4th of July

Nate's whole family flocked to Harrisburg this weekend for a 4th of July celebration complete with poker and fireworks. It was great to have Grandma meet her first great-grandchild, Jameson. J is such a cutie! And a very good baby. He's not quite ready for poker, but the rest of us were!

Saturday night, Nate's parents hosted a poker tournament. $50 buy-in with three tables of six - and prizes for 1st, 2nd and 3rd place. What's not to like?

I was knocked out in the first round. But I had fun playing a few hands, and I wasn't the first out! Nate, on the other hand, made it to the final table. It was down to Nate and his sister - a very close game! Liz won the tournament with a 5 and a 2 - unlikely cards, but what a hand! Nate was pleased with his 2nd place win. Cousin Matt took third place. And who could believe that the first player knocked out in last years tournament (in the first hand, no less) would win the whole thing this year?!

It was a great weekend, filled with sun, pool, food and fireworks. Happy 4th!

Closet Update

The holes have been puttied. But... not too much else to report! Nate and I did very little this weekend. I did especially little.

We spent a few hours Friday night with our friends Chris and Anita. The girls enjoyed sandwiches while the boys enjoyed some beers. It's so nice to have friends close by. We always have a great time with those two!

Nate was fortunate enough to have plans for Saturday. He celebrated the last few days of his friend Stu's bachelorhood. Nate had fun pretending to be a young, hot, single guy again. And I picked him up around midnight. While Nate was revelling with guy friends, Riesling and I watched girly movies. I'm not such a fan of girly movies, but even I need my fix now and then! It was a pleasant enough evening!

Maybe we'll get some more done on the closet next weekend. And by more, I mean painting it and nothing else. Since we seem to be completing this project one step per weekend!

Ambitious Plans

After our weekend plans for a trip to NJ were cancelled at the last minute, Nate and I decided to do some stuff around the house instead. We had big plans to re-do the closet in the office. New shelves AND doors! We went out to Lowe's and bought everything, got it home, took out the old stuff... And that's it.

Once we looked at the empty closet, we realized that we need to fill a bunch of holes and repaint the whole thing before we can realistically put in the new stuff. But since we'd "already done so much," we decided to putty and paint on Sunday.

That never happened.

We did, on the other hand, go see the movie UP in 3D. It's a very cute movie, and Pixar has once again outdone itself with the spectacular animation. Otherwise, it was a fairly restfull and lazy weekend!

City of Champions!

Two pictures. One beautiful. The other not so hot. But both display such sheer happiness!

The Pittsburgh Penguins beat out the hated Detroit Red Wings in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals. We loved every minute of the game (minus a goal and a few attempts...).

GO PENGUINS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Relaxing with friends

Our dear friends Emily and Andrew came up from Charlottesville over the weekend. We didn't have any fantastic plans or anything, but who needs a special occasion to visit with friends? We went out for lunch on Saturday just after they arrived, then spent the entire afternoon lazing on the porch. Nate grilled some fabulous steaks, chicken and corn for dinner, which we devoured while sitting in the yard. What better way to enjoy the gorgeous weather?

On Sunday, the four of us drove north of the city to see our friends Kelly and Cory, and their precious little Gabby (two months!). I hadn't seen Kelly and Cory in a very long time. As in, before Kelly was pregnant! So I was very excited to visit with them and meet the baby. Between seeing so many friends and enjoying the weather, I would say it was the perfect weekend.

Well, let's be honest. It wasn't quite a perfect weekend. A Penguins win would have rounded out the perfection... We can't win 'em all, but I would have really liked to have kicked some Detroit butt!

Let's Go O's!

O-R-I-O-LES!

If you have ever been to an O's game, you have heard the sappy disco Oriole's theme song at the beginning of the game. It's awesome. And totally ridiculous.

On the other hand, I have it pumping through my head right now after Friday's fantastic game! We arrived just in time to see Luke Scott hit a GRAND SLAM! And just a few innings later, the same guy hit a home run. And since it was student night, the energy in the stadium was like nothing I have experienced before. The O's won 7-2, and it was great!

