What Cherry Blossoms?

I’ve been trying to get around to this post all week, but things have (wait for it) been so busy (isn’t everyone tired of hearing this yet? I know I am) that I’ve just been too exhausted by the time I get home to even think about writing.

Jonathan and I have great intentions of doing all of the “things one’s supposed to do in DC.” Often though, we’ve found that the pressure we put on ourselves to find a way to make time to DO some of these things, really takes the joy out of them. [Insert] Cherry Blossom Season. Spring has sprung (what a dumb start to a sentence) here and everyone’s tiny little “yards/gardens/fenced in growths” are blooming with beautiful flowers and the promises of warmer days filled with sunshine. The tourists are starting to arrive and the buzz around town is ALL about the cherry blossoms. Sounds lovely, but March/April has meant impending law exams and insanity at work for the Mayos. That’s why we tried very hard NOT to pressure ourselves last weekend about going to all the festivities surrounding the Cherry Blossoms…which coincidentally, is also probably the reason we’ve been TWICE already :)



Our first experience was this past Sunday. Jonathan had finally finished studying for the day and we had run up to Eastern Market to pick up some fresh bread for dinner along with our apples and strawberries for the week, when we just decided “what the hell, let’s just drive out there and at least see them, even if we never get out of the car.” Well we DID get out of the car, and ended up having a fabulous time, all three of us experiencing our very first cherry blossoms.

First of all, the “canceled due to inclement weather” Kite Festival still had a pretty good turn out. The “inclement weather” ended up just being about a .25” of snow that melted within minutes of sunrise, so it was just enough to keep the crazy crowds away.


Who knew kites could be so fun?

 
 Jude LOVED watching the ducks :)




You’ll start to see at this point, that Jude has gotten a little bored with cherry blossoms and ducks, and is desirous of some mischief. Shocking.


 
The moment we ask someone to take our picture, Jude decides to get into some of this mischief and bark widely at a passing dog. Please note that this dog was probably the 85th dog to walk by us since we’d been there, and there was nothing special about it. I swear Jude just gets bored… Thankfully, we still got our picture and he tried real hard to make up for his tantrum by looking EXTRA stoic and handsome :)



Our second Cherry Blossom outing was sans dog and with our dear friends, the Shugarts. We all sucked it up and found a way to make time during the hectic work week to do a spontaneous dinner-picnic amongst the blossoms.


Tammy was awesome: she drove (which if you don’t know traffic in DC, is a BIG deal)

Ash was awesome: he bought empanadas, hummus, flat bread, tzatziki, pasta salad, etc. from eastern market—SO good

Jonathan and Emily…eh, we’re ok: we (Jonathan) brought wine and plastic cups and I managed to get off work on time to show up!


We so enjoyed this picnic with great friends and look forward to many more (hopefully when its a little less chilly :)



When things get hard, it’s outings like these that remind us why we love our new home in D.C.

lots of work + a little art

Tonight we went to our very first true DC art show opening. I couldn’t be happier that we forced ourselves to make time for it in the insanity that is our 2011 thus far; I have truly been craving some contemporary photography and well, the art world in general the past few months. DC Exposed is a photography show that’s been put on for the past five years by the DCist blog and the show features only local photographers and the subject of DC.


It was at the Longview Gallery a little north of Chinatown and both opening nights were sold out. It’s such a great way to get the city more involved in the art world.


I absolutely loved the space. We will definitely be frequenting this gallery’s upcoming openings. Ignore the fact that all these pictures were taken with Jonathan’s Iphone…


 

The fact that Yuengling sponsored the event was just a fabulous BONUS.


Possibly the best part was that we actually got to have a kind of date in the middle of the week! That NEVER happens and we soaked it right up :)


Other updates from this week so far?

1. I FINALLY got my office! I haven’t had time to do much of anything with it yet because we’ve been so frantically busy, but come April when this portfolio is said and done, it’s on.


2. Oh, and Jude slept like a baby…multiple times this week



Ok, time for bed. I’ve been at work quite late all week and I’ve got to go in early tomorrow so it’s way past time for ample rest. Happy thank goodness it’s almost Thursday…day.

