Sunday, April 17, 2011

Mah-lei-lei

My Mom/Melissa (or Mah-lei-lei as Matt calls her with amusement) drove up for a spring visit April 7-16th.  It was her third and longest trip here, both of which we were appreciative of.

Thursday, right when Matt and I arrived home from work and she drove into the parking garage, the dinner bell tolled so we immediately set to making roasted shrimp and orzo salad, another tried and true Barefoot Contessa recipe.  Yum.  And then we walked to Kohl's to browse.  Why?  Because it's right across the street.

Friday morning was slow and rainy, but we rallied, made a plan, packed a lunch and got in the car.  Destination: any cherry blossom we could find in the DC area.  We drove straight to the gold mine of cherry blossoms, the Tidal Basin.  Though rain and time had done most of the blooms in, we still got quite a show and now know why people flock to see them.  Too bad I forgot my camera.  BUT we had a great time driving around in the drizzle gawking and trying not to hit tourists, most of which we couldn't help but notice were Asian.  I'm just sayin.

For lunch we parked on a semi-quiet street inbetween the river and a green field, directly across from Arlington House and directly underneath Reagan Airport's landing path.  The setting made our leftover shrimp and orzo even more memorable. 

But the day was still young and we had no babies or boys to drag us down (no offense to either) so on we drove to Ikea.  You know, cause it's fun to dream and be overwhelmed.  We both left the Swedish superstore with high hopes for a simple and more organized lifestyle... one day.  I also left with this handy rod we're using above the kitchen sink for hand towels and this machine washable, inexpensive, fantastic warm weather duvet filler.  And we bought a tray of their signature cinnamon rolls.  Which was a good decision, because we needed nourishment while stuck in 5:00 traffic on the way home.  And once there, I made truffled fillet of beef sandwiches and roasted asparagus.

On one of her days here I drove Mom into Baltimore (with no GPS assistance!) for her first visit.  We stayed in the car most of the time, but did get out at Ft. McHenry and to have a pasta lunch in Little Italy. 

Other events include: a visit with Angela on her sunny back deck, shopping in consignment stores at least three times over three days (we became pros and found so many great clothes!), browsing neighborhood antique stores in West Annapolis, the White House garden tour and Blossom Kite Festival, acquainting Mom with neighborhoods in which we assumed we would be buying a house, eating quiche at a local girly restaurant on vintage dinette tables and lastly having a picnic and crepes downtown by the water...

 
 
 
   
 
 

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