Saturday, Nate and I had dinner with his mom and sister at Iron Bridge Wine Co., in Columbia. Nate and I had been once before and were impressed. It was no different this visit. The food and wine selection are fantastic! I would highly recommend a visit. I'm sure Nate and I will be back for thirds.

Memorial Day Weekend!

We spent Memorial Day Weekend relaxing in the yard. The hammock is lovely in the sun! I got some reading done for school, and Nate got some reading done for fun. Riesling got to romp about the yard for hours - and every one of her friends stopped by at some point to say "Hi!" Riesling was a very happy puppy with all this attention.

We were supposed to head to Charlottesville, VA, for a BBQ with friends. Alas, I wasn't feeling too hot, and just couldn't imagine a 4-hour car ride each way. With regrets to our friends, we missed the BBQ. I am sure it was lovely, and I'm sad to have missed it! On the other hand, it was quite nice to spend a long weekend at home with no plans.

Our next few weekends are filling up quickly. I'm looking forward to our upcoming adventures!

My New Oven!

(and other weekend fantasticness)

Before:During:After:

I love my new kitchen!!! More thanks than I can ever give are due to my awesome big brother. He did all the work, and it looks fantastic. I can't wait to bake him some cookies in thanks!

The whole weekend was exciting. Not only were my brother and sister-in-law down for a visit, we got to celebrate our good friend's 10th anniversary of his 21st birthday with a surprise party. Everyone pulled off the surprise, our friend was shocked to see everyone! It was a lot of fun.

To continue the fun, Nate and I drove up to Philly with my brother and sister-in-law to watch my younger brother graduate from college! I can't believe he is already done. It feels like just yesterday that I was driving up to deliver the family heirloom (a really cool beer coat of arms) and help him move into the dorm. The graduation was... a graduation. But I am so glad that I could be there with the rest of the family to see it! Even my grandmother was there.

After the ceremony, we all drove back to my house for cocktails. We met up with my Aunt and Uncle near the house for some good Maryland eating - blue crabs! (I ate a burger). My cousin also graduated on Sunday, so we were celebrating both our grads. Everyone left first thing Monday morning to head back to life, but it was great getting everyone to my house, if even for a few hours. I even got the chance to show my grammy my cute little house. And she loved it! Her compliments make me feel so proud :-)

Ramblin' (wo)man

I drove nearly 1,000 miles this weekend! Nate stayed home and cleaned the basement while I had some fun.

On Saturday, I drove up to CT for my Godson's 1st Communion. I have always tried to be involved in my little guy's life. And what better occasion for a visit than his 1st Communion? I am his Godmother afterall! The ceremony was great. His church has a fantastic priest, who delivered a highly entertaining sermon for the children. My cousin had a lovely dinner back at her house after the ceremony, where I got to catch up with some family that I don't see as often.

After dinner, I continued North to visit my mom on Mother's Day. We had such a nice visit! We had ice cream for lunch, went shopping (hello, new outfit!), and had a fantastic dinner made by Dad.

On Monday, I hopped in the car once again. This time South, as far as CT (again). My mom and her cousins had been planning a surprise birthday party for my Godson's mother - a luncheon! Boy did we surprise her! She was completely taken aback by the party. She does so much for all of us - she's the most thoughtful person I know - so it was wonderful to be able to do something for her in return. I finally headed back to MD after the party, after a long weekend of driving.

I will say though, I could not have asked for better driving conditions. The sun was shining, and I was the only car on the road!

But eyes are blind. You have to look with the heart.

Thank you, Antoine de Saint-Exupery.

With that, sometimes it is nice to be able to see without a myopic blur. Until Friday, both Nate and I were heavily dependent on corrective lenses. But now, lucky Nate has had his vision restored! Thank you, Lasik! He was pretty sore for the first few hours, but is feeling fine now. His eyesight has been getting better daily. And I'm still sticking little plastic disks into my eyes every morning!

Nate and I also got to see a bunch of friends this weekend. One couple had a fun BBQ (the first of the year!) which also meant we got to see their great new house. A bunch of our others friends were able to make it too. It's been forever since we've hung out, so it was a great way to spend Saturday night. I hope we get to see all our friends again soon!