Breaux Vineyards

A few weekends ago Dan & I drove up to Hillsboro, VA for a wine festival at Breaux Vineyards with a few friends that we went to college with. This was our first trip to a winery, let alone a wine festival, so we really didn't know what to expect. When we got there we were pleasantly surprised. There was so much going on - food, tents to do a little shopping, wine tasting, tours, etc. It was a very warm day but thankfully they had areas to grab some shade & drinks to stay cool. After we ate some lunch Dan & I decided to go for our wine tasting... & actually found a wine that we both liked, Jennifer's Jambalaya. Unfortunately there were a lot of wines that I didn't like & those ended up being thrown in the grass. I also did a little shopping & bought a thick, silver bangle bracelet that I absolutely love. After some walking around we decided to sit in the shade, enjoy the music & chat: Brian & Tera
TR & Claudia
Us with our tinted lips after drinking our "wine-a-ritas."
We were so glad that we made the trip to the festival & got to catch up with everyone; maybe we'll get to go back again next year. [Photo courtesy of Breaux Vineyards]

Yard Work & A Lot Of Sweat

This past weekend Dan & I got the home improvement bug & decided to work on our front yard; if you have ever been to our house you know that our yard is extremely small so we really didn’t think it would take too long....several hours later we were finished. Our plan was to plant, mulch, reshape & improve what we already had so we decided to start at Wal-Mart because lets face it, it’s usually cheaper. Plus my Mom recently bought some daisies from there & planted them on the side of their house & they looked great when we went up for the 4th of July; as soon as I saw them I knew I wanted the exact same ones. When we got to Wal-Mart we found their selection of daisies & were immediately disappointed – not in good shape at all. Since I couldn’t get a hold of my Mom to ask for advice, we decided to check out Lowe’s; they had a much better selection of plants, but no daisies. We bought our scalloped, cement dividers from there & also our mulch & top soil. We then went to Home Depot, but still no daisies. Dan had the idea of stopping at two nurseries not far from our house which were also a bust & totally expensive - I couldn’t believe how pricey they were.

On our way back to Wal-Mart I heard from my Mom who told me that the daisies she bought were in bad condition too, but after a week of being planted they were fine, so Dan & I bought 4 of them for the front yard. We also bought 5 Liriope to fill some of the empty space. By the time we got home with all of our purchases, it was about 96 degrees outside & I told Dan that I wanted to wear my bikini to work in the yard. He then said, “where do you think you are, West Virginia?” I instantly laughed & decided to compromise & wear my bikini top & a pair of shorts so I wouldn't embarrass him – I’ve been into tanning this summer because last summer I looked like an albino all year & I hated it (yes, I’ve been wearing my sun block for all of you worriers out there).

So before we could start on our project, we had to unload Dan’s truck – here’s a photo I took of all our purchases: And here are the before photos of our front yard:
It was very plain and didn't have a lot of love.

And here is what it looks like now!

“To the left, to the left” of our front door.
Dan & I decided the other day that we're going to buy another plant to fill in the gap between the other two - not sure what we're going to get though.
I loooove our Euonymus shrubs, which are the green & yellow plants, so much in fact that I found myself hugging them while waiting for Dan to dig holes for planting – he, of course, looked at me very strangely. I can't wait for them to grow bigger so I can shape them more. I'm also extremely excited about filling one of my vases with fresh daisies & having them in the house.
Us admiring our hard work: Lexi was a big help: As a reward we treated ourselves to some mexican food & drinks with friends: [I love this picture of Dan.]
After dinner we walked over to visit the ducks who thought we were bringing them food & started surrounding us: [Look at the one at Dan's 11:00 just staring me down. LOL!]
They quickly left once they realized that we didn't have any food - poor things they were probably starving: We are so very happy with our end result. In fact, since we have finished it Dan gets extremely excited to water the front yard & it’s now part of his daily routine in the evening.

