Happy 90th Birthday Grandma!

Rob and I were in Cleveland on Friday and Saturday to celebrate my grandmother's 90th(!) birthday on Friday and our annual family reunion. We had a great time with almost my entire extended family in attendance.



I love this picture of my grandma because on the left side of the table you have two of her grandchildren and three of her great-grandchildren (the older girl standing is a great-grandchild!). On my grandma's lap is one grandchild on the left and one great-grandchild on the right. Circling the table to the right are another grandchild and two great-grandchildren. Celebrating this weekend with Grandma were her six living children with their spouses and partners, about 25 grandchildren plus a few spouses, and about a dozen great-grandchildren. The oldest great-grandchild is nearing the end of high school, while the youngest was just born a couple weeks ago (and didn't make the trip to Cleveland)!

Here's my birthday picture with Grandma.

Here are some grandchildren putting together flower arrangements for our dinner on Saturday, which hosted about 75 people. Me, my cousin-in-law Jen (married to my cousin Alan), my cousin Anne (who is exactly one month younger than me), and my cousin Carol (the pioneer of our generation).

Rob got put to work on the grill for dinner, so he decided to teach my cousin Andrew some skills. Andrew preferred posing with the meat.

Now this is a family cooler -- mostly beer with a few juice boxes thrown in for show.

A couple days overdue

Cheers to us -- six years and counting!

Last week I made a mental note to blog on Tuesday of this week after Rob reminded me that it would be the six year anniversary of our first date. And then we both promptly forgot... until about 1am on Wednesday morning. Rob was asleep and I was up late working when I realized I'd missed the end of Tuesday. Damn! Needless to say, there were no grand plans for the evening.

So this is my belated happy anniversary post to my rockin' husband. Perhaps now that we're married we're only really supposed to celebrate our wedding anniversary. (Although apparently I can't get that right either because someone recently asked me how long I'd been married and I said "one and half years" when it's actually been two and a half years. Nice one. I can't remember who I said it to, so if you're out there, now you know the truth. :)

Anyway, August 5, 2002 will always hold a very special place in my heart. I've already told the story here. But there's always more to say.

In the wee hours of Wednesday morning, after I closed down my computer for the night, I went to store some stuff in our office (aka junk room) when I noticed a stack of pictures on the desk. I've been through this stack a million times. Pictures from our wedding and all sorts of random events from both our pasts. Pictures that are longing to be put in albums or frames But this time I grabbed at the stack and noticed a letter from me to Rob in the middle of it. Weird that I hadn't noticed it before.

The letter was from the early months of our relationship. It was written the day after some work conference call kept me occupied through an evening I was supposed to be spending with Rob. I sat on the call from home while Rob cooked dinner and cleaned my room, which I didn't even know he'd done until I got off the call hours later. So in the letter I was thanking him for that and thanking him generally for being such a wonderful boyfriend.

I love that Rob cleaned my room. I had totally forgotten that. Rob, do you even remember that? If you'd asked me three days ago if Rob had ever cleaned my room when we were dating, I would have laughed at the thought! But now I remember. No one had ever cleaned my room for me before. :)

And I love that Rob cooked me dinner. One of many, many, many dinners to follow. God I hate cooking. My poor husband suffers the burden of making dinner without any help from me. I did order the pizza *and* go downstairs to collect it from the delivery guy the other day though. And that's a big flight of stairs.

Seriously though, the best thing about the letter though is that every gushy sentence of it (and there were many) is still true today. Rob has been my best friend since the early weeks of our relationship. We are as inseparable now as we were then. Of course today I know I feel infinitely luckier to have him than I did then, or even than I did last year. But wow it's cool to read those words from over five years ago and know that this awesome thing I have, we have, was so awesome from the beginning. It still feels like a miracle somehow.


Life's not perfect. People aren't perfect. So there's no way a relationship could be perfect. But I wouldn't change a single thing about mine.


Happy anniversary (plus two days) Rob!

Say whaaaat? A whole weekend in Chi-town??

We actually stayed in Chicago this past weekend. CRAZY! What a welcome change of pace though.

