A Weekend of Restoring Sanity

I Love Rock and Roll!

OK, so a mid-week update is unusual for me, but so is the fact that we actually did something cool mid-week, so I thought I'd share :)

Last night Seth and I went to the 20th Anniversary Party at the Hard Rock Cafe D.C. in Chinatown.  One of the owner Seth's company does business with the marketing manager of the Hard Rock and got us VIP Passes to the party.  Met up with some of his co-workers for a drink first (and his boss even paid the tab!) and then headed over to the party for a fun evening.  An up and coming band called "Ready Sets" showcased and they provided food and drinks upstairs for us.  Despite the fact that I had a ton of school work awaiting me at home, Seth and I had a fun night and proved that we aren't an old, boring couple after all :) 

Seth and me at the party <3

"Ready Sets" at the Hard Rock.

Moe Comes to Town!!!

I LOVE living in D.C. because it means I get to play host and tour guide much more often than I did in Salt Lake :)  For example, we have friends coming to either visit or spend the weekend three times over the next two months...and we even had one quick but SPECIAL visitor today!  One of my best girlfriends, Maureen, was in town for her grandma's 80th Birthday party and that meant a visit to our casa was in order!  Moe came over this evening (after a busy day of study and cleaning of course!) and we had a great visit...dinner and gossip are the key to our hearts <3 

Me and Moe :)

Anyway, time flew and we took Moe back to her Aunt's via a scenic drive across the Chesapeake Bay...good times!   Well, it's about that time so I'm off to bed to get ready for another week but we hope to play host to you all soon!  xo :)

Pampering the Queen

Well, first of all, props to me for remembering to take pics of this weekends festivities!  To kick it off Seth and I enjoyed a nice Friday night to ourselves (thank you Groupon for another yummy dinner at Front Page!) and rested up from a hectic week of my classes all being switched around due to scheduling conflicts...last minute changes make me a grumpy boy :-/  BUT on the upside, last week is done and we are one week closer to the end of the first semester :)

Saturday we got up and headed down to Fredericksburg to spend the day with Mom and fulfill her coupon of "A Day of Pampering" we gave her for her birthday.  We started with lunch at La Pizzeria and then headed to the mall for some pedicures (I tried not to laugh when my feet got tickled but it was hard!).  After gettin our nails did we headed to see "Hereafter" at the new Muvico Village Theater for some VIP seating in there premier seating area...nice, HUGE leather chairs, a full service bar and restaurant, and the best view in the house...nothing but the best for our Momma!  Ended the night with some homemade cookin' at Dad's house before saying goodbye and heading back home to rest up for another day.  Although sadly we can't afford to do things like that as often as we'd like, we are glad to be able to do it when we can :)  We love you Momma!!!

Mine and Seth's feet post pedicure...wrapped up in wax to finish :)

Mom and Seth gettin their classy on at the theater.

A Clap on, Clap off Kind of Week!!!

Well, is it sad that last week about the most exciting thing that happened was when our Clapper came?!...absolutely not I say because it was the low key kind of week/weekend that we were in need of!  As for the Clapper...well, yes, we really did order a Clapper but it's because the lamps in our bedroom are on the wall that isn't operated by the light switch so they have to be turned off manually.  Needless to say Seth, our problem solver, decided to fix that by letting us use a little clap on, clap off action...and we love that the early 90's are alive and well in our house :)

This weekend was pretty chill too.  On Friday night I got the chance to entertain and cook for some of our friends.  Made some chicken parmigiana and pasta and had a good time before heading downtown to birthday party for girl in my section at school.  Had fun (maybe a little too much fun judging from the morning after haha)  and then got up and met Aunt Carol in Alexandria for lunch and a planning session for our New York trip...sooo excited!  Other than that it's been a weekend filled with school, TV, and cleaning house aka my way to de-stress :)  Well, it's time for Peapod to come with our groceries and then we're ready to end the weekend with some 'Desperate Housewives'...hope this week's update didn't put you to sleep but next week looks to be a little more exciting since Mom will be involved :)  Til the next time!

I'm My Own Grandpa!?

OK, so first, I'm not really my own grandpa but, hey, if you had been at our family reunion in good ol' Buena Vista, VA (or as the fam says "bew-na" vista) in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, you would see why that might not be too heard to imagine (I mean, with nicknames in the family like Bug, Rooster, Pig, and Cute, who wouldn't wonder haha!)  Second, I'm SO annoyed I didn't remember my camera...although to my credit, getting up at 6:30AM after a night downtown wasn't too easy!  Anyway, no camera = no pictures, so the pretty little invite that Seth designed is gonna have to suffice :)

The Reunion Invite...thanks Mista Seth!

