A Means of Relaxation

Tonight I decided to take advantage of the free time that I'm not quite sure what to do with this weekend. So I spent the evening practicing my photography hobby. I visited a few locations, none of which I've ever been to before and it was very relaxing.


I visited the LBJ Memorial Grove near the Pentagon, where a really nice man noticed that I was taking pictures and pointed out the biggest turtle I have ever actually seen (unfortunately I didn't get a good picture of it). The guy thought I was a tourist and told me all about some local activities, one of which was taking place near the Iwo Jima Memorial. I headed over to check it out. There were bus loads of people stopping every five minutes or so, and it was difficult for the first half an hour to really take any good pictures, so I lugged my gear around in search of a good view where I could possibly catch sun down. Well, I found some nice views, but sundown wasn't spectacular today. Sundown was also behind me (more ideal, but there weren't many colors today), but it cast some interesting shadows. I didn't have my black and white film on me (even though I had bought it on my way out to take pictures, I left it in the car) and I was bummed, but I still caught some pretty cool digital shots.


I was the last one left at the memorial, so it was a good opportunity to get some better shots. I quickly realized that while it was nice to be alone there - I was alone there, in the dark. So I packed up and headed home. I downloaded the images, and started with 155. I'm now down to less than 70, but I have some more work to do on them.


Here's a little preview of my work this evening. I never post the best, but it is something to look at:

Girls Night In

Since Ryan is out of town this weekend, I thought it would be a good opportunity to have some friends over for a girls night in. Connie agreed, and helped me plan a great party. I don't know the last time I had so much fun hanging out with the girls...I'm so glad we were all able to get together.

Our friends...Sandi, Jenny, Jessica, Erika, Jessie, Nicole, Jennifer, Karis, and Kate joined us in their PJs for the evening. We started with Connie's hit concoction: orange sherbet, pineapple rum and sprite....mmmmm! We also had "Vodginas" (not sure who made this one originally, but it has become a staple at all our get-togethers), sangria, gin and tonic, beers, and wine available. For dinner, Connie had a great idea to make waffles. We had all kinds of toppings, strawberries, chocolate sauce, syrup, whipped cream, etc.

After dinner, it was time for the party conducted by Tasteful Treasures. I've never been to this type of party, but Laurie, who conducted the get together, was so fun and we all had a blast! It was kind of like a bachelorette party-style get-together. We played some embarrassing games, talked about men and their quirks, and laughed for hours. The drinks and snacks kept flowing and those who drank, stayed the night. We broke out two air mattresses and put the guest beds to use again. This morning we had bagels and bacon for breakfast and pretty much everyone headed out by noon. Connie and I hung out for the rest of the afternoon. It was such a blast! Thanks to all who came and contributed. We couldn't have gathered a more fun group! I can't wait to get together again!

Here's some pictures (not necessarily the highlights... :-)

An Italian Evening

I was just thinking how much I'd love to go out to a nice dinner and I forgot that Ryan's Wine Dinner was coming up at Cafe Oggi, my favorite Italian Restaurant, in McLean VA. Not only do they have the most fantastic Italian food, but Renato, the owner, is such a wonderful host. You feel like you're in his own home when you are there. I absolutely love it.

So, last night was really interesting. The owner of the Farnese (Italian Winery), Camillo de Julius spoke at the dinner and we got to sit with him, the CEO of a Empson - a wine supplier, and two other colleagues of Ryan's. For dinner we had 6 courses and five wines. The dinner started at 7:00 and we got home after 11:00...that was a long dinner!

You'll never believe I actually ate this, picky as I am with my food...check it out:

Course 1 - Octopus salami with Trebbiano d Abruzzo DOC; Course 2 - Hearts of palm w/ lobster (none for me) and pine nuts with Pecorino, Casale Vecchio, IGT; Course 3 - Crepe stuffed w/ fontina cheese, ham and asparagus with Sangiovese, Don Camillo, I.G; Course 4 - Arborio rice, peas, peppers, zuccini, sausage with Montepulchino d Abruzzo Riserva, Opis, DOC; Course 5 - Veal cheek stew over polenta with Edizione Cinque Autoctoni, VDT; Course 6 - Imported ice cream with coffee.

