I am so blessed...

Look who spent Easter with me!

Happy Belated Easter!

First of all, my apologies - I've been MIA. But hey! I'm back! :)

We had such a great time with my parents over Easter weekend. We went out to eat at a wonderful place (next door to where I work) called Abbey Burger Bistro. They have regular menu options or you can make your own burger concoction by filling out a checklist of goodies that you want (peanut butter is even an option!). We all made custom orders and really enjoyed them! I had a wonderful turkey burger with blue cheese, bacon, jalapenos and spicy creme fraiche. YUM.

We went to down Annapolis on that Saturday. My parents were very excited to see the Naval Academy - very cool! We enjoyed coffee and ice cream too - a perfect afternoon! Easter dinner was amazing on Sunday - spiral sliced ham, scalloped potatoes, green bean casserole, parmesan biscuits, lime-scented strawberry mango salad and blackberry jam cake. I was in heaven! Don't worry, I'll be updated those recipes on Ice Cream & Wine very soon. All in all, the weekend was a blast, and we loved seeing my parents!

We're still truckin' along here in Baltimore. I can't believe that we only have a month and half left. We'll be moving down to the northern part of D.C. for the summer at the beginning of June. Evan has an internship with the FDA for the summer. Although it's only like 30 miles from Baltimore, the commute would be AWFUL with traffic, so we decided to move down there for a few months. In September we will then move from D.C. to California....I guess we just like to move!

Other than that, we've been up to the same old stuff. We're definitely enjoying this Spring weather....it got up to 94 degrees last week! It's cooler this week - actual Spring weather, which is nice! Hope you're doing well and everything is going great!

Happy Spring! (& Some Exciting News!)

So I'm a little late, seeing that the first day of Spring was a few days ago - but still: Happy Spring! The weather seems to changing with the season. We've had some rainy days and some sunny days. I'm afraid I'll jinx it if I say that winter just might really be over! :)

We had a wonderful time down in Florida. Our first night was spent camping - we enjoyed waking up to the sunrise on the Atlantic shore. Later that day, we drove across the state and did some boating on the Gulf of Mexico and watched the sunset - an absolutely amazing day.

Another highlight of the trip includes...WALT DISNEY WORLD! That's right - we went to Disney! Chris has a friend that actually works on the business-side of Disney and was able to hook us up with free day passes to all the parks. Oh. My. Goodness. It was so much fun! Evan had never been there before, so I really enjoyed being the professional tour guide and showing him all neat stuff and rides. Fun moments from Disney include: Tower of Terror, Indiana Jones Stunt Show, bratwursts and sauerkraut from Germany & pastries from France (at Epcot), Space Mountain, and the monorail. :)

We've spent the week adjusting to real life - vacation was just so relaxing! Evan is actually down in North Carolina right now for a business plan competition. He'll leave from there and go straight to California on Sunday. He's going to be visiting Stanford - I'm so jealous that he'll be in Palo Alto without me. Which leads me to my next topic:

Evan was accepted to Stanford for graduate school, and we decided this week that we'll be moving to Palo Alto, CA! Holy cow - we're moving across the entire country! We feel so blessed about this opportunity and are excited to get to sunny California.

Florida!

We're leaving for Florida later this afternoon, and we're so darn excited! Rumor has it that we'll be camping out on the beach tonight. Needless to say, Evan has been looking forward to that! I'll be sure to take many, MANY pictures. 

We're counting down the days until our trip to Nebraska. We've been missing our family and friends like crazy - it will be so nice to see everyone!

Sorry for the short post - trying to wrap things up at work before our flight. Hope you're all having a wonderful week!

Another Year Older!

Yes, yes - today is my 23rd birthday. Holy moly! I can't even believe it. It's been a great birthday so far - and it's only 11:30! My boss actually has jury duty today, so technically I don't have to be at work. I'm here right now and will be here for a few hours - just to get some stuff done, so I'll feel somewhat productive today! I made some yummy oatmeal chocolate chip muffins last night, so I could wake up and enjoy a delicious breakfast on my birthday (I think Evan enjoyed them also!). Tonight Evan and I are going out to eat at The Capital Grille - a fancy shmancy restaurant by the harbor...we're really excited! I have half of my birthday dessert made - it's a peanut butter cream brownie torte - the brownie part is done, and I'll finish the rest of it this afternoon. So let's recap: oatmeal chocolate chip muffins for breakfast, a delicious dinner, and a decadent dessert. Yes, I'm clearly obsessed with food. One of my favorite (don't worry: I love EVERYTHING I've received so far!) gifts came from my sister. A vintage apron - it's so darn adorable. I'll be sure to take a picture wearing it - you'll agree!

Some other exciting news...I attended a Food Network taping on Tuesday. It was a "special show" featuring a neighborhood pie shop owner and his rock band. Well, well, well. I just wasn't buying this whole "special" idea. I KNEW (ok, the owner told me!) that it would more than likely turn into a throwdown with Bobby Flay....AND IT WAS! Oh me, oh my. I was at a throwdown. When Bobby came running out, I got chills. He was 2 feet from me!! I honestly can't put into words the emotions I was feeling. I watch the Food Network 24/7 - Evan can attest to this. I'm completely obsessed, and this was honestly a dream come true! "Throwdown with Bobby Flay" is on Wednesday nights at 9:00 (8:00 central) on FN. I'm not for sure when this episode will air, but if I find out, I'll be sure to let you all know!

