Wedding - the story it's taken 4 1/2 years to tell

So it occurred to me that I've never put our wedding pictures online, and I figured I probably should. We had a great wedding that friends are still talking about. We got married on April 16, 2005. Orlando jokes that he took care of death and taxes in one weekend, but really it was a wonderful weekend, and our taxes had been done for months.

Our wedding ceremony was held at Dahlgren Chapel on the campus of Georgetown University. The courtyard was a beautiful setting for the guests to gather and wait for the ceremony to begin.



Our ceremony was very short; 14 minutes from procession to recessional but it included all the requirements for an official Catholic ceremony. Readings by my sister Sandi and Orlando's best friend Mark, homily by Fr. King and viola, we're married.



After posing for a few photos in the courtyard and in front of the statue of Fr. Healy, and we were off to party at the Oval Room. Restaurant was set up for a large cocktail party. We had a ton of food, starting with asparagus soup with in shot glasses and foie gras "peanut butter" and jelly sandwiches. Wish I could remember all of the food. Friends Kevin Poole and Big Sean provided our entertainment for the evening.



There were toasts by Mark, Orlando's uncle Rupert, Larry "Miser" Davenport and an original song by the Swedes detailing my experience with them in Sweden.



When it came time to cut the cake, there was drama, and our first argument as husband and wife.



There was a lot of laughter, and in the end, I forgave him and we got back to the dancing.



Sandi and I posed for one of the best pictures of the two of us that I can remember. All the fraternity brothers got together on the patio. We danced and sang into the evening and when the reception was over, the party continued at our old stomping grounds.

School Preparations

Anastasia starts school in 4 weeks. Hard to believe that she's starting public school so soon, but it's true. She'll be wearing a uniform to school, so no need to fret about what she's going to be wearing on the first day. She'll be in burgundy and gray.



It's a cute plaid, but it's not the most popular uniform, and so I've had a bit of trouble finding options that I like and aren't outrageously expensive. She is only 3, afterall, so we're going to need quite a few complete outfits and I'm not planning to spend $40 a piece for this Land's End jumper.

So, after looking at all the options available, and considering price, the number we have to buy and what's easiest for Annie, I think I've figured out an answer. We've settled on this skort in gray and plaid with white or burgundy polo shirts. I figure we'll put tights on her when it's cold. Hopefully she won't grow out of them too quickly.



As soon as they arrive, we'll get some pictures of our little angel in her new school clothes.

Bathtime

Anastasia has really grown into her bathtime. Last night she asked to take a bath in my tub (the giant tub with the jets that I just don't use very often) and I said sure. She hasn't taken a bath in that tub for almost a year, but she remembered how to turn on "the bubbles"



After about 20 minutes, I had to resort to bribery to get her out. She was too busy making beards with bubbles to notice that she had raisins for fingers.



I'm guessing that it will be a while before she goes back to the plain old tub in her bathroom.

Daddy's Fancy Restaurant

Orlando's new digs, Columbia Firehouse, opened officially this week. The place has a lot of charm, and it's much larger than M&O's was. But it's not just one open room. There is a bar, a private dining room downstairs, upstairs is the more formal steakhouse that will open in a few weeks, and through the doorway to the left is a bright, open, airy, casual dining room.


As you enter, you see the bar, and the stairs to bathrooms, old fashioned phone booths (now used for cell phone calls) and more formal steak house dining room.

As family, we were given the opportunity to participate in the soft opening, which was fun. After we ordered from the limited menu on offer that evening, we were given a copy of the menu they expected to use for opening. On the back were about 20 questions about the food, the service, the decor and the like. It was actually really fun thinking about the new space beyond the food, which we knew would be wonderful.


Fried Grilled Cheese, Crab Hushpuppies and the "Rochambeau You For It" cocktail

Myney, Anastasia and I each tried different items from the menu including mussels in curry, blue crab hushpuppies , and fried grilled cheese to start. Then we moved on to scallops, salmon, and sirloin for entrees. Sorry, I was too focused on enjoying the food to take pictures of it, even though my camera was on the table. Suffice it to say the food was amazing, and I'm not just saying that because he's my husband. The three of us loved eating at what Anastasia has termed "Daddy's fancy restaurant".

