Christmas Festivities to the Max

We crammed a lot of Christmas activities into a week of celebrating! Benjamin came for a few days and we went to Enchant Christmas at the Nationals Park on Friday with Meme. Saturday, we had the cookie decorating party with Holton Friends. On Sunday, we went to the Kennedy Center for Second City's Love Factually. Highly recommend--it was so funny! We had Wingo's Sunday night. Unfortunately, Benjamin had to return to his family in Traverse City on Monday. But we continued on, with a visit to the Capitol Christmas tree--always nicer and less crowded than the White House tree. Tuesday was Christmas Eve and the gingerbread decorating party--deep fried turkey included! For Christmas, we opened presents, went ice skating at Washington Harbor, then indulged in Delmonico steak from Wagshal's. The next day, Meme came over and we went to see, "Bombshell" (awesome!) and had more of Wagshal's delicious steak... this time bone in prime sirloin. Friday, Meme came over and treated us to Rocklands BBQ. You can't go wrong with Rocklands. And the ramping up to New Year's is happening...with more excitement on the way.

 

Girls Weekend!

Julia returned from a successful experience at AGU. Brenda rolled into town to pick up Miriam. It was so nice to hang out and catch up with my bestest bestie. The weather was mostly miserable with rain, but that didn't dampen our fun. Peanutbutter enjoyed the extra attention. Love those girls from Plymouth!

Tree and AGU Conference

We got our tree from Georgetown Visitation this year (Butler's adventure was rained out). It was pretty hassle-free; we walked it all the way home.

What a wonderful time of year! It has been so nice to have Julia here (in between all of her travels). I've been inspired to bake more...various pumpkin gluten-free recipes. Smith Meadows Farm has been showing up at the Dupont Farmer's Market with delicious offal--lamb liver and beef heart--not to mention the delicious chuck roast and brisket...yum.

Julia headed to San Francisco for the American Geophysical Union (AGU) conference, marking its centennial this year of bringing together top earth and space scientists. Julia has been making crucial connections with potential PhD advisors and working the networking scene to the max. Good job! She has also had a chance to catch up with Sarah, meet the boyfriend and the dog.

Thanksgiving Vacation

Julia went to Rochester for Thanksgiving. Mom and Chad went to Laura's in Chicago. Lisa and Tony went to Williamsburg. Steven and I stayed in DC. It really worked out for the best, considering that on top of all his crisis migraines, Steven was recovering from a severe bout of the flu. And, he was able to finish and turn in his dissertation--YAY! We enjoyed a delicious Wagshal's turkey (dry brined the night before). Ruslan sent a picture of his Thanksgiving celebration in Moldova--inspired by the turkey recipe I shared with him a couple of years ago. :)

The cupcake puzzle is done; this was a fun one! We connected with the DC crew for a holiday picture and Kathryn's ear piercing on Sunday. Unfortunately, due to significant and constant rain, we were unable to get our Christmas trees from Butler's. We'll save that for another weekend. Check out the disappointing national Christmas tree...hopefully, the Capitol tree will be much better.

Pre-Thanksgiving Festivities

Benjamin came to the District to spend some time with Julia after her GRE exam and before Thanksgiving. They visited the Newseum (closing its doors December 31!), took care of Leela, got out the holiday decorations, worked on the puzzle, and spent time with Meme!

Turkey Try and Liver Jerky

As soon as I saw Trader Joe's advertising that their fresh turkeys were coming November 15--I knew what we would be having for dinner that night! I got a nearly 12-pound bird. It was delicious, but not quite as good as from Wagshal's local turkey farmer. For our Thanksgiving dinner, we will be getting an all-natural, heritage turkey from Wagshal's in the range of 14-16 lbs. Will it be enough??? I made beef liver jerky--so good! I went to the Dupont Farmer's Market and restocked from Smith Meadows Farms--this time lamb liver, chicken backs, beef short ribs, steak, pork sausage. Julia has been studying for the GRE exam and took care of Leela for a couple of days. Steven is almost done with his dissertation--super happy and excited that he has been able to work on this despite his migraines.