New House -- New Post!

So, it's been awhile since I blogged. But better late than never.

I've lived in DC for almost one full year. I think I arrived around August 7th which is a little more than a week away. And as my time at the Quincy Home for Wayward Boys comes to an end with Lyndsey and Anders I am so thankful for the time I have gotten to spend in DC with the WTFs. It truly feels like a once in a lifetime opportunity and I am so grateful for the past year. I can hardly believe it has been a full year since I left California. Most days it feels like it has only been a couple of months.


Ryan and I were able to find a place to rent on very short notice ! I think it will be a really great fit for us for the next year. It's a cute two-story townhouse, two bedroom/two full baths with a nice backyard for cookouts and even doggy-door access for Grace in Columbia Heights. I'll attach some pictures more pictures:



It's two blocks from the Columbia Heights metro station, two blocks from the new Target and shopping area, two blocks to a grocery store, one mile north from the 930 Club and some fun gay bars, and one block from the Wonderland Ballroom! It doesn't have huge square footage (e.g., the kitchen is very narrow) but it has in unit washer and dryer, access to a parking space in the back, and ample street parking out front. And the street (Sherman) is undergoing beautification to make it more accessible for walking and less traffic.

All in all, the housing search ended up not being too bad. Despite a very competitive market. One landlord told me that in less than 24-hours of having an ad up he had received over 80 inquiries. Ryan and I ended up emailing about 20 places, visiting about five-six, wanting to apply to two, actually applying to one, and landing that one within six hours! I am glad that now I have something to blog on our brother-sister blog at last!

Birthday Party Pictures!

Anders birthday was a huge success. I didn't outsource anything and instead tried 4 new recipes, which are were great. I failed to take any pictures of what I made, but the food looked just like this montage below... YUMMY.

I made apple and blueberry french toast casseroles, spinach bacon quiche, broccoli cheese quiche, Betty crocker box mix cupcakes (high class) to name a few. The apple french toast was a huuuuge hit! Trust me, you should go make it right now!

To really get the party started I also decorated the house with balloons, streamers and confetti. Unfortunately for you, my loyal blog readers, I didn't take pictures of the decorations either. However I looked just like this:

Super glam. And perhaps a little like prom?

Anders had friends from near and far come to celebrate his big birthday! As always our friends are a rocking good time. Luckily I was able to snap one picture of our guests Clearly these ladies were really having a blast! What can I say? We throw awesome parties. So perhaps this wasn't actually taken at Anders birthday. But it could have been because we had this much fun. And it is possible that my outfit looked just like that lil' cutie on the left! Or maybe I just wished it had. You go girl!

Happy weekend everyone!

Birthday Party

The past few weeks have been flying! I had a low-key birthday last week and am planning a BIG ol' birthday for Anders. Tomorrow my sweet husband turns 30! Personally, I thought turning 30 was the best. Seriously, our 30s are going to be totally AWEsome! Work, life, family etc. Its all going to really get moving and shaking this decade.

Unfortunately, my little squashblossom is at a very intense work retreat in Chicago until late tomorrow night. So no big suprise party or night out on the town. Instead we will be having an awesome boozy brunch celebration on Sunday. Yummo breakfast food, lots of friends and mimosa galore! It should be very fun!

I had dreams of baking quiches, muffins, casseroles, etc from scratch. However some other very big life changes (more details soon...and no mom - its not a baby) are taking priority this week. I could seriously spend all day on tastespotting.com obsessing about new dishes to try. I am sure I will make some of it - but I think my good friend Whole Foods will be taking on major elements too.


Anders and I often think back fondly to his 28th birthday. My birthday is just 11 days earlier then his- and that year he took me to one of DCs nicest resturants. Just a week and a half later I planned a verrrry romantic date. I took him to Taco Bell, gave him a giant dollar bill necklace to wear, and topped the night off with seeing Notorious (the inspirational film about the life and death of Biggy). We both had so much fun - it seemed clear that we were just meant for each other. The next day followed with this special email from me:

Who doesn't love a talking taco? Hoping we can make 30 even better!

War Eagle!

I am just so excited about the BCS championship tonight ! Auburn has such a tender place in my heart! The summer I spent working at AU orientation program was just magical. I cant picture my life without those months at Auburn and the amazing people I met there. I believe in Auburn and LOVE IT!


Everyone should spend at just a little bit of life in Alabama.






Beautiful Auburn University

Momma G's - known for their nachos (made out of Doritos and pepperjack singles), a really terrifying bathroom, and some of my best nights at Auburn. Basically amazing.


Two very important items here: #1: Toomers Corner - a landmark at AU. #2: One of my best friends in the world Sus. She and I clicked instantly and lives were changed forever (specifically mine). She connected me to so many awesome friends at AU, rocked my summer/my whole world and taught me the fight song. Auburn would be nothing without her!

