Goodbye July

Can't believe it's already the end of July. Time is going way too fast. We're now within 6 months until the wedding and half way through the YEAR! But, this also means we're almost done with this crazy summer heat which i'm not complaining about!

Today I decided to come down to Fburg to hang out with Sketchy's parents. I knew that Sapna wasn't working all day tomorrow so thought I'd spend the night and hang out with her tomorrow. 

Friday Sapna needs to go to John Hopkin's for a check-up on her eye and also to finally get her hard contact lenses. She can actually see again after a year of recovery. Since we're driving all the way out there, we're gonna spend the day in Baltimore.

Today we started finalizing plans for sketchy's birthday weekend (which is also labor day weekend and his friday off! perfect for a little trip). More on that soon. 

Alexandria Waterfront POTO Day

Today sketchy brought home a giant bouquet of the prettiest and most vibrant colored flowers. We went out to old town's waterfront area which has become rather pretty lately. There were lots of kids running around and people playing fetch with their well behaved off-leash doggies. 

love marina areas. so much.

pretty

we ran across someone's save the date rock which was pretty cool! This background must have made for a very cute save the date. This reminds me that i'm super excited about finally get our save the dates out.

you can kinda see the pretty colored flowers in the water. picture kinda bright.

=)

background is so pretty!

Sunset at this area was nice.

For dinner, we cheated and picked up my fav chinese in the DMV area. Don't think i've had it since the beginning of this year! Delicious dinner and early night. Perfect day.

Gettin' Wild in DC -- (Epic Slightly Risque Date Night) and Pirate Bar

Friday night we had our epic date night. We wanted to try something a little different. Warning, potentially risque discussion ahead. ;)

Sketchy and I had been discussing how we don't really get DC night dates or just being able to go out and dance because we either are always with friends or we have a long drive home so both of us can't drink. We solved this by setting aside a friday night just for us and booked a nicer hotel in dupont circle! As we got excited more and more about Fri night throughout the week we started adding plans and ideas to date night. 

I had heard about this on pinterest and various blogs so wanted to try out. Go out, pretend you don't know each other and have your boyfriend/fiance/husband pick you up at a bar/club. We weren't sure if we'd be able to keep a straight face or really how good or bad this would be, but we decided to give it a try. Something new and a bit refreshing, sometimes necessary in relationships which can sometimes get monotonous. 

I will start out by saying this: Friday night was the best evening I've ever spent with Sketchy. Hands down. 

I strongly debated whether i should blog about this or not, but decided that i should for a few reasons. 

1. i mainly started this blog to record our lives. to be able to look back at all the exciting things we've done and experienced. to remember. but also to maybe look back at and have an honest opinion on whether it was a good idea or not to know whether to try again. so i want to record this as it was one of the best nights ever. 

2. i share things on the blog that i feel might be helpful or interesting to others. i like to talk about certain foods we made because people might want to try it, or crafting or just share photography from which people can gain inspiration or try to replicate themselves. this is definitely something i feel all couples should do at some point in their lives. you will NOT regret it. 

We started the evening off by checking into the hotel and getting really spruced up for each other. something we (and i suspect many couples) definitely don't do often enough for one another. I mean, we've all seen sketchy's ooc beard at times (NOT my idea of attractive lol) and we've def noticed that almost 7 days a week i'm in comfy basketball shorts. 

I was super super excited after getting dressed because i felt really confident in myself. I was looking 10x better in a dress i wore over a year and a half ago for our engagement and as some of you saw on fb, my hair was doing something very good -- not common. My make-up was also doing good things. I remember sketchy's face the moment i walked out of the bathroom which made me feel 100x better about myself and our relationship. Just seeing that look in your sig other's eyes is pretty amazing and makes you feel pretty incredible about yourself. ESP since we've been eating better and gyming it's nice to maybe think that's having an impact on your physical appearance as well! 

bad picture quality but definitely looked 100x better than 04.2011

Didn't get a picture of Sketchy. Clearly i was too focused on taking 100 selfies, lol. But I assure you, he cleaned up really well. He looked so nervous as we headed out -- very nervous about being 'cool/suave' as he said he never really ever talked to girls when he was out! 

We had a few drinks in the room (some extra el dorado from his bachelor party trip and a bottle of champagne from our house warming -- thanks Lauren and David!) to take the edge off. 

We went to Mighty Pint to grab one more quick pre-game drink and discuss rules and such for the evening. Mighty Pint is ooc. Their cocktails are served in pint size glasses! We walked in at 10pm, perfectly before the crowd. grabbed two bar seats so easily. within 5 minutes, the place was PACKED. good to know what time to get there! 

Afterwards we headed around the corner to the bar/club area. We ended up in 18th street lounge's line. was quick and easy -- no cover! 

and so it began.

