I'm beginning to think I subconsciously take the summers off from here. Almost as if I'm desperately trying to hold onto my childhood and bring some type of summer break to my life. Well, maybe that or maybe it's that every big work deadline seems to hit smack in the middle of summer.

How I'd rather have been here with you telling you in real time about the baseball game, the picnics with friends, the evenings spent grilling on the back porch, well you get the idea. The summer wasn't all work, but maybe that's what summer is intended to be as a grown up. Just allowing yourself to pause and enjoy those simple moments that may otherwise escape.

I hope you had a wonderful summer.

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season and the new year has gotten off to a lovely start. I can't believe we're almost to the half-way point for January already. The time to discuss resolutions and whatnot has passed. Instead, I wanted to share my three goals for 2014.

1. Have friends and/or family over for dinner at least once a month. This may mean a simple weeknight meal consisting of a robust antipasti plate or it may involve a Saturday night dinner party where I try out a new recipe or two from the cookbook library. Regardless, I want to cook more and share those meals with the ones I love.
2. Take more photos. Keith and I have spent many conversations about finding a hobby. I think one of my hobbies is going to involve my camera and capturing more memories. To help hold me to this, I'm planning to start a series here picking up on what so many other bloggers do called Silent Sundays. I want to share a photo that captures what the week held or maybe that day, but you'll see at least one photo sharing a quiet piece of our life. 
3. Find a new job that bring me fulfillment. Near the middle of December, I learned the department at my current firm is going through a reorganization and as a result will leave me without a position come the start of the second quarter. (Yes, this explains for some of the silence.) After thinking about it for a bit, I want to stay in my current field. And I want to do a measured search that lands me at a new place where the culture and work-life balance is just as good of a fit as the work matching my skills. 
4. Bonus! Live a healthier lifestyle. I'm in marketing folks, so you had to expect a bonus goal. We've talked before about wanting to be healthier. Well, this year Keith is on board as well. We refuse to use the dreaded "D" of diet, but instead plan to eat more whole foods during the week and only on weekends cheat. It also means more exercise. Back in my 20s, hitting the gym and lifting weights every morning worked for me. Now that I'm maturing, I don't find that as rewarding. Expect to hear about my trial runs of various classes, etc. To start, I've signed up for Power Yoga classes at the studio close to home. Hopefully, that will help me find something I love and enjoy while also taking me a little closer to the goal. If not, on to the next option.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We're spending today close to home as we rest up for our night out at Ford's Theatre. It's becoming a bit of a tradition for us. Only we're taking his parents as they made the trip down to spend the holiday with us this year. Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving.

We flew back to Kansas this past weekend to help my mom celebrate her 60th birthday. During a little downtime, I managed to share a piece of Kansas history with Keith by making the drive over to Abilene for an afternoon exploring the Eisenhower museum.

You all know of my love for presidential libraries. Despite having visited this one many times, I still enjoy walking through and learning a new tidbit or two. Unlike most other presidential libraries, the Eisenhower library and museum is more like a campus with multiple buildings, including his childhood home as well as chapel including his final resting place.

We couldn't have asked for more gorgeous weather. Can you believe the blue of the sky? And of course, what trip to Kansas would be complete without a stop at Arthur Bryant's before the airport? I might just take Keith to one of the other barbecue joints in Kansas City on the next trip...maybe.


It was good to see family and celebrate a milestone birthday with my mom, but it sure does feel good to be back in DC with Sammy. There's just something about your own bed.

While Keith was off running around Kentucky, I decided to head down south as well to Atlanta for a little time with my sister. Aside from spending a little QT with her, the highlight had to be the Jimmy Carter Library and Museum.

Yes, I'm a bit of a nerd. I have a goal of visiting each presidential library, even those presidents I whose politics I may not agree with. Since she moved to Atlanta five years ago, visiting the Carter's has been on the list. Realizing she couldn't avoid it any longer, she finally decided this last trip would be the one.

I was familiar with his policies and accomplishments in office, but what was most interesting was everything he's achieved since. Here's a few of the photos I was able to take of the highlights.

Now to work on Keith so we can make our way to Little Rock for President Clinton's. Do you have any where you want to visit in your lifetime?

