B is for Black Tie and Birthday!

Andrew and I got a late invite to a black tie affair last week. Luckily, Andrew had his tux from the wedding and my dress sickness (a minor complication from denim disease) has afforded me a plethora of options for such an event! So off we went on Friday the 19th to the New Ways Advent Ball to support the efforts to feed children in Africa. I would like to note that this was the opening night for the new Harry Potter movie, to which we had tickets, but I put those desires aside as this was a great opportunity for Andrew to network with work people and for me to get really dolled up! I spent the day trying to decide between my green ruffle dress and my older, more boring black dress. I ended up going with the safe bet black one since this was my first black tie event in London. 

The champagne cocktail party started at 7pm. We met Andrew #1 and his wife Vicky. Soon after, Kenna and Neil. And finally Andrew #2 and his wife, and Helen. We chatted and then made our way to the table. Dinner consisted of a caprese salad, chicken and veggies and potatoes, and mandarin cheesecake. Delightful! As this was a charity event, there were fun Heads & Tails raffles for magnums of Champagne and then an auction. It was good fun! And then, the best part started - the dancing!! This was the first time since we'd been in London wear they played music that I actually knew!! I'm pretty sure we danced from 9 until 1 in the morning! A great thing about London, is none of the men are afraid to get on the dance floor so our group danced the entire time! I honestly haven't had that much fun since we've been in London. Hands down! 

After the great night, Andrew #2 (his real name is Andrew Marks, we just had 3 Andrews at our table so it amused me!) invited us to another event the following weekend! So tomorrow night, we will be attending A Night with the Stars to support a Children's charity Andrew's company sponsors. Supposedly, Kevin Spacey and Sir Ian McKellen are on the list of performers! Should be a good time! Unfortunately, I have no pictures from the event because Andrew said it wasn't like other nights out where I take a million pictures, sometimes with random people, and forbid me bring my camera!

Then Saturday, we packed up Maeby and an overnight bag and headed to Cambridge for Alison's birthday!! We got there a little early and I had been bugging Andrew for a Cambridge sweatshirt ever since he was accepted so we walked around the town to find one! Cambridge is absolutely beautiful and this time of year, was starting to look REALLY Christmasy! It was cold, and we were all bundled up and it just felt so holiday-y! I loved it! We found my sweatshirt and some goodies for Andrew and then made our way back to the hotel. We were able to find a dog friendly hotel next to the train station so it was easy to bring the pup along! 

Alison's birthday started with dinner at The Vaults. We had our own little private room! It was really nice. The menu option was either to pick a main course, or tapas style. I ordered tapas, obviously. I had delish green curry, some mushroom caps, and beef carpaccio. And that was me showing self control. I also had my first taste of warm toffee pudding compliments of Monty and Andrew (yes, another Andrew) and it...was...glorious! Amazing! 

After that, we hit our first club! We has a table by the DJ booth which was perfectly set up for people watching! I do NOT miss the single scene. I saw trashy dressed women straddling men at other tables giving them lap dances and making out. Apparently Cambridge peeps aren't very inhibited! We stayed there a bit and then another club before home. And no night out like that is complete without pizza! It was the first time I had dominoes in ages! 

 The tattoo sleeves from Halloween made an appearance again. It was an exhausting weekend! I hardly ever go out like that anymore...

We made it a Year!

Wow does time fly! And the older I get the faster it goes (obviously) but I still can't believe Sunday that 14th was my one year wedding Anniversary! Life has changed so much in this last year - I stopped working at T. Rowe, got a Graphic Design degree, moved to London, traveled to at least six different countries, and became a wife! There is nothing like a transatlantic move to test your marriage, but I think Andrew and I have finally gotten the hang of things :) 

To celebrate, we went to Fuerteventura - one of the Canary Islands. We flew the lovely, and my ever so favorite, Ryanair. The flight was just under four hours in the tiny seats that don't recline. We also had a departure time of 6:30 AM which meant we were up at 3:30 AM, getting in our hired car at 4 AM and arriving at Standstead (because Ryanair doesn't fly from Heathrow) at 5:30 AM. EXHAUSTING! I tried to sleep on the way there, but it's really hard when you can't recline the seats...


