La Petite Chic

As Promised...

Here are some photos from this past weekend:

It's Kermit!

Jack has always been fascinated by fountains.

We couldn't get him to look at the camera for anything, even for a picture with Auntie Kate!

Black-eyed Susan's (the Maryland State Flower) in front of the Smithsonian

And for fun...a photo of our dinner on Monday night: Crab-Stuffed Tomatoes.  They were delicious, if I do say so myself!  I'll share the recipe below.

Crab-Stuffed Tomatoes

• 1 pint cherry tomatoes (I used larger tomatoes on the vine)
• 1 can (6 ounces) crabmeat, drained, flaked and cartilage removed (I'm a crab snob so I used the better quality crab meat that you can find at the seafood counter)
• ½ cup diced green pepper
• 2 green onions, diced (I forgot to pick these up so I used dried chives instead)
• 2 tablespoons seasoned bread crumbs
• 1 teaspoon white wine vinegar (I used white balsamic vinegar instead)
• ½ teaspoon dried parsley flakes
• ¼ teaspoon dill weed
• 1/8 teaspoon salt, optional
• Being the good Maryland girl that I am, I also added in a whole lot of Old Bay.  You can't serve crab without it!

Cut a thin slice off the top of each tomato.  Scoop out the pulp, leaving a ½ inch shell.  (I used a grapefuit knife for this and it worked like a charm.)  Invert onto paper towels to drain.  In a small bowl, combine the remaining ingredients.

Stuff tomatoes; place in an ungreased baking dish.  Bake, uncovered, at 350° for 8-10 minutes until heated through.  Serve warm.

I got the recipe from the Taste of Home "Summer Appetizers" cookbook that I picked up while in line at the grocery store a few months back.  These would be super easy to make ahead for a party and just pop them in the oven once your guests arrive.  They look so fancy and your guests will think you spent hours making them!

Just Around the Corner

It is usually at this point in the summer, the hottest, most unforgiving months of July and August, that I become wistful for autumn and the cool, comfortable, jean and sweater-wearing weather that comes with it.  Coincidentally (or not), it is also at this time that two of my favorite stores (Marshalls and TJ Maxx) start bringing out their fall merchandise, and with that, of course, Halloween decorations!

I mentioned this last year, when I had very few readers, so I think it's bears repeating: I LOVE Halloween!!  Love, love, love it.  It is, by far, my favorite holiday, and I tend to go all out for it.  Just to give you an idea of the scope of my love, here are a few decorations that I've put out in past years: Jack o'Lantern emblazened toilet paper, purple porch lights, a Halloween tree (complete with orange lights) and the list could go on and on.  I've scaled back a lot since we moved into our cozy condo two years ago, but I still enjoy decking our place out in all things spooky.

Jon and I were in Marshall's earlier this week and I beelined it for the seasonal decorations aisle.  I oohed and awwed over all of the whimsical pumpkins and witches, but walked away with just one (practical) decoration:

The Witches' Brew scent is very similar to one of my Yankee Candle favorites, MidSummer's Night, and it was a great bargain at $8.00.  And if you love burning candles as much as I do, you'll be excited to know that Yankee Candle just introduced 10 new fragances, including Evening Air, Green Bamboo, Candied Apple and Autumn Gold, just to name a few of the ones I can't wait to smell.  Yum!!!  If you can't find Yankee Candles at your local Marshalls, try Hallmark.  Our local Hallmark has been having amazing summer clearance sales lately, and we've managed to buy several Yankee Candles for 50% off the regular price.  Our current favorite is Mediterranean Cypress...it's so fresh and clean-smelling!

What's your favorite candle scent?  Do you tend to go for fruity or fresh smells?

Busy Bees

I started this weekend update post yesterday, but then we got the terribly sad news that Jonathan's paternal grandmother had just passed away that morning.  She survived a bout with breast cancer many years ago, but it was just recently rediscovered, unfortunately, all throughout her body. Jon's doing okay, his family seems to be doing okay, and her passing was apparently peaceful and serene.  We'll be driving up to Pennsylvania tonight to make it in time for tomorrow's service, so I've been very busy trying to wrap things up at work in preparation for being out on Wednesday.  Yes, shame on me, I do a lot of my blogging (reading, mostly, but some writing as well) at work!  Rest in peace, Nana D.

