If you show me yours, I'll show you mine...

 

Hi friends!  It's Jaime again.  Today, I took my 1st graders to the National Zoo for a whirlwind field trip.  Unfortunately, field trips as a teacher, aren't even close to the fun you have when you're a kid, so I was only able to see 2 exhibits, but take a look at some of the photos I was able to snag.  Wes and I plan to go back on Sunday!

 

Chef Wes is at it again!

In honor of my upcoming birthday and because I'm a true believer in week long birthday celebrations, Wes has been cooking delicious dinners each night this week. Check out last night's masterpiece: Eggs florentine! He even made the sauce from scratch! How lucky am I? Monday and Tuesday's menu items were a tasty pasta/bacon concoction (I'm sure it has a fancier name than that, but let's just call it delicious for now ) and the most impressive tuna salad. Seriously, he somehow found enough fresh vegetables in our refrigerator (we are in desperate need of a trip to Wegmans) to add some amazing zing to the tuna.  It was like a refreshing summer salad on a grilled sesame roll.  Unfortunately, I had to work late tonight, but I hear something quite impressive is in the works for tomorrow night.  Stay tuned! 

The Wedding Wolfpack

We've nicknamed all involved in our wedding as the "Wolfpack," after one of our favorite movie moments from hilarious Zach Galifianakis in The Hangover.  So, without further ado, please feast your eyes on our very own WEDDING WOLFPACK!


Meet Karyn, the Maid of Honor.  She's Jaime's sister.  Don't be fooled by the tall chef's hat; she's 5'1".

Meet Nick, the Best Man.  He's Wes' cousin.  He lives in North Carolina and likes the color turquoise.  

Meet Rylyn.  She's Wes' sister.  She has impeccable jazz hands.  

Meet Mark.  He's Jaime's brother.  He's super stoked about the wedding.

Meet Laurie.  She's been Jaime's friend since 7th grade.  She was going to bring Joe Paterno to the wedding, but in light of recent events, she'll be bringing her fiance Tom, instead.

Meet "Engel" a.k.a. Matt.  He's been a good friend of Wes' since college.  He also has impeccable jazz hands.  

Meet Joanne.  Jaime met her while working at Butler/Till.  Her job is to keep the wedding party in line. 

Meet Colin.  He's been a friend of Wes' since college, where they lived together for 1 glorious year.  Be careful, he may try to seduce you at the Wedding.

Meet Brit.  She and Jaime also met while working at Butler/Till.  She has a nice smile.    

Meet Rob.  He and Wes met freshman year of college, and lived together for the next 2 years.  During a freak accident, while training for the Army, his face became frozen this way.  While at the wedding, we ask that you refrain from starring.    

History, up close!

Check out the images Wes captured on Tuesday, as the space shuttle Discovery was flown to the Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, VA.  The pilots put on quite a show, flying super low around DC, Arlington and various other VA locations before heading to Dulles.   

  

DISCOVERY!

Here they are in all their glory, patiently awaiting a close up of Discovery coming in for a landing! Stay tuned for some incredible pictures Wes took outside his office building!

It was a Mexican kind of Monday.

Ole!

Is it really almost Monday?

Sometimes it just comes too quickly...this was one of those weekends, for sure. Hope you had a happy weekend!

On your mark, get set, GO!

We spent our Saturday morning at the Time Trials for the Special Olympics.  It was GORGEOUS weather and a fun experience, with such an awesome bunch of people!  Here they are waiting to run the 100m dash, the most popular track event because it qualifies them for the relay team.

Patiently waiting for their next events.

Love this guy!  He calls himself "The Speed of Lightening," and he's not too far off!

These two are married and quite possibly one of America's most genuine couples.  They share a healthy competitive spirit, while supporting each other every step of the way.  They tied in this event - the 400m race walk.

SURPRISE!

One of the most fun adventures while home, was pulling off a successful surprise birthday party for this lady:

We were all so happy that we got her!

(click on the picture to enlarge)

The partaaay was held at Next Door Bar & Grill.  The staff was AWESOME, and that food...DELICIOUS!

The Master of Ceremonies.  :)

The GIANT chalkboard was a popular feature of the room! 

Happy Birthday to one special lady!!

xoxo

Friends are Expensive.

A $500 "administrative fee?!"  For that price, the freakin dog better be contributing to the rent.  It's hopeless, our dreams...shattered.

Woof

In case your eyes are failing you, this letter states that our building is amending their pet policy to allow DOGS!!!!!!!  There's hope for us - we may actually be able to buy a friend! 

Checking things off!

As previously mentioned, we had a fantastic trip home this past weekend.  Obviously, seeing our AWESOME family and friends was the best part of all, however, we were also quite productive.  Here's what we accomplished for the wedding in just a few short days:

1. Engagement photos!  Read a little bit about our super fantastic photographer, Chelse!
2. Met Inna - the hip seamstress.  More fittings to come!
3. Found the hotel - The Brookwood Inn
4. Met Pastor Jack - the Man who will make us an honest couple.  We LOVED him - he really helped to bring all of our ceremony ideas to life!  
5. Used our glorious drive back to VA to brainstorm some exciting, top-secret details for the big day!

Hope you had a wonderful Easter weekend - full of chocolaty surprises!

It's all haaaaaappening!

We had an UNBELIEVABLE trip home for Easter.  Thank you to everyone we were able to spend time with - you made our trip that much more enjoyable.  Here's a sneak peak at our engagement shots (courtesy of EIEIO Photography - Chelse is AWESOME!) from Friday morning.  More to come soon!   

Stay tuned for another post about our exciting weekend!

If there was an 8th day in our week, would it be called Hyundai?

...just a typical Sunday stroll conversation. We need friends to come visit.

1 of 2 uprooted trees on our walk to Georgetown, yesterday.

Anthropologie = Genius.

Relaxation.

Trying to figure out if he's sleeping or not.

There's nothing like street music.  Talented street music, that is.  You can't tell in the photo, but the little blond in the bottom left corner was movin' and groovin' to the beats. 

And the 2nd.

SERIOUSLY?!

Good Morning.  It's Jaime.  So you've heard about the beautiful running trails we have here in Arlington.  Well, since I'm on Spring Break, I decided to join Wes for part of his run this morning.  When we run together lately, we'll usually run the 1st mile together and then Wes will continue on and I'll turn around for one more mile home.  NEVER AGAIN.

Prepare yourself blog readers, it is no longer April Fools, and I would never joke about something so scary.    This is what I ran, correction, rapidly sped like the freakin' road runner, past, shortly after I left Wes:

Now, there wasn't any blood on the mask, and it didn't protrude out as long from the face, but his face was completely covered.  Plus, the man I saw had a full camouflage trench coat on and was carrying a soda pallet.  

I, of course, informed Wes of my sighting as soon as he returned home and lo and behold, he saw the "man" as well, no longer walking, just hanging out on the trail, sans the pallet.  Weirdo.  Wes' sighting involved a ski mask and goggles, rather than a WWII gas mask, but regardless, the man was super suspicious.  We called the police, just to be safe.

Needless to say, I achieved my shortest timed mile on the way home, which is a good thing, because it will be my last.  Back to yoga for me.  This is just about the scariest thing you may find on a yoga mat...

Namaste.

Don't be FOOLED..,

...Chef Juliano is the real deal. This sandwich, inspired by Adam Sandler's character in Spanglish, is our new obsession.