Tonight I am reminded of one of my favorite quotes by Mother Theresa:
"I know G-d will not give me anything I can't handle. I just wish that He didn't trust me so much."
That's pretty much been the theme in our house this past week or so. I try to count my blessings and maintain perspective, but sometimes that is easier said than done. Everything is fine here, just feeling like I have so many balls up in the air that it's only a matter of time before one drops. Sam came down with a terrible case of hand foot mouth disease last week and of course I then got sick and missed a day and half of work which I haven't done in a very long time. Between reg reform on Capitol Hill and my firm's client Cablevision buying Bresnan Communications last week, Brad and I are having the craziest weeks ever at work and are both working past midnight every night.
The lease on our townhouse is up very soon and we're in discussions with our tenants in hopes that they will re-sign for another 6 months so we won't have to worry about it. They've rented the townhouse for the past 18 months and we LOVE them! Our house is a disaster and my to do list is out of control. And of course, the dog started limping while I walked her tonight - no idea when or who will take her to the vet to figure out what's going on. On my way home from work tonight, a member of my synagogue asked me if I would serve on an advisory board for the synagogue - which of course I said yes to. I think I have "sucker" written across my forehead.
But, I'm reminded of all the wonderful things in my life and try to maintain perspective. All I need to do is look outside my window and perspective painfully smacks me in the face.
My neighbor was killed in Afghanistan last week. Ben was only 25, his 26th birthday was this week. His friends went out to dinner to celebrate his birthday and life. Ben joined the military in August and this was his first tour...and he came home in a casket to Dover Air Force Base. Our street is lined with yellow ribbons and has a looming sense of loss. I have felt so helpless and I know I have to do something to help his family through this terrible tragedy...so in my "free" I have organized many people in our neighborhood to contribute money so we can buy meals for his family from a local Korean market/restaurant. Ben is Korean and his family only eats Korean food (which is very hard to make, especially when I don't even know what it's supposed to taste like).
So, as I procrastinate from my work and yearn for my bed, I realize that in spite of everything, I can handle it all and more. As I rocked with Sam tonight, we sang our evening prayers, and our nightly "things we are thankful for," I remember how rich my life really is and treasure every moment of it. No parent should ever have to experience the living nightmare that Ben's parents are going through right now.
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Napa & San Francisco without Sam - Memorial Day Weekend 2010
Over Memorial Day weekend, Brad and I went on our first post-baby vacation without Sam. He spent the weekend with my parents and had a fabulous time. We skyped with him and received many videos and texts on our phones, and despite my initial tears when we walked out the door - I did really well for my first time away from him overnight (I was never concerned with how he would do with my parents, i was more worried about how I would do being away from him overnight).
I was ready and am glad we did it. The plane ride was SO relaxing - I can't think of the last time I had 5 uninterrupted hours of reading books, watching movies, napping, etc. It's the small things in life! I read "Baby Love" by Rebecca Walker and "Eat Pray Love" by Elizabeth Gilbert. Both books made me start thinking again about my long-time desire to to write a novel...in my free time. You never know!
Napa was FABULOUS. When we arrived, we stopped at the town convenience store to pick up a few things and quickly realized we were no longer in DC. It was the yuppiest convenience store ever - with a ridiculously extensive wine selection, gourmet cheeses and meat, dozens of breads with dipping oils and spreads, etc. We quickly realized and embraced the theme of our weekend: GLUTTON.
We stayed at the Villagio Inn & Spa - www.villagio.com - amazing! Our villa had a fireplace which we used at night (it gets chilly there!). The grounds were gorgeous, full of amazing landscapes and roses of every shade. The "continental breakfast" was phenomenal and I quickly fell in love with their mimosas, brie and fig appetizers, and bread pudding with creme anglaise. The pool literally had queen size beds as "lounge chairs" - quite palatial!
We ate dinner at Bottega, restaurant of Top Chef Masters contestant Michael Chiarella. Despite our weekend with Congressman Thompson (we were in Napa for a fundraising weekend for Congressman Thompson - I LOVE Brad's job!) we were far more excited to see a celebrity chef (who we got to see!) than a Member of Congress. :) The food at Bottega was terrific, we had a very creative "green eggs and ham" dish and fabulous lamb with cherries. We sat outside next to an enormous stone fireplace with heat lamps, looking out over the picturesque valley.