On Friday night, my buddy Kate from my clerking days was in town with her husband Chris. So we met them out at a bar with a few other folks. Our friend Susie also came along, which was great because even though Susie lives in Chicago, I haven't seen her in ages. My friend Brian was also in town and hanging out. A very nice surprise. A very nice, chill time was had by all.

Saturday morning Rob and I slept in. But once we got up we took advantage of the nice weather and took a very long, winding walk to the lake. The walk was even better because we had our new sneakers on. (Last Thursday we made it to Fleet Feet just in time to buy sneakers before they closed.) If I haven't mentioned it lately, living in such close proximity to a massive body of water is just awesome for the soul. As we wandered north along the lakeshore, we found some less crowded park areas we hadn't visited before. So we're looking forward to returning soon. If we're ever in town again.

On Saturday night Rob covered the Chicago Fire game while I got in some work. Fun. Well, fun for Rob. Especially since the Fire finally won a game!

Sunday morning I woke up and Rob was MIA... only to return a few minutes later with lattes and donuts. Well played!!! That evening we headed over to Jeff and Sara's for a round of the greatest turkey burgers ever and a showing of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (1). I'd never seen it but was convinced by Sara that I must. It was actually pretty darn good. So I'm looking forward to seeing the sequel with Sara some time soon.

We hit the hay early because Rob has his first day of his new job today. Very exciting!

But for the rest of this week we're in a countdown. Rob does one week at work and then we're off on our long-scheduled week in Cape Cod with Bill and Claire. I can't wait for a week of chill out time. Although first we head to Cleveland for my grandma's 90th(!) birthday this Friday and a massive family reunion, which will be a ton of chaotic fun.

LA Pics 2 (Details Below)

Rob takes a creative pic from the dance floor. Ooooh, angles.

Rob does a beer ad.

Libby plays catcher.

Libby hits.

Colin hits.

LA Pics 1 (Details Below)

Rob and me before the wedding. Note the blown out hair. Probably my unconscious way of trying to look more like my other twin Nadine. :)

The happy couple -- Susan and Jeff.*

Me rockin' out on the dance floor.

Me and Rob's friend Beth's fiance Matt trying to beckon the rest of our table onto the dance floor. (Not pictured, Rob pointing and laughing at me.)

Rob and his friend Peter rockin' out.

*Note the candles next to the rows of seats. These freaked me out. I made Rob sit on the aisle. I didn't want my dress to catch on fire. I even warned the woman in front of me when I saw her scarf dangling perilously close to the candles. And then I noticed the candles were fake. As in not flames. Yeah, I'm a smart one. Observant too.

A Haircut, a Wedding, a (Few) Softball Games

This past weekend we went to LA for the wedding of one of Rob's good friends from law school, Susan. We were extra motivated to trek out to LA for the weekend so that we could see my twin sister Libby and her husband Colin. This means we'll have gotten to see all of our siblings already this summer. Sweet. (Although we're going to see Lib and Colin at our family reunion in a few weeks anyway.)

Getting out of Chicago was a standard O'Hare adventure. We had six gate changes... with the last two literally being the gates furthest apart in two different terminals. Of course the gate we departed from was much closer to security than the other gates we'd bounced between. But we used the last of my upgrades, so we had a comfy trip and happily slept in our first class seats (and through the seemingly dreadful movie Nim's Island... although maybe it got better after I fell asleep). We got to LA super late Friday night/early Saturday morning. Colin kindly picked us up.

We slept in a bit on Saturday. But not too late. Having the blessing/curse of curly hair means I am constantly searching for a good hair stylist. I had one in DC. Haven't found one in Chicago (although I do love my colorist Jim). So I decided to go to Libby's salon in LA on Saturday since her haircuts have looked very good lately. Good decision. I got a great haircut and a super fun blow out before the wedding.

After my Saturday morning haircut, Rob's law school friend Peter joined me, Lib and Rob for lunch. Then Libby and I got pedicures. (I still owe you money for that, Libby!) And then it was off to the wedding.

