More Merry Christmas

Where did I leave off ... broken window, cold drive home, and rain every day despite the drought, oh right, Christmas Eve.

We got to my parents' house and my mom had a nice, hot stew going to help us defrost from our drive. After dinner we went over to my grandma's new place so I could get the tour and play with Dixie, her Maltese/Chihuahua mix puppy.

When we got back home we watched "A Christmas Story" -- an annual tradition. On Christmas morning we got up early to get the massive turkey in the oven and get everything going. We had sausage gravy biscuits for breakfast and opened presents. I'm happy to report that my parents bought Andy and I a new digital camera, so we are retiring our old HP, aka the Commodore 64 of digital cameras. Seriously, we've had it since we first started dating (also a Christmas gift from my mom and dad) and I think that wasn't too long after they first came out. Remember how big cell phones were when they came out? Yep, that's my old camera.

Later, my brother and his family came over, along with my grandma, my aunt and cousins. We had a huge dinner and later all kinds of crazy good desserts. My aunt made a carrot cake and kringles (for those of you who haven't had kringles, I'm sorry. You are really missing out!)

We watched Elf and opened more presents. Thank you to everyone for all the great gifts. We sincerely appreciate them! The only thing missing was Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas, another annual tradition that I unfortunately left at home.

On Wednesday we made some calls and found a glass place to get our passenger window fixed. Sadly, they wrecked their van over the weekend, so instead of driving to us, we had to go to them and they weren't exactly conveniently located. We decided that Andy would drive to the place and I would take my mom's car and visit David and Joaquin (aka the baby that is so ridiculously cute it actually hurts). See what I mean below.


This picture is courtesy of Joye's fabulous dad, Bob Ross.

David served up some Coquito -- Puerto Rican egg nog. It's made with coconut milk and is really tasty!

While I was enjoying the company of those two great guys, Andy was having a much more difficult time. The replacement glass for my window was delivered on time and everything was ready to go. The problem was when they took my door apart, they discovered that the glass was fine. Apparently the regulator was broken, which has something to do with the motor that rolls the window down. And apparently that part is pretty difficult to come by.

Andy ended up driving all the way back and calling around trying to find the part. We dropped the car off at our old mechanic where it would stay until Friday. Yep, Friday -- that's how long it takes to get a tiny little part to roll your window down.

Later that night we had Christmas leftovers and then headed out to meet Muffin and Sean for some trivia at a local bar. We had a great time and ended up taking second place. On Thursday, we finally made it to Fat Matt's Rib Shack for some tasty BBQ. We drove around downtown for a while, mesmerized by the how much more house you can get for your money there -- even in the hip Atlanta neighborhoods.

Finally we went to All-Tournament Players Park, where my dad works, to see my nephew play basketball and then to Taco Mac, our favorite hangout there for dinner and to see friends. Amy and Amanda met us there with their hubbies Jonathan and Austin, and later Muffin and Sean joined us.

It was great catching up with everyone and I hope they all visit soon. HINT HINT, no pressure though. Oh, and CONGRATS AMANDA!

The next morning we got up and got all packed and ready to go and then had to wait for our car until after noon. We finally got on the road around 1:30 and made it home around 12 hours later (thanks to a huge traffic jam in S.C).

Oh, and for the Christmas that just keeps giving, Andy got sick on the way home. Don't know if he picked up something while in Georgia or if it was something he ate, but he just today started feeling almost all the way better.

Despite all the road bumps, it was a really nice trip and we loved seeing everyone. Merry Christmas (and Happy New Year in about 20 minutes!)

The Christmas that just keeps giving

Merry Christmas, everyone, and best wishes for a Happy New Year, too.

Andy and I spent the last week in Georgia celebrating Christmas with my family. We left Saturday mid-afternoon and arrived at my parents' house somewhere around 1 in the morning. The drive went about as smoothly as it could have and the trip was off to a great start.

On Sunday we slept in a bit, took Layla for a nice long walk, and then headed out to finish up some last-minute Christmas shopping. On the way home, we drove down Bells Ferry Road and got a look at the damage the drought has done. We drove by Lake Allatoona, which is where we used to fish and swim and take the boat out when I was kid. This is Lake Allatoona like I remember it.

Here's a few pictures I took the other day.


Those are house boats that used to actually float on the water.


