La Petite Chic

A List (Because I'm Lazy)

1.  I received word on Friday that I passed my background investigation (which I started back in April, unbelievably) and was finally extended my official job offer.  I am beyond relieved, excited and READY to get started in my new position.  Coincidentally, my start date falls on my birthday.  I'm taking that as a very good sign. 

The only things left to stress out about are a) telling my current supervisor that I'm leaving (is it just me or is that conversation one of the most awkward known to man?) and b) telling my new supervisor that I got knocked up while waiting for my background clearance (probably the most awkward conversation known to man, err, woman).

2.  This might come as a shock to most of you, but I don't miss alcohol (yet).  I think a lot of that has to do with even poor, innocuous water having a taste the past months (dude, it did; ask any pregnant woman!), but so far not being able to drink has been met with a "Meh" attitude by me. 

Remind me I said this in about a month when all of the wine festivals are in town or in two months when we visit the original Margaritaville in Key West or during the holidays when my dad makes his famous glühwein.  I think having a precious baby in March will still be enough to make me say "Meh", though it may be a smidge less resounding.

3.  Public Service Announcement:  RSVP, RSVP, RSVP.  Why?  It's the polite thing to do and makes planning a party a whole lot easier.  And when the hostess contacts you to find out if you're a yes or no, for the love of God and Miss Manners, call or text her back.

For what it's worth, bridal shower invitees = good RSVPers.  Graduation party invitees = bad RSVPers.  Think it has anything to do with gender?

4.  I had the most disturbing dream last night and I'm blaming it on the Charles Manson special I watched on the History Channel yesterday after work.  Basically, I was being held by some woman whom I knew was going to kill me.  I showed her ultrasound photos of our baby in an effort to garner sympathy and mercy but it didn't work.  She had me face a wall so that she could shoot me from behind.  I waited and waited while she loaded her gun.  When she finally did shoot, I didn't really feel pain but more like I was drowning in my own blood.  I realized I was still alive, but could feel the life seeping out me.  Lola was suddenly there and I picked her up and held her to me.  I guess I must have died because then I woke up.  I've heard that you have some really messed up dreams when you're pregnant, but this one was just crazy.  

5.  Jon and I will celebrate our third wedding anniversary on September 1st.  Since we can't afford a Caribbean anniversarymoon this year, we're extending our trip to Florida for my cousin's wedding into an anniversarymoon.  Jon found us a great deal on flights many months ago and we're using our timeshare to do a few days in Key West and a few days in Orlando (yay, Epcot Food & Wine Festival!) before heading down to Naples for the wedding.  I am so excited!  I've always wanted to do a road trip with Jon and this will essentially be a road trip since we'll be driving between all of the destinations.  This will be our last trip before baby so it will be extra special.  Plus, it's kind of nice to be home for our actual anniversary because that allowed me to order a mini replica of our wedding cake to enjoy!  Mmmm...raspberry comfiture laced throughout amaretto cake with buttercream frosting, here I come!

Moving On...

My posts have been quite photo-heavy lately, but I just couldn't resist sharing a few pictures from the Virginia Wine Showcase last weekend before I get on with my post. 

We were joined by our wonderful friends Allison and Ryan and Adam and Adrienne.  Adrienne used to be Jon's roommate when he lived in Atlanta and she and her husband live just a few miles from us now!  I don't think I've ever shared the story of how Allison and I met, but it is truly such an interesting and fateful one.  I know I already owe you all our engagement story, but I'll share my Allison story someday too. 

As is customary, I found my favorite wine pourer, Andy, from Peaks of Otter Winery and took another picture with him.  Remember my first and second encounters?

 

The rest of our weekend, and subsequently, this week, has been spent preparing our condo to be listed on the market.  Ready or not, it's going to be listed next Wednesday!  Well, I lie, we're actually super ready.  We ended up going with the first realtor we met with, the one with the blog and the one whom we've known from his open houses in our community for the past few years.  We really trust him and know that he has a good handle on selling condos in our area and we feel that he has our best interests at heart and is not just out to make a buck on our listing. 

