SICK

Now Dan is sick...dunn dunn dunn dunnnhhh. I think he caught my cold.
But let me explain; he is sick; sick enough to stay home from work (this is very unusual) and sick enough to eat soup and it is not Pho (his grandmothers won tons). Sick enough to have a roll of paper towels next to him to blow his nose all day.
BUT not too sick to go to Model's to look at hockey sticks.

This reminds of the time when he had his wisdom teeth taken out and decided that the day after his surgery, while he was on percocet he would walk (Forrest Gump ring a bell, he just decided to walk and kept walking and walking...) to the mall from my mothers' house because he felt like having chicken McNuggets.
Once he was there he called me on my cell phone (I was working at a Navy football game) and asked me to pick him up because his head was throbbing and he could not possibly make it back to where he came from.

He thinks he is going to play hockey tonight. There is no way he is getting out the front door. Believe ME

Ahh and he is all mine to love. Stay home Daniel and get better please.
Any suggestions on how to keep from passing it back and forth to each other?

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

I have wanted to read this book for so long...now it seems I can read it for free!

http://www.harpercollins.com/services/browseinside/images/biBoxCenter.gif);" align="center" valign="middle"> Browse Inside this book Get this for your site

Ahhh CHANEL

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvDFPjx-uBU

OHHHhh how I love...

Oh how I love, love, love NUTELLA and now Food & Wine magazine does too!
Follow the link to sweet love.
http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/nutella-swirl-pound-cake/print

© Alexandra Grablewski. Cake Keeper Cakes Published 2009 by the Taunton Press

why why why...

What the ...I finally answer the final jeopardy answer correctly and I am sitting here all alone!!
Daniel is playing hockey! Alex Trebek is probably drinking a dry Grey Goose martini by now and here I am, alone reveling in my intelligence!
Well, I answered it and I will never forget the answer "Schindler's List".

A few more...

The resident rat trapper who gave me a recipe for RAT STEW....ewwww!

Highlights of the weekend past

Mom came to visit us on Saturday; it is hard to believe but it had been 3 weeks since we spent time together like this!
Every year we go to the Mount Vernon fall festival and every year it gets better! Though I have this tradition of being ill when we go. I started this trend several years ago when I had all four of my wisdom teeth out and then went to the festival. This year I had a cold. Nothing too dramatic but draining.
Here are a few photos from our day.
Frogs in the naturalist booth.












The resident rat.

Garbage Run

Apartment living is always interesting; we have found worthy furniture at the dumpster, heard very personal moments through the walls and have even had rumors of INS coming and taking a whole family away.

Today I give thee; how to make a garbage run.

--If you are on your way out why hand carry the garbage bag to the dumpster?
Who knows what could happen on that very long walk.
Why not make it easier on yourself; simply load your group into the family vehicle and place the garbage sack on the lower end of the hood (as not to obstruct the windshield) and drive to the dumpster!
See now you still have clean pants. Don't forget the hand sanitizer!

yes, I really saw this from my kitchen window

What was I thinking...

Today was my Monday and tomorrow is my Friday.
I returned to work today after 3 days home sick. It has been 6 days since I sat at my desk. I had 187 emails in the inbox.
By 3pm today I was spent and wondering why was I sitting there and ready to pass out at any moment. There was not a Lady Gaga, U2 or ACDC that could keep me awake.
This morning I was up early and planning to leave early until I had to dress myself 3 different times due to a faulty wardrobe. Tonight when I returned home I heard a strange noise in the apartment. I called out 'honey' I thought maybe Daniel was home before me. No Daniel but somebody was making coffee. The smell of coffee was so strong and the pot was on gurgling away and then the 'beep beep' it was ready. The pot was full of hot water the basket for the coffee was empty and house smelled of a fresh brew. But there was no one home but the cat?
Some things go unexplained and trust me it is not the drugs.
At least tomorrow is Friday.

Sono malati

I am a big baby when I am sick...I am sick. Ick
Been home for 2 days and I want to go back to work but my head is throbbing and all I do is cough blow my nose and sleep. I feel so useless; there are so many things I could be doing or should be doing. I am positive I got this from all the snotty nosed kids at Great Falls on Sunday. It could be worse so I will not complain too much.
I am looking forward to tonight though cough medicine with codeine 2x daily it is gold color and it's golden!

NINE

I can't wait for November. Sophia Loren, Nicole Kidman, Daniel Day-Lewis, Judi Dench, Penélope Cruz, Stacy Ferguson, Kate Hudson, Marion Cotillard
Could it get any better?

Fascinating

There is nothing better than a movie on a grey day and Shirlington is a great place to catch independent and foriegn films. E street theater is a little fancier and they serve coffee but we did not want to go into DC.
This is the real Devil Wears Prada; Anna Wintour.


Of course, I ran right out and picked up the September issue of Vogue!

OLE!

