Meaty Heaven

I know that sounds pretty gross, but on Saturday night we (as in B, Kev&Suz) were not only in meaty heaven, but more like a meat coma. Saturday night we all dined together at Fogo de Chao at the corner of Pennsylvania Ave. and 11th Street. I see the advertisements for Fogo De Chao every time I pick up US Airways magazine and have wanted to try it for a long time now, but always assumed that it was a gimmicky chain restaurant that couldn't possibly be that good and definitely not worth the money. But oh was I wrong!!!

First, the bartender kicked ass. He was really knowledgeable about the wines and cocktails and definitely made a mean dirty vodka martini. Plus he actually muddled the lime in K's drink; a sign of a good bartender. And second, the place was packed! We had an 8:30 reservation and the place was hopping with guests as well as tons of wait staff. I was really surprised to see it that busy. It's not a cheap dinner what-so-ever ($50 per person for dinner), so I figured it must be good, right?

Dinner started off with a little lesson on how everything works. You start off with the salad bar. And then when you're ready for meat, you flip your "coin" to green (go), and the Brazilian cowboys just start coming with one of 15 meats! The meats are all sizzling hot on skewers, and as they cut the meat off the skewer, you pick it up with your tongs. And you can request the doneness of your meat. I'm a medium-rare person, but others are more medium to medium-well.

We took our time finishing our cocktails and then headed to the salad bar. Now, I know what you're thinking. Salad bar? Really? No, this isn't a Harris Teeter salad bar, this is an amazing, knock your socks off, I can hit just this, kind of salad bar. I can't remember everything on it, but I'll tell you I made a bibb lettuce salad with sun-dried tomatoes, freshly grated Parmesan cheese, marinated olives, and buffalo mozzarella with olive oil and balsamic dressing and had some other kind of fresh cheese with prosciutto and salami. And a taste of chicken salad. It was delicious! I could have gone back 10 times! Oh, and let's not forget the warm cheese bread! HEAVEN!! I had them during the salad course, meat course, and for dessert! :)

Then once you begin the meat course, they bring out side dishes of friend polenta (yum), mashed potatoes (yum), and fried plantains (yum)!

But the meat could not be beat. We tried bottom sirloin, top sirloin, sausage, pork ribs, beef ribs, chicken, bacon wrapped filet, filet mignon, picanha (the house specialty), ribeye, and lamp chops to name a few. My favorites were the bottom sirloin (so juicy and flavorful), pork ribs (they had some kind of amazing dry rub), and the lamb chops. But everything was so tasty.

And to top of the evening, they bring around a cart full of exotic and some not-so-exotic after dinner drinks. And the man behind the cart knew anything and everything there was about each and every one of them. Trust me, we grilled him for a good 15 minutes!!

Not only were the drinks and food amazing, but the service was fantastic! As soon as we flipped our coins from red to green, multiple waiters were at our table offering up different cuts of meat. And they were constantly offering fresh, clean plates and clearing away unused dishes.

I would definitely give Fogo De Chao 5 stars!! If you don't want to take my word for it, just read the 99 reviews on Google resulting in a 4.5 star rating.

Where In The World is Blondie?

There's no two ways about it; I've been super MIA (as far as blogging does) for a month now. Don't ask my why. I guess I've just been too lazy to post anything. And it's not like we haven't been up to anything. Because we have been up to a lot lately! Since our 1st wedding anniversary on May 31st, I feel like time has flown by! Where the hell did Summer go anyway??!! It's almost over!! :(

I won't bore you with all the details on what B&I have been up to since last, but since I love lists so much, I'll just give you a quick, brief synopsis (of what I can remember) :

• 1st Wedding Anniversary - a trip down honeymoon-memory lane, dinner at Komi, and a seafood feast in Annapolis (plus some year old wedding cake...delish!)

