Happy 2011!

I am a little late with the Happy New Year sentiment, but better late than never. :)

Life in the Mangiaracina world has been pretty darn good so far this year. I know we are only 13 days in, but they have been an eventful 13 days. After spending the holidays in New York with family and friends (and lots of snow), we rang in the new year with Suzy Q. and her boyfriend Brett with many an adult beverage and a Wii Let's Dance competition. Have you all tried that game?? It ROCKS! We even got Ed to participate which is a feat in itself!

The first week of January was pretty quiet, but this week has been very eventful. Ed's Mom has been down for a visit and we have really been enjoying her company. Ed and Mom have been exploring the area and have done some great stuff including a Trolley Tour of DC, a visit to the American History Museum and some shopping at Mom's favorite store, Plow & Hearth.



With Toy Fair around the corner I have been chained to my desk, but have been able to play at night...and play we have! It's been great showing Mom our new house and our new life and luckily SHE APPROVES! The best part is that she was SHOCKED to see that we had the same stores down here that they have up in New York. She is so cute! :) We can't wait for her to come back this spring to help us with our landscaping project -- nothing like manual labor when you are on vacation, right Mom? :)

I owe you all updated photos of the house and I PROMISE to get on that ASAP. My list of projects continues to expand, yet my wallet does not so many things will have to wait. We did finally mount the TV on the wall in the living room AND we received our new couch so that is good stuff. More to come!

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

This blog entry is waaaayyyyy overdue. The Mangiaracina's have been very focused on actually being Mangiaracina causing the blog to become dusty, but alas, we are back and there is much to report. We have been through a lot over the past month or so and we appreciate everyone's love and support. With the new season comes new beginnings and we are ready to embrace them all.
It is now December and that means it's time to start spreading Christmas cheer. While I'm not a fan of the cold weather that set in, I am a fan of the holiday season and am ready to get this new house decorated to celebrate!

And speaking of the house...I have to say the place is coming together. We added a few new pieces of furniture to the living room and are now the proud owners of 8 new windows and 2 new sliding glass doors. We are saving energy up the wa-zoo in this mother! :) Ed keeps Lucy and I busy with his "quick projects" around the house (aka: stripping the 12 layers of paint off the front door, caulking every open orafice and painting the awesome new chair rail in the kitchen), but all in all, we are in good shape. And we have to be. The well is dry.

Now it is time to decorate for the holidays and I have a feeling I may go a little nuts. The vision is clear as day in my head and this weekend, Target, Home Goods and the fine people at the local christmas tree lot will make it happen. :)

It's a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

I love Fall. It is, hands down, the BEST season there is. The smells...the colors...the crisp air. It's awesome! And what I love best are the awesome Fall activities. This weekend, we partook (word?!) in 2 of my most favorite Fall activities ~ Apple Picking and Fall Street Festival.


After spending a week in Dallas, the hubby and I needed more than just a date night so we decided to spend Saturday frolicking in the Fall air. :) First stop was Crooked Run Orchard for some apple picking and pumpkin gathering. It was a GORGEOUS day so the setting was perfect. We trekked from suburbia to uber-suburbia and found ourselves at a beautiful orchard filled with suncrisps, red and gold delicious, matsus, cortlands and braeburns. We made our way through the colorful apple trees and gathered our loot ~ just enough for an apple crisp and some daily snacking. The pumpkin patch was not quite what we thought (instead of a field of pumpkins we had 4 large bins to choose from!) ~ but we had a great time. :)


It was time for lunch and really the best food on a Fall day is from a cart wielding the sign "Chicken on Stick". We headed back into civilization and hit the Fairfax City Fall Festival. First stop - FOOD VENDORS!!! In addition to our chicken on a stick, we inhaled on some pad thai and spicy lo mein. Not bad for street food. :)


We made our way through the many vendors and headed to the car show where Ed fell in love with yet another vintage Mustang. This one was black with white interior ~ pretty awesome.


Then it was time for the main event - The Legwarmers!!!!!!!!!! I think I have spoken of them before, but The Legwarmers are THE best 80's cover band in the WORLD!!! They were playing on the main stage and they totally rocked! The crowd was going wild - it was awesome. Definitely made our day.


After some quick doggie purchases (new collar, treats and a fun toy), some soft serve and a giant bag of kettle cooked popcorn we headed home to spend the rest of the beautiful Fall afternoon with Lucy. We rounded out the night with a movie ~ "The Social Network". Good flick. Great day. I LOVE FALL!!!

Take a look at our full Fall day here!

Touches of Fall

So I went a little nuts with the most recent Crate & Barrel catalog and spruced the place up a bit with some touches of fall. Graziano ~ I blame this on you!




