Big Day!!

Today is a day of firsts in the Essama household! I signed up for my first 10 mile race, the Cherry Blossom 10 Miler, which is taking place in DC on Sunday, April 5th, 2009! I am really excited about it but also pretty nervous because I really haven't run since the wedding. But I'm excited to start up again and hopefully I'll be in tip top shape for all the weddings this spring! :-)

Today is also Bella's first day of doggie day care!! Thanks to her friend Frank for the referral, hopefully she will be a tired, happy puppy at the end of the day!

Happy Birthday Mommy-o!

Happy Birthday to my Mom!! Thank you for everything you do for me (which I know I don't always thank you for!) You're the best!

We're going to chow on some sushi later and maybe get crazy and go see a movie. :-)

PS: Bella also thanks you for all the times you take care of her when her mom and dad aren't around!

Big Fat Liar!

Husbands. You gotta love 'em. Lately we've been stuck in this rut of one of us doing the same chores over and over, so we've been making a concerted effort to help the other one out a lot more. So my gracious hubby said he would go run some errands that I would normally do to alleviate some of the constant errand-running pressure off of me. So 5 days ago I ask him to go pick up my prescription from the Target pharmacy. I still had some left, so no biggie right? Well, day after day goes by, in sometimes typical husband fashion of constantly forgetting to do things he'd say he'd do. Fine, no biggie. But yesterday, I'm out all day and text him, reminding him to pick it up. I come home, don't see anything, ask him where the prescription is. He proceeds to tell me that the Target pharmacy is closed on Sundays. Hmmm, odd, I don't recall this being true and sort of doubted him, but then I felt slighly bad and realized I'm not always right (even though I am 99.999999% of the time), so give him the benefit of the doubt. I don't even compulsively go check online to see if he's full of crap, I trust him.

About an hour ago I get an e-mail entitled "I lied." I was wondering what it was in regards to and it says "Target Pharmacy is open Sundays oooppppsss!!!" My response: I KNEW IT, YOU BIG FAT LIAR! YOU DIDN'T EVEN TRY TO GO PICK IT UP! YOU OWE ME BIG TIME!

Just when I was becoming less neurotic, he pulls a fast one on me. Alas, I'm not mad, I'm actually quite amused that I know him so well and totally knew he made up that story about Target being closed. Hopefully my arteries won't harden and close up before he picks up the prescription tonight!

Oh and then, he has to go and do something so super nice, that I can't stay slightly annoyed at him, like putting away all the laundry I was supposed to put away that has been in the dryer/on top of the dryer/on the bed in the guest bedroom, saving me hours of having to fight off the dog while she tries to run away with our underwear and socks.

Ah husbands...gotta love 'em! :-)

Turkey for Me, Turkey for You...

Can't wait for Thanksgiving this week! Not only is it a short week, but I get to break out the fine china and have the hubby's family over on Thursday for Thanksgiving. And I can't wait for a 5 day weekend, woohoo!

What are your plans for Thanksgiving?

Salut 16!

Today marks an amazing milestone for me and Larry. Today is the 16th anniversary of SALUT! What is Salut you ask? Salut is a way of saying hello and goodbye in French, which we learned way back in 1992 in Mme. Guida's French class. For some reason, this greeting has stuck with us for years and we STILL say Salut almost every time we speak. Back in 2002, we went to France to celebrate the 10 year anniversary of Salut, which was SO fun. Of course, it was also pre-digital camera age (at least for us anyway), so please stay tuned for some scanned highlights of our French getaway.

I threw the gauntlet down today and said we have to go back for Salut 20 in 2012. Anyone else want to experience SALUT with us??????

Happy 30th Birthday Jacks!

Happy Birthday to Jack D who enters her 30s today! Can't wait to celebrate with drinks later tonight!

Oh look, there I am in the background! Jack D and awesome "Broad" Caryn!

Happy Birthday Rommie!!

Happy 28th Birthday to the Essamas good friend Rommie! Can't wait to celebrate with a Skins victory on Sunday night!

Wedding Video!

I am rather proud of my technological prowess in figuring out how to upload the highlight montage of our wedding to YouTube. So sit back and enjoy!