But we arrived safe and sound and then had to find the rental car. This was an amazingly inexpensive holiday so we were pretty pumped! And because Orlando rent a car was practically 11 euro a day to rent, it was the biggest POS you've ever seen. The lady says "the car is on empty so bring it back empty." Never encountered a policy like that. The guy in front of us got "the car is full, bring it back full" - I'm pretty sure they don't monitor it.. There were all kinds of dents and dings and part of the front of the car was falling off, but the lady sent us on our way without blinking an eye! There was no radio, the car was basically bare bones. We did make it to the gas station so at least that was a good thing since the car was literally running on fumes! Then it was off to the northern city of Corralejo to our flat.

Fuereteventura was not at all what I pictured! I had no idea how volcanic it was going to be. There were stretches of absolutely nothing but rocks and desert-like terrain and then, out of no where, it turned into sand dunes. It was really barren too, with small concentrations of built up areas that I guess were considered towns? And the weirdest part is that even during the barren desert stretches, you'd see the random motor home van way out in the middle of it that had set up shop. Didn't seem like a very homey environment to me! 

I was REALLY happy with our Corralejo choice because it actually felt like a honest town.  There were so many hotels in the middle of nowhere. We were able to stock up at the grocery stores for breakfast and lunch and get all the Haribo candy I could eat! London doesn't have the same candy as back in the States - no candy I have ever heard of really. So when I saw the gummy bears, pink and yellow peaches, and the sour gummy belts, I went nuts! It was GLORIOUS :) 

In Corralejo, we stayed in a beautiful flat on the beach. There was nothing but clear blue water and sand. Being a part of Spain, we were privy to a lot of topless and nude sunbathing... apparently the group this appeals to most is the over 60's who are overweight! I have some images that will certainly haunt my memory for quite some time... they are burned in there! 

One of the goals of this vacation was to do some kiteboarding since Fuerteventura literally means "Strong Adventure" in Spanish. I enrolled for a two day course that started on Tuesday. Alex was my instructor and including me, there were 3 guys and 3 girls involved. Alex did not like me one bit. I laugh in inappropriate situations - when things are hard, when things hurt, when I'm uncomfortable...it's my automatic response to many things. So I guess I must have been laughing during my kite work on the beach because he kept yelling at me to take it seriously and it wasn't a joke. I will say, I took everything very seriously because on wrong move of the kite and I was yanked halfway across the beach. An hour into the session (girls taking turns on one kite, the guys on the other) I have mastered the feel of the kite. I know how to launch it pretty much on my own and adjust accordingly so I can stay still and run the drills necessary to prepare me for the water work. Because I was so good with the kite, I got to preform my skills and then Alex made me switch so the other girls could practice. They were not as good with the kite and therefore needed more time out of it. So in the five hours of day 1, I think I touched the kite for less than an hour and a half. Pitiful. And because the other girls were so bad, Alex spent most of the time with the boy group. I was so pissed, I walked the 45 minutes home in the cold wind, absolutely fuming. Probably a good move since I felt much better once I finally made it back. 
 
Andrew kiteboarded that same day, but there wasn't a lot of wind so he said it wasn't that great. I'm sad it wasn't that great for him because the wind never really picked up enough for him to try again the rest of the trip. He's a big boy and requires a lot of wind to play! I opted out of day two (although I REALLY like the kite stuff) A) because I couldn't imagine another day of being yelled at by Alex, and B) the body drag portion was further out in the water because of the rocky coastline and if I was going to do a lot of observing, I really didn't want to be in a little dingy on the waves. In the last few years, even though I love love love boats, I get horribly seasick... even snorkeling in wavy waters makes me yack. Lovely right? 

So we spent the rest of the holiday in the sun and eating our faces off! Seriously, the food was fantastic! My favorite tapas place was called Tapa.itas and was Italian inspired tapas. We had lots of croquettas (my absolute FAV) - the fish ones were the best, and meat and shrimp and bruschetta, and stuffed peppers, and fried goat cheese. There are a lot of goats on Fuerteventura so we had some of the best, freshest goat cheese I've ever tasted! The very best part of this little Italian tapas place, though, was their Tiramisu. Served in a giant glass, it was so creamy and delish and perfectly light. I had this twice while there. The other nights, we walked to the other end of Main Street to the Crepe man for dulce de leche and coconut crepes, or at least that was my combo :) There was also a Tony Romas on Main Street. We ate there just because. NOT amazing! 

One of the final things we did was take a 2-hour dune buggy tour. Andrew drove and I rode in the passenger seat. There were two other buggies in the tour. Unfortunately, this was the coldest day of our trip so I was covered in towels the entire time, which worked out quite well since everyone got absolutely covered in dust! Not two minutes into the tour, we had to stop because our buggy would not go up the hills! So we were brought another one. It was really rugged terrain and a unique experience.

