California Dreamin’.

Oh, hey, remember us?  Yeah, my babies are growing up.  I die.  They are way too adorable and smart for their own good.  We love them unimaginably. 

I’ve been on a blogging hiatus that stretched out way longer than I expected it to – nearly a year to be exact!

A few things in recent months have made me pause and consider breaking radio silence.  That time when all the Christians got hysterical over people (myself included) posting the gay rights “equal sign” as their Facebook profile photo, the complete heartache I felt when watching the news of the Boston Marathon bombing roll in, one of my fellow blogger-friends being torn apart on some critical website by a bunch of jerks (You are awesome, Hannah!), registering Bennet for Kindergarten, Kennedy’s first year of preschool, Bennet losing not one - but TWO teeth (with another one loose,) friends, love, heartbreak, lessons learned, my newfound love of gardening, this pastor who really pissed me off once at Starbucks when he showed up for a meeting wearing a really aggressive, judgemental anti-abortion shirt ---

But here’s what has inspired me to blog again.  Excitement.  The realization of my love of the grand, sunny state of California and how much of Andrew and I’s relationship was built around the west coast.

Eek! Who are these people? These young, care-free beings who thought that they were living busy, stressful lives?  True story --Andrew worked near Los Angeles for 2 years before we met, and that after we were dating for only a few months, he went back to CA for a field assignment.  I spent about a year visiting him every-other-weekend in what is, in MY humble opinion, the greatest state in the union.

Eek again.  I was so excited to see Britney’s star on the Walk of Fame.  For reals.

But really.  We toured, we sunned ourselves, we got to know each other --- all on a completely different coast.  Bliss.

Wineries…

Beaches…

Memories that go back to before I even had a digital camera.  Hello, OLDNESS.

This being said, we’ve been blessed that Andrew’s job has allowed him lots of west coast travel again of late.  I’ve been able to go, and it’s been amazing to re-visit some of our old favorite haunts, as well as to find new places we love.

We traveled together not too long ago, and decided to visit our most favorite restaurant – The Lobster – in Santa Monica.

Such a romantic spot.  On the water, view of the Santa Monica pier, sunset, SIGH.

We’re headed out to the west coast next week – and when planning our last night in Los Angeles, we both agreed we HAD to do dinner again at the Lobster.

“Especially since, when I was single and living out there, I always said I wished I had a pretty girl to go on a romantic date with to the Lobster,” said my sweet hubby.

AND SO, friends, I’ll tell you this – almost a full year of radio silence from this gal, and what made me break it wasn’t my annoyance with humanity, or my cute freaking kiddos, or a story about the day-to-day in the ‘burbs.

It was love.  And sunshine.  And a coast that seems oh-so-far-away, but it always oh-so-close in our hearts. 

Oh, and my cute hubbs, who always seems to love me no matter what life throws at us.

So, I’m hoping to hop back on the blogging train.  But who knows…maybe I’ll see you next spring.

Gordon Biersch VIP, Baby!

We had the best date night about two weeks ago at the new, Baltimore location of  Gordon Biersch Brewery.  I certainly intended to blog about it sooner, but there was a hurricane and I’ve been swamped with freelancing and Andrew has been out of town for the past week and the dog ate my homework…

We were invited to attend this posh (Clearly, I’ve been reading too much “Fancy Nancy” with Kennedy) VIP reception to celebrate the Grand Opening of the restaurant.  Passed hors d’ouevres were included in the night, and drinks were $1 and benefited charity (Woot woot, Waterfront Partnership!)

Hello, my-kind-of-night.

Mmmm, tapenade, flatbread, sweet potato fries…some kind of bread with crab and artichoke -

And really, the star of Gordon Biersch – garlic fries.  Oh.  My.

Or, is the beer the star of Gordon Biersch?  Maybe.  I had lots of both.

It was for charity, after all.  I’m very charitable.

The new Baltimore Gordon Biersch is located in Harbor East, and is in a gorgeous location.  We sat outside on the patio, enjoying our view of the water, and were catered to all night by seriously the nicest server I have ever had at any restaurant.  (Gordon Biersch people, if you’re reading this, my receipt said his name was Bron and he was amazing!)

We really had an amazing time, and I am so thankful to both Gordon Biersch and the people at Profiles PR for inviting us, and for going all out to provide us with a great night out!

We even got to stick around for the big, official grand opening toast…

And Andrew and I both drank out of the passed-around “boot-filled-with-beer.”

So far, we have not shown any sign of having contracted any communicable diseases.

Such an awesome night.  We will definitely be going back to Gordon Biersch Baltimore again soon – I’m craving beer and garlic fries – YUM.

Thanks again, Gordon Biersch Baltimore and Profiles PR!

