gender though! I can't wait!

Super weekend

This past weekend was dedicated to our friend Jesse. Jesse recently got out the hospital, and his amazing wife wanted to show him some love. Our great friends from Maine flew down to surprise Jesse, and his wife bought him a new flat screen tv. Jesse is a huge Patriots fan and was really hoping to throw his own Superbowl party. That was not happening without a new tv though. Needless to say it was so wonderful to see Jesse so happy and to see him smile and laugh - And to just hang out with great friends all weekend. A perfect diversion from normal weekends of chores and errands.

The real reason I post about this is again because of food. Our menu for the superbowl party was outstanding. Again, the great thing about having such good friends around is that everyone helps eachother out. We chose the menu over dinner a week before: wings with Jaime's blue cheese dip; chips; goat cheese, red pepper, and arugula on ciabatta; turkey, bacon, pickles, and cheese on italian; and chunky potato soup with bacon, scallions, cheese, and sour cream as toppings. Everything turned out perfect, except the wings which take too long to cook. I have posted the recipe for the potato soup below. It is so easy to make and unbelievable. Perfect for a cold night, and it will last you days! I recently made it for dinner for my husband and we ate it for every meal the next three days.

Ingredients:

- 4 cups broth (chicken or vegetable)
- 4 medium sized all purpose potatoes
- 3 fresh leeks
- 3 yellow onions
- 1/2 cup whipping/ heavy cream
- parsley and or chervil to taste

Bring broth to simmering point. Peel potatoes and cut into eigths. Add potatoes, onion and leeks to broth. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes. Mash potatoes into the broth using a knife or a potato masher to form smaller pieces of potato.

Add chervil, parsley, and cream. Simmer for five more minutes.

Toppings: bacon, cheese, scallions, sour cream

ENJOY!

In honor of eating

I am officially 16 weeks, and I am officially stuffing my face every two seconds. I have never eaten more in my life. I eat an apple, sandwich, and chips and am ready for another meal an hour later. It has been really hard for me to get used to but I suppose I must feed my baby.

Here I am at 16 weeks. I am not ready for the bare belly shots yet.

In honor of eating a ton and a desire to be restaurant connoisseurs , two friends and I have started trying a new restaurant each month. Last week we went to Zaytinya, an Eastern Mediterranean mezze restaurant on the edge of Chinatown. The decor is fabulous and trendy. Bright blue walls with white tables and chairs. Techno music plays luring you to have one more mezze, one more drink, as though the party will never end. We were a little disappointed with the food however. The servings are small, actually they are teeny tiny. They are packed with taste, but SO TINY. You are supposed to order 3 or 4 of them but at a price tag of $7 each that gets a little pricey. And, I actually think you would need 9 or 10 to really fill up. I on the other hand settled for a peanut butter and jelly sandwich followed by a slice of pizza when I got home.
The service was Ok, I did have to ask for a lemon not 3 but 4 times. All in all, we had a great time but it was mostly because of the company and not the venue.

Next month- Oyamel serving fru fru Mexican tapas.

Fifteen Weeks and Counting

I have waited to blog about this until I had told most people personally, but now I feel like it is safe to do so. Tim and I found out in November that I am pregnant. We are so excited for this new step in our lives. Actually, it is all we really think and talk about. Our lives have shifted focus to this little baby, now the size of an apple, inside of me. It is amazing how something so small can have so much impact.

I was quite sick for the first two months with the nausea tapering off in the middle of the third month. I am now 15 1/2 weeks and feeling much better. It has been hard for me to get used to my body constantly changing, but I just keep focusing on that time when I will have a little baby to hold.

Patience has been difficult for me in these last couple of months. I want the baby now. Just give me five days to set up the nursery, buy the necessary stuff, and I am ready. However, I feel as though God is teaching me patience and to enjoy these days, weeks, and months I have to revel in this entire process.

Happenings and Going Ons

It has been a while since I have posted.
I have been feeling pretty sick lately, so this is where you can usually find me on any given evening. Curled up on our leather chair with Pippin close beside, reading whatever useful information I can find on the Internet and attempting to stay connected to family and friends.

It snowed for the first time this New Year the other day. Tim was away for work so it forced me to get out of the house and take Pippin for a walk. He absolutely loves walking in the snow. He jumps from one snow pile to the next eating as much snow as possible.

I was glad to have taken my camera with me. A snow covered Capitol Hill is something worth documenting.

I love this garden at all times of the year and purposely walk by it as often as I can. The low bushes do a great job of catching the snow

I hope this person doesn't mind me taking a picture of their car. I just love the colors. Can you tell that we have also been having unusually warm weather lately? Our daffodils and narcissus are already starting to bloom.