So it was a perfect holiday and very reminiscent of our honeymoon. I have a fabulous hubby that I love very much! Can't wait for the many more anniversaries to come! 

I love America...in October

We made it home to the US of A again a week and a half ago. We got in Friday the 15th and were immediately greeted by my very lovely parents at Regi's! I didn't get to eat at Regi's during my last visit so I was super pumped! I ignored the fact that it would be at least my fifth meal for the day. My parents were a little more lovely dovey and smiley than usual and it turns out, they had been bar hopping across the harbor since 4PM. It was no 8:30PM. I love them! And my mom looked so cute in a sweater dress and Uggs! Love it! 
 
Saturday the 16th, Andrew and I awoke jet lagged bright and early. It was Baltimore Marathon day so we went for a nice little walk over towards Fells. I was craving Blue Moon (anyone up at the crack of dawn on a weekend, treat yourself to breakfast here!! There tends to be a looong wait after 8 AM). Sitting in the window of Blue Moon we were able to see the Marathon front runners glide by at mile 15/16-ish, running a pace faster than I can run one mile! They seriously looked like gazelles! There was a HUGE gap between these pack leaders and the next set of runners. At least 5-10 minutes (I'm a horrible time estimator). 

After breakfast, I wanted to see the runners to see if we knew anyone, so we walked the route back to the Hyatt. I saw Andrew Chanko, a couple former gym buddies, Cyriac - my former co-worker, and Jon Truhan - my high school boyfriend! Craziness! I don't know how people run marathons. Everyone looked absolutely miserable. MISERABLE. 

By the time we got back to the hotel, I had a message in the room from Ashley Biggs telling me to come see her before she became Mrs. Greg Sileo later that day! I picked her up at Neal's hair salon. I myself will never go back there after the bangs butchering of 2009, but Ashely and her girls looked absolutely beautiful. She's a really pretty girl. The wedding Reception was going to be at the Peabody Library, so she had the Presidential Suite at the Peabody Court Hotel to get ready in. It had an old, antiquey vibe and so much space to get ready in! Ashley was actually steaming bridesmaid dresses mere hours before her wedding until I realized what she was doing and took over. No bride should be doing ANYTHING where they could break a sweat on their wedding day. I wanted her to be the princess that she is :) I tried to do a good job of documenting the getting ready process before her actual photographer got there. I tried to think of things that I wished I had thought of on my wedding day. Steph was the best MOH ever though, so I couldn't really think of much! 

I went back to get ready and then Andrew and I were off to the wedding! It was so surreal. Andrew and I hadn't been back to Loyola Chapel in almost a year. Last time we were there, he and I got married! The wedding was beautiful, Ashley looked beautiful, Greg and Ashley's parents look fabulous, it was great. I held it together during the ceremony which really surprised me! Some of my Loyola peeps were mentioning that Loyola had undergone major renovations so I made Andrew wander around campus with me before the reception. I was AMAZED with the changes. The technology classrooms in the Sellinger School of Business had two flat screens per desk instead of the gross, bulky monitor in the desk it had when I was there! The student center was absolutely gorgeous with a Starbucks and a smoothie bar (replacing some no-name crappy wanna be coffee joint and a salsaritas). And Boulder Gardens Cafe was all shiny and new with glorious food choices! And the book store, it's now a Barnes and Nobles. At least all the money we paid (pay) to go there is going to good use! 
 
As I mentioned before, the reception was at the Peabody Library. I had never been there before and it was honestly stunning. It looked like something out of Harry Potter with it's open foyer and story after story of book shelves! I found a long lost bff in John Simonetti's girlfriend Blair. It was all just fabulous. And I really enjoyed myself until it was time for the father daughter dance. Ashley's dad passed away a few years ago and she put together this slide show in it's place of pictures of her and her dad/family. I lost it. To my defense, there wasn't a dry eye in the room, but I took it especially hard. After that, it was hard for me to pick my mood back up. 


It was a gorgeous wedding. Very Ashley and Greg. I love them.