History

All I can say about the election on Tuesday is Wow. Regardless of your political affiliation it was history making and incredible to see the enormous crowds in Chicago and all the spontaneous celebrations around the country and the world. It was really interesting to see and cool that we are a part of history. I didn't even grow up in the 60s, but I never thought I'd see a black president. And to see all the African Americans (and other Americans and people around the world) who were so emotional and touched by Obama's election was really cool to witness. I teared up a little too. It really was incredible.

I don't know about you guys but I plan on going to the inauguration, sorry work! :-) This is one of those times when living in DC (and by living in DC I mean I really live far away in the suburbs but it's close enough that I can pretend like I'm still cool and have a life) has it's bonuses!!

Ha, look at what I just found on Google Images:

Bella's First Halloween

Since we don't have kids [yet], you all will have to settle for ridiculous pictures of our poor dog in costume on her First Halloween. I personally think she really enjoyed her costume, once she stopped struggling while I put it on her. The hat was a must. Belinga was not very pleased at what I was subjecting her to, but what does he know??

If you would rather see cute real babies, please see here and here. Oh and here's a bonus of our friend Renea and Trey's baby, Graham. Dying of cuteness!!!

Long Overdue Big Congrats!!

Congratulations to Jacqueline and Todd who completed the Marine Corps Marathon last weekend on a beautiful fall day. Big props for all their months of training--you guys are awesome!!!

6 Months Ago Today...

April 19, 2008...

6 Months later...



Today marks our 6 month anniversary and I realize many of you will scoff and say "6 months? Who cares?" but nevertheless it's a milestone! We had a fun time going up to Sugarloaf Mountain in Maryland where we hiked a 5 mile trail that we swore was probably closer to 10 miles. But it was a gorgeous fall day and the scenery was very pretty! And it wore Bella out, finally!

Here are a couple more pics from our hike:

We followed up our very tiring hike with dinner at The Palm restaurant...mmmm filet oscar, yum!

Hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend!

Hooray for Lauren and Andrew!

My friend Lauren's husband is finally back on US soil permanently after a long 15 months (the first 15 months of their marriage no less!) in Afghanistan. Congrats Lauren and Andrew--glad you made it back safely and can't wait to meet you!

Bella's Beagle Buddies!

Last Saturday I took Bella to the Leesburg Canine Country Club for a Beagle meetup. I was ridiculed by quite a few people for taking her, but I'm glad I did. She had such a good time and running around for 2.5 hours made her pooped for the rest of the weekend, which is a good thing. She never gets tired!


Check out some of her new friends below:

Running after other dogs is fun!

Bella became bff with this Puggle named Ralph

Oh boy, I love playing with other dogs!

Bella was so tired she was trying to rest but Ralph and the pervert (get out of Bella's crotch!) Maizy, who kept humping Bella, wanted to play some more

Holler if you hear me!

Gas was $2.75 in Sterling last night. WOOT!! Who knew we'd be so excited to see gas at that price?

My good friend Blogger Larry made a good observation the other day. All those people who locked in $2.99 gas with Chrysler/Dodge, etc. are probably PISSED!

Oh well, I was happy!

We're off to Sugarloaf Mountain tomorrow, fun!

Temporary Break

Sorry for the temporary break in blogging folks but our rascal Bella chewed through the internet cable at home and for some reason the wireless isn't cooperating on our desktop, so you will have to wait for more posts.

Stay tuned for a LONG overdue post on Christine and Hans's engagement party, Bella's adventure at the dog park with her other Beagle friends and this weekend escapades. It's our 6 monthiversary and we will be celebrating with dinner at The Palm and going on a little day trip to see some fall foliage and take a hike/do a picnic with the pup. Oooh and stay tuned for my new hair also coming this weekend--don't worry, nothing too crazy, just trying to touch up the 3 inch dark roots growing...

Good luck tomorrow!!!

Good luck to my good (and brave!) friends Christine, Jacqueline and Todd who are all running the Baltimore Half Marathon tomorrow!!

Happy Birthday Luke Alexander Beglis!

Laura, Jim and big brother Damien welcomed Luke Alexander Beglis tonight at 8:12 pm. Everyone is doing great and Luke is a cutie pie! He weighed in at 9 lbs, 6 oz. and 21 inches long.