A closer look at the house boats.


This whole area used to be under water.


On the upside, I did make a friend while I was there.

After our tour of the lake, we got home around dinner time and were greeted with chicken and dumplings, one of our favorites. My mom makes real dumplings -- the biscuity kind -- not those noodle "dumplings" like some restaurants make. Good stuff!

That night the trip took a turn when Layla had an "accident" in the house. I use the quotes because it wasn't so much an accident as it was a territorial thing. She was marking her territory in a place where my parents' dog, Lucy, spends a lot of time. I won't go into any more detail, but needless to say, we were completely shocked. She's never done anything like that before and has been known to hold it for more than 14 hours to avoid an accident in the house. Thankfully, she was an absolute angel for the rest of the trip and had a great time there playing with all the people (especially my nephew, who actually has more energy than Layla).

On Christmas Eve, Andy and I drove downtown to Atlanta to try out Fat Matt's, a barbecue place we always meant to try when we lived there. It's a popular rib joint that has live Blues music every night. Of course, being Christmas Eve and all, it was closed.

Disappointed, we decided we'd go to my favorite Sushi place instead and swing by Lenox Square Mall to see the Great Tree at Macy's first. Going to the tree lighting was sort of an annual tradition for us, but we missed it this year so we wanted to drive by and see it. Here's a video clip of the lighting I found on YouTube. It will give you a better idea of how pretty it is since my picture kind of stinks.



Anyway, we pull up to the tree and I roll my window down to get a nice shot of it with the downtown Atlanta skyline in the background. I can't seem to get it right so I decide to just get a nice shot of it once we park. Then, when I go to roll my window back up, I hear a terrible crunching sound and it won't budge. And our luck continues ...

We pull over, find a place to park and try to figure out what happened. When we open the door, it sounds like shattered glass inside it. Great. I call the Ford dealer where I bought my car and they recommend a mobile glass company that comes out and fixes windows. I call the company. The woman who answers informs me that they're closed till Wednesday and she can't even take down my information because she had her calls forwarded home and is in the kitchen cooking Christmas dinner. Can I call back first thing Wednesday morning to set everything up? Turns out I had to because I tried a few other options and got pretty much the same story.

Needless to say, we didn't stop for the sushi either. And it was a long, cold drive home from Atlanta with the window down. We finally got home and parked the car in the garage for a couple days.

Here's the most expensive picture I've ever taken of a Christmas tree.


Yes, the tree is there. Look closely.

The saga continues in my next blog ... but don't worry, this one will be the fun, happy stuff.

Merry Christmas!

Me, Andy and some friends from work.

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Only 10 Days till Christmas!

The past couple weeks have been pretty crazy. Andy says I've just about got him all Christmased out, but between us, he still has a little holiday spirit left in him ;)

Two weekends ago we hit our first holiday party of the season at a friend from work's house. There was enough food to feed an army and enough drink to get that same army pretty toasty. If I escape this holiday having gained less than 10 pounds I will be shocked!

As with most parties at someone's house when there is alchol involved, it didn't take long to break out the karaoke. And unfortunately for them, I had just enough to forget how tone deaf I am (truthfully, I didn't forget -- I just didn't care). Andy was the designated driver, so he didn't sing with me. Still, I tend to stick to duets to minimize the pain for the audience. Sadly, my partner butchered Bon Jovi's Blaze of Glory, so I had to take the mike and do a solo. Needless to say, I nailed it! :)

The following weekend (last Friday), we had my company's holiday party. It was great! They rented out the Dolphin Room in the Baltimore Aquarium plus you could take a free self-guided tour before the party. The aquarium is beautiful and has some really amazing exhibits. I'm looking forward to going back to see everything, but we just didn't have time this trip.

The party was fantastic though -- and what a great atmosphere. We got a table right in front of the dolphin tank, so the whole time we sat there, dolphins were swimming behind us. Very cool.

The food was great (yes, of course there was crab dip) and the bar was open, which is always a nice touch.


Andy and I in front of the dolphin tank. Unfortunately, the flash killed the tank behind us.


Some friends at work, Devon, Shelley and Steve

On Saturday, we went to downtown Annapolis for the annual holiday boat parade, where the boats get decked out. If you're a faithful blog reader, you probably remember this from last year.


Clifford was a new addition this year. Very cute!


