Cousins, cousins, here come the girls...

Well after a whirlwind move on Thursday I threw everything in the house, jumped in the pool to cool off and sister and I headed to the shore (my stuff is still sitting in the living room...oops!).

We got down to my grandma's just in time for dinner and to have a nice, relaxing glass of wine.  The night was calm in comparison to the two other nights at the beach.  You see, the beach is where my family reunites and this past weekend was no exception.

I have nine cousins on my dad's side of the family...and if you've ever met my dad you would know that it's sometimes hard to get a word in edgewise...well almost all 22 members of the family are like him or even louder, so it's always entertaining.  This weekend we had three cousins, two friends, 1 aunt, 1 uncle and 1 grandmother with my sister and I.

The cousins are a big deal in my family.  As a child we were always going down to the beach together.  We would go exploring, try to climb over fences, get lost in the waves, or just spend hours upon hours looking for sandcrabs.  We have always gotten along well (for the most part) because a lot of us are the same age.  Ok so one time I did kick one of my cousins in her bad knee...I was young though!

All dressed up to celebrate my grandfather's 70th Birthday...yes we decided to
choreograph a dance to the Spice Girls for his 70th?

Christmas - notice the sisters matching dresses....thanks mom.

As we have gotten older it has been lots of fun going back to the beach and reminiscing about those times as children....and sometimes continuing to act like them ourselves :)  Rather it be shopping at the outlets, sitting on the deck eating crabcakes, swimming in the ocean, or having fun in Dewey, with the cousins you can always count on a fun, exciting (sometimes drama filled) time!

Ya-ya party with the fam - yes we all put on hats and little candles and became
ya-ya sisters like the book/movie

Memorial Day weekend 2010

Memorial Day weekend 2009

4th of July 2010 

Christmas 2010

this past weekend...man I'm a shrimp!

Anyway, we had so much fun!  We sat on the beach and caught up, ate lots and lots (especially seafood, my fave!), drank skinny girl margaritas (ok not me as I can't stand tequila, but my cousin is obsessed!), went on mini adventures, and just had a ball.

Do you have cousins that you enjoy being around?  Have you taken some time to catch up with them lately?  Is there somewhere that the whole family goes to get together?  Take some time this summer to catch up with family, you'll be glad you did!

Next stop - California!  OK so I may not be writing until Vegas (Tighe and I start our road trip tomorrow and have to do a lot of moving...) but I will be sure to update on the travels as we go!

Buddha 4 Life

So lots been happening in my life, yesterday was my last day at my job, I'm moving out of the city today and many adventures are to come...but there is one thing that is more important than the rest, today is my sister's BIRTHDAY!!

So in honor of my fabulously wonderful, amazingly brilliant sister, here it goes...

Today, 23 years ago a little buddha was born...

She was a precious little thing and her older sister loved and adored her.

Through the years she was a bit of a tomboy...

And was always the "peacemaker" in the family (hence her buddha ways)

Then that "peacemaker" attitude turned her into a little hippy child and she left us for the west coast.

But that was ok because we got to visit some pretty cool spots and taste some pretty good wine...

Now she's headed off to the west again but not before a little adventure...

Yup, the sisters are hitting the road again...this time we're headed here:

Then we'll do some hiking here:

And finally end up in Tighe's new home here:

So, to the buddha baby, tomboy, peacemaker, hippy...

Happy Birthday!!

You sure are one of a kind and I am so very lucky and thankful to have a sister like you.

Through anything and everything I know I can count on you to be right by my side and I hope you always feel the same way about me.

So in the spirit of mom's favorite song to sing to us:

All kinds of weather
We stick together
The same in the rain or sun
Two diff'rent faces
But in tight places
We think and we act as one

Those who've 
Seen us
Know that not a thing could come between us

Many men have tried to split us up but no one can
Lord help the mister 
Who comes between me and my sister
And Lord help the sister
Who comes between me and my man

So let's get this party started and head down here for the weekend:

Love you to the stars and back!

Top Ten Things about living in DC

10. Access to lots of free stuff - museums, tours, events, historical places, Christmas Carolers, etc. (one time we even got to have a private tour of the Pentagon - sorry no pics from that)

White House tour with my office

White House garden tour with E!

Library of Congress tour

9. Everywhere you run is beautiful - especially running down on the mall past the Capitol and the Washington Monument.

8. You get every possible holiday off because you're on a government schedule.

7. The old row houses have ever so much character and if you live in one you might just find a painting on the back of a door or the original molding from the early 1900s.

6. It only takes an hour to get home so if you feel like heading home for dinner you can (ok so this only applies to me).

5. You can have two totally different experiences in two different parts of town and both will be unique and fun in their own way.

 vs.

