Top Chef Sighting

Aunt Suzy came to town over the weekend which made James (and the rest of us) very happy.  It was an eventful visit filled with Top Chefs, baskets and lots of food - par for the course with us. :)  The food...not the Top Chef. Let me explain.

On Saturday morning we all headed west to Aldie, VA.  What's in Aldie, VA you ask?  Well, Willowsford is in Aldie, VA.  And why is that important?  Well, they were throwing a big bash to entice people to purchase their gi-NORMOUS homes and we are not the sort of people to miss a party!

None of us are in the market for a new house, but the free food, live jams and cooking demonstration with Mike Isabella of Top Chef fame brought us all on board for the trip.  And we weren't alone.  The place was packed!  I guess when you include a 2-page spread in the Washington Post announcing this party filled with free stuff people come flocking.

The neighborhood was cute filled with all kinds of amenities including their own farm stand.  Who wouldn't love their own farm stand down the street?!  But I digress...the party was great.  Good food, a blue grass band, a wine tasting and of course, the main attraction - Mike Isabella.

For those of you who don't know, Mike Isabella was on season 6 of Top Chef and was the runner-up on Top Chef Allstars.  He is a DC guy - formerly the chef of Zaytinya and recently opened Italian restaurant Graffiato.  Sue and I are big fans of the show so this B-list celebrity sighting was very exciting for us.  After a quick cooking demonstration, he took the time to sign his new cookbook "Crazy Good Italian" and take some photos. James was not as star struck as we were, but he chilled out with us while Mike made some grub.

We briefly chatted with him asking some behind the scenes questions about the show.  Apparently, they tape the show in 6 weeks and it is a HUGE pressure cooker.  Said it is about 1,000 times more intense than it looks on TV.  There are no plans for future TV, but he will appear in a few episodes of Bravo's new series "Life After Top Chef".

So, after getting over the excitement of Mike Isabella, we hit the Sinplicity ice cream truck for free ice cream (really good, btw) and headed out of dodge.

The rest of the weekend was filled with relaxing, eating and playing in baskets.  Yes - you read that correctly. The brilliant Aunt Suzy founded the MOST fun game James has EVER played - Baby in a Basket!!  While Ed and I popped out to the grocery store, Aunt Suzy was in charge and had the idea of putting James in his toy basket.  GENIUS!  He loved it - had a ball!!  Now, whenever he gets a little cranky, we put him in the basket and he calms down and actually smiles.  Thank you Aunt Suzy!!!

We had so much fun and can't wait to see Aunt Suzy again for Thanksgiving.  I'm sure she'll have some new tricks up her sleeve that will trump any toy we buy James between now and then. :)

LOVE YOU AUNT SUZY!!!!

A Surprise in the Day

I don't know that there is anything more exciting than opening your front door and finding this box on the porch:

Well, I guess maybe seeing Ed McMahon's replacement from Publishers Clearinghouse with a big check trumps this, but it is pretty darn exciting for a girl to see a box of ProFlowers waiting for her.

I tore through the box (as any sane pregnant lady would) to see who the generous giver of the flowers was. Low and behold...it was my wonderful sister, Suzy Q.

She has been worried about me in my final stages of pregnancy and wanted me to know that she was thinking of me. HOW FREAKIN SWEET IS THAT!!!

Thank you, Sue, for the beautiful roses and for brightening up my day. You are the best sister a girl can ask for and I love you VERY much!!!

The Windy City: Day 1

It's been a few days since we returned from our trip out to Chi-Town and I have to apologize that this post is so tardy. We got home Sunday night and I got on a train to NYC Monday so life has been a little crazed. But better late than never, right? :)

We had a FABULOUS time out in Chicago visiting Sue Q. I'm sorry that it is over already! From the moment we got there to the moment we left, Sue had us booked up with awesome outings and meals. She really outdid herself. If the whole "I'm getting my PhD and curing cancer thing" doesn't work out she can definitely get herself a job at the Chicago Tourism office.

Our Thursday night flight out to Illinois was happily uneventful and Sue was there to greet us at baggage claim which is a rare, but lovely thing these days (and totally by accident; unforeseen construction caused her to park). We headed to her new place in Lincoln Park and were greeted by a very excited Sophie girl. After a quick tour of the new duds, some catching up and late night snacks (chips and salsa and cheese...yum!), we hit the sack in anticipation of our very busy Friday.


We awoke to a bright and shiny day and got ready for our 10:30 am Chicago Film Tour. This 3 hour tour took us all over Chicago showing us sites of many famous movie scenes. We grabbed some seats in the back and were on our way. Our tour guide (who was very witty) showed us a scene on the tv's and then point out the site with many an anecdote in between.


From the famous Marina Towers, site of one of the most famous stunts from the 1979 flick The Hunter starring Steve McQueen (see video here)...

...to the site of the original Playboy Mansion located at 1340 North State Parkway...


...to the very famous Green Mill Lounge made famous by movies including The Untouchables, High Fidelity, and more recently, The Dilemma starring Kevin James and Vince Vaughn. Fun fact: Vince Vaughn requires in his contract that portions of every one of his movies MUST be filmed in Chicago. Check out the clip here.