Mom, Dad and Luke!

Proud Aunties!

You'd think it was our kid... :-)

Halfway there...

Just heard from Laura and she's only halfway dilated. Still no sign of baby! S/he doesn't want to come out yet!!

Stay tuned.

Eagerly awaiting Baby Beglis #2...

Laura was induced at 6:30 am this morning and as of about 12 noon, there was still no good update to give on the arrival of Baby Beglis #2. We'll keep you posted!

Happy Birthday Mary Kate--I mean Kristen!

Happy Birthday to our good friend Kristen who rocked out in Vegas over the weekend to ring in the final year of her 20s! Wish we could've been there to celebrate! Here is Kristen, doing her best Mary Kate in my veil!

Future Mislehs Engagement Party!

Sorry I'm a little tardy in posting, I didn't have any pictures and my trusty photographer just sent them to me (thanks Ronya!)! :-)

On Saturday the 13th, we hosted at our house (along with the bridesmaids) an engagement party for Christine and Rommie. I think it was a pretty good success, minus the fact that it decided to be 96 degrees that day and our AC decided it should stop blowing cold air b/c it was too hot and there were too many people in the house. It was a casual barbecue and football watching fest, with lots of yummy food made by the bridesmaids, Miss Peggy and various Mislehs. Special shoutout also goes to my mom who I roped into making us chicken kabobs and to my poor husband who spent hours outside in the heat over the grill firing us up the yummy burgers he made. The BMs and I couldn't have done this without a lot of help, so thanks everyone!

Although we didn't get many pictures from the day, here is a fun shot of the Mabrook (congratulations in Arabic) cake Krissy brought and the couple cutting the cake--we all teased them it was good practice for the wedding!

Can't wait until May when they tie the knot!

Just Call me Mullet Troll

Whatever your politics may be, this is a fun little game to play to see what your name would be if you were Sarah Palin's kid. With names like Trig, Track, Bristol, Willow and Piper (at least the girls got somewhat decent names! The boys were shafted!) there is a new website where you can input your first name, middle name, last name or any combination of all of those to see what your name would be.

I am lucky enough to be Mullet Troll Palin. I really don't think anyone can top that. I do challenge you to leave comments and tell me what yours is and I'll judge if it tops Mullet Troll.

Enjoy!

http://politsk.blogspot.com/2008/09/sarah_13.html

Scarred for Life

Our poor innocent sweet little puppy was scarred for life today, and I think her Dad was too a little. Belinga took the pup out for a little walk while I made dinner tonight (aw what a sweet little suburban couple) and all was going well until they came across a precocious little Indian boy. He was very inquisitive and asked Belinga a lot of questions about little Bella.

Boy: Is your dog friendly?

Boy: Can I pet her?

Boy: How old is she?

Boy: What kind of dog is she?

Boy: Where are her private parts?

ERRRRRRRRR (cue sounds of record needle scratching). WTF did this little kid just say? Oh wait, gets better.

Boy: Is she hot or cold?

Boy: Will you show me where her private parts are?

Belinga didn't really know what else to do, so he pointed in the general direction. Bella felt dirty. She came home and crawled into bed, wondering what had just happened.

Happy Birthday x 3!

Happy Birthday to my good friends Liz (5th), Kera, (7th) and Christie (8th) who all had birthdays in the last 3 days! I miss you all and hope you had/have wonderful birthdays!!

90210 2.0

A bunch of girls and I got together last night to watch the newest version of our beloved Beverly Hills, 90210. They've now shortened it to just 90210 (duh) and it's a jazzier more up-to-date version of our fave that was on the air from 1990-2000.

The Peach Pit looks like Starbucks with Nat as a barista, the kids are way richer and flashier and there were several tie ins to the old 90210 which I loved (Hannah Zuckerman-Vazquez, Erin Silver). Loved that Kelly had a kid, who we all think Brandon is the father of (sadly not Dylan like I was hoping it would be). The new parents are definitely no Jim and Cindy Walsh and the mom is bit too understanding of her hubby having a kid with Naomi's whorebeast mom (I don't care if he didn't know it was alive, he knew he got her pregnant!) It is weird though how similar the new Brenda and Lori Laughlin look, isn't it?!