Congress' or Congress's

This is us, at way-too-late-o’clock last night, trying to get a little family time squeezed in this weekend. I’m NOT going to post a picture of us now, recovering from way-too-late-o’clock + daylight savings time, i.v.-ing coffee and discussing the Supreme Court’s dissenting opinions on whether it’s Congress’ or Congress’s… really, look it up-they don’t all agree. Happy Sunday everyone.

a little bit whiny and a little bit informational

Sometimes I just need a pick-me-up. Just a little reminder about why we’re doing what we’re doing, a.k.a. working our butts off and getting to spend less time together than when Jonathan lived in Atlanta and I in Athens instead of under the same roof like we are now). Sometimes, when I’m sitting alone (ok, not ALONE ALONE - Jude is giving me the honor of sleeping next to me with his rump cuddled up to side),

but sometimes I just want to be able to sit down and watch a movie, or go get a drink on a whim, or just sit in the same room as my husband. Is that too much to ask?! Rawr. That’s what I have to say about that. Poor guy, I’m miserable just sitting out in the living room with the Weimaraner butt, but he’s been slaving away on a massive paper for the past week all holed up in the bedroom. He works so hard and just doesn’t get a break. Poor hubbs. This has definitely been an intense year for us in the “change department”. I know it’s where we’re supposed to be, and really we love SO many things about our new life, but I tell you what, law school just isn’t one of them!

Alright, no more pity party. Hmm…what to write about that’s not being a  whiney…hmm…let’s see. Well, we made a cheesecake this weekend. My very first homemade cheesecake. You know those wedding gifts that just get put away and forgotten about? Well, that’s what my cheesecake spring-form pan I found in the drawer was for me this weekend. Apparently it was calling my name, because I had the most incredible urge to try out something difficult and incredibly yummy. So we went for it. While it’s not the prettiest thing in the world…it IS pretty delish. Check out our black cherry cheesecake. It even has ghirardelli dark chocolate chips inside.

YUM. Needless to say I’ve made an effort to get to the gym during my lunch hour this week. Amazingly, I haven’t resorted to cheesecake for breakfast…well, ok, but only once. There will definitely be more cheesecakes in our future.

I’m pretty scatterbrained at the moment so it’s time for random happenings in the life of the Mayos:

1. I’m almost finished with The Count of Monte Cristo on audible (yes, I listen to books on tape-I do ALSO READ books (I’m almost done with The Elegance of the Hedgehog, I’m kinda reading Still Life of the Woodpecker [i’m trying Ashley I promise!], and I just bought An Object of Beauty yesterday from one of the Borders that are going out of business), but I got hooked on audio books when I commuted from Snellville to Athens and it’s the most AMAZING commute filler. I’m pretty bummed though, this book is incredible and I definitely don’t know what to go for next. If anyone has suggestions here’s the criteria: (a) it needs to be a pretty hefty book, short one’s end up being only about 6 hours which just isn’t worth the credit/money (b) it needs to be good enough to withstand the distraction of all the crazies on the metro/hustle of downtown dc during rush hour. Ok, that’s it.

2. Jonathan got an internship for the summer for the Migrant Legal Action Program!! One of the areas he’s really interested in learning more about is immigration law and so this is really a perfect opportunity. Not to mention they really fought to get Jonathan for the job b/c they really liked him in his interview (DUH, who doesn’t?) and Jonathan actually really likes the guy he’s going to be working for. They’ve even gone to lunch once since it was made official to get to know each other better and to learn more about what the job will be like.

3. I will FINALLY have my own office at work starting tuesday next week, it’s been a long time coming so needless to say, I am SO ready!

4. Jude is still losing his hairs one by one, but he’s still pretty happy :)

Wow, four and I’m out. One more day everybody. Just one more day to the weekend.

A Dog Blog Hijacking: How-To

a lesson in fetch.

1. make sure mommy gets really excited


 2. get a REALLY good take off


3. if you didn’t quite see where the ball fell, find it fast before mommy does!


4. if she gets to it first (which basically never happens because I’m just WAY too fast and did I mention I’m a hound dog?), then be sure to butter her up a whole lot so she’ll throw it again


 5. And I mean, A LOT of butters


 6. Be sure to take short breaks so Mommy can rest…



…and Daddy too…..


7. Finally be impossibly cute to get them to keep playing over and over and over again



and that’s how you play fetch.