Happy Birthday Ike...

Medical Update...

This time it's not for me, but for our close friend Jill. Many of you know that she's been battling a kidney stone for weeks. Well I'm glad to report she had surgery yesterday and is on the mend. Thank you to all of those who prayed for her and her family during this uncomfortable time. We hope and pray that Jill makes a speedy recovery and starts feeling back to her normal, non-stop self! We love you.

Happy 2 Year Anniversary...

Congratulations on your 2 year anniversary. We are so thankful that we have gotten to know you so much over these last 2 1/2 years. Can you believe it started out with a wedding invitation craft project!!! It's refreshing to see people who are so in love with eachother! We can't wait to share more special memories with you guys.

Happy Birthday Nick...

Birthday Bash...

Last night we head out to Union Jack's in Ballston to celebrate the March birthdays of Troy & Nick. We were joined by about 200 youthful college kids who had drunkedly left Shamrockfest and needed a place to drink more and be loud/obnoxious. Wow, I'm old... but, we still had a blast!

Did I mention how great my husband is...

So, on top of taking me to the Kennedy Center last night, Mike also coordinated a birthday dinner for me at........... Nope, not a Japanese Steakhouse - but Bucca de Beppo, a family style Italian restaurant in Dupont. It was great, us and about 20 of our friends crammed into a table eating tons of delicious food. Thanks to everyone who came out, but a special thanks to the Gardners - especially Jill who battled her kidney stone and tired children to help me celebrate. You guys are all amazing.

I have the best husband...

My birthday isn't until tomorrow, but tonight Mike took me to see Debbie Allen's Oman O'Man at the Kennedy Center. It was by far the best birthday gift I have ever gotten, it was amazing. How thoughtful of Mike... I had mentioned back in February that I wanted to see this play after I read an article in the Washington Post. I have watched Ms. Allen so many times on So You Think You Can Dance and just enjoy watching contemporary, modern, and so many other types of dance....so I couldn't wait to see it. I had no idea that Mike had even bought the tickets, and had nearly forgotten that the show was even in town. So when he surprised me last week with the tickets I could hardly stand the anticipation. What was even better was it was opening night and there were tons of important people. Debbie Allen came out afterwards to greet some of her close friends and was about 3 feet away from us....I wanted so badly to tell her how big a fan I was, but was to shocked that she was right beside me. Afterwards we had a nice, surprisingly quiet dinner at the Cheesecake Factory. It was everything I hoped it would be, and even better that Mike admitted he enjoyed it too. I'm glad we live in such an amazing area that we're exposed to so many wonderful events like this...now we just need to take more advantage of them!!!

Happy Birthday Mike...

Sorry we couldn't make it to Salem to celebrate in person

Congratulations Matt & Alyssa...

Our friends Matt & Alyssa announced their engagement at the St. Patty's Day Parade! We're so excited for them!!!!!

St. Patty's Day Parade...

So I know it's a bit early, but Alexandria always has their St. Patty's day celebrations the first weekend of March (don't ask me why). As is tradition we started the Saturday morning festivities off at 9am at Erin, Katie & Theresa's house with mimosas and bagels. Some of us had a few too many, but enjoyed seeing everyone. It was nice enough weather outside that the backyard was "open" and people mingled and took pictures. I left a little earlier than everyone else to head back to our place to open the windows, set out the food and heat up the "crack dip"....well, at least that's what everyone called it once they tasted it. It's actually a recipe I got from my mom for buffalo chicken dip...really simple to make and extremely delicious - always a hit with our circle of friends.

Recipe:

*1 (16oz) can white meat chicken

*1 cup Franks hot sauce

*1 (8oz) block cream cheese - softened

*1 cup ranch dressing

*1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Drain the chicken and use a fork to make finely shredded pieces, pour hot sauce to cover. In a separate container (or on stovetop) mix ranch and cream cheese, stir til completely blended with no lumps. Pour the ranch mixture over the chicken mixture, add shredded cheese. Pour into a pie plate or casserole dish and bake at 400 for 20 minutes. Serve with Tostitos scoops!!!

It's convenient that the parade goes down King Street passing directly in front of our apartment. This year we had a record turnout for the parade. I'd say we probably had 30 to 40 people trafficking in and out of our apartment from 11am-1pm. Whatever the reason, whether to use the bathroom, grab a drink, eat some food or socialize, it was a blast. Everyone kept commenting on what an awesome location we had. I thanked them for their kind comments, but in my mind was thinking - yeah, great until you can't find parking and have 4 boxes of Costco groceries to bring upstairs....but I kept my mouth shut.

After we had emptied our liquor, beer and premixed drink supply and the parade had come to an end we headed down to Pat Troy's for the usual after parade drinks and live band performances. The rest of the day was a blast, some headed to bed at 6pm, while others continued the celebration with movies, more bars and a little karaoke. Next year won't be quite the same. Erin, Katie & Theresa will be moving out of their place in June and Mike and I hope that by this time next year we're well settled in to a home of our own. But we'll see how it all goes down!

Happy Birthday Troy...