Fall in the District

You have to admit that my view leaving work every night isn't too shabby this time of year...  

And my view out the metro window, going over the Potomac River and heading into Arlington isn't so bad either...

And my view of all the vibrant leaves, headed down the street to do a little shopping at the outlet stores...

...where I happened to find these on sale for $1.99 (regular price: $19.95).

I love fall in D.C.! 

Like Father, Like Son

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The excitement has not yet worn off of me being an aunt, so I am once again going to blog about my new nephew, Michael.  In my last blog post, I asked for your help in deciding who he looks most like, Rob or Lorena.  I got mixed reviews. However, this morning the answer was pretty clear...  I spent a few minutes chatting with Rob and baby Michael on our webcams (God bless macs). I snapped a few photos while we were chatting, so you could see for yourself... there is no denying Michael's resemblance to his dear, old dad.   

Side by side shot. Same haircut, same dumbfounded look on their faces. :)

Only three weeks old, and the poor kid already has no sympathy from his father.

 Both highly entertaining and cute kids. True Candrians. 

HEY BABY!

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- I've been an aunt now for almost a week! (thank you, feels great!) And I can't get over how cute this little guy is... although he's far away Rob has been doing a good job at sending little email updates, included with pictures (although we'd all like to see more). At first I was pretty convinced baby Michael looks just like a mini Rob... Here he is just a day old:

But after seeing this more recent picture (5 days old), I'm not so sure... He looks much more like Lorena in this one!

Is it possible for a baby to change looks that quickly? I'm not so sure. So, let's take a very unscientific poll. Who does he look most like? Rob or Lorena? I'd love to hear your opinion! Either way, he's still a cute kid! Can't wait to meet him!

If you'd like to see more pictures of the parents to better determine who he looks like, click here.

WiFi in the Wild Blue Yonder

SOMEWHERE IN THE AIR -- I have spent the last two weeks all over the state of Utah for work and this past weekend in San Francisco hanging out with my parents, seeing Wicked, and cheering on our San Francisco Giants. Right now I'm on my non-stop (thank goodness, I hate layovers) flight back to Washington, D.C. It's always tough heading back to reality.

As I walked onto the plane today, I noticed there was a "WiFi" sign. Wow... I had heard of airlines getting WiFI, but haven't actually been on a plane that had it. And since I'm not online nearly enough I thought I'd try it out. So, I used the free pass that first-timers (meaning first time WiFi users) get on Delta, and decided to hope online and get some work done. Of course, work always turns into checking my email... so I logged onto gmail and noticed my brother online... he's currently living in Sweden working for the State Department, for those of you who don't know. Anyway, gmail has a cool "video chat" feature for users who have a camera on their computers. And since Rob and I both have Macs with built-in cameras, I decided to video chat with Rob... of course, I was courteous and put my headphones in so no one else could hear him, and I mostly just did head nods as Rob gave me a video tour of his new place in Sweden. One of the flight attendants noticed, and thought it was so cool that she got the other flight attendants to gather around and say hello to Rob all the way over in Sweden. So here he is waving to all the folks aboard Delta flight 1158.

It's pretty cool the things technology can do these days... connect a person on a plane, flying somewhere in the skies over Colorado with someone on the other side of the world. And I can even blog about all of it... with hours to go before I reach my final destination.

AMAZING

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Some people say laughter is the best medicine, others resort to "retail
therapy" when they need a good boost... both can be effective at times, and I've resorted to both as neccessary. But for me, a cure-all, anytime (or at least for a little while), is a good dessert.

Today, as I often do, I headed to the Senate Cafeteria for lunch. Their food is subpar, but their desserts have yet to disappoint. On today's menu: banana pudding. It's a dessert I came to love while living in Florida. It's even topped off with a Nilla Wafer... a cookie I grew up snacking on.

The calories might not do much for my not especially large behind :) , but it sure tasteed good! I even ate it before I ate my real lunch, which consisted of leftovers (not so amazing). The dessert was so amazing tasting that I even recruited a co-worker to go down and get one! Homemade vanilla pudding, mixed with slices of banana, topped with a dollop of whipped cream, and a Nilla Wafer on top. Take my word for it, this really was amazing!

Summer BBQs

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- It's summer time, hot, humid, bugs everywhere, and I'm longing for all the things that remind me of summer growing up: a pool and a barbeque.  The pool part is a little out of my hands, but I've made up my mind that before this summer is over I'm going to buy my own BBQ.  I think I've watched my dad enough times to know how to successfully grill a piece of marinated meat.  We always had a charcoal grill, so I'm pretty sure I could buy one of those and BBQ with the best of them!  But everyone else I know has a gas grill.  So the question of the day is...  Which do you prefer?  Gas or charcoal?              

This topic, coincidentally, reminds me of one of my favorite news bloopers.

And while we're on this topic...  second favorite news blooper...

Alright, back to the topic in point... give me all your BBQ suggestions!  I'm open!

Take Me out to the Ball Game!

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- I went to the Giants vs. Nationals game on Thursday.  I was there for Randy Johnson's 300th win. It was a double header and it rained the whole game!  

I caught this ball.

...thrown to me by this guy, left fielder Willy Harris of the Nats.

He probably wouldn't have thrown it to me had he of known I was a Giants fan!

Oh, and Giants won both games.