After the light parade, we went to a neighbor's holiday open house. It was a Hanukkah party, so there was lots of latkas (potato patties) and other traditional fare -- plus Hebrew Beer, which is tasty but has a high alcohol content that can really sneak up on you. But I was too smart for it, so I stopped with one and switched to eggnog.

Just when I thought Andy had about had it with festive events, he got in the spirit this weekend, too. I'll blog about that tomorrow with some pictures. Stay tuned ...

First snow of the season

On Wednesday we got our first snow of the season. I have to say I'm much more impressed with winter this year. It's already been very cold and we got about three inches of snow -- and it's not even Christmas. Last year I don't think winter showed up until February. So, nicely done Father Winter!



Turns out the snow was actually only the second most exciting thing to happen Wednesday. The first was a fire in my office building that shut down the building for the day. Apparently it happened around 5 a.m. and nobody was allowed in all day. It was just a small electrical fire, but it took them all day and into the night to restore the power. No major damage was done but it did stink pretty bad Thursday and still quite a bit on Friday.

Of course, we still had to work, but at least it was from home, which is always nice.

Anyway, here's the obligatory Layla snow pictures.





Next up, holiday parties abound!

Ain't No Party Like a Scranton Party

If you watch "The Office", then hopefully you know what that means. If you don't watch it, well, then you probably won't care much about this posting.

On our way home from Andy's parents' house after a nice holiday weekend, we decided to stop in Scranton to do an Office tour. We looked it up online and realized that we aren't the first people who've thought to do this. In fact, it got so popular that last month, they held an Office convention there for fans. We found out the convention was just a few weeks ago and they kept much of the stuff from the convention in the food court at the mall. So, of course, that was our first stop.

When you walk into the mall, there's a big Dunder Mifflin Paper sign over the elevator.



Then as you make your way to the food court, there's all these huge cutouts of the main characters and the famous Welcome to Scranton sign from the show's opening.



Here's Andy with the sign.



Same sign, my turn.

After we walked around the mall a bit looking for T-shirts or souvenirs from the show (sadly, they only had one shirt left and we didn't get it), we drove around town a bit looking for all the scenes in the opening credits.

Some of the are actually marked. Here's what we found -- if you watch the show, you should find these sites familiar.




So that was pretty much it. We spent about an hour or so checking everything out. Next time we're driving through we'll probably stop again and look for some of the local hangouts from the show. Yep, we're a couple of goofballs. But it was a lot of fun! And what else are you gonna do in Scranton, right?

It's a Wonderful Life!

We spent only a few hours doing the Black Friday shopping, and it was plenty -- even after the crowds had died down. We did manage to get some great deals and just about finish shopping for all the kids in the family. Our goal was to do all the NY shopping so we could wrap everything and leave it there and not have to ship it.

After our shopping stint, we went over to Carrie and Chuck's for dinner and to visit and play with the kids (Phoebe and Ellie). Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures there to post for you. We didn't have as much time there as we would've liked, but it's a long drive back to Keuka Lake, and it was still a nice visit (and a good dinner!).

On Saturday, we headed to Skaneatles, which is a ridiculously cute little town that goes all out for Christmas -- Charles Dickens style. On the way, we went through Seneca Falls, which is the town that "It's a Wonderful Life" was filmed in and based on (according to local legend anyway). Check this site out for more. We stopped and took pictures of some of the landmarks here and I walked across the bridge that they say is the one George Bailey jumps off of to save Clarence (his angel -- if you don't know what I'm talking about, you need to watch the movie ... immediately).


This is the famous bridge.




Some cute street signs near the bridge.

After a brief tour through Seneca Falls, we stopped at Swedish Hill Winery for a tasting. I love wine tastings. Nowhere else can you try several good wines and get a nice little buzz for only $1. It was a very nice winery and we bought a few bottles for gifts and to bring to holiday parties.

With all our stops, we actually missed the Dickens Christmas in Skaneatles, but I still got some cute pictures and we had a really good dinner there. Thanks Mom and Dad MacAlpine :)


A cute shot of Skaneatles.

It was a perfect day to kick off the holiday season and spread a little cheer. Plus there was just enough snow that weekend to make everything pretty but not really get in the way.

