Special Delivery

No...not the kind that is in my belly. :) The kind that is in a box ~ or 5 boxes to be exact! And for the record, it wasn't really a special delivery. It was more of a "borrow the neighbor's truck so we can pick it up at the store" delivery.



It looks like we have a project for the weekend...but what is it? We are going to make you wait until the big reveal!

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. :)

Weekend Whirlwind Part 1

What a weekend! Mother's Day...Dog Festival...Dinner with Friends ~ this is what life is all about! Sorry about taking Monday off... we were still recovering from the weekend festivities, but we are back in action and ready to share. First let's talk about the weather - GORGEOUS!! I can get used to 65 and sunny with no humidity. If only it would stay this way all year round. We took full advantage on Saturday morning and finished our landscaping project in the front yard. We needed to add the final touch of mulch to the flower bed and now, I am proud to say, it is complete. I also added a cute little planter to the front porch to provide the finishing touch!

The day continued with a trip out to Reston to visit the 2011 Pet Fiesta and Festival. Lucy was so excited to greet all the adorable pooches that were attending and got her fair share of treats and goodies from the many vendors. There was even a Frosty Paws eating contest!


Lucy was a VERY happy girl. :) The best part of the day was when a Great Dane (that was literally as big as me) thought that the Costumed Character Dog was real and started going nuts. Good thing his owner was strong enough to hold him back! The guy in the costume was smart enough to slowly walk away.

After our big day at the Festival, we headed out to Bristow for a BBQ with the Beahr family and the very fabulous Andrea. First of all, their new house is GORGEOUS! Little Maddie (our 4 year old tour guide du jour) showed us the digs and I think my mouth was wide open in awe the whole time. It was beautiful. We spent the night catching up and playing with the girls - Maddie and Celia - who may be the cutest, smartest, most well-mannered kids I've ever met. Seriously ... both Ed and I want to order 2 exactly like that when it's time for us to have kids! Lucy even had a good time with new BFF Erin. The puppies had a ball running around the back yard as well as the house. The best was when Lucy tried to play with Maddie's Cabbage Patch Kid. I think we are going to have a rough time teaching Lucy which toys are hers and which are the kids. :)




After a delicious meal, it was time to test out some toys. I don't know who had more fun...the girls, Lucy or me and Ed!





It was a great evening ... one that truly makes me appreciate all the wonderful friends we have. So that concludes Weekend Whirlwind Part 1. Stay tuned for Part Dos!

Happy Mommy's Day!

We hope that all the Mother's out there have a wonderful day. Mom M., Mom Q. and Grandma B. - we love you very much and appreciate all that you do for us. Happy Mother's Day!!

Date Night Recap

So date night was a big success...but not because it went as planned, but because we had a very "go with the flow" attitude. We arrived at Ozzie's around 6 pm which I thought was way too early for there to be a wait...but I was wrong. I forgot that suburbia goes to dinner before 9 pm. :)


The 45 minute wait would not do...especially since we already had movie tickets for a 7:40 pm showing. So while Ed parked the car, I found out that they serve the full menu at the bar so I grabbed 2 stools and turned in our pager.

We were greeted by Bartender Jason whom we later found out is the Executive Bartender for the entire Great American Restaurant group. And we could see why. Not only was he extremely friendly and comfortable behind the bar, he can make a MEAN drink. There was a gentleman sitting to our right that was clearly a regular. When he sat down he told Jason to "surprise him" and he did with a delicious drink made with Absolute Citron, Cucumber Water and something lemony. Of course I had to try it!

We ate a lovely meal - Ed had Veal Piccata and I had Rigatoni Gorgonzola Dolce. We were also entertained not only by the busy bar staff, but by our fellow bar patrons. As I mentioned, there was a regular on our right who happened to be very chatty. He gave us many a recommendation on the menu and some history of both the restaurant group and our friendly bartender, Jason. On our left was a lovely older gentleman who forgot his glasses and asked me to read portions of the menu to him. This is one of the reasons I LOVE sitting at the bar. Not only do you skip the 45 minute wait, but you find yourself interacting with the people around you. After our free dessert courtesy of our new favorite bartender, we were ready for our movie.

We took a quick walk over to the movie theatre and made our way to the concession stand. If you know Ed, you know that he can't see a movie without popcorn...even if he was 100% full from a yummy dinner. Why didn't we get our tickets first, you ask? Well, Ed won some free movie passes so we already had our vouchers in hand. We just needed to find the theatre...but for some reason it was not listed on the board. We found 2 employees that looked like Managers and asked them where our movie was. They took one look at the vouchers and smiled telling us that we were at the wrong theatre. DOAH! Source Code was playing at Fairfax Town Center and we were in Fairfax Corner.

With a look of disappointment in our eyes, we were ready to head to the car, but then the Manager said something that made us very happy. She would honor the tickets we had and allow us to pop into any movie we wanted to see. It may have helped that we already had popcorn in hand! Since I had no interest in seeing Thor, we were escorted to a theatre that was showing The Conspirator. It had already started and we missed the first 10 minutes, but who cares. We were so appreciative that they let us in! And I have to say, the movie was really great...go see it if you haven't already. We also learned a fun fact about the movie business. Apparently the movie companies don't want to create unfair competition amongst local theatres, so they make them share their profits...even if they are different brands. Very interesting.

So there you have it. Our date night didn't go as planned, but it still ended up being great.

Date Night

Ed and I decided to kick off the weekend with an old fashioned date night - dinner and a movie (sans Grandma this week!). I always love date night. Even though it is only the two of us plus Lucy and every night should really feel like a date night the reality is that it doesn't. Between work and chores and home projects we get caught up in the routine of our so called life. So when we decide to get gussied up and go out for an evening of enjoying each others company, it gets me excited.

Tonight we are headed to Fairfax Corner for what I'm sure will be a delicious dinner at Ozzie's (the newest addition to the Great American Restaurant group) and then out to see Jake Gyllenhaal in Source Code. A fun little evening to unwind after what has turned out to be a very long and busy week for both of us. Nights like this remind me of our first date which was almost 5 years ago. It's hard to believe that so much time has gone by since that fateful day when Ed worked his magic on me.

I was living in Forest Hills, NY and Ed was out on Long Island in Wantagh. He took the train and met me in Queens where I was waiting for him on the platform with a hot Starbucks tea in hand. It was a chilly day and a hurricane was coming up the coast so I did my best to put together a cute, cold weather-friendly outfit. I was nervous, but as soon as he arrived and we started chatting, I relaxed immediately. We clicked right from the get go which made the day all the better. We took a quick subway ride into Manhattan and visited the Guggenheim Museum to see the new Zaha Hadid exhibit...but to be honest, I was more excited about the Jackson Pollock's. Ed brought his camera with him and actually saved the pictures...apparently it wasn't just me thinking we clicked. :)


Unfortunately there are no photos of us together on that day...we didn't want to go too overboard! It was a great first date that turned into many dates after that. And to this day, we have reminders all over the house of our trip the Guggenheim. There is the ticket stub from that day that hangs in our Wall of Frames...


...the awesome coffee table book of museum art given to us by my Aunt Linda...


...and the beautiful hand drawing done by our good friend Allison Hunt. She gave us this amazing piece of art on our wedding day and it now hangs on the wall between the kitchen and the living room so we see it all the time. If you look close, she even drew in 2 tiny people.


Tonight's date may not be at a New York landmark, but it will be just as fun and flirty as that first date almost 5 years ago. Time to get ready!!