Celebrations Abound

It always seemed like summer weekends were always our busiest. There were parties and cookouts keeping us very busy. We all assumed this pace would slow once September came around. Not so.

September has been the busiest month of celebrations for me so far this year. I've had many 40th birthday celebrations, thanks to many wonderful friends. We've also attended a number of parties (and a wedding!). Blogger had been very fickle about allowing me to upload pics this week, so this is the first chance I've had to tell you more about last Saturday's BBQ in honor of Joey & Michelle.

This party was held at Joey's parents' place and it was an awesome venue for a "backyard bbq". "Yard" was more like 100 (so it seemed). If you cut down all those trees and leveled it out, you could have a pretty awesome volleyball court or football field.

The party was attended by a mix of family, family friends and school friends of J&M. A number of Chumados and others were invited but weren't able to attend. J&M were very busy making sure everyone was having a good time (we were!). I didn't see them together very often, but they did stop by to join our little conversation circle.


Here's Michelle with her travel buddy, Kathy (on the left):


Lots of great eats and drinks throughout the day. I tried the white sangria -- it went down very easily. Gotta make some of that for our next party. I could have easily stuffed myself on the spinach dip alone. Yum! I did hold out for the main eats which included burgers, dogs, yardbird, and lots of sides. AND there were cupcakes for dessert. Yellow cake with some kind of strawberry whipped cream frosting. Dirt cake (chocolate cookie crumbs layered with chocolate pudding) and cookies... what's not to like?

Later in the evening, after many guests left, William, Freddy and Mike wanted to toast the couple with some shots. Maker's Mark and OJ. I can't tell you how they tasted (not like a B-52, I'm sure!) 'cuz I was driving and decided not to have one.

Here's Joey's sister, Mary, on the left with William, Tia, Mike and Joey's big head on the right. You probably notice more hands in there... they belong to Joey's brother and Freddy.



Do they look like it tasted good?



It was a really nice party and especially nice to finally meet Michelle's and Joey's parents.

Last night, John and I headed over to Nate and Linda's for a belated birthday dinner. They served up some delish steaks, crabcakes, mashed potatoes, green beans, salad and brownies w/ice cream for dessert. I couldn't finish my steak, so Nate wrapped it up into a foil dove for me. Thanks for the fab dinner and prezzies!

I just learned of another celebration taking place this weekend in honor of Khalid's 41st. How is it possible to even attempt to go on a diet when so many fabulous cooks are throwing parties??? I'll tell y'all about it on my weekend recap. Till then... PARTY ON!

Newlywed Celebrates a B-day

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BIANCA!!!

Wishing you a wonderful day and many more celebrations in true Chumado style!

Happy Belated

I was so into my chucks yesterday, I forgot to tell y'all it was Val's birthday!

HAPPY (belated) BIRTHDAY, VAL!!!

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We'll be celebrating at an undisclosed location tonight... gotta keep the paparazzi away from the place where the Human Schwiff used to work.

Choco Chucks

I think I'm probably the last one to join the fashion trend. Or did I actually miss the trend? No, not the skinny jeans or leggings trend (soooo not going back to that one!!!). Nor the dress over the jeans thing. I'm talking about BROWN. I recently bought a brown beaded cami. Very unusual, as I'd normally buy black or white in keeping with color basics. Then I bought a brown frilly cardigan -- on the clearance rack at L&T. It was $15! What's not to like?

I had been looking for a particular pair of sneakers but couldn't find them in the style or color I wanted. Then I spotted these:



Aren't they cute??? Chocolate slip-on Chucks!!! I was looking for black ones, but they only had them in ginormous men's sizes at DSW. Ever since I was in high school, I've wanted some Chucks. I tried them on. Often. But you know... the Fred Flintstone feet thing. Not so flattering to have skinny shoes on fat feet.

I actually tried these on a few weeks ago but decided to keep looking for the black ones. But I kept thinking about them. These are just "different" enough without being outrageous, no? I figured if I only wore them every so often, at least I wouldn't keep thinking about how I should have purchased them when I had the chance.