The wedding was at the Roosevelt Hotel in Hollywood. Apparently the first Oscars were held in the room where the reception was. Way cool. It was definitely one of the most gorgeous weddings I've seen. Everything was elegant and romantic. The centerpieces were amazing but not gaudy. They had creme brulee AND peach cobbler AND wedding cake for dessert. My kind of wedding.

It was also a blast. I loooove going to weddings with Rob because we both take seriously our wedding guest duty to keep the dance floor occupied and energetic. Peter joined out shenanigans on the dance floor, as did another couple at our table (Rob's law school classmate Beth and her fiance Matt). It's always fantastic to have dancing buddies at a wedding. (Nothing can top the dancing bond of Table Number 4 at Bill & Claire's wedding though!) But we had an awesome, awesome time. The DJ was fantastic. The only thing missing was a Kelly Clarkson song. ;)

On Sunday, we slept in while Libby and Colin headed off to a softball tournament. (Colin had played in a tournament on Saturday too!) Then we rolled out of bed late morning to go watch Libby and Colin play. We got there just as they hit their break after their second game. So we all hung out a bit in the crazy hot weather.

Then it was time for game number 3. Libby played catcher, Colin played outfield. We stayed through most of the game and left while they were still ahead. It was very fun. One of their teammates hit an in-the-park home run. Very nice.

We raced back to Libby and Colin's place to grab our bags and then headed to the airport. Of course our plane was delayed. But eventually it arrived. We saw the movie Flawless on the plane, which I found annoyingly predictable but fairly well executed. We landed at O'Hare to find that the gate agent (who moves the gate out to the plane) was MIA. Seriously. So we sat for a fun half hour at the gate before being able to deplane.

Still, we can't complain. We may have been exhausted on Monday, but we had a blast in our (all too brief) trip out west. Next time hopefully we'll get to visit with friends out there.

Pics to follow.

OMG, OMG You Guys*

Tonight was our Top Chef dinner -- a private dinner for four cooked by Top Chef 4's Valerie. We can now say with full confidence that Valerie was kicked off waaaaay too early on her season!

Back in May, Rob and I were at a charity silent auction and successfully bid on a dinner for four from Valerie. We invited our friends Jeff and Sara to join us because the four of us watched nearly every episode of Top Chef 4 together. We ended up picking July 21 as the date for the dinner to suit all of our schedules. The fact that it was also my birthday was an awesome bonus.

Valerie arrived at Jeff and Sara's (we picked their place instead of ours because they have an amazing kitchen) around 6pm. Rob and I showed up shortly after. As Valerie cooked, she shared with us lots of thoughts about Top Chef. We asked her lots of questions about the show and her fellow contestants. She was very open about her unique experience. Although what's talked about at Top Chef dinners, stays at Top Chef dinners!!

Our first course was a fish course -- halibut with sweet potato puree, sweet peas, bok choy, and a miso glaze. I'm not sure you could have designed a better dish for me. It was delicious.

Course 1 -- Halibut.

Then we moved on to the main course -- pork loin over Asian noodles with asparagus and plums in a light, spicy plum glaze. Again, it was a total wow. Perfectly cooked pork. Perfect sweet-spiciness. The plums were phenomenal. Easily the best pork dish I've ever had.

Course 2 -- Pork.

Then came dessert. I'd told Valerie in advance she could go with a creamy dessert, despite Rob's preferences to the contrary, because creamy desserts are my absolute favorite and Valerie was dutifully avoiding creamy foods for the rest of the meal. I'm so glad I did because I have never had better cheesecake in my life. The dessert was topped with fresh whipped cream and fresh cherries in a cherry sauce.

Valerie tops the cheesecake with cherry sauce.

All in all, it was an amazing meal. It was very fun getting to know Valerie in person. She has a lot more personality than we'd seen on the show. It was truly the audience's (and Bravo's!) loss that she didn't stick around longer on Top Chef 4. And we got a second starstruck moment when Top Chef 4 winner Stephanie called Valerie as Valerie was getting ready to leave. Too crazy.

If any of you are looking for a fantastic privately cooked meal, let me know. I will happily pass along Valerie's contact info with our highest recommendations!!!

Rob, Valerie and me post-dinner. (Yup, I am actually taller than her!)

