Holy Frame Wall Batman

I had to put Batman in the title in order to get Ed fully on board with the little house project I'm ready to share with you guys. What, you ask, is Ed not 100% in love with in our humble abode? That would be the Wall of Frames that I put together in the basement...inspired by my new favorite blog Young House Love. He is slowly warming up to it ~ especially since it is filled with special photos and trinkets of our life.


The wall is in the basement across from my office on the way to the rest room so I pass by it no less than 10 times a day (TMI...sorry) and it makes me smile every time. One of my favorite items is the shadow box with Joey's and Lucy's the first collar.


I also love how the plot of our property looks on the wall rather than in a folder buried in my desk. It's been a dream of ours to own our own place so why not showcase it on the wall!


This view shows a really cool picture of the boys (Joey and Little E) watching tv, the menu cover of our old local breakfast hot spot, Thomas' Ham and Eggery, and the Guggenheim Museum ticket stub from our first date.


I'd like to say the wall will continue to grow, but I promised Ed that I would not add any more frames. BUT luckily these photos and trinkets are interchangeable so as we develop new memories, we can put them up on the wall. And who knows...maybe Ed will change his mind about the wall one of these days...:)

Guess Who Is Getting a Hair Cut?

It's not me...and it is certainly not Ed. :) That's right...little Lucy is headed to Red Dog Day Spa later in the week for a little pooch pampering. Summer is on the way so it's time to cut all that hair off her so she doesn't sweat to death. Here is a little "before"...the big reveal comes later. Stay tuned!

Dinner Done

As some of you may know, I am a big fan of cooking. And lucky for me, Ed is a big fan of eating so it seems we are the perfect pair. Tonight's meal turned out spectacular and I firmly believe it is because of the fresh herbs from our new garden. There is nothing better than cutting herbs from your own yard and then use them in your meal. The fragrance and flavor they offer is unmatched...UNMATCHED I TELL YA! :)



On the menu, Balsamic Glazed Roast Beef (sorry, Ina's recipe is not online!) with Broiled Zucchini and Potatoes with Parmesan Crust (courtesy of Giada). Ed had a rough day at work, so I knew I had to cook something that would make him smile. And I think I was successful. Unfortunately, I didn't take a picture of the final product. It smelled so good that we dove right in. But here is a peek at what it "looked" like. Thanks Ina and Giada for the yummy recipes - both are definitely put into the full rotation!


P.S. It really did look like this. :)

It's a Beautiful Day

One of our favorite things is to enter a weekend with zero plans and see where the days take us. That was the case yesterday. After 3 consecutive weekends of being out of town, Ed and I were very excited to have a weekend home to catch up on house projects and catch up on local flavor.

We spent Friday night hanging out with Grandma Basile while Mama and Papa Q. were at a wedding. It was a classic date night - dinner (pizza) and a movie (Grandma friendly "Morning Glory"). After a great night of sleep, we awoke to a gorgeous day. Ed had plans to go to the shooting range with some of the neighborhood guys, so I decided it was time to trek out to Tyson's Corner to pick up the plant stands I have been eying from Crate and Barrel. Of course the purchase turned into more than just plant stands...but how often do I get to go to one of my favorite stores!!! And I didn't stop there. I then headed over to my new love, West Elm, and picked up all kinds of stuff that I was lusting over in the catalog. The shopping outing ended at Pier One where I needed to pick up a dish that we broke and found a few cute things along with way. All in all, I say it was a BIG success!


P.S. I'm OBSESSED with owls lately and West Elm fed right into my obsession!




After my shopping spree and Ed's shooting spree (in a gun-range mind you!), we decided it was time to get down and get dirty. More dirty then down. :) It was time to finish our landscaping project in the front of the house. Luckily the weather was not at brutal as it was when we dug the flower bed out. So here is the before:


...the digging...


...the plant purchases...


...the planting...


...the Lucy...

and finally, the after:



We are LOVING the way it looks and can't wait for the plants to perk up a bit now that they are in the ground. And how much are we loving the JMU garden flag?!?!?? A job well done!

Our Saturday continued with a visit from my bestie Beth Belluzzo who happened to be in the neighborhood for a baby shower. Beth is not only one of my dearest friends from college, but one of the MOST fun people I know. It was so good to see her...but I think Lucy was the MOST excited. She gave Auntie Beth LOTS of love and kisses.

The evening then carried on with an impromptu BBQ with some of our neighbors - Mr. Chris Newland (who was sans wife and kids for the weekend) and the Miller family, Shawn, Laura and their beautiful daughter, Ariana. The adults shared in a delicious meal (complete with venison steaks and wine) and some great company, while Ariana basked in the glow of "Toy Story" and her new Barbie doll. We are SO lucky that we not only have our dream house, but that it is in a neighborhood with such wonderful people. Seriously...a house is just a house. It's the people that fill it that make it a home and we are so happy to have people like Chris and Kim, Shawn and Laura, and Ed and Michelle (who sadly were out of town) over to make it swell with joy and laughter. It was a great night and we look forward to many more.

College Bound!

I love when good news comes in the mail. Not over email...not on a website...not on Facebook, but in an envelope in the mailbox. Sending letters through the good old Post Office is a dying art. The only things we receive these days are bills, ads and magazines for Yeon Kim (previous occupant). But yesterday, when I opened the box, there was a lovely little surprise for us...well for Ed.