TGIF 09/22

Is it me or does life fly by even more quickly in your 40's than it did in your 30's???? I can't believe how quickly the past two weeks have gone. Although, I must admit, I'm happy it's the weekend is only hours away. John's on call tomorrow. Hopefully, he won't get slammed with calls like his brother did last Sunday as I'd love it if he could come with me to the BBQ to celebrate Joey and Michelle's engagement, hosted by Joey's parents.

No plans yet for Sunday though. Maybe the Renaissance Fair. John and I attended this thing two years ago when we were first hanging out secretly, not really dating yet. It was funny 'cuz we were supposed to meet up with the gang at Uncle Jed's or Caddies to watch football and John got call from Val asking where he was. He told her and she asked if I was with him and he said, "Yes." So, from then on, the secret was out.

Speaking of your 30's (OK... so that was two paragraphs ago!), my buddy, Bill, is just beginning his 30's and celebrates 31 tomorrow.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BILL!

And have a great weekend, everyone!

Another One?

September is the BEST month for birthdays! Is it a coincidence that I know so many people born in the same month as me???

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, POKEY!!!

Wishing you an awesome day and many more wonderful birthdays!

 

Relief

I had just kicked off my work shoes yesterday evening when John asked me who I thought had given the most money, personally, to tsunami relief fund. As I was thinking, he asked how much I thought Oprah had given. Maybe $500,000? I thought maybe someone like Bill Gates would give in the millions, but everything goes through his foundation, so it's not exactly a personal pledge from him.

The person who donated the most out of their own pocket... 10 million dollars... is Formula One racing's Michael Shumacher. I didn't think those guys made that much money! John follows F1 and I watch the races with him. I even have a favorite driver - Kimi Raikkonen. No reason, just 'cuz I think his name is cool and he has catches lots of tough breaks, resulting in unfinished races.

Anyway, just thought that was an interesting tidbit.

We had B Family Fun night at Mike and Diane's. It was also a belated b-day celebration for me too. Mike served up his famous chili. YUM! It was good to hang out with the peeps and catch up. It's also nice to not think about what to cook for dinner! Good times.

Coup of all Coops

I dunno... maybe I am the kind of person who just lives in my little world, all ambivalent about what's going anywhere beyond my arms' reach.

Freddy called me yesterday to ask me about the coup in Thailand. "What are you talking about?" as I checked the innernetz. Oh. I see. Whatever.

About half an hour later, William called me too, wondering if I had called any family members to check if they were OK. Why? I'm sure they're fine. Reports say it was a "bloodless" coup. I'm sure if a bomb had been dropped on their little hut (that's what you Amelicans think we live in, right?), someone would have sent a Telex to my famiry.

Thanks to everyone for your concern, though! Without you, two years ago, I wouldn't have known there was a big tsunami that hit Thailand while my entire family was there.

I don't really know much about the Thai government, except the Royal Family is highly revered. Most Thai homes have a picture of the King and Queen in it. A few months ago, I had dinner with my parents and some of their golfing buddies. They discussed politics and the Prime Minister back then too. Who doesn't know the Thai government (and the police, and the military, etc...) is corrupt? Aren't most governments corrupt in some way?

Anyway, one of the food blogs I read had a funny commentary on the news. Go check it out.

And an apology to my girl, BHL, for making her Talk Like a Pirate to her patients yesterday. It's kinda funny today, though, isn't it? Arrrr!

Ayyyyy, Matey!

Today is:

TALK LIKE A PIRATE DAY

So, make sure you greet everyone with a hearty "AHOY!" and a couple of "Arrrr!" and drink some grog. Click and check out how you can talk like a pirate too!

Three Days in a Row

How many days in a row does one normally have a meal with their relatives (unless you're all on vacation or living together)? Not often... Beginning Thursday, John and I dined with my parents and my aunt for three days straight. Weird, huh?

It began with Korean BBQ on Thursday night, then FND (Friday Night Dinner) and ended with Dim Sum (hosted by Aurora) in Wheaton on Saturday.