The retreat took us to several wineries that were small, family-owned, and fabulous. Some of our favorite wines from the weekend were from Cakebread, Silver Stag, Long Meadow, and Folio (we only shipped 1 case of wine back to DC, talk about having to exercsie restraint!). Long Meadow also had an olive orchard and we tried our first olive oil tasting - which does not involve any bread, just a shot glass of olive oil (and they expect you to drink the whole thing!). The best compliment to an olive oil maker is for you to cough after consuming the oil, apparently it is supposed to burn the back of your throat. Apparently my timid sipping was insufficient to garner this result, but it was pretty darn good olive oil!
The wines were of course incredible, although I never tasted all of the things in the wine that the winemaker says I should taste. Citrus, cherries - yup, i taste those, check check. Cigar box? Black tea? Warm butter cookies? Brioche? Um...no. Didn't taste any of those things (and do I really want to drink something that tastes like a cigar box?). But we had fun trying wines we would never be able to find in DC and bonded with some new friends on the retreat (we became buddies with the chief of staff for the CT casino Mohegan sun and his wife). At one vineyard, we had a traditional pig roast (I wasn't a fan) and played bocce with Congressman Thompson as our referee/scorekeeper (he took the job VERY seriously, although I think he made up some of the rules).
As if the amazing food and wine wasn't enough, we had to sample the famous Bouchon Bakery (by celebrity chef Thomas Keller). Like kids in a candy store, we ordered practically 1 of everything with the intention of bringing them home to my parents. We should have known better than to tempt ourselves. We managed to get the treats home...but we took a bite or two out of every pastry in the box! I mean, we wouldn't want to give them to my parents and have them discover that they were terrible, right? We were doing them a favor!
We spent our final afternoon touring San Francisco. I haven't been there since I was 12 and Brad's never been there - we both absolutely loved it. We stayed at the Palace Hotel - again, quite palatial and reminded us of NYC's Waldorf Astoria. We explored Little Italy and Chinatown which actually has authentic Chinese restaurants and stores - unlike Washington's pathetic Chinatown. We were highly entertained by the women singing opera on the street for money - again, something else you don't see in DC. We saw the crazy turny Lombard Street and Fisherman's Wharf. We had a great dinner at the infamous Scoma's (thank you for the recommendation Kevin!) and ate the traditional San Francisco meal of cioppino, dungenness crab, and sourdough bread.
After dinner, I cajoled Brad to go see the sea lions on Pier 39. Forgetting the lessons about "listening to your wife, she's always right," he resisted and was like "why do I want to see sea lions??" Of course I won the argument, and once we got down to the sea lions, he said "this is SO cool!" He snapped about a zillion pictures of the sea lions and wanted to stay for an hour! We learned more than you ever wanted to know about sea lions. Apparently sea lions have big visible ear flaps, seals do not. Fascinating...
We wrapped up our weekend with a final ode to glutton - with a HUGE and amazing chocolate peanut butter ice cream sundae made with Ghirardelli chocolate at the famous Ghirardelli ice cream shop in Ghirardelli square. YUM.
We had a fabulous trip, but were happy to be back to our baby boy. Although i didn't miss changing diapers or the early mornings, I was ready to come home to his smiley happy face. I think our waist lines were also ready for us to come home too.
I was ready and am glad we did it. The plane ride was SO relaxing - I can't think of the last time I had 5 uninterrupted hours of reading books, watching movies, napping, etc. It's the small things in life! I read "Baby Love" by Rebecca Walker and "Eat Pray Love" by Elizabeth Gilbert. Both books made me start thinking again about my long-time desire to to write a novel...in my free time. You never know!
Napa was FABULOUS. When we arrived, we stopped at the town convenience store to pick up a few things and quickly realized we were no longer in DC. It was the yuppiest convenience store ever - with a ridiculously extensive wine selection, gourmet cheeses and meat, dozens of breads with dipping oils and spreads, etc. We quickly realized and embraced the theme of our weekend: GLUTTON.
