My Palette: Celebrate, Celebrate- Come on and Celebrate!

It's been a busy two months as I've squeezed in celebrations in NC, DC and West Virginia. I've been so busy with traveling and work lately, that tonight is the first night I feel like I can take time to not only relax, but actually share what's been happening!

Over the holiday weekend in January, I carpooled down with my friend Manida to our wonderful friend, Melody's place. Mel (my bff and roomy from college) had her baby shower and a small group of us ladies all got together to celebrate with her and her hubby, Jerry. They really did their shower up right and it made it into my "top list" of baby showers I've attended.

Really, I have two favorite baby showers- not just one. The first I attended last year for my friend Juliene. She had a super relaxed outdoor party where women AND men attended. It was more like a cookout than a baby shower. There were hamburgers, hotdogs, BBQ, chips and LOTS of beer. I mean... who has beer at their baby shower? Apparently, awesome women. (Disclaimer: the mom-to-be did NOT have any beer) Also, another reason that was one of my favorite showers, there was no opening of the gifts or playing shower games. Just tons of food, conversation, fun and drinking. Melody's party was super sharp too, that's why it ranks in the favorites as well. It was held at a wine bar/micro brewery in this adorable place with a huge ceiling and fabulous loft space. Again, women AND men attended. There was a pool table for fun and we did this really cute arts and craft idea for the baby. Each person (well, each woman there. I don't think the men participated in the crafting) who attended made a home made card for the baby's first birthday and another year (whichever number was drawn from a hat). At the end of the day, Melody had some super cute cards to take home that she can one day give baby Jasper.

Melody and Jerry

Check out Jasper's cute cake!

Manida, Melody and Me

Over Superbowl weekend I drove up to DC for a weekend of festivities. The first night was Mal's birthday, so I arrived in time to participate on her 30th birthday. Mal, in her awesome hostess style had a huge spread of food. We all ate, chatted and played Apples to Apples which is one of my favorite big-group party games.

The next day, Mallory and I both celebrated our friend, Ghia, as she was promoted to Lt. Colonel in the Air Force! The ceremony was held at the Pentagon, which was very memorable. In my six years as a DC resident, I'd never visited the Pentagon. So, it was a treat to go and see Ghia promoted as we sat in the Joint Chiefs of Staff room! After the ceremony, our small group took a tour of the Pentagon memorial, which was very moving. They have a beautiful chapel there and in the halls there are walls and walls of handmade quilts and drawings done in remembrance of the passengers and crew of of flight 77 and the staff killed in the Pentagon. Just outside the chapel is a beautiful area where there are 184 benches. Each bench represents one of the victims. The area is open year round and anyone can go and sit on them to reflect and take time away from the everyday hustle. It really was a beautiful scene, especially since each bench had a light dusting of snow on it.

Me, Ghia and Mallory in the Joint Chiefs of Staff Room

Dave, Ghia and Mallory

A Wall of Donations to the Pentagon Memorial

Apparently, hundreds of quilts were made and donated.


This quilt had envelopes with letters in them for each of the victims of flight 77.

Beyond this window was the chapel.

Later that night, we went to a little place called Evening Star in Del Ray, VA, to celebrate Ghia some more. Mallory had planned the decor and had a Mardi Gras theme, which was perfect for two reasons: 1) Because it was for Ghia (who's from New Orleans) and 2) It was the start of Mardi Gras. Mallory brought beads, strung balloons and even made praline cookies that were like straight up sugar but SOO delicious. It was a fun time had by all!

I finished my weekend in DC by watching the Superbowl and cheering for San Fran since my bro-in-law, Dave, is from there. Good times (as always) in my home-away-from-home town.

A couple weekends later we celebrated Mal and Dave's combined 30th birthdays in Davis, West Virginia. We all gathered at a house that we rented and celebrated by eating, drinking, hot-tubbing and enjoying the snow. One afternoon our group went tubing, which was a lot of fun. There was snow all over, not just on the slopes, which also set the tone for the perfect winter celebration.

Mike and a horse standing there for carriage rides (which we did not do)

Marie and Mike

Ghia, Thomas, Mike, Me and Marie waiting to buy tubing lift tickets

The Tubing Group: Ghia, Thomas, Mal, Marie, Mike and Dave


Mal and Marie

My turn to pose with the horse!

Mike and Me. It was really bright outside.

It was Tempe's first long car trip and she was a trooper! She provided entertainment for the crew once we arrived and enjoyed being on vacation. She even broke some (personal) house rules. She got to sleep in the bed (it was a king size and our bed at home is a queen) AND Tempe got to sit on the couch. She doesn't get to do either of those activities when she's home or visiting her grandparents. Needless to say, she liked being on vacation!!

There was a really pretty state park there that Mike, Tempe and I visited while we were there: Canaan Valley State Par k. While we rode and walked around, we counted over 150 deer! There were deer EVERYWHERE. On one hill alone we counted over 60. It was awesome and so beautiful with the snow dusting the ground. Tempe enjoyed running in the snow (and once) chasing some deer.