The best part of the purchase was the Harvest Pumpkin Scented Candle ~ smells like I've been baking all day. Happy Fall!! :)

Yum!

Another weekend is coming to a close and I have to say, it was a good one. We spent some time exploring new fabulous "finds" in Centreville and visited an old favorite. :) Some good family friends were in town visiting my parents (good to see you Mrs. Pat and Mr. Andy!) so we tagged along on their trip to Old Town Alexandria. Lucy joined us for our stroll along the Potomac and up and down the historic streets. We meandered in and out of some very cute shops and had a taste of Pop's Old Fashioned Ice Cream before heading home. Lucy did great considering how hot is was...but she was VERY happy to be back in the Air Conditioning for the ride home. :)


As for the new fabulous find - it's called "Eggspectations" and it was a delicious breakfast in an adorable setting. It's no Eggery (nothing ever will be), but it will definitely do in a bind! The plan for the rest of our Sunday includes laying on the couch, watching some good/bad TV and playing with Lucy's new frog. Not bad this life we created...not bad at all.

We're Back in Action Baby!

So it's been a while. A long while...sorry about that, but we are back in action. Life has been nuts trying to get settled in the new house. I am happy to report that we are about 98% unpacked and are close to having everything in place. There is still a pile of stuff that needs to be hung on the walls and my cookbooks are sitting in a neat little pile on the floor waiting for their new shelf to be purchased, but all in all we are in good shape.

We actually dug ourselves out of our house hermit hole and joined the world last weekend to help my good friends Tulay and Dave celebrate their wedding day. We hit the road late Friday night after dropping Lucy off at Grandma's and Grandpa's and made it to NYC in the wee hours of the morning (what's with late night traffic in Delaware - not cool!!). The first item on our NY agenda - breakfast at the "Eggery" aka Thomas' Ham and Eggery. This historic diner is our FAVORITE breakfast spot and we have become regulars - even now as we live in another state!! Tommy (co-owner and official "seater) greeted us at the door and Sharon (our favorite counter waitress) gave us big hugs. It was great to see them AND get some grub with Mom and Adriana!



As the food coma set in we popped over to see Ed's Dad (who looks great BTW) and then headed out east for a late lunch with friends Dave, Michele, Rob and best of all DOMINICK!! This adorable little monkey greeted us with giggles and smiles and was so huggable I didn't want to put him down!! We had such a great time catching up with everyone and pigged out on wings, broccoli poppers and yummy french onion soup. How we fit more food in our Eggery stuffed stomachs is still a mystery.

It was finally time for the main event - Tulay and Dave's wedding. It was a beautiful evening with perfect weather and an even more perfect sunset. The groom looked dashing and the bride was GORGEOUS!! The ceremony was conducted by good friend Lorca and I have to say, it was amazing. Literally brought tears to my eyes. Dave and Tulay are a wonderful couple and their unique touches on the wedding made it very special. The Douglaston Manor was the perfect venue, the sunflower centerpieces were gorgeous and the DJ was pumping amazing Turkish music that got the crowd on their feet. This was the first wedding that Ed and I have been to since our own so it was very special. Congratulations Tulay and Dave ~ enjoy your honeymoon in Jamaica!!!

This was the first wedding Ed and I attended as a married couple and I have to say it was pretty cool. I loved dancing with my husband while celebrating my friend's marriage. It was a special day for all. :)

SOLD!!!!!

We are homeowners!!!!!!!!! Wooooooooooohooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


My goodness...this has been a long time coming but we made it! I can't even describe the feeling you get when those keys are put in your hands and you walk into the house that you own (well, you and the bank) for the first time. It's AWESOME!!!

We have been skimpy on the details because we didn't want to jinx it but the wait is over. The link below leads you to our Snapfish pics of the new place and I will have some updated pix at the end of the week with some of the small updates we are making. Our great friend Rob is down here helping us out with all kinds of "house fun" (as we refer to it) and we truly appreciate his assistance.

The house is located in Centreville, VA in a great little community called Little Rocky Run. It is a brick front, 3-level townhouse with 3BR, 3.5 BA, open kitchen and living room and hardwood floors throughout. We have a great deck off the kitchen which will serve many a cookout and a patio/backyard off the basement. The whole place is very updated so there is not too much work to do - but of course we are working on some personal touches. :) There is plenty of room for the whole brood - and the brood to come (no Ma...not pregnant yet!)

The official moving day is a few weeks off as we work to get the place in tip top shape. And the couch won't be delivered until early September :). If any of you out there are looking for something to do on September 4th, just give us a shout!

Welcome to our home. :)


Click here for pics of the house! More to come soon. :)