One Year Ago...

Derek and I celebrated our first anniversary on Sunday! It's still crazy to me that it has already been a year (especially the Turks and Caicos part...I wish I was there right now).

Derek planned a weekend full of activities to celebrate. On Friday night, we watched The Proposal, which was actually really funny. On Saturday morning, we woke up bright and early and headed out to Shenandoah National Park to cruise down Skyline Drive and see all of the bright fall foliage. I've been dying to do this drive since we moved out here, and this weekend was the perfect time. We loaded Reggie up in the back of the car and made it to the Park in about an hour. We got a good view of the mountains and trees before a storm headed in, which was equally beautiful. The pictures just don't do it justice.









Once we got back to Alexandria, we headed to Rockland's, a barbecue restaurant that Derek recommended. They actually served brisket, which is rare up here. It was fantastic!

On Sunday morning, we exchanged presents. It's funny because usually we both have an idea of what presents we are getting from the other, but this time around, neither of us had a clue. The traditional first anniversary present is paper, so we both did a take on this. I gave Derek a framed print of the 8th Hole of Pebble Beach, and he gave me a gift card to a salon for a massage, pedicure, and manicure (which is perfect because I always say I want to do this but NEVER get around to it).


Derek with his new picture.

We headed out to dinner at the Chart House in Old Town. Wow, was this good. We started with the crab stuffed mushrooms. Derek had the Prime Rib and Shrimp and I had the Rockfish Hemingway. The plan for dessert (and yes there must always be a plan for dessert) was to go home and eat a piece of the top layer of our wedding cake (transported cross country and moved). But just in case the cake was not so good, we ordered the Butter Scotch Beignets to go. This turned out to be a good idea because the cake was pretty disgusting (Derek wouldn't even swallow his piece). I got the best of both worlds...follow the tradition, and enjoy a tasty dessert.


After dinner

Here are some more pics in honor of the Big Day:








Oh, and I almost forgot...we've got some seriously fat Blue Jays camping out on our deck.



Poll

In honor of my second favorite holiday of the year this weekend -- what was your favorite Halloween costume (either adult or child)?

I think I have to go with Bride of Frankenstein as a kid (kind of weird I know, but I think this was the first time I was allowed to spray paint my hair for Halloween and must have thought that was pretty cool). As a side note, I have a faint memory of having to dress up in a skeleton costume that my Mom sewed and that was passed down from Robert to Tom to me...I think by the time I got it, the bones were falling off.