Lovely Day for an Exorcism!

Weird title, huh? Well, for those who have seen the movie Exorcist, you should recognize it as a famous line from the movie. For those who haven't, you should watch it, but not if you're faint of heart. It's pretty intense.

Anyway, yesterday Andy and I took a trip to Georgetown to see the famous "Exorcist stairs" among other things. These stairs are in the scene where the old priest falls to his death.

We parked at the mall in Georgetown and made our way to a Starbucks first. I had a skinny cinnamon dolce latte. It's sugar-free and non-fat, but I gotta say it's tasty! We walked around for a bit looking for the stairs wondering where they could possibly be when all of a sudden there they are. They're tucked away in the back of a parking lot (the same parking lot we actually turned around in while driving around looking for the stairs and didn't notice them).

I had big plans for photo ops, but the guy using the stairs for a workout had different plans. Apparently running up and down the exorcist stairs is the cool thing to do for college kids at Georgetown. There's even some writing on the stairs citing the people who've done it the fastest. Well, this guy's workout regimen included a run up the stairs and back down, followed by pull-ups on a bar near the stairs and finally sit-ups at the base of the stairs. You'd think he would pause for a bit and let the tourists do their thing, but ... no.

I still got some pictures, but we had to time it while he was doing the sit-ups. I walked up to the top for the first photo-op and those stairs are long! Really really long.


That's me way up there at the top. See what I mean about really long stairs?



Once I got back down, Andy decides he wants to see what's up there. So I go back up with him. And they're even longer the second time. I had a new respect for the work-out guy who I had dismissed previously as a jerk. We were going to get a couple shots of the view looking down the stairs but by then two other exercise nuts had joined the first guy for their workout.


This is about the best I could do without interfering with the joggers.

It was a cool experience and I know I'll go back when my brother comes to visit. Maybe I'll get those cool shots then.

After the stairs, we walked around for an hour or so just seeing all the shops and enjoying the atmosphere. It's a pretty cool part of D.C. We'll definitely be back.

Look who's 3 ... 0

So this is what it's like to be 30, huh? I guess I'm officially a grown-up now. It's not so bad -- I think I've been pretending to be one for a while now :)

I've actually been looking forward to turning 30 for work reasons. It's funny but there's just something about not being in your twenties that seems to command a little more respect there.

I think this year of my life is going to be a good one. Andy and I are looking to buy our first home in the coming months and thinking about trying that whole kids thing out for a while to see if we like it. You can return those, right?

Anyway, I had a very nice birthday yesterday. It started out at a little diner in Severna Park, which is just a couple minutes from Annapolis. I had been craving some banana pancakes so we did a search online and found some breakfast reviews for a little place called Garry's Grill. I'm so grateful for that website because otherwise we never would've found out about Garry's and it was really good!

After breakfast we took it pretty easy that afternoon, waiting for our 7 p.m. reservation at Luna Blu Ristorante Italiano. Luna Blu is just a few miles away right in the heart of downtown Annapolis and was a restaurant we'd always wanted to try. It was excellent-2 for 2 on the birthday meals!


We started out with calamari in marina sauce and a glass fo pino griggio for me. I ordered the pollo saltimbocca -- chicken with prosciutto and provolone cheese in a marsala wine sauce. It was delicious! Andy had linguine vongole, which has clams in the shell in a garlic wine sauce. We topped it all off by sharing an order of tiramisu, also delicious.

Right after dinner, we walked across the street to Ram's Head Tavern, one of our favorite hangouts downtown. There we met up with my friend Devon from work, her boyfriend Joe, and his friend David.


We shared a few pitchers of our favorite beer there and had a really great time. Don't worry, Andy and I had the foresight to take a cab to dinner and then Devon drove us home.

It was a nice night -- thanks to my hubby and my friends for making my 30th memorable!

Look Who's 3!!!

Yes, I acknowledge that it's absolutely ridiculous to celebrate a dog's birthday. Here's why: 1) They have no idea what a birthday is 2) They don't care about what a birthday is 3) They won't remember anything about it within hours 4) They're terrible about sending thank you cards.

Having said all that of course I bought my dog a couple presents for her birthday. It's tradition -- just like blogging about her on her birthday is now tradition. And yes, I actually spent some time at PetsMart thinking about what she might like to have. I opted for a Nylabone, her favorite, and some treats, and a fancy dinner thing. Then I went to Trader Joes and bought Pig Ears too. (Sorry, Muffin.) And yes, Andy teased me when I got home, but I also know if I hadn't bought something, he would have.

Come on, it's not like I threw her a party. We're saving that for her 5th birthday! ;) Besides she doesn't know a lot of other dogs.

And now, Layla, through the years (all three of them).


So ... cute ... can't ... type


A couple weeks later.


A month or two later

Layla eating her pig ear a few hours ago.


Layla in her favorite place -- my lap.

Happy Birthday, Layla!

Holiday Encore Encore

OK, I lied. That wasn't it for the holiday posts. I realized I left out a couple pictures I wanted to go with my previous blog. So here you go.


Andy isn't trying to be cool with his hands in his pockets and I'm not making a fist to punch him -- it was just very very cold outside.


Here's the Maryland tree. I thought it was only fair to put it in.


And here's one last pretty picture of the tree.

Holiday Encore

Yesterday we decided to get in the holiday spirit one last time and headed to D.C. to see the National Christmas Tree at the White House. It's so beautiful the way they set it up with all the small trees around it. I wish we had made it there before Christmas because it really is quite festive.

And to top it off, this year I have my fancy new camera and the pictures were fantastic (thanks mom and dad!). Don't take my word, see below.


OK, so I cut the top off, but on the upside, I caught the toy train as it was going around the tree.


See the Washington Monument in the background. How cool is that?!


Yeah, that's the White House in the background. Very, very cool.


The quality isn't as good on this one, but the White House really stands out.


And here's the Georgia tree.

If you read my blog last year, you know that every state and U.S. territory is represented with a small tree surrounding the GIANT national tree. It's festive and patriotic all at the same time. And there's even a giant Yule Log. It doesn't get much more Christmasy than a giant Yule Log ... except when the children's choir sings Christmas carols on a stage by the national tree, near the Yule Log. It's almost Christmas overload, except there's no such thing because Christmas is awesome.

So I guess that's it for this year. But remember, only 363 shopping days till next Christmas! ;)

Happy New Year!

Happy 2008! Get those resolutions going. I'm not going to list mine for fear of breaking them too early and being openly mocked. So instead, I'll post these celebrity resolutions for you.



Andy and I kept the revelry low-key last night as he was still not feeling completely himslef, so we played Scrabble (I won!) and watched Dick Clark's Rocking New Year. We toasted some peach spumante (same kind we had at our wedding) and earlier enjoyed some crab corn chowder for dinner. Today we're having the traditional black-eyed peas and greens along with Andy's yummy crock-pot BBQ. I know, BBQ in a crock-pot? But it's really quite tasty.

Gonna keep this one short, but I'll be back soon and I'll leave you with this very cute picture from a very cute website you should visit often.


moar funny pictures