The whole dinner party -- Sara, Jeff, Valerie, me and Rob.

* If you catch the title reference, then hopefully you agree that Autumn totally should have won!

Pics from the weekend

I didn't take enough pictures this weekend.

Post-birthday party.

Rob poses at home post-5K. Imagine the lake behind him instead of our tv and fireplace.

And I'm just exhausted post-5K. No posing for me.

Happy Weekending

It's been a while since I've blogged about the basic happenings in our lives -- in part because we've been traveling like crazy people. Last weekend we went to NY to visit my friends Erica and Feroz at their lake house for a weekend. They are expecting their first in the early fall, so we wanted to get some pre-kid chill time with them. We had a blast, and Rob kicked all of our butts at Scrabble.

This weekend was even more jam packed, especially since it's the only weekend in July we're in Chicago. We spent the day yesterday prepping for my birthday party last night, a casual affair with friends at our place. Rob pulled out all the stops to put the fun in casual though. Rob themed the party "Iberian Nights," inspired by last year's trip to Portugal. He bought Spanish and Portuguese meats and cheeses, made some amazing gazpacho, and got paella catered from Cafe Ba Ba Reeba. We served Spanish red wine and Portuguese vinho verde with dinner. Then after dinner we had a port tasting. Rob gave everyone a little port tutorial and then we all tried a white port we'd brought back from Portugal and a ruby, a tawny, and a late bottled vintage ("LBV") we bought this week. We finished the evening off with oreo custard pie from Scooter's, naturally. It was a really wonderful evening. I was so happy to share it with an awesome group of friends.

(We were also glad for the opportunity to show off our new bamboo floors in our bedroom and one of our spare bedrooms. Yea for green remodelling. I'll blog more about that later.)

A Saturday night party did not, however, slow us down in our most important event of the weekend. Sunday morning was the second annual Teb's Troops March on Melanoma. We were so happy to have my friend Nadine, her sister Sally, and her friend Kelly stay with us for the weekend (and join in my birthday festivities) because they were in town for the event. We are also thrilled to report that through the support of our incredibly generous friends and family, we surpassed our fundraising goal by a wide margin and raised over $1200 for Teb's Troops! We were the second highest fundraisers for the event!!!

It was a humid morning, but fortunately the sun was hidden behind clouds, so the 5K run itself wasn't too bad. Rob and I were about 30 seconds off last year's pace, finishing in about 37 minutes. Rob once again played supportive spouse and ran with me at my slow pace instead of trying to clock a speedy time for himself. Most importantly, Teb's Troops raised $50,000 at the event -- part of which is funding a melanoma research grant at my alma mater, the University of Pennsylvania. Nice choice!

We were able to squeeze a few errands this afternoon too. A Pier One gift card from my cousin and cousin-in-law for my birthday got us a gorgeous new rug for our living room! And we crossed lots of little other things off our to do list as well. We're resting up tonight though because tomorrow is our Top Chef dinner -- Top Chef 4 contestant Valerie is cooking us dinner tomorrow night. We can't wait!!

Quick graphic of the day

I am a terrible blogger lately. But to keep you entertained, here's a mind-boggling chart I came across today. Red means Republican appointee, blue means Democrat appointee. As the blog post where I saw this said, "Yes, it's all the fault of those liberal judges!"

Wow.

5K for Cancer Research

I'm quite sure that most everyone reading this already got my fundraising email about the Teb's Troops 5K we are running in a week. But just in case you missed it... every cent raised by this amazing volunteer-run organization goes towards late stage melanoma research and patient care.

If you'd like to donate to support our run, we'd be so grateful. You can donate and read more about why we're running here. We are nearly halfway to our $1000 goal! So for those of you who have already given, thank you so much. You are awesome and amazing. Not that we didn't already know that.

July 4th Weekend

We had a very fun weekend in NJ with Rob's family. Rob's sister Kyle, her husband Taber, and their daughter Lauren picked us up from the airport Friday morning and we all headed out to catch a peak of Kyle and Taber's son Daniel on his last day of Phillies baseball camp. It was great to see him play. All the kids were decked out in full Phillies gear, which was a lot of fun.