We've had just about a month now to accept our fate and to formulate a plan and now we just want to get this over and done with as quickly and painlessly as possible.  I met with our realtor-provided stager on Tuesday night and really had such a fun time seeing our home through the eyes of a potential buyer.  The stager said that we have a lovely home and though she usually gives her clients a Top Ten list of areas to improve and focus on, she could only come up with eight minor things that even she confessed was a stretch! 

In fact, we've only heard positive things from everyone we've worked with so far.  My favorite comment was from a realtor who said that you could tell the instant you walk into someone's home if it's just a house to them or a place they're really proud of and enjoy living in and she said we were obviously part of the latter.  I love hearing stuff like that because Jon and I are so proud of the way we made our little condo our home and it's nice to have others recognize that.  Once our place sells, we will be moving in with my parents for at least 3-6 months or so to rebuild our losses and then we'll resume our search for a new home.  Despite everything, we're optimistic and happy and are really looking forward to the next chapter in our lives.   

The Weekend in Photos

Great friends, great wine and great weather:

 

Run-in with Andy the wine boy, part deux:

   

A fabulous husband who makes me laugh:

 

New pumps:

 

New boots:

 

New floors to replace the above ugly carpet (to be installed by us in a few weeks):

 

A sweet nose kiss from my baby:

 

And a yummy homemade chicken pot pie, inspired by Ashley's post and autumn:

What were you all up to this weekend?

Maybe I Am a Winette

Now that I've, ahem, recovered from the concert on Monday night, I thought I would share some highlights with you.  First things first, the locale was awesome.  It's one of those outdoor concert venues where you can either buy a pavilion seat right in front of the stage or you can buy a cheaper lawn seat that sits behind the concert pavilion.

For me, it's a no-brainer.  With lawn seats, you can take your beach chairs, spread out a blanket and bring a picnic basket full of goodies, including alcholic drinks.  Plus, you can still see the stage and hear the music just fine.  Actually, the music is at a reasonable listening level and you don't leave the concert with your ears ringing from sitting too close to the speakers.  In the pavilion, you are not allowed to eat or drink anything besides water.  Sure, I suppose it's great if the weather is rainy and nasty but otherwise, duh, lawn seats are the way to go! 

For those of you who were following my Twitters that night, you may have noticed my progression from sober to tipsy to all out drunk by the end of the night.  Monday night.  I'm the type of girl who starts to feel good after just one glass of wine, so you can imagine how good I was feeling after sharing two bottles of red, red wine with Jon.  Yesterday was a great day at work, let me tell ya.  For you non-Twitterers (coughcoughRavencough), here's a snapshot of my UB40 Twitters:

enjoying Frank the Tank (red wine) at the UB40 concert 07:42 PM August 25, 2008 

concert hasn't even started and we just cracked our second bottle! 07:59 PM August 25, 2008

oMB, if I weren't married I'd do Maxi Priest 08:37 PM August 25, 2008

dude, I swear I'm not dry 08:38 PM August 25, 2008 

umm drunk, npt dry, whoops 08:39 PM August 25, 2008

jon won't dance with me :( booooo 08:44 PM August 25, 2008

oh how I love a man with an accent 09:02 PM August 25, 2008

ph my god. I'm drunk white girl who loves reggae, am a freak a drunk freak HA'! 09:03 PM August 25, 2008

this is why we spent half our honeymoon in Jamaica Mon 09:10 PM August 25, 2008

dude U broke the seal duck 09:42 PM August 25, 2008

umm I just took my pants off 09:53 PM August 25, 2008

Yeah, that last one there?  That was right after I insisted that Jon take my pants off.  As in remove my pants in front of a lawn full of people because I was so hot from dancing that I thought I was melting.  In my defense, it was dark by that point and I was wearing one of those long shirts that can pass as a short dress if you're skanky like that.  Apparently I am.  If you're wondering why Jon had to take my pants off, it's because I couldn't take them off without crashing into the lovely couple behind us.  It's really quite hard to take off jeans when you're sweaty and sticky.  And drunk.

