A Happy, Hurricane-filled Halloween

Howdy everyone!  This Blog comes to you on a Monday night courtesy of Hurricane Irene J  School was cancelled today AND tomorrow (as was Seth’s work – hooray!), so I’ve had a ton of extra time to piddle today – a.k.a. Blog time!!!  And after a busy week last week, I’m loving this extra down time to recoup from a fun-filled weekend!

This weekend, we celebrated Halloween with our friends…and it lasted the whole weekend J  To kick things off, we headed to Poolesville, Maryland for the infamous Markoff’s Haunted Forest.  The haunted forest is an outdoor haunted house that takes about 15-minutes to walk through, obstacles and all.  This was our third year going, and it never gets old.  It’s about an hours drive to the middle of nowhere, but well worth the effort.  We always start by having dinner at the local tavern before heading in to get scared.  This year was the first time for many of our group, and everyone seemed to enjoy it!  After heading back from the forest, we all stopped in Bethesda for a little fun at Veronica’s favorite pub J

Brooke, Matt, Veronica, Seth, and Rachel at the Haunted Forest.

Me, Emily, her sister, Matt, and Doug at the Haunted Forest.

On Saturday, we hosted a party at our place, so most of the day was spent preparing for that.  To make it even better, Whitney, one of our girlfriends from Utah was in town for a conference, so she was able to join us for the festivities.  The party was really fun, and we even sponsored a drink making contest, with a prize to the person who made the most spooktacular cocktail…unfortunately, mine was a little too strong for most people, so I did not emerge victorious hehe!  After winding down here, we all headed downtown for some dancing in DuPont.  It was fun and we got quite a few compliments on our costumes…they were so good, we even got asked several times to take pictures with people J 

Snow White, Jasmine, the Queen of Hearts (back);
Maleficent and Sleeping Beauty (front)

Rachel, Veronica, Me, and Seth (a.k.a. Genie) at Madhatter...so fun!

Sunday was recovery day, and Veronica even stayed over and watched TV/ate Mexican with us (a perfect way to spend your Sunday!)  We took her home just in time to avoid the first bad weather from lil’ Miss Sandy.  Speaking of which, other than the on-and-off power situation, we’ve enjoyed a nice, stormy day in the casa…and are excited that we get to enjoy another whole day at home tomorrow too!  In fact, depending on the transit situation, we are all planning to have a hurricane brunch tomorrow…so wish us luck J

Veronica was, erm...recovering :)

Seth and Maggie enjoyed a long Sunday nap :)

Well, that’s all for now!  Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers throughout the hurricane.  We were very blessed to have been impacted in such a minimal way and hope that those who were really affected are OK!  Much love to them (and you, of course) until the next time!

It's Almost Time for Halloween!

Hello again!  It's been another busy (but fun!) week, and time continues to fly by!  To start it all off, we welcomed our newest niece, Kennedy, to the family...and boy, she is precious!!!  Congratulations Jay and Tina...we can't wait to meet her!!!

Baby Kennedy :)

With such a wonderful start to the week, nothing could top it...but the rest of the week was pretty great too, so that's a plus :)  Between some happy hours and time with friends, the week seemed to fly by...which is good, because it meant the weekend came even sooner!  Speaking of which, the weekend started with a bang: Kathy Griffin's hilarious comedy show at DAR Constitution Hall!  For those of you who aren't familiar with her, she's a red headed comedian whose jokes are mostly about celebrities -- and we LOVE her!  After the show, we went for a stroll downtown and grabbed some pizza at District of Pi (the best Chicago style pizza outside of Chicago!)

Kathy Griffin...great show!

A (somewhat blurry) shot of the White House at night.

Taking a stroll in Downtown D.C.

Saturday, in the spirit of elongating Halloween as much as possible, we had our first of many Halloween parties :)  It was actually a lot of fun: great food, pumpkin carving, and good times!  We always enjoy spending time with our friends...we always have so much fun!!!

The table of tricks and treats...so much yummy food!

Pumpkin carving reminds me I'm not much of an artist.

The result of our pumpkin carving...can you tell which is mine?!

Well, as you can see, it's been another busy week...and now we're all pooped and ready to wrap things up and get ready for another week!  

Couch snuggle session :)

She looks so sweet while she's sleeping...but don't be fooled hehe!

That's all for this time, but have a great week and we'll check in again next weekend with many more pictures and stories :)

And I'm Not Even a Baseball Fan...

Hey there!  It's been another week, and somehow, it seems as if life has revolved around baseball playoffs...and I'm not even a baseball fan :)  I guess between the Nats being in the playoffs (and freaking blowing it in the last seconds might I add) and all my friends who are Yankees fans, I should have expected it...but still :)

This week the stars seemed to align so that Seth and I weren't both crazy at different and could actually enjoy some time together during the week :)  One of our favorite adventures was going to the Beacon Sky Bar in DuPont.  The bar is on the rooftop of the hotel and we enjoyed a great view of the city, amazing weather (probably for the last time this season), and yummy food and drinks...and of course, each other's company :)

A view of downtown DC from the Sky Bar...so pretty!