I'm a lucky girl! Last week was a short week to begin with since Monday was a holiday but lucky me I took off the day off on Friday. Why...do you ask? Rachel came to town! woo hoo

Thursday night Ellie and Rachel met me at the train and we were off!
Back at my place we polished off a bottle of Prosecco that I picked up at the Chelsea Market the last time I was in New York. yummy! Daniel left the girls to giggle amongst themselves as he headed off to the cigar shop meeting the guys. They watched the first football game of the season.

We walked up to Los Tios and had a delicious Mexican dinner. Rachel claimed it was the best burrito she has had outside of California! A muy grande compliment, since her burrito taste buds are Superior!

Friday was a terribly rainy day; very good for sleeping till 9:00 am. We made a light breakfast and spent time catching up and planning a girls day. Later we had a luxurious afternoon of manicures and pedicures a nice lunch and a little shopping. We picked up some pantaloons for the guys (ask me) and we struck a deal and bought some very anthro-esque shoes! My favorite...shoes umm and handbags oh and did I say accessories!
We met Daniel back at the apartment after he finished his work day relaxed a bit and then headed out for dinner. Along the way we picked up Ellie and then drove out to Fairfax to meet Sean and Tischa, two very good friends of Rachel. And guess what! We ate mexican AGAIN! yum. It was delicious but I think Daniel may have over done it with pork ribs and marinated steak platter called Uncle Julio's platter. UGHHHHhhh is all he could say.

It was wonderful to spend time with Rachel and Ellie! I can't wait to do it again soon!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CATHY

Happy Birthday to you...

Holiday weekend

Labor day came and went and here we are the last days of summer the seasons change is upon us.
The holiday weekend was nice and cool. Saturday night we went to see our nephew Colin and watched the VA Tech game with Julie, Justin and his parents Mike and Kathleen. It was a fun night Colin is growing so fast he is very tall and 30lbs at 2 yrs old! I wish Julie told me he was 30lbs before I put him on my lap and slid down the carpeted steps in shorts to the basement! two words...RUG B-U-R-N!
On Sunday we spent time with my Mom in Annapolis looking at a brand new house that is so fitting for her. If everything works out this could be a really nice change for Mom. Then we were off to Chris and Christies; they were having the end of summer pool days party. All the neighborhood kids were there so of course we brought goodies being the good Aunt and Uncle we are! Popcorn, mini cupcakes and ice cream sandwiches. I think we were a hit.
Here is Uncle Dan aka the pied piper! I LOVE THIS thanks Chris!

Monday was a rainy day. We were planning to go to the Virginia wine festival in Herndon with Julie and Justin but it turns out Justin had a very bad cold so we all skipped it. As it turned out on our end Daniel had to do a little work at home bit so much later in the day we went for Peruvian chicken and a little shopping! Just getting ready for the beautiful Autumn that I have been looking forward to!

Honored

I received an invitation from my college advisor to become apart of the

Alumni Professional Network at UMBC!! The idea is to create profiles of alumni on a website that current UMBC students can access to learn about possible career paths. How exciting, I could potentially become a mentor to an undergrad at my alma mater!

I was very surprised and excited to see this in my inbox. All I ever wanted in college was for someone to tell me what kind of work is really out there after you finish an Art History degree. It's true, not everyone will be a curator!!

So there it is, I am all grown up now, settled in my career and becoming one of the old folks who helps you youngins' take over our jobs!! WOW...

And not to brag...well maybe I am, check out below UMBC #1 and Dan's alma mater is #2!!

Top Up-and-Coming Schools

http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/national-uc-rank

These colleges and universities were singled out as schools that have recently made the most promising and innovative changes in academics, faculty, students, campus, or facilities.

NATIONAL UNIVERSITIES

1. Univ. of Md.–Baltimore County*

2. George Mason University (VA)*

2. Northeastern University (MA)

4. Drexel University (PA)

5. Arizona State University*

5. University of Central Florida*

7. Ind. U.–Purdue–Indianapolis*

8. University of Denver (CO)

8. Univ. of Southern California

8. University of Vermont*

11. Clemson University (SC)*

11. Emory University (GA)

11. Rice University (TX)

11. University of S.C.–Columbia*

15. N.C. State University–Raleigh*

15. Ohio State U.–Columbus*

15. Univ. of California–San Diego*

15. University of Cincinnati (OH)*

15. University of North Texas**

Public Source: US News & World Report America’s Best Colleges

http://www.umbc.edu/bestcolleges/

Happy Birthday Rachel!

yummy...

Gelato! Tonight we took a break from monotony. We made an early dinner and drove to Arlington to check out the gelateria, BOCCATO that has been getting rave reviews from locals. These smiling faces can not lie, it is delicioso! Macchiato for Daniel and chocolate hazelnut for me. The combination reminded us of our honeymoon in Venice. Allura; we will return one day!