The dining room, built in the original alley next to the old firehouse, is beautiful, with high, arched glass ceilings, and very fun light fixtures which make the room feel a little more modern.



There are also two levels to the dining room, which makes it feel a little less cavernous. One of our comments was that they needed something on the green wall at the back of the room.



The next time we were there, we found that they'd taken our comments to heart, but again, no pictures because I was focused elsewhere.



The dining room is pleasant and not too loud, the food is wonderful (we can't wait for the upstairs to open, so we can see the fancy stuff, too) and all the staff seem to have a real joy for the place. Two visits down, countless more to go.

Face to Face Tour

Billy Joel ... Elton John

Not much more that needs to be said. Orlando and I had bought tickets with two friends in February and we were really looking forward to it. When he got the new job, and it looked like he was going to be working on Saturday, we decided that I would take a girlfriend instead.

So, on Saturday evening, I joined my friends Ann, Nathalie and Julia for the show. We started with dinner at Nathalie's, then took the Metro to National's Stadium. We arrived just as the show was beginning and paused for pictures outside the stadium before.



Our seats were high in the upper deck, but we were excited to get to see the two singers even from afar. We had a view of the Washington Monument, and a beautiful sunset as we heard 3 1/2 hours of great music.



The people behind us didn't like that we were standing and dancing through parts of the show, nevermind that everyone around us was doing the smae. So, about 1/3 of the way through the show, we moved to the front of the section next to ours, seats that weren't sold, but had a much better view of the stage.



All in all, a great night. A lot of fun with great friends.

Stasia's Playground

Finally, after 8 months of waiting, the new playground opened in the middle of May. While it was being constructed, we drove past it every day on the way home from daycare, and Anastasia would shout "Stasia's Playground!"

It's a super cool, really creative playground with three distinct play spaces, and lots to do for kids of all ages. The little kids space has a couple of really cool climbing ramps a slide and lookouts. The middle section is built around a "boulder" that kids can climb up and over, and has a new twist on monkeybars. The big kids section looks like a giant rope web with huge loops and the craziest slide you've ever seen.



Somehow, even though we've been to the playground a lot since it opened, this weekend was the first time I got pictures. The playground was pretty empty when we got there, which meant that Annie wasn't too shy to play on the equipment. The slides are steep, but great.



Stasia also really likes climbing up on all the different ladders, walls and rocks. It really is a climbers paradise. Anastasia is not the most confident climber, but after a couple tries, she got the hang of it.



The playground also has some of the coolest teeter totters ever.



Our little girl loves her new playground. I suspect she'll do great at her new school when she gets to play on this playground every day.

Baseball & Fireworks

Fourth of July gave us an opportunity to make new friends at Orlando's new work. The restaurant group purchased a group of tickets for the Nationals' game. The game started at 1, so after an early nap and relatively quick metro ride, we arrived for our first time at the new Nationals Stadium.



Since it was America's birthday, we got flags at the gate. Anastasia was very excited to get to our seats and see what we were going to see. Our seats were in left field, so we got a pretty good view of the action without being too close to any foul balls.





Baseball games can be a bit slow, but Anastasia was kept interested by the constant stream of soda, ice cream, french fries and onion rings. There was also the classic race of the Presidents to watch.



When all of that wasn't enough to keep her interested, it was time to visit the kids play area. We were down 3-1, and given the Nats' record, I wasn't very confident that we'd get back into it.





Anastasia loved the slide. At the end of the 8th inning, it was time for the playground to close and we made our way back to our seats. Imagine my excitement when I saw that we were winning. At the end of the game (Nats won 5-3), we invited a few friends back to our house for drinks before the fireworks started.

The return ride on the Metro was a lot more crowded than on the way there. Orlando and Annie ended up on a different car in the train, but Annie and I were still able to play a game of peek-a-boo on the ride.



Leter that evening, when it was well past Annie's bedtime, and the neighborhood fireworks had started, we all took a walk to a nearby corner where we could get a bit of a view of the national fireworks.



Anastasia was completely tuckered out, so when we got back, she went straight to bed; no pj's, no story. At 5 am, she reminded us of the unorthodox bedtime. Why hasn't evolution managed to fix a 3 year old's need to wake up before dawn? Seems to me, that's every bit as important as the opposable thumb.