• Work trip to my favorite "work" destination - Aiken, SC. Met the coolest WWII veteran who told me awesome war stories. I must get my hands on a copy of the DVD of his story! Oh and got to hold an adorable miniature greyhound! :)
• Westwood Prom! Got dressed up and partied down with the "old folks" at Westwood! And when I say "old folks," I'm definitely not talking about the crew we went with!!
• Fun weekend with Carrie and Tom in VA! Friends who moved from VA to NY came to visit us for the weekend in June.
• Quick trip to York which consisted of a small amount of work and a big amount of fun. hehe1st trip to National Harbour and 1st and last time we'll dine at Rosa Mexicano (with Kev and Suz). Will def return to National Harbour though.
• Picked up our tennis rackets again.
• Haven't picked them up since. :)
• 5 days in sunny Sanibel, FL with the Noll's and Sweigarts. Had a blast shelling and entertaining my 3 year old niece NK. I just might have the two cutest nieces on the face of the planet. And no, I'm not biased. It's a well known scientific fact. Will post a picture later as evidence.
• Work trip to Houston. Enough said.
• 6 days in sunny Southport, NC with the Schwartz's (and the Noll's for two nights). Got reunited with Mabel after being apart for over a week and spent tons of time sunning myself. And loved every minute of it! Oh, and my little baby girl turned one on July 7th.

• Read 5 books on my Kindle (including 3 from the Twilight series)! And probably sold about 8 of them!

That pretty much sums it up. I'll try to keep in touch better than I have been the last month. Hope ya'll have had a great Summer as well!!

The New Paper

I have no idea who ever came up with the idea that there are certain gifts to receive and give on your anniversary, but the traditional 1st anniversary gift is paper. I've heard of some pretty clever gifts related to paper such as tickets (airline, concert, etc.), handwritten letters and notes, journals, books, and photo albums. But what I really wanted for my anniversary is a new kind of paper. Actually a way to reduce paper. A Kindle.

I've been asking for one since Oprah debuted the gadget on her show a month or so before Christmas. I thought it would be the perfect gift for someone like me who travels a lot and is constantly buying books in airports. The upfront cost of the Kindle is a bit high, but the books are so cheap, ranging from $0 to $9.99 at the most (yes, there are a lot of books that are free). So in the long run, I think it's a very cost-effective gadget!

Low and behold, B answered all my whining and asking and got me one for our anniversary. I have never actually used a Kindle before getting mine, only interrorgated a woman who sat next to me one time on a flight. So I wasn't exactly sure what to expect. I can only say that the Kindle (I have the Kindle 2 version) blew my expectations out of the water!!! The thing not only downloads books, but also newspapers, magazines, blogs, and cookbooks. It has built in wireless internet so you can buy books anywhere you can get a cell phone signal (as well as search the internet!) and it will automatically download your newspaper in the morning for you! Another thing that's great, is that you get the first chapter of every book for free, so you're not obligated to buy it without trying it first. I've actually tried out several books which I haven't purchased. And I think the Kindle can hold something like over a 1,500 books.

I also love that it's super light and thin. I like to lay on my side and read in bed before falling asleep and it was really difficult to hold books like that. Before the Kindle I had to basically rig a pillow just right to prop my heavy books. Now it's not a problem at all to read on my side or over my head or any which way.

All in all the Kindle was has been one of the best gifts I've ever received!

Back In Action

So sorry I haven't posted in awhile. It's been a busy weekend and begining of the week. B&I celebrated our one year wedding anniversary (YEAH!) on Saturday night and Sunday (the official day is May 31st) and I've been traveling for work since Monday.

I have so much to share, but I just haven't been motivated enough to do it. But I promise that tomorrow, I'll share all the details of our weekend celebration and my awesome trip down to Aiken, SC...my fav work destination.

Hope everyone had a Happy Hump Day! I know I did, as I'm back at home cuddling on the couch with Mabel-belle :)

Toot Toot!

Guess I was just ahead of the curve. Look what was posted today on Style Me Pretty:

http://www.stylemepretty.com/2009/05/28/dessert-buffet-by-amy-atlas/


How awesome!! Style Me Pretty is amazing website for all those that are in the midst of planning of wedding or party for that matter. I used to read this blog every day when I was planning mine and totally drool over all the amazing pictures, ideas, and wedding related things.

That reminds me, my wedding was suppossed to be featured in a wedding magazine, but this stupid bride was too lazy to fill out the questionnaire and send the editor the pictures. So dumb!! I still don't even have my wedding albumn completed. What is wrong with me?! I think after planning for 1.5 years, I'm just wedding-out. Unless that is until Anne get's engaged. Then it's on! :) No pressure. hehehe

T-minus 2 days now. Something special arrived today at work and I can't wait to unveil it on Saturday.

Shout Out!

Just wanted to give a little shout out to my friend Anne and the amazing blog she's putting together for Amy Atlas events (http://www.amyatlas.blogspot.com/).

