Potomac Point Winery

Winos? Why, yes!

Saturday evening Mike and I ventured to a relatively new winery just a few miles from our home. Potomac Point Winery here in Stafford opened June 8, 2007. Coincidentally, this weekend marks the first anniversary of my Big Visit to see Mike after we met in New York. What better way to mark the occasion than by indulging one of our favorite activities: boozing! OK, we were a bit classier than that. But still, it seemed very us to spend our time surrounded by alcohol. Lushes!

The drive to the winery was gorgeous; I have dismissed much of Stafford as an unending string of strip malls. Who knew such a beautiful place existed a few minutes away from a Wal-Mart?

It's Like Hanging with Sinatra

We just attended our first Homeowner's Association (HOA) meeting and guess who is now on the Board of Directors? Yep, Captain Rules Enforcement (sorry, Major Rules Enforcement) was suckered in almost immediately. Since I am not technically a homeowner I was not eligible to serve our community; my contribution was poking Mike until he raised his hand. Crafty!

A Neighborhood Watch program is in the works, so my nosiness may actually have a useful purpose. Just call me Gladys Kravitz.

New York Weekend

Mike and I happily embarked on our first road trip together to visit his family in New York. We had a great time and are still on speaking terms after 16 hours in a car together. Sounds like a successful vacation to me!

Time with Mike's family always means great food, wine and lots of teasing and banter. Needless to say, I felt right at home.

We were very fortunate to spend a lot of quality time with all three kids and celebrated Hannah's 6th birthday a little early. Thank you for a great weekend!

The birthday girl picks some flowers for her Dad. All together now: aaawwwww!

Kaiden helps Hannah line up her presents while "Sister Julia" takes a break from texting.

Dad and his Mini-Me Kaiden hanging out and rocking their Marine Corps t-shirts.


Sisters snuggling. Sister Julia is excellent at entertaining and pacifying the little ones!


Dad takes the little ones on a paddleboat ride in the pond in Grandma and Papa's backyard.

And the girls take a spin. The conversation went something like this:

Hannah: "Can I steer?"

Julia: "No"

Hannah: "Please, can I steer?"

Julia: "NO!"

Me: "Do you think Grandma has some wine open?"

Didn't you have your own outdoor bistro when you were little? Kaiden and Hannah fuel up on hot dogs. Completely necessary if you are going to wear down five adults and your big sister.


Pretty in Pink! Grandma knows how to shop for the princess.

You'd think they'd run off just a little bit of energy in the yard. Nope.

Even Old Lady DeFazio gets in on the game of chase. She forgot to take her Flinstone vitamin and tried to convince everyone to take a nap. Care to guess the answer to that one?

Make a wish!

Wise girl saved room during dinner for dessert. I'm very proud.

Shortly after this photo was taken Julia contacted Amnesty International. Something about being tortured and having to be seen taking a family photo in the front yard. The horror!

Anniversary Dinner

Since Mike was away during our actual anniversary, we celebrated with a dinner out in Fredericksburg Saturday night. My man suited up and I busted out the heels and pearls. We looked real respectable-like if I do say so myself. We saw a few cute young couples out for their pre-prom dinner and I wanted to take their picture too, but realized that I was bordering on crazy old lady behavior and decided against it. Plus Mike hinted he would ditch me.

Yes, we are cheesy enough to ask the waitress to take pictures of us. Enjoy!

Cheers!

Our waitress even hooked us up with some free dessert!

Push It Real Good

How cute is this guy?

We took advantage of a break in the torrential rain Saturday to do some yardwork. After a trip to Wal-Mart to buy a lawnmower, weed whacker and cute orange gardening gloves (with polka dots!), we did some work in our backyard. OK, Mike did pretty much all of the work while I took a ton of pictures and scooped up the trimmings. Always glamorous around here.

Belated Birthday Pictures

Mike turned 40 on April 26 and we had a full house for the occasion! Eileen and David (our inadvertent matchmakers) and Mike's brother Devan and his girlfriend Jamie came down from New York. I was a little nervous about being a good hostess and making sure everyone had a nice time. My grandparents and both sets of parents would make Martha Stewart look like a derelict, so I had some high standards for myself. In reality if you just have your fridge stocked with lots of food and booze, no one cares if the bath towels don't match the shower curtain. Lesson learned.

As usual, we spazzed out and pretty much forgot to take any pictures. There is zero photographic evidence that Devan and Jamie were even here (sorry guys, we love our blender!); same goes for the friends who stopped by for a barbecue on Saturday afternoon. Whoops. In my defense, I was busy in the kitchen (take a moment to picture that scene) and the gang was having such a nice time visiting and hanging out, no one paid any attention to the camera I put out.

Here's a few shots we did manage to take. Most of them are from Sunday when we stopped in Alexandria on the way to the airport with Eileen and David. Yeah, we're lame.

The BFF's Mike and David


So excited to have my girl Eileen here, too!

What a handsome group!

One Year for Mike & Christen

May 5, 2007: Our first photo together. We weren't smitten or anything...

Mike and I met a year ago today...and what a year it's been. Cross-country flights, lots of time standing around in airports, marathon phone calls, text-messages, meeting each other's families, and big decisions - not to mention a big move - have consumed us for the past year and it has been completely worth it.

We owe our good fortune to Eileen and David. I mean, how else would our paths have crossed if not at their wedding rehearsal?* Thanks for getting married, guys!

If you had told me that day that I would meet someone who likes Sinatra and pirates and The Simpsons and that I would leave San Francisco within a year to move in with him, I never would have believed it. But here we are and I wouldn't change a thing. Happy Anniversary!


*Yes, I hit on the best man at my friend's wedding. But in my defense, he didn't seem to mind.

