'Semel in anno licet insanire', 'madness is permissible once a year'

It is hard to believe that today is Fat Tuesday! The beginning of lent is just a few hours away.
The party is over...
We decided if we can not visit Andrea in Brazil





and we can not be in Venice...
then we had to make our own party and follow the old tradition of pancakes!






http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2009/02/carnival.html

The whole world has been celebrating in some of the most unusual and fascinating ways. The link above is a collection of photographs from Carnival. The costumes and floats just amaze me. These people are so creative and they most certainly do let their imaginations run wild. It is uninhibited fun and some day I hope to experience all of this energy first hand. But until then Dan and I will carry on the tradition of pancakes for dinner. Hmmm some how it just doesn't have the same appeal and effect!!

Oh how sweet it is..

Recognition of any kind is always a very sweet and rewarding experience and Apartment Therapy has just made my day!

http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/dc/inspiration/inspiration-interiors-from-pompeii-and-the-roman-villathe-national-gallery-of-art-075074

With a recent visit to the Pompeii exhibition and a little inspiration the folks at Apartment Therapy posted about my beloved National Gallery of Art and our giftshop. I do take great pride in what I do and where I work so when the excitement is shared it just can not get any better. Being a retail buyer is not always as exciting as it may sound. Though I do work with some of the most fabulous people who are very creative and have a deep desire for art just as I do.

We set your own goals awarding each other with the gold star at the end (usually chocolate and Starbucks).

Thanks Apartment Therapy, for a bit of sweetness!! (http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/)

Cruise Attire

I am daydreaming....
WAY TOO MUCH!

I can not stop thinking about the cruise we are going on in April.
last night we received our cruising package in the mail including our luggage tags!

I am worried, how can I obtain a weeks worth of new cruising attire inexpensively? I am completely cutting out Starbucks (that should help!) and I am not going out to lunch anymore (after this Friday, its Valentine's lunch...come on!)
Seriously, any good shopping tips are welcome.
One of my most favorite sites is http://www.solestruck.com/ I know I will need new sandals and this might be just the place!

Happy Birthday

CHAM

Little girls

Little girls are made of sugar and spice and everything nice.

These two little girls just make my heart melt! They are full of love and simply put, innocence.
On Sunday they were surprised to see us as we met at Hemmingway's on the Eastern Shore for a belated birthday brunch for Christie. The weather was beautiful and the girls were able to run around with Uncle Dan for a bit before we ate.With all of the excitement they hardly ate! Here they are being wrapped up like presents and then unwrapped by Daddy and Uncle Dan. It doesn't take much to make them happy!
In just a few short weeks there will be a third little girl joining the party and we can't wait!

We Wiiiiiiii

Lucky us we received a Wi for Christmas and have been enjoying it ever since. As often as we can we try to share the excitement of the Wi with others and this past Saturday our good friends Melissa, Thomas, Naomi and Nick came over for dinner and some fun!

I made Timbale for the first time, delish if I do say so myself! I was told by my husband who happens to love all things spicy, "it's spicy" so I was surprised! For those of you wondering what exactly is timbale? It is a pastry encrusted drum of pasta, sausage,eggplant, cheese and sauce. It was accompanied by Giada's green beans (something healthy to counter balance the calorie overload).
Our guests brought wonderful desserts, a hazelnut praline cake (whole foods) and chocolate sandwich cookies filled with vanilla and mint (sticky fingers bakery http://www.stickyfingersbakery.com/).
Once our tummies were full of goodness it was time to break into Wi form!

The girls boxing!

The boys boxing!


And this is Thomas breaking Dan's record on the ski slopes! Dan stayed up until 2am trying to beat the new score. I am sure he will, it is sheer determination! But as it stands Thomas has the high score!
There were other games, bowling and hula hooping too! We had a wonderful time hope we can do it again soon!