Anyway, I'm hooked for the time being. I hope it doesn't suck. I know next week won't when we get to see Jackie Taylor-Silver again!!!!

PS: I totally called the jazzier version of the theme song and am glad they kept the original "Duh nuh nuh nuh, Duh nuh nuh, Ch Ch" (my poor attempt at phoneticizing the old theme song)!

PPS: Why did none of my principals look like Rob Estes?

PPPS: I am glad there is an Iranian on the show, supposedly, but #1 I don't think they even mentioned he was Iranian, #2 it's Beverly Hills, there ought to be like 8,000 Iranians on the new cast, lbh, and #3 why do I not see him eating kabobs and rice like I did all my childhood?!?!

Congratulations Caryn and Brett!

Belinga and I attended the lovely nuptials of Caryn and Brett on Sunday in Washington, DC. It was our first Jewish wedding and we loved all the traditions that went into it, like the circling of the groom, the beautiful ketubah, the yichud (bride and groom alone time after the ceremony--we wish we had gotten some alone time on our wedding day!). You could tell how happy they were and of course it was no wedding without Caryn crying! Their rabbi made them write reasons why they loved each other and read them out loud--there wasn't a dry eye in the house!

Then we moved on to cocktail hour which was delicious! Ahi tuna, lamb lollipops (which I'm not ashamed to admit I stalked the poor servers for), mini weiners, gazpacho shooters, corn pancake thingies and an Asian station with shu mai, dumplings and spring rolls. Dinner was fabulous with beef tenderloin, Chilean sea bass, twice baked potatoes and broccoli. Dessert was awesome--we had mini sundaes in shot glasses, key lime pies on a stick dipped in chocolate and a yummy wedding cake.

Their band had everyone dancing and Caryn was a sight to see during the Hora, she was screaming and laughing! We had a wonderful time and wish the happy new couple all the best. They will be honeymooning in Australia for three weeks, yes! three weeks! And though it's hard to realize, Caryn doesn't actually live here anymore, she's moved on up to NYC and she will be missed greatly! Thanks for a wonderful time!

Our furbaby

For all of you knotties out there, you know how cringeworthy that blog post title is. :-)

Many of you have been patiently waiting for pictures of our new pup Bella! We got her over 3 weeks ago and life has certainly been hectic with her! She's a handful, but a cutie!! She's about 5 months old and a beagle/Shepherd mix.

I guess this is what having a kid will be like--taking numerous stupid pictures of her from various angles because she's just too cute to sort through them!

Enjoy!

The Tooles!

As per usual lately, I am way late in uploading these pictures to the blog, but I wanted to give a long overdue congratulations to our friends Michael and Jenni who got married on a beautiful, mild August day about 2 weeks ago on August 9th. The weather was ridiculously gorgeous for the middle of August and everything was great! I was honored to be a reader at their wedding and surprisingly made it through my reading with barely choking up.

Jenni was gorgeous and Michael wasn't too shabby looking either! :-) They enjoyed an awesome honeymoon in Hawaii and Michael swears it wasn't only because of the Lost tour that he just so happened to be able to go on while there.

Sara and the beautiful bride

Michael and his mom

Jenni and her dad

The happy couple! I am really good at reading

The New Tooles and their Wedding Party

To see all 180 pictures I took of the wedding, check out my album: http://picasaweb.google.com/sarajavad/MichaelAndJenniSWedding?authkey=0VCf8uNfpZE

Congrats Michael and Jenni, we're so happy for you!!

Happy Belated Birthday Rachel!

On Saturday a few of us girls helped Rachel celebrate her 29th birthday. We got to see her new place, which is very nice and homey and above all, got some nice quality girl bonding time in! We ate delicious cheese from Cheesetique in Del Ray, thanks to Lauren, had some great organic Chinese food, followed up by my masterpiece of peanut butter chocolate chip cake! Oh and there was definitely wine involved, duh. And a mean game of Taboo.

Happy Birthday Rachel!!!

Happy Birthday Kissy Bell!

Happy Birthday to my bestie Christine!

Happy 4 Month Anniversary to Us!

4 months already! Wowsers!

Happy Birthday Monika!

Happy Birthday to one of our good friends, Monika! We hope you have a wonderful birthday and a wonderful year to come!

