Good Friends are Gems

I know that good friends are hard to come by. I have had one or two experiences in a handful of years that really proved that to me. Although I wish things with friends never had to end, sometimes they do, and there is nothing left to be done. I think that sometimes new friends are brought into your life at precisely the right time.

For me, Blair is one of those friends. Althrough we knew each other at Clemson via Sigma Pi (oh the memories!), the sumemr I was living in Hilton Head as a nanny I called her to go out. And so it began. Since the summer of 2005 Blair and I have remained very close friends. We talk on the phone at least twice a week, send each other funny pictures of our pets and enjoy sending thoughtful cards to each other.

This past winter, Blair started planning a trip up to Maryland to stay at our new home and see the sights of Washington. The only other time she visitied this area was for our wedding, but I kept her so busy as a bridesmaid that of course she didn't have a chance to see the city. I sure did change that!

She visited the weekend of April 16th and I can't remember when I walked so many miles in one day (not including a race or exercise). After the "scheduled" delay flights from ATL always seem to have, we stopped for mojitos/sangria in Rockville before heading back to our house. Can't remember the last time I laughed so much at dinner while reading a book, but we won't talk about those details ;). On saturday morning we caught the metro to downtown and after I showed Blair my office we started the 16+ block walk to Georgetown. We had lunch at a restaurant along the waterfront and I got my soup for free since they brought the wrong kind, which made it even better! I had never been to this area in the daytime and enjoyed it just as much as Blair. After walking through some stores, we got in line at Georgetown Cupcake where we both enjoyed our first cakes from the infamous shop. Very delightful! We headed back towards the White House and I took her to the Washington Monument, Lincoln and WWII. We even had time to go through a few exhibits at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural history before heading towards the Capitol as the sun was going down. One last uphill walk to Union Station later and we were on our way home.

We spent a few hours in annapolis on Sunday since it is close to BWI airport and it was already time for Blair to go back to Atlanta. I had a wonderfult ime with her and look forward to another fun weekend in a few months (hopefully)!

Decorating Updates

Been lazy with my blog lately...sorry about that! In the past few weeks I have done a few decorating-related things. Brad installed a fan in our bedroom and I'm very pleased with the way it looks. It has also been nice since we have had the windows open the past week. I finally found bedding for the guest bedroom, just in time for our wave of weekend guests.

Also hung a collage of wedding photos in our living room above the couch. One day I know it won't be all about wedding photos, but right now I really enjoy having them on display, especially since it is a little bit delayed since we were in a small apartment immediately following our wedding.

Friends Galore

I am THRILLED that in the next four months, Brad and I will be seeing all of our closest friends and my family. I know that happened at our wedding, but understandably there was so much going on and this time it is happening over a period of a few months.

Brad's good friend from grad school and his wife are coming down from Philadelphia to spend next weekend with us. The weekend after that my mom is coming down (also happens to be her birthday). The weekend of April 16th one of my besties is coming up from Atlanata and she has never been to DC! After that we have my sister's college graduation in May and then our "it is becoming annual tradition" trip to Georgia to stay with a handful of friends and their significant others including my other bestie and her toddler and #2 pregnant belly. I guess I can't complain about not seeing friends this year! Feel blessed :)

Sunny Escape

From snow to the sun! I found out on Thursday that I will be attending our Annual Meeting this week in Boca Raton (pic of resort below). I cannot wait to escape the snow for a few days. Our schedule is full of meetings and various sessions, but at least I should be able to run outside every morning and I am positive that I won't see any snow for a whole week. Off to finish packing!

Word of the Week

...SNOW. Yes, it just stopped snowing yesterday. I have not been in to the city to go to work for one week since I worked from home last Friday. We got an additional 12 inches of snow yesterday and the conditions warranted a blizzard warning because of high winds and snow drifts. I am getting restless. I should be scrapbooking. I should finish cleaning. Should I try and do tons of projects around the house that I have been thinking about? Believe it or not, I have been content reading, watching a little tv and one movie a day. But now I am getting anxious for all this snow to be done because I want to get out of the house.

A REAL Snow Day

My goodness, if I thought there was snow on Wednesday, then I don't even know what to call our current 22+ inch accumulation. Some are calling it snowpocalypse or snowmageddon, I'm just looking at it in disbelief. This is the second time this winter that we have had this much snow at once. We went to be with about eight inches on the ground and woke up to nearly twenty.

We did go out and frolic around a bit and saw a snow plow pass by our street three times without turning into our neighborhood so I'm not sure how long we'll be stuck. My wonderful husband did spend a few hours shoveling our driveway, but the snow in the road is still knee-deep.

Snow Day!

Remember how excited you were as a child waiting to hear if school was closed or merely delayed after a snowfall? I felt like that last night as Brad and I stood at our front door looking at the snowflakes that had been falling for five hours, hoping it would be "enough" to keep both of us working from home. Well, if you are wondering what happened, I am home and he is not. The major roads have been properly maintained, but the train was likely to be a mess as was the hilly drive to the station so I am working from home. I hope to get outside for a bit after I get some work done and take some photos - will post then!