Welcome Baby Sevrin!

On Monday, December 24th, my good friend from growing up, Melissa "Metcalf" Taylor gave birth to an adorable baby boy, Sevrin Taylor. As you can see from the pictures, both mom and baby are doing great.

Congrats Melissa and Chris. We can't wait to meet him in a few months.

Merry Christmas

Wishing you a very Merry Christmas from our family to yours!

Thirty takes the cake!

Today I am officialy 30 and if my birthday getaway to Turks and Caicos is the slightest inclination of how great my 30's will be, then I am ready and very excited! We had an absolutely amazing 5 days and I enjoyed every minute of the pampering from the staff at the resort and my husband too. He moved my lounge chair to my own little "peninsula" so I could enjoy the sun.From day one, the weather was a gorgeous 82 degrees, sunny with a slight breeze and it remained this way until we left on Monday afternoon. It was pretty "rough" waking up every morning and seeing the view from our balcony (below).

Without a doubt, this was the most relaxing vacation I have ever taken. Our biggest decision each day was to decide if we should go to the beach or the pool first and what kind of drink to order from the swim up bar below.

Here I am once again relaxing before breakfast on the terrace enjoying my cup of tea.

Below is a pic from the spa's tranquility pool. This was one of my favorite spots of the trip.

The sun pod (a big round cushion) was my second favorite spot. These lounge pods were very desired and if not claimed by the early hours of the morning, there was no chance in getting one. Luckly, my husband was able to get me one and we didn't leave it for the entire day other than to go in the pool or ocean.

The resort had an incredible restaurant where we celebrated my birthday dinner.

The view of the courtyard from our table on the terrace was like one out of a fairytale. The entire resort was so cosy and enchanting when all lit up at night.

Happy Birthday to me... again!

Brad did find time to do a few beach activities like taking the catamaran and wind surfer out for a sail.

He also found time to relax, especially after our massages.

And relaxing in the hot tub....

Although we were so sad to leave, we were completed relaxed, rested and ready for the holiday season! If you are looking for a great place to go for a long weekend, I would highly recommend the Regent Palms in Turks and Caicos. We are looking forward to going back some day.

First Snow Fall of the Season

I woke up this morning to a steady light snow fall. It's supposed to continue all day into the evening. As pretty as this looks, I think Turks and Caicos will look even prettier this time tomorrow when I'm lying on the beach sipping a fruity drink with an umbrella!

'Tis the Season

I finally decided it was time to break out my holiday decorations after procrastinating for the past few weekends. I was inspired after going to Washington DC for work today and seeing the beautiful decorations and Christmas tree in Union Station.And of course I had to make Winston put his antlers on like I do every year. As you can see, he hates every minute of it.

Well, the next post will have some nice and tropical pictures. Brad and I leave this Thursday for Turks and Caicos where we'll celebrate me joining the thirty club. I can't believe I'm saying goodbye to my 20's. Good times! Although, I hear 30 is the new 20, so I'm looking forward to reliving my 20's again, only this time I'll be much wiser.

Festive Weekend in Mass

We spent Thanksgiving at my parents house in MA last week. Our week started off with a surprise bday dinner for me. I have a big bday coming up on Dec. 11th (the BIG 30) and I won't see my parents, so they wanted to celebrate on Wed. evening. The reason I am in my sweats is because after driving in the car 7 hours Tuesday night, arriving in MA at 3am and then getting up and working all day on Wed. from Starbucks, I was exhausted. Not expecting a bday dinner, I changed into my comfy clothes, took a little nap and when I woke up everyone was over. I decided that since it was my party, I could do what I wanted and stay in my sweats!

I even had a surprise visitor from the King himself who sang to me. Most of you know my dad is very musically inclined and loves Elvis. This is not his day job though :-)

On Friday evening, we celebrated Brad's bday, which actually fell on Thanksgiving this year. Because we had enough left overs to feed a small village in West Africa, we felt too guilty to justify another cake and more desserts. So, Brad was a sport and had my left over canoli cake.

Brad got a guitar lesson for his bday from Elvis himself.

On Friday we took Winston over to meet a friends new beagle puppy, Oscar. My dad was in his glory. He wanted to take Oscar home, but feared my mom would make both of them sleep in the garage.

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. And Jette, if you're reading this, I hope you made your sweet potatoes!

First Time for Everything

There are a few things in life I feel very strongly about and guns are one of them. I never thought I would ever touch one, let alone shoot one. I am petrified of guns, our lax gun control laws in the US, the sound it makes, etc. It was a beautiful fall day yesterday and Brad suggested we try something new and go clay shooting over on the eastern shore. Since my friend Lauren and I were going over to the outlets shopping on Sun morning which are 2 miles away from the Pintail Point Club, we decided we would give it a try.

To my surprise, I actually started to enjoy it after the 4th station and when I started to finally hit the clay disk. Brad hit 24 out of 50 and I only got 8 out of 50. I don't think I'll be applying to the FBI anytime soon, although I do look forward to going back again. For the record, I am only okay with this sport because the disks are made of clay and are not living animals.

Lauren apparently was a sharp shooter in her previously life because she hit 16 out of 50, which is above average for a first timer.

Oldest Friends Make the Best Friends

This past weekend I flew down to Indian Harbour Beach, FL to visit my friend Melissa from high school. Missy is expecting her first baby on December 10th and we celebrated her baby shower on Sunday. It was a great excuse for me to get down there and see her and her husband. We had an extremely relaxing weekend enjoying the boardwalk, ocean and lots and lots of reminiscing about old times.