Don't worry I didn't deprive the family of turkey while they were here. I'm even sharing the obligatory turkey picture.

I always get busy that I forget to document the final product. Such a shame when I think about it. It was such a beauty. Had Sammy not gotten sick, I had big plans of sharing my Thanksgiving checklist. I guess there's always next year.

I think the highlight of the visit may have been the evening at Ford's Theatre. We kicked off the holiday season in traditional Washingtonian fashion by seeing A Christmas Carol. Keith, often a theatre critic, even enjoyed himself.


Everyone knows the story, so let's get to the highlights. The special effects were almost magical. The music was heartwarming. And the actors nailed it. I highly recommend fitting it in this holiday season if you can. There's also something special about sitting in the same theatre as President Lincoln and looking over to see his box honoring him.

Perhaps, this will become a holiday tradition for Keith and me. Do you have any holiday traditions?

Hopefully, you had a wonderful Thanksgiving surrounded by the ones you love. For the first time, my mom and brother ventured out to spend their Thanksgiving with us.  My brother loves to geek out on history and since it was closed for renovations on their last visit, the American History Museum was a must-do. It's also a pretty safe bet as there is something for everyone. My mom would have spent hours admiring the First Ladies' exhibit had we not pulled her way.

Even after having checked it out several times already, I was excited to see there was a new exhibit on the history of food in American culture. I was in awe of Julia Childs' kitchen. I think she was on to something with the peg board. Don't be surprised if you see it make an appearance in my kitchen.

This little sleepy head gave us a bit of a scare last weekend. Little miss Sammy wouldn't eat and wasn't even keeping water down last Sunday. Of course, Monday morning meant starting the week at the vet where x-rays were taken and a prognosis was made. Thankfully, our little purr baby is back to herself now, but not before making this past week a bit more stressful.

Sometimes you just have to take the time to nap, catch up with friends, run errands, and make a home cooked meal. And that's what this past weekend provided us. Well, the weekend started on Friday night with ambitious plans. Andrea and I thought we could eat all of these in one night after eating deep dish pizza.

Well, the effort failed miserably. We didn't even manage to finish one apiece. Instead, there are two whole cupcakes sitting in my freezer for the night we decide to stay in. Since I kicked the weekend off in a food comma, I basically tossed the original plan of home projects out the window. Why not continue with this theme of baked goods? Good idea, right? That's why I baked some pumpkin chocolate chip bread.


Since Sunday was the first truly chilly day in the District (I don't believe we broke 60.) with the threat of rain lingering, I figured I might as well make a big pot of chili too. Looks like we'll be eating this for at least two more meals. When will I remember that you cannot make just a little bit of chili?

We managed to escape the District for a few days over the weekend to spend time doting our friends handsome new lil' man and their good looking toddler on Saturday, but not before making time for ourselves on Friday. After enjoying our last Virginia vineyard visits, we decided to explore a few more.

The Fourth of July is by far my favorite holiday of the year. Apparently, I have a hidden pyromaniac just waiting to burst out. Unfortunately that has been repressed after moving to Washington, DC. At least, we call the nation’s capital home and are never short on things to occupy the time.

The heat wave mentioned on my prior occasions seems to be around for the remainder of the summer. Talk about putting a damper on most plans. Somehow we have found a way to power through and enjoy ourselves. Yesterday we hosted friends for grilled burgers and hot dogs along with fresh salads and watermelon. And because life is short there were Rice Krispy treats, blueberry crumble, and of course a little bourbon thrown in for good measure.

It was sweltering hot so we passed on the National’s ballgame, the neighborhood parade, and even the fireworks on the Mall. Instead we hunkered down with board games – you know they’re that much better when you have a group – and settled in on the sofa in the AC for the show.


Trust me. I never thought the day would come where I would forgo the Mall and the spectacular show. But when it was still 95 degrees at 9 pm, I learned there is a moment. Here’s to hoping next year is much more bearable. I’m not asking much maybe 89 degrees at 9 pm.

Hope you had a fun and safe July 4!

Monday has been a little slow moving for us. It felt like most of our weekend was spent with this as the view.