For what was supposed to be an "at home" weekend for us, we sure did manage to fill it up with enough activities to make it feel like we weren't at home at all.  It actually felt like the weekend started on Thursday for us, as we had a long overdue date night where we had dinner and drinks at Gordon Biersch and then to the movies to watch The Dark Knight.  I thought the movie was really engaging, Christian Bale was hot, hot, hot (though what is up with those recent abuse allegations?) and Heath Ledger was as perfectly horrifying as all the buzz has noted.  If you haven't seen it yet, I would recommend it.  Oh, and out of curiousity, how much does it cost to see a movie where you live?  It was $11 each for us and I swear it wasn't that high the last time!

When we're not traveling, Friday's are the constant in our lives: pizza, cocktails and a movie or HGTV.    Yes, I promise we are only 26 and 27, but we would much rather stay at home and enjoy each other's company than waste our money at a crowded and expensive bar!  Last Friday night started out in our usual fashion, but after running into our neighbors (who had just settled on their new condo) we decided to switch gears a bit to help them celebrate.  Two bottles of champagne, a round of shots and a drunk tour of their new place later, we stumbled into bed around 3:00 AM and promptly passed out.

Drinking that much alcohol, of course, left me hungover on Saturday morning, which is usually fine, but my brother-in-law and nephew were coming to visit, so I had some tidying up to do before they arrived.  Sidenote: Don't you just hate when you're cleaning up after a party (or night of drinking) and you get a whiff of the poison from the night before and the smell causes you to run to the bathroom and dry heave?  That's not just me, right?  Bleh!  After a quick clean-up and a hurried shower, both myself and the condo were ready just in time for Jim and Jack.  Besides work for Jon, we rarely get into DC unless we have out of town guests who want to go see the monuments and museum.  Visitors are good excuse for us to get out and see the city which we only live 10 miles from. 

The Smithsonian is currently running a Muppets exhibit, which we thought would be perfect to take Jack to since he's only 3½.  Plus, after meeting all of those muppets in the Sesame Street Room at BlogHer, I was kind of interested in learning more of the history behind it all.  The muppets were a hit with Jack, but I think the airplanes at the Air and Space Museum were definitely his favorite.  Ehh, I still like my muppets!

After saying goodbye to Jim and Jack, Jon and I quickly got ready for the Rascal Flatts and Taylor Swift concert.  Remember this post where I wrote about our first dance song?  Well, hearing "Bless the Broken Road" was half of the reason we went to this concert.  The other half was to hear "Fast Cars and Freedom", my absolute favorite Rascal Flatts song.  Of course, I love Taylor Swift too (any of my MySpace friends will know that my profile song is "Our Song"), but really, all I wanted was to hear those two Rascal Flatts songs.  They actually played them back-to-back halfway into the concert, and me, being the huge sap that I am, started crying as soon as they started "Bless the Broken Road."  As per usual, Jon laughed at me and gave me a big squeeze and I sang the rest of the song to him through my (happy) tears. 

I took a lot of pictures of all of our adventures this weekend, and of course, I haven't uploaded any of them yet, but I'll share them with you all as soon as I do. 

Fabulous Find Friday

I'm hoping someone out there has some money left this month, because Lord knows I don't have any left to spend on the beautiful things below!  (BlogHer was totally worth it though!)

I love this Hidden-Heel Mary Jane found at Old Navy for just $19.50.  Perfect for us petite ladies who don't always want to wear a stiletto for some height.

At $69.00, this Pleated Full Skirt is a splurge for me.  But it's 1950's Europe-reminscicent style and pockets (pockets!) totally win me over.  It's a summer weight skirt, but I think it can totally transition into the fall season.

My favorite handbag style is the satchel.  The Doctor Satchel from Dooney & Bourke is the perfect blend of classic and modern styling, especially in blue.  At $425, let's just say I'm taking donations!

My birthday is coming up very soon (September 21st!) so I think this list can suffice as a good start for my birthday wish list. (Ahem, JON!)  Have a great weekend, all!

The Story Behind Pleepleus

Unless it's on HGTV, there are few shows that both Jon and I agree on. One of those shows happens to be Three Sheets, hosted by Zane Lamprey on the MOJO channel.  Don't be fooled though, we like it for completely different reasons.  Jon, of course, likes it for the drinking and I for the travel.

