Happy Birthday, husband!

Richard has been on call today, so tonight I took the birthday celebration to him. 31 was marked with a meatloaf sandwich and Reese's cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory. We're having a few friends over tomorrow for his birthday and Memorial Day. This is not his first, nor will it be his last, birthday spent in a hospital call room. Certainly not ideal, but getting to watch the Memorial Day concert from the Capitol together while enjoying our dinner is not half bad!

springtime in new york

Since Richard has to work on his birthday Sunday, we decided to celebrate early with a little trip to New York/Hoboken. My brother Will lives in Hoboken, so instead of staying downtown, we stayed at the W in Hoboken. It was a super nice hotel and was much more reasonable than the hotels in the City. We were just a few blocks from Carlo's Bakery, featured on TLC's Cake Boss, and Richard wanted nothing more to try out some of Buddy's offerings for Saturday morning breakfast. 

Hoboken residents get to cut the LONG line to get into the bakery, so Will flashed his ID and we were assigned our own personal bakery attendant. We ordered cannoli, cupcakes, crumb cake and brownies. So indulgent, so delicious.

Richard listing out all of his selections

Caitlin, me and Richard at Carlo's 

outside Carlo's Bake Shop with Will and Caitlin

box of goodness

best crumb cake I have ever tasted

Will works for L'Oreal in Clark, NJ, and we went over to his office to see where he goes every day. He does packaging for their luxury hair care lines, and he posed with all of the products he has worked on. I'm so proud of him!

After coming back from Clark, we enjoyed the Hoboken waterfront and the view of New York City. 

We had dinner at Nougatine at Jean Georges, then walked down Broadway to see Evita with Ricky Martin. I loved the movie Evita with Madonna and Antonio Banderas, so I was excited to see the stage production. Ricky Martin was incredible, and the latin choreography was amazing. I left wanting to learn how to tango!

Richard and the most delicious butterscotch pudding I have ever tasted

Happy Birthday, husband!

Columbus Circle- I loved getting to wear this orange Elizabeth McKay dress I found on Rue La La a few weeks ago!

in the middle of busy Times Square

posing with the colorful posters after the show

We had gorgeous weather on both Saturday and Sunday, so we decided to go to Central Park Zoo on Sunday afternoon after brunch at Bobby Flay's Mesa Grill. The Central Park Zoo is not the most impressive zoo in the world in terms of the types of animals there, but it's pretty neat to have this green space with polar bears and snow leopards in the middle of the city. 

zoo clock with dancing animals

penguins!

beautiful day

sleeping polar bear

We also went to the Children's Zoo, and I got to feed an alpaca. The alpaca sure was sweet and thankful for a little bit of food.

the cute little hands and head peaking out at the bottom of the picture belonged to an adorable little guy who turned to me with both of his hands out after I finished with the alpaca- he was so disappointed I didn't have any feed to share!

Richard liked this bear fountain

We eventually left the zoo and got on the road back to Maryland, with plans to stop at the Cracker Barrel on the way home. We don't have any Cracker Barrels close to us, so it is honestly a treat to get to go! There is just something about their "home-cooking" that is extremely comforting. And I accomplished what is perhaps one of my greatest feats to date....

Only one tee left! With no cheating! I was so proud, I had to take a picture. It may never happen again. A triumphant end to a happy weekend.

taste of the south

This past weekend, we were able to attend an event we had heard about it since Richard moved to DC. Taste of the South is an annual black-tie gala held downtown, and we were thrilled to finally be able to go! I love the history of the event...here's the description from the TOTS website:

Taste of the South was founded in October 1982 by a group of transplanted southerners living in Washington, DC. Longing for home and wanting to share the rich traditions they had come to love, the group decided to host a party where they could share with fellow DC residents their love for all things southern. The following April the first Taste of the South gala featuring twelve states- Arkansas, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia- was held at the Pension Building under the direction of Chairman Charlie Grizzle. Tickets sold for $15, and when it came time to open the doors, guests were lined up around the block. When it was over, they donated the proceeds raised by the event to a southern based charity.

Now the event is held at DAR Constitution Hall and tickets are a little more expensive, but a huge amount of money is raised for both the TOTS-selected charity and now also state-selected charities. And the food...the food! We tried gator bites and jambalaya from Louisiana, a sweet potato cupcake from Mississippi, a jalapeno and cheddar grit cake from Arkansas and plenty of BBQ from all over. There was a great band that played, but poor Richard was so tired that we didn't stay too late to hear them.