We flew out of Baltimore early Saturday morning for one of Keith's high school buddy's wedding in the Texas Hill Country. The trip was pretty quick as we flew back to Baltimore yesterday. This was my first trip to Texas with Keith and it was an adventure. But then every trip with Keith is an adventure. (Even to the grocery store.)

He's convinced the first thing one does when they are in Texas is stop at Whataburger. I think I may have made a mistake ordering breakfast rather than a burger. I just couldn't wrap my mind around a burger without having had breakfast first. Can you believe he wouldn't share?


The more I think about it, the more I feel like the trip revolved around food. We napped and then found our way to Phoenix Saloon, which I have no doubt was a pretty happening place come that night. Again I should have followed Keith's lead when it came to my order. That Frito pie looked really good and the smile on his face was priceless.



Let's not forget the real reason for the trip was the wedding. It was held on the River, which I had no idea was such a scenic view. I'm sure they will have gorgeous photos with this as the backdrop.


The groom was beyond happy to see Keith. It was like watching a high school reunion unfold. I enjoyed meeting so many of the guys I had heard about. All in all, they were a good bunch of guys. The evening was gorgeous and who would have thought that the weather in Texas was going to be cooler than what we left behind in Washington, DC?

It was short, whirlwind trip. I kind of wish we had more time to enjoy the sights. I hear the BBQ in Texas is something to enjoy. I'm just not so sure it's better than Kansas City, though. Guess, we'll just have to wait until another time.

What did your weekend bring?

While Keith was tasting bourbon with his buddies, Andrea and I were off on our own little adventure. Initially we had planned to pick berries, but on second thought we decided to spend the day at the Jetty Dock Bar across the Bay Bridge listening to a buddy sing.

The day was absolutely perfect for drinking a couple of these. Well, to be honest, I had one and then switched to bourbon. I just can't get down with beer no matter how much my wallet tries to convince me.

We listened to the Jenkins Duo perform as we caught up on life. I was highly impressed. I never thought I'd really like a Lady Gaga song, so Corey hats off to you for your spin on it.


When in Rome or when near the Bay, you must partake in the crabs. After that adventure, I was reminded that it always sounds better than it is. It's a lot of work beating those little guys with mallets for such little meat. Yep, I'd much prefer a big juicy medium rare burger.


As the sun started to set and Andrea was convinced we need a boat, it was time to head back to the District. I was curious to find out what kind of shenanigans Keith had gotten himself into. The sunset was a gorgeous way to end the day and officially welcome in summer.

Thanks to Andrea for capturing that moment.

Have you had a chance to officially welcome summer?

Last Saturday I hosted a bourbon tasting for a few friends of mine.  All of the attendees are bourbon enthusiasts, so we decided to taste our way through the Jim Beam Small Batch Collection.  If you are a bourbon rookie, when you hear Jim Beam you probably think of the ubiquitous white label bottle.  But we wanted to step up a bit from that so we chose the Small Batch Collection. The Collection consists of Basil Hayden's, Booker's, Baker's and Knob Creek.  Each of the bourbons in the Collection is aged for a different amount of time and they are bottled at different proofs.  Basil Hayden's even uses a different mash bill (recipe), so there is quite a lot of variance across the collection.  Which is what makes tasting your way through them so much fun.

Nicole, also known as the greatest wife in the world, prepared the tasting in such a way that none of us knew which bourbon was which.  She poured us samples ahead of time so none of us would know which was which.

After we tasted our way through, we voted on which one we liked best and which one we liked least.  Water and ice were available to dilute as necessary.  The winner was Knob Creek, which got three votes (Basil Hayden's got one).

This was mildly unsurprising as Knob Creek is a very recognizable bourbon, and there's a reason for that.  It is really well balanced and has a nice sweet finish that is quite pleasant to drink.  At 100 proof, it is right in my personal preferred proof.  If you're new to bourbon and want to start expanding your tasting experiences, I highly recommend Knob Creek. (Even if you aren't new to bourbon, it might be time to stop chasing Pappy or the Buffalo Trace Antique Collection and give Knob another try.)