Happy really late Thanksgiving

As promised, here's the first of what will be several posts in the coming days as I catch up on holidays and activities of the past couple weeks. Let's start with Thanksgiving since everything else is so old by now anyway.

We drove up to New York to spend the holiday weekend with Andy's parents on Keuka Lake, and it was a really nice weekend. Unfortunately we didn't get there until nearly 2 a.m. Wednesday night, er, Thursday morning, because we both had to work Wednesday, then pack, then take Layla to the kennel (shh... she doesn't know it's a kennel, she thinks it's "doggie camp").

Andy's brother and his family drove up (down? over? I'm not sure) for Thanksgiving and it was a really nice day. We had a big breakfast followed by an even bigger dinner (and of course the obligatory snacking in between) and Andy's mom did a fantastic job with the feast. It was the traditional Thanksgiving fare, which is exactly how I like it! Plus one of the best things about eating dinner at Andy's parents' house (the best being the company, of course) is that there is always a fantastic selection of New York wines, which have ruined me for almost all other wines.

It was great seeing everybody -- especially the kids. No offense to the grown-ups, but kids are really really cute. Plus Dan and Jen really upped the ante on cuteness when they had twins. (See below for proof)



Will likes to pick on Katie already.

I love babies, seriously. If there is a baby near me, then it's a safe bet that within 2 minutes of it being there, it's in my arms. Jen always thanks me for helping her with the twins, but really, I just love babies, so my motivation is actually selfish. And these two are so cute.

Anyway, after dinner we played a painfully long game of Trivial Pursuit. It took forever for the first player to get a pie. We finally had to call it with next right answer wins the game. Dan won which was more impressive because we were playing teams and Jen was MIA most of the game. In all fairness to her she has twins and she's nursing. Enough said, right?

The next morning we had another nice breakfast and Andy and I headed out to visit Carrie and Chuck and their kids, who couldn't make it to Thanksgiving. OK, I admit it we went out Christmas shopping on the way. Yes, I'm a closet Black Friday shopper. But don't judge me. It's not like I'm that lady on the news waiting outside of some store at the day before. I don't even do the door buster sales. Plus I only go to Target and Old Navy ... occasionally Best Buy or Circuit City or something, but never the mall! I said don't judge me.

The most shocking part of Black Friday was that Andy participated in the shopping. He actually Christmas shopped with me. That was a first. Maybe the first time we've shopped together period. Yes, a landmark in our relationship.

And on that note, I think I'll save the rest of the day for another blog.

It's the holiday season!

While the holiday season has just kicked off for most of us, it's felt like the holiday season at work for months now. We've been at full speed on most of my accounts trying to get our holiday fund-raising mailings out, followed by our year-end mailings. Now I'm actually already working on stuff for February and March.

Yes, that's my poor excuse for why Thanksgiving has passed and you're still looking at Halloween pictures.

The good news is I have lots of things to update you on and even quite a few pictures. The bad news is it's late, I'm exhausted, and I left my camera out in the car. So, this is just a blog to say there's more coming. Don't give up on me. It's on the way.

What's on the way? Well, Thanksgiving festivities, a trip through Scranton for "The Office" sightseeing, maybe even some holiday recipes. We'll play it by ear. For now, it's time for bed. I have a busy, busy week in front of me.

Halloween Treats

Happy belated Halloween! Hope everyone's day was full of treats with no tricks.

Andy and I both had to work late, but we still had a nice Halloween. We can't have trick-or-treaters here since we live on the third floor of a interior access condo building, so we went and saw Nightmare Before Christmas in 3D, which was fun.

No big festivities or anything, but we did had a blow-up Sumo costume at work that we all took turns trying on, which was pretty funny.


That's my boss, John. As you can see, he's not really the "all work and no play" type.

Sumo Angie!

My parents went to my brother Mike's annual Halloween bash in Arizona and he sent me some treats to share on my blog. Sorry, dad, he insisted.

Well, enjoy the pictures because that's about all I've got for this blog :)



Yes, my dad was the tooth fairy. Really, what more can I say that the picture doesn't?


Here's the Arizona Turnbow family. From left, Stevi, Mike, Lynda and Chloe.

My quick trip to Chicago

Last Wednesday I took a day trip to Chicago for work. I took off at 9 a.m. EST and arrived in Chicago shortly after 10 a.m. CST. A quick $40 cab ride later, I was in downtown Chicago at the America's Second Harvest (A2H) office. A2H is probably my favorite client, mostly because they were my first writing client.