After dinner on Friday, John and I went to downtown Silver Spring to meet up with William, Mike, Nate, Freddy and Lynn (in town visiting from Los Angeles) at McGinty's. It was really nice to see Lynn as it's been a long time. I think we missed her last visit in town, as John could only recall the day Freddy moved into his house (5 years ago???) as the last time he saw her. She's lovin' LA and looks really good. Her hair is all long and curly now and she had the coolest eyeglasses (frames purchased on Melrose Ave!). McGinty's was pretty cool. They have live bands playing in an upstairs bar area ($5 cover) but we stayed at the downstairs bar. We sampled the Andouille Chips and fries that had been ordered before we arrived. The Andouille sausage reminded me of the fried pepperoni we used to get at Clank's when I worked in DE.

Saturday, we met up with my parents, my aunt, Aurura and Pom at China Chef in Wheaton for Dim Sum. It was yummy, but there must have been a change in the kitchen staff as the food wasn't coming out on the carts as quickly as it normally does. And we didn't see the variety of dishes as in past visits until we were leaving. Here's John showing off his newly acquired chopstick skillz:

Sunday, John and I headed to Savage Mill for brunch at Ram's Head Tavern and it was a glorious day to sit out on their patio for brunch. I had the Eiffel Egg Sandwich (egg and bacon, hold the cheese, on a croissant) and it was served with really yummy "brunch spuds" and melon. John had a Mac Melt (grilled chicken, bacon and cheese sandwich) served with fries.

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Afterwards, we walked around the shops and I spotted a couple of items for X-mas present ideas. We stopped into a new optical shop and I tried on some new frames. I really liked a pair by Vera Wang, but they were jeweled on the sides. Not sure how I feel about that yet. But they fit really nicely and were properly centered on my eyeball, which is rare. Most frames tend to sit low so my eyeball is almost at the top of the frame.

I finally got to check out the stamping store, The Queen's Ink, which was closed the last time we were at Savage Mill (for Jake's BD). Lots of cool stuff, but not a lot of paper. It seemed like they specialized in supplies to create more than cards and scrapbook pages. There were a few products I wanted to try, but they didn't have any colors I liked, so I just got some embossing powder and a dark brown stamp pad.

The rest of the weekend was mostly sitting around the house, knitting or stamping and watching TV. I should have done some laundry. Hope everyone had a nice weekend!

Celebrations Continue

The 40th birthday celebrations are neverending! Last night, John and I enjoyed an awesome Korean BBQ dinner with my parents and my aunt and tomorrow, we'll be having Dim Sum with Aurora.

One of my favorite 40th birthday gifts was this new camera from John. Looks familiar, doesn't it? Many thanks to William for hooking us up too! We're so proud to be part of the SD600 crew.


Although it weighs about the same as my old Canon Power Shot A400, it's so much smaller and portable... and FAST! I don't have to wait 8 seconds in between shots anymore! WOOT!

I haven't figured out all the settings and stuff, but I {heart} this camera. And my husband, of course! And my friends and family who helped make this a fun and special birthday.

One celebration I really enjoyed was at Susan's on Sunday. It was so good to see her mom, who was visiting from Chile. She came to celebrate Susan's 40th, which was on the 2nd. Ron and Karen were also there and gave me and John a belated anniversary gift, a book of photos from our blessing ceremony last October. Really sweet. Susan served up some delicious crab cakes, spiced shrimp, tomatoes and coleslaw. I brought her my Chicken and Grape salad as part of her birthday gift, which she shared with the rest of us, but I wouldn't have blamed her if she had squirreled it away before anyone could see it. She loves that salad! Thanks, Susan, for a wonderful dinner! And Thanks, Ron and Karen, for the photo book!

Not much on the plate for this weekend besides Dim Sum. John is on call this weekend again, so we'll be hanging close to home. Whatever your plans are, have fun! And if you're doing anything fun on Sunday, give us a call!

Manly or Girly?

I can't believe how quickly this week has passed! Thursday already? Monday after dinner, I had John help me with my yarn. He bought me a yarn winder for my birthday. Before, I was winding yarn manually on a nostepinne, which is a Scandanavian wooden winder. Although the nostepinne did the job, it was very tiring to wind yarn manually, especially when you're working with 600 yards of yarn!