Basil Hayden's got one favorite vote.  B-H is quite a bit lighter than the other bourbons, as it is 80 proof.  The other notable thing about B-H is that it is made with more rye than the others.   This gives it a spicier flavor.  Our tasters described it as "soft and smooth" which makes for nice drinking on a hot summer day.

The least favorite bourbon was Baker's, which was also unsurprising to me.  I've had Baker's on a couple of occasions and I can't say that I've ever really enjoyed it.  Our tasting panel found it woody and hot, and adding some water or ice did not really improve it. The best I can say about it is that it is boring--it doesn't stand out against the other bourbons in the Collection.

The last bourbon, Booker's, was apparently safely in the middle.  I've always enjoyed Booker's quite a bit, but the proof--130--can be a real turnoff.  Booker's almost always requires some dilution, but it is a whale of a bourbon. It's got lots of bold flavors, but if you can dilute it down just right, it strikes me as an incredibly flavorful, sweet bourbon.  My impression is that our tasting panel was a bit impatient with Booker's, as it takes some planning to dilute it down to each taster's preferred proof.

I should mention that we had a really nice spread of food to keep our stomachs full--again, thanks to my wife for that.  We made a special trip to the grocery store to buy some supplies and we put out some snack mix, potato chips, pretzels and had some shredded chicken sandwiches made in the crock pot.  Nicole was nice enough to bake us some cookies--they were a huge hit.

Via

Keith and I just can’t have a social gathering of any kind without a little bourbon. Case in point, we spike the apple cider at Thanksgiving with it. We didn’t serve champagne for our toast at our wedding. Instead it was a bourbon-based cocktail.  It makes a nice substitution for orange juice in a mimosa for brunch. And well, it’s just one of those things we pour when we want to have our own little celebration at home on Tuesday night.

With all of that in mind, Keith is frequently on the hunt for those rare, hard to find bottles. And when he finds one, the hunt is just as important as the sharing. Well, tomorrow is a day for sharing. Keith is having a group of guys over for a bourbon tasting. They’re going to focus on the Jim Beam small batch collection, which includes: Booker’s, Basil Hayden, Bakers, and Knob Creek. (I only wish the Knob Creek Rye was in our area to throw that in too.)

Why do I care especially since it’s a group of guys that will probably mess up my clean house? If you’re going to do something, you’re going to do it right. That means I’ve created special “place mats” that will have a place for the four cups. It will be a blind tasting, so all they will know is the letter identifying each. I’ll leave Keith an envelop identifying each. (I’m going to slip out for a little day drinking of my own with Andrea.)

I’m also going to be the responsible one, or as much as I can given I won’t be there. What goes with bourbon, but barbeque? Given safety and convenience is key, I’m going to throw something together in the slow cooker. Thinking it will be a feast of shredded chicken sliders, slaw, and chocolate chip cookies. Although, the more I consider this, I should proceed with caution. I don’t want to make them too comfy and find a house of boys when I return.

I’ll have pictures of at least the set up and tasting notes on Monday. In the meantime, I hope everyone has a nice weekend with perhaps a splash of bourbon. Seriously, bourbon makes it better.

Do you find short workweeks more exhausting than a full one? Maybe it’s just me. I feel like we’ve tried to fit in as much as possible this week, but then that did help it pass quickly and bring us to the weekend.

What plans await you this weekend?

Saturday appears to be the busy day for us. Keith has plans to play a round at the Renditions Golf Course with some buddies. I think he feels like a pro for a few moments. That is until he snaps back to reality as he’s searching for his ball in the woods.

I’m kicking myself now, but I signed up for a barre class at the new Biker Barre on the Hill. Fingers crossed that I fall in love with this style of strength training and work myself back into some pants. (If you’ve taken such a class and have tips for survival, I would love to hear from you.) After all the hard work, I’m rewarding myself with a mani/pedi using one of the new Essie polishes.

The night wraps up with dinner at Art and Soul. Their fried chicken equals bites of heaven. Guess that’s why I’ll be working out in the morning. I really need to work on more than maintaining.

Who knows what Sunday will bring, but I’m sure it will involve some sort of lazy breakfast.  If only it could be spent with a book and a hammock like this. Enjoy your weekend!

Via Adam Meaney, Flickr

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?

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.