In all honesty, I had not set my expectations very high for Mother's Day this year. We have had SO much going on in the past month with B having his tonsils out, complications of the surgery, and the semester of grad school coming to a close. 

In order to not set myself up for an emotional roller coaster, I have learned (it took me about 6 years to figure this out) that sometimes it is better to have no expectations at all and be completely thrilled than to have expectations set high and be let down. This crazy method of thinking worked in my favor yesterday as my lovebunnie surpised me with a day out in DC!

We landed the best seats at Nationals Park - on the second deck but right over the first base line. B brought money from his piggy bank to buy the world's most expensive cotton candy - and I was pleased to find a Blue Moon in my hand :)

After the game, we went to Guapo's in Shirlington for a light dinner and pitcher of Sangria on the patio. My girlfriend, Anita, lives right around the corner in Fairlington and swung by to hang out with us in the beautiful breeze.

I am so so so lucky & thankful. BEST. DAY. EVER.

On Saturday, we had a block of window that was perfect for mommy & B time. Since we had just gone through some pretty rough days post-op and he was finally starting to feel better, I decided to take him somewhere fun for a lunch date. We had been once before and B loved the boats - so we picked Water's Edge in Occoquan.

Yes, it looks like you're driving through a construction site to get there, and yes it's a total dive bar with funky interior dining area - but the two story deck, the fresh breeze, the boats, the water - total perfection.
The food is not the finest dining, but you can't go wrong with a chicken quesadilla and a shirley temple.

It's a fun spot if you're looking for somewhere casual to hang in the breeze. We sat on the deck with Harley riders, hungover college kids, and an older boat-loving couple who were already rocking white pants pre-memorial day. Mixed bag, for sure... but if you don't care, neither do they :)

ps: they have happy hour from 12noon-7pm every weekday.

hoping all these soft treats will help us with a smooth recovery from B's tonsil removal!

Have you checked out the new Build-A-Bear store at Fair Oaks Mall? I'll be honest, this is one of those stores that I'll pass by as fast as I can so that we don't get distracted and dragged in. However, I am actually quite impressed with the new store design and enhanced technology interaction with the kids. We were invited in to take a look at what's new and experience making a "bear" ourselves.

Of course, we did not choose a bear (that would make too much sense) - we chose an Ice Age character (a squirrel or something?) which Build-A-Bear @ Fair Oaks is carrying to correlate with the Ice Age theme of Santa's Palace this year. #Genius!

When you walk through the store, motion sensors talk to you along the way. Almost everything has been transformed to a touch-screen for the kids - for the most part, it is completely do-it-yourself and hands-on (aside from stuffing and sewing the bear together). Our favorite part was giving the animals a bath. The tub was a large touch screen - kinda like an iPad - and the different tub toys had effects on the screen. For instance, if you put the rubber duck on the screen, two little legs appeared under it and you could see it swimming in the water and the boat made waves. If you guessed I was quite captivated... you should have seen the kids.

Check out our pics below for a look at the new store! or, you can take a virtual tour of the store.

You know that sense of satisfaction you get when you see movies that you loved as a child, but then you finally understood the adult humor at an older, wiser age? (A la Shrek?) Wreck-It Ralph is hilarious for adults and children alike.
I got a chance to catch a pre-screening at Tysons a few weeks ago with B, my girlfriend Sheila, and her son. The movie had all of us laughing out loud on more than one occasion.

Highlights: The 3D scenes are awesome, the hilarious AA style meeting for Ralph with a guest appearance by Bowser, and the land of sweets where the police officers are donuts wearing aviators (and one is named Dunkin') - loved it!

Check it out with your families this weekend - It is definitely my favorite animated film of the year!

In my house, we absolutely LOVE Moby Dick House of Kabob. And when I say we - I mean all three of us. My 4 year old orders his own platter and eats every last bite. The food is awesome - but it ain't cheap. I decided to try to mimic the famous yellow chicken recipe at home (Persian saffron chicken joojeh). Surprisingly, it was a super easy two-step recipe.

Marinade:
2lbs chicken breast, trimmed and cubed (1-2 inch chunks)
1 cup plain greek yogurt (I used a Chobani)
1 yellow onion, minced finely (almost a paste)
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup lemon juice
5 cloves of fresh garlic, minced finely
1 tsp fresh black pepper
1 tsp white pepper
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp saffron threads dissolved in 1-2 tbsp warm water
1 1/2 tbsp turmeric (for color)

Combine all ingredients in a bowl that is not going to absorb the color of the saffron. You could probably use glass, but I used a metal bowl to be safe. Cover in the refrigerator and let marinate for a minimun of 4 hours.

*If you're going to put the kabobs on the grill using wooden skewers - make sure to let soak in water for at least an hour before you're ready to start cooking to prevent the skewers from catching fire.

Baste:
1/2 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup butter (melted)
1tsp salt

Grill kabobs for about 3-4 minutes per side (all 4 sides). I had my grill set on medium heat - but all grills are different, so adjust the heat and timing as needed. Baste each side of kabob with lemon butter mixture. Serve hot with basmati rice.

After I made this and was cleaning up dinner, B ran around the corner in the kitchen and said, "Mom, that was PERFECTO!"
I'll add this to my arsenal of recipes. Hope you enjoy!

We snagged tickets to Disney on Ice presents Rockin' Ever After last week and went with neighbors and friends from B's school. What a great show! The acts in Rockin' Ever After were from The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Tangled, and Brave. LOVE all those songs. I think the parents in the audience were singing along louder than the kids. The only bummer of the night: I got suckered into a $12 snow cone to avoid a potentially destructive meltdown.

Check out the pics to catch a glimpse of the fun!

Last weekend, B was swept away and spoiled by my parents. In turn, I, too, was spoiled with a whole day of freedom. We ended up snagging DREAM SEATS to the skins game! HAIL YEAH! We usually go to one or two games a year, but this was probably the best game we had ever been to. RGIII ran his record-setting touchdown right into our end zone. The crowd was insane!

Since it was a 4pm game, the night was still young when we left FedEx and we decided to further our date by stopping by one of our favorite sushi spots in Shirlington. Bonsai has a great outdoor seating area and it was the perfect night for it.

Of course, being kid-free, we couldn't end the night there. There has been such great hype about the World of Beer that opened up in Ballston so we checked it out... however, I was not impressed. At all. I guess if I wanted to spend $10 a beer, receive bad service (i'm pretty sure our waitress was drunk and/or high), and eat from their menu of basically pretzels and sausage.... no thanks.

Regardless of the last stop, what an awesome Sunday Funday we had! huge shout out to my mom and dad for making it possible! xo

my friend Jaime took these pics with her GoPro. I totally need one. Stat.