I started writing for them when Hurricane Katrina hit because they had a lot of emergency fund-raising appeals that had to go out very quickly and our only writer in the Atlanta office didn't have time to write them. I offered to help out -- it turned out well, and that's how I got promoted from proofreader to copywriter.

Anyway, let's jump back to my trip to Chicago. I got there just in time for a tour and an early lunch on the Magnificent Mile at an authentic Chicago-style pizza eatery. As a side note, my cab driver jokingly said they call it the "Magnificent Mile" because you can spend magnificent amounts of money there. Walking down the street a bit, I'm pretty sure he was right. And on another side note, my cab driver was awesome. I probably now know more about Chicago, its buildings, tourist sites, and history than most Chicago residents.

Well, I wasn't in Chicago to eat pizza or hear about all the hotspots from cool cab drivers. No, I was actually there to interview children at a Kids Cafe site on the south side of Chicago. Why does the south side of Chicago ring a bell? Well I'll tell you, or rather, Jim Croce will.



In case you missed it, he says:
Well the south side of chicago
Is the baddest part of town
And if you go down there
You better just beware
Of a man named leroy brown

Incidentally, I didn't actually run into Leroy Brown, which is good. But I did see why it's "the baddest part of town." The further we drown down Division Street, the worse it got. That's the thing about food banks -- they have to be where the need is the greatest, and that generally means rough neighborhoods.

Talking to the kids was amazing. Every time I go on one of these types of trips, I'm underprepared emotionally. It's like something you'd see in a movie. The kids were 6-12 years old and some of them had already seen more tragedy than most adults ever do. One of the girls I interviewed, who was 7, lost both a brother and sister to stray bullets from driveby shootings. Another few had lost good friends. Another lost a mom to drugs. And yet for the most part, they were such good kids with great attitudes. It's so good to see the people who directly benefit from the work my clients do and I'm grateful to be a part of it. I'm looking forward to another trip to talk to more kids next month. I'll let you know how it goes.

After the interviews, I had to rush to the subway to catch a train to Midway Airport. I was running a little late and when I got to the machine to get my fare card, I was stunned to see that it was a cash-only deal. Plus the ATM was out of order. I scrambled, thinking I had no money and knowing I didn't have time to find a bank. Luckily, I found a $20 in my purse. Unfortunately the machine also doesn't give change -- and my fare was only $2. Good times. Now I have a Chicago transit fare card for $18. At least it's on my company's dime :)

The rest of the trip was drama-free. There was no security line, so I made it with a little time to spare. Unfortunately it was nearly midnight when I got home -- and it was hard to believe it was still the same day. Worse was that I had to be to work on time the next morning because I had so much going on. It's OK though, I caught up on my sleep this weekend. And now I'm off to another crazy week!

The NC BBQ Society -- A New Quest

Many of you already know about our quest to see a ballgame in every park across the country. Now we've added an additional quest -- but this one should be much easier. As many of you know, Andy is obsessed with good BBQ, and it's hard to find it here. (Even more obsessed than I am with crab ... seriously, I talk a good game, but I'm often kidding. I do actually get tired of crab meat.) Andy has a friend at work who's a North Carolina native, so they often talk BBQ and that's how he found out about the North Carolina BBQ Society (NCBS).

I know, it sounds silly, but it's actually pretty intense. Apparently their ultimate goal is to get North Carolina dubbed not only "First in Flight" but also "The Cradle of 'Cue".

This is their mission statement:
NCBS will support and promote ALL North Carolina barbecue events statewide and assist (if asked) in any way that is appropriate in keeping with its charter purposes. NCBS is a non profit corporation. NCBS will participate in barbecue events in state and nationally. Its goal is to preserve our barbecue heritage and to promote North Carolina as the Barbecue Capital of the World.

See, I told you it was intense. So far, there are 25 restaurants that meet the criteria of the NCBS. What is that criteria? Well, I'll tell you. Or, I'll steal of from their Web site and let them tell you:

Criteria for selection to the NCBS Historic Barbecue Trail included, among other things, that the NCBS Historic Barbecue Pit cook their meat product on pits fueled by wood or charcoal, make their own sauce, that the pit had operated continuously for fifteen or more years, that the end product was a good offering and representative of North Carolina Barbecue and that the pit had earned and enjoyed the high esteem of its community, the barbecue industry and barbecue aficionados. The board decided to only include pits that provide a sit down dining experience for the public and to limit the number of pits on the trail to two per town/city.

