Week Off, Day Two

So, it's that week between jobs, that week that we all look forward to while we're working wherever it is that we're working... a week that reminds you of Spring Break in college when you don't have to worry about anything. I don't have to think about my old job, and don't have any obligations yet at the new job. So what's the agenda for the week?

Well, the "Big Week Off" started early last Friday, when the weather was in the high 70s. I was able to sneak in a long bike ride in the afternoon on my new hybrid bike before Lauren and I went to the Eastern Shore for the weekend and tasted the food that will be served at our reception on Saturday. We also checked out the church so that we could actually see where we'll be declaring our life-long love for one another. The church is "ok." It's not your traditional Catholic church with high ceilings and stained glass windows, but it's not the building that matters... it's who is standing across from you at the altar. Anyway, from the church, we went on to Salero where we tasted pork spring rolls (C), scallops wrapped in bacon (A-), mini crab cakes (A+), Baked Salmon (B), Ham and Grueyere Cheese stuffed chicken (A), and a house salad that consisted of bleu cheese, cranberries, and nuts (B+). It was definitely enough to fill up, and helped settle some of the indecision we had about certain foods. The menu is not final yet, but it's safe to say that based on what we tasted, it's going to be a VERY tasty reception!

The rest of the weekend was spent watching the Masters and Tiger fail to make a move on the final day for the first time in awhile. I was actually disappointed that Immelman was never challenged on Sunday, though he seemed like a pretty decent guy in the interviews, and you have to feel good for a guy who four months ago was in a hospital bed wondering if the tumor in his body was cancerous. Sadly, the weather itself was a bust on Sunday... cold and kind of rainy. Also watched the Caps give away Game 2 to go into Game 3 today tied 1-1.

Yesterday, Lauren took the day off and we spent most of the day running errands letting the weather slowly warm up. By the afternoon, it wasn't too bad (mid 50s), so we went down to the water in Old Town and laid out in the sun for a few hours reading. Speaking of which, I picked up a great book by James Rollins, called Subterranean. It looks like this is one of a few books that he has written, so I'm looking forward to spending more time today and the rest of the week doing some much needed reading.

So, today... I've already been to the gym and perused the Washington Post to get caught up on my local sports news. In summary, the Wizards won last night in futility as the Cavs locked up the 4th position in a bizarre set of events that had them shooting the winning free throws after the 76ers had already left the court. The Wizards will face the Cavs in the first round for the 3rd straight season beginning this weekend I think. Meanwhile, the Caps play Game 3 tonight against the Flyers and hope to regain home ice advantage. Based on what I saw on Sunday, the Caps need to shake off the mental games and play their game. The Flyers are playing a rough style that seems to shake the Caps, particularly Ovechkin, who cannot seem to get into a rhythm. That being said, if Boudreau can wake them up, there is no reason why the Caps can't take this game tonight. We'll see.

Finally, I came across this great video on Chris Cooley's blog this morning that pits Portis versus Cooley's fiancee to see who knows Chris best. I am pretty excited that Chris is blogging since he's by far my favorite Skin and a guy that seems to have no problem giving his fans a window into his life.

Anyway, time to get moving and make some lunch. I think I'm going to try and go check out another part of the Potomac Heritage Trail after lunch and see if it's going to provide a place to go trail running in the future. Have a great day everyone!

Bucket List & Macy's

On Saturday night, we joined our friends Dan and Leslie for drinks and an excursion to the Old Town Theatre on King St. to see the Bucket List, starring Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson. If you haven't had a chance to either make it to the Old Town Theatre or to see the Bucket List, I highly recommend both. While the theatre is not quite what you may be expecting in terms of a normal movie theatre, it makes up for its rough edges by the small town feel you get sitting in the rickety seats. I'd say there were about 14 of us in the theatre total (and that might be generous), and after we were lectured by the owner on bringing in outside food and drink, we were able to put our feet up on the ledge, stretch out, and enjoy our wine during what turned out to be a GREAT movie. I'd have to say that Bucket List vaulted into my Top 10 and will make it to our Netflix list so that we can watch it again.

Now Macy's... last night we did our first round of registry selections. So, for those of you who faithfully check this blog and have been looking for your wedding details, this is one of the first bones I've thrown... The registry will be ready in the next week or so as we wrap up what we want online, now that the initial meeting is over. So, continue to check our knot site for updated details on that one. But as fun as it is to scan items that you wouldn't normally buy on your own, there is also something a bit pretentious about asking people to buy you something that again, you wouldn't normally buy on your own. While our friends have all been actively offering advice on what to scan and what not to scan, my personal philosophy has been to ask for things that we KNOW we'll use on a regular basis, and pass up the item if we answer "yes" to the following question: Are we scanning this ONLY because its our one and only chance to ask for it? And you know me... after an hour, I was useless... not to mention that we're both fighting off some kind of sickness which made it even harder to focus for more than an hour.

Anyway, it's nice to have gotten the ball rolling on that part, and for everyone who has been awaiting a "save the date" the order was processed and it's just a matter of getting the final pieces. Once we get those, you can look for yours soon...

Until next time...

Cinco de Mayo Celebration

It's official!!! MIOL and I are engaged!!!

17 months in the making, I have met my match and the person I am looking forward to spending the rest of my life with.

I promise you that the story leading up to the proposal is well worth a phone call to me if you want to hear it. The intricate details and subtleties are too much to go into on here and will take too long to describe.

In any case, I look forward to blogging about the progress and planning as we set a date and move forward towards the most exciting day of our lives.

Stay tuned...

Tuxedo Day

My friend Jeff is getting married this August and today was the day we were going to pick out a few options for the groomsmen.

Here are a few of the options we looked at. I personally was a fan of the black shirt with the silver vest since we are going with silver as the color of the vests. I'm not sure if that color will look good on everyone, so it comes down to being Jeff's fiance's call.

I really liked this look, but again... not sure if it would look as good on us.

Here are some random shots of Jeff's brother-in-law, Ahmed, and myself assisting Jeff with the process.

I was pretty surprised at home many options there are for tuxedos, with the different style of jackets, vest or cummerbund (does anyone where these anymore?), pattern for the vest, color, black or white shirt, round or square shoes, etc. If you really wanted to turn your wedding into a box of crayons, I suppose you could...