Missy teaches high school drama and while attending college out in San Diego, had roles in several movies and shows. However, this was not the reason she wore her Hollywood sunglasses during her entire shower. One of the side effects from pregnancy Missy has is a very bad rash all over her face, especially around her eyes, which is the reason for the shades.

I had a great time with you Miss! Don't worry if you don't remember everything in the book. You're going to be a great mom and I can't wait to meet Sevrin soon!

Happy Halloween

Halloween in Hunt Meadow is one of Brad's favorite days of the year. This year our friend Maura came over to help us hand out candy and walk the neighborhood to visit with all of our friends. We always have our basket of candy for the trick or treaters and a cooler of frosty beverages for the adults. Before I started my Halloween, I went down to Edgewater to see the triplets. My sister-in-law's mom made their costumes which, as you can see, are amazing. Mackenzie is the elephant, Brady is the monkey and Kyle is the lion. I think they enjoyed their first year of trick or treating in their Boo Zoo mobile.

We had quite the turn out for trick or treaters to no surprise. Our lady bug friend Emily was our cutest customer though!

I had to take a picture of the sumo wrestler.... definitely the funniest.

Hope everyone had a safe and fun Halloween!

Go Sox!

Congratulations to the Boston Red Sox for winning yet another World Series! It appears they may have found a new mascot.......

Girls Day

Last weekend was not my typical "girls weekend." I had my niece Mackenzie for Sat and Sun and had a terrific girls day complete with many outdoor activities, shopping (of course) and a nice dinner of dino nuggets, veggies and whole milk! We were lucky enough to have full rights to our neighbors fenced in backyard with a swing set and very stylish fisher price car. We started our day with a nice swing, which as you can see, Kenzie loved.

Our next order of business was a nice long walk with Winston in this "new" car. I couldn't get it on film, but as we were walking, Mackenzie had her hands in the air and was dancing in her seat.

It took a little while, but Winston and Mackenzie finally became friends. Winston even shared his toys with her.

On Sunday, we let Uncle Brad in on our day and we got to go to his new office for the first time. One of his perks is free parking in downtown Annapolis with no hassle. We had a great walk downtown and enjoyed a nice lunch by the water at City Dock before we had to return Mackenzie to her Nonni and Pop pop's. Which, by the way, I did not want to do!

Aunt Christy had a great weekend and I think Mackenzie really enjoyed being a singleton for the weekend. Although, I'm not so sure how much Winston enjoyed not being an only "child!"

September Happenings

September has been a very busy month for us. We spent Labor Day Weekend at Cape Cod with my parents, my brother and my brother's best friends from high school. In total, there were about 19 of us and we all had an absolute blast going to the beach, BBQ'ing and late night 80's dance parties in the kitchen! My brother had flown in from San Diego for a short weekend, but we definitely maxizimed our "GT's!"

On Sunday, the 2nd, my parents, Brad and I took the high speed ferry over to Martha's Vineyard. We decided to take advantage of the gorgeous weather and rent bicycles to ride all over the island. We made a pit stop for a photo opp in front of one of the many inlets.
I think my mom is wondering how many more miles are left to go.....

The following weekend, Brad had a 3 day regatta and I took off for my annual girls weekend at Dewey Beach, DE. This particular weekend at Dewey there is a 5K and 10 mile race put on by the Bottle and Cork (a local bar that is pretty famous in these woods!) I ran the 5K last year and Jill ran the 10 miler. This year, out of the 5 of us that went, none of us ran. Jill had a good excuse.... she's almost 5 months pregnant. I had been gearing up to actually try and run the 10 miler this year and then I got sick the beginning of August and haven't ran since. So instead, my sister in law, Jill and myself got up early on race day and walked the route to cheer on the racers. We had a great time at the beach and our night out on the town that Saturday.

Unfortunately, I have no pictures from this weekend. Maura, my friend who ALWAYS has her camera and documents all of our events, didn't bring it!

I have received several requests for pictures of Winston, so here you go. This past Sunday marked the first day of fall weather in my book. The temp was in the mid 60's, the air was crisp and the sky was blue and filled with abundant sunshine. The perfect day for a beagle bash! The beagle rescue of Southern Maryland was hosting a beagle gathering at a local Kennel / Doggie Daycare facility. Since Winston has been a little neglected lately as I've been gone for the past 2 weekends and during the week for work, we decided to treat him to an afternoon frolicking with his own kind and for a good cause none the less. Brad fell in love with an American fox hound (looks like a giant Winston) and it's a good thing he had an owner because B was ready to adopt him.

This doggie resort has a pool in the shape of what else.... a dog bone! I had never seen anything like it. I tried my best to get a shot of the entire thing, but wasn't too succesfull.

Three Ring Circus!

This past weekend we celebrated our triplet niece and nephews first birthday on Saturday and their christening on Sunday. The theme for the birthday party was a three ring circus and was more than appropriate! In the top picture, appearing from left to right is Kyle, Mackenzie and Brady.

Grandma Di Di's little car gifts were a huge hit with the trips. They all love them.

Even more than the little cars, they loved the cake. My father in law's girlfriend is a gourmet baker and together they both made this amazing cake. As you can see from the pictures below, the cake was loved by all.

On Sunday we celebrated the babies christening. They all did a great job in the church. Here we are with our godson Kyle.