I got into the club and headed upstairs to a bar. there were SOOO many indian people there (particularly men lol). lots of eye contact and smiling at me. Sketchy and i had discussed the rules for talking to other people and such given that we were 'single' individuals who did not know each other. the rule was that obviously we can't help if people hit on us but we're not actively seeking out folks to speak with. within a couple minutes of being at the bar an indian guy was next to me chatting me up. haha i couldn't help but wonder if sketchy had made it upstairs yet and was seeing this! i was also pretty shocked at how quickly this occurred. i shook this guy off after a few minutes by telling him that i'd never be able to pronounce his name and that i'm not really into indian guys, lmao. i did it in a nice way though, hopefully. (also fyi, sketchy also stated the next day that he did indeed see guy hit on me at bar lol) i grabbed my long island (haha was going college style) and walked around checking out the different dance areas and music selection. 

after a few minutes of circling the place, i landed by a window overlooking connecticut avenue. I decided to people watch for a bit on a couch. Sketchy appeared out of no where with a simple nice guy approach. we talked for a bit about people watching. such genuine laughter was had -- it was out of control. he was much more witty and funny than i think i've ever seen. we discussed some old memories we had with 'friends' at 18th street lounge -- sketchy's stories being a bit more interesting and funny than my own. 

the reason i loved this night so much was because i saw a different side of sketchy. a side i actually never got to see and one that was really exciting and fun! he was so funny i couldn't handle it and things just seemed to flow so naturally. after the first few sentences, i swear it wasn't even like we were pretending anymore it just felt so natural -- the convo, the butterflies... EVERYTHING! We also seriously talked about things we've never spoken about! I actually learned things about sketchy and vice versa that we never knew re dreams, goals, jobs and such. OOC. 

there were quite a few funny and epic moments in the night -- one being us getting kicked out of accidentally being in a VIP section which we were able to laugh about and have be a cute moment. We ended up not liking the music and heading out to another place where we legitimately danced the night away. 

I also definitely FELT and knew that it looked like to others that we had just met which was pretty amazing. The bouncers at the second place made a few funny jokes when there was a cover and i mentioned i had no cash on me and sketchy offered to pay and i kept saying he didn't have to do that! haha he was like 'let the guy do what he wants' and gave such a crazy 'haha that guy totally getting her tonight' face to the other bouncer! 

the end of the night was great to see sketchy's suave way of getting me back to his hotel room. we never broke character which was nice. had a lot of laughs about our 'crazy friends' (think we both talked a little about our ACTUAL friends so it was hilarious to hear us tell a new person about them but also knew the friend) and how they're so wild that it's not a shocker that we got separated from them or were by ourselves for the rest of the night. everything just fit so well. 

in conclusion, the night was amazing. it renewed everything i ever felt for sketchy and then added some. i love that we saw different sides to each other and were able to just be fun for an evening! i suggest this for any long-term relationship! 

Saturday...

After our exhausting Friday night, we slept away most of Saturday afternoon and then met up with Scott and Miriam at the Pirate Bar in Silver Springs. We'd been waiting for this night for quite some time -- they finally had family in town and were able to go out and be wild for an evening! We've been wanting to go here for quite some time since we saw the Bar Rescue episode. It was a really great time. I loved all of the decor and it was pretty dead which was nice. Actually there was a large pirate themed party going on with about 15 adults at a really long table. The place was much bigger than i thought. We sat outside in their pretty awesome patio space!

We shared a pitcher of 'top shelf' grog. It was actually really tasty! We also had shots. Pirate bar FTW re shots. They have 2.00 and 3.00 shots. They all sounded fruity and delicious too. 

we went with the fish bate. i really liked the gummy worm chaser lol

on our way out a pirate offered to take a picture with us. WIN.

and then we actually saw the OWNER and her husband walking in as we were heading out! She was badass and was all up for a picture with us. She wanted us to be gangsta and say ridiculous things lol. ooc.

i thought these were pretty neat. just one part of the cool decor there. love whiskey/wine barrels! 

After we left Pirate Bar, we headed across the street to the Quarry House Tavern. That place was really awesome. It's the basement of an indian restaurant and had live music. They're big on beer -- guess it's a beer garden of sorts? Miriam and I had car bombs and the guys had a couple beers. Then we headed over to the movie theater to purchase tickets to Red2 and then headed out to a nearby irish bar for some more drinks before heading back to the movie. 

We are such old people. Everyone looked like a trainwreck after the movie and it was only 2am. lol 

It was such a great night and was so awesome to catch up with Scott and Miriam. Hopefully it's not TWO months before we see them again. I get so angry when i realize how long we let go by before we see folks, and it's our fault. Hopefully we're seeing them next weekend for dinner at their place! 