It was the news we have been waiting on for a month....looks like someone is going back to school this Fall!!!!! Ed finally received his acceptance letter from George Mason University!!!!!


We couldn't be more thrilled about the news - I'm half out the door ready to buy school supplies and every piece of Mason apparel I can get my hands on! :) Ed will be finishing his degree in Accounting over the next 2-ish years while working full time - looks like we are in for many a late night. Does anyone know if there is a Waffle House around here? That is how me and my friends spent late nights studying while at JMU. Hopefully an IHop will do. :) Congratulations Bubby!!!!!!

Happy Birthday Bubby

Those are the words that woke me up yesterday morning reminding me that my birthday had arrived. Another year had gone by and year 33 is here ~ how the heck did that happen?! I decided to take the day off (from work and the blog) and spent some time in our nations capital with Mom and Grandma who is in town for a visit (love it!).

Unfortunately, Ed had to go to work so it was just us girls headed to DC for a day of Old Town Trolley Tours. Ed and his Mom did the tour when she visited back in January and had a great time so we thought it would be a great way for us to show Grandma the sites of DC.


Our first tour guide took us all around the National Mall hitting spots like the U.S. Capitol, Congressional Office Buildings, the Botanical Gardens and about a gazillions monuments including Washington, WWII, Lincoln, Jefferson, Vietnam, Korean, FDR and the new Martin Luther King Jr. (still under construction). There were many more that he mentioned but lord knows I can't remember. It seems like there is a statue or fountain on every block commemorating something!

We then switched to the Uptown Route where we were entertained by driver Caruso who took us up through Dupont Circle to the National Cathedral (the highest point in the city - who knew!). He then proceeded to name every embassy on Mass Ave (very entertaining) and took us back downtown through Georgetown and eventually back to Union Station. I've lived in the DC-Metro area on and off for 20 years and I think I learned more about our nations capital on this 3-hour tour than in all 20 years. It was pretty amazing ~ highly recommended. Click here for a visual tour of what we saw!

After our fabulous day in DC, I headed home and Ed treated me to dinner at Bonefish Grill - YUM! I'm not sure there is anything better than Bang Bang shrimp except for $5 Bang Bang Shrimp night!!! Pair them with crab cakes and a Mojito and you have got yourself one exceptional birthday dinner!


We ended the night at home on the couch watching Disney's Tangled (I'm a 3 year old trapped in a 33 year old's body!). It was a good day. I wasn't really looking forward to my birthday this year, but I have to say, I am now ready to conquer 33!

Landscaping DIY

The time has come for me to shed my black thumb and turn it green as we attempt to landscape the flower bed in the front of the house. I think I have mentioned once or twice that I am a plant killer - they see me coming and just jump off the bridge in order to save themselves from the torture. But I am ready to change that and it starts with our first major landscaping project.

After spending a lovely Easter weekend in NY with Ed's family, we decided to make the most of our Monday off and the sunny day by prepping our outdoor space. Since I'm a novice at this, Ed took the lead as Foreman on the job. We started our day with a trip to Home Depot to pick up the necessary tools for the job: Pitch Fork and Edger Shovel Thingy (yes, that is the official term). Of course while Ed was off in his man-aisle picking the tools, I was over in the garden center picking out a pretty pot and stand for our new indoor tree (thank you Sarah!). Leave it to me to find the girly stuff at Home Depot!


After stopping by Casa de Quartuccio to pick up our Lucy girl who spent the weekend while we were in NY, we headed home and got to work. We started by loading up the Scion with the paver bricks from both the front and back yards. We've decided that our landscape design will be 100% au na-tu-ral so the bricks had to go. Plus, Mow Cow will be by soon to place the sod in the backyard so it was time to get them out of there. After a quick trip to the recycling center to drop them off, we were off and running. Here is a look at our official "before".

We wanted to re-shape the flower bed so we used our hose to map out the new design. Ed then used the Edger Shovel Thingy to carve it out. It was hard work and the intense heat of the sun did not make it any better, but he did a great job! I played assistant by feeding him tons of water and keeping the cold, wet towel on his neck cold and wet.



While Ed was hard at work on the flower bed, I had the chance to prep my new pots for my herb garden. Lucy even shared in the fun and found herself the only shade available in the yard.

Once the flower bed was carved it out was time to turn the soil and that is where the Pitch Fork came in. We had to be careful of the newly buried drainage pipe, but all in all, it was a success. The area is now prepped for us to plant our pink azaleas, lily turf and lots of colorful annuals.


But the work didn't end there. You might remember that we have a miniature Dogwood tree in our front yard. In order to keep it alive for many more years, we needed to add more dirt and mulch to cover the roots. We also decided to attempt to carve out a perfect circle at it's base. This process included me, on my hands and knees in the dirt holding a tape measure as Ed made his way around the tree. It's not so perfect, but we are very happy with how it looks.


The day ended with a quick mow of the lawn and some watering. We are very proud of how it looks and we haven't even planted anything yet! We made a quick pit stop at Merrifield Garden Center after dinner last night to get an idea of what we want to plant (and how much it is going to cost!), and hope to get there tonight to make our purchases. The good news: Azaleas are on sale!! The bad news: We need a LOT more than just Azaleas! Stay tuned for the finished product!