Happy, yummy!

A fun & fuzzy foto of me, about to extinguish my birthday candle with a puff of air! Yay!

The candle was placed atop some lovely chocolate concoction, but the mint chocolate chip ice cream was my accompanying dessert of choice.

Mmmm. Thanks for the memory!

Weirdness abounds

I took Rosie to our neighbor's birthday party a couple weekends ago. Maggie was turning four, and we had seen her a couple of times around the neighborhood; which is not much at all, considering that she lives down the street from us and we have gone out for walks, bike rides and local parks pretty often over the past 3.5 years.

I'd met Maggie's mom before and I'd encountered her posts on DC urban moms. One from over a year ago had irked me, so I didn't go out of my way to befriend her: she was starting a fiction writer's group, but for only "serious writers" no romantic fiction or science fiction writers need apply. Now, I'm not a writer, but I almost made an attempt to get a sci-fi story going (my fave genre!) so I could go to the meeting and start a fight.

Anyway, that's where my head was, but Maggie was a cutie (coincidentally, with the same birthday as mine!) and Rosie really wanted to go to her party. We went and here's where it started to get wierd. Heather's husband, Jose, is Phillipino, which gives them a very similar racial makeup to AJS and me; that kind of thing intrigues me, usually. I started chatting with Heather and mentioned that AJS was a writer (knowing that she had started a "serious writer's" group, heh) and she jumped all over it, telling me that Jose was a writer, too. This led to a rambling conversation with Jose where he latched on to our last name. "String? Is your husband from DC?" "I knew some Strings, but they went to Gonzaga & Notre Dame HS in DC."

Wierdness: Jose went to high school with AJS's brother and sister. I just did a websearch for Jose and his writing and found this blog profile:

http://www.blogger.com/profile/09735288367103253311

Check out the photo: it is taken at Black Cat's Red Room Bar and he looks very strangely like AJS...

Dash's 2-Year Checkup

Dash just saw our favorite doctor today, Dr. Arnold! She has an almost preternatural ability to remember details about Dash and Rosie (even when the other isn't present), like, "of course he would have to be incredibly verbal, to keep up with his big sister!" She checked him out and we both agreed that he is doing fabulously! His weight is 28.5 lbs, height is 35 in, and head circ is 19.25 cm (percentiles respectfully: 52, 60, & 52). His verbal & physical skills are right on target and his fine motor skills are above average. She was very impressed with the birthday gift he gave me! (See 7/18 post.) He's eating a variety of different foods and plays very well with Rosie. The ear tubes still looked fine, too.

I was running late for the appointment, so when it came time for me to ask any questions, I was frazzled and completely blank. We'll see if anything comes up. Hopefully there wasn't anything important that I missed; it was such a Dash-love-fest. I love you, little boy!

Happy Birfday, Mommee!

Dashiell surprised me this a.m. by making his very first BM in the potty! What a good little guy!

Not a particularly auspicious way to start the day, but I'll take what I can get. I have heard across the board that potty training with boys is much harder than girls (and Rosie wasn't a walk in the park), so I'm trying to give much positive, encouraging reinforcement! Keep at it Dash!

New Glasses Frames!

I've had the same glasses frames since 1997, maybe earlier. This picture is of me and Rosalie (at 6mos), taken in 2003 (and, yes, she is watching TV with me). I bought the frames back when I was coloring my hair red, and they looked great with red hair! They look fine with my natural brown, but after 10 years, it's time for a change. Most definitely.

At my eye appointment yesterday with my fabulous eye doctor, Saba Ayalew, I picked some beautiful new frames! I have been having my eyes checked by Dr. Ayalew for about 12 years (but missed the past 2 year's appts), and had a big shock recently when I saw her at my kids' daycare center with a six-month-old!

Anyway, here is a advertising image of the frames I chose. I should have them in a few weeks:

I've been planning to design my next tattoo with dragonflies (or damselflies, need to do research), so these are perfect!

my first meme tag! fave local food spots...

Kelly at O for Obsessive tagged me with this meme. Rosie eats almost nothing but starch and Dash eats lots of different foods, but gets a little itchy sitting in one place for too long, so that limits our dining-out abilities. If we do have a chance to have a dinner out or if a favorite place is good with kids, I'm listing it here.

I currently live in Alexandria, VA, but prior to having offspring (only 4 years ago) we were solid DC residents. My favorite places are moving south to Northern Virginia.

Here are the rules:

• Link to the person who tagged you.
• Include the state and country you live in.
• List top five favorite local restaurants.
• Tag five other people and let them know they've been tagged.