Anyways, hope everyone had a great weekend!

Exciting Weekend to Come!

Tonight's the night! We're doing a date night in DC. Very excited about this so haven't done much else today but think about/plan! 

Saturday we're going to Pirate Bar with Scott and Miriam. We've been wanting to go there for quite some time so i'm excited about that. Plus we haven't seen them in SO long so it'll be nice. We're going to go see a movie afterwards. Hopefully pirate bar isn't too ooc beforehand. We've never hung out in the silver spring downtown area so looking forward to new places and adventures. 

Cajun Season Madness

Today we did nothing exciting in life. We came home and cooked dinner. Obsessed with that cajun seasoning from New Orleans. Baked some chicken and made a size of lemon orzo pasta and these amazing fingerling/baby potatoes that are super cheap and tastey from TJs. 

Super excited for tomorrow. Sketchy and I are having a date night in DC. Will talk more about this after the date night to see if successful, lol. 

Shows were good tonight. The Hero is getting OOC. Does anyone out there watch that besides us? Does anyone else dislike the lady who cries all the frickin time? 

Best Wrap Ever and Motifikis's Birthday

Tonight we were feeling lazy and wanted to make something quick. We had a lot of salad like ingredients and we had been craving wraps. This was one of our dinner cheats where we really didn't cook the meat and such =/ which i'm usually very against!

So first, the thing that made this amazing (probably) was the crazy cheddar jalapeno pub cheese spread thing we got from Trader Joe's (TJs). SUCH a good dip. So that's the bottom layer you see pictured. Topped with the regular staples -- jalapenos, spinach, red onions. 

the chicken pictured here is just the chicken tenders that are already basically cooked that you just warm up from TJs. Also spinach tortilla which is always tastier than reg or wheat!

The two other items that may have made this incredible were thanks to Sketchy. He brought home two things from New Orleans which i actually thought were really neat and thoughtful! He brought home a cajun seasoning and a series of hot sauces (the second thing was more for him lol). We put the cajun (amazing) seasoning and a garlic hot sauce on the wrap! 

sooooo good. I basically want to eat this everyday of my life. 

So getting back to these New Orleans souvenirs. Seasonings from different places traveled to is an amazing idea! I love kitchen displays like spice racks and i obviously love to cook and therefore love spices. Brenna actually got us this potato seasoning from her Prince Edward Island trip too. I like the idea of collecting these items because we can use them and they're still something neat from each place!!

I like the hot sauce idea too but it seems like some places are more known for that. 

I'm thinking about something brewery related too for souvenir type things. I love all breweries. Not just the big named ones but the little steakhouse/diner ones that you happen upon in random places. I want to make it a point to go to a brewery for dinner at places we travel to! Maybe a beer or beer bottle opener from each? Would make for an awesome display for man cave one day i'm sure if in a case or something!

In other important news, today is Mo's Birthday! He's old and graduating soon which is exciting. I'm really bummed because Sketchy and I wanted to work with Matt (his friend) to get him up to NYC for his birthday weekend. His schedule was way too complicated so we didn't get to spend anytime with him for his birthday. Super bummer, but we'll figure out a really good way to make it up to him! =) 

this pretty much sums us up. I probably told him to eat his fist and then acted like an angel. it's never me. =)

we're really lazy...

but also adventurous

best vacation activity high ever. jet skiing. 

 and definitely always have a good time.

thank you for introducing me to alcohol.

 one of my favs of us. lol 

Happy Birthday Motifikis. Here's to many more fun adventures. The best is yet to come. Can't wait for you to be on your own and see where life takes you!

Career Win for AJ

Today AJ found out that he passed his crazy finance certification test that he's been studying for since last November! All the missed events and nights of studying paid off! We went out to RFDs to grab a couple drinks and celebrate with him. After a long New Orleans weekend I think just a couple was enough for all the guys. 

Going for drinks was successful not only because we got to see AJ's happy face, but we learned of RFDs awesome Tuesday deal! Basically buy one get one canned craft beers -- a pretty large and good list too! How did we miss this when we were going there almost everyday a week? I KNOW we had to have gone on a Tuesday? Maybe we were too focused on the larger list to notice specials? Either way, we need to get back on that list situation which I think we're more than 75% through! 

Fun fail photos. This is the road line on our springfield exit. OOC. WHO painted this? were they stroking out? high? maybe blind?? 

just ooc.

A Weekend of Learning Experiences

This past weekend was Sketchy's bachelor party weekend in New Orleans. I generally pride myself on being able to compartmentalize and not let things get to me too much. I thought I'd be perfectly fine with this whole bachelor party thing (hence bachelor party gift basket including, in retrospect, one too many singles lol). I'm usually perfectly fine with his boy's nights out and such BUT...