The One About the Time We Got Matching Tattoos

I turned 32 this summer.  My birthday typically brings about all manner of celebration and fanfare, but 31 was a slump-of-a-year, and I decided I didn’t want a big party.  Andrew and I had planned to check out the new casino in our area – with plans to keep the night low-key.

My mom and my grandma ended up wanting to come – totally random, I know.  We went to dinner first, and then hit the penny slots.  I heart penny slots.  Penny slots are my jam.

There was a point in the night that my straight-laced husband said, “If you stopped playing right now, we’d have enough to get matching anchor tattoos.” 

I’ve been wanting matching anchor tattoos for a while.  I played down my $100 winnings just slightly and then decided to cash out.

And so, off we went with birthday money from my grandma, and our $80 penny slot winnings to the tattoo place.

I got mine on my foot.

Andrew got his on his leg.

My favorite part of the night was when my dear husband explained to the pretentious (read: way cooler than us) tattoo people that we wanted an anchor tattoo to symbolize us being anchored to each other. 

Later I told him that the tattoo people were probably thinking, “Oh, really?  We’ve never heard that one before.  So original.”

He’s so cute.

It really was a great birthday – one of the best ones I’ve had in a while.  And, all cheesiness aside, we really are anchored together – more after this past year than ever.

NOW.  While you’re here, can you do me a favor?  I entered a very abbreviated version of this tale in the Maryland Live Casino Stories contest and I’m one of the finalists!  I think winning tattoo money at the penny slots is 1) incredibly classy and 2) deserving of a win.  SO…PLEASE GO HERE --

http://ow.ly/ejrxF

And vote for me!  Will you?  : )

Votes have to be in my October 10th, so don’t procrastinate! 

Seven Years.

Yesterday was our 7th wedding anniversary.  Not sure how that’s possible, but here we are – SEVEN.

We had a quiet, nice celebration at home once we got the kids in bed.  There was much wine-drinking and brie-eating and wedding-video-watching.  Life is good, isn’t it?

This weekend, I came across some thoughts posted by a friend, written by Louis de Bernieres -

Love is a temporary madness; it erupts like volcanoes and then subsides. And when it subsides you have to make a decision. You have to work out whether your roots have so entwined together that it is inconceivable that you should ever part. Because this is what love is.

Love is not breathlessness, it is not excitement, it is not the promulgation of eternal passion. That is just being in love, which any fool can do.

Love itself is what is left over when being in love has burned away, and this is both an art and a fortunate accident.

Those that truly love have roots that grow towards each other underground, and when all the pretty blossoms have fallen from their branches, they find that they are one tree and not two.

So lovely.  It immediately brought my marriage, particularly over the past year, to mind.  I’ve often wondered how I got so lucky – to have found someone who forgives me when I don’t deserve it, loves me when I am at my worst, and truly puts my happiness above his own. 

The beauty of a successful marriage is this – when the blossoms do fall off, when one of you falls short, when you’re both exhausted from juggling laundry and work and toddlers – there is grace.  There is love.  There is God in the midst of the everyday.

What I take from this year – what I cherish most – is the realization that the roots of our two trees have intertwined in such a way that we are one.  One tree.  One set of star-crossed lovers.  One everyday fairy tale.  You get the point.

Andrew Peters, I love you for crying when we watched our wedding video last night, because you still love me as much as you did when you cried on our wedding day.  You’re more than this girl deserves.  You’re proof of God’s grace and love.

Thanks for becoming one with me – and for not picking your grains of sand back out of the vase when I’m at my worst. 

Happy Anniversary!

Fifteen Minute Update, vol. 2

Heat wave in our neck of the woods!  Yesterday was 107-degrees, and I have no clue what’s going on out there today.  I’m inside in the AC, napping, blogging and being otherwise lazy.

My baby turns two in two weeks!  We’re working on a Frances birthday party for her – check out my handmade invitations.  So often, I’m too busy to dabble in crafts, so it’s always nice to see I’ve still got it. 

This time last weekend, we were wedding-crashing at a winery, sans children, in State College, PA.  My wonderful in-laws kept an eye on the littles for the weekend so we could go away on a mini-vacation.  We shopped, we drank wine, we ate yummy food, we crashed someone’s wedding.  Again, good to know we’ve still got it.  We spend so many nights exhausted from baby-rearing that it’s good to know we can still party.

We were shopping at Target the other day and found these pajamas on the clearance rack.  (Man, I love Target clearance sales.)  Bennet’s has Spider Man “webs” under the arms made out of mesh, and Kennedy’s has a Batman cape on the back.  Adorableness.

Yikes!  Bennet hit his head at a play date this week and ended up having to get two staples in his scalp.  I was way more freaked out than he was – he handled the whole thing with a sense of calm that amazed me.  Afterward, I bought him a Chick-Fil-A milkshake for being so brave and he said to me, “Mom, do you know who made me be so brave?  God.”  Oh, cuteness.