If you're a regular viewer of the show, you'll know that Zane never goes anywhere without his little stuffed monkey, Pleepleus.  Here's the story behind Pleepleus in Zane's own words:

"When I got engaged to my wife, we got engaged quickly.  We got engaged three weeks after our first date.  It was pretty awesome.  We're driving back (from Palm Springs), and I said, "We need to kind of get everything out in the open if we're engaged.  If there's any secrets, we need to get those out."  And then there wasn't anything, so I said, "Well, I have something.  I have to name my first-born Pleepleus; it's like a family thing."  And I was just trying to think of the weirdest Greek name or some obscurity that I could come up with.  And she's like, "OK.  Fine."  Probably six months later on my first Three Sheets trip I had to leave her behind and I opened my suitcase and there was this little stuffed monkey that said, "Mummy put me in here to take care of you.  Love, Pleepleus."  And so I took that monkey and I hid that monkey in in every scene to let my wife know that I was thinking about her." (quote via MOJO)

Okay, let's all pause for an AWWWW!!!  Better now?  Okay.

Jon has been wanting his very own Pleepleus for a long time now, but I wanted to give it to him when we would be apart.  Well, folks, that very rarely happens!  However, when I planned my trip to San Francisco for BlogHer, Jon decided that he would go to California as well, only he went to Los Angeles to visit one of our very best guy friends, Ying, who was one of the groomsmen in our wedding.  Last Thursday, I carefully tucked a Pleepleus monkey into Jon's suitcase, along with a card saying how much I would miss him and to take care of Pleepleus.  Shortly after I arrived at my departure gate, I called Jon to let him know that I made it.  He asked me if I had opened my carry-on yet, and Lord knows that I hadn't because I was afraid that I couldn't get it shut again!

Nonetheless, I tore into my carry-on after hanging up with Jon and found my very own little Pleepleus!  He was accompanied by two cards.  The first was a sweet, lovey-dovey one saying how much he was going to miss me and the second was a card congratulating me on my new baby!  It read, "Congratulations on your new Pleepleus!  He loves to drink and get into mischief.  If you get into trouble, just blame him!  Please take care of him.  I have enclosed $20 for drinks. Love, Jonny."  And true to his word, there was a crisp $20 bill enclosed.

I think it's time to pause for another aww.  AWWWW!!!

So the whole weekend, while I was missing my husband, and he was missing me, we were each taking pictures of ourselves with our own Pleepleus' and I, I was feeling just like the lyrics in that song, "Somewhere Out There", except rather than wishing on the same bright star, we each had a Pleepleus, and oh hell, yes, I realize I'm a dork, but gosh, do I love my husband! I've posted some of my favorite Pleepleus photos from the weekend below.

Pleeps Enjoying Some Baileys on the Airplane

Pleeps Dominating on the Beer Pong Table

Pleeps Enjoying a Slice of Pizza

And lest you feel left out by not having your own Pleepleus, Jon has created a page for him on Facebook and would really love for him to have more friends.  You can find him here: Pleeps Pleepleus

Why I Do What I Do

Now that I'm (almost) recovered from BlogHer, I figured it was about time that I wrote a complete recap of the weekend.

Obviously, I have to talk about my fabulous roommates first.  They were honestly all I could have asked for and more.  The day before I left, my dad said to me, "You're much braver than I am; I can't imagine rooming with complete strangers."  This is coming from a man who has spent the majority of his adult life traveling to hundreds of foreign countries as a NSA employee without any qualms.  My mother-in-law also said to me that she couldn't believe that I was doing this, probably in reference to my "in real life" shyness. 

But to me, there was no bravery involved.  Sure, I was a little nervous on Thursday morning when Jon dropped me off at the airport, but I really think those were more flying nerves than anything else. (Have I ever mentioned how much I hate to fly?)  More than anything, I was so excited to meet everyone in person, to hear their laughter and see their smiles and to just say "Hello, so you're the person I've been reading and exchanging e-mails with all this time!"  My roommates were genuine and funny and the type of girls that you would want in your closest circle of friends.

And the actual conference?  There was inspiration everywhere.  I think it took going to BlogHer to realize that there are all of these other women out there who love writing and sharing their lives as much as I do.  And that?  That makes me want to be a better writer.  It makes me want to have more meaning behind these words and to make more of an impact with these words.  And no, I'm not promising to be the best blogger you'll ever read, but I want you to want to read my words and to get something out of it.  I'll try, I promise.