We did a little research and discovered that there were a few of the NCBS sites right on the way home from Asheville. Only one was open that Sunday, so we stopped at Hill's Lexington BBQ - see #14 on this list.

It was worth the trip. I tend the favor the NC vinegar-style sauce more than the ketchup-based stuff anyway, so I was pleased. They make the BBQ a little different than I'm used to, but it was really really good. It comes with hush puppies, cole slaw, and a side. All of it was excellent, even the cole slaw was tasty and as a general rule I'm not a fan. It had a kick to it and was vinegar based rather than mayo, so it was really good. They didn't put quite enough BBQ sauce in everything, but then again, I like my BBQ and beans drenched in it, so I added more and it was perfect :)

So, one down, 24 to go. Looks like we might be driving down to GA this Christmas instead of flying. ... maybe, it's a long drive.



Andy at Hills Lexington BBQ (Remember, a good rule of thumb for BBQ -- it's got to have a pig in the logo to be legit. Check!)

Asheville part 2

Sorry for the long pause ... things have been a bit crazy around here and Andy and I have both been sick (but that's another blog -- this is the Asheville blog) :)

Anyway, here's some more pictures from our hike.




After we finished hiking and got ready, Muffin and Sean got to Asheville, so we all met them for lunch at the Laughing Seed, which is a really cute vegetarian restaurant with excellent food. Andy had his first-ever veggie burger and thoroughly enjoyed it.

Lee went back to watch some football (Go Dawgs!) after lunch, and we got a nice tour of Asheville courtesy of Muffin and Sean (Muffin went to UNCA and fell in love with the city while she was in school). We ended up at Barley's for a pre-concert bite and beer, and their beer menu was impressive! We'll definitely stop there again next time we're in Asheville.

After we'd had ample beer and pizza, we made our way to the Nickel Creek concert, which was just a few blocks down the street. It was a great show and we stayed after to meet the band so Muffin could get her set list autographed. That's right, she flashed some cute, little puppy dog eyes at the guy clearing the stage and he gave her a set list. Hey, if you got it, use it :)



Here's Muffin getting Sara Watkins to sign her set list. (See, Muffin, I know her name.)

It was a great trip, and we'll definitely be back ... when we get some mountain bikes so we can take full advantage of all Asheville has to offer. The only bad part was it was just long enough to enjoy the company of friends you have to say goodbye to and miss all over again. But I guess it's OK -- at least we'll see ya at Christmas!

Andy finds his Chi in Asheville

A few weeks ago, my friend Muffin wrote and asked if there was any chance Andy and I would want to meet them in Asheville to go to a Nickel Creek concert. After laughing for a minute, I thought to myself, well, actually, why not? I have an old college buddy who lives there, so maybe we could take an extra day off work, drive down Friday and spend some time with her too.

The more we thought about it, the more we decided it was a good idea. So, I got in touch with my friend, Lee, and she offered to put us up for the weekend. That made the idea instantly go from good to great!

We dropped Layla off at the vet early Friday morning and headed down to Asheville. Lee was truly the "hostess with the mostess" after a quick tour of her amazing home, we were off to dinner. We chatted over a few beers and some good Mexican food, catching up on old times. We actually managed not to bore Andy too much, especially since Lee remembered all the really good details of some of the funnier college stories that Andy hadn't heard -- mainly the "Great Prank War of 1998 ... or maybe 97." I won't go into too much detail, but let's just say it ended with a trip to the Dean's office where we made to swear off any and all future pranks. Good times.

It was a great night, and even though it's been a good 8 years since we've seen each other and a year ago or so since we reconnected, we picked right back up. As Lee said ... It was weird how it wasn't weird at all.

The next morning, Lee took us to Craggy Gardens for a nice hike. It's right off the Blue Ridge Parkway and has an amazing panoramic view of the mountains. Andy has particularly requested a hike with a view, and Lee delivered :) That's where he found his Chi. Apparently it had been missing for a while.


Here's Andy searching for his Chi.

