You know you're at a celiac event if...

There is a stampede of people who look as if they've never seen food before and have been starving their entire lives! Seriously!

I signed up for this Celiac Cooking Spree with a few other celiac friends. The gist of it was that they team up doctors, chefs, and journalists to create gluten free meals. Over 450 celiacs in the DC area attended the event at the Bethesda Hyatt. As soon as I arrived, I was ushered into the vendor room, where all the makers of gluten free brownies, cookies, cakes, crackers, etc. were there giving a way free samples. I filled a plastic bag they gave me when I arrived and then some!

Next it was over to the ballroom for the main cooking event. Each team had a table where they were giving away samples of their creations. But the lines were so long at each table that I didn't get to make it to all of them before they ran out. After the main course, Lilit Cafe of Bethesda provided an enormous selection of gluten free cookies, cup cakes, and cakes. It was somewhat reminiscent of my college days where I would go to the dining hall and leave with several pieces of german chocolate cake. Despite being stuffed, I could not resist the cake. I managed to control myself somewhat and only get 3 slices (1 coconut cream, 1 chocolate cream cheese, and 1 carrot cake) and brought them back to the table. I think we each took one bite of each one and that was all we could manage.

Then Mary, one of my friends, went up to the Wegman's table and said "Oh, I just love your food!" Naturally, they started giving it all to her (microwave popcorn, gluten free pretzels, etc.) So she came back to the table and distributed it amongst all of us.


Stuffed, I climbed back on the metro for the ride home at the end of the night, weighed down with by bags of gluten free goodies.

A Trip to the Pink Bubble

In an effort to recover from my scientology experience, I made a trip to the pink bubble last week. Well, really it was to be on a career panel for math/engineering majors, but regardless, it was such a welcome break from the DC rat race.


Jane and I were both on the panel so we drove down together on Wednesday afternoon, arriving in time to visit the bookshop to stock up on all things Sweet Briar. Even the lady working in the new cafe recognized me. She used to work in the dining hall and said she remembered seeing me come in every day. Frightening!! I just hope she doesn't remember the time I went in and walked out 2 min later with ~5 pieces of german chocolate cake...


We had dinner in the Bistro with "the happy math family." It was so awesome to see the Kirkwoods and Wassell, they haven't changed a bit. The Bistro, however, is NOT what it used to be. Gone are the brick floors and cozy wooden booths as well as the crazy shakes. The only redeeming thing is that potato skins are now back on the menu. Apparently 10 years later - Erikka's and my flooding of the suggestion box finally paid off.


I woke up early Thursday morning so that I could go for a walk around campus right as the sun was coming up. I walked down to the boathouse. It was so peaceful and quiet and calm. I could have walked for hours. I wish I'd taken my camera with me on the walk. There was a light fog over the surface of the water, the sun was shining, and I saw about a dozen deer in one of the fields.



Before heading back to DC, Jane and I drove out to the new art barns which are spectacular. It's about the only renovation I'd say Sweet Briar really did right. The new entrance is not welcoming, and the bookshop and Prothro - though very nice, lack the charm of the old buildings. They've changed the crest too - one of the students was showing us her ring and the crest is totally different. And the new pledge - what is up with that?? Part of indoctrination into the bubble as a freshman was to memorize that seemingly unending pledge! I wish I could remember it now...if you can, please email me. What a cop out the new one is!


Thank goodness reunion is only a month away and I can spend 3 whole days on campus. I can't wait. I may never leave.

Scientology - The Study of Truth

The truth of the matter is, dating SUCKS! I hate it and was reminded tonight of why. A few weeks ago, while out on a bike ride, I was passed by a guy on his bike who stopped to bike with me for a stretch and chat. After about 20 min or so, when we were about to part ways he asked me out. I said sure, he seemed nice enough so I figured I might as well.

So, Date #1. I thought he was a very nice guy, but was somewhat undecided about whether I wanted to go out with him a second time. But he emailed me and asked me out again, so I decided what the heck, I'll go out with him one more time before ruling him out entirely.

Date #2. We went out to dinner tonight at one of my favorite restaurants - Lauriol Plaza in DC. After leaving the restaurant, we were standing on the street corner about to head different directions and saying good night when he asks me "Are you a religious person?" Ummm....hmmm...caught entirely off guard, I stood there pondering for a moment about how best to answer the question. Before I could answer he asked me how I was raised and I replied "Methodist." Then he proceeds to reach into his coat pocket and pull out a DVD on Scientology (see picture) that he says he thought I might be interested in.


Huh? I'm thinking to myself as he rambles on about scientology, is he trying to recruit me or something? It seems he arrived at the restaurant early, so he went into a scientology museum or something to kill time before dinner because he'd always been interested in learning more about it (and apparently thought I had some burning desire to learn more about it too....) Then he proceeds to show me a card with details about an open house and free tours of the place. I asked him how he was raised....Catholic.

