A not-so-leisurely stroll

Last weekend, Erin and I decieded to venture outside and enjoy a walk in the hood, as it was both snowy and sunny at the same time. About 1.5 miles into our walk (on the way home thank God), the weather did a remarkable 180 and left us battling the elements:

Before:

AFTER!!

Okay, is wasn't quite that nice before hand (the before pic was from the 2006 Gold Cup, where Borgie won DC's best dressed), but the weather got nasty. We can't say much because Minneapolis got as much as 18 inches yesterday, but we have gone soft in DC!!

Valentines Day #5!!!

Continuing our tradition of cooking up something weird and unusual for valentines day, we slurped oysters and ate lobster raviolis with a fresh crab tomato sauce. It was quite yummy!

Take Me Down to Elicott City

Allo my friends, as work has been abundant in this early 2007, we haven't had much of a chance to post updates, nor do things that would warrant an update. I finally had my first weekend off in 2007, so I got to spend some QT with me misses!!! We spent a day walking around Ellicott City, MD, a bustling civil war town that is still full of antique stores and even has the oldest running train station in the US.

After a frigid but pleasant stroll (I am not complaining about weather as you all in Minnesota are suffering now), we took 3 hours to drive home, as it began snowing and when it snows in the DC area, gridlock is guarenteed!

This past Thursday Chris "general wargakis aka Shadow" came to town and we had some good South American cuisine at Gua Rupa, and then hit the Irish pub Rira for a few drinks before heading home. As usual, when in DC do as the Irish! Slainte!!

Christmas in the Minny

Lou and I traveled back to Minnesota to spend the holidays with family and friends. Our entire vacation activities can be summarized as follows: eat, drive to next meal, eat, eat, drive again. It is both a comfort and a curse that our parent's love to feed us when we are home. We contributed to this glutony by picking up all of the wine for the wedding.

We do get a gold-star however for going to church at the Basilica all by ourselves.

We also got together with some Johnnie and Bennie friends.

After holiday festivities in Minneapolis we drove up to EGF to celebrate with my family and to RELAX. We slept in, sat in the hot tub, played cards, and completed a few wedding tasks. It's official. Lou is a part of the family (as discerned from the "new" family holiday decoration below).

Full of Crap(s)

Lou and I attended E&Y's Casino Royale party last Saturday night. We learned how to play craps and were up $30,000 at one point - however, I got a little over eager and then lost it all.

Luckily we were playing with fake cash or it would've been a pretty depressing night. We are experts now and are thinking about quiting our jobs and hitting the online pocker circuit, or at least playing with Latrell "I need to feed my family" Sprewell next time we see him again in Vegas.James, Lou & Steve.

Meaghan & Ryan were in town, so we left festivities early to meet up with them in Georgetown (luckily or Erin & Marissa would've probably gone for round2 at the serious chocolate fountain).

finally, a study free weekend

Last Saturday, Erin and I escaped DC for the weekend to get some well deserved R&R. We've both been workin lots and I have been studying CPA style for ever now. I just took another section (REG), so cross your fingers for me and say a prayer!! Erin and I drove out to Middleburg, VA stopping at the Plains at a ma and pop coffee shop to get some breakfast.

We then checked into our B&B, the Red Fox Inn, established in 1770-ish, where George Washington visited while surveying and the Kennedy's stayed their on numerous occasions. The building also served as a hospital during the Civil War. Pretty cool old building (behind us below)!

We saw a silly christmas parade which consisted mostly of rich estate owners dressing their poor dogs in raindeer costumes pulling sleighs and an occasional alpaca...

It was actually not that bad, but it had its moments. We went to dinner at a great country french restaurant called the French Hound. Erin tried her first escargot!! The next morning we had breakfast and hit the road to do some wine touring. We went to an awesome vineyard called Linden and had a private tasting of past vintages in their cellar. The views were awesome and the wine was just as nice. $100 later we hit the road, capping off an amazing weekend!

Heart Walk

Last weekend, we participated in the American Heart Association Heart Walk, on the National Mall. It was a surprisingly quick walk, I guess they didn't want to push the endurance of any survivors that were joining in the walk. Nonetheless, it was a really great time. There was a fairly big E&Y showing and Erin and I walked with the Partner from one of my jobs and his family.




Afterwards, we walked over to the Library of Congress and checked out the Saint John's Bible, which was on exhibit there! It is a pretty extraordinary project that our alma mater has undertaken. The Bible is very old-school and created in the ways of the medieval scholars, that they are actually using the quills of geese to do the calligraphy...pretty crazy! It was well worth the trip and highly recommended if the Bible stops in your neighborhood in the future. They didn't allow pics, but here is one of the ceiling of the library...I wish they would've paid attention to detail when building it.

Hi-Ho Bauer

Doc Bauer was in town to present his findings on genetic research to thousands of fellow researchers two weeks ago and had a night to kill with some old friends. We had some scrumptous fare at a nearby restaurant and then made way to RiRa and proceeded to pretend we were in college again, downing 6-7 pints of real beer. Not that this is that big of a deal, but the fact that it was on a Tuesday night was the killer.

Paul & Babe

Our second annual Halloween party kicked off in style with the appearance of our childhood favorites.....GI Joe and Strawberry Shortcake.....aka The Reiersons. With green striped tights and an army belt in tow (and with no liver damage remaining after last year's festivities), they traveled from Minnesota to eagerly participate in the debauchery of DC Halloween 2006.

Not only did Mike and Steph make an appearance, but Minnesota folklore hero's Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox trekked across country to enjoy some fine brew (bud light).

Annapolis, Maryland

On the first cold and rainy day of fall we trekked up to Annapolis, Maryland to walk around the colonial town
and visit the U.S. Naval Academy. While hitting the pavement we saw the nation's largest sailboat show,

the nation's first capitol, hundred-plus year old pubs, a sword ceremony at a sailor's wedding and..............

Lou utilized the most sterile facilities ever.