If it were 8 months ago and I was in the midst of planning my wedding, I certainly would be trying to hire Amy Atlas. Or if not hire her, certainly trying to imitate her designs and ideas (sorry, I know that's plagiarism, but I didn't get married in NYC or anywhere near NYC). If you live in the NYC Metro area and are planning a wedding, party, baptism, bar mitzvah, or anything of the like, you must check out her website. One look at these goodies and you're sure to swoon.

Big shout out to the Cotton Candy Girl! :)

The Weekend Roundup

The weekend was awesome! Why the heck don't we have 3-day weekends more often? I would be a much more productive, happy person if only I could have more 3 day weekend. Mr. President, are you hearing me? You really need to sign this into law. I imagine there would be a whole lot less crime if people didn't have to work so much.

Anyway, I won't totally bore you with everything we did this past weekend, so I'll just give you a brief synopsis:

1. Had dinner Friday night in Shirlington at Aladins. Love, Love, Love their hummos chicken plate. Came home to another Mabel chewing disaster. Will explain later.
2. Slept in A LOT. I've been fighting some kind of something since last weekend and I definitely think the combination of vitamins, sleep, and water this weekend has helped immensely.
3. Went to Westwood to the pool. Twice. But B only lasted 10 minutes the second time. I didn't bring enough "toys"with me to keep him occupied. Yes, I know he sounds like a 5 year old. I assure you, he will be 34 this year.
4. Had dinner and drinks in DC with K&S (our friends/neighbors) and their house guests. Amazingly surprised by the food at Fados! Will definitely be returning soon for more corn beef and cabbage. And had a great time hanging out at Rocket Bar. Unfortunately, unable to snag the skee ball or a shuffle board table. Next time.
5. Slept some more. B golfed while I slept.
6. Puppy play date!! More below. CUTENESS ALERT! DO NOT MISS THE PICTURES BELOW!
7. Re-organized our bedroom by getting rid of a dresser. Looks fantastic now and a whole lot less cluttered. Although I did have to give up 7 whole dresser drawers. it was tragic. but i'm getting over it. And returned a whole bunch of crap to Pottery Barn and Home Goods we didn't need. Felt good about that.
8. More hanging out with our neighbors and our new friend/other neighbor, the Cop. This time outside on the sidewalk between our condos. It was such a beautiful night. B claims, he's back into red wine now. Mabel and Taurie played the entire time with us outside. Also adorable.
9. Italian Store. pizza. subs. tiramisu. Need I say more?
10. Afternoon margaritas and Mexican at Guapos. What could be better than a margarita at 2 PM on your day off?! Nothing.
11. And managed to bake some banana strusell muffins.

All-in-all a pretty freakin' fantastic weekend. Couldn't have asked for a better weekend. And next weekend should prove to be much of the same. T minus 5 days until the big anniversary surprise! :)

Without further ado, here is the cuteness I promised earlier. The dog that looks like Mabel is her Mom, Phoebe. Mabe; and Phoebe were adopted the same day from A Forever Home (we exchange email info. with her parents) and her Mom, Margaret put together the puppy play date. We got together at her flower shop, Gathered Stems, in McLean. She has a fantastic grassy area behind her shop for the pups to play.

Phoebe is about 1.5 to 2 years old and it's thought that this is her second liter. She was rescued out of a West Virginia kill shelter when she was pregnant with Mabel and her six other pups. The pups were born in a foster home and than separated from Phoebe after a few weeks. The black and white dog is one of Mabel's sisters, Midge. Midge was adopted first and was the runt of the liter. She has such a different coat than Mabel, but has a similar body shape and the same eyes. All three of them instantly bonded on Sunday and spent 2 hours running, rolling, and frolicking around. With some humping threw in between (phoebe really took to mabel!). We can't wait until the next puppy play date and to hopefully meet more of Mabel's brothers and sisters.

Mabel's in front and Phoebe's sitting in back.

Midge's Mom and Dad gave Mabel a new toy. She LOVES it and has been playing with it constantly ever since!

Midge came to say hi to me! She's super sweet and super friendly. Mabel didn't get this particular trait. She's still afraid of strangers.

Hope you all had a happy Memorial Day and took some time to reflect on and remember all the service men and women who have put and are currently putting their lives on the line to protect the freedom's that we as Americans enjoy every single day. Can't thank you all enough for what you have and continue to sacrifice for us.