Whenever Keith asks where I want to eat if we go out for dinner, I first answer with Mexican. You can’t go wrong with tacos, guacamole, and margaritas, right?

Perhaps, I’ve gravitated more towards the Mexican because I know Keith can seldom find anything wrong with that choice. But my first love is Italian. Plates of antipasti, good olive oil and warm bread, and chewy delicious fresh made pasta – I’m making myself hungry just thinking about it.

I’ve watched them make pasta on the cooking shows and thought, I could do that. Really how hard can it be? Well, last night I took a pasta making class at one of my favorite little stores on Capitol Hill - Hill's Kitchen. (If you live in DC, like to cook or just like kitchen gadgets, then you definitely need to stop by and check this place out.) This class fills quickly so it’s taken me almost a year to finally make it.

I found the instructor knowledgeable and friendly. The class was hands-on, so my only picture is of the finished product.


For some reason, I thought there was olive oil involved. I was surprised to learn fresh pasta involves just flour, eggs, and salt. And it didn’t come as a surprise when we were reminded to use the best quality ingredients possible. As to it being just three ingredients, I still some how I managed to get flour and egg all over the place making it difficult to get other photos.

The class ran much longer than I anticipated, but then rolling pasta is hard work. Tonight I’m envisioning plates of pasta with fresh tomatoes and basil for dinner; I want to savor my hard work. Fingers crossed it turned out okay. Now the bigger question is do I buy a pasta roller?

Do you make pasta from scratch or perhaps you make pizza dough? I’d like to hear what you find to be worth that extra energy.

Keith and I really took advantage of the three-day weekend. We may have almost taken advantage of it a little too much. It was quite the struggle for both of us to get out of bed.

The weekend involved a little work. Our new blue bed is assembled (thank you, Keith!) and in place with new bedding following an IKEA trip. I’ve decided to share photos once the entire room is complete. Thought I’d go for the dramatic reveal.

We spent quality time with dear friends and their new little man. Who by the way is adorable. Don’t believe me? Check for yourself.

The rest of the time was devoted to becoming reacquainted with our couch and bed. We did absolutely nothing and it was wonderful. The biggest accomplish was making this for breakfast a couple of days.

Did you do anything good with your bonus day?

Since we returned from Georgia, I have felt right down crummy. Within an hour of being home, my eyes became all red and puffy. This wasn’t something cucumbers could fix. I figured this was just part of returning home and dealing with the ridiculous pollen counts.

The remainder of the week has been spent accepting I caught a nasty cold. Wednesday was the worst of it. Thankfully, Keith was there to help take care of me. It’s just miserable being sick when you’re all alone.

As much as I want to tell you about exotic travel plans, the long three-day weekend is devoted to sleeping and basically staying close to home. At most, I plan to venture out to IKEA and Target.

Please tell me your plans are better.

At any given point, you’ll find at least 3 books on my nightstand – more if you count all the books I’ve downloaded to my Kindle, but have yet to read. And if you check out Keith’s side of the bed there is often that many books on his along with the New Yorker and whatever magazine he’s reading at the moment. And this isn’t counting the books he manages to stash around the apartment. He assures me there is a system to his madness, although I can’t always be sure.

The latest book I finished was The Boy in the Moon: A Father’s Journey to Understand his Extraordinary Son by Ian Brown. Ian shares his story about his son, Walker, who has an incredibly rare genetic condition called Cardiofaciocutaneous (CFC) syndrome. Only one in about 300 people worldwide is diagnosed. Walker is unable to speak or effectively communicate, constantly tries to harm himself, and will need constant care for the rest of his life.

I have mixed feelings in recommending this book. Ian is honest and doesn’t attempt to cast Walker as an angel shared with him to teach a larger lesson. He shares his doubts and insecurities with brutal honesty. All of this is done in a chronological progression, taking you through the family’s journey. However, by the middle of the book, Ian shifts to more of a rambling research report with awkward attempts to tie it back to Walker and the family. I often found myself skimming over chapters to get back to back to the personal story.

Regardless, it was a moving story and nothing like the books I typically pick up so it was worth the deviation off my usual path. Do you have a type of book you tend to gravitate towards or do you read a variety of genres?

Keith and I made it back from Dahlonega, GA last night in time for to continue our Sunday night tradition. Keith always gets a little sappy when it comes to weddings and watching his friends celebrate their love and this weekend was no different. 


