FOGO DE CHAO; MORE MEAT PLZ!

Fogo de Chao: The Land of Meat.

Kyle and I met up with friends of ours, Kaitlyn and Jason, at the restaurant in Baltimore. We were celebrating a dual anniversary since ours was in August and theirs is in October. It was fun because we dressed up fancy just to eat meat off giant swords. Haha!

I've never been to Fogo de Chao before but it's quite the experience; you have a card with one side colored red and the other green. If it sits on red? No meat for you! If you flip it to green? You are surrounded by multiple cuts of beef, chicken, pork ribs, sausage, lamb, filet wrapped in bacon! Clearly this restaurant is a dreamland for carnivores.

We sat eating and drinking for about 3-4 hours. It was really nice to have the opportunity to just relax, eat at your own pace (knowing the waiter wasn't trying to rush you out for tips) and catch up with friends.

They also made it a special night (when I made sure to inform them of our anniversaries, haha) and brought two desserts on the house. The key lime pie was surely made in heaven!! Flan? Eh. I'm not a big fan of mexican pudding, I suppose.

Nothing says love like anniversary flan.

Hanson brought us together in 2003. Craziness has kept the friendship alive. =)

"THROWING UP WHISKERS"

Labor Day weekend... I'm a little behind in my blogging, huh?

That weekend I wanted a getaway since my family trip to Chincoteague Island, VA didn't pan out (gosh, Irene). After work on Friday, I headed up to my sister's house to pick her up along with a teething, grumpy Miranda. This trip was especially fun because we sang Sugarland and Miranda Lambert songs for most of the way there - between gossip of course. Man, do I love country music (Thank you Teresa for getting me to listen)!!

Saturday morning started out great because my Pops made pancakes. I couldn't tell you the last time I had pancakes smothered, yes smothered, in syrup. =) I didn't eat very healthy that weekend at all... oops, oh well. I also didn't hike as much as I'm used to because of bugs; the weather must have made every single mosquito and fly in the mountain chain hatch. They were out in full force and it was gross (and I don't usually mind bugs)!

The one time we did hang around outside was on Saturday night; we had a fire and I smoked myself so the mosquitos would leave me alone. Did it work? Nope! I gave it the good ol' college try though.

Now, if you're new to my family and I, the one thing you should know (or maybe guessed on your own) is that we're special, err... I mean fun and crazy. All of the smoke from the campfire must have gone to our heads because the next thing I know people are throwing up gang signs.

This is what my father calls "throwing up whiskers."
Isn't he cute?

And my mom? Yeah, she made a gang sign too, and a pretty pathetic one at that but she would be so mad if I posted that picture of her! =)   (Hi Mom!)

It was a good weekend and oh, I held a snail too.

Ember: A Love Story

Sometimes owning a dog is frustrating. You can't sleep in because you're rudely awakened by a cold nose at 6:00am, you can't go on vacation without scheduling a doggy-sitter and you sure can't laze around the house on a rainy day. You get a solid coating of pet hair in the car, there's poop on the floor and the vet bills! Oh, the vet bills.

But owning a dog is rewarding. They're cute, love you unconditionally and do stupid things to make you laugh even on bad days. They can show you a carefree life.

My dog, Ember, is a handful to say the least. Not even two years old and bounding with energy; she needs a good 2-3 hours of exercise and play daily. If you don't give her that? Shoes be damned. Those suckers are chewed to pieces. It's nice to have a constant hiking partner though because it forces me to exercise too. =)

She might slobber all over things because of her jowls, she might annoy my family with a good after-swim shake on the dock but it is a dog's life and she's just having fun.

I really wish she'd sleep in though...

IRENE: SHE'S A TREE KILLER

The aftermath of Hurricane Irene wasn't too bad in Delaware. Sunday morning I woke up and walked around the neighborhood a little bit but had nothing to report back to Kyle. A few hours later, however, a tree fell down in my neighbor's yard. I guess it just gave up! It also snapped a power line pole completely in half and I miraculously still had power.