I don't get it. I really don't get it at all. But I will say one thing for the date, I've spent the last 2 hours laughing hysterically on the phone with friends who can't believe the story. Ahh...if only I were making it up!

There will be no date #3.

But here's the link for anyone who might be interested in ordering their own copy of the DVD...
http://www.scientology.org/interview/orderscn.html

"All the babies are home..."

As mom likes to say "All my babies are home!" Thus we have a family picture to document the occasion...yet another one taken in a bar. Are you wondering about us yet?

Jeff decided to surprise mom and come home to visit for the weekend. Thankfully he at least gave Frank and I the heads-up so that we could make sure we were around. We went out to Rustico on Saturday night so that Jeff could experience their gluten free pizza and beer. You have no idea what a treat it is to go into a restaurant and order pizza and beer, just like any regular person. If only more places would offer gluten free selections! Frank, who's on a gluten binge until diagnosed otherwise, found some Staropramen (Czech beer) that made him long for Prague. After dinner, we headed next door to Buzz Bakery (owned by the same company) for gluten free brownies. Yum yum yum. What a fun evening!

A trip to Williamsburg for Easter

This Easter, mom and I decided to drive to Williamsburg to save grandmother the trip up 95 and so that we could also see Frank. Jeff stayed in Savannah and the Davis' were just returning from a trip to Paris, so it was pretty quiet with just the 4 of us. That was until we went to dinner anyway...

Grandmother made reservations for us at the country club within Ford's Colony. I asked her before we left the house what the dress code was and she said that the only thing she was told was "no sneakers." Deciding to error on the side of caution, I put on nice slacks and shirt and shoes. We were a little concerned about what Frank might be wearing since he was coming from CNU. As it turns out he was in jeans, but he managed to find some decent shoes in his car so we thought we were safe. Only when we walked into the country club we were informed that no denim was allowed in the dining room. Well that set grandmother off. Doesn't that man know you can't argue with her? Anway, we tried to calm her down and usher her out the door, content to go somewhere else for dinner, but as we passed an arriving bridal party on the way out she yelled "They can take their country club and shove it up their ass!" Plan B was a Japanese steakhouse down the street, that we all agreed was much better than the country club anyway!



The rest of the weekend was less eventful. Grandmother and I dyed easter eggs and we collectively decided to blow off church in favor of lounging around the house.

Mittens - Lost & Found

Last week was not fun - I'm sure Mittens would tell you if she could. One minute, she's safe in Lori's home, hanging out with her foster brother Sam, sleeping on the couch, etc. The next, she sneaks out the back door and embarks on an excellent adventure that all things considered, could have been worse but definitely could have been better!

It seems after Mittens left Lori's house (in Falls Church) she headed for Fairlington (where I live - a good 6 miles away from Lori's and across many busy roads including I-395). We had multiple sitings of her over a few days, but were never able to catch her. After a week of searching by many GoodDog Rescue volunteers and Fairlington neighbors (my legs are still trying to recover from all the walking!) and setting up a trap in my back yard (thank goodness I didn't catch any other critters) we got word that someone had found her. A nice person one neighborhood over from me found her and took her in. It was about 2 days before they put the pieces of the puzzle together and we were reunited with her, much to everyone's relief. And not only would these nice people not accept any reward for taking such good care of her, they made a $100 donation to GoodDog Rescue.

Somewhere along the way however, Mittens had a run in with a car. One of her hind legs was injured and the hip joint was pushed forward out of its socket. So as soon as Theresa from GoodDog picked her up, she took her to the vet where she had surgery to fix her broken hip. She is now recovering for a couple days with Julie and me and I really think might just be the perfect dog. She is so quiet and calm, all she does is sleep all day, which is exactly what she needs to be doing right now so that she heals. We've got her on pain medication and are doing our best to fatten her up some (she doesn't hold a candle to Sam - aka "the fat one").


Thankfully its not too cold out because as you can see, the vet had to shave her rear end for the surgery. Fortunately they expect her to make a full recovery and be running on all 4 legs in no time. Now we just need to find her a forever home where she can go back to sleeping on couches and be loved for the amazing dog she is!

Solvang Century - March 8, 2008

At the invitation of our friend Clare, who we met on our cycling trip to Norway last summer, Theresa and I visited her in Santa Barbara and participated in the Solvang Century. It was a great weekend with spectacular weather, amazing food, awesome cycling, and great wine. What more could you ask for?

Theresa and I jumped at the opportunity to escape the cold, gray DC winter for some fun in the sun. (Yes, we continue to have a slightly warped sense of fun, but everyone knows that by now...) Aside from a few miles of the ride that took us onto a highway, the majority of the route was on beautiful rural roads. Due to our late start we missed the finish line party, but Clare assures us she had a good time while waiting for us to finish.