I’ve been focusing time on reconnecting with old friends lately.  My dear friend Anne Marie – who I haven’t hung out with in years – recently came back into my life after I bumped into her at a birthday party.  Our friends Steve and Shelley and their sweet little one, Leela,  have been around a lot lately, which we love.  This lovely lady in the picture above, Kristi, came over with her hubbs for some back porch wine-drinking a few weeks ago and it was amazing to catch up with her/them. 

I’m actually headed out on a girl-date with her tonight – dinner and some Magic Mike.  Not sure if Magic Mike is my kind of movie – but Kristi is my kind of friend and I am so looking forward to hanging out!

Two posts this month.  Yay, Terri Peters.  Don’t call it a comeback.

Fifteen Minute Update

If you resolve to start blogging with regularity again, it’s always possible that your laptop will die, you’ll have to send it away for repairs, your wonderful husband will buy you both a Nook AND a new Droid, and you will get so caught up in the new technologies that you’ll forget about blogging.  True story.

I really, REALLY want to start blogging again.  No promises, though.

I have fifteen minutes until we have to leave to celebrate our sweet, little friend Leela’s first birthday.  Can I update the world on the goings on in our family in fifteen minutes?  Let’s see.

I’m newly really into Instagram.  It combines two of my most favorite things – photos and social media.  Love.

Kennedy is a hot mess.  Almost two.  Curly.  Mean.  Talking up a storm.  She’s having a Frances birthday party.  Frances being the cute, little badger from old children’s books.  It really fits her obstinate personality to insist upon such a challenging birthday theme.  Sigh.

Bennet’s…well…a four-year-old boy.  Superheroes, video games, Star Wars.  He’s way too smart for his own good.  Yesterday, for example, he and I floated around in the pool and had a deep discussion about our yard in the city, why it didn’t have grass and a pool, and if that made me sad.  Seriously?

Andrew and I are great.  Most nights, we pass out on the couch when we get the kids to bed because they wear us out.  Andrew bought me a fabulous patio set last weekend, so, weather permitting, we sometimes put the kids to bed and then pass out on the back porch. 

Andrew has taken up reading The Economist.  (See…on the patio…when the kids were in bed…)

I have taken up wearing large, bright sun hats.  Don’t be jealous.

Oh, and my diet/fitness coach stuff is going really well.  But if I tell you about that now, I won’t be motivated to blog again tomorrow.

Eighteen minutes.  Not too shabby of an update.  Off to celebrate a sweet little on her 1st birthday!

Da-Dee!

My little princess is obsessed with her Daddy right now.  All day, while Andrew is at work, she asks for “Da-Dee!” 

Yesterday, Andrew met us at a park near his work for lunch.  Kennedy, of course, was beyond excited.

Today, we met Andrew for lunch for a friend's pre-maternity-leave luncheon, and I thought Miss Bean should dress accordingly for her lunch date with her “Da-Dee.”

While it’s sad that, once Andrew walks through the door in the evenings, she is no longer my baby – it’s also so sweet to see her loving her Daddy so much.

I was a Daddy’s girl until the day my dad passed away.  So, while she may not want to be around me when Daddy’s in the house, she’s a lot more like me than she knows. 

She’s also going to be disappointed tomorrow when we don’t meet “Da-Dee” for lunch.

Mother’s Day.

I had such an amazing Mother’s Day this year.  Andrew and the kids are wonderful, and they made my day so special! 

My present from my three favorite people was to get my hair highlighted.  I had stopped highlighting my hair over two years ago, when I started staying home with Bennet.  I missed the blonde quite a bit, and since I am doing some freelance writing now, I think I can afford the upkeep again!  I found a great salon near our house, and the wonderful lady who does my hair spoils me with unlimited glasses of wine – so she’s a keeper!

There’s a photo of the blonde-ness, from a date night we went on this weekend.  I love it – and I feel like my old self again!  Best Mother’s Day present ever!

My sweet husband made me a yummy breakfast full of all my favorite things – carbs and bacon – yum!

We visited our old church in the city because friends of ours were having their daughter dedicated in the service.  Mat and Krissy are amazing friends, and we’ve all known each other since way back before we even had babies – so it’s a joy to celebrate special moments in their girls’ lives with them!

She’s a cutie, huh?  Bennet’s fond of her and of her big sister – Who can blame him?

I even got to pick what I wanted for dinner that night, so I chose cheeseburgers on the grill and pasta salad.  Again – I have a weakness for carbs and cheeseburgers.  Eek.

I am so thankful for these little babies, who have made me a mom and who teach me new things every single day.  I’m also thankful for my wonderful husband who works hard so I can stay at home with these sweeties.  I’m blessed, and I’m even more blessed to have been so spoiled on my Mother’s Day!