I sat on my lawn chair as Jon ripped them off of me, but curiously we heard a popping noise.  Jon started laughing and said, "That's why you couldn't get them off, they were still buttoned!"  Umm, no, I totally unbuttoned and unzippered them!  Upon closer inspection on Tuesday morning, it appears that in Jon's zeal to get them off of me, he ripped the zipper off!  Off my Seven jeans!  I sense a new pair of jeans for me in the very near future.

As you may have guessed, we LOVED the concert.  UB40 puts on a fabulous and fun live show and makes sure that everyone gets up and dances.  I even had Jon dancing by the end of the night!  My favorite part of the concert was the very last song of their encore, "Can't Help Falling in Love With You."  Before Jon picked "Making Memories of Us" as our wedding song, we had already decided on "Can't Help Falling in Love With You".  We were going to use the Elvis version since it's a little slower, but nonetheless, that song holds special meaning to us.  It was an absolutely perfect night for slow dancing under the stars with my love. 

PhotoPie Week 9

The rules of PhotoPie Week 9 hosted by the lovely EmilyPie were to take a picture of something hot.  Though it would have been lovely to take a picture of something lovely outside in the refreshingly hot weather we are having, my head and nose would not be so happy about that.  I have not suffered from seasonal allergies since I lived in Richmond, but starting yesterday I have been sniffling and sneezing constantly thanks to the layer of pollen currently blanketing Northern Virginia.  Bleh! 

Luckily, Jon and I like things spicy so I had plenty of things to choose from indoors.  Without further ado, here is my submission:

We first tasted this wine at the Virginia Wine Festival last fall and we had the chance to try it again when we went to the Virginia Wine Expo in February.  Remember that scandalous photo of me, Unnaturally Blonde and the young man?  Well, that just so happens to be the same young man (I swear he was legal!) whose finger I licked Cheese Whiz off as a chaser to this wine.  It is quite hot!  It's really more of a cooking wine, but you get a sticker if you take a shot of it. Obviously a sticker is worth it, people! 

Updates and Wine

Our neighbor stopped by last night to give us an update on his plumbing woes.  Everything has been fixed and is back in order and you would be none the wiser that there was ever a minor flood in the kitchen.  For their troubles, Chris's landlord gave them a $100 gift certificate to The Cheesecake Factory.  In turn, Chris invited Jon and I out for dinner this weekend to thank us for our help.  Of course, we didn't expect anything in return but it's nice to be rewarded for our efforts!

Heard a little something from Google...they're still trying to get approval for my GPA.  Seriously?!?!  What's so bad about a B average student?  Helloooo!  I ran D-1 cross country, indoor and outdoor track (in season all freaking year), held a job at the library, was a VP in the SGA and was in the Young Democrats.  What the freak, Google? 

Moving on, go check out my guest blog today over at EmilyPie while she enjoys her vacation in Napa Valley.  There's mention of wine and 5th grade and err, more wine!  Go now!  And leave comments!  No one has left any comments yet and I'm feeling a bit like I'm letting Emily down!

Excuses, Excuses

I didn't post last weekend because I was too busy celebrating this (Happy Birthday, Leen!):

And drinking this:

And eating this:

And drinking more of this:

Oh, and I have ever mentioned that I'm a master sushi chef? 

Or that I can touch my toes?

Or that my husband is the secret love child of Gene Simmons?

No???  Well, now you know!  I'll try to post more later, but I've been training two new girls at work and dealing with Lola's ailing bumhole at home (trust me, you don't want details).  Happy hump day!

Love and Avoidance

Things I Can't Get Enough Of

 

Stacy's Simply Naked Pita Chips

(Oh, yummy sea salt, come to me!)

Jon and Kate Plus 8

(Not only are they highly entertaining, they also happen to share our names!)

 

$2 Chuck from Trader Joes

(You can't beat this stuff)

Burt's Bees with Pomegranate

(So soothing on my winter chapped lips)

LOST

(This season has yet to disappoint me)

Domino Magazine

(I just subscribed and can't wait to get started on some more home renovations!)

