Declaration

I'm just going to come out and say it. The Sound of Music is my favorite movie.

I have loved this movie for years and I have seen it more times then I can count. I know all the songs. But I've never declared it, or any other movie, as my "favorite." I was watching it last night and I realized this is it. There are lots of other movies that I love but this one is special.

What's not to love?? It has period costumes, World War II, motherless children . . .

Romance, singing and puppets!!!

If any of you ever should ever hear about a movie theater having a Sound of Music Sing-A-Long please tell me. I promise not to make you go with me!

Merry Christmas!

Christmas morning I woke up and my mom was making breakfast. Pookie and Michelle came over around 9:30. We all had breakfast (with mimosas, yum) and then opened presents.




Pictures of our tree.






My mom and dad.


Pookie and Michelle.



Me, in front of the tree. Note my pearl necklace. It was a birthday present, but I only got it from the jewelers on Christmas Eve. Love it. I wore it all day. Even with my pajamas.


Pookie taking a nap. He was exhausted from opening presents.


Pookie and Michelle gave Penny some small, fake mice. And she loved them! Seriously, she went nuts. Here she is attacking one. It only lasted a few hours before she ripped it open and tore it apart.

I got very nice gifts. A lot of clothes. Fun giftcards. A robe, slippers and pajamas. Mittens. Dvds (Pookie and Michelle got me two Ewok dvds! Holla!) and of course the Office desk calendar.

After all the presents we had some snacks and played electronic Monopoly. Which is fun, but gets repetitive fast so I quit the game early. I'm not even sure who won. After that we played a few more games and had dinner. I made a Christmas Funfetti cake for dessert. I should have taken a pic. It was super cute.

So Merry Christmas and all other holidays to all of you. I hope you all have a great New Year.

Weekend in DC

My friend Sherrie's birthday is December 26th. She lives right outside of DC, in Arlington, VA. Every year she plans a birthday event. This year she choose a murder mystery dinner theater. Jeff and I drove down Saturday and stayed overnight. I just want to say right away that this will be the last murder mystery I attend. I have been to 3 in the last 2 years and that is more than enough to last a lifetime. Please don't think I had a bad time. I did not. Luckily I had Jeff to keep me amused and there was a very cute dog (dressed in various sweaters) in the cast.



In preparation for the trip I went to see Dana at her new salon and she waxed my eyebrows (they have never before looked so perfect) and gave me a paraffin manicure. I haven't had a manicure in quite a while, but I think I might have to get them more frequently. Here are my picture perfect nails.

Anyway, we drove down Saturday and got to Sherrie's around 1. We hopped on the metro (I heart the DC metro. So nice and clean and easy to use) and went over to the Mall in DC. I don't care if it's touristy, the Mall and all the buildings and monuments are my fav part of DC. I have been there a million times and I never get sick of it. Jeff had never been to DC and I figured this was the best place to start. We saw the Lincoln Memorial. I never realized how large the statue of him is. It's huge.

The Gettysburg Address was carved into one of the walls inside the memorial. This is my favorite part of that speech.

We saw the Vietnam Wall. No pics of that. I saw a few people crying. I think that is the saddest and most emotional memorial because it is so personal with all the names. Then we walked to the Washington Monument and the WW II Memorial.

"Feminist" quote that Jeff pointed out to me. I like it.

There are 400 bronze stars here, and each represents approx 100 Americans killed in the war. I googled it.

Here is the White House.

So we go to the dinner theater and then Sherrie and some other people went out to clubs but that is not our thing so Jeff and I went back and walked around the White House, original Capital (or is it Capitol?) building, the Treasury Building, all that stuff. We got back on the Metro to VA around 12:30 AM. And then I proceeded to get us lost walking back to Sherrie's apt. I had a map. But the road curved and forked. Did I mention that it was super cold and raining/sleeting and by this time after 1AM? So I see a cab and flag it down. And of course we manage to get a cab driver who does not know where he is going! I gave him the address and he asked me for directions! Seriously?! He finally used his GPS and we got back to the apartment. Jeff was a very good sport and did not yell at me for getting us lost and almost giving us hypothermia. The next morning he said it was funny when you think about it because I am a girl and "girls have no sense of direction." It's totally true. I am beyond directionally challenged. I admit it.

This is Simon, Sherrie's cat. He was best friends with Jeff.

The next morning we were so tired we just drove home. My legs still hurt from all that walking.