While Daniel finished up camp, the rest of us grabbed lunch and then found an ice cream shop with an unlimited toppings bar (which is where we took the ice cream picture below). Needless to say, Lauren loved piling on the different varieties of sugar on her chocolate ice cream.

After the awards ceremony at Daniel's camp, we all headed over to Rob's sister Gena's place for a bbq. We got to meet Gena's fiance Jay for the first time. They're getting married in September. He's a great guy, easy to talk to, kind to the nieces and nephews, and clearly smitten with Gena. Awesome.

We caught glimpses of fireworks going on through the night. We also enjoyed a Guitar Hero showcase from Daniel and Rob. Daniel can play with the guitar behind his back. :)

On Saturday, we hit the mall where Daniel got a crazy cool robot for his birthday from Grandma. Rob and I bought Daniel a USC hat. We also bought a more belated birthday present for Lauren -- a book about sharks and another activity book about ocean creatures. The day before in the car, Lauren had quizzed me for about a half hour on what I'd do if I found myself swimming with sharks.

Then we hit the batting cages and a local arcade where everyone except Lauren took turns hitting. We need to do that more often! Rob's sister Tori and her whole family arrived (by van from Texas!!) later on Saturday. Tori's daughter Lillian is *so* attached to her great-grandma, it's adorable.

On Sunday we all went to Rob's aunt and uncle's Italian restaurant for lunch. Always delicious. Then it was back to the grandma's for some more hang out time before we headed to the airport.

Every time we see Rob's family, I wish we all lived closer. We loved living in Philly and being just a short drive to Kyle or to Grandma and Gena. And back when we were in DC, Tori's family was nearby in Virginia, although now they're in Texas. It's just so much fun to hang out with our nieces and nephews.

NJ pics... details to follow

We're happy to be home, but we had a very nice time with Rob's family this past weekend. We got to meet Rob's sister Gena's fiance Jay for the first time. We also got to see all five of our nieces and nephews at once, which is pure joy.

On Friday, Rob asked our niece Lauren (age 7) to describe him in three words. She picked "silly, cool, and handsome." Awww. So then for me she picked "smart, cuddly, and fun." (Announced while she snuggled up next to me in a restaurant booth. ;) On Sunday, Lauren's brother Daniel (age 9) picked three words for Rob: "crazy, funny, and good." For me, Daniel chose "smart, cool, and awesome." I think my favorite choice was Daniel calling Rob "good." I think it's how a kid would describe Santa Claus. Not sure you can get higher praise than that. :)

Anyway, here are some pics. A full post to follow.


Rob and our niece Lauren show off ice cream smiles.

Me and our nephew Daniel at Rob's aunt and uncle's restaurant.

Me and Rob with our five AWESOME nephews and nieces -- Daniel (who is almost as tall as me at age 9), Aidan, Lauren, Bryson, and Lillian.

Rob and his twin sister Kyle (mom to Daniel and Lauren).

Rob's Grandma with her two great-granddaughters Lillian and Lauren.

:(

Sorry I'm not blogging. I've been busy and sick. Seems like it's just some random virus trying to annoy me. Nothing significant enough to worry about, but just significant enough to make me grumpy, tired, and self-pitying.

Eventually I'll blog about last weekend. My shoutouts to Jess and Tim and Charlie are overdue.

For now, I'm just going to keep feeling sorry for myself.

FISA and Telecom Immunity

Last night Rob and I spent about an hour watching the video of Sen. Dodd's speech on the Senate floor yesterday in opposition of telecom immunity as part of the new FISA bill.

Most of you probably don't have an hour, but it would be a well-spent hour if you did. Sen. Dodd gives a lot of details about FISA, about the scope of spying that our government did on its citizens (think hundreds and hundreds of millions of emails -- I'd thought it was just phone calls -- regularly collecting over the course of five years), and about the current Administration's view on the rule of law. You can read the text of the speech at the same link.

Or here's a particularly good excerpt:

Indeed, Mr. President – as long as this case seems isolated and technical, they win. As long as it’s about another lawsuit buried in our legal system and nothing more, they win. The Administration is counting on the American people to see nothing bigger than that – “Nothing to see here.”