Things I've Been Avoiding

The Gym

(Oh how I loathe thee)

Putting Together Our Wedding and Honeymoon Scrapbook

(Our 1½ year anniversary is on Saturday.  Yeah.)

 

Learning French and German before our trip in May

(I should probably get on that, yes?)

Blog Happy Hour and Wine Expo Recap

Oh, what a busy weekend I had!  I rarely go out on Friday nights because I'm usually too zonked from the week to want to do anything that doesn't involve sweatpants, but last Friday was different.  It was the first DC Bloggers Happy Hour and I just couldn't miss it even though I knew I had to wake up early for the Wine Fest the next morning.  I'm so glad I decided to brave the Metro alone and go and meet the ladies and gent because I seriously had such a great time.  The drinks were cold and strong (and the mugs were bigger than our heads!), the music was just my style and the company was quite lovely. 

This is the first time that I've met bloggers in person whom I didn't already know in real life so naturally I was sweating bullets all the way there.  It turns out that my anxiety was totally unfounded because everyone was so friendly and easy to talk to.  The happy hour also gave me a good idea of what BlogHer '08 is going to be like (x100 though!).  And that makes me even more excited than I already was! 

Pictured below from left to right is:  Deutlich, me, Lauren and Heidi.  Not pictured but also in attendance was Anthony and Heidi's boyfriend, whose name, for the love of God, I just can't remember.  Though I do remember we worked in the same building on the Hill!

Then on Saturday, Jonathan and I, along with Mr. and Mrs. Unnaturally Blonde and other friends and family (including my newly engaged cousin and his fiancé!) headed out to the Virginia Wine Showcase for a day of wine tasting and fun.  We got there just as the doors were opening at 11:00 AM and didn't leave until they were shutting the place down at 5:00 PM.  Those who have ever spent six straight hours at a wine festival know that it will pretty much knock out your whole evening too, though I must proudly say that I was not even the slightest bit hungover.  I probably owe my thanks to the delicious platter of gnocchi in vodka sauce from Maggiano's and the numerous glasses of water that I consumed before hitting the sack that night.

For your viewing pleasure, here are two of my favorite pictures from the Expo:

We totally put the "lovers" in our state motto, Virginia is for Lovers.  We should be the poster children, or something, no? 

And here I am with Mrs. Unnaturally Blonde and our friend Andy from the Peaks of Otter Winery, home of Kiss the Devil Chili Pepper wine and a whole slew of delicious fruit-based wines.  I should also mention that he invited us back to his hotel room.  422 at the Wyndham, baby!

I'm alive!

So I really have no good excuse for not posting since last Friday.  Except work's been very busy (more on that in the next few days).  And it's almost Christmas and I'm still not done shopping.  And I've actually been going to the gym this week rather than just talking about going to the gym.  Shopping, after gym, after work does not leave much time in the night.  That and the fact that my life has been pretty boring has not been much of a motivator to blog.  Excuses, excuses, I know...

I did get to celebrate Unnaturally Blonde's birthday with her at the Cheesecake Factory last Saturday.  Has anyone ever tried their Strawberry Martini?  It's so divine in all it's fresh muddled strawberry goodness!  I also had the strongest whiskey sour that I've ever tasted, but it was still good nonetheless.  And those drinks were followed by a couple of Blue Moons and then a game of beer pong at their place.  All of those drinks resulted in the following picture:

As you can tell, Lola was not amused.  And no, that is not her beer can.

And in other news, our new heater was supposed to be installed tomorrow, but that appointment was rescheduled for Monday due to the nasty rain and wintry mix in the forecast.  We've lucked out up until this point with the weather being quite mild, but starting tomorrow the highs will only be in the 30's.  Lovely. 

Anyway, sorry for the boring post, but just wanted to let you all know that I'm still alive!  I'll try to write more tomorrow about the new work thing...but don't worry; it's a good thing.