As I write this the snow has dissipated and the cold sunless skies are back. I am learning to enjoy life despite this dreary weather. One of my new years resolutions is to be more creative in life. So far that has only manifested itself in creative food dishes which my husband may or may not appreciate. Therefore, I am searching for more creative ways to spend my time.

Along the same lines, I am always amazed at how Christ can bring light to dark, smiles to sadness. This morning I woke with an awful headache, feverish aches and pains, and a clogged sinus. Needless to say I was not feeling well. However, upon logging onto my computer I saw an email from a long lost friend. It brought tears to my eyes and totally made my day! This friend is safe, happy, and hopefully moving back home. Prayers have been answered. Despite the gray skies it is truly a joyful day!

From Farm to Table

Although DC has an abundance of great restaurants, it seems as though my husband and I always end up at our local Capitol Hill restaurants instead of taking a cab downtown to try a new restaurant. Therefore, I was so excited to try the Blue Duck Tavern with two other Pennsylvanian couples on New Years Eve.

Simple, clean, traditional, organic, ode to our Jeffersonian past - these are thoughts that come to mind when entering the Blue Duck Tavern. Located in the Park Hyatt on the edge of Georgetown the Blue Duck Tavern is the epitome of simple elegance. I love the decor of this restaurant including the red and blue fabric walls, and the dining area scattered with Amish inspired tables and chairs. Everything just looks so clean. Nothing is overdone. Simple centerpieces. The kitchen is completely open - you are even allowed to practically walk right through it. I was just blown away by how quiet everyone in the kitchen worked. They seemed to dance around the kitchen in one fluid motion making delicious masterpieces. The menu is simple and a la carte. My favorite! You get to order a little of everything. Meat and vegetable items are listed next to their originating farm - many from Pennsylvania.

Our meal was absolutely delicious. Everything bursted with flavor, including my chestnut stuffed quail. We all agreed that the creamed spinach was out of this world with the goat cheese rosemary grits a close second. We topped off our meal with their world renowned apple pie, mango and papaya crisp, and cappuccinos all around. We were ready to be rolled out the door and into our cars just in time to get home and watch the ball drop. This was a perfect relaxing way to spend New Years.

Merry Shindig

This past weekend two of my friends (Cynda and Kristen) and I hosted a Christmas Party. I don't know why we never thought of doing this before, but throwing a party with two other people is the best idea ever.

Less work, less preparation time, less money = less worry and more fun!

We spent one evening planning the menu, one morning shopping, and one afternoon cooking, cleaning, and putting on the final touches. In the end we transformed Kristen's house into a very festive space with lots and lots of sugary goodies. Kristen's house is perfect for a Christmas party ever since she painted her walls green.


Our menu: Dark Chocolate cake; pistachio and dried cherry shortbread; stuffed dates; tiramasu; raspberry triffle; candied pecans; candied peanuts, honeycomb, dried apricots all on a plate with three different spicy and hard cheeses; and an apple gallette.


Our drinks: Ginger champagne (champagne served with a ginger simple syrup that is so reduced it is spicey), pomegranate and lime vodka martinis, pinot noir, and winter lager.


We had so much fun cooking and setting up for this party. We left no plate ungarnished and no corner of her apartment undecorated. Kristen even bought a dvd that plays a picture of a fireplace. It was definitely a good conversation starter.



Merry Christmas to everyone! Hope you have a relaxing, peaceful, and thoughtful holiday.

Ode to Autumn

"Now Autumn's fire burns slowly along the woods,
And day by day the dead leaves fall and melt,
And night by night the monitory blast
Wails in the key-hole, telling how it pass'd
O'er empty fields, or upland solitudes,
Or grim, wide wave, and now the power is felt
Of melancholy, tenderer in it's moods,
Than any joy indulgent summer dealt."
William Allingham

We leave November in two days and then the countdown to Christmas has started. (I fear it actually started the day after Thanksgiving). This year I am slow getting into the Christmas season. I am still relishing autumn. After living in a second floor mini apartment for 3 years and now moving to a house with large airy windows my senses are awakened. I don't want the rainbow of colors to end.

Our precious sapling that we have been diligently watering for several months turned a brilliant orange right before we left for Thanksgiving. As if it were his child performing in a school play my husband took a whole roll of pictures of this tree. It stands in our front yard: the first and last thing we see as we wake and then lock up for the night. This week however, it's leaves have started to fall. It looks so vulnerable.