Quick Trip To PA

On Sunday morning, July 3rd, Dan & I drove up to PA to visit my family. We had planned to drive up on Friday when I got off work, but after receiving some sad news earlier in the week, we needed to stay in VA for part of the weekend.

As we were packing Dan’s truck I had to find a spot to put Lexi’s new car seat & since she gets car sick I couldn’t put it in the back, which only left one other place...in the front seat. After hooking it in I realized what Dan had been complaining about when we first got it – it was huge. There was just enough room for Dan & me to sit on either side of her & in order for me to have both of my arms down at my sides I had to turn slightly diagonal in the seat...for...4...hours. As you can see below, Lexi is quite comfortable: Other than that our drive up wasn’t too bad, we didn’t hit any traffic which was so nice. After we arrived at my parents’ house, we made plans to go to one of our favorite Mexican restaurants in Washington, PA called Old Mexico. My tacos were fantastic! By the way I’ve been on this beef kick lately & I just can’t get over it. Anyway, when we got home Mom & I got everything ready for us to make s’mores! Now a few weeks ago I had mentioned to Dan that it would be fun for us to make s’mores one night after dinner; he made the comment, “what are we 5?” and my idea was kicked to the curb. :o( Thankfully, my Dad & I have a major sweet tooth so my idea of making them was a big hit. Since we didn’t have a fire pit or fireplace, we made ours on my parents’ grill (Greene County style): Brother
Mom & Me. She said, "sis take our picture like you do." =]
Mom & Dad making their s'mores.
Brother & Sister
Yummy deliciousness!
Dad & Me

For the 4th we had a very relaxing day. My Dad & Dan went golfing that morning & Mom & I laid out in the back yard just a chit chatting away. We had an early dinner because Dan & I had to drive back to VA, but the food my Mom made was great. Any time Dan comes up she makes her famous potato salad, but this time she made her ranch potatoes & they were so freakin’ good. I’ll admit that I had 4 servings of them, but it was a holiday weekend so my indulgence was warranted. This year we didn’t get to see any fireworks, but we were glad that we got to see my family even if it was for a short time.

Happy belated 4th of July!

Our Granny Bernie

We've lost someone very near & dear to our hearts, Dan's grandmother, Bernie Kleinschmidt aka Granny Bernie. Her funeral service was held last Saturday, July 2nd in Springfield, VA. As I was writing this post, I decided to Google Granny Bernie to see what information would come up. She loved being active & was a participant in the Senior Olympics for as long as I have known her. During the funeral service, family members commented that she was "always in training." After the results I found online, I can see why - she was extremely talented & won several medals. Here are some of the Senior Olympic results that I found:

2007: "The Virginia Silver Stars of Falls Church won the silver medal for competing in the 80+ age group at the National Senior Games held in Louisville, KY: From left: Coach Hess M., Ginny F., Bernie K., Mary B., Josephine S. and Coach Patricia M. (Photo: Courtesy Elizabeth Martin)"

2008: At 82, in the archery recurve competition in Virginia Beach, she placed first.
"In the discus, during the first day of the 2008 Northern Virginia Senior Olympics held in Arlington, Kleinschmidt set a senior record with a throw of 27-feet and 2-inches." I have some great memories of Granny Bernie & I'm glad that I am able to share those with my family & Dan & I's future family. She was a soft spoken woman, but she loved to chat about sports, nature, her family, the weather, her flowers & jewelry. She would laugh at Lexi when she would start her zoomies or when she would run up & lick her hand - she would say, "oh my goodness she's so cute & tiny."
I remember at Thanksgiving, a few years back, when we were all staying in WV at Dan's parents' house & one afternoon she asked me if I wanted to see her collection of clip-on earrings that she had brought with her. She remembered where she had got each pair & who had bought them for her.
During one of our weekend trips to WV, we had picked up Granny Bernie & Dan had the radio on which was playing rap music. I commented that he should turn the station because Granny Bernie probably didn't want to listen to that kind of music & Granny Bernie said, "oh, no it's fine...I like rap music. This is that 50 cent, right?" Yes, it was 50 cent.
She was a great pool player & I remember Dan saying several times that his goal for the weekend was to beat Granny Bernie at pool. Afterwards Granny Bernie came up to me & whispered in my ear, "I beat him" & we gave each other a high five.
She always noticed what kind of eyeshadow I wore & would comment how much she liked it.