"Why would someone need to wind yarn?", you might ask. Well, when you buy good yarn, especially hand painted stuff, it normally comes in these twisted yarn ropes. Not easy to work with in that state. So, you make it more manageable by winding it into some type of ball. A winder makes it possible to make a center-pull ball by leaving an open core.

Anyway, earlier this year, John made me a yarn swift (cost of materials, about $4.00, a $75.00 difference from ones you can purchase!) which holds the yarn and spins. Here he is helping me wind yarn:


Notice that DIY Network's Knitty Gritty is on the TV in the background! I'm SO dorky. Once you are done winding the yarn, it goes from big circle of yarn (like above on the swift) to yarn cakes!


I kept bringing out hanks of yarn from my stash so John could wind it for me. He said a porking was due to prove his masculinity and make up for me taking a picture of him. I told him he was using a cool technical gadget, so it wasn't like he was doing something girly. I mean, what if he had been winding up stereo cable or something? Would that be girly?

Last of the Sept 40's

I'm not the only one celebrating a 40th this September... a couple other gals did too, including Susan (on the 2nd), Diana (on the 6th) and today's birthday girl... NEITA!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, NEITA!!!!

Also, a Happy (belated) Birthday to my cousin, Kara, whose birthday was yesterday! Hope you had a wonderful day!

Happily Ever After

After a great beach vacation and birthday, John and I still had something to look forward to upon our return. Now, if you've been a faithful reader, you know Chumados know how to throw a party. But when you combine Morenos with Ruperts and Brooks, you've got a grand event.


Sorry about the fuzzy photos. I haven't read the manual for my new camera and probably didn't have it on the optimal setting for indoor picture-taking. Combined with the digital zoom, I got a lot of grainy pictures. Let's just call it "artistic".

It was so sweet when Jay placed his hand on Bianca's lower back:



Pokey had everyone teary-eyed with her touching prayer. I would have kept it together had she not choked up during her reading. After the ceremony, we ascended upon DAR Memorial Hall, a really lovely setting for a reception. At first, we had cocktail hour in the library portion of the hall but then moved out onto the balcony. It was a really beautiful night. Bianca and Jay went with buffet-style hors d'oeuvres rather than a sit-down formal dinner, which was really nice as it allowed people to mingle instead of being locked to a table. There was filet mignon wrapped in bacon, skewers of grape tomatoes and mozzerella, shrimp cocktail, chicken skewers, oysters on the half-shell, crab claws, mini chicken cordon bleu, fried wontons with various fillings, and sesame snap peas. I didn't get to try everything, but the ceviche was really yummy. I should have grabbed another glass of that. I also loved all the little mini tartlettes and brownies for dessert. The wedding cake was topped with bright flowers:


Lots of ladies had their shoes kicked off (I don't know how people stay in heels all day!) and although I didn't get to the dance floor, we did a lot of dancing (or just jiggling?) at our cocktail tables. Fun music! I hear it was VERY hot on the dance floor.

Nicole, Pokes and Dave:


Me and Freddy:


Pokes and Rommel:


A couple odd incidents occurred during this wonderful evening. There was the Reverend, who was disgruntled over the guys smoking cigars (the smoke wafted over to where he was sitting) and yelled at the guys, calling them "obnoxious". Another incident involved an employee of the DAR hall and a wedding guest's kid, who was walking around with a champagne bottle. Rumor has it the kid had been terrorizing the employees all night long. The weirdest thing I witnessed, however, was between these two:


A push-up competition. Can't say I've ever seen this at a wedding before! I want to know what prompted this battle to occur.

There were so many people there we hadn't seen in a long time. I know a lot of hard work went into planning this wedding and it was a really wonderful celebration for Bianca and Jay. Come to think of it, we didn't get to congratulate them personally. CONGRATULATIONS Bianca and Jay! Wishing you much happiness and joy in your marriage!

Vacation and a Birthday

It started off rainy and took us forever to get there, but was well worth the crazy traffic we endured. Check out Carolina Designs (#157 Gardenia) for all the details on the house we got.