Here's just a few pictures from our hike. More to come in my next post.

A Maryland Tradition

Today I attended my very first crab feast. We hit our goal for one of our clients so our team got to have a celebration at this great little place called Cantler's in Annapolis right on the waterfront.

This was our menu:
All-You-Can-Eat
steamed crabs
steamed shrimp
french fries
onion rings
cole slaw
corn on the cob
beer and wine (yes, all you can drink ... very dangerous)

And topped off with key lime pie.

The service was excellent. Every time something ran out, we had a fresh basket ... or bucket ... right there in its place. It was so much fun!


This is a blue crab. They turn red when you cook them ... yes, they rolled their eyes at me when I asked why they weren't blue.

I learned a few valuable lessons about crab feasts that I will be more than happy to pass on to anyone who comes to visit.
1) There is absolutely a right way to eat a crab
2) Fresh Maryland Blue Crabs are very very tasty
3) Old Bay is really good in vinegar
4) It gets a whole lot easier -- and less gross -- with each beer and/or glass of wine that you consume.
5) Bring a designated driver. (Oyster shooters are fun at a crab feast!)

Don't take my word for it, come visit and see for yourself. Remember, crab season is over this month. But hey, that's when oyster season really kicks off. And that's pretty fun too.

Overdue updates

I know you are all eagerly awaiting the details of my fabulously exciting life so you can live vicariously through me. (Yeah, it's a good thing I'm writing and not talking -- no way I would've made it through that with a straight face.)

OK, where do I start ... let's go back a couple weeks to my trip to Atlanta. The Arthritis Foundation, one of my clients, is based in Atlanta so I headed there for a quick overnight business trip. It's really weird being home as just a visitor. It's kind of a sad, strange feeling that's hard to explain. I got there Monday afternoon and went straight to their offices for meetings. Then we went to dinner and that lasted till nearly 10:00. Unfortunately, we had to be back at 8 a.m. so you can see why I didn't really get to do any visiting. Most everyone I know lives about an hour out from the city, including my parents.

I was able to sneak in some time with friends who live in the downtown area. I actually spent the night with my friend Joye rather than staying at the hotel with the rest of our team. We did the whole girly slumber party stay up way too late and chat thing, which was awesome! I miss you Joye! I also snuck in some time to see David and Tonya and their new baby boy, Joaquin. I booked a late flight and caught them on the way out of town. For any of you who know those two, you won't be shocked to hear that the baby is adoreable. You also won't be surprised, although perhaps disgusted, that Tonya looks amazing and you'd never know she just had a baby. She was one of those ridiculously cute pregnant women, too! It's just not fair. :)

I have a few pictures, but unfortunately they're on my computer at work. So, I'm stealing some from Joye's dad, Bob Ross, who takes really really good pictures.



More updates to come soon.

Cupcakes for a Cause

Who doesn't love cupcakes, right? Right now, Cancer Care, which isn't one of my clients, but it is one of my company's clients, is doing their annual Cupcakes for a Cause campaign. It's where a bunch of bakeries across the country donate proceeds from special cupcakes to help children with cancer. My company helped them launch a virtual Cupcakes for a Cause web site where you can "bake" and send your own cupcake. You can either design your own or choose one that's already been designed, then personalize it with a message and send it along to brighten someone's day. The great thing is, for every cupcake you design and send, $1 gets donated to Cancer Care from their sponsors. So go, make cupcakes and make somebody's day!



Click here to bake your cupcake and help kids with cancer.

Some of you may have received one of these lovely cupcakes from me. Check your e-mail. If you didn't, it doesn't mean I don't love you -- it probably means I didn't have your e-mail handy and once I do, expect a cupcake :)

Promises, promises

I know, I've been an awful blog updater lately. The worst part is, I've actually done a few things worthy of blogging about, including meeting a good friend's brand new baby, watching a historic baseball game at RFK and taking a business trip back home to Atlanta (Muffin you were out of town anyway, plus there wasn't really any time for visiting ... all work, no play).

I wish I could say I've just been so busy I haven't had time to blog. But that wouldn't be entirely true. Sure, I've been busy -- it's our extra busy time of year at work with the holiday fundraising push, but on the weekends I've really just been kicking back. So, no excuses. I will catch up this weekend, honest I will.