My top five:

1. Restaurant Eve. In Old Town Alexandria, this dining experience rises high above all other Old Town fare. We don't bring the kids here, but whenever there is a special event (anniversary, night to ourselves, etc.) this is where we know we will get excellent service, fabulous food prepared surprisingly and with care, and really enjoy ourselves.

2. Dishes of India. In Belle View, a hood in Alexandria south of the beltway. We have mostly ordered for take-out, but have brought the kids here with no problems. I think this is the best Indian around, prepared by seasoned chefs from Northern India. I love, love the tasty spices! The lamb dishes are great, Dash adores the Murg Tikka, and I occasionally order the veg dishes for variety. All around good.

3. Sushi Taro. This one's in DC; although we haven't been in a while, it remains my very favorite sushi place in my heart. The food is excruciatingly authentic and popular with Japanese tourists. A couple favorite moments: Japanese tourists taking photos of themselves in the restaurant (WTF? They could be in Japan, the decor is so authentic!); and making reservations for us under Mr. Suzuki, and AJS had to play Japanese when he arrived (he looks the part, but knows about as much Nihon-go as the average sushi-restaurant-menu reader).

4. Via Veneto Italian Restaurant. In Hollin Hall, another hood in Alexandria, south of the beltway. This a very small, family-run restaurant is one of our favorites for carry-out, but occasionally we dine-in. It gets busy and crowded, so when we do go to eat-in, we have an early dinner. The food is delightful and I always get a kick out of the smoke-seasoned voices of the two sisters who run the place. One of our stand-bys: large pizza with sausage, black olives, and spinach! Bella!

5. Burma (Washington DC) or Mandalay (Silver Spring, MD). These two restaurants are tied for their tastiness, but also the similarity in their exotic menus. They serve Burmese cuisine, with standouts of ginger salad and mango pork; I however, always go for the noodle dishes! We went to Mandalay for my birthday last year (look at little Dash, one-year old!), which is the larger of the two and could handle a party with several children. We would have had to close Burma down for a private party that day!

Oh, and tag, you're it: Radical Mama, Been There Seen That, Remember Sammy Jankis (because he seems to forget that he has a blog), and that's about all whom I can come up that might respond to a meme.

Rosie bowls! (slapstick)

Two milestones

This past weekend, we celebrated Dash's birthday with many friends (70!) at our home. The weather was fabulous, and AJS's barbecue supremely tasty. At large gatherings like this where I am the hostess and have two children in my care, I feel like I really am unable to engage with everyone. There are always a few people who were there and left and I was hardly there to do more than hail them as they came and went. I can only hope that they found other friends to speak with and enjoyed themselves.

Dash did pretty well at the party for not napping earlier in the day (he had a few cranky moments and seemed zoned out, here and there). Thank goodness Auntie M showed up and kept Rosie entertained! Prior to her arrival, Rosie spent most of her time indoors. She seemed happier and more engaged with Auntie to boss around.

Sheryl baked us two fabulous cakes that everyone enjoyed. Thanks, Sheryl! And Dash could hardly wait to play with all of his new toys and read the books. However, he was so tired that he wanted to go straight to bed and forego my favorite ritual of being held while I sing songs. *snf* Actually, he's only been interested in songs one day this week and seems to prefer that I read books to him while he's in his crib now. I guess that's why we have birthday parties — to mark a milestone with a ritual, bringing attention to change and growth.

On Sunday, I took the kids to see the Os after lunch and they played so well together! before we all went for a walk around Lake Artemesia. On the walk, we brought Tina (the coon hound) along, because of course dogs like walkies! But, Rosie was very wary of Tina and refused to walk. Kelly saved the day by letting Rosie ride in her double stroller with Thea. YAY! Dash was in my stroller, so that left the youngest of our four kids, Liam, as the only one walking. You're tops in my book, Liam. And thanks for shlepping Rosie, Kelly (and Todd). You guys are great friends.

Heather's baby shower was that afternoon; very nice and fun for the kids. Emma was in the wading pool and Rosie actually joined her! I'm very surprised, since she's usually not interested in water. Emma is such a sweetie and is going to love being a big sister. I have photos of the shower and will post soon.

I [heart] industrial design

This table/chair set, designed by a Turkish industrial design student collective is just fabulously cool. The nesting shapes that are both biomorphic and ergonomic yet practical are making me boggle with excitement. Core 77 blogged about it and made me look!

Of course, I covet anything this awesome for my home; I'm thinking, what a space-saver, the chairs tuck into the table and it holds its own extending leaf inside the main table! However, would it work to seat more than two?

Such a work of art, just as it is.

The Strings of Springfield (ala Kellygo)

Hey, this was totally Kelly's idea, but it looked so fun, I couldn't resist!

Woot!

(AJS told me this morning that he just hit a low weight goal, so I've made him more buff-looking. Way to go, honey!)