And just when you thought I was done with exciting news: Evan and I leave for a little vacation on Tuesday. We're heading down to Florida to stay with a very close "couple friend" of ours. I've mentioned them on the blog before - Chris is in Evan's program, and his wife, Lauren, is in vet school down in Florida. They just bought a house down there a few months ago, so we're excited to see it and spend time with them!

Hope you're all having a lovely week!

A Whirlwind of a Week

March 1, 2010 - say that out loud. Sounds weird, doesn't it?! I feel like I almost always talk about the date in each my posts but when time is going by so darn quickly, it's hard not to take note of it!

This past week has been an absolute whirlwind. I started my internship, so I was busy learning everything about the organization and finishing up last minute preparations for a big fundraiser they were planning for Saturday. Evan spent the beginning of last week working with his team to finalize their project for a business plan competition held at the University of Cincinnati. Clocking some late nights on campus (4:00a.m. & 2:00a.m.), their hard work finally paid off. They ended up getting 2nd place at the competition - very exciting! They have numerous other competitions that they'll be traveling to this semester, so hopefully they keep finding success. He just makes me so proud!

The fundraiser/fashion show on Saturday night was so much fun! A lot of money was raised, so it definitely went as planned. I'm loving my new internship and am really happy I made this transition.

I felt a little homesick over the weekend while Evan was out of town. Most of this had to do with the fact that my sister, brother-in-law and nephew were visiting my parents - I just felt left out! I know they all had fun together, but of course I was jealous that I wasn't there! But good news: Evan and I get to see my parents in 5 weeks! And we'll be back in Nebraska in 6 weeks and will get to see his family - so I felt a little bit better after I thought of those two things! :)

So much exciting stuff....

Well, the snow from the Storm of the Century out here on the East Coast is finally melting. There are still big piles from where they had to plow, but the sidewalks are getting clear - woohoo!

A lot of exciting stuff has been happening these past few weeks for us. First, my last day at Urbanite was on Friday. I'm starting a new position (today!) with Federal Hill Main Street. I'll be focusing on marketing and promotions, which is what I'm extremely interested in. It's just an internship, so it'll be done in May. The reason I decided to switch from a full-time job to an internship is simple: we're only here until May and I really want to work in marketing and promotions. I'm hoping this position will help me land a job in that industry wherever we may move to this summer. Wish me luck!

Evan has a lot of exciting stuff going on - he'll be traveling to Cincinnati on Thursday to compete in a business plan competition. Throughout the semester, he'll be traveling a lot because his team has been getting into business plan competitions left and right! Joining Cincinnati on the list so far: Berkeley, Manitoba (yes, Canada!) and LINCOLN! That's right, we're coming to Lincoln in April - I've already made the executive decision that I'll be joining him! His team is also a semi-finalist for Tulane and Wharton Business School - so there's a chance he'll be going to those also!

We'll be sure to keep you updated on our travels to Nebraska in April!

Happy Olympics!

First of all, we finally had a normal day today! I went back to work, and Evan's classes started back up. Some of the streets in Baltimore are still a mess - there's just nowhere to put snow when you're in the middle of a big city with narrow streets - yuck. The main roads are decent, so that's good. It's actually snowing right now - I'm not sure how much we're supposed to get. I'm just trying to ignore it...maybe it will go away!

Second, Happy Winter Olympic Games - woohoo! I love the Olympics. We watched the entire opening ceremonies - and the major fail that Canada experienced while lighting the cauldron. Oops! We've been watching the games every day, and plan on doing so until the end. It's just so exciting - we love it. 

It's crazy to think that once the Olympics get over, it will basically be March. I think I can hear warmer weather calling our names...it's more a muffled sound, off in the distance...but it's there!

Hope you're all staying warm!

Phase 3 Emergency

Baltimore is now in a Phase 3 Emergency Plan. This states that only city-authorized vehicles are allowed on the streets. This means we can't even go outside and WALK down the street. The city has shut down! 

This is just pure madness - the local channels have been reporting this storm all day. I'm not even kidding when I say that no "regularly scheduled programming" was on the air today. News anchors were asking people to send them emails of what they're baking and cooking. I just had to laugh...

We haven't been outside to take pictures yet. The wind is blowing pretty hard - it's kind of a white-out. Hopefully it will clear up by tomorrow morning, so I can take some pictures!

Johns Hopkins already called off school for tomorrow - I have a feeling I'll be working from home again. That will be day #5 of that (it started last Friday!). 

We'll be sure to keep you all updated!

Here comes another one...

It's been crazy here these past few days. The last blizzard hit us Friday night - luckily it stopped snowing by Saturday afternoon. Unfortunately, Baltimore has no idea how to clean up streets, so the roads in the city are AWFUL. Johns Hopkins actually closed yesterday and called another snow day for today - Evan was pretty excited! I've been able to work from home yesterday and today, so that's been nice - thank goodness for the internet!

Here's some crazy new for you, though....another snow storm is on its way. A winter storm warning went into effect around noon today and will last until Wednesday at 7pm. The projected amount for this storm is 12-18 inches for Baltimore. However, I follow this website for weather: Foot's Forecast. He's a local science teacher (I think), and his predictions are almost always right. He's saying that 22 inches will be the right amount. Ahh! 

I'll be sure to post updates as soon as the snow starts to fall. Hope your week is going well!