Guns N' Cupcakes

Tuesday Julia and I had a lovely, lazy morning baking cupcakes while watching Gilmore Girls. The poor kid had never tried cream cheese frosting (it's one of my favorite food groups!) and now I think I've ruined her for life. We hit a sugar crash by the time Mike got home, but rallied and checked out the Marine Corps Museum in Quantico. Mike was excited to show Julia around and I think she was pleasantly surprised by how interactive and fun it is.

Example of the good times that await if you choose to visit:

Proud Dad coaches his daughter during target practice in one of the "interactive" exhibits. I chose to play photographer rather than embarrass myself.



Her "what I did on my spring break" essay will cover a wide range of activities. Guns, baking... pretty standard stuff, really.

Watching Mike watch young Marines scope out his underage daughter may have been the highlight of the day for me. He didn't bust out his signature line, "Have you ever tried to pick up your teeth with broken fingers?" but I could tell he was ready to throw down if one of them even tried to speak to her. Julia was completely oblivious to the attention she garnered. I had fun teasing her about it...not to mention torturing Mike. Ah, good times.

Sunday Family Fun

Mike and Julia standing in front of some building in DC.

Since Julia is here on vacation, we've tried to provide her with fun options but let her decide where to go and what to do. Mike and I anticipated she'd sleep in and want to watch movies and generally ignore us... basically, she'd be like us when we were her age. Not only was she up and ready to face the day long before I was, but she was incredibly easy-going about activities.

We hit old town Fredericksburg first, but found most of the fun stores were closed on Sunday. After lunch at a pub and some back-and-forth over what to do next, Julia suggested a visit to the Holocaust Museum. We headed home for a quick wardrobe change (Spring has gone into hiding temporarily) and sped on up to DC for some Smithsonian action. Since we got off to a bit of a late start, we weren't able to see half of the museum, but what we did see was pretty powerful. A bit depressing but educational and worthwhile, for sure.

We wandered around the National Mall for awhile longer before heading home for cookies, pizza, Battlestar Galactica, and some nice family bonding time.

Ninjas!

This picture kills me. I'm not sure who's having more fun here. Such cute boys!

Munchkins!

Proud Dad with his beautiful kids

Samurai Kaiden shows off his skills

Hannah and her doll on the deck. Apparently she likes her gifts!

Dad enjoying dinner with Hannah and Kaiden

Saturday was a busy day for us: took a bunch of boxes to recycling, ordered our dining room table (which should arrive any minute now - yay!), did some last-minute cleaning and organizing...and finally welcomed Mike's kids! Julia, his oldest, is spending her spring break with us while the little ones, Hannah and Kaiden, enjoy some time in colonial Williamsburg with their mom and her boyfriend. We had all the kids here for dinner and presents from Japan (Dad outdid himself in the gift department), while his ex-wife and her boyfriend took a break and got some dinner alone.

The kids really like the house and seem eager to spend time here. I'm hoping we'll have a full house at some point this summer! I baked a ton of cookies for dessert and for the little ones to take on the road and enjoy. Scored some points with the baked goods. Bribery may not be ideal but it works.

Domestic Dude and Diva

It's been brought to my attention that I haven't posted anything new in a week. My apologies, loyal readers. We've been busy, but not with anything blog-worthy. A lot of unpacking, organizing, rearranging... necessary but not especially exciting. Actually, I take that back. It's been fun merging our belongings and making the house a comfortable place for both of us.

My inner domestic goddess has made herself known and it's kinda cool and a little weird. As most of you know, I am a train wreck in the kitchen. Stuff burns and I usually end up cutting myself on something... it's not pretty. In addition to setting up the kitchen by myself (Mike was away at drill last weekend), I've been baking and collecting recipes so I can branch out a bit more. Let me repeat that: I have been baking things from scratch. No pre-fab cookie dough for this girl! Mike and his co-workers are reaping the benefits of this sudden urge to use all of the kitchen utensils I've accumulated over time. Apparently watching my grandma, Dave, and Judy cook all these years has paid off; I actually feel comfortable in what I'm doing and the house hasn't burned down. Mike has also been grilling almost every night and has become quite the menu planner.

We have been in a mad rush to get the house pulled together since our first visitor arrives on Saturday. Mike's daughter Julia is spending her spring break with us and we are so excited to have her here! I hope she has fun while she's with us. We'll need to tone down the Battlestar Galactica viewing while she's here; she probably thinks we're huge dorks as it is. No need to give her more evidence of that.

Chillin' and Grillin'

Today we purchased a fabulous gas grill. Mike and I are culinarily-challenged. We love great food, but neither one of us has the patience to cook a full meal. Part of my problem is my low-grade ADD; being easily distracted by shiny things means food often burns. Luckily, Mike loves to grill, we have a great deck, and the weather is cooperating with us so we went for it!

I marinated some steaks and Mike took charge of the grill. In the true spirit of outdoor cooking, he enjoyed a beer while expertly cooking our steaks. Once I was done steaming the veggies we sat down for our first homecooked meal together. Suck it Martha Stewart!

In less-exciting domestic news, our washer and dryer were delivered Friday. Thank God - my clothes haven't arrived and I was running out of shirts. It's starting to feel like a real home. Still on a hunt for dining room furniture... more shopping! Mike is thrilled.

Afternoon in DC

I continue to test Mike's patience by asking to do things that he would never do on his own. Like, I'm pretty sure he doesn't go to Target every day when I'm not around. Today's adventure? Checking out the cherry blossoms in DC! Hey, he's lucky we haven't gone shoe shopping yet.

Anyway, we enjoyed walking around the Mall and took a short cut through some of the gardens around the Smithsonian Museum for African Art. Gorgeous tulips, orchids and cherry blossoms...It was like walking in a postcard.

Here are some photos of us enjoying the start of Spring in our nation's capital. Woohoo!