Playing Catch Up

Apparently when your child starts kindergarten and you move to a new house, and manage a property 3,000 miles away, life moves at about 120 miles per hour.

Before summer officially closed its doors, we had a lemonade stand with our neighbors, visited a vintage amusement park that's been reincarnated, celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary, moved into a new 100-year-old (temporary) rowhouse, and someone turned FIVE years old.

To close out September we watched "Return of the Jedi" on the lawn of the Library of Congress, where a few other friends dropped by, and toasted to our second anniversary of living here.

It's been a busy, emotional and rather crazy month!

Bring on fall-we are ready for you Halloween!

One Year

Today marks one year of living in Washington, D.C. Sometimes I can hardly believe I agreed to this-it's so out of my comfort zone, but I'm so glad Scott encouraged and highlighted how great it would be for our family-and it has been.

In a year we have seen a fair amount of the East Coast, especially the DC/Maryland/Virginia area, as this blog has highlighted. We've made friends, adventured out of our comfort zone, had a baby (who is almost one year herself!), and I've greatly improved my driving (parking specifically), and navigation skills (that took a long time. I still have no idea if I am going north, south, east, or west-darn diagonal streets).

We are not the first people to move far away from family and friends; I think it feels unusual because most of our family and friends remained close to where they grew up-at least for now. A big move away from family comes with great sacrifice, but it's empowering to know we've been able to do it.

Scott has made great strides in his work and I've created a little community for ourselves within our neighborhood. It feels good to call DC home (for the present), and while it looks like we'll be here through the spring, I can see how things are going to be missed upon our departure. Every time I drive into the city and the Washington Monument appears in my line of sight, I'm impressed. I try to take mental pictures of the leaves on the trees change as fall is ushered in and the dahlias finish their bloom. Henry celebrated his fourth birthday here and Josephine will celebrate her first. Our time here will be a colorful chapter in our family story.

Five years ago I would have never imagined us living here for every reason imaginable. I'm so glad we took the leap. It's given me perspective, provided growth, and of course, new opportunities and experiences. I'm on the edge of my seat to see where life takes us next.

4 Years Fly

One of my favorites from September 7, 2008. The best day of my life. Not only for marrying my best friend, but for sharing it with the friends and family who traveled to be there, stand beside us, and kick their heels up on the dance floor. Our parents for blessing it and our siblings for supporting us. We are so lucky.

Our happiness aside, I'm sincerely depressed by the news of Amy Poehler and Will Arnet's split. PLEASE WORK IT OUT!

400 Posts

Well, this makes 401.

I started blogging back in 2007 and those posts were rather lame (as in I referred to Scott as My Boy-well our last name and credit scores [which are AWESOME] are pretty much now on the webs for public view.)

I've written before about how I go back and forth about what to put out into the blogosphere. Mostly, I enjoy sharing thoughts and events with family members and friends I may not see very often and finding pleasure through reading other blogs, many of which I've never met the author in real life.

I realize it's completely du jour to have a blog these days (remember though, I started in '07 was four years ago, so I'm not a total bandwagoner). People write for different reasons, but I do feel if I am putting something out there that a set of eyes are deigning to read, I should attempt to make it interesting, which is why there can be lapses in post. Sometimes I'm not that interesting-we work, eat, watch Intervention and repeat. I don't think people need a brain dump of my mental to-do lists.

I've noticed a trend in blogging as of late-MAJOR product pushing. I get that people are trying to earn a little money from their blog and thus they have sponsors and do features-why not have a little ROI for the time that goes into posting. I also understand marketing is ever evolving and is not limited to your tv/radio/print venues anymore. I could simply stop reading but frankly I do find other aspects of these bloggers daily lives interesting. And perhaps it has come to that-a little bit voyeurism and a little bit of laziness in not wanting to delete from my reader or Twitter. I don't want to say you'll never see that on here because the minute I do, Martha Stewart Crafts will probably want to advertise for $4,000 a month. I would not refuse that offer.

Clearly I'm no Pioneer Woman in the blogging world (though if the Food Network calls, they should know I'm ready at a moment's notice to be a fabulous guest at a certain Hamptons home) and don't have 700 people a day reading this (which is good, since I don't post daily and use far too many parentheses) thus, no amazing calculators or diapering services to push for an extra fifty bucks a month.

For a 401st post this is certainly no Kerri Knight-Teague dissertation. Thankfully I'm only graded by my own shame later when I go back and read. I know the people who read this may crack a smile and can easily skip the tangent thoughts. Thanks for reading through the last 200 posts-that was probably when it got good anyway. There will be no giveaway because I'm not into those and would probably offer a Chia Pet or Bump It anyway.

Hola, Buenos Dias

For our third anniversary, we ventured to our neighbors to the south, Mexico, specifically the Maya Riviera in Cancun. In a word: humid. In a second word: awesome.

We took nearly 200 pictures and thought it was an awesome trip. I am lacking the motivation to really post that much on here, mostly due to the fact this blogging platform's picture posting is crappy . Blogger-you really need a gallery function. Thus, consider this post a snapshot of the trip. If anyone who comes across this wants more info on anything, I'm happy to share.


Day 1:
We arrived in the late afternoon and used the evening to check out the amenities at the hotel, Secrets Maroma:

Bedroom

Bathroom

We were lucky enough to go during a promotion so our room was upgraded from partial ocean view to full ocean view.

