Day 71: September 8th Alexandria Hearings

Headed down to Alexandria for 341 meetings.  Had a good time, the trustee tried to give me a heart attack but everything went smoothly and lovely-y.

I always park on Princess because I like the cobblestone street.  Alexandria is so pretty!  I wish I could get a cute little house downtown, maybe it's time to start scouring the foreclosure listings...

Of course I still have a lease until April so maybe it's not the best time.

Day 70: September 7th New Calendar

Don't ya love it when you can rip off the old month and have a whole new clean one laid out in front of you?  I know that I do!

Got some good news today, I'll share later in the week :)

Day 69: September 6th Sunspots

Relaxing end to a long weekend.  Happy Labor Day everyone!  Had a cook-out at my parents house and I get to go to the airport tonight to pick Mark up from his weekend of debauchery :)

Day 68: September 5th A Magnificent Meat Loaf!

Mom came back from her trip today and had gone yard-sale shopping.  She brought back this cookbook from the 80s....

I looked through the whole thing and there was only one thing that I would have eaten (this is NOT one of them).  How did people survive on this!  Surprised the end of the world didn't happen in 1985 when everyone in the US dropped from heart attacks!

Red meat filled with eggs and pickles and covered in puff pastry...wow

Day 67: September 4th Drawing of Dixie

I haven't sketched in awhile!  Figured since I had the time I'd look at pictures of the cute little Boston.  I think it turned out rather well :)  Already finished with Season 1 of Veronica Mars too!

What a productive holiday ;)

Day 66: September 3rd Mark's off to New Orleans and I have a Chihuahua

You remember Gabby everyone right?  Well I'm watching her while my mom and Russ are in PA for the holiday weekend.  Ain't she cute? 

Mark got on a plane (eventually) for New Orleans so I am raring up for a grand ol' weekend of tv watching anything I want, bring on the HGTV and Veronica Mars!

Day 65: September 2 The Sound of Music

Went to Wolftrap this evening to see the Sound of Music.  It was great!  We had lawn tickets and brought a picnic and wine and laid our on the grass and had a perfect shot of the stage.

The production was very good and we had a great time!  I love Wolftrap :)

Day 64: September 1st Look what big dogs!

Well Mark and my Mom got me on pinch and punch today although I stealthed out Russ :)  Helped my mom get the travel van from the Algonquian park and while we were driving through we saw all kinds of deer!

Day 63: August 31st Power Outage

Power went out for a couple of hours this evening, not much to do then except read by the light of the candle.  I did get to make my jalapeno honey-lime chicken this evening though.  That was pretty awesome!

Day 62: August 30th Clean Stove of Glory

Don't you just love a nice clean stove?  Going to make some chicken tomorrow evening in that Le Cruset!  Have it all planned out already so needed to get everything tidied the day before :)

Day 61: August 29th Day at the Pool

Had a nice relaxing Sunday afternoon.  Mark and I headed over to the gym for about half an hour.  They keep that bad boy HOT!  So I know I burned about 300 calories and climbed 298 floors on the stairstepper.  That sucker is hard!

We then went to the pool and spent about two hours laying out and getting in.  I used sunscreen but I need to make sure that I change tops each time so that I don't get tan lines just in case.

Day 60: August 28th Helicopter at the Hospital

Went out to the hospital to visit my grandfather today.  Took a good picture of the emergency helicopter taking off.

Grandpa is doing really well, he's in a lot of pain but he is speaking clearly and knows what is going on, he remembered what bills needed to be paid, etc.

I am really amazed by the human body and what it can overcome :)

Day 59: August 27th Depositions in Alexandria

Headed to Alexandria because a client was being deposed.  Ended up being 5 1/2 hours of sitting there listening to the crazy-ass person on the other side of the table ask inane questions that have absolutely no relevance to anything.  Headed back home for hopefully a weekend of relaxation.  Mark and I were going to go white water rafting but at this point in the summer before the wedding...everything just seems like a hassle!

Day 58: August 26th Curb

Ya know...just in case you couldn't tell what it was.

Day 57: August 25th and don't take my BALL

I do love how protective Bixbonator gets about his little piggy ball.  It doesn't make noise anymore because he pretty much destroyed that the first day he had it.  He has two of these toys which are almost identical.  One is a green pig and one is a green cat.  He only really chews on the pig and ignores the cat...I think he can really tell the difference.

Day 56: August 24th Another Day at the Office

This is my daily quote/story of the day about Lawyers.  I do look forward to flipping each one to see what's coming up.  Was at work pretty late tonight trying to get everything caught up in a controlled way.  Not looking forward to the winter and leaving after dark every night.

Day 55: August 23rd Nightime without time

Headed back into work and had a long day, not too much to talk about.  Grandpa is still doing ok, we're checking in on him often.

Day 54: August 22nd Happy Birthday (two days later) Mom!

Here are those lobsters I was promising you yesterday!  I experienced my first killing...it was sad but if you can't kill your own food then you shouldn't be eating living things.

