Happy Halloween

We hope everyone enjoyed their Halloween card :). Drew, Gia, and I will be passing out candy to the kids in the neighborhood tomorrow evening. The pumpkins are carved, candy is ready and Gia is counting down the minutes until she gets to wear her "Pugkin" costume. Here are some pics of her modeling it in the Northern Neck. Have a safe and fun Halloween.

Happy Birthday Princess Giada Sophia Christopher

Yes, our baby turned 1 years old today! I felt a bit guilty for not throwing her a party but life is just too hectic these days. Instead, we ate greens beans for breakfast (her favorite treat), went to a pumpkin patch to pick out pumpkins for Halloween, took a field trip to the dog friendly mall, and enjoyed a doggie carrot birthday cake. Here are some adorable pics of our now toddler puppy-

Gia's birthday present and cake


Chicken, Gia's sister and party attendee


Gia's pumpkin that she picked out all by herself


Enjoying her cake

Happy Birthday Mom

On Friday we celebrated mom's 30th birthday *wink wink* by enjoying a family dinner in Dupont Circle. We of course went to an Italian Restaurant (what other cuisine is there??)- Odeon Cafe. After two bottles of Italian wine, yummy samplers of various Italian appetizers, lots of pasta, one tiramisu and two cannoli's, we made our way out of the city. The ride home turned out to be eventful- Mom, Drew and I took the parkway while Dad and Kristina made the smarter decision to take Route 1. The heavy rain that had been falling for a few days finally accumulated and flooded the parkway, which the police decided to close just as we were approaching Mount Vernon. It is a good thing though as I don't think mom was in the mood to swim home on her bithday. We took a detour :) Happy Birthday mom- we love you! Here are some pics from dinner-

Christopher Men Go Fishing

Remember how I went to Vegas with my girlfriends over Labor Day Weekend? While I was at the Monte Carlo catching my second wind on the jack black table, the Christopher Men were out catching fish in the Northern Neck. Here are some pics that my mother in law (Mama J) provided me of their mighty catch after a day on the Chesapeake Bay. Enjoy!

For Aunt Darlene

After requests for a pictures from various people, and most recently Aunt Darlene :), here is a pic of the necklace Drew gave me for our anniversary. The circle symbolizes eternity. All together now..."ahhhh, so sweet". Good job Drew.

Greed, Gluttony, Envy....

...all SO yummy! I am referring to martini's of course, specifically the martini's at Seven Martini Bar in White Stone VA where Drew and I took his parents on Friday night to enjoy some drinks, all named after sins (which I thought was pretty creative) as well as tapas. Interestingly, the bar is located in the exact room where my mother in law had her six grade class. We highly recommend it in case you are ever in the NNK- http://www.whitestoneeventcenter.com/page/page/4475977.htm.

Saturday was such a wonderfully relaxing day. We woke up and sat outside in the crisp fall weather overlooking the water and had our coffee, cup after cup :) Doesn't get much better than that. In the early afternoon we took Gia to a local dog show but sadly showed up too late for her competition (purebred under 25lbs) although we are sure she would have won had we made it on time :). We were able to spend time visiting with Drew's grandfather James before returning to his parents for an afternoon of sitting on the water reading, relaxing and enjoying appletini's. Mama J was able to help us with a special photo session which you will all see in the near future. Saturday night we went with Drew's parents to the Sandpiper which was delicious as always. It was hard to leave on Sunday and head back to our hectic lives- Drew flew out last night for a week long business trip traveling all along the east coast and I will travel to DC this week for a couple days of work in the office. We are hoping to make it back to the NNK very soon.

Here are some pics from the weekend-

One Year Down!

And many many more to go :) We have officially been married a year and we both agree it was the fastest year of our lives! But in a good way. Drew and I celebrated our one year anniversary Sunday in a very low key but nice way- relaxing. We've been on the go for the past month so it was great. Thanks to mom and dad for a wonderful Italian dinner (#200 this past year!) and for saving the top layer of our wedding cake which we all enjoyed Sunday night and will continue to eat all week. It tasted amazing! Drew also surprised me with a beautiful diamond eternity necklace which I will likely wear every day as it goes with everything. I gave him a painting of the northern neck (where he grew up), painted by a northern neck artist. The scene very much resembles Dymer's Creek where his parents live. It's already hanging in our house and Drew commented that he feels relaxed everytime he looks at it. Mission accomplished! Thanks to Mama J for transporting the painting to me from Kilmarnock and to Stephanie for helping me pick it out.

Drew and I are going to dinner at our favorite restaurant in the northern neck this weekend, Sandpiper (where we went after we got engaged) for our offical anniversary celebration. We are also hoping to spend some time on the water - we can't wait!

Here are some pics from Sunday-