We stayed at the Villagio Inn & Spa - www.villagio.com - amazing! Our villa had a fireplace which we used at night (it gets chilly there!). The grounds were gorgeous, full of amazing landscapes and roses of every shade. The "continental breakfast" was phenomenal and I quickly fell in love with their mimosas, brie and fig appetizers, and bread pudding with creme anglaise. The pool literally had queen size beds as "lounge chairs" - quite palatial!
We ate dinner at Bottega, restaurant of Top Chef Masters contestant Michael Chiarella. Despite our weekend with Congressman Thompson (we were in Napa for a fundraising weekend for Congressman Thompson - I LOVE Brad's job!) we were far more excited to see a celebrity chef (who we got to see!) than a Member of Congress. :) The food at Bottega was terrific, we had a very creative "green eggs and ham" dish and fabulous lamb with cherries. We sat outside next to an enormous stone fireplace with heat lamps, looking out over the picturesque valley.
The retreat took us to several wineries that were small, family-owned, and fabulous. Some of our favorite wines from the weekend were from Cakebread, Silver Stag, Long Meadow, and Folio (we only shipped 1 case of wine back to DC, talk about having to exercsie restraint!). Long Meadow also had an olive orchard and we tried our first olive oil tasting - which does not involve any bread, just a shot glass of olive oil (and they expect you to drink the whole thing!). The best compliment to an olive oil maker is for you to cough after consuming the oil, apparently it is supposed to burn the back of your throat. Apparently my timid sipping was insufficient to garner this result, but it was pretty darn good olive oil!
The wines were of course incredible, although I never tasted all of the things in the wine that the winemaker says I should taste. Citrus, cherries - yup, i taste those, check check. Cigar box? Black tea? Warm butter cookies? Brioche? Um...no. Didn't taste any of those things (and do I really want to drink something that tastes like a cigar box?). But we had fun trying wines we would never be able to find in DC and bonded with some new friends on the retreat (we became buddies with the chief of staff for the CT casino Mohegan sun and his wife). At one vineyard, we had a traditional pig roast (I wasn't a fan) and played bocce with Congressman Thompson as our referee/scorekeeper (he took the job VERY seriously, although I think he made up some of the rules).
As if the amazing food and wine wasn't enough, we had to sample the famous Bouchon Bakery (by celebrity chef Thomas Keller). Like kids in a candy store, we ordered practically 1 of everything with the intention of bringing them home to my parents. We should have known better than to tempt ourselves. We managed to get the treats home...but we took a bite or two out of every pastry in the box! I mean, we wouldn't want to give them to my parents and have them discover that they were terrible, right? We were doing them a favor!
We spent our final afternoon touring San Francisco. I haven't been there since I was 12 and Brad's never been there - we both absolutely loved it. We stayed at the Palace Hotel - again, quite palatial and reminded us of NYC's Waldorf Astoria. We explored Little Italy and Chinatown which actually has authentic Chinese restaurants and stores - unlike Washington's pathetic Chinatown. We were highly entertained by the women singing opera on the street for money - again, something else you don't see in DC. We saw the crazy turny Lombard Street and Fisherman's Wharf. We had a great dinner at the infamous Scoma's (thank you for the recommendation Kevin!) and ate the traditional San Francisco meal of cioppino, dungenness crab, and sourdough bread.
After dinner, I cajoled Brad to go see the sea lions on Pier 39. Forgetting the lessons about "listening to your wife, she's always right," he resisted and was like "why do I want to see sea lions??" Of course I won the argument, and once we got down to the sea lions, he said "this is SO cool!" He snapped about a zillion pictures of the sea lions and wanted to stay for an hour! We learned more than you ever wanted to know about sea lions. Apparently sea lions have big visible ear flaps, seals do not. Fascinating...
We wrapped up our weekend with a final ode to glutton - with a HUGE and amazing chocolate peanut butter ice cream sundae made with Ghirardelli chocolate at the famous Ghirardelli ice cream shop in Ghirardelli square. YUM.
We had a fabulous trip, but were happy to be back to our baby boy. Although i didn't miss changing diapers or the early mornings, I was ready to come home to his smiley happy face. I think our waist lines were also ready for us to come home too.
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