We made it in late Thursday night and was able to crash with my sister. On Friday morning, she took us to this cute little breakfast spot that had some of the best coffee. I only wish I had asked them where I could purchase their coffee so I could have a cup or two at home. The visit with her was short as we needed to make our way north for the wedding festivities. It was agreed that we need to make a trip back to see Atlanta and for me that must include the Jimmy Carter library. 


On the drive north, we stopped at a couple of liquor stores in search for bourbon that's harder to find in the District. This trip was quite a success. We found not one but three bottles, including a 100th Anniversary bottle of Four Roses and this bottle celebrating the upcoming elections.  

Once we made it to our destination, Keith's best man responsibilities filled the rest of the time.  However, there was time to make friends with this adorable gal, Biscuit. She was quite found of Keith, letting him pick up and just cuddle with her. I think Sammy is still mad at us; not sure how she knows, but she does. 

 “…There is no greater happiness for a man than approaching a door at the end of a day knowing someone on the other side of that door is waiting for the sound of his footsteps.”

Last night was one of those events. It’s the first one we’ve attended and featured a panel by the Beam family of products. Here's are the panelists including Fred Booker Noe (first on the left) with Jim Beam and Craig Davis (second from the right) with Maker's. Honestly, we weren't so concerned with tequila, rum and Canadian whiskey to keep track of the other folks. 

There's a little neighborhood deli near my office, where I often pick up breakfast on those hurried mornings. This place is organized chaos and not sure how long the process would take, I'd only order a small coffee and a blueberry muffin. Don't worry, I've since branched out. However, the sweet woman who runs the register and gets my coffee insists that I have a muffin too. It's just within the last week that she's given up on the muffin.

Ok, today you get a bit of a bonus. What can I say a lot is happening at our house?

I know tomorrow is May 5 otherwise known as Cinco de Mayo. However, in this house, it's even bigger.  It's the Race for the Roses, aka the Kentucky Derby. Since I was a little girl, I have been in love with horses. My mom would buy me books about the evolution of the horse and how it made its way to North America not to mention picture books of horses. If there was a book about horses, I had to have it in my library. I had the plastic play horses as well as my Little Ponies. If memory serves me right, before New Kids on the Block covered my wall, there was posters of beautiful thoroughbreds and ballerinas plastered on my wall. It didn't matter. All I wanted was a horse to call my own. Well, that never technically happened, but that hasn't stopped me from admiring them and occasionally placing a bet or two on them. Perhaps, I'll even convince Keith to go horseback ridding with me in Rock Creek.

When I was in Kentucky for the first time, I could have cared a less about the bourbon. I was on a mission to see the races. As much as I would like to see Kansas play in the NCAA Finals in person or watch the Packers play in a Super Bowl live, it would be even better to be present at the Kentucky Derby - the best two minutes in sports.

Keith and I have...well, let's be honest, I have prepared for the Derby. We have an official bottle of Woodford Reserve, the mint, and even tiny julep cups. Trust me I didn't realize they were teeny, tiny when I ordered them. Regardless, we are ready. Now if only, I had found myself a gorgeous hat. I guess there's always next year. Anyways, I'm sure I have the priorities covered as far as Keith is concerned.

Now, I'm just ready for the main event. Maybe, just maybe I'll enjoy a margarita and some guacamole after the race. I mean. It is Cinco de Mayo after all.

via Joss & Main

When I started drinking bourbon a few years ago, I drank the stuff that is widely available like Maker's Mark, Woodford Reserve, Wild Turkey and a few others you are probably familiar with.  Those brands aren't bad; I still enjoy them from time to time.  But like any hobby, there's a lot more to bourbon than that.  Serious bourbon enthusiasts chase after certain bottles and brands that have become very difficult to find.  As I moved from the easy to find stuff to the harder to find brands, I sought out some advice from my bourbon message board as to how to find these brands.  The consensus was to make acquaintances (friends even) with the owner of your favorite liquor store.

My store is Harry's Reserve in SE Washington, DC. I've been going in a couple times a week for about a year now, often when the store is not so busy.  (I work nearby, so sometimes I go into to peruse during my lunch break.) And the thing is, the year-long relationship building worked.  The owner alerted me when he got his allotment of Pappy van Winkle, which was a huge score.  And last Friday I went in after work, completely not planning on buying anything, when the owner tapped me on the arm and said, "I've got a bottle you might be interested in."  And sure enough it was a bottle of William Larue Weller from the Buffalo Trace Antique Collection.  It's a fantastic bourbon that's fairly hard to find in DC.   So I said, "I'll take it."  I don't know how he got that bottle, but I'm damn glad he did.