I will miss many things about autumn: pumpkins; butternut squash; the bright yellows, reds, and oranges; the sound of leaves being swept into a heap; pumpkin beer; and the brilliant sun set against the crisp air.

Painting and Pumpkins

Deck Building Weekend

Before...

And After...

We are still in the process of putting the finishing touches on our deck, but it is almost complete. What an exhausting weekend, but what fun! Our friends Nate and Jaime flew down from Maine, and the rest of the DC crew assembled at our house each morning to work on the deck. I have never seen the guys work harder. They were awesome. And us girls...well we visited Virgina vineyards, went for a walk at the National Arboretum, and went to a wonderfully relaxing brunch on Sunday that included Mimosas and Bloody Marys.

Pomegranates

So it seems that pomegranates can in fact grow in Washington, DC. Who knew? We have had a mysterious plant/tree/what we thought was a weed growing in our front yard since we moved in. This plant/tree/weed has actually doubled in height since last November. Many a time we have been tempted to chop it down, burn it, or slowly kill it off with weed sprays. However, this past weekend my mother-in-law, who was stopping thru on her way to Pittsburgh, told us it was a pomegranate tree. And sure enough those odd looking orbs once cut open yielded sour yet tasty pomegranate seeds, more technically known as juice sacs.

Washington, DC is about as far north as pomegranates can grow. They are native to the Middle East and grow in hot dry weather. Humidity can have an adverse affect on this plant which is why I think ours has doubled in size and buds bright orange flowers as opposed to scarlet or white.

It is amazing how differently I now look at this tree knowing that it is a pomegranate tree. I once looked upon it with disdain and hatred counting down the days when we could cut it down and plant something in its place. I now feel hip and chic, for I own a pomegranate tree!

Picture problems

There are so many things that I want to blog about right now, but I am so upset because for some reason our pictures are not uploading correctly to iphoto. Therefore, I can post but not with pictures. Who wants to do that? And really, doesn't the picture always make the post?

But in some attempt to recap the last month or so...Tim and I have had a wonderful whirlwind couple of weeks. My parent's came to visit the same weekend as the H Street Festival here in DC. I have great pictures of the fabulous food, artists, and bands that made the festival what it was. I was so impressed by the turnout at the festival, and thought that all in all it was a great event.

We have been back to the Argonaut and Dr. Granvilles (which sits on 12th and H Streets) many more times, and each time I am always suprised by how delicious it really is despite the unwelcoming front door and window. The last time I was there I tried the new moules with tomatoes and they were fabulous! We are so excited about the prospect of great new restaurants within walking distance to our house. The Washingtonian just published an article called "Meet me on H Street" that details some of the new establishments in our area.

Last weekend we traveled to Charleston, South Carolina for work. The city is incredibly complex with little nooks and crannies everywhere you look. We also got a little time to relax and enjoy the beach and sun.

We are off to Cape Charles, Virginia this weekend to check out a new vacation spot: Bay Creek.

That is all for now! Here's to hoping that the temperature dips soon and we get a real autumn. I can't wait for mums, pumpkins, and that tiny chill in the air.

remove ink stain suede windex

Today we found ourselves googling "remove ink stain suede windex". It makes me laugh just thinking about it but at the time I was so upset! Come lunch time, when a friend of ours went to our house to let our puppy Pippin out for a midday pit-stop, we were notified that Pippin (instead of being a wonderful little puppy that sits on our couch waiting for us to come come) had completely torn apart several books in our living room and chewed up an ink pen on our new suede couch. He created a complete disaster.

Specifically Pippin destroyed three of my Barefoot Contessa books (which, yes, drove me to tears), one Black Dog cookbook (easily replaceable I guess) , and one very precious Edith Holden "Diary of an Edwardian Lady". Sorry Mom- this makes me soooo sad! He of course left Tim's "Beer Book" completely untouched. Pippin then found a red pen somewhere amongst my books and chewed it to pieces on our new chocolate brown suede Crate and Barrel sofa. You would think that red pen would not show up on a chocolate brown couch, but don't be deceived. Tim, left to clean up the mess while I was at work, googled "remove ink stain suede windex". Again, it just makes me laugh.

After calming down from the whole escapade, I am once again delighted that God created wonderful, loving creatures that bring joy to our lives. So, would anyone like to watch our dog for two weeks in September while we are away?

Why Mess with a Good Thing?

While most everyone in the DC area had off on Friday, or chose to take the day off, I went to work. I am not sure why...no one else was working so it was impossible to get anything done. But regardless, I was at my desk working away. So, when it came time to go out for our anniversary dinner I was somewhat exhausted: tired from staring at my computer screen all day, gearing up for September madness, and a little rushed from going on a quick run, jumping in the shower, and taking care of our puppy.