Mark and I headed over to give mom presents and spend some time and have dinner.  We had lobster, corn, and big salads.  Real Lean and Green :)

After dinner we had some fun with the puppies, Gabby is so gosh darned cute!

In the middle of play an owl landed in the tree off the deck so we had to keep a tight hold on the lil' dogs so Mr. Owl didn't decide to take three licks off a chihuahua.

Day 53: August 21st Hospital Visits and Fishmongers

Went to go to see grandpa today, he's still unconscious but he pulled through and is no longer bleeding internally so he's a strong guy.  He's looking actually much better than I think anyone expected.

After leaving the hospital, Mark and I went over to a nearby ethnic supermarket to see what it was like in preparation of my mother's birthday which is now to be celebrated tomorrow.

It was pretty sweet, lines of roasted duck, durian, and the fish market!  They have eel, frogs, turtles (although we're going to stick with the lobster)

Day 52: August 20th Grandpa's in the Hospital

No picture today, my grandfather is in the hospital undergoing surgery and it is pretty serious.  He pulled through but it is going to be a long recovery.  Rescheduling of Mom's birthday until Sunday.

Day 51: August 19th Reflections

Not all that much happened today, that's usually why I end up taking pictures around the house on these days :)  But all is well and here are my outside mirrors!

Day 50: August 18th Holy crap it's been 50 days of 365 already!

Headed in to DC today, I'll talk about that later.  But hey!  It's the Metro!

No comments from people who know why I headed to DC for another couple of weeks, this is a public blog, thanks!

Day 49: August 17th and an attempt at blogging a video

So this is a video of Bixby jumping into a hamper.  I did not take a regular picture this day so hopefully this works :)

Day 48: August 16th Pool for the first time!

Mark and I headed to the pool this afternoon after work, FINALLY.  It was very nice, cool water, hot tub.  Very nice and relaxing.

Day 47: August 15th Relaxin' with Basil

We woke up this morning and headed out to Silver Diner for breakfast.  Headed back home for a nap and some relaxation to recover from an awesome night.

Day 46: August 14th Bachelorette!!

Went to DC for my Bachelorette.  First we stopped by the hotel to check in and get ready and then headed out for dinner and drinks to the Hotel Washington. There were pretty pink chandeliers and pretty pink drinks :)  Gorgeous views and we had good tasty food and got a seat out on the patio.

 After dinner we went back and changed into our 80s gear to go out dancing and taking pictures in DC.  There was a minor incident when we first went out when our driver was assaulted, but the mood of course improved after that!

I got free drinks and didn't git sick ner nuthin!

Here's a picture in my 80s dress too!

Day 45: August 13th Trish Comes to Town!

My bachelorette is this weekend and Trish came up from WV to spend the weekend.  This is the flowerpot that Trish got me for my birthday and I planted her card in it.  She had gotten me a card that had flower seeds in it which you could plant and it will grow :)

Day 44: August 12th Legally Blond at Wolftrap

Headed out to Wolftrap today with my Mom, Russ, and Mindi to go see Legally Blond the Musical!!  Got there early (in the absolute downpour) and had some drinks and snacks.  Then the musical started and was pretty good.

The night ended badly when I couldn't send out a pretty important email but I headed back into the office and got'er'dun.

Day 43: August 11th Happy Birthday Mark!!

Apple Tartetan!  Happy Birthday Mark!

Day 42: August 10th Losing an Objection but Gaining a Marriage License

Went to Alexandria this morning to argue my objection to a motion to compel disposition...I lost BUT I did manage to get a couple of good points in so the Judge has something to mull over.  We had figured that we were going to lose anyway but still had to show up.

Since we were done a bit early (the opposition is notoriously long-winded but she finished relatively quickly) Mark and I headed down to the Alexandria Circuit Court to get our marriage license, so exciting!

How how I do love getting things done and crossing them off the list.  My mom had originally wanted to go down to take pictures when we went.  The inside of the courthouse is dingy as hell so the only good pic that we got was of the outside.  Mark is going to make a better picture of our license so I can post it as well.

Day 41: August 9th Call of Duty

Enjoyed a couple games of Call of Duty with Mark, I'm not that great at the first person shooters, I need to find a game that I enjoy as much as he enjoys Call of Duty.  Anyone have any suggestions?  I'm already registered for the Band Hero game, I like puzzle type games as well, do they make a super awesome tetris for PS3?

Day 40: August 8th Photographers and DJs

Met with the two final photographers and a DJ today to get the last details ironed out for the wedding.  There are two good photographers in the running and I'm on one side, my mom likes the other....guess it's up to Mark to make the decision :)

Day 39th: August 7th Weekend Relaxin'

Not too much to chitty chat about today.  Watched a long run of SciFi shows: Doctor Who - Starship Troopers - Twister - Deep Impact - and finally, New Moon.

I haven't been able to go see Eclipse because I never saw the in-between movie although I have read the books so I knew what happened.