The crowd was honestly a little younger (and probably rowdier) that me and Richard, but we had a great time and would love to go again. Such a fun night!

one of the best parts of the night was seeing all my friends on the Hill looking fancy- with Lauren from Congressman Duncan's office

Richard in his Jolly Roger bowtie and cummerbund, trying the sweet potato cupcake, his favorite treat of the night

the scene at the Georgia booth- all about the Masters

Richard and I posing in front of the Texas booth

a shot of the crowd and the South Carolina, Missouri and Florida booths 

a closer-up shot of Florida, definitely the most colorful

in front of the South Carolina porch

with fellow South Carolinian, Marian, who had on a gorgeous long gown

miss seeing pretty Anna on a daily basis

Anna making fun of Richard's pirates

thanks, Mom

There is nothing like living 500 miles away from your mom to make you realize how much you value her role in your life. As much as I love my husband, there are days when you just need your mama. Especially when Richard is on call, and I am spending a Friday night watching Say Yes to the Dress by myself! Discussing the dresses via text is just not quite the same as reacting to them together in person, with my dad contributing the occasional, often snarky, comment. 

I honestly am not sure if I would have made it through the stress of planning a wedding and preparing for a big move without my mother. She certainly let me take the lead in coordinating the big and small details (and I wouldn't have had it any other way!), but she provided all kinds of emotional support and constantly lifted me and Richard up in prayer.

one of my favorite shots from our wedding day

Mom has been through a particularly tough year with having to retire from her nursing job before she wasn't quite ready to. It was an unexpected turn of events, but she has maintained a tremendous positive attitude and become incredibly involved in Mobile Meals. Not only does she deliver meals, but she takes recipients back and forth to their doctor visits and chemo treatments. They are lucky to have her.

Richard and I were able to get back to South Carolina last year for Mother's Day, and I hate we won't be able to celebrate in person with our moms this year. We were both blessed with moms who would literally do anything for us, and we are so thankful for them! 

Mom, me and Jeff at Cribb's Kitchen, Mother's Day 2011

Webb children and Davis children (minus Will) with our moms

Mom, I hope that one day I can be the kind of mother to my children that you have been to me, Will and Jeff. I try daily to model my interactions with others on the way I watched you treat friends and strangers alike with love growing up, and I frequently hear your voice in my head ("did you make sure to say hello to so-and-so?"..."why don't you put on some lipstick?"..."is it good, is it kind, is it true?"). You are truly a Proverbs 31 woman, and we love you more than you'll ever know. Happy Mother's Day.

Christmas 2011

"She speaks with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue."

Proverbs 31:26 

old friends reunited

As I have written before, we love the fact that DC is a popular destination for both work and play. Our good friends Nic and Kayce were in town this week for a conference Nic was attending at the National Harbor, and we had a great time visiting with them!

I met Nic the summer after my senior year of high school through a friend in Spartanburg, and we both attended Clemson together, with our freshman year dorms right across the street from one another. We became good friends, and I still vividly remember the night he told me about his budding relationship with Kayce. Nic was one of my campaign managers when I ran for student body VP at Clemson (with Hannah!), and when I lived in South Carolina, we tailgated with Nic and Kayce for most Clemson football games. Sadly, we haven't seen them in quite some time, so I was super excited when Nic let me know they were coming to visit. 

We had a wonderful dinner at Evening Star Cafe in Alexandria on Monday night, complete with one of the best desserts I've ever had. It was a deep fried fluffernutter, filled with honey, peanut butter and marshmallows and served with banana ice cream. I would have eaten the whole thing had I not gotten full on some of the best shrimp and grits I've had outside of Charleston. 

outside the Evening Star Cafe

deep fried fluffernutter

Last night, I met Nic and Kayce and another friend at Nationals Park for the Nats game against the Diamondbacks. The city was super excited about Bryce Harper's debut at Nats stadium, the Nats' first pick and the first overall pick in the MLB draft in 2010. He didn't have any huge hits last night but had some solid defensive play in the outfield.

We bought cheap tickets and stayed in the Red Porch bar/restaurant area, which offered a fine view and lively atmosphere. After a few innings standing up in the bar viewing are, we ate dinner at a table that was pretty close to the field. I would highly recommend doing that to anyone going to a Nats game. It was fun to be so close while enjoying surprisingly decent food.

Bryce Harper's debut at the plate- and his first strike out at Nats Park

With Kayce, who bakes a mean cake! She owns Cakeology, and I would highly recommend her for any of your baking needs in Upstate, SC.

Nic and Kayce

our view from the dinner table

I'm so thankful for our old friends and am hoping our next reunion comes before Clemson football season!