4. The food (although I still haven't found my all time favorite brunch spot - Argonaut is up there) is delicious.  There is lots to choose from and although I wouldn't say DC has the greatest food in the country (I mean I've gotten to eat at Chez Panisse in Berkeley...what can I say) there are a lot of wonderful spots to pop into and have a bite with friends.

3. You feel like you're part of history often (i.e. Obama being elected, inauguration, events all the time, etc.) and that the decisions are being made for our country right in your own backyard.

Inauguration 2009

2. There are so many great earth saving, do good, save the world type organizations that you constantly feel inspired and invigorated to do more and do it better.

1.  The people that I have met, known, encountered, worked with, hung out with, and everything in between make this place what it has been for me.  The time I've spent here has been about relationships with people and I feel very lucky to have made some wonderfully special relationships as I'm leaving this place.

Memories of the past 3 years...

So I kinda missed semi-wordless Wednesday yesterday but what the heck, I'm going to do a semi-wordless Thursday!  The beginning of my DC montage...year one in the District

First night living in the District...boy was I nervous

Roommates for 3 years, best friends since age 5...I'm going to miss her!
(not that I won't be visiting all the time)

First playground build with one of my favorite co-workers :)

Second year roommates

Best pod ever, miss these people!

Kickball on the mall!

Drag queen brunch at Perry's, quite an experience!

Just a trip down memory lane to my first year in the District...more to come, can't believe it's already Thursday - this time next week I'll be moving out!

New Adventures on the horizon

So I've been hinting at this in the past few posts but in the next week or so my life is going to be changing a bit and I am excited!  A week from tomorrow is my last day at my current job and then the next day I move out of DC.  I have very mixed emotions about this, while I'm ready to move on from my job I've also learned a lot and met some amazing people so I know I am going to miss it a lot.  Same thing with DC, while I'm ready for a new adventure for the most part I've enjoyed my time in DC and will miss it a lot.

...that said, I'm only moving an hour away to Baltimore so it won't be the end of the world!  Yup, you guessed it, I'm moving back home.  I hope I enjoy being back home, I think I will but after living on my own for three years it may be a little different.  That said, I'm moving back home because I'm going to graduate school to get a Master's in Child Life which I am EVER so excited about!  As I'm sure you've read in a few of my posts, I have so enjoyed volunteering with kids in the hospital so I think I am only going to love learning how to support kids and families in the hospital.  I've spent my fair share in the hospital, both as a patient or a support, and I feel confident that this is what I am supposed to be doing.

Soo all of this said the next week is going to be devoted to all the things I have loved about living/working/exploring DC!  I've been holding back on this realm in my blogs as I knew I wanted to do something special when I left the city.  So bear with me as I slowly say goodbye to the city that I've called home for the past three years...

...and I wanted to put a few pics in but blogger is not accepting any of the pics I try to put in :(

This weekend I ran my first 10K, I was pretty excited to have finished considering I've never been a runner and this was my first race ever.  That said, I'm still a bit exhausted from the race so my post today is centered around a Ted Talk.  My wonderful big sis Clay sent me this TED Talk and I just had to share it!  If you've never heard of Ted Talks before the idea behind them is Ideas Worth Sharing so there is a conference where they invite people with extremely innovative, different ideas and they do a very well rehearsed presentation on the idea.  This one is all about the power of a smile - very interesting and reminds you to smile more!

A few questions for the day:  do you smile enough?  Have you challenged yourself lately to do something that you were not sure you could do?  If you answered no to either of these questions, think about changing them to a yes - it's summer, anything's possible!

To the *special* one...

this post was supposed to go up yesterday but due to issues with blogger it's a day late...

Even though as a child you reminded us of this...

And growing up we thought you were one of these 

because somehow you always landed on all fours...

Growing up we sure had our differences...

But somehow...

You’re still SPECIAL to us :) :)

Happy Birthday to one of my favorite brothers around!

I can always count on you for a good poke, a good laugh or  just a moment of energy overload.  I cannot believe you are 20 today, how quickly time does pass.  Although you torment me often and steal all my Easter eggs, you are still in the top 2 as far as brothers go and I love you ever so much!  

Although I won’t be there to celebrate with you this year (I know you’re heartbroken), I know you will have a blast whatever 

you do and know I am thinking of you!

Oh and don’t forget to beat Maryland this weekend!!

It's a colorful kind of day!

This past week I've really felt like summer is upon us...so this calls for a colorful semi-wordless Wednesday...just a few shots I found mostly through We heart it - very cool website with awesome pics!



Enjoy a bit of COLOR in your life today!

Neat painting done by Beatriz Milhazes

Who wouldn't want to drink a cup of pink coffee?

Smiles

Artsy

OBSESSION - I could write a whole blog about these tasty
little treats...

Can't wait to get down to the beach in just a few short weeks...

Anyway, a very simple post but I hope it makes you smile this morning :)  Do you have any fun summer plans?  I know I have lots to look forward to...can't wait for it all to begin!!