We miss you & we shall wait for the day when we can see you again.

"Those we love don't go away, they walk beside us every day, unseen, unheard, but always near, still loved, still missed, and very dear."

New Purchase & Maryland

As I stated previously, Lexi’s car seat broke one day while we were running errands & after some research on which one to purchase, I finally pulled the trigger & bought one.Here is the online photo of it: I decided to go with the same brand name of her last one (Solve It) because I liked her old one so much. This car seat holds up to 25 lbs. & sits on the seat rather than strapping it to the headrest & hooking it around the back; Dan & I were never able to put Lexi’s old car seat in the back due to those 2 reasons. I decided to get a larger one that she could actually lie down comfortably in but still have it high enough that she is able to see out the window. While I was putting this massive thing together, Dan kept commenting that it was way too big & that I would never get it in the back of Phoebe; he said we should return it several times. After putting it together, I was able to fit it in the back seat so we decided to test it out & take Lexi for a drive. I don’t think she enjoys sitting in the back of the car because she’s so use to sitting in the front seat, but I think she’ll eventually get use to it. We’ve never been able to put her in the back seat during our drives to WV or PA because we take a lot of back, windy roads & she gets car sick...just like me. I'll post a photo of Lexi the next time we take a drive.

On June 25th Dan & I drove to Bethesda, MD to meet up with our friend, Ashley. She had just returned from a trip to Spain & we hadn’t seen her in a few months. Us on our way.
We met at her apartment & decided to go to Uncle Julio’s for dinner (no shock there – Mexican food). :o) It was such a nice day that we decided to sit outside on the patio: Ash & I.
He was thrilled to get his picture taken.
I really don't mind. :o)
Several drinks & several plates of great food later, we dropped Ash off at the Metro so she could meet up with one of her girlfriends & Dan & I made our way back home. It was great catching up with her & it was nice to get out of Northern Virginia for the evening, even if we went to one of our regular restaurants. :o)

Cupcakes!

On Saturday, June 11th my friend Lisa & I met at the Dulles Town Center for our cupcake class at Cookology. Lisa had
initially brought the idea to me because she had been wanting to take it but her husband, Chip, was not too thrilled about it. Instead of having the spouses go, we decided to have a girls day. Yay! We met at the DTC at Noon so we could grab lunch beforehand; we ate at Vapiano, which I have eaten at before with my Mom, but Lisa had never been; they have great italian food & everything is cooked fresh, right in front of you. After lunch we made our way to class. Here is a photo of us anxiously awaiting class to start:
We made the following cupcakes:

1. Lemon cupcake with cream cheese frosting;
2. Vanilla cupcake with mocha/coffee frosting; and
3. Raspberry cupcake with chocolate ganache.

After looking around at the other people in the class, Li & I realized that our cupcakes were the best ones. What do you think?
YUMMY!

Before I went to class Dan told me to make sure that I brought some cupcakes home so we could have them for dessert that night, he didn't want to me to eat all of them - I did have a raspberry one & it was terrific. :o) When I finally got home & showed him our masterpieces he said, "what the hell?! That's it?" Apparently he thought they were going to be huge cupcakes, not normal size cupcakes. After he dissed them for a while, he finally had one & realized that they were the perfect size & tasted great. *Sigh*

Cookology does offer a cupcake decorating class which Li & I found out about while we were taking this one; we both want to go back & take it, so hopefully we'll get to some time this summer.

Great job on our baking skills, Li - we get a pat on the back. Go Team DownLow! ;o)