One of the best things about the weekend was learning that I had something in common with all of my new (old?) bloggy friends, besides the obvious answer (blogging).  I learned that Slynnro, Ali and I all love a classic trench coat.  Raven and I are adventurous, and yes, we will come to the lesbian bar with you if you ask nicely.  (And Raven, I'm so sorry for kicking and elbowing you in bed all weekend!)  Kristie, Sarah and I are suckers for free schwag and will load our backs with bags to carry it all home. Kristie also makes a fabulous yoga buddy because she totally won't make fun of your ineptitude.  Sarah and I also share the evil, greened-eyed monster called Jealousy, but we're working on it, people! 

Jennie and I are most likely going to end up with children with the same first name and gosh darn it, we really just love our husbands to bits and missed them like crazy!  Kristin and I shared the same feeling of "Dude, am I the onlyperson who doesn't shop at Anthropologie?", but we shared the smarter, "Who cares, pass me a glass of wine!" sentiment as well.  It assured me to know that someone as brave as China-traveling Emily could get anxious in social situations just like me, and as usual, was amazed by her and fellow Exposaroonie Ashley's photos all weekend.  Speaking of Ashley, if you're ever feeling like buying a fancy DSLR was a mistake because you take crappy pictures, just let her take you on a photo tour of San Francisco and she will totally boost your ego by telling you that your pictures are good! 

I was so amazed and excited to meet Nanette in person and I even refrained from touching her oh, so cute pregnant belly; she's such a sweetheart that she probably wouldn't have even been annoyed with that!  I'm sad that I didn't get to spend more time with Jamie, since she was working the BlogHer desk, but she really is as lovely as she is on her blog.  Janet was so graciously nice and effortlessly chic (I want her haircut!), and I hope I didn't scare her away by always running up to her and saying "Hi, Janet!!" every time I spotted her.  And Katelin?   So gorgeous and one of those genuinely nice girls that could be friends with everyone.  I already said this on Elizabeth's blog, but her visit to our room with her husband and son made me realize that yes, I can totally handle having a boy and not a girl when Jon and I get pregnant because her son was such a joyful little person of all his own.

I know I've probably missed people, but I just had to link to all of those lovely ladies above because they all made my first BlogHer experience amazing.  I'm really lucky to have friends like them, and yes, I can totally call them my friends now that we've met in person!  To the BlogHer co-founders, thank you.  Thank you for bringing all of these talented women together and thank you for letting me be a part of it.  It was truly an experience I'll never forget.  And now for some photos...

Kristie, Me, Raven and Jennie (stolen from Kristie)

Cocktail Party at Ruby Skye with Katelin, Ashley, Emily, Me and Raven (stolen from Fling It Girl)

My lovely roomies, Kristie, Jennie and Raven in front of the Full House homes

My California twin, Sarah, and me with Grover!

Me and Pleepleus (I'll share that story tomorrow) (stolen from Raven) 

This Crazy Little Thing Called Blogging

Since my last post was inspired by several whiskey sours and a glass of red wine, I'm going to try to give you all a proper post on BlogHer.  The short story?  I am SO glad I came. 

I really hadn't been anxious about BlogHer at all until yesterday morning, when I really thought about the adventure I was about to embark on. What if all of these wonderful women that I've e-mailed and read and chatted with over the past year turned out to be people I didn't actually like once I met them in person?  I'm sharing a bed with one of them, for God's sake, so I would have a long weekend ahead of me if that were the case!  Thankfully, as soon as I met each and every one of them, I was immediately reminded why I consider these women friends.  They're charming, and funny and absolutely delightful. 

We've now lunched together, shopped together, drank together and learned together.  They didn't laugh at me when I was starstruck after introducing myself to Amalah (I was seriously giddy after meeting my blogging idol) and they understand why it was so very important to me.  I think that's what I've enjoyed most about BlogHer thus far.  In my life back in Virginia, I think it's considered somewhat unusual or ridiculous or even rebellious that I blog.  Here, blogging is our common bond.  Our need to write and share and read is what brings us together and it's awesome to receive so much support for this crazy, little thing that we all do.  And really, it's not considered so crazy here. 

Live from BlogHer08

I'm coming to you live from BlogHer08 in San Francisco!  We just got back from the BlogHer Newbies party and the People's Party.  The Newbies party was quite awesome because not only did they serve amazing hot hors d'ouerves (including spring rolls and mini crabcakes), but they also had a free open bar.  My drink of choice were two whiskey sours, in case you're curious.

The People's Party was equally impressive in that they handed out well stocked gift bags and one drink coupon that either got you beer or wine.  The wine was so-so, but the event was well attended so it didn't matter at all.  It's been kind of weird to finally meet my favorite bloggers in person.  I feel like I already know them all! 

