what a weekend!

Getting ready for Cassie's prom

After spending much of the end of winter and early Spring away from DC, I've loved the past two weekends when we've been home.  The weather has been fantastic and it's fun to feel like you're still exploring where you live, which I don't think will change anytime soon.

Friday kicked off with a lovely dinner with our friend Alys - I love Eastern Market!  On Saturday I nested around the apartment while Abdoulaye met with friends to prepare for an upcoming conference.  Cassie got ready for a school function (isn't she a stunner??) and Abdoulaye and I headed to Georgetown to see The Big Wedding with BOGO tickets I found online (woot!).  It was cute though I'm glad we got BOGO tickets since it wasn't fabulous :)

Georgetown by night.  

I'm so excited about May finally being here!  Can't believe Abdoulaye's and my wedding is right around the corner (well, our official wedding :)  Lots of exciting things just around the river bend - so thankful for the groove I'm finding myself in these days.

The canal.

a new york state of mind

 As our bus was pulling into the city I tugged on Abdoulaye's arm and squealed 'Look!!!' as I pointed to the skyline of lights.  Our bus continued on and Abdoulaye looked as we passed the same lights.  "It looks like a factory," he said.  Turns out he was right and my New York excitement was a little premature.

However, our excitement was not premature to see Kira and Sidi, a Peace Corps friend from Mali and her husband, who were waiting for us at the Bolt bus stop on 33rd and 7th.  Sidi took our suitcase and Kira led the way home where saga saga, a traditional Malian dish, waited for us on the stove.  Such a treat!

On Friday, I presented at the NYU International Education Conference on the single-teacher school in Mali while the rest of the gang hung out and visited the city a bit.  It was a thrill to be surrounded by folks passionate about international education and to learn more about other graduate students doing research on such a wide range of topics.  

Saturday, Kira walked Abdoulaye and me to the Circle Line pier and shopped while waiting for our tour to end (she hasn't gotten her sea legs yet).  The tour was incredible and I was surprised that even sitting outside we weren't freezing or accosted by the wind.  The New York city skyline was beautiful and it was neat to see the Statue of Liberty up close.  

 Kira was a fantastic guide and once we got off the boat took us to Times Square and Grand Central Station before we met Sidi at home and had dinner at The Merchant.  The restaurant is a former bank and they use the old safe as a deep freezer.

Sunday, we went to the Bronx to see friends of Abdoulaye's from Guinea - one of whom he hasn't seen in 10 years!  Delicious foods, sweet friends, a baby that warmed up to us: a success!

It was hard to say goodbye to Sidi and Kira after such a long weekend but we're looking forward to our next trip back to the Big Apple to see them and visit more of what New York has to offer!

Where's Waldo?  We made it on the big screen!  But can you find us? (hint: left third, on the bottom)

cherry blossoms ripe in washington, dc

 

This is my first time witnessing a cherry blossom season!  The city is a sea of soft petals and biking to work this past week I stopped by the Washington monument to snap a few shots.  It felt a little bit like a scene out of a movie.  Quiet groves of cherry trees and only one or two folks around.  Another cyclist stopped to admire the trees during my photo session but other than that, it was just me and the blooms.  I'm so thankful Spring has finally sprung! 

world of wizards

Some Spring!  Taken on Monday, March 25, 2013 on my walk to the Metro in the morning

After seeing a fireball, Abdoulaye and I thought it was time to check out the Washington Wizards, too!  With Alys' birthday around the corner, we decided to celebrate at the Verizon center with some seats high enough up so we could see the entire stadium :)  It made my eyes hurt to be so high but it was still a fun Monday night and birthday celebration adventure!  The Wizards won (107-94) and we made it home by 10:00pm after a full night of tasty Chinese food, cupcake eating, basketball watching and catching up while trying to avoid the feeling of vertigo.

OK, so those aren't basketball players on the floor but the Wizards did win!

The snow weighed pretty heavily on the daffodils on Monday but now it's all melted away and Spring-like temperatures are back.  I love these pictures of us in Washington DC's Chinatown - I won't forget your birthday Alys!  Loading these pictures and writing these blog posts is such a special way for me to hold on to my (our) memories; I'm so thankful to blogspot for the platform to do so!

a fireball, applesauce and wizards

Image Source

Walking to the bus stop on Friday night on our way to celebrate Beatrice's birthday, Cassie, Abdoulaye & I chit chatted about education and development in Guinea.  Then, like the raccoon that I am, a shiny thing caught my eye.  I looked up and squealed "Look!  It's a shooting star!"  North and a little East, a stream of white light was shooting toward the city.   It was so close and was moving so slowly, and then disappeared so quickly, we soon agreed that it was a Cleveland Park firework (albeit just one and silent).

Then, Cassie was checking out the weather on Saturday morning and saw this article, which confirmed that what we saw was not a shooting star - it was a fireball!  How thrilling!  Almost as thrilling as Abdoulaye's discovery of applesauce thanks to Cassie :)

Tonight we're headed to a basketball game at the Verizon Center - go Wizards!  The snow on the ground this morning caught us off guard - I wasn't expecting anything since there have been so many false alarms!

our little bunny: three weeks old

three weeks old

 I remember when Michael and Courtney called last year to say they were expecting.  Informal bets akin to the March madness currently taking place quickly ensued.  A boy or a girl??  we all asked ourselves.  On February 23rd, 2013, though we already knew the gender, we were blessed with Jarrett Michael's arrival.  He had already captured our hearts before coming and now that he's here, well, take a look at some of the pictures to see for yourself :)

our little leprechaun looks ready to watch the 8k!

 While it doesn't seem like Michael and Courtney have much choice with our boisterous family, I love how they let anyone (whose hands are washed!) hold their treasure.  I'm so excited to see how he develops and to watch him grow.  Any tips for new aunts??

with his aunties

Special treat alert!  Louise came down for a visit and we got to see Anna, too!!

 On Saturday we all went down to the beach to see Dad, Sheri & Dan race in the 8k Shamrock run.  It was fun cheering on the green runners and even better when we got out of the yucky weather just in the nick of time!

I just can't get over how wild  it must be to see your child have a child - my Mom here with her grandson

 On Saturday night, Louise, Abdoulaye and I headed to Blue Pete's with Mom & John.  Yummy food, fun atmosphere, beach music dancing.  Virginia Beach - you really are a treat!

Tonton Abdoulaye!

See a link to more photos here!

stoop-sitting

Abdoulaye, me & Cassie sitting on the front stoop

As another week begins and the rain makes tap-tap-tapping noises on the aluminum roof outside, I'm going to hold onto the sunshine from this photo taken last weekend.  I hope you have a week of sunshine!