It was fun trying new food and wines and paying attention to how well they go together. The food was a little different than I'm used to, but it wasn't bad. I was anticipating something I couldn't handle, and as usual I was worried I would have an allergic reaction to something, but I didn't and it was rather fun eating unusual foods. I can't say I'm going to hunt for octopus and veal cheeks, and I still love spaghetti and meatballs, but you only live once. I was so glad to be able to attend. It's no wonder Ryan loves his job so much...I'm starting to too!

Welcome Baby Tommy!

Ryan and I went to visit Tommy and Amy today to meet the newest addition to our circle of friends, Thomas Michael Zadeh. Baby Tommy was born a little earlier than expected, last Sunday, May 27, but thankfully he is very healthy...and just as expected, he is super-cute!

We were so glad to meet Little Tommy and can't wait to visit again soon!

The Happy Zadeh Family

Mmmmm....lunch!

The Thinker

Aww...what a cutie pie!

Vintage Virginia

It seems as though I finally have more time to spare to dedicate to things like blogging...three posts in less than 8 hours, however is definitely a record.

Ryan and I spent this afternoon at the Vintage Virginia Wine Festival at Bull Run Park. We had a really nice time, but it was unbearably hot. For the first hour or two, it was great...about 50 wineries and crafty shopping, two stages for music and all kids of food booths with plenty of water stations. We eventually got a little hungry so we had chicken fingers and boardwalk fries. The sun was beating down on our backs and the breeze was just not enough. We found a sprinkler to cool us off, and then I got a little sick. We enjoyed the rest of the afternoon, with frequent breaks for water and lemonade, and made the best of the day outdoors. Ryan's favorite winery was Gabriele Defosse and mine was Cooper. We're looking forward to hopefully making it to the Wine Down the Music Trail festival in southern Virginia for even more new Virginia wines and even some North Carolina wines.

Herndon Festival, Unexpected Fun!

Last night when I got home form work, I was expecting not to do much as Ryan's been studying tirelessly for the wine test he is taking next week. But, to my surprise, he wanted to do something, so we looked up the Friday Night Live concerts that they have in Herndon to see what was happening. There was nothing scheduled due to the Herndon Festival (which we had never heard of). So, we decided to go check that out instead, kind of expecting a family atmosphere or one for teenie boppers. But this festival had something for everyone.

We had a blast, stopping first at some booths selling random crafty things, then on the the beer tent. We took our drinks to the nearby stage, where a Rolling Stones tribute band was playing...kind of funny, but it was fun people-watching. Then we headed over to another stage, the Josh Kelley stage. Neither of us had ever heard of Josh Kelley, but instantly liked his music. So we sat on the grass for the next few hours, only briefly leaving to grab another brew and a funnel cake. Turns out, Josh Kelley actually has at least one very popular song, Amazing. He put on a down to earth, fun, kind of quirky show...and we found a new favorite band! I even bought one of his CDs, which I rarely do. I think he's right up there on my list with GBS and The Clarks.

We are off to Vintage Virginia...the huge wine and food festival at Bull Run. More on that later...

A beater car is one thing...but this is ridiculous!

As I was driving home from work on the GW Parkway yesterday I couldn't help but notice this car that looked like a serial killer's car. So I had to take a picture of it with my phone, just in case someone was looking for a serial killer that fit this description. I actually memorized the license plate too, just in case. I'm sure he's long gone by now...but you don't see many of these interesting cars in Northern Virginia, so I thought it needed to be documented.

The front window was so smashed that I honestly doubt he could see out of it. The front of the car was not just dented in various locations, but rusted and the body was actually cracked and raised up on the hood. The driver was holding his door shut. The two left tires were all wobbly (I couldn't see the right ones), and looked like they could bounce across the street at any moment. There were several parts hanging and dragging on the ground, making sparks under the car. The roof inside the car was torn into little shreds and flapping all over the interior. There were stained and overall just filthy bags of crap piled up in the back seat. It made me wonder what in the heck could be in them and how long they'd been there. And the worst part, was the terribly foul smell that spewed from it and the movie-like horror sounds it made.

