You Tawkin to Me?

The last week and a half has been very eventful. It all started last Wednesday when Derek surprised me with my birthday gifts early. We weren't planning on celebrating the big 2-9 on my actual birthday since we were going to be out of town. I had to work pretty late that week, so it was a nice surprise to walk into the kitchen and see this:



On Saturday morning, Derek, Kirk, and I hopped in the car and started our drive to NYC to see my dad run in the marathon. After living in Texas for so long, it is still strange to me that in the same amount of time that it takes to drive from Houston to Dallas, we can be in the middle of Manhattan. The drive went well (minus one minor mishap on my part...apparently 295 and the NJ Turnpike are NOT the same thing). One thing to note for those people who plan on driving through New Jersey anytime soon...do not try to pump your own gas...New Jersey considers this to be a deadly sin. We were actually yelled at when we attempted to do this (I think the guys words were "This is New Jersey. You don't pump your own gas in New Jersey). Very strange.

We made it through the Lincoln Tunnel and to our hotel in the Upper West Side pretty easily. We met my parents down near Rockefeller Center and had some lunch. Then we went on a short little tour to show Kirk a few places in the City (Top of the Rock, 5th Avenue, etc.). We ended up at the Oak Bar at the Plaza where my dad somehow talked one of the security guards into giving us a mini-tour of the hotel and getting a spot at the bar.





My mom, dad, and I then took a Rickshaw ride through Central Park so my dad could check out the finish line. We finished up the evening at a great little neighborhood Italian Restaurant called Coppola's. I forgot to take pictures, but this place was awesome. Derek said it was the best Alfredo he's ever had. My parent's surprised me with a birthday Tiramisu -- a great way to end the night.


We made some posters to cheer my dad on for the run -- and since there were about 50,000 people running in the marathon, we thought we'd give him a sneak peek just in case we missed him.



My mom, Derek, Kirk and I had a great breakfast the next morning at the Manhattan Diner. I had the Belgium waffle.



We went down to Times Square to take some pictures, and then took the Subway to Brooklyn to see my dad at mile 8. All was good for the first 5 minutes in Brooklyn...until Derek realized that his wallet was gone...yep, someone picked his pocket (his front pocket nonetheless). So instead of cheering on the runners, we spent the next 15 minutes calling to cancel credit cards. And we missed my dad running by...needless to say, that may be the last time we ever go to Brooklyn.



Despite the whole stolen wallet, the trip was a lot of fun. We headed back to Virginia for an uneventful drive back.

In other news...here is what we had for dinner tonight -- Taco filled pasta shells. Definitely making this again.


*I forgot to take a picture of the finished dish (I was too busy eating :)


Poll

What is your favorite breakfast food?

Mine is either French Toast or a Belgium Waffle (but pancakes are a close runner-up).

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.

Rain Rain Go Away

It has been raining here constantly for the last 5 days with highs in the low 40s, so needless to say, this weekend was spent indoors around the fireplace.

My good friend Sarah was in town for a work conference, so I met up with her and her co-worker on Thursday night at the Laughing Man Tavern, which is just down the street from my office. Friday was spent at the vet because Reggie had an allergic reaction to something outside by our house. Sarah came out to our place on Friday night, and we had a lot of fun catching up and drinking some good wine.



On Saturday morning, I drove Sarah back into the District, which sounds fairly uneventful. That is, until we found out that just about every road was blocked off and we drove up and down the same street for the next 45 minutes. Still not sure what was going on, but Sarah had to bail out and run to the metro so she could make it to her conference. Thank goodness for public transportation, otherwise, I think we would still be stuck in DC.

I was in a baking mood when I got home, so I headed out to pick up some ingredients. I made some traditional Nestle chocolate chip cookies and then decided to try something new -- pumpkin cake bars with cream cheese frosting. I found the recipe here, and let me tell you, these things were G-O-O-D. Definitely making these again.



Sunday, I woke up to go for a run. I think I was tired from staying up late or something because it definitely wasn't the best run I've had. I think I also had too many layers on -- it's tough to judge what how much to wear in the colder weather -- oh well, there is always next week.

I thought it might be fun to add a poll question to our blog, so here is the first one:

Poll:

What is your favorite fall dessert?

I'd have to say pumpkin pie (boring, I know), but still good. Those pumpkin bars may be up there now, and although not technically a dessert, I am a huge fan of baked sweet potatoes with the marshmallows on top.

Fall is Here!

Well it is officially Fall here in Northern Virginia. The leaves on the trees around our house are changing, and the high today is 44! In the spirit of the new season, I thought would update the Blog design -- hope you enjoy it!

In other news, sorry for the delinquency in blogging; things have been busy! Here is a little summary of what we have been up to over the last month:

Reggie's Birthday

Reggie celebrated his 3rd birthday on September 21st. (Disclaimer - please remember that we do not have children and may, as a result, be somewhat obsessed with our dog.) I looked up a bunch of recipes for dog birthday cakes...or "pupcakes" as they are apparently called. I finally settled on the perfect one - a mix of flour, oil, eggs, beef flavored baby food and crumbled bits of beef jerky. Yep, that's right, I said beef flavored baby food. I put all the ingredients in a small loaf pan and baked it for 45 minutes. I finished it off by "icing" it with some low-fat cottage cheese; sounds delicious, right? Well, Reggie sure thought so. We gave him his first piece and I'm pretty sure he finished it in approximately 2.5 seconds. Success!