After that, the rest of the weekend, we watched the Raven's game and Andrew got ready for his big week at the office. As usual, we had jammed packed plans. Lunch Monday, Andrew and I took Steve Heilbronner to the Cheesecake Factory. Steve is an institutional writer and T. Rowe and I used to work with him when I worked there. He also edited Andrew's Cambridge application so we wanted to thank him for the time he put into that. He's a really great guy and could sympathize and understand what Andrew and I were going through as he and his wife lived in Italy for a number of years. It's amazing the parallels we have with other couples who have had overseas living experiences. That night, we went to Magerks with Magno, Jamie Gray, and Jason Dowell. It was a lot of football talk, so I was happy when Alex Park showed up as well! I love that kid. Nothing like Magerks cheesesteaks :)


Tuesday I had lunch with my former GCIR boys and then went home to see Jacky play his last soccer game at home! It was senior night and he wrote a little note thanking my parents for their support. Unfortunately, it wasn't the best game but I got to see just how exceptional of a keeper Jack is! Amazing! Cousin Mikey came to watch too. It's always great catching up with him :) The Wednesday it was back to Baltimore to have dinner with Emily and Elliot. It was a blast as always! We really miss those guys. I'm pretty sure I drank a bottle of wine on my own that night and I was blindly drunk by the time I got back to the hotel. Totally not what the plan was! That was the night that made me miss Baltimore and our old hood, Fed Hill, the most.


The Thursday we went to see Josh, Andrew's BFF. We went with Josh to pick the boys up at their school. I can't believe have big they've gotten! Carter was crawling the last time I saw him so it was amazing to see him walking around and the happy-go-lucky personality he's developed! And Travis is a little man now! Josh has started teaching him early to be a ladies man, because in the car, he was petting my leg and playing with my hair. He was too cute for words! We played with the boys and had some dinner and it was just like old times. Andrew and I both really miss having the good friends that we had back home... Travis is a little monkey too! I got some good pics of him with his godfather, Uncle Andrew :) 


Then Friday, Jesse came in! Andrew and I killed a little time at Arundel Mills while waiting for his plane to land at BWI. We ended up playing in Dave and Busters and had a BLAST! Between basketball, football throwing, claw machines and skee ball, we had a fabulous time! I can't wait to go back and have a day like that again - hopefully over Christmas because I really enjoyed myself! I even won an Orioles basketball in the claw machine on my first try!


Jess got in and home we went. My mom, as usual, had an amazing dinner waiting for us. My best times in the whole world are when I'm with my whole family - Jess, Jack, Mom, Dad and Andrew. Best times. Hands down. Saturday we got up and went kayaking on the Potomac. My mom is an AWESOME kayaker. I was totally impressed. I did alright, but I think my technique was all off because I felt like I was putting out more effort than everyone else, but wasn't going anywhere! I would've had pictures of the adventure, but Jess the photographer managed to tip his Kayak over withing 45 seconds of being on the water... ruining his iphone that he was taking pictures with. Poor guy. But really, how do you flip a kayak on still water?! We ended the kayaking adventure with a Flavor Ice... perfect experience! 

The rest of Saturday, my mom prepared fake Thanksgiving. It was the last time our family would be together until probably Christmas, so she held Thanksgiving... it was GLORIOUS! She really outdid herself. There was turkey and ham and pineapple casserole and broccoli casserole and mashed potatoes and pumpkin pie...everything. I got some good ideas what to do for actual Thanksgiving, which I am going to host in our flat!! My mom is amazing. i hope I'm as good a mom as her one day... Then that night, Jackie had his new love interest, Hannah, over and an old flame yet still bff Britney. We played pool and ping pong and the ever so fun Catch Phrase! You know it's a great night when high schoolers would rather stay in and play at our house than go to a party! 

Sunday we got up and went to Baltimore. Andrew. my mom and I drove separately because the other boys were tailgating with my dad's friends bright and early. We aren't even out of Waldorf when Andrew gets a speeding ticket. I felt so bad for him. It was a road where we always speed and there is never anyone one it. And if that wasn't bad enough, 45 seconds after that, we hear a pop and air gushing and it turns out we get a flat tire. So poor Andrew pulls over in the Colony South, strips down to a wife beater, and puts the spare on. We FINALLY make it to Baltimore, park and go to the tailgate. We went to the Ravens v. Bills. It should've been an easy win for the Ravens but they scored ahead of us because our defense stunk it up and then we took the lead by a large gap and then it was tied for the end of regulation play. Thank GOODNESS we won in overtime, but it was the most stressful game ever. We had our old seats which was really nice and the cheerleaders wore their Halloween costumes for the second half which i thought was incredibly cute! It was a gorgeous day so all in all, perfect. Afterward, we went to Regi's for an early dinner before Andrew and I had to leave to make our flight. So the trip came full circle. It's always so so hard to leave. I miss my family. I can't wait to go home at Christmas!