But there is plenty to see here, Mr. President – and it is so much more than a few phonecalls, a few companies, a few lawsuits.

What is at stake is nothing less than equal justice—justice that makes no exceptions. What is at stake is an open debate on security and liberty, and an end to warrantless, groundless spying.

This bill does not say, “Trust the American people; Trust the courts and judges and juries to come to just decisions.” Retroactive immunity sends a message that is crystal clear:

“Trust me.”

And that message comes straight from the mouth of this President. “Trust me.”

What is the basis for that trust? Classified documents, we are told, that prove the case for retroactive immunity beyond a shadow of a doubt.

But we’re not allowed to see them! I’ve served in this body for 27 years, and I’m not allowed to see them! Neither are a majority of my colleagues. We are all left in the dark.

I cannot speak for my colleagues—but I would never take “trust me” for an answer, not even in the best of times. Not even from a President on Mount Rushmore.

I can’t put it better than this:

“Trust me” government is government that asks that we concentrate our hopes and dreams on one man; that we trust him to do what’s best for us. My view of government places trust not in one person or one party, but in those values that transcend persons and parties.

Those words were not spoken by someone who took our nation’s security lightly, Mr. President. They were spoken by Ronald Reagan -- in 1980. They are every bit as true today, even if times of threat and fear blur our concept of transcendent values. Even if those who would exploit those times urge us to save our skins at any cost.

But again, Mr. President:

“Why should I care?”

The rule of law has rarely been in such a fragile state. Rarely has it seemed less compelling. What, after all, does the law give us anyway? It has no parades, no slogans. It lives in books and precedents. And, we are never failed to be reminded, the world is a very dangerous place.

Indeed, that is precisely the advantage seized upon, not just by this Administration but in all times, by those looking to disregard the rule of law. As James Madison, the father of our Constitution, said more than two centuries ago, “It is a universal truth that the loss of liberty at home is to be charged to the provisions against danger…from abroad.”

With the passage of this bill, his words would be one step closer to coming true. So it has never been more essential that we lend our voices to the law, and speak on its behalf.

What is this about, Mr. President?

It’s about answering the fundamental question: do we support the rule of law…or the rule of men? To me, this is our defining question—indeed it may be the defining question that confronts every generation.

This is about far more than a few telecoms – it is about contempt for the law, large and small.

Mr. President, I’ve said that warrantless wiretapping is but the latest link in a long chain of abuses when it comes to the rule of law.

This is about the Justice Department turning our nation’s highest law enforcement offices into patronage plums, and turning the impartial work of indictments and trials into the pernicious machinations of politics.

Contempt for the rule of law.

This is about Alberto Gonzales, the nation’s now-departed Attorney General, coming before Congress to give us testimony that was at best, wrong—and at worst, outright perjury.

Contempt for the rule of law – by the nation’s foremost enforcer of the law.

This is about Congress handing the president the power to designate any individual he wants as an “unlawful enemy combatant,” hold him indefinitely, and take away his right to habeas corpus—the 700-year-old right to challenge your detention.

If you think that the Military Commissions Act struck at the heart of the Constitution, you’d be understating things—it did a pretty good job on the Magna Carta while it was at it.

And if you think that this only threatens a few of us, you should understand that the writ of habeas corpus belongs to all of us—it allows anyone to challenge their detention.

Rolling back habeas rights endangers us all: Without a day in court, how can you prove that you’re entitled to a trial? How can you prove that you are innocent? In fact, without a day in court, how can you let anyone know that you have been detained at all?

Thankfully, the Supreme Court recently rebuked the President’s lawlessness and ruled that detainees do indeed have the right to challenge their detention.

Mr. President, the Military Commissions Act also gave President Bush the power some say he wanted most of all: the power to get information out of suspected terrorists—by virtually any means.

The power to use evidence gained from torture.

I don’t think you can hold the rule of law in any greater contempt than sanctioning torture, Mr. President.

Greatest... Show... Ever

Right here. 