If we're being completely honest, I feel like i lost my damn shit this weekend. Something about this weekend being centered around him (and we all know how much the guy friends and rando girls will do for a bachelor), not necessarily trusting the folks he's with (let's face it, they're all such bad influences lol) and just general wildness i've seen and heard of other bachelor parties defffinnnitteellyy got to me. 

Female friends, please feel free to let me know i'm not a psychocrazyfiance for feeling a little eh this weekend. 

On a brighter note, Diana got me out of the house and attempted to distract my crazy brain. Friday night we bottomlined which, as always, was entertaining. Actually spent the night in Pentagon City at her place. 

i feel we all had to explain this to alex? 

action shot.

lmao everyone looks so happy afterwards. 

Saturday we pooled which was nice and relaxing. We spent a solid 7 hours around the pool while Diana and company drank fancy rum punch and i got sooooo black. lol

my feet are SO dark in this picture. lol

After the pool we headed to Bruno's where he made us dinner -- fajitas!

Saturday night i was feeling eh and very undecided on what i wanted to do. Originally, we were supposed to do a movie night. On one hand i knew that a relaxing movie night would allow my brain to be badnewsbears but i also knew i did not want to drink because god knows what THAT would have done to my brain lol. In the end, we made a super last minute decision to go to Clarendon Grill to check out Bruno's favorite cover band -- Gonzo's Nose. I figured getting dressed up and going out to see some live music might be fun. 

This was definitely a very good decision. I loved them so much. Their selection of music was so diverse and the crowd was out of control into it. The performers were just that -- performers -- SO interactive and great. The layout of Clarendon Grill is so much more conducive to live music than Whitlow's. #newfavoritespot.

America BOTTLES!

bachelorette party on stage -- they were incredible.

#funbacheloretteparty

broke it down on stage. the stage was awesome. so was the lighting.

Sunday I headed down to Sketchy's parents to spend the last night of my dog lady wkend. Stayed there and hung out with his mom (did some wedding invitation and planning things) and dad until this afternoon when I went to grab Sketchy from the airport. Sketchy was very sketchy upon his return. =/

I made a welcome home dinner for him, something i could offer that hopefully New Orleans hoebags could not lol.  

this was actually really good. buffalo chicken noodle casserole. 

Dog Lady Wkend Swag

So some of you may have seen that as my status. What that means is that it's Sketchy's bachelor party wkend (he's in New Orleans). I'm at home with the dogs this wkend and not sure what i'm doing but I expect i'll go out at least one night. 

Maybe do live music or just a bottomline night. those are always good. A friend of mine is back in town after being away for a while so maybe see him. Was thinking about going to the nats game with them tonight but having the dogs makes life confusing with timing and how long i can be away from the house. 

I know one day this wkend i'll go down to sketchy's parents because they've been wanting me to visit while he's gone. 

We'll see what happens.

Kaitlin Tries on First Wedding Dress!

Today we went to try on Demetrios dresses at the Macy's at Tyson's Corner. Kaitlin tried on a few first which was super exciting. Jenna and I got to see her try on dresses for the first time! Sorry Pam! She tried on a variety of dresses and learned what she felt comfortable in, what kind of fits she liked better and even what kind of material she liked so it was definitely successful. All dress places say you're not allowed to take pictures but of course I snuck some!

Jenna and I waiting. 

i really loved this one -- i think it was the first one she tried on. sparkly! 

haha i loved when they were like 'do you wanna try on the veil too?' you can't see the details in this picture but the veil has the prettiest sparkle on the trim.

Kaitlin really liked this material and style. Had to take pictures quickly so obviously candid!

I tried on some and liked one a lot. it was all lacy and had a really long bow which i could get to match the BM dress color. I really liked the bottom which had the lace overlay that was a bit longer than the under part. I'm forgetting what that's called but it was a very pretty bottom!

Afterwards we went to the Holocaust museum which I've actually never been to other than for a lecture after hours. The museum exhibits were pretty moving and i liked some of the interactive aspects of it. Definitely a museum to check out if you're in the area and have interest in the event or history in general. 

We went out to Ledo's for dinner tonight where I had my buffalo chicken cheese fries. mmm.

Tomorrow Kaitlin and Jenna leave and so does Sketchy -- for his bachelor party. It's going to be social overload to completely empty house! =(

I had planned on having a fondue girl's night but cancelled that since it doesn't seem to be too good of a date for most folks and also didn't feel like cleaning and hosting anything. sigh. 

This weekend in general i'd like to do something fun but not sure what yet. Definitely want to keep my mind off of New Orleans though! 

I made Sketchy this 'bachelor party' basket.

he looks really happy in this picture. sigh.

basket.

super ready for his trip tmm. =)