My Weekend: Brought to You By the Letter H

This weekend was Hot, Humid, and Hazy. The temperature reached over 100 degrees several days in a row and felt much hotter.

My older sister Meredith visited this weekend. When we first planned her visit we thought we would be able to walk around the city and check out the monuments. With the hellish conditions that overtook the area, those plans quickly changed. On Friday we went to dinner at El Centro DF and then saw Friends with Benefits. Meredith loved it, P and I thought it was okay. Meredith and I started Saturday off at the gym and spent the afternoon shopping - the best way to beat the heat! After dinner on Saturday we walked about 6 blocks to get frozen yogurt and that nearly killed us. We opted to stay in to relax and keep cool on Saturday night. On Sunday morning we decided to watch How Do You Know and agreed it was probably one of the worse movies we had ever seen, what was Reese thinking?! After P woke up we got breakfast before Mere headed home.

After a very hot walk to the grocery and hardware stores on Sunday afternoon, P and I stayed in to keep cool the rest of the day. Later in the evening we did a little work on the patio and grilled BBQ chicken. It was a good way to end a fun weekend.

This is another short week for me (a trend of mine this summer) as we're headed to my dad's house on Friday. Then on Saturday we are headed to Richmond to spend time with P's sister and see the Bon Iver concert.

Hope everyone is keeping cool!

Meredith and I in 1990

Celebrating

There is a lot I'm celebrating today.

First is my mom's birthday. She's an awesome woman who has inspired and motivated me throughout my life. I'm so thankful she's a phone call and a quick drive away. Happy Birthday mom, I love you!

Other things I'm celebrating:

• My diploma finally came; I now officially have my MBA!
• My older sister Meredith is coming tomorrow. Looking forward to hanging out with her this weekend!
• My little sister Amanda received her Associate's Degree today. She has worked so hard for it and I could not be prouder!

And of course I'm celebrating that tomorrow is Friday! It has been a struggle to get through this week, even if I took yesterday off to watch the Red Sox beat the Orioles in Baltimore. 

Mom, Amanda, and I after my MBA graduation on the National Mall

Where I've Been...

We got back from Mystic on Friday. P ended up driving up on Tuesday instead of taking the train because our hotel was not within walking distance to the town or water as we had thought. While the drive back was long, we were both very grateful that he opted to drive.

It was nice being out of the office for a week, but it was almost more exhausting being at the conference. The morning sessions were long and draining. Fortunately we had some time in our schedule in order to do a little bit of site seeing. We ate lobster, explored Mystic, checked out Foxwoods Casinos where I learned I'm not much of a gambler, found a small waterfront town in Rhode Island, and went to Newport, Rhode Island to explore some of the mansions from the Gilded Age. Here are some pictures from the week:

Lobster dinner on the water

Taking a break from the slot machines at Foxwoods

Picturesque Rhode Island waterfront town

Trying Mystic Pizza

Front of The Breakers which was once
the Vanderbilt summer home

Front of Rosecliff where they filmed
The Great Gatsby and 27 Dresses

Water view from the back of Rosecliff

Yesterday our friend Matt was in town from California. We had him and a few others over to cook out in the backyard then we headed to Standard, an outdoor beer garden a few blocks a way, for some more drinks. It was a perfect summer night to be outdoors with friends and cold beer.

BFFs since high school

It's going to be tough getting up for work tomorrow but I have lots of fun in store for this week too: Harry Potter in IMAX 3D, Red Sox game, and a visit from my older sister!

Quick Update

Hello from Mystic, Connecticut!

I got in around 10:30pm last night after a nice train ride. I think that may be my new preferred mode of transportation when heading north.

Before leaving DC, P and I had a great weekend that included:

• Thai food and Star Wars (my first time ever watching it)
• Two great runs
• Susccessful closet/clothes organizing
• A visit here
• Yummy margaritas and mexican food
• Drinks around the 14th/U Street area

Looking forward to exploring Mystic before heading back on DC!

The Lamp

I decided a couple of weeks ago that we needed a lamp for our bedroom. We have recessed lighting throughout the apartment, but sometimes it is just too bright in the bedroom. I often like to read in bed before going to sleep but the bright recessed lights were not relaxing and often kept me up later.

During yesterday's Target trip I finally remembered to look for a lamp. At first we picked out a taller, thin lamp with a small cream shade. But then we struggled for find a light bulb that would not stick out above the shade so we headed back to the lamp aisle. I spotted a blue and white shade with a very subtle floral print and told P I liked that one. Our style is pretty simplistic in terms of prints and patterns, we typically migrate to solid colors when it comes to home decor. I have mentioned to P in the past that I wanted to incorporate more feminine patterns but I think to him that meant lots of big flowers and girly colors.  So when I pointed to the lovely lamp shade I thought for sure P would grimace and point to the basic cream shade next to it. Much to my surprise his response was something like, "yeah that one is good." Next came a series of "really?" and "are you sure?" from me which were followed by "yay!" and "thankyousomuch. youarethebestboyfriendever."

I know it's just a lamp shade and maybe the only reason P agreed to it was because he was reaching his Target limit. But to me it means we're on the great path to home decorating compromise (don't get me wrong, I do have a LOT of say in our apartment decor already). Plus it looks so great in our little bedroom and made reading before bed much more enjoyable last night.

The Lamp

An Ideal Fourth of July Weekend in the City

Happy Fourth of July (a day late)!

We had a great weekend in DC. On Friday we saw Midnight in Paris at the E Street Cinema and once again my love for Paris was reaffirmed. I can't wait for another chance to go back. Saturday was spent doing major cleaning (me) and work/studying (P). We had gotten tickets to the Nationals double header, so we headed up to the stadium around 5:30 to catch the end of the first game and most of the second game (they lost the first game but won the second). Sunday we went to brunch, grocery shopping (me) and more work (P). We decided to go to the Sunday evening mass and loved it! It reminded me of when P and I went to mass at Penn State before we started dating.

View of Washington Monument from Nationals Stadium

While yesterday wasn't our first Fourth of July as DC residents, it was the first time we got to celebrate in the city as residents - last year P was in Munich and I was in Norfolk, VA visiting my dad and his wife. We had friends over for yummy cook out food and cold beverages. Our friend Mike is one of the inventors of these and yesterday we got a demo of the kids version. Calvin even got in on the fun and pulled Mike around Logan Circle (can't wait to see the video)!

The best part of being in the city was we didn't have to leave the apartment early or stake out a spot on the Mall all day to catch the fireworks. We didn't leave the apartment until about 840, found a spot by the White House by 859, and the fireworks began at 900. Our view was a little obstructed by trees, but it was still incredible to see the fireworks on one side and the White House and Washington Monument on the other. Moments like last night make me even more grateful  to live in such a great city in our great nation!

Keeping the backyard canopy patriotic

Some of the ladies at the cookout

Typical picture of these fellas

I'm so glad it's a short work week and next week I'll be in Mystic, CT for a conference!