LeeAnn Rimes and other weekend adventures

Friday I was exhausted. I flew to NYC on Thursday for a Thursday night event and then jetted right back on a 6:55am flight on Friday. No time to see anyone at all in NYC. No time even to sleep. Friday was a long work day once I got back, although thankfully I worked at home, which made it much more comfortable.

Friday night we were thrilled to find that a new bar in our 'hood has finally opened -- The Pony. They are operating with a limited menu, but we enjoyed our chicken sandwiches. It was a little late, but we didn't get there until after 9pm. Hopefully the crowd will turn a little more towards the chill direction because we love having a neighborhood sports bar so close.

Saturday morning Rob and I met up with our friend Georgia for brunch at Victory's Banner. We'd never been there before and we could not have loved more the bottomless cups of chai. Wow.

While we were waiting for our table, Rob suddenly said, "There's LeeAnn Rimes." Rob is extremely gifted in the spotting people he knows department. And virtually every celebrity sighting I've had in my life has followed Rob pointing out the celebrity to me. But still. LeeAnn Rimes at a random Roscoe Village brunch joint?

Well, Rob was right. We went inside when our name was called and we were seated right next to the chairs where folks were waiting for a table. My chair was literally less than a foot from one of those chairs, and in that chair was LeeAnn Rimes. We sat down as one of the staff members was figuring out who Ms. Rimes was.

"Why are you here?"

"We just came from a yoga lesson and they recommended it."

"Why are you in town? Do you have a concert?"

"Yes, we have a show at Soldier Field tonight."

"Soldier Field? Wow. That's a lot of people."

"Well there are six of us performing."

"Do you want to sing for us this morning?"

"Oh, no, I...."

"Come on, sing for us."

"Oh, no...."

I started feeling badly for her at this point and she was seated a few tables away shortly after this. So I tried to focus back on our own conversation. Much as I'd have loved to tell LeeAnn Rimes that her voice kicks major @ss, she really deserved a little privacy. I will say that she's in amazingly great shape, although on the thin side, as all celebs seem to be.

Apart from the celeb sighting though, brunch was great. Thanks Georgia! Later that afternoon we wandered over to Greenmaker, Resa's work actually, to check out bamboo flooring. Hopefully we'll be putting in new flooring in our master and guest bedrooms soon. And Saturday night we had a lovely dinner at Bon Soiree.

Sunday was more of a work day, much like Saturday afternoon. But Sunday night we went over to one of my work colleague's homes for some fantastically grilled steak. Good food, good company yet again.

All in all we had a lovely weekend. Although I can't believe LeeAnn is leaving town without saying goodbye.

Rob-isms

More often that I'd prefer, I stay up late working after Rob goes to bed. I've probably already said to everyone who reads this, and probably blogged about it, but one of my favorite things about Rob is that no matter how soundly he is sleeping when I crawl into bed, when I say "I love you" he always mumbles "I love you" back. Sometimes I even get an "I love you, yo." Rob never remembers these moments in the morning though.

Sunday night was one such late night. Before I even got ready for bed I was fumbling around in the dark trying to plug in my blackberry when I heard Rob half-asleep tell me that he unclogged the bathroom sink drain. Sweet. It's been really annoying lately. So I said thanks, knowing Rob would not remember and tell me about the drain again in the morning. But then Rob mumbled, "French fries and the Arctic Ocean." I tried not to laugh because I didn't want Rob to wake up. But I couldn't help whispering "What honey?" "What?" he mumbled back. "You just said 'french fries and the Arctic Ocean." "I'm french fries and the Arctic Ocean. I'm hot and cold at the same time." Well obviously. :)

Must have been something about his unconscious thinking of plumbing. Who knows. But I love that Rob, even asleep, could make "French fries and the Arctic Ocean" make sense. Rob was very entertained by his unconscious wackiness when I told him about it on Monday.

Old home, New home

Rob and I spent this past weekend in DC. It was the weekend of the annual American Constitution Society convention, which I've been attending since 2004. It was also Father's Day on Sunday, so Rob came with me so that we could hang out with his dad as well. 