The main drag of the hotel had these shallow "foot pools" with lounge furniture and table games.

Pool and beach.

Party people, first night there and we're playing Jenga, followed by a Fire and Ice dance show.

Day 2:
Eat, drink and be merry.

Like I said, humid.

Day 3
We took a day trip to Chichen Itza, newly added to the list of the wonders of the world, and even if it were not, a marvel to visit. It also calmed my fears to listen to the residents see 12/21/12 as no big deal. Thank goodness, I have started mentally planning my 30th for 2014.

Blue agave/crucial future margarita ingredient.

Pit stop after 2 hours in a bus with half the tour in French and half in English. I actually enjoyed it because it reminded us how much we need to learn a second language, since the rest of the world speaks more than one.

We have arrived. Like I said above, a marvel to see and a trip to learn about the culture.

Commemorating the human sacrifices made...quite eerie.

Following a 2.5 hour tour of Chichen Itza (and about 35 photos of the ruins, pool where the dead bodies were thrown, and vendor stands selling apocalypse shirts) we moved on to lunch at a local restaurant. It wasn't that good. I'm all for authentic Mexican food, but this was buffet and not that great. But we did get entertainment. Love me some ballet folklorico. I left high marks on the survey following the tour with the needs improvement in that lunch. After refueling, it was onto a cenote, pools from underground rivers that meet salt water from the ocean forming a crystal clear estuary. We climbed down about 50 feet to reach the cave and swim for a bit, as well as take a brief venture into a VERY claustrophobic cave that had a tortuga, Maria and Christo formed by stalactites inside. Tips requested.

Day 4:
I am not known for my driving skills. It's rather embarassing in real vehicles as well as K1 speed racing go carts. Scott wanted to go ATVing, so I knew what my plan would be bringing up the rear. So, while the rest of the group nearly popped wheelies, I followed as the caboose only speeding when it was a very clear and long path ahead of me, instead of the other twisting and turning through blind corners in the jungle.

After charging hills and mud, we came upon another cenote for swimming.



Crystal clear waters with strict instructions about not using it as a bathroom.

Awkward ATV photo of the year.

After the half day activity, we returned back to the resort for the real reason for vacation:

Endless drinks by the pool.

Lunch-grouper.
As if, we were boring Americans and had cheese burgers and fries.

The late afternoon storm moved us to the deck where we continued the theme of libations through Crown Royale's on the rocks for the mister, and a revolving array of Champagne, mojito's, Chardonnay, and margaritas for me. And quoting my new friend Tina Fey. Oh man that book is hilarious.

Cheers!

Dinner of fennel roasted chicken and rib eye steak.

Day 5
Day four is also known as the day we wish we had a do-over for. More than one person suggested we visit Xel-Ha, as did every other bilboard there. Xel-Ha is a natural water preserve where people probably have a great time if they don't have access to Wild Rivers or Disneyland at their fingertips any time of the year. For us, the lazy river was nice (when you weren't going to be decapitated by the mangroves) but the snorkeling was better in the cenotes or standing at the beach, and the zip lining, cliff diving, Blackbart's Cave adventure was not our cup of tea and I didn't want to pay 1 million pesos for swimming with dolphins or manatees.

That aside, we did check out another site of ruins, Tulum. Again, it was hot and humid. So hot and humid we sat down in the shade and watched iguanas fight, ignore, and sun for the last 30 minutes of the tour. However, still a site to behold, and if my memory serves me correctly, one of the only remaining coastal ruins sites.

Best item I took-that hat. It's in nearly every photo but I don't have a head sunburn that looks like dandruff.

Xel-Ha lagoon for snorkeling.

Day 6
RELAXATION

Book 2/3 for the trip, Adventures of Tom Sawyer.

Day 7

Departure day. We spent the morning on the beach and in the pool, and then lines, lines, and more lines flying from Cancun to Dallas to Los Angeles. Welcome home, Haseltons!

Story of our travels: show passport, go through underwear, discover maple leaves and/or marijuana. Ok, welcome back to the US, grab luggage.

*Shout outs to both of our parents for this trip-Cratons for taking us at 5 a.m. and picking us up, and Haseltons for Oliver sitting. THANK YOU!!!

Three Cheers for Three Years

In honor of the third anniversary we dined at the Anaheim White House, a restaurant neither of us has ever been to, despite calling that city home for over 20 years. If you are a local, you're likely familiar with the restaurant's story. If you care to learn, go here. Like many who've dined before us, Bruno was there and did greet our table, though I secretly wished he would have spoken a little more Italian, specifically "mozzarella," Giada-style. A little marital humor for Scott.


Now we're not snooty (or snotty) but we have been fortunate enough to also dine at similar spots like Mr. Stox and The Cellar, so it was easy to compare. I actually won the dinner for two in July at a baby photo event I went to with my sister-in-law and nephew. I never win anything, so to win dinner at a rather nice restaurant was pretty great.

We dined on tuna tartar, brasato piemontese (braised short ribs) and costata di manzo (New York steak) with a side of broccoli and cheese. The wine was Pinot Noir and for dessert they gifted us this:


We had a thoroughly enjoyable time with good conversation and great people watching. Seriously, do people roll out of bed and think "I want to eat at a four star restaurant tonight"? Actually I think they spend the entire day at Disneyland in 100 degree heat and then have that thought.


Earlier in the day I had gifted my groom his third anniversary gift, leather:

So stylish, practically Don Draper.