Sunday Night's Alright

Last night Ed and I had a date night. And this wasn't any old dinner and a movie date night, but instead, the ULTIMATE Date Night. Our date did include dinner and perhaps one too many beers at Gordon Biersch, but what made this date night so great was our plus +1 - BON JOVI! We were amongst the thousand of fans at the Verizon Center belting out "Livin' on a Prayer", "Bad Medicine" and all the Bon Jovi greats. Yes our tickets were rear/obstructed view and yes we had a great view of Jon Bon Jovi's butt most of the night, but really...is that such a bad thing? :)

What made the night so great is that we had a such a good time together. We truly enjoyed each other's company and made each other laugh all night long. Lucy spent the night with Grandma and Grandpa so we were able to focus 100% on each other and it was fantastic! The stresses of life sometimes get in the way of seeing the love and joy that is in front of you and as our first anniversary approaches, I'm so happy that we take the time to have some fun and appreciate each other fully.

We are in the process of planning a little first anniversary get-away and have been so focused on the "where" that we need to take a step back and realize that it doesn't matter where we go. As long as we are together, we'll figure out a way to have a blast!! Love you Bubs!!!! xoxo!!

Thanks for the Memories

I was never the little girl that dreamed of her wedding. I never thought about the perfect dress or the perfect flowers or the music I would hear as I walked down the aisle. I was too busy playing soccer and getting dirty. When Ed asked me to marry him (Yah!) it was one of the best days of my life but also extremely overwhelming because I had NO idea where to start with the wedding plans. Luckily, we had a long engagement giving us plenty of time to plan the big day -- and what a day it was!! Everything went perfectly - from the pre-day primping at MetroModes to the borrowed Mustang (Thanks Mustang Scott!!) to the "perfect shoes" (both Ed and I!) and the cupcake flavors (courtesy of our favorite baker Cupcake Gourmet), all was as we had hoped and planned for. The year and a half of details came to fruition and we could not have been more pleased.

Now that the wedding is long gone (sad) all we have are the memories and thankfully over 900 photos documenting the amazing day. I have bragged a lot about our amazing photographer and his team and I will continue to do so - they ROCK! If you need photos of something ... ANYTHING ... you MUST hire Michael Falabella of Millimeter Photography. Part of the "non-package" he offered was a 4 x 6 print of every proof - genius! These proofs have been sitting in photo albums for a while now as we focused on other things, but I finally had the time to do something with them. Some of them made it into a frame that now hangs in our hallway....


... while others were blown up and act as decor in our living room.


The rest (well not all...there were over 900 prints!) made it into our official Wedding Album!!!! Because of many other expenses we are currently experiencing (ahem ~ mortgage, Lucy, snow salt - not a fan of the weather btw!), we unfortunately were not able to swing one of the fancy photographer albums. So we improvised. Pottery Barn saved the day with a beautiful engrave-able album and now we have a beautiful reminder of the wonderful day it was.


Not too shabby! :)

I may not have dreamed of my wedding day since I was a little girl, but I will never forget a single detail as long as I live.

God Love Restaurant Week

Ed and I just had an awesome dinner at Argia's in Falls Church - one of the many restaurants participating in DC's Restaurant Week. I have to say...I'm so excited to be back home so I can take my honey to some of my favorite spots around town. We enjoyed a fabulous 3 course meal that included mussels swimming in the most amazing garlic wine sauce I've ever had and a slice of pumpkin cheesecake that was sent directly from heaven. Thank god for those WW flex points!


Tomorrow we are heading to another favorite spot in DC - Zaytinya. Date night is so fun - even if it is only 20 degrees out!

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!! :)