mom & dad in cincy.

3 of us may have been fighting upper respiratory infections, but we pushed through and had an amazing weekend. Beautiful views, delicious food, Fall clothes shopping (my favorite!), exciting football, amazing ice cream, great conversation.

I came home from work Monday to a clean house decorated with fresh flowers and delicious homemade potato soup simmering in the crock pot. I may be a working married woman, but it feels darn good to be so well taken care of my parents. Thanks mom and dad - we had a blast!

Today marks Walker's big deadline, and tax accountants everywhere will be grateful for its passing. Hurrah for the end of another busy season!

a reunion with the best of friends.

The surprise.
This weekend was one for the (personal) record books. It was a laughter-filled, conversation-packed reunion that none of us will soon forget.

My flight was booked as soon as ML and I found a weekend that we both had off (a rarity in residency world). Walker's presence was up in the air, as this week finds him in the throes of corporate tax busy season with a looming deadline next week. Around Tuesday he felt like he had gotten ahead enough to make the trip, and we (secretly) booked his flight. We told these two flights were just too expensive but that he would try to fly stand-by at the airport, then about 30 minutes before my flight took off sent a "airport crazy with Labor Day travelers, Walk is a no-go :(" text. A couple hours later when they picked me up at Union Station, they were met with a Walker-sized surprise. Their reactions were priceless, and had Union Station not been teeming with angry cab drivers I would have attempted to capture it on camera. The tone for the weekend was set, and wouldn't disappoint.

Breakfast of champions.

Saturday morning we were introduced to the Florida Avenue Grill. Think Auburn's BBQ House with DC-style-multiculturalism. Amazing.

War Eagle?!
It was painful, but was enjoyed in good company. And hey, a win is a win in my book.

DC welcomed us with a heat wave, but the outdoor deck of this restaurant had a strong breeze and made for perfect game-watching. War eagle folks.

Arlington Cemetery.

Beautiful. Peaceful. Overwhelming.

Iwo Jima.

On the rooftop.
Check out the view from the top of ML and Michael's apartment building.

Conversation with these two is about as good as it gets. We talked past, present, and future like old times. In ML's words, this weekend was life-giving.

Coffee like old times.
While the boys worked one morning, ML and I enjoyed a catch-up date reminiscent of so many we shared during our four years together in B'ham.

Gotta love coffee and good conversation. Trendy DC coffee-shop scenery is just an added bonus.

the Mall.
The last time Walker and I were in DC was in 8th grade for a class field trip. So out-of-the-loop are we on the DC area, that when ML and Michael kept talking about taking us to the Mall, I was picturing Macy's and Anthropologie (and also maybe questioning their judgment a bit when it came to choosing activities during our trip). We picked up Five Guys, took the Metro, and picnicked to the sounds of a tone-deaf woman singing cultural songs during a festival (ML took video, it was amazing).

Unfortunately the reflecting pool between the Lincoln Memorial and Washington Monument (think Forrest and Jenny) is undergoing renovation. If I had PhotoShop and any idea how to use it, I would add some water back in, but for now this lovely dirt background will have to do.

Turns out DC can be appreciated much more as an adult than a young teen. We felt so much pride for our country seeing the beautiful reminders of our nation's history through the monuments.

Farewell.
Until next time Neel's! Thanks for showing us the best of times.

a ceremony & a reunion.

In anticipation of Saturday's season opener, we finally got around to visibly displaying our school spirit (appropriately Walker sports a Mallard Ball t-shirt, which was almost always the most fun social event of the year - I hope that tradition has continued?).

We attempted to up the flag-raising-ceremony-ante with spirited music, but in true Michael Scott fashion just kept the free 30 second iTunes on repeat ("Goodbye my lover, goodbye my friend"... Anyone?).

It did both our hearts good to pull into the driveway to this each day. War eagle my friends! We will be proudly representing this season in the OH.

In other very exciting news, this weekend brings a much anticipated reunion with one of my nearest and dearest friends in the world in our nation's capital. 

Last time we saw each other I was a tearful mess bidding her farewell at she and Michael's condo in B'ham (ML and Fran had the unfortunate pleasure of being my first goodbyes in June... each goodbye got better and less dramatic, I promise... by the time we pulled out of B'ham for good mid-June I was all cried out :) ).

 It just doesn't get much better than quality time with these two. T-minus 24 hours to DC!!

Happy Labor Day to all!

Russo comes to Cincy.

Last week our guest room saw it's second non-family-member visitor.

AND, he came bearing tickets to the Western Southern Open.

Prior to moving here, I had no idea this tournament was such a big deal, but it is the last one before the U.S. Open, and draws the best in the world every year.

Thursday night we watched the Federer/Blake match, and while he (Federer, for those unfamiliar with pro tennis) may no longer be #1 in the world, he was still the one I was most excited about seeing. Holy cow. So fun!

We also had the opportunity to see Jankovic/Schiavone, the Bryan brothers, and Djokavic/Monfils over the course of two evenings. I was excited to be so close to the tennis action and took way too many pictures.

We did our best to give Russo a true taste of Cincy during his brief stay, and had a blast. So wonderful to have a reminder of home for a few days. And (hopefully) he had so much fun that he will send the rest of you up to visit soon :)

Before heading home on Saturday, he wanted to get a group picture (Bella included) on the front porch as a way to commemorate his trip. We couldn't figure out a way to swing the self-timer on that one, but with the camera perched on the bed of Russo's truck (classy we know) we managed the front steps. This is after Bella sneezed in his face as a thank you for his insistence on her being in the photo.

This sort of looks like it should be a family/sibling picture to me, but I like it. Thanks for coming Russo! Next time bring your significant-other-half :)

Several exciting weekends on the horizon, but for now we are looking forward to a peaceful, semi-planless couple of days at home!