Derek also treated Reggie to an old-time favorite toy. If you have seen the PetSmart commercials, you may have noticed a stuffed animal squeaky toy that the dogs are always playing with. When Reggie was a puppy, we got him a small version, and he loved it. The first toy lasted about 2 weeks before it was completely destroyed. The next one, however, lasted 3 hours. We had to stop buying them for him as a result. Derek surprised him with an adult-size version for his birthday, and Reggie went nuts. He loved it -- and this one lasted about 3 days, so all in all it was a great birthday.

Reggie also got in some Frisbee time for his birthday.


Running

After a brief hiatus (depending on your definition of brief), I've finally started running again. I experienced some overuse injuries in my ankles and shins the first couple of weeks, but a new pair of shoes and some ice did the trick. A friend of mine at work and I ran in the Navy 5-Miler over at the Pentagon, and then I ran in the inaugural Clarendon Day 10K the next weekend. They were great runs, and the weather was perfect. I had forgotten how much I enjoyed running, and feel pretty fortunate that I get to run past the Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial, and Capital three times a week.

Here are a couple of pictures of what I see when I run after work:



Dallas

I went to visit my family and friends last weekend and had a ton of fun. Suprisingly, it was colder in Dallas than it was when I left D.C. On Friday, my mom, dad, Robert, and I went to eat some authentic Tex Mex (you will soon notice a theme centered around eating) at Avila's near Love Field. After a Margarita and some Chicken Fajitas, I was in heaven.

On Saturday, I went running with my dad and his running club on the Katy Trail. The weather was great, and we celebrated the run with some breakfast tacos from The Taco Joint. Wow is all I can say about those. I had two tacos - a black bean, egg, cheese, and potato, and an egg, cheese and bacon. My dad went with the Migas, which were equally tasty. After getting my hair cut (I still can't find anyone I like up here), we headed off to some family birthday bowling with Robert, Stacey, Kate, Preston, Stacey's mom, and their nephew. After barely beating Preston (if only I could have used the bumpers), we sat down for some birthday presents. Kate got some fun clothes and the Beezus and Ramona books (a personal favorite), and Preston got a Transformers toy. Everyone seemed very happy!




We headed back home and decided to make the Dallas burger from Bobby Flay's book. It had coleslaw, barbecue sauce, and pickles on a pretty spicy burger -- definitely making this again. And, as if I hadn't had enought to eat, we finished off the meal with 3 different kinds of Blue Bell. I need to figure out how to ship ice cream to Virginia!

Sunday was Tex Mex lunch at Mattitos with the Frisco clan and then I headed over to see my good friend Laura and meet her 5-month old daughter Sadie. She is adorable and so happy! After Sadie time, I met up with my old roommates from A&M at Houston's. It was a perfect dinner - we were definitely the loudest table in the restaurant.

All in all, it was a great trip -- I headed back to D.C. on Monday (10 pounds heavier :)

Burger Update

So I tried the Dallas burger with my parents, but a few weeks before that we made the Napa Valley burger. This was the first burger that was just ok. It had homemade honey mustard and we replaced the goat cheese with feta. It wasn't bad; it just didn't live up to all of the other burgers we've tried. Oh well, there's always next week.



The Birds

Oh, and finally, we have some new pets on our back porch. Derek bought a bird feeder and some food the other week in hopes of attracting the blue jay and cardinal we occasionally see. It definitely worked because we now have 3 cardinals, the blue jay, a morning dove, and a couple of other birds that I can't remember their names all hanging out on our deck. Here are some pictures of our new friends:


Cardinals


Blue Jay & Morning Dove

Labor Day

Well, it was officially Prosser Country over the Labor Day weekend. Derek's mom and dad flew in on Friday night, and we did our traditional Bertucci's ultimate pizza take out for dinner and gave them a tour of our new place. On Saturday morning, we woke up early and headed into Old Town Alexandria to show them Derek's office and then drove into DC to give them a tour of my office and the terrace view from my building. We walked over to the White House and then walked over to see Lincoln and the WWII memorial. It was just the right amount of sightseeing before we headed back home.


The guys watched the Michigan game, and then we started on our burger of the night. We went with the tried and true Sante Fe burger, and it was just as good the second time around.

We also tested out the new surround sound system with some Foreigner tunes, and Derek, Kirk, and his dad showed us their dance moves.

Sunday was more low key. I did some work and then we headed back into Old Town and walked around down by the Potomac. We had a nice lunch at a pub in Old Town and then drove into DC to go to Ford's Theatre and the Old Post Office. Ford's Theatre was really cool -- they have a pretty good-sized museum with a ton of historical items, including Lincoln's coat preserved from the night he was assassinated.

We walked over to the Old Post Office, which has a great view of the district and none of the lines of the Washington Monument.

On Monday, Loree and I took off into Georgetown and did some window shopping and had an awesome brunch at the Peacock Cafe. We drove over to Chinatown and got stuck in a huge storm just as we were heading home.

Little did we know what the guys were up to while we were out. When we pulled into the driveway and got out of the car, I heard something that sounded just like an electric saw coming from our back deck. This was strange because we do not own a saw...or at least we didn't when I left that morning. Derek and his dad went out to Home Depot and bought a bunch of wood and stuff and built a new divider between our deck and our neighbor's.

All in all, it was a great weekend with family!

Oh, and for whatever reason, I seem to have missed a burger night somewhere. We made the "Blue" burger, which had bacon and blue cheese on it, and deep fried some onion rings...delish!