Got up super early on Saturday and went to pick-up my favorite Marge and headed down to Fredericksburg to meet Mom and Dad to make the drive to the reunion.  It's about a three hour drive down to Buena Vista but it is always a fun trip, especially when my family is all trapped in one car :)  It was really good to see all the extended family (most of whom I hadn't seen since the last reunion in 2007) and, as was to be expected, LOTS of good food was to be had!  Anyway, we had a great day and then came home to enjoy some shuteye and a relaxing rest of the weekend!  Life...is...good!

Woah, I'm Half-Way There...Livin on a Prayer!

Well I almost can't believe it but, it's true...the end of this past week marked the half-way point of my first semester!!!  Time is actually passing really fast because I am really enjoying what I'm doing (although on days I have to get up before the Sun you might have to remind me of that)!  And in spite of all the work, we still seem to know how to have a good time! On Thursday I had the opportunity to attend my initiation into the national chapter of Pi Alpha Delta.  It was actually a really cool experience - we met inside the main hall of the U.S. Supreme Court (hopefully my future office haha!) and were inducted by Supreme Court Justice Sonya Sotomayor!  Although there was a happy-hour after, Mista Seth took me out for a special celebration over dinner and drinks at Front Page in DuPont instead :)

Justice Sotomayor reciting the PAD oath.

Anyway, like I said above, since this weekend marked the halfway point of our first semester AND because it was also my friend Emily's B-Day, it also meant it was time to let loose a little bit!  We took advantage of the "foody" nature of D.C. and went on a double date with our friends Beah and Matt - got some Tapas (no, not topless everyone haha!) at this restaurant in Chinatown called La Tasca (we have been wanting to try it forever) and then headed off to Em's for her party and some good times!  We had to get up pretty early the next day but still ended up hangin til pretty late...now lets see who says we're old!

Some of the girls out to celebrate Em's B-Day!

PS: We're Hitched :)

PS: Just a note for those who don't know, Seth and I made it official at the beginning of September and tied the knot legally here in D.C.  We figured we'd take advantage of the legality of it all while it lasts here in the District and are happy to announce it now that we have had the chance to tell the fam in person!  Our wedding is still planned for July 24, 2011 at The Canyons Resort in Park City, UT but just FYI - we got hitched :)

Surprise SLC!!!

Well, I have been DYING to post about this for the past few weeks but I couldn't because it was a surprise..and oh what a surprise it was!  This Friday, Seth and I hopped on a plane and headed off to the SLC for a surprise visit and had a wonderful time!  Thank goodness for the 'secret' setting that lets you create an event without everyone knowing because we were able to organize a get together with our friends downtown and never let word get back to the family early that we were in town :)  Friday we got in at 9:00 PM and then headed over to our friend Ashley's for a get together which was followed by a little bit more pre-game at Kody and Ben's before heading to the W Lounge for a great night of dancing and fun!!!  After closing down the W and saying adios to our friends, we stayed downtown at Hotel Monaco to rest up for a full day of family fun and good times that lay ahead!!!

Seth, Me, and some of the gang at Ashley's casa for good times!

Seth modeling the complimentary (well $80) robe at the Monaco!

After a good night's sleep (kind of) we got up and met with Jay (Seth's oldest brother), his girlfriend, and her son and headed over to Mindy's!  When we pulled up to her house, Seth called her and, as the door opened and she saw all of us standing out front, I thought she was going to faint...and Chrissy and Jack both had that same reaction when they walked in the door...in other words: operation surprise the fam was a success!!!  Had a wonderful 36 hours with them: BBQ, birthday presents/cake for Dayton and Uncle Jay, and La Puente...perfection!  Anyway, it was really great to see the fam and we are SO glad we got to have a reunion - Odoyle stlye!

Me and Evie <3

Jack making her special appearance as the ninja from Dayton's dream!

Minday, Dayton, Uncle Seth, and Jack pre-Birthday candle blowout.

Well, as you can see from all the pics, the weekend was great and made us appreciate how awesome our family and friends really are!  While I have said many times before how great it is to be back in D.C., we just want our Utah peeps to know that nobody will ever take your place...you're the bomb dot com and we love you all :)