Of course we had our obligatory gigantic bowl of M&M's. These were gone by Monday afternoon, which is actually close to record M&M consumption standards for our group.


Six bags of M&M's (plain, peanut, almond)

This was the 20th anniversary of the OBX trip. Of the original group, in this Kill Devil Hills house was Freddy, William, Rosa and Shaun (who was 8 on his first trip).


Kevin presents a 20th OBX Anniversary gift to Freddy



Chillin' out the first night

We had great weather throughout the weekend. A bit of rain Tuesday morning and cloudy Tuesday afternoon and rainy when we left the house Wednesday, but most of the time, it was very sunny.


Stacey and Mom Baltz

Sunday night, I cooked a beef curry, a chicken curry and some sauteed zucchini. Mom Baltz put together the salad and Rosa cooked some chicken tenders for the kids. Check my food blog for more details on that meal.


Goofballs giving thanks for curry

We had delicious cherry pie for dessert and watched "Wedding Crashers" in the house's movie theater.

Monday morning, we went to Stack 'Em High for breakfast. This was only my second time there, but I have to say their pancakes are the best. We all spent the day hanging by the pool. This is rather unusual for this group, as we're normally on the beach, playing volleyball, soaking up the sun. KDH beaches are a lot narrower than the ones towards Corolla, where we usually stay. The "sand" was mostly crushed shells. So, the conditions weren't there for setting up a volleyball net.


Leave a caption for this in the comments!

Monday night, we grilled some fabulous steaks and kielbasa and William made his famous mashed potatoes. I sauteed some cabbage and Mom Baltz made another salad for us. Of course I forgot to take pics! You'll just have to imagine the feast.

Tuesday was my big day. I'm so thankful to have celebrated with great friends and family, although I wish more of you could have been there/stayed for the day. After a yummy breakfast at Sam & Omie's in Nag's Head, I was ready for my traditional b-day B-52.


John preps the shots


Celebratory 40th B-day B-52 shots

Many thanks to everyone for all my presents! I am truly blessed to have such generous friends and family! Here's a present that will go with my graying hair:


40th Birthday prezzies from Kevin & Rosa

John drove me up and down Rt 12 looking for Quagmire's, a bar Mike & Diane have been to a couple times. No sign of the joint. Sad. I wanted to go there for my birthday. Instead, we went to my second choice, Dirty Dick's. I wanted to get some blue crabs, but they had a special AYCE on snow crab legs and shrimp. Mary Beth, Freddy and I got this deal and MB and I got crab legs first while Freddy got shrimp.


A pound of crab legs


A pound of shrimp

MB got a second platter of legs. I gave up after one round. They were meaty and delicious, but I couldn't do it. Freddy looked full, but kept muttering, "I'm just gettin' started." He ordered crab lebs for round two, but needed help getting the meat out of the shells.


MB helps Freddy crack his crab legs

During dinner, I kept thinking of Shaun (aka Jake) who would have given MB some competition on the crab legs. Sadly, they had to leave earlier that evening to head home and couldn't join us for dinner. We got back to the house and I was greeted with a yummy cake!



Shortly afterwards, I pretty much crashed in my room with a belly full of crab legs, margarita and cake...

We were sad to leave Wednesday morning, but the rain made it easier to go. A stop into Knitting Addiction, my favorite OBX yarn store netted me some new yarns. Did I mention how cheap gas is in the south? We actually found it a couple cents cheaper after we filled up.



Thursday, we slept in very late and went to the mall, book store and DSW. At some point during the day, my right big toe developed an infection. It must have been from Tuesday when I trimmed my toe nails and went into the hot tub at the beach. It took 2 days for infection to set in. YUCK! It's all swollen and puss-y. I'll spare you the picture (on my NEW digital camera! Thanks Johnny!). I'm hoping the cleanings with alcohol and all the Neosporin I've thrown at it since last night will make it better by tomorrow for Bianca and Jay's wedding.

Hope everyone had a wonderful week! I would have kept my faithful readers up to date on my vacation, but I was having too much fun. It definitely would have been easier to have almost daily updates than one big post. Oh well... next time!