I've seen some pretty scary cars living in SW PA and in Baltimore, but I honestly don't know if I have ever seen one that looked quite as suspiciously disgusting as this one, at least not actually moving. The images really don't do it justice, but you get the picture.

Memorial Day BBQ

On Saturday, we had our first get together in the new house. It turned out better than even we expected. Throughout the day, about 25-30 old and new friends and neighbors for lots of food, Sangria, other various alcoholic drinks, great conversation, music, croquet, card games and Connect Four (It took me and a few other people many attempts for someone to beat my friend Dan, and I finally did at the end of the evening....so it is worth a mention.)

Hopefully this was just the first of many parties at our place. We can't wait to do it all over again!

I didn't take as many pictures as I usually do because I'm normally a little less busy than I was on Saturday, but here's a glimpse of the day...

Kristy making the Sangria

Kate and her awesome little guy, Nuri (signing please) and their friend Amy above

Above are JT and Sylvanna - some new neighbors

Here's Nuri, playing croquet with the guys...

Ryan and Lance, one of Rob's co-workers

Lance's wife, Ashley

Sandi, Me, Bernard, Amy and Kate and Nuri

And Dan, with the proof that I beat him at Connect Four :-)
Although, I think he was too tired or tipsy...and somehow I won.

Yay...Choices!

Our first piece of new furniture was waiting on the stoop when we arrived home yesterday (this piece was ordered online form a fantastic site I discovered: http://www.bellacor.com/). It is getting slightly annoying not having any furniture. So this was a pleasant surprise.

It was exciting to open the box to see what had arrived...it was the console table for the foyer. We dropped everything and Ryan put it together immediately. So, now we have two choices of where to eat...the kitchen counter or the foyer table! I'm kidding of course, we wouldn't really eat there...but it gives me hope that some day we'll have furniture delivered and in place (the bedroom furniture was tentatively scheduled to arrive last weekend, but it didn't).

We'll save pictures in context for when we get the foyer done. The "plans" are done, just waiting for the execution phase of Project Foyer (it really won't be AS exciting as it sounds, I exaggerate a bit) which should be in the next week or so.

But here's an image of the new foyer table from the website:

The Transformation, Part Two

Continuing on with the transformation theme (and a second posting so I could show you more pictures), I decided on Friday night that I couldn't deal with the pantry anymore. We couldn't find anything on the 18" shelves, mostly because we kept putting stuff in there that didn't belong, to get it out of sight. I have trouble enough getting motivated to cook, I don't need messy cabinets and pantries to contribute. I'd spent a great deal of effort in organizing the cabinets as we were moving in to ensure that everything had a place and was easily accessible, in an attempt to get motivated to entertain and cook meals rather than always going elsewhere. So far, it has worked (not sure if that is the only factor involved, but anything is better than nothing).

So, yesterday we got up early to take Ryan's car to the mechanic, stopped at the Farmer's Market and went to get coffee at Greenberry's...in the same plaza as Home Depot. So I said, "hey, we should go get shelving for the pantry" (which we had measured a few days before, and I memorized for just such an occasion). Ryan wasn't prepared for this, but I promised to do as much of the work as possible, and that it would really be worth the effort and money...so we bought it all and I spent the rest of the day working my tail off to complete my project.

Ryan helped me with the dirty work of course, in between yard work and stuff...busting out the wooden shelves and installing the new stuff, but I worked like a dog this time too, from noon until 10pm last night to get it done right. I (with some help here and there) sanded and cleaned the nastiness that was there before and fixed the bazillion holes with spackling, sanded again, painted and finally installed the new shelving (we worked together on the installation).

It was a gross place to put your food, really gross! So, even though the plan wasn't to work on this for a few months, I'm SO glad it is done...and Ryan even agreed.