This week, we also celebrated National Coming Out Day.  As part of Lambda's Executive Board, we organized an event where we passed out name tags to the student body that said "Hi, I am..." and the students would write "gay," "lesbian," "bi," "ally," etc... in an effort to support those who are scared to come out.  It went great and many students participated, showing just how much progress the movement is making!

Me and Daniel at the Coming Out Day table.

The weekend was fun...starting with Bar Review on Thursday...which ended with Chinese food at 2:00AM...it was extra delicious :)  Friday we went to a happy hour that my friend Veronica won, and enjoyed our friends and America's favorite pastime!  Somehow, that night also ended with food...but this time is was a burger, fries, and ice cream...uhoh, waistline!  Saturday, we went to a party with our friend Emily.  It was actually really fun, especially because, in honor of the season, it was pumpkin themed...yum!  To end the night, and also in honor of the month, we went to a German brewpub and enjoyed some Oktoberfest!  Now it's time for Sunday night TV and some relaxing to end a great weekend :)

The remnants of our Chines feast...de-lish!

Me, Patrick, Colleen, and Anna at Sign of the Whale.

Some crazy lady got arrested outside the pub...great people watching!

Maggie was tired from the weekend...such a cutie!

Well, that's about all I've got for now, so until the next time, much love and a millon hugs :)

Visitors Galore!

Hey there everybody!  Sure hope you all had a wonderful week and are happy, healthy, and loving life :)  This past (long) weekend, we were luck enough to be able to spend time with TWO out-of-towners! My friend, Samantha, who worked with me as a Field Rep. in the 2008 Election was in town this weekend (got in Wednesday) for a conference and stayed at Hotel Seth & Brandon during her stay - and boy did we have fun catching up: hooka, drinks, eating...couldn't have had a been better time!  Also making a guest appearance this week, Jacob Bowman, one of my closest friends from my mission.  He was in town for a work conference (he works for the VA) and had some time to meet us for dinner...gotta love living in D.C. :)

Jacob and Me...a.k.a. Bo and Ro!

Tensie (not a visitor!) and Me...two Puerto Rican beauties :)

Me, Seth, Tensie, Jared, and Sam at Capitol Lounge.

Seth and Brooke were tired...but the hooka at Gazuza was worth it !

Sam and I were joking that apparently we only see each other in election/Olympic years...so in honor of that, we enjoyed some of the sights tonight before Sam headed home.  In fact, as you will see below, not only is D.C. a great place for visitors, but it is also a great place to live in that it reminds you what a great country we live in!  God Bless America :)

Seth, Same, and I checking out the newly renovated reflection pool.

The Washington Monument at night...BEAUTIFUL!

Sam showing of her Abe tattoo at the Lincoln Memorial.

Well folks, thats all for now, but I'm sure we will have more to share next week...but until then, much love and many hugs <3 nbsp="nbsp">

PS: One last thing of note: a big CONGRATS to Judge Alquist (the Judge I externed for my first summer) who was just elevated to Chief Justice of the Bankruptcy Court for the District of Maryland...amazing!  So glad I got to be a part of the ceremony this week and couldn't be happier for her :)

Dog Days...of Fall!?

Hi everyone!  Hope you all enjoyed a nice weekend and are doing well!  After another fun-filled weekend, I'm beat...but sure am glad for the fun we had!  Also, in case you are wondering, I promise I'm still in school and studying hard...but it's now just too boring and monotonous to share, so I won't bore you :)

Welcome back Fall TV...Grey's with Grey :)

A nice Fall morning in Downtown DC!

Date Night at La Tomate...YUM!

After a nice start to the weekend, it was time for Sunday Funday, starting with the Olde Towne Dogge Walke.  Seth and I took Honey and Maggie down to Alexandria to meet Emily and her pup Pepper.  The 1.5 mile walk was really fun - we got to get exercise with beautiful scenery, all while raising money for our Veterans!  After the walk was over, we all (dogs included) headed over to Pat Troy's (a local Irish pub) for a dog friendly brunch (they even had a dog menu).  It was a great way to round out the morning!

All the people and pups gathered in Market Square.

Emily, Pepper, Honey, Seth, and Maggie in Market Square.

Maggie and Honey had SO much fun :)

Seth and Maggie sure look like they enjoyed brunch!

Maggie was tuckered out after the walke...

...and so was Honeychild!

After taking an afternoon break, Seth and I met our friends at L'Enfant Cafe for a night of entertainment in the form of dinner and a drag show!  It was so much fun, and we enjoyed getting to see Lady Bunny and Joey Arias, two of the country's most prominent Queens!  Unfortunately, real life was just around the corner on Monday, so we called it an early night and headed home to catch our Sunday night TV :)

The gang at L'Enfant, ready to enjoy a YUMMY dinner!

Me and Seth <3 td="td">

 Lady Bunny & Joey Arias in the encore song...too funny!

Well, that's about all the excitement I have to share this week, but I'm sure there is much more coming this weekend, as my friend Samantha is coming to visit and we have lots in store to keep her (and us) entertained :)