DC is hot. Swampy hot. I'd forgotten how much more humid and sticky it feels there compared to Chicago. Still, we haven't had enough hot weather in Chicago yet, so I was glad to pack for a trip and not even bring a jacket. I arrived on Thursday and stayed with my friend Carly that night. We went to a late dinner at a new Thai place called Rice. Well named! If you got there, skip the main dishes and just get several orders of their awesome rice. 

The ACS convention kicked off on Friday. The best part of the convention for me is catching up with the friends I've met through ACS over the years, including some truly great mentors. Friday's lunch speaker was Sen. Leahy, who gave a more nuanced speech than most elected officials give to ACS crowds. The day's programming was capped off with a speech by Eric Holder, who was particularly thoughtful as well. My friend Elliot introduced me to Holder after the speech and he was a genuinely nice and engaging man. We wished him luck guiding Obama's VP selection process these days. 

While I was busy at the convention, Rob was busy with his friend Brian schmoozing with world class athletes as they saw Alexander Ovechkin be presented with a key to DC. Friday night, Rob and I decided to grab dinner on our own before bonding with more DC friends.

DC is truly the smallest city in America some days. On Friday night we found out that Rob's friend Peter (whose place we were staying at) lives on the same block as two old DC friends of mine. And as we walked to dinner on Friday, we ran into yet another old friend of mine while crossing 16th Street. Saturday night we went to my friend Charlie's house for a party, where we met two more people who are good friends with my friends who live on Rob's friend's Peter's block. Did you follow that? Probably not. The short story is that in DC, everybody knows everybody! 

Saturday morning we scooted out to the suburbs for a couple hours. Rob's dad's wife's son's daughter (whew) was turning two. We joined the small celebration and scored some Carvel ice cream cake for our trouble. :) Then we headed back into the city. I went back to the ACS convention where I heard Supreme Court reporters reflect on this past year, a group of brilliant constitutional scholars ponder the future of constitutional interpretation, and more. I also finally tracked down one of my favorite ACS buddies, my good friend Doug. Meanwhile Rob met up with his friend Christian to watch some Euro Cup soccer. 

After a short nap at Peter's Saturday evening, Rob and I headed out to Charlie's party on Saturday night where I had a full three beers in one evening (that never happens!). My college buddy Elliot works on the Hill with Charlie, who I know from my law school internship on the Hill, so we caught up with Elliot there... the same Elliot who'd introduced me to Eric Holder the night before. (Did I mention the small world thing? :) Then Elliot, Rob and I headed off for 2am falafel in Adams Morgan, which is way more insane than it used to be. Or maybe I'm just way older. Probably both. 

Sunday morning we slept in and then met Rob's dad and his wife for a delicious Father's Day brunch at Blue Duck Tavern near Georgetown. We had a great time at brunch. I know I've said it before, but it bears repeating: I am very lucky in the in-law department. Then we headed back to Peter's pad for the afternoon. Rob's friend Brian joined us sitting outside on Peter's sunny deck for a couple hours before we had to hit the road for the airport. 

All in all it was a great weekend, with lots of reminders of how much we loved and still miss our DC days. But when we got home late Sunday night, we were so happy to be here. 

Going out on Top

News reports are saying that New York Football Giants Defensive End Michael Strahan is set to announce his retirement.  In case you were wondering, this is a big deal.  During my time as a Giants fan, there has been a continuous torch bearer on the Giants defense.  When I was younger, it was Lawrence Taylor (if you are reading this and you don't know who Lawrence Taylor is, stop reading and educate yourself... I'm serious, stop reading this and return to the blog as soon as you've had the opportunity to properly appreciate the awesomeness that is Lawrence Taylor the football player).  LT retired in the early 90's, and was quickly supplanted by new stud, Michael Strahan.

For 15 years Strahan has been setting the standard for the DE position.  Not the strongest, or the fastest, but a lethal combination of both, Strahan was the benchmark against which all other DE's were measured.  Was Strahan as dominant as LT?  No.  But through his work ethic, athletic ability and intelligence, he consistently ranked as the one of the most effective defensive players of his generation.

I've never been the Canton, OH, but I might just make the trip in 5 years.