Here are the before pictures, again with the old owner's stuff, because I forgot to take a before picture. Our version of it looked much worse, minus the cleaning supplies and safe:

And this is the pantry now! I even have my very own step stool for easy access. I can't believe how packed it was before, and how much room we have now. The top and bottom shelf on the left wall even have non-food items on it (which I originally was completely against) and we have oodles of space in there. Guess we can go grocery shopping now to fill it up...just kidding!

More to come on the transformation projects. I don't want to reveal the place just yet, but as we get furniture you'll really be able to see what we've done with the place. We're quickly realizing this is going to be a process, to get art work, bookshelves, and all the other accents we want, so we won't make you wait until all is "complete" for updates...but it is coming along nicely.

We absolutely love it here!

The Transformation, Part One

As many of you know, Ryan and I have big plans to make this house our own. Many of the things we are changing are not huge, but make a tremendous difference in our quality of life (ie. my need for organization is met, so I b*&%# a lot less.) I'm documenting these small changes, and thought I should start sharing them with you all.

It all began even before we had anything painted or even before we moved everything in. I'm realizing it is inconvenient to not have furniture, but it is easy to make messes and clean them up without having furniture in the way, so I think it is a good thing the order is taking so long...

So anyway, the weekend we bought the house (April 21-22) we started the transformation by completing gutting, painting and installing new hardware in the master bedroom closet. This is what it looked like when the old owners were here. Not terrible, just unorganized and a little out dated.

So we completely gutted the thing, and Rob and Ryan worked like dogs to get it done:

And this was the final result...not too shabby, ay? I absolutely love it!

Ouch, my lip!

It's been a long time since I pulled a stupid-Erin trick that really left a mark, but I struck again last night.

See, when I was younger, I had a tendency to do really stupid things (or really stupid things just happened to me) and hurt myself...once I dropped a 10 lb. can of baked beans on my foot and crushed my big toe. Another time, I was at a high school football game (in the band) and was pepper-sprayed and had an allergic reaction and was taken out of the game in an ambulance (only band member ever I do believe). And my absolute favorite was when I tried to jump the fence in college (you had to park on the other side of railroad tracks and are supposed to walk around, I never did, just hopped the 4 ft. fence and crossed the tracks) with shorts on, carrying a backpack. My shorts got stuck on the top of the fence and wouldn't rip, so I dangled, blood dripping down my leg, until I could drop the back pack, screech in pain, and force myself to fall backwards off the fence.

Those are the most interesting, this was much less severe, but always interesting. Ryan and I took my car to have it washed because it was a mess after the move, and I needed to drive to a meeting today and was embarrassed to put anyone in my car. So, they couldn't figure out how to wash my back window but I wasn't leaving until they did...so I was hurrying to take the cover off my trunk (I have a hatchback, so you can just remove the piece that covers the inside of the trunk) and it wouldn't come off, so I pulled as hard as I possibly could and it came off - and smacked me in the mouth. At first I thought it knocked my tooth out. Then I thought it was really bleeding. Ryan laughed at first, thinking I just did something little and dumb like I usually do. Then he stopped laughing when he realized I really did hurt myself this time and when tears rolled down my cheeks. Then it started to really swell pretty quickly and pretty bad. I could feel it getting bigger and bigger. I grabbed a can of soda to put on it and went on about our evening of shopping (looking like my husband popped me in the mouth), but it throbbed for the rest of the night. My teeth are fine, but sore. My gums are a little sore and my lip is a little swollen and busted, but not as bad as I expected it to be. I just can't smile.

When will I learn? How can I stop from doing these stupid things?

To Sum it Up...