Tomorrow is an early start at 8:00 AM, for me especially seeing as how I've been awake since 3:45 AM Eastern time and it is now 2:00 AM EST.  Time for bed!  I'll try to post another update tomorrow :)

The Real Reason Jon Married Me

As much as I don't want to say this for fear of jinxing myself, it appears that the renaming of my blog folder went remarkablely smooth!  I didn't even fool around with updating the image paths, but they all still seem to be there and unchanged so I'm praying that everything is okay.  I was really worried about my BlogHer ads as well, but they seem to have survived the transition so I think I can breathe a sigh of relief!  I don't get too much traffic from other blogs blogrolls, so though I might miss a few readers due to broken links now, I think it will all be okay in the end.  Phew!

So enough about that.  Let's talk about how the new iPhone has completely knocked my socks off.  I thought I would never love an electronic device the way my husband does, but this phone has quickly changed my perspective. 

I snuck out of work early on Friday, jumped in Jon's waiting car and drove straight to the Apple store at our local mall.  We thought we were in good shaped until we stepped into the mall and were greeted by a seemingly endless line snaking around the shops surrounding the Apple store.  Jon took one look at it and said, "We're not waiting in that!"  So we jumped back in his car to head to our local AT&T store.  I called them on our way to make sure that they still had it in stock, and thank god I did, because they were All in all, from the time we got in line until we walked out of the store with our iPhones in hand, it took around 4½ hours!  We took turns in line, with me jumping out to check out the sale at Express and for a burrito at Chipotle, and with Jon jumping out for McDonald's chicken nuggets and a bathroom break.  Honestly, he stood there much longer than I, but still, I was there for the long haul!

We made friends with our line neighbors and met the cutest mom who stood in line with her young adult son just because.  Unlike certain Black Friday lines, the iPhone line was very civilized and well organized.  The Apple employees walked around very frequently to answer any questions and even passed out bottled water to everyone in line.  We were allowed in the store in groups of 10 and had our own individual sales consultant to take care of us.  Actually, it all went pretty quickly once we were inside the store.  I was very impressed by the whole thing. 

And like I mentioned above, I am in love.  Jon will never again have to worry about me not turning my phone on or keeping it charged.  I want to take it everywhere and I practically have to sit on my hands to keep from checking my e-mail, the weather or my blog every minute.  Whereas before I couldn't check my personal e-mail at work and thus felt a little disconnected, now I can keep up with all of your e-mails and not come home to a full inbox.  Love it.  And seeing as how I have now stood in line with Jon for a Wii and now the iPhone, I think he might love me just a little more for it :)

P.S.  The beach was wonderful!  We had perfect, sunny weather and best of all, got to spend time with Jon's family.  We even went to the crazy Running of the Bull on Saturday morning at the Starboard, where we enjoyed Bloody Mary's and people-watching.  Think frat party in the morning, but with people dressed for bullfighting.  Interesting crowd!  You know those Jeep stickers that say, "Flip Me Over if You Can Read This"?  Well, I saw a girl that had "Flip Me Over, I Have Huge T*ts" on the back of her shirt.  So maybe I have a 12 year old boy's sense of humor, but I thought it was hilarious! 

Jumping on the Wagon

Folks, it's been decided.  Tonight, Jon and I are putting our beat-up, little RAZR's out to pasture and buying the brand-new iPhone!  Jon has been waiting patiently for months and months for the new version to come out and the day has finally arrived.  After lots of research and many visits to both the Verizon store and the Apple store, he's decided that the iPhone is definitely the phone for him. 

Our monthly plan will cost a heck of a lot more than our current Verizon plan, but he deems it worthy of the added costs. Truth be told, I would have been just as happy with the LG Dare, but it doesn't make much sense to keep me on a Verizon plan and Jon on an AT&T plan, so I'm taking the plunge with him.  If he's happy, I'm happy.  His only stipulation to me was that I better actually use this phone and keep it charged, unlike my current one!  Easy peasy, I don't think that will be a problem.  I'm thrilled that I'll have it in time for BlogHer so I can twitter away to my heart's content!

After we get our phones, we'll be driving up to Maryland to spend the night at my parent's house, hitting up the fireman's carnival (FUN!) with them, then getting up early tomorrow to head to the beach.  We'll be staying with Jon's parents and celebrating my father-in-law's birthday, which is today (Happy birthday, Dad D!).  I'll leave you all with a photo of us from last weekend, on the ill-fated fishing boat!  Happy Friday, all!