Now I have to go to bed, but I leave you with a recommendation to check out a new TV show. It's called Chuck, and it's on at 8:00 Mondays on NBC (I think) right before Heroes. It's a really cute little show with good chemistry and it's got action, comedy, a little romance. Fun for everyone. Check it out next Monday. Go ahead, season pass it if you have Tivo, you'll like it.

Now that's funny

Happy Wedding Day!

Congratulations to Amanda and Austin Lowe, who were married this evening on the beach in Panama City!

I'm so sorry I missed it -- I'm sure it was beautiful and I can't wait to see pictures. Amy, you're in charge of making sure that happens ;)

Congrats again to the newlyweds and best wishes for a long and happy life together!

P.S. Also a Happy 30th Birthday to Amy and Amanda -- a day early

Lazy Labor Day weekend

Happy belated Labor Day. Hope everyone had a relaxing long weekend. Andy and I took it easy, and it was so nice after a hectic couple of weeks.

On Saturday we slept in a little and then I took Layla for a 2-mile walk around our neighborhood, came back and made a nice breakfast. Then Andy and I took a drive around the community where my new office is being built and stopped for some ice cream at Cold Stone Creamery on the way home. It was so good ... and so bad. I figured that 2-mile walk made it a little better :)

Sunday, we headed to this really beautiful park down the road called Quiet Waters. It's where I did the Arthritis Walk a few months ago and had wanted to go back since. It's a very dog-friendly park, so we brought Layla with us. They actually have a dog beach that we tried out first.

It started out OK, but then Layla took more interest in the other dogs than in the water and we had to head out. She plays too rough, which tends to make other dogs very angry ... there's usually some snarling involved.

Anyway, we decided to hit the trails instead and ended up walking for a couple hours all around the park. We were all pretty exhaused by the time we got home, but we'll definitely be back.

Layla never quite recovered. She even slept all day Monday ... but we took it pretty easy too.

Doing the tourist thing

It's always good when company's in town because then Andy and I get to be tourists too and see some of the places we've been wanting to visit.

Last Saturday we hit the Inner Harbor in Baltimore with Andy's parents. We toured the USS Constellation and then walked around the harbor and ate a late lunch/early dinner at the Rusty Scupper, which if any of you come and visit me, I will definitely take you there because it was very good and the view is incredible.

Here's the view from a park behind the restaurant - so you can get an idea of what you see from the restaurant, which you can see to the right on the waterfront.

After dinner we headed to Camden Yards to watch the Orioles play. Unfortunately, shortly before first pitch, the sky opened up and a horrible storm hit. We waited out the 2-hour delay, although we couldn't have left it we wanted to because we were parked so far away and it was an awful storm. It couldn't been worse though -- the poor people in D.C. at the Redskins exhibition game had the power go out on them. Anyway, we left early because it was VERY late and the Orioles were getting crushed.

Sunday we got up and had brunch at Rams Head -- another wonderful perk of having company. Andy and I only do brunch when we have company -- it's just too frivolous otherwise :) See, there's another good reason for all of you out there reading this to come visit me. I'll take you to brunch.

After brunch we headed to D.C. ... actually Virginia, I guess, to Arlington Cemetery. It was my first time there, as far I can remember anyway. Andy's dad has been researching and writing about a Navy admiral from Penn Yan (where they live) who went to the Naval Academy in Annapolis, later trained on the Constellation, and is buried in Arlington. So he got a lot of material for his book over the weekend.

The changing of the guard ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

Here's a view of the Lincoln Memorial, Washington Monument, and Capitol Building from the cemetery.

After walking around the cemetery all afternoon, we were all pretty exhausted, but we were so close to the Iwo Jima Memorial, so we forged on. It was worth it. What an awesome memorial. Seriously, if you haven't seen it, you should. The pictures don't really do it justice.

Here's a cool close-up Andy took.

That's about it for the weekend. We went to a favorite local chain of ours for dinner where the food is pretty good and the beer is fantastic. On Monday, we had another great dinner (yes, more crab) at Cantler's, an Annapolis restaurant that's most famous for whole crabs -- although we all opted for easier crab options. Maybe next time.

So we sent Mom and Dad MacAlpine home with their fill of crab (and good beer). Next time we'll move on to Oysters ...

See how much fun it is to visit us? No pressure though ... I'm just sayin'.