Happy 2011!

Happy 2011 everyone! This week has whizzed by and I still have yet to sit down and make any resolutions. I love this poster from idea-obsura, so I am feeling inspired to make some changes this year! Generally my resolutions are an epic fail - but I still like taking a little time to think about how I can improve in small ways. Lets take a walk down memory lane and explore a few resolutions that didn't quite blossom as I had hoped:

New Years 2006 - Stop killing bugs.

I was living in South Carolina at the time, and you don't want to even get me started on palmetto bugs (aka really big roaches that are EVERYwhere). I was killing bugs at such a rate, I was starting to worry about karma. The new rule is no killing bugs outside. If you are in my space - its fair game. RIP any bugs I accidentally stepped on in the past 5 years. You're small and I didn't mean it!

New Years 2007- Stop taking the stairs, instead ride the escalator.

I take the stairs. It doesn't matter how long the escalator is, I walk. But one day in 2007, I just rode. It was so peaceful, so zen-like. All of my worries just faded away. This happened around New Years and I vowed I would never walk on the escalator again. Its seems very counter intuitive to make a resolution to stop exercising, but I did it. My fast paced, city commuting was stressing me out. So I wanted to take a minute to just relax, and collect my thoughts, and generally slow down. It lasted exactly two days. My back-side is thanking me.

New Years 2008 - Do a push up

I have never had Michelle Obama arms. I don't know the glory of a chin-up. And in 2008 I wasn't sure I could do a single push-up. Well, that's not exactly true, I could do a push-up, but I wanted to be able to do a full set of 30 really beautiful, perfect, fitness model push-ups. I never quite got there, but I stuck with it for quite a long time. I can do a good looking push up now (just a handful - I'm not superwoman!) and a full set of good looking lady push-ups. And really, who needs to do push-ups anyway?

New Years 2009 - Start eating red meat and pork

This also seems sort of anti-New Years, since my resolution may have directly contributing to clogging my arteries. Luckily for me, I couldn't really keep it up. Many of my friends know about my traumatic 7th grade field trip to the pork farm. Long story short, I became a faux-vegetarian. I could never really commit because I like wearing leather and have a soft spot for turkey sandwiches. After 17 years (yikes, I'm old!) of what ultimately was picky eating I said "Enough is enough! Eat that soup with bacon bits, have a hamburger already, pork chops are great!!!" Well I have done a few of those things over the past few years - but never with much gusto. While I am not nearly as picky anymore, suspicious meat and Lyndsey just don't get along. My husband cries at night because of it.

I will keep you posted about New Years 2011! I think it will involve reading more books and not jaywalking in the city so much! Anything I can do to help my chances of being smooshed by a bus!

Lately

Lately, this is how I am feeling all the time. Filled to the brim with joy. Totally overwhelmed with love. It just was too easy to pick the perfect holiday card for us this year. One word, one picture, simply summing up 2010.














(We are still updating our mailing list - so please email me your address if you didn't receive one!)

Ode to the Fit!

Anders brought many wonderful things to our marriage! Happiness exuding from every pore, kindness beyond belief, a crockpot, and an adorable little Honda Fit. When we first met, I honestly wasn't too sure about the car. It is tiny, bright red and a hatchback - three things that don't immediately sweep me over. However after one day of driving it I was sold. It had pep and attitude. Push-button windows and one of those "beep, beep" car remote unlockers. For someone who was still driving the Dirty Civic from 1999, crank windows and all - this was very high class.


My love affair with the Fit didn't end there! We pushed that little car to the limit - loading it with a yard full of mulch and sod, so heavy the wheel wells almost touched the tires. We were able to fit our dining room table and six chairs in the Fit. I think Anders and I have talked three friends into buying Fits! If it isn't already clear...I LOVE THIS CAR!!




So you can just imagine my horror, when yesterday I got the Fit in its first big accident! Big might be an exaggeration, but accident none the less! It did prove that the Fit loves me back, because it blew an airbag to protect my little dome. Luckily, it was a pretty minor bumper to bumper hit, so the airbag wasn't actually needed, but an airbag to the face can really shake a girl up. In the end, it could have been much worse. I was totally fine, as were all of the passengers in the other car. Minus the airbag, and a slightly off-kilter bumper you could hardly tell the Fit had any issues. The Jetta didn't do as well, but the owner was so nice about the whole thing. And best of all - my sweet husband came rushing to the scene was just awesome and so supportive the whole time. He didn't even make me feel bad about testing the airbag and the fact that our insurance will undoubtedly get hiked!


So my friends, safety first this holiday season while driving! Please don't zone out while thinking about cooking a turkey, like I did!