Nice day and relaxing :)  Oh, and I wore a skirt

Day 38: August 6th Berryville to Contract

So last Friday I had called up the Battletown Inn in Berryville to discuss elements of the wedding.  At this time I found out that the guy we had been speaking with who worked there is no longer working there and the vast majority of our contract was oral. So today, Mark, my Mom and I headed out to Berryville to ensure that the owner respects the original agreements that their now unemployed agent had reached.

After about an hour of speaking with the guy we realized that 1. he was pissed at what the previous guy had agreed to (because he was really giving us a good deal) and 2. he was still going to respect the contract he just wasn't going to be happy about it.  Now personally, if someone is going to be basically filling out my entire restaurant and all my rooms, I think I'd be a little happier, but whatever.

Took some additional pictures as I left through the town.  I do miss Berryville, something about being in the town where you did a lot of your growing up is pretty touching.  Each corner reminds you of a story.  I wish that I would have the chance to go to the Clarke County Fair this year, however a WHOLE lot of other things are going to be going on next weekend.  Ah well.

Day 37: August 5th What's that in the Sky?!

Oh MAN was today a long and boring day.  I was so efficient yesterday that I had nearly nothing to do but research, blogging, and catching up.  Until 5 of course which is when the clients started calling and asking questions.  That's ok though, I understand that they are REALLY nervous about the process of bankruptcy.

I did get a chance to work on my bankruptcy blog though, if you get a chance head to my website: www.leesburgbankruptcy.com and check it out.

As for the picture, what do YOU think it is?  I will tell you that I was on my back porch and took the picture over the roof of the condo buildings.  No more hints :)

Day 36: August 4th and the Incoming Storm

Went to my mom's for eyebrow day and the sky just darkened in an instant.  The wind started blowing and it really looked like was going to open up.

Nothing ended up even happening!  Quite a disappointment because I love big storms.

Day 35: August 3rd Watermelon Slaughter

Mark and I just couldn't figure out what we were craving this evening...turns out we really wanted half a watermelon!

Last summer we'd put about two watermelons away each week.  We've really cut back on the habit.

Pretty interesting day at work today, working on two different settlements, we'll see how they go.

Day 34: August 2nd Meeting with Photographer #1

This evening, Mark, my Mom and I all walked down to the Reston TC Starbucks to meet up with Ashley from Happy Heart Photography who is the first of three photographers we are meeting with this week.

She has a graphics design degree so she knows how to do really good cleaning up of pictures and how to design the shots.  She is also reasonably priced, along the same lines as the other people we are meeting this week.  Plus she's nice and engaging which will make it easier to work with her.

We're meeting one photographer on Friday and the last one on Sunday evening so by Monday, we should have a final decision on the photographer! 

Day 33: August 1st Invitations and Chess

Ashley and Jennie came over to my mom's house to help with my invitations today!  One less thing to do :)  I did run out of stamps though so I need to get more of those.

This evening Russ and my Mom came over for dinner, Moroccan Chicken and Quinoa and to play some games.  Russ and Mark pulled out my chess board and got to work...Mark won with his aggressive queen sacrifice.

Day 32: July 31st Bouquets and Florists

Went out all day with my mom today to visit florists and locations to do hair and make-up for the big day.  We headed first to Sponsellers in Berryville since it is right down the road. 

I love looking at flowers!  We played with colors and different textures to figure out what we would do for the bridal bouquets, the corsages, etc.  We worked for about an hour before we had to leave to meet up with the next florist.  I thought that Sponsellers did a good job AND they were not nearly as expensive as I had expected them to be.

From Berryville, we headed out to Shepherdstown to visit the second florist.  I took a picture of the church in town because the florist didn't really have anything set up to look at.  The main designer wasn't in the shop that day so we ended up doing a lot of describing for the flowers instead of getting to point out exactly what we wanted.

The price estimate was pretty much the same as the previous location but there wasn't a lot of other information on which to make a decision so the appointment was pretty short.

We next headed back through Berryville and ate a lovely Mexican lunch at the Mexican Restaurant and Karaoke place, the place looks awesome!  So I know if anyone is looking for something else to do in Berryville, exactly where you should go!

Finally we headed out to Purcellville to look at a couple of spa places for the make-up and hair.  I found a great place which is affordable, and they look pretty nice inside and had a very nice group of people working there.

We went to Purcellville Florist last who was a very lovely woman and who picked out some really pretty flower options for us.  We don't quite know what the price will be here although she is mailing me the estimate and that will probably be what makes the difference.  She had  a good idea of what I was looking for (and my mom) and everything looked really pretty.

So a very productive day!

Day 31: July 30th Post from iPhone

So I dyed my hair today which I think ended up looking pretty good! Headed to the Apple store with my mom and Mark to look at toys. I think my mom is jealous of my phone ;) and now she'll be one-upping me. I have figured out how to blog post from my phone though, so that's pretty cool :)

Day 30: July 29th Project Runway

First episode of Project Runway!  *Woot*

Sorry that dreadlocks girl left because Casanova was narsty but I guess he makes good TV.  And everyone in the waiting room was really surprised by the decision.  Hopefully next week they wise up.  Although, it is interesting that Mark picked the winner AND the person who would be going home...perhaps he is a fashion psychic?