This was one of the busiest weekends I've had in a long time:

Friday, Ryan and I stopped to get some house plants at a nursery on the way home from work. I spent the night re-potting while Ryan and Rob hung out at our place. I got to talking to some of the neighbors and sure enough, there were a bunch of kids helping me re-pot the plants before too long. It was fun though, I miss doing stuff like that with kids. While I was working away, the president of the homeowners association came over to ask if Ryan or I would like to be a director on the board for our cluster. Knowing Ryan would likely enjoy that more than I would, I brought him out to talk to the guy. So, as of now, Ryan is one of three directors for our cluster. We'll see if he likes it. I continued working while neighbors passed by and kept talking about my green thumb....little do they know I've yet to keep a plant alive. We'll see how I can do this time. Ryan and Rob seemed to enjoy their guy time and I have to say, this domestic lifestyle isn't so bad. The guys were kind enough to feed me yummy Bratwursts and Sausages later in the evening...I don't usually like sausages, but holy cow were they good! Rob is an excellent chef!

On Saturday, Ryan had to work for most of the day and I drove to Easton, PA to attend Amy Zadeh's Surprise Baby Shower. Her mom, sister and niece made the trip from Florida and some other friends and family traveled for the occasion as well. She was pretty surprised. It was one of the nicest showers I've ever been to; the food was absolutely amazing (Tommy's sister is a fantastic cook), the gifts were sentimental, fun and creative, and it looked to me like they made out pretty well too. They deserve it! It was nice to participate in the event.

After a day of wine tasting for Ryan and my day in the car, we went to another surprise party for our friend Shawn's birthday in Falls Church. It was also a fun time...the company was a great combination of fun folks and I think Shawn was also surprised. Shawn and Sandi have the best parties!

Today, Ryan and I went to the Apple Blossom Festival in Winchester, VA. It was more like a carnival than I expected, but it was a fun outing. We did a wine tasting first with about 5 wineries from the Shenandoah Valley then we headed over to the gigantic craft show. We found a nice bird feeder, a plant holder for outside and some homemade honey. We stopped at the food booths of course then headed home. I took a nap on the way back and that set the tone for me for a lazy evening.

This weekend flew by and I'm not yet ready for Monday morning to come...but I'm looking forward to Friday again...

Joe Pa's Famous Quotes

I just found these in a list of famous quotes...and thought many of you may appreciate it:

http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/j/joepaterno107978.html

"Grant me patience, Lord, but hurry..."

Why are people so aggressive? This area gives "Type A" a new meaning! Despite the fact that I've always been impatient and can have a less than positive attitude sometimes, I really do have regard for other people and I respect people's right to have a choice. I would never think of forcing people to do what I want just because...but I think I'm in the minority sometimes!

Just to illustrate one example of this ridiculous behavior...while driving to work this morning, I was making a left turn (crossing traffic obviously) and a bus beside me was turning right. I couldn't see to the right around this bus, and there were cars coming from my left, but they had turn signals on (not necessarily meaning they would actually turn, as I've learned living in this area).

Before I even got to the stop sign, after seeing the bus come to a stop, I planned to wait until I could see to my right before darting out into the street...how dare I, you say? Before I had even completely stopped at the stop sign, the guy in the car behind me beeped his horn. I looked in my rear view mirror and he was yelling at me and waving his hands as if saying..."GO." It made me a little angry, but I couldn't just pull into the street hoping there were no cars coming from my right and that the people on my left were actually turning, so I proceeded to look for oncoming traffic...stupid me!

The guy laid on his horn and waved his arms frantically (literally about 5 seconds after I actually stopped, and the bus was still turning so I still couldn't see). There was a car behind him, who couldn't possibly have seen through the buildings to our right or around the concrete structure to our left to see any cars whatsoever. He/She started beeping too! It made me furious, and not very motivated to move any faster!

At the next corner, the guy pulled up beside me, rolled down his window and continued screaming and used both verbal and non-verbal obscenities. I was considering returning the obscenities, but I didn't. Instead, I decided I'd just smile and wave...hopefully making him more angry than I was at the moment.

I'm learning two very important lessons...patience really is a virtue, and that being a smart ass can make me feel better than returning the negativity others are displaying.

And the Painting Begins

The painters began the transformation of our house a little earlier than expected when they decided to start yesterday. Only the living room and hall has been done so far, but it looks great. They need to work on straightening their lines and painting the remainder of the trim, but we love the color so far (see below for colors).

