DC (with Chelsey and Bree), part one

Last month (I know, I'm still trying to get back to real-time), Chelsey and I flew to DC to visit Bree B.  I had off for Veteran's Day, and Chelsey took her first vacation days from work in order to accommodate my schedule.  We left Thursday and got off to a rocky start.  First, our flight was delayed.  This ended up being good news, as the Birmingham airport had an electrical glitch and the security scanners went out for a good 10 minutes.  The flight went smoothly, but when we got to the train station, there were no trains running that night on account of the holiday...which no one bothered to post on their website.  So, we shared a taxi with two strangers from Baltimore to DC.  All I could think of was the movie "Taken," but they ended up being delightful, albeit a little too smart for my likings.

Once we got to DC safely, our amazing tourguide took over.  Thursday we did our own thing and just hungout the three of us...well, other than the random guy who thought we needed dinner company.  It was just like old times (Bree, if you're reading this, it could be like old times everyday, if you move home already).

Friday we went to the Washington Monument.  The views were amazing.  As you can see from the following picture:

Ok, so maybe you CAN'T see anything except us, but aren't we cute?!

We also stumble upon smokey bear, who was clearly very busy at work:

Next, we went to the US Bureau of Engraving and Printing, which was so cool.  We got to see the new $100 bill that's coming out in 2011.  What?  You're super jealous and want to see it too?  DONE:

By this point, it was 4pm(ish) and we were starving, so we went to POV for drinks and lunch/old folks' dinner.  POV has an amazing view of the White House.  You can see it on the left side of this picture, but the picture doesn't do it justice:

After that, we went back to Bree's to regroup and then met her DC friends at Hamilton's for $1 PBRs.  It was so much fun, and the bar actually encouraged the building of this amazing beer-amid:

I think that's probably all my readers (all two of you) can handle for one post, so I'll continue this with "part deux."

Simply Scarlet Snowflake Christmas

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November Birthdays

This past month we celebrated Meredith and Heather's bdays with a shrimp boil and Alabama football.  Check out those cute ladies (and some pretty good looking food):

Here are 5 things I love about Meredith:
1) Meredith is a great party planner
2) She is my own "professional" photographer.  I really should have to pay her to take all the pictures of me that she takes.
3) I love her clothes.  She has great taste in clothes and luckily wears my size :)
4) Mere can entertain me for hours without even being in the same room with me (which is super helpful during long days at work)
5) She orders LOTS of food, then picks at it.  This is great for "fat" kids like me who get to eat her leftovers.

And, Here are 5 things I love about Heather:
1) Heather LOVES her Alabama football and helps me keep up with what's going on
2) She's a great hostess and is always open to having people over
3) She makes the BEST mexican dip EVER, and isn't afraid to eat a lot (can you tell I like food)
4) She's outspoken and says the funniest things
5) Heather is a dancing machine, much like myself.  And she loves to play her "air instruments"

Happy Belated Birthday, you two!

Loving "Loving Frank"

In October (yes, I'm a little behind), my book club read "Loving Frank" by Nancy Horan.  I was delighted to read a "historical fiction" book, because I love feeling like I'm learning a little something in a more entertaining way.  "Loving Frank" did not disappoint.  It's about Mamah Borthwick (good luck with that first name) and her affair with Frank Lloyd Wright.  It is always interesting to read things like an affair from "the other side."  Usually, when you read about an affair, you see what it does to the ones who are hurt by it.  Nancy shows you what it does to Mamah and Frank and how they think they are living a better life by not staying in a bad relationship.  Pause! 

As a married woman, I just can not accept this.  What happened to working to stay in love?  Glamorous?  No.  But that's real life.  I don't begin to think that Mark and I will be the same people in 50 (or even 2) years.  But, I'm committed to finding new reasons to love him each day and loving him in a ways that enrich his life.

That being said, "Loving Frank" was a beautifully written book and I enjoyed each page, even while cursing Mamah and Frank.  And my book club enjoyed getting fired up over this one too.

Recap

I did manage to have a little fun in October. 

First, Carrie got engaged to Andres.  I mean, who is going to miss the opportunity to celebrate one of their friends getting engaged?  Congratulations, Carrie! 
Here we are after our celebratory dinner:

The next day, Kaitlin and Ed hosted a tailgate for the Alabam vs Ole Miss game.  We had SOOO much food, including some pretty amazing chili.  Luckily, we took a break from our marathon of eating and watching football to take a picture.

After that, I ONLY came out of hiding long enough to celebrate Martha's bday.  Here are 5 things I love about Martha:

1) She is the most fun to play board games with (Dogger)

2) She's pretty much the only other one in our group who never went to Alabama

3) I have a love/hate relationship with the fact that she moves food closer to me so she wont eat it (unfortunately, I will)

4) She's always up for a fun night of dancing

5) She has a good heart

When I finished my test, I did get to enjoy a little Halloween fun. 

Farewell October...

October sped by in a blur of this

And this

I wont know if I passed my test until December, but for now, I'm glad it's finished.  Time to enjoy November (though, I did miss a few blogs in October that I wanted to share, so look for a few over the next couple of days).

PS:  If you understand any of picture #2, let me know.  I might be studying again in April :)

"The Particular Sadness of..." Finishing this Book

If you were able to get past the silly title and concept (tasting other people's thoughts in the food they made), then SURELY the lack of quotation marks bugged you.  If you were able to get past the lack of quotation marks, then it MUST have bugged you that her brother's legs were turning into a chair.  If you were able to get past the "brother/chair scene" and continued reading, then congratulations my friend...you made it through the book.  Now... put the book down and question why you allowed yourself to waste so much time when there were numerous signs that you should NOT read/finish this. 

Sorry Aimee Bender, but this is a miss...