Book Worms

What a book-filled weekend! This weekend marked the 14th Annual Baltimore Book Festival. They blocked off the streets around the Washington Monument in Mt. Vernon (only 3 blocks from our apartment!). Buzz Aldrin, Ralph Nader, Gwen Ifill, and Maureen McCormick from The Brady Bunch were there promoting their recent books. There were a ton of other vendors ranging from local vineyards to my very own employer, Urbanite. I had to work at Urbanite's booth on Saturday from 11-2, and it was a blast! The magazine is very well-received in Baltimore, so it was wonderful to have people come to our booth just to tell us that they love it! Evan came to the festival around 2:00, so when my shift was over, we had a chance to enjoy the city festival.

Saturday night was spent at a fundraiser for the Baltimore County Public Library, which was held on the Goucher College campus. Urbanite was a media sponsor of this event, so our office received complimentary tickets. I took advantage of this opportunity, as the tickets were normally $50! So Evan and I enjoyed a night of catered food - amazing appetizers, a delicious main course and dessert, which was my favorite! An ice cream sundae bar and cupcakes - it does not get any better than that! We also enjoyed an open bar and played a variety of carnival games! By playing the carnival games, you could win raffle tickets for two great prizes. Unfortunately, we didn't win, but the people sitting next to us THOUGHT they did. They were a younger couple, probably in their early thirties. The announcer called the winning number a few times, and we the woman next to us start saying "We won!" She then proceeded to start screaming and saying "O...M...G...aaahhhhh!" as she ran to the stage (her husband stayed where he was, acting a little unsure). Turns out she didn't have the right number, and the announcer said she was a winner, just not of the basket. I about died. She came back to our area, and told her husband this: "Not only was I loud...I was wrong." Evan and I could not stop laughing. So all in all, the night was so worth it.

I should mention that we were able to spend time with Evan's high school counselor on Saturday morning. He was in town for a conference, and his wife joined him. We picked them up from their hotel and had breakfast at Chocoloatea, and then gave them a tour of Hopkins' campus. It was so nice to visit with people from Nebraska! They were wonderful!

Happy Birthday!

Today is a special day for Evan's grandpa, Kenny! It's his 80th birthday, and we wish him all the best and many more!

Unfortunately, the Huskers couldn't deliver a nice present to him, but we hope he still enjoyed his day!

Football is Here!

Although Evan was swamped with a paper that was due last Monday, we were still able to enjoy last weekend. My work had an office happy hour from 4-5 last Friday (at the office!). Beer, wine, cheese and truffles were served - my kind of work place! Our magazine's publisher was so happy with our September issue, "The Learning Issue," and just wanted to thank everyone for their hard work. Each employee got to pick a prize from a bag that she passed around. My prize: a gift certificate to a new restaurant that opened in April down in Harbor East - a hip neighborhood by the harbor. Check out the restaurant: Talara. I can hear the Peppermint Pattie Mojito calling my name...

On Saturday we went to Sarah and David's (she's a Chi Omega alum) for the USC/Ohio State game. They cooked dinner for us: grilled pork tenderloin, baked potatoes, orzo salad and rolls. We brought the dessert, Blackberry Jam Cake. Everything was delicious! We really enjoy hanging out with Sarah and David and are excited to have met them!

This past week has been so busy for the both of us. Evan had that huge paper that I mentioned due on Monday and then a presentation on Wednesday. He was up until 4:30 on one night working on everything! I had a work party on Tuesday night - we have a "roll out" party every month to celebrate the new issue. September's party was held at Teavolve, a bar that has all the drinks infused with tea - pretty cool! On Thursday night, I went to a Chi Omega alum meeting, trying to get the alum group more organized. Then on Friday I had to work at an event that Urbanite sponsors - Friday Night Concerts at Belvedere Square. Evan came to it, so it didn't seem like I was working, so that was nice. A crazy week, but we can't complain! Everything is going so well, PLUS the Huskers play VA Tech today, and it is on ABC! Woohoo - we get to watch this game!! Go HUSKERS!

Loving Our Weekends...

Sarah's visit over Labor Day weekend was so much fun! She arrived on Friday night, and after picking her up at the airport, I made my special turkey burgers. Evan was in Philadelphia for the day, so it was great to have girl-time during dinner. Afterward, I took her to the best ice cream place in Baltimore, and we enjoyed the heavenly creation! Saturday was spent with more girl-time as we shopped in all of the great neighborhoods. We even found these adorable owl rings, and she bought one for each of us! We just can't let go of Chi Omega...but hey, that's where our friendship started, so it's alright!

Saturday night was an adventure! As everyone in the state of Nebraska knows, last Saturday was the first Husker game of the season (I'm still coming to grips with the fact I wasn't there). We looked online and found that there was a bar in Columbia, MD where a group of Husker fans gather. We called ahead to make sure that they would have the game, and they said they would...YAY! However, we showed up and they didn't have it, and the regular group wasn't there. It was going to cost a lot of money to buy it on pay-per-view, so we couldn't watch it there. Repeat this scenario two more times, and you have our evening. Yes, we went to 2 other places (calling first) and were told that they were showing the game. Turns out, NO ONE was showing it! We made it back to our apartment around half time and were able to stream the audio from the Nebraska Athletics website. It just wasn't the same!

It was sad to see Sarah go on Monday, but it was so wonderful spending those couple of days with her. We appreciate her visit so much! We love visitors, so it was great. I'd like to take this time to personally invite each and every one of you out to visit us - we're great hosts, I promise! In all seriousness, though, we truly welcome all of our friends and family. We miss everyone and would love to see you and show you around Baltimore!!

Exciting news: Ashley is going to be having her baby soon! YAY!!

Sarah!

At this time tomorrow, I'll be hanging out with one of my dearest friends, Sarah Haskell! She flies in tomorrow and will be staying until Monday night - and I could not be any happier! I'll of course write about our weekend, so you'll be able to read about the fun things that we will do!

This week has flown by. I think it has something to do with this whole "9-5 real job" thing. I seriously feel like it was just last weekend, and here we are again - tomorrow is Friday! The job is going well. I'm finally starting to work on my own stuff, which is great. It is such a fast-paced atmosphere, and there is always something to do, so the days go by quickly.

Evan started the fall semester at Hopkins on Wednesday. He had hospital rotations and a few classes this summer, but the official semester began this week. The classes seem to be going well, and he's definitely interested in what he's learning. He'll actually be heading to Philadelphia tomorrow to meet with a surgeon about a potential project, so that's very exciting! It's weird that he's going to Philly for the day. We're still adjusting to the fact that so many BIG cities are so close to each other out this way....oh, the East Coast...

And for super exciting news: Evan's cousin, Dottie, got engaged tonight! We are so excited for her and Brandon! Congrats!