The Beginning of the End of Our Summer

I can feel our summer ticking away now. It's not just that we've entered August - today I will present my Fellowship project to Mayor Dixon. We're starting to gear up for the entering class of interns at UMD. The Ravens play their first preseason game this Thursday. Summer is closing.

Maybe summer feels like it has passed us by because we've been working so hard on getting our living space in order. For those of you who are curious, progress continues. My mom arrives for a visit next Monday, which means that we're having to address the guest room, which has been functioning as an attic for us. Perhaps some photos will be in order in the next week or so.

Also of note is Restaurant Week in Baltimore. Friday night we had a delightful meal at B in Bolton Hill. We had never been, but our experience Friday will definitely have us going back for more! Later this week we'll be trying the Elkridge Furnace Inn, and my week and Fellowship will close out with a dinner at a Baltimore institution, The Brass Elephant. Yummy. Better keep up with my yoga and running this week.

A Very Exciting Weekend

I got the toy AND I look like a scary cat - BOOYAH!
C'mon Dad - just throw it!
Caele chases ball.  Jackson chases Caele.
And they're off!
Jackson with the ball hanging out of his mouth.

Last weekend was pretty busy.  Friday night we took advantage of $6 Orioles tickets for students.  The Red Sox were in town, so it was a pretty crazy game.  A group of my friends from my MPH program joined us - what fun!

Saturday the Baker's invited us to join them for a wine tasting at Woodhall Winery, near the Pennsylvania border.  We enjoyed 14 great wines, good company, and tasty munchies.  We also accomplished some furniture shopping that day.

Sunday we took the doggies to the dog beach in Annapolis.  It was great fun!  The dogs slept for two days after that trip.  Sunday evening we hosted some friends for dinner.  Phew!

We are staying busy now with the wrap-up of my Fellowship (I present to the Mayor on Monday), and Chris's job which always keeps him busy.  We also have some tasty adventures on the horizon with Restaurant Week starting soon.   

A Very Special T-Shirt

Chris was in Los Angeles this weekend.  As he was helping to pack up some of his Uncle Mikey's things, he came across this t-shirt.  It reminded him of a yellow dog he knows, so he brought the shirt home with him.  Chris will treasure this special t-shirt of his Uncle Mikey's.

I Could Get Used to this Place

A rare close-up of Belle the one-eyed kitty.  She's a Tevo junkie during the Tour de France.
Me on moving day.  Where am I going to put all of this stuff?  Where are the margaritas?
Caele likes the new digs because she is color-coordinated with the office.
The entire family enjoys The Tour.
Kitchen!

Hi everyone!  I know that it has been a while since I posted.  We made it through moving day (no small thanks to Matt and Heather!).  Who knew we had so much furniture?  In any case, we still have a few little details to tie up here and there (shoe mouldings, glass in cabinet doors, new desk for CDW), but by and large we're in and organized in the major living spaces.  The guest room is the catch-all for the time being.  We'll be closing that door when company comes by for a while.  ;)  

Chris was out of town this weekend and I took advantage of some me-time by . . . cooking a lot! I was so happy to get to stock up on the foods we love to eat, and to get our family back on "the lunch plan."  Amy was kind enough to join me for margaritas and enchiladas last night.  Yummy!

Yuppy Puppy Yappy Hour

Caele and Bocce.  We think they look alike.
Caele enjoying yappy hour.
Caele bobbing for hotdogs.
Bocce, Katie, Heather, Jody, Matt, Caele, Chris and Jacks.  

Tonite we attended Yappy Hour at the Maryland SPCA.  It was a lot of fun, and we got to support a great organization in the process.  The timing was great, too as they just took in 18 doggies from the puppy mill raid in Pennsylvania.  In any case, Caele and Jackson got to play in the fun run, pawpaint, sample new doggie ice cream, and meet lots of other doggies.  We also got to enjoy some wine and great nibbles.

Tomorrow is moving day.  We're pretty excited, but moving during the Baltimore summer is no cakewalk . . . stay tuned.

Cabinets and More Supreme Court

CDW and his Mama.
Cabinets!
Chief Justice Robertson.
Us.  Waiting.

I promised more details on Monday's events . . . here they are!

The day started out with lots of waiting.  We waited about 45 minutes in the hallway.  Then we enjoyed a continental breakfast reception with the Georgetown folks.  I was surrounded by smarty-pants overachievers.  As it turned out, a few of these overachievers didn't bring guests to their big day, so we ended up with an extra ticket for Mama Gloria - happy day!

We went through security for a second time before we were allowed to enter the courtroom. Once we entered, we were instructed to stay very quiet.  Here we waited some more for the lawyers to come in, and then we all waited for the Supreme Court justices to enter.  Everything was signaled by these strange beeps.  Once the justices entered, they read through the 3 decisions they were issuing that week.  None of them were especially notable cases.  At the end of the decisions, sponsors were able to introduce their nominees for admission to the bar.  All of the nominees were admitted.

Following the official ceremonies, we all gathered back in the reception room for photos.  Chief Justice Robertson joined us for a few photos, and to share some humorous stories about the portraits on the wall in the reception room.  It was difficult to get a good photo of him because of the lighting in the room.

Following the reception and picts we enjoyed lunch outside, and then a tour of the Georgetown Law campus.  It was a beautiful day in DC with blue sky and big white fluffy clouds.

In other news, our cabinets are in!  We went over tonite and cleaned-up a little, and I started putting things in the cabinets.  They feel so luxurious!

PS- I can't figure out how to put my photos on the blog in the order I want them.  It seems like it inserts them in reverse order.  Can someone help?

A Very Tired Post on the Supreme Court and Renovation Progress.

The dogs went to camp today since we were in DC for so long.  They went swimming at camp. They supervised fan installation from the bed this evening.
D$#* fan.
Hmm.  This will be a living room in a few days.  
Master BR hardwood floor and rug.
Gloria, CDW and JS in front of the Supreme Court.  B-E-A-UTIFUL day in our nation's capital.

This is going to be brief because I am DOG tired, but wanted to update everyone on exciting events:

- Today CDW was admitted to the Bar of the Supreme Court.  It made the day both exciting and exhausting - we are all so proud of him.  I promise to post more on this later as there are some great details.

- CDW's mama came to visit in honor of this very special occasion.  She was our first guest over at the Charles condo - we set up the master bedroom and bathroom especially for her.

- As of Saturday we had all of our appliances and cabinetry.  Cabinets are being installed as I type (yes, on Monday night).  Progress is fast. 

- We installed one of our ceiling fans tonite, but it is neither a great circulator of air, nor is it quiet. We tried some troubleshooting, but ultimately were too tired to pursue it into the wee-hours.  To be continued.

Now I am off to sleep . . . finally.