It's a Girl!

The Essamas would like to welcome the newest addition to their family--Bella Essama! Bella was rescued from the Humane Society of Fairfax County on Sunday, July 27th. Bella is a 5 month old beagle/German Shepherd mix and she is the cutest thing ever! Her first few days she was very quiet and cowered to Hokie, the cat, but she's coming out of her shell now and enjoys howling and chasing the cat, much to Hokie's chagrin.

Bella enjoys long walks with her Mom and Dad (but not peeing during those long walks, she saves that for inside the house), having delicious treats and hates her crate.

Stay tuned for a little slideshow of Bella sleeping and being cute. For now, here is her mugshot from the Humane Society.

Caryn's Shower and Bachelorette Party

Longtime blog reader and good friend Caryn had her shower and bachelorette party this past weekend! Many of her friends came in from out of town to help her celebrate a weekend full of fun!

Saturday night was the bachelorette party which started off with a dinner at Marrakesh Palace in Dupont. Caryn did a little routine with the belly dancer, which provided us with much laughter. Then her BMs created this great game named Monogamy (based on Monopoly) which made Caryn answer questions about her life and shenanigans--it was hilarious!!! We had fun bar hopping around Midtown and Adams Morgan (see picture below).

Sunday afternoon was Caryn's shower, which I must say was so thoughtfully organized and fun! It was a traveling theme, as Caryn and Brett do a lot of together, there were different stations related to places they have been or are going, with related food. For example, there was shrimp on the barbie at the Australia station and little pigs in a blanket for NY. They even made the chair she sat in look like an airplane chair, complete with neck rest, headphones, barf bag, seatbelt and airline magazine.

She got a lot of great presents from her friends and some very meaningful ones from her family--of course she cried a lot!! A great time was had by all!

Can't wait for their big day at the end of August! They will wrap up the Essama Wedding Tour of 2008!

Jenni's Shower and Bachelorette

I'm almost caught up on everything I have been remiss in blogging about over the last month or so!

Last month, The Essamas good friend Jenni celebrated her bridal shower and bachelorette party. The shower was really nice, with a Hawaiian theme. Yummy food and a great sherbet punch was enjoyed by all.

We then headed into the city, where Jenni's good friend and BM, Christine, was able to hook us up with a nice table at the Park on 14th. We had our own table with our own security guard and waitress who served us all night long. They played great music and a great time was had by all!

Looking forward to Jenni and Michael's wedding in a couple weeks!

Fun fact: Sara and Christine set Jenni and Michael up at a happy hour at Whitlow's almost 2 years ago on Halloween b/c we thought they'd be perfect for each other! Little did we know just how right we were!!!

Happy Birthday Megs!

Happy Birthday to my only female cousin Megan (or Meggie, Megs, Meg-goozle as one of the assorted names I like to call her)! She turns 17 today and is now a senior in high school--good grief, where does the time fly? I seriously remember when she was born!!

Happy Graduation Alex!

My little brother Alex graduated from high school on June 17th in Irvine, CA. We are so proud of him and all of his achievements (all 5's on his 9 AP exams, a ridiculously high GPA, won the Science Medal given to only one senior every year). I can remember when my munchkin was a little baby and now he's all grown up.

My dad and Karen threw him a dinner celebration attended by his family and a few close friends and we surprised him with his graduation present--a 2 week trip to the Western US and all the national parks.

Alex is off to Berkeley next year! Congrats Zander!

Striking a pose

Alex, Karen, Dad and Miriam, his girlfriend

The whole gang--minus a fewAlex in front of the great memory board Karen and Dad did for Alex. On the back of it was a map and itinerary for his surprise trip!
Gratuitous shot of us at the beach

Congratulations Jacqueline and Todd!

As I try to catch up on everything that fell by the wayside in the last month or so of chaos, I would be remiss if I didn't congratulate our good friends Jacqueline and Todd on their marriage on June 14th! As she likes to say Hurricane Jacqueline came into town that day and forced the outdoor ceremony inside, but a great time was still had by all!

Fun fact: Belinga and I originally wanted to get married on this date since our anniversary is June 15 and we could continue to celebrate it that day. This was really a shameless attempt to not have to remember another anniversary date. :-)