Royally Romantic

 I haven't been into the Royal Wedding hype.  I planned to look at some pictures, maybe watch a video clip or two online. 

But I woke up early. Really early. 

And since all major networks that are shown on the YMCA televisions were covering the ceremony at 6 am when I hopped on the elliptical, that's what I watched. 

And I'm so glad I did. 

It was magical to watch a real life fairy tale unfolding before my very eyes as Prince William married his longtime girlfriend Kate Middleton.

photo courtesy of abcnews.com

 Kate, or Catherine as she's now called, is so beautiful and graceful, I could watch her for hours. 

photo courtesy of abcnews.com

I'm so in awe of the love and respect shown by the spectators toward their Queen, their royalty, and their country. The huge crowds showed such reverence, as well as pride, it was an incredible sight. 

Witnessing this lovely piece of history take place was such a cheerful and festive way to start the day, as well as the weekend!

During the ceremony, the Bishop of London used one of my FAVORITE quotes which I'll leave you with on this beautiful Friday:

"Be who God meant you to be and you will set the world on fire"

-St. Catherine of Siena

Introducing...

My new love. 

My birthday present has finally arrived and it was 

oh-so-worth the wait.

My sweet, sweet husband bought me an iPad 2 

(it's been on backorder). 

It is the coolest thing I've ever seen.

There is SO much it can do and I've only just gotten into the free apps so far! 

So THANK YOU to my true love, for this new love : ) 

the weekend rundown - beers, backfin & brunch

Ahhh nothing like a 3 day weekend to make you hate being back at work on Monday!

But it was a wonderful, busy weekend full of family and friends so I'll keep my complaining to a minimum. 

Friday I took advantage of my day off and cleaned every square INCH of our house and took care of tons of random errands that stay on the bottom of my to do list like taking donations to the thrift shop and paying overdue library fines. 

(yea I know this sounds like a lame way to spend your day off, but Ant was working and it was cold and rainy out!)

When I was finished with all that fun- I did treat myself to a little mani/pedi : )

Then it was a quiet night in with take out and a movie (we're nearing the end of our netflix gift subscription we got for Christmas and are trying to take advantage!)

Since the housework was all done, Saturday was a play day!  I spent the morning working on a little craft project I've been trying to get to for a few weeks, then we spent the rest of the day visiting with all sorts of fun Richmond friends who were down! 

We did our first crab picking of the season at the marina with Jamie and Bernie, and Becca, Ryan and precious little Milla!

Then we showered up and headed to the Tiki bar, another first for the year, to enjoy some beers with Gordon and Meghan Kelly, and were later joined by Sarah and Wyatt for some dinner. 

It was a beautiful evening and we all broke out the Northfaces and Patagonias in an effort to savor a little more outdoor time after the sun went down! 

Easter Sunday had us up and at 'em early and headed to Richmond for brunch with the Marchetti side of the family at Margaret's, followed by lunch at Uncle Meatball's with the Hanky side. 

It was a gorgeous sunny day - perfect for these outdoor gatherings- and it's always wonderful to get to visit with so much family! 

Margaret's beautiful brunch setup

After doing waaaaayyy too much eating in Richmond, I headed back to the Northern Neck to do a little more at the Trick Dog anniversary party! This guy was the guest of honor.

 I've been bartending at Nate's Trick Dog Cafe for just over a year and I really enjoy being there. I have great work friends with whom I love spending time, I like my customers and it's just fun!

It was so great to get to hang out with all of my work girls (and guys!) when no one was working for a change!

Fantastic end to a fun-filled weekend!

L-R:Heather, Charlotte, Jess, Amanda, Dawn, me

Bottom: Courtney, Anne-Sophie, Gwen

Happy "Friday"!

There's nothing better than a short work week and I'm ecstatic that today is the end of mine!

To celebrate, I made banana nut mini muffins for my co-workers!

I always use the recipe from this book that I bought when we lived in Charleston. 

Sea Biscuit Cafe was located just minutes from our house across the connector in Isle of Palms. We loved cruising over for breakfast on sunny weekend mornings in Carter's Jeep with the top off! 

how CUTE is this place??

