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. :)

Home Sweet....Contract.

7.16.10

Summer is in full swing and as I write this morning the temperature is already in the 90's. Luckily the oppressive heat has not slowed us down. In fact, we are moving full steam ahead - on our new house that is!! I know I have not really been sharing too many details and I apologize, but until those keys are in our hands, I'm holding out! I am not risking this deal falling through!!
We hope to close in August and will have plenty of pictures then. In the mean time, here is something to wet your palette:


That's all I'm going to share!!! :) Stay tuned...

Those Lazy Hazy Crazy Days of Summer

7.6.10

It is summer and boy, we've been havin' a blast! Okay...so I'm in a corny mood tonight. But I have LOTS to smile about. Here - click here and press "Play" to get in the mood. :)

So what's been going on you ask? Well, let me tell you. I've officially been on the job for almost 3 weeks and I am loving it. It is such a great new challenge - exactly what I was looking for. The home office is working out well (Lucy LOVES it) as are the trips to New York City. I'll be back up there July 19th - NY buddies mark your calendars!

We have been keeping busy on weekends - trying to get a lay of the land. The three of us hit Burke Lake Park and conquered the 4.7 mile lake path on a fairly warm Saturday afternoon. Lucy was especially interested in making friends with the ducks. :)


Next it was time to celebrate Ed's birthday - HAPPY BIRTHDAY ED - so we headed into DC for a peek at the new and improved American History Museum. We were very impressed with the great exhibits. Ed's favs was anything car related. Mine of course was Julia Child's Kitchen. I wanted to hop over the stanchion and whip up a nice beef bourgonion!


Yup - that is Ed on the other side of the kitchen!!! :)

Next up - 80's night with The Legwarmers!!!! For those of you who are not familiar, The Legwarmers are the BEST 80's cover band in the DC area. We had a great time enjoying all our favorites AND we were in the company of Andrea and Rich which made it all the better.


And finally - Let's Play Ball!! It was family day down at Nationals Park this past weekend. We headed downtown to see the Nats beat up on the Mets (sad) and got a festive baseball hat out of it. The game would have been more enjoyable if we were not sitting in the sweltering heat, but it just made the beers taste that much better!


So far, this has been a great summer. There is some awesome news on the horizon but because I'm too superstitious I can't get into it now. Stay tuned!!!!!!!

P.S. No Ma, I'm not pregnant :)

Happy 1st Birthday Lucy!!

06.22.10

Today is a very special day in the Mangiaracina household. Our little baby Lucy is celebrating her first birthday!!! I can't even believe that so much time has gone by and that our loud, yappy puppy has turned into a loud, yappy one-year old! :) In all seriousness, Lucy has been a wonderful addition to our little family and I could not imagine life without her. We are celebrating tonight with some yummy bacon and chedder cheese treats and her favorite, a twisty stick.
She is a happy girl today! I tried to find a doggy-sized princess tiara but failed. Instead she got a Cutie bandana. Happy Birthday Lucy!!!


In other news, I am officially employed which is not only good news, but GREAT news!! Wouldn't you know that I found my new job at my old home, TIA. I am back working at the Toy Industry Association, but this time I find myself on the Meetings & Events team as their Account Executive for Advertising, Sponsorships and Promotion. I feel so lucky, not only because they allowing me to work from VA with monthly trips to NY, but because they are an AMAZING group of people that do AMAZING things. I'm so excited and happy about this wonderful new step in my career. Check out my new office diggs:


Now that I have a job, I finally feel like we can move forward with our lives as newlyweds. As you know, we have been house hunting and are hoping to find our first home sometime this summer. There are a few that have peaked our interest so once we get our approval, we plan to make a bid. More on that later! Right now, it's time to go have a PupCake! :)