They arrived again today early, before 7:00am. Good thing we need to be up and out by then anyway and I can't complain because they are actually on time. They are working on the kitchen and master bedroom today. I can't wait to see it! The house should be mostly painted by Friday...we hope! We chose to wait on the office and basement, hopefully we'll decide to either paint those ourselves or have them painted soon so the task will be officially complete.

We ordered the remainder of our furniture last night, and chose a lime green sofa/chair for the basement. I never thought I'd go that colorful, but it is subtle and very cool! Everything should be here by the beginning of June...it is SO exciting!!!

Paint colors we chose for the house (www.sherwinwilliams.com if you want to check them out, I couldn't copy the colors to post here):

Living Room - Sensational Sands
Dining Room - Harvester
Powder Room - Decorus Amber
Upstairs Hallway - Lightweight Beige
Master Bedroom - Coastal Plain
Upper Bath - Privilege Green
Guest Room - Rose Tan

Our First Out of Town Visitors!

My Aunt Mary and Tom, and my cousins Eric and Alex from Binghamton, NY came to visit on Saturday. We were so excited to see them, and wish they could have stayed more than a few hours, but any time we could spend together is better than none. We gave them a tour of the new place, had some wine and cheese and then we went to lunch. We missed my cousin Chris, but I doubt he missed us as he was in Williamsburg.

Aunt Mary and I

Eric, Alex, Mary, Tom, Ryan and I saying our goodbyes

Thank you for stopping to visit us...I miss you all already! Please come stay with us soon and we'll visit some sight of the city. And we're planning to visit you all too...and we'll definitely have to take you up on the offer to visit some wineries.

Done!

Oooo....was I in a bad place last night. I don't think I've ever been so frustrated in my entire life....tears streamed down my cheeks for more than 30 minutes even though I wasn't crying...that's how frustrated I really was from this move. Ryan and I moved the last of the stuff from our apartment to our new place last night. We rented a small truck because it didn't appear to be that much stuff. It was more than we thought!

Sometimes I think Ryan assumes I can exert as much physical strength as he can...I'm not ashamed to say - I cannot! Something tells me I'm not supposed to be able to do all that I tried to do, because I'm paying for it today because all of my muscles are weak and more stiff than I've ever felt before. When planning for this move, I asked Ryan several times if we could have someone help move the heavy stuff. He insisted that we could do it ourselves since we sold a lot of the large furniture. So, we did. And we were oh, so smart to leave only the heavy stuff remaining. Determined to help, I tried my best to be a man...literally! Out the door, through a gate, up a hill and into the truck, we hoisted, lifted, pushed and pulled furniture and box after box of books...me - in heels. Yep, in heels! Who moves in heels? Stupid me who didn't plan for schedule changes, I guess!

I had an extremely important meeting at 9:00am that couldn't be missed, but I planned to leave work at 2:00 and have Kate take me to get the truck and meet Ryan at the apartment by 5:00. My very important morning meeting got moved to 4:00pm, so I couldn't go home to change out of my suit and heels or pick up the truck (as it was, I didn't arrive to help until 7:00 because of the meeting, traffic and the fact that the truck rental company forgot to give us anything besides the truck, so I had to go pick up the stuff first)...which I think weighed heavily into my frustration for at least the loading-part of the evening.

We were both exhausted in the end (1:00am), and Ryan worked like a dog, but I'm 100%, completely DONE being a man. Never again - I swear! I can't imagine how Ryan feels today, after bearing the load that I couldn't, but I'm in pain and absolutely exhausted! In the end, the job got done and the frustrations are gone. Only the clean up remains.

New Furniture

Here are some images of our new furniture, which is scheduled to arrive sometime between now and the beginning of June. We'll let you all know when it arrives so you can visit! Right now, we just have two chairs to sit on.

The sofa and chair will be a burnt orange color.

The master bedroom set will be all the natural wood color...this is not our house..

And here's our dining set. It'll be this pattern, not the model shown below.

Here's the whole set. Not sure if we are getting the bakers rack you see here or the wine cabinet below (haven't ordered that yet). All will be in the cream color above.