Anyways, here's the recipe!

(I add walnuts)

and the finished product!

Have a great weekend and a "Hoppy" Easter!

the weekend rundown- trick dog, tornadoes & tulips

Friday night, we had the pleasure of meeting up with our sweet friends Sarah and Wyatt 

who were down from Richmond 

for a fantastic catch up dinner at the bar at Trick Dog- 

great food and drinks with friends was the perfect start to the weekend!

Saturday, we had planned on some morning outdoor productivity before the weather turned bad, but it was too windy and spitting rain on and off all day, so we had a late breakfast at the Local, put in a little gym time, a few house chores (including baking some banana nut bread for our new neighbors!) 

and settled in for the night for some homemade pizza and to (finally) watch Avatar. 

(I say finally because we borrowed it from the Bowis's about 3 months ago, it was our first Blu-ray we've watched on the Blu-ray player we got for Christmas!)

Movie was good, pizza was GREAT! 

We borrowed a fantastic combination from the COOLEST restaurant/bar called Ava's that we fell in love with in St. Michael's, MD last fall (seriously, if you go you MUST check out this place- it's awesome!). Mozzarella, prosciutto, tomatoes, spinach, garlic, olive oil and drizzled with a balsamic reduction-

 this pizza is AMAZING! 

And Ant gets to keep up his dough tossing skills he acquired from Lucky 12!

Sadly, while we were relaxing in our blissful ignorance, several tornadoes came through the Gloucester and Middlesex areas and did considerable damage, as well as took the lives of 3 Gloucester residents. We are so thankful for the safety of our families and friends during these storms, 

and our hearts go out to those so tragically affected by them.

(Page Middle School, Gloucester. Photo credit: Wavy TV 10)

Sunday the blue skies and sunshine were back so it was 

GARDEN TIME! 

I've got most of my stuff in that I want for the year, I'll wait a few weeks to do cucumbers, squash and zucchini but for the most part- time to watch and wait! (and water!) 

We also got the dreaded chore of mulching out of the way, 

it's not fun but everything looks SO GOOD once it's done! 

I especially love the pop of color of the sweet tulips around our front porch-
I'll be planting more of those next year- love them!

Our day of hard manual labor was rewarded by a great dinner and even better company at my parents' house. Joined by my sister, Jess, Donna, Kelly and Aunt Joan and Uncle Rusty- it was a festive gathering with lots to celebrate, 

including Joan and Rusty's sale of their house (so they can move CLOSER!) 

and my sister accepting a NEW JOB!!! 

We're all so proud of Jess's big decision and just know that the change in scenery will bring new and exciting opportunities into her life!

Congrats sissy!

A different kind of busy

Anthony has shared his concerns that to our friends who have kids, it may be laughable that we call ourselves so "busy", deeming our choice of blog title inappropriate. 

I'd like to dedicate this post to a little clarification. 

We absolutely know our lives are a different kind of busy than those of our dear friends and families juggling the ever present chaos of life with children- the double ear infections, pediatrician appointments, chauffeuring to and from play dates, soccer practice, etc. And we have so much respect for how you do it all, because we feel like we have a hard time keeping up with ourselves sometimes!

So here are some of the things we love that keep us so "busy"!

We work hard and play hard, we cook, we garden, we landscape, we entertain guests, we DIY and craft, we work out and play in sports leagues, we boat and fish and spend as much time as we can on the water, we travel, we spend time with our wonderful friends and families and attend more weddings, graduations, anniversary parties, showers and birthday dinners than one would think is humanly possible- and we love every minute of it!

Let's do this!

So we've been talking about getting a blog rolling for quite some time now and we're finally making it happen! We feel so lucky that we're able to do so many cool things right now and want a place to record these awesome adventures, as well as share a little piece of our lives with family and friends! (Plus Anthony says that one of these days when we have kids (don't get worked up Mom(s), "one of these days" is still a waaaayyyys away!), he wants them to know that their lame-o parents were once young, cool and fun! HA!) So while some of our posts may be just for us and our memories and some may be just for you and your entertainment, ultimately we hope this will become a priceless capsule of our wonderful memories and experiences. 

Thanks for reading!