Next up was Wrigley Field which really needs no introduction. I managed to get a good shot of the rooftop seats adjacent to the stadium - Love!


From there, we saw the Biograph Theatre, site of John Dillenger's death as portrayed by the always good to look at Johnny Depp in Public Enemies...


The train station where Sandra Bullock filmed While You Were Sleeping...


...the Backdraft firehouse...


...and the picturesque Wrigley Building where portions of The Fugitive were filmed.


It was a fun filled tour. We learned a lot. We saw a lot. We had a great time. :)

From there it was off to the Weber Grill Restaurant for lunch (made Ed very happy), some shopping on Michigan Avenue (holla to the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale!) and some good old fashioned site seeing. Awesome Day 1 in Chi-Town!


And if that weren't enough, we had an incredible evening filled with good eats and amazing music. Dinner was at Quartino, a delicious Italian Tapas and Wine bar. The food was amazing...and boy did we pig out. From gourmet cheese and meat to short ribs to pork filled ravoli and pizza, we enjoyed every morsel.


We then headed over to famous blues club, Kingston Mines to listen to some really awesome music. This place is one of the oldest and largest blues club in Chicago. We were lucky enough to hear 2 different blues bands and let me tell you, they ROCKED! Check out the triple guitar that the girl (yes, GIRL) was playing!


Our first day in Chicago was pretty much awesome. So much so that it would be hard to top...but just wait. Details of Day 2 to come!

Chicago or Bust

Ed and I are leaving on a jet plane tonight bound for Chicago to see Sue and Brett. Yeah! We have been looking forward to this trip for a long time so we are so excited that it is finally here. It is hard to believe that I have not seen my sister since the holidays. :( How is that even possible? I hate that we live so far away, but appreciate that we have the means to see each other a few times throughout the year. See you in a few hours, Sue ~ we can't wait!!!


So things will be quiet on the blog over the weekend, but I'm sure we'll have LOTS of really fun stuff to share once we are back. See you then!

Weekend Whirlwind Part 2

I can't believe that it is Wednesday and I am sill talking about the weekend. It was that full! So we continue on with our tales of Mother's Day. The morning came with a big sloppy kiss from Lucy along with an adorable card and some yummy Lindt chocolates. There is no better way to start the day! And you KNOW I popped a few of those treats in my mouth before I even got out of bed!

The rest of the morning was just as good...filled with a non-chocolate breakfast of poached eggs with toast (thank you Bubby!), hot coffee and the Sunday Washington Post. I think I actually heard the air say "Aaahhhhhh". After a quick clean up for both the dishes and us, it was time to take Lucy for a long walk. It was a beautiful day so we took full advantage by roaming the trails of our lovely neighborhood.


Finally it was time to head over to Casa de Quartuccio. At first, I thought Mama Q. and Grandma were heading back to NYC on Mother's Day. But I was wrong - YAH! So we got to spend some quality time with them which was great. When we arrived, Grandma was relaxing in the den while Mom and Dad cleaned the deck - a nice relaxing Mother's Day task, right?! Lucy wasted no time bullying her way into the backyard to greet Mom and Dad and run her little heart out. This was what she looked like after 15 minutes of sprinting back and forth...back and forth.


It was time for presents and who doesn't love presents more then my Ed. Unfortunately for him, they were all for the ladies. :)


Grandma was up first. She had already received a beautiful jewelry tree from Sue in the mail and Ed, Lucy and I surprised her with a beach cover up for her upcoming trip to Florida. Mom and Dad rounded her gifts out with some new sandals from DSW and some fresh potpourri for her room in Levittown in NY. She was all smiles...


...as was Dad. Lucy apparently wasn't all that interested. :)


Next up was Lainey (our nickname for Mama Q.). Dad surprised her with a Red Door Spa gift certificate while we give her a Cutco Chef's Knife to add to her growing collection. Dad, being the joke-ster that he is, immediately went to the drawer and pulled out the crappy Ginsu Knife he bought her years ago and proceeded to demonstrate how it is "superior" (aka ran it across his skin with not a slice in sight!).



My Mom then surprised me with a little something since I am Lucy's Mommy. I got hooked up with a yummy Yankee Candle (lemonade scent) and some fun plastic iced tea cups for outdoor dining. Not too shabby! :)



The wonderful day continued with a visit from Mom's good friend Karen and her pooch, Charlie. Lucy LOOOOVVVVEEESSSS Charlie. Unfortunately, Charlie does not love Lucy. She doesn't quite understand boundaries and tends to lick Charlie's private parts which Charlie doesn't like so much. But they made do and were friends by the end of the night.




Dinner was BBQ from Red Hot and Blue (pretty good eats!) and some pleasant conversation on the newly cleaned deck. I have to say....Mother's Day was pretty excellent this year. The only thing missing was Mama M. whom we spoke to earlier in the day and sent a special care package to in the mail. So there you have it...our busy weekend came to a close and we were all pooped...Lucy especially. :)