Tim and I had 7pm reservations at the Little Fountain Cafe, one of the most romantic restaurants in DC with only 12 tables and a great wine list. However, I couldn't decide on what to wear and I hate to be rushed (who makes 7pm reservations anyway?). I got dressed anyway for this evening of celebration. We were out the door on the way to the car when I looked at Tim, "I hate to say this on our 5-year anniversary but I am not in the mood for a small romantic restaurant." He voiced his agreement. We quickly went back inside, changed into t-shirts and shorts, and started the walk to one of our favorite restaurants, La Loma.

It was such a gorgeous night on Friday night, we wanted to be outside, and we didn't feel like schlepping it up to Adams Morgan. La Loma was our answer. And so we enjoyed a pitcher of margaritas, chips and salsa, and fajitas on the patio at La Loma.

We walked back, burning off our gobs of calories that we had just consumed, and were welcomed home by our 9 month old Welsh Corgi peering through our front window. It somehow all seemed so fitting for our anniversary.

5 years

Tim and I celebrate our 5- year anniversary today, and that means 5 years in this wonderful city we call home. It is amazing to look back at all the people we have met, jobs we have had, places we have lived, and changes that have taken place over the last couple of years. We feel truly blessed.

We plan on spending the weekend trying out new restaurants in DC: one of our most favorite things to do. Tim has also scheduled massages for us tomorrow morning followed by brunch in Georgetown. I hope to report back with some great restaurant suggestions!

Hope you all have a restful weekend. Happy Labor Day!

Catching Up

I recently had some down time at work so I started reading some of my old posts. Wow, I used to write on this blog a lot! And I used to find joy in little things. I want to get back to that. I want to feel alive again. If I am going to be perfectly honest this year has been a difficult one, although I could not put my finger on why. Sometimes I feel like I am in limbo: working hard at my job but really yearning for what is to come (whatever that may be). Other times I feel very content: I love owning a house, decorating, and gardening. I try to chaulk it up to being 27: it is a bland year.

Although it is up to no one else but me to change that.

If I were to be completely honest again, I remember the summer before my wedding as one of the happiest summers of my life. I woke up every morning and walked 2 miles to a Paul Simon cd. I was a lifeguard from 11am-8pm. I swam for more than an hour every day. For two weeks I coached lacrosse at a day camp. And I planned my wedding. And I loved it. How do I get back to that happiness?

Again, I feel a big finger pointed right at me.

I leave tomorrow for a week on the Vineyard. I really hope to spend that time reading and praying. I want to feel content again, feel a certain strength in my faith, a certain gentleness in my heart.

Weekends!

From sun drenched days of weeding, cleaning and reading















To the pastel haze of deep summer nights

Lately, this is how I feel: Attempting to rest and re-energize while trying to keep one eye to work and life. This summer has been filled with long hours at work, graduation parties, family visits, planning for future trips and work retreats, and thankfully a recent week long vacation to the Outer Banks, North Carolina.

While away with family I read a Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini. I would not recommend this book if you are looking for something uplifting and peaceful. It is a wonderfully told story of tragedy, heartache, loss, and poverty in Afghanistan from the 1970s to the present. Although not non-fiction, this book really opened my eyes to the struggles of growing up a woman in Afghanistan, and the ongoing tensions that exist there. If you liked the Kite Runner, you will surely like this book.

Upon returning from a restful week at the beach I was excited to find that our tomato plant finally yielded one tomato. We also discovered that we have a peach tree and grape vine in our back yard. All very exciting!

I hope that you all are having a restful summer catching up on that reading list, preparing new summer dishes, and dreaming of projects for the fall.

Cape May

Last weekend Tim and I visited Cape May, New Jersey. It was the perfect DC getaway. We ate some fabulous food including lunch at the Blue Pig Tavern. Our lunch was absolutely heavenly! We started with asparagous soup or clam chowder and then moved on to a gorgeous pear and gorgonzola salad or mozzerella, tomato, basil salad. All of these starters paired nicely with either a glass of champagne or the signature Blue Pig Ale.



That evening we went rustic and grabbed two steamer pots (topped full with 2 lobsters, littlenecks, mussels, and from the Lobster House. After adding a beer and cooking on the stovetop for only 25 minutes, the seafood was ready. The pots were incredibly satisfying.

Pippin and Biergit don't quite know what to do with the lobster.

The rest of the weekend, if we weren't eating, was spent on the beach chasing our dogs, or walking around town. There were some much needed nap time snuck in there as well.

Oh, and Pippin had his first dunk in the ocean.