This Spontaneously Practical Life: May 2008

Monday, May 12, 2008

Weekend at the Shore....

Whew, no wonder I am so behind on blog postings! It seems like Whit and I have been either hosting or out of town every weekend over the past month :) This past weekend was wonderfully relaxing. The four couples in our couples bible study went to spend the weekend at the eastern shore of Virginia at Betsy's parent's amazing house in Onancock, VA

We took off after work on Friday and with the traffic coming out of DC made it to the shore in about 5 hours (not bad!). Friday was a laid-back night with good conversation and a little wine. Saturday we slept in and had a late breakfast. The girls headed into town to get some groceries and check out the local shops. The guys day consisted of kayaking and a little Nintendo Wii (thanks to Whit!). That night Peter made home-made crab-cakes, they were AWESOME!

Such a good weekend, thanks for having us Bets!

crochet

bets and anna on the back deck

peter and ellie

all the ladies

beautiful sunset

pensive moment with the guys

dock

bets and anna again

Amy Marie's Bachelorette Party

My best friend, Amy Marie is getting married June 1st in Nashville. We are so excited for her! Ames was a Falls Church fellow with me and then we lived together in DC for two years after the program. She made the move to Nashville last March, where she met Mark, her soon-t0-be husband :) What a better way to celebrate Amy's impending nuptuals than a reuinion bachelorette party in DC.

Amy's sister, Carrie flew in from LA and Amy and her roommate Emmie came in from Nash-Vegas to stay with me for the weekend. Two other bridesmaids and best friends, Laurel and Kimberly are DC locals, so the group gathering worked out perfectly.

We had a ton of fun together! Friday we headed out to a favorite Mexican restaurant in DC, Lauriol Plaza in Adams Morgan and the Saturday we spent the afternoon at Linden Vineyards and Sunday rounded out the weekend with a wonderful wedding shower we hosted at Amy Hartman's house.

Ames, I can't wait until you are Mrs. Mark Hann :)

Carrie and Amy Marie at the Vineyard

All the ladies at Lauriol Plaza

At the wedding shower...

The hostesses in Amy's new kitchen :)

Tasting :)

Linden

The porch at Linden

Amy, her mom and sister, Carrie

Thursday, May 1, 2008

My Mom's visit and Erin's Baby Shower

Whew! This blog is late! A few weekends ago (April 24-27), my mom flew in town from Dallas to spend the weekend with me and Whit and also help me prepare for my first baby shower (not for me, just throwing one :). My mom hasn't been to DC since my wedding so it was so good having her in town and showing her our town home. My mom is amazing, she spent all morning Friday (while I was at work) cleaning my house, scrubbing floors, polishing silver, cleaning my refrigerator! It meant so much to me, bc there was NO way I was going to get all that done by the shower Sunday!

Friday afternoon, my mom and I went and grabbed some lunch at one of my favorite little cafe's, Evening Star Cafe in Alexandria, VA. After that we headed to the Leesburg outlets and did a little shopping. Friday night, I made dinner at home and Whit, My mom and I ate on our back porch. After dinner Whit and I took my mom to Clydes's restaurant in Shirlington a fun little place with great drinks and GREAT desserts, we got some of each :)

Saturday we decided to drive up to Annapolis, MD and show my mom a town that Whit and I just love! It had been awhile since my mom ha been to Annapolis (maybe 12 years) and even then we spent most of our time touring the naval yards and ships! So, we spent to day casually strolling through the heart of Annapolis. Whit and I were able to show my mom some of our favorite art stores (and even picked up a new piece for our house!). Later on, we took mom to this great crab place called Canter’s Riverside Inn and enjoyed margaritas and crab cakes, yum!

The rest of the weekend, Mom continued to help me prepare for the baby shower that the girls in my bible study and I threw for Erin Bronson at my house, here are some pics of the shower. Erin looks so darn cute and we are all very excited to welcome little William Keyes Bronson!

Erin with her mom and sisters!

Welcome baby keyes

Pre-party

Cheers!

Whit helping mom and me with last minute "honey-dos" :)

You doesn't love a diaper cake?

The food spread

Monogrammed petit fours!

The loot!

Merrick and me arranging favors!

Wedding Bells Are Ringing...

Gosh it has been forever since I made a post, I am so sorry! Lots of exciting things have happened in the last two weeks! Most importantly, one of my best friends, Kimberly got ENGAGED!!! Her finance Rob, arranged the most thoughtful and beautiful way to propose to Kimberly. It all started when Rob and Kimberly flew to Florida about a month ago to spend some quality time with K's family. Rob was able to get some alone time with her dad and ask for his permission to marry Kimberly. After consulting Kimberly's sister and mom on ring preferences Rob went shopping with his sisters and mom for the prefect ring for Miss K.

The big day was April 18th! Rob took Kimberly to a wonderful dinner in DC and then back to one of their favorite places to sit and talk, The Mayflower Hotel. Whit and I arrived early to make sure everything was set up perfectly (Rob didn't miss a thing, flowers, chocolates, champagne!) and then we hid while Rob and Kimberly arrived! After the big question, Whit and I came up stairs to celebrate and take pictures of the newly engaged couple! It was so precious, there were a few older couples sitting upstairs close to where Rob and Kimberly were....after Rob asked and Kimberly said yes, they all danced together while this cute little man played the piano! We are so excited for them!!