Treats

So last week we were finally able to actually go OUT for date night, which is a rare treat.  We headed over to the Potomac Town Center, which is still a work in progress but is going to be awesome once completed.  We shared some shrimp fajitas and had margaritas at Uncle Julios, then we decided to walk around the town center to see what was there.  I also wanted to sample the new fro yo place (oh yes, I said it).

One of the places we stopped was a new store called Unleashed, by PETCO.  It's basically a smaller version of Petco, from what I could figure out.  They had a TON of cute Halloween costumes, but we already have plans for our little family... muhaha.

We checked out all the little toys and treats, and finally decided upon some little bouncy balls.  As we approached the register, there they were.

Deer Antlers.

For dogs?? Oh yes, the woman behind the counter told us. Her little westie absolutely LOVES them.  Being the complete skeptical, overprotective dog-mom, I immediately nixed the idea because there was no way that is healthy!!

It took some convincing, but Joey finally got me to say yes to a small, split antler for each pin.

When we got them home, it was like Christmas.  They had never seen them before, but they knew it was something special.  Chloe was a little freaked out by it, but she took it upstairs to bury it.  Doc wouldn't put it down for the rest of the night.

I'm still only allowing them to have them under supervision, but these little treats were a BIG hit!!!

Happy Birthday Danielle!

What a lucky girl she is, sharing her birth month with her daughter.  Saturday night we headed out to The Park, a nightclub in downtown DC to celebrate Danielle.

Joey's good friend/our best man, Teddy, is a bartender/promoter and was able to get us the hook up.

I definitely felt out of place. Like I was 28 and trying to be 21 again.  I felt the same way when I was in Forever 21 trying to find something to wear.  I'm going to sound like my mother, but GOODNESS the dresses there are SHORT!

After a 14 mile training run, chik fil a, and a long nap, Joey and I headed up to DC to join the crew.  We had a great crowd. I didn't take many pictures, but it was a great combo of Danielle's close friends, our dancer friends, college friends, and new friends.  We loved the VIP status at our table, with free apps, mixers (including redbulls), and 2 bottles of vodka. 

The birthday girl, and her lovely brother.

The only pic I got of us former/current WG, RR, WRC girls

Me and Joey

Joey and Teddy

Beth, D and Me

The night ended on a fun note which I will not go into detail on but let's just say the car we were in didn't have working windows, and Joey wasn't feeling well.  Sorry, Joe K.  I also ate his king size Twix bar which I found in the back seat. Sorry I'm not sorry. We'll get you back ;)

The night was a total success, and I don't know whether my sore legs are from 14 miles, or breaking it down at the club in stilettos....

Happy Monday!

~SG

Wrapping up Summer

In early June, I wrote a Summer Lookahead post with a list of all the fun things we were doing this summer.

Well..... We have officially done everything on the list!!

Last weekend we finished our summer with a Labor Day half marathon in Virginia Beach.  It was SO humid, but we finished and Joey has his first half marathon medal! We did not have a time goal, and it felt great to not be focusing on beating the clock.  Our goal was to finish the race and we did. :)

Yes, I will probably man up and buy the actual picture eventually.

This weekend, we gambled with Mother Nature and went to Richmond for the NASCAR Race amongst warnings of severe thunderstorms and relentless rain.  Somehow, the race actually happened.  Bonus? We got to wear our bright yellow Disney ponchos...

I got yelled at for not posting anything about the race on my blog yesterday.... so here are a few pictures since my phone (aka camera) died.

Storm Damage.  We got really lucky with the weather, actually.

Tailgating. Which cooler is ours?? Thanks, Sister.

The one picture we got of the track.

Joey didn't think I'd put this picture up. HE WAS WRONG. 

Folks, don't split a case of beer and then go sit in the rain at a Nascar race. It makes you tired.  I took a nice little nap inside my yellow poncho and came out when the race started again. I felt like a hibernating bear. A big, drunk, yellow, bear. (Pooh? Is that you?)

Anyway....................... The rain and storms brought a front of BEAUTIFUL FALL WEATHER.  I am so excited!

The first OFFICIAL day of Fall is Saturday, September 22nd.  We are only days away!

So raise your glass (of pumpkin spice latte)... because Fall is almost here!!!!

~SG

Patriot Day

"Patriot Day occurs on September 11 of each year, designated in memory of those who died in the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. On Patriot Day, the President directs that the flag of the United States be flown at half-staff and displayed from individual American homes. The President also asks Americans to observe a moment of silence beginning at 8:46 A.M. (Eastern Daylight Time) marking the first plane crash on September 11, 2001."

~flagandbanner.com

via

Flying our flag today and every day at the Gish house.

(Although now that we have a flag pole I'm pretty excited about getting a flag for every season/holiday... *evil grin*)

~SG

A First "Bee-Day" Party for Georgiana

Yesterday I attended a beautifully themed first birthday party for my friend Danielle's daughter, Georgiana- or Gigi for short.  The invitation arrived in the mail a while ago and I was just so excited. Danielle and I share the same type of enjoyment for all things themed... (coincidentally, she also loves Disney).  So I knew this was going to be an awesome party.

Sunday morning I donned a yellow top, black shorts, and yellow heels to match and headed off to the party!

The decorations were absolutely beautiful.  Danielle made everything herself.  The entire banner said "Happy Bee-Day Georgiana"

The tables were FILLED with bee-themed goodies.  The take-home was a little baggie that you could fill with scoops of candies, cookies, cheerios, etc.

Bee-Day Cupcakes, of course!

Lemonade and wine, for that buzzzzzz ;)

BEEr. Hahaha

Soon it was time for the main event!  Time for the cake smash!



Gigi's cupcake was made out of pancake batter. A much healthier baby cake!



Ummmm what IS this??

And then it was time to open presents!! Danielle told me she was into anything that lights up/makes noise when you hit it.  So I got her a little cell phone toy that makes all kinds of noises and lights up in all the colors.  It turned out to be a great idea, because Gigi kept trying to steal my phone!!

Happy Bee-Day, Gigi! We love you!!!

Mama D and Baby G

~SG



An Unbiased Study

Good Friday, readers.

Today I'm going to share with you a recent scientific study I conducted with the general public in mind.  As you all know, September means it's pretty much Fall.  And Fall means pumpkins.  And more specifically, pumpkin flavored coffee.

Now, most of you probably get your PSL from Starbucks.  But this season, Dunkin Donuts decided to one-up their competitor by releasing their version of pumpkin spiced coffee a liiiiittle earlier.  So this week I decided to taste test BOTH of them in order to determine which was more delicious.  (And yes, I did this on different days.)

I asked for the same size (medium) for both, and I even took one for the team and got whole milk so as not to distort the taste. Here are my findings:

1. Dunkin Donuts

My first sip tasted more like hot milk than coffee.  I could taste the "pumpkin spice" but it was kind of faint.  Also, I knocked points off for lack of whipped cream. Was I supposed to ask for that?  When I got to the bottom of the cup, I realized where the "pumpkin spice" had gone.  Woooo! That was a tangy last sip. 

2. Starbucks

The first sip was heavenly.  It was delicious, sweet, and this one had whipped cream!  I have to say, that Starbucks totally takes the cake. But not without making a few important observations:

-If I had asked for whipped cream on the DD coffee, it would have tasted better
-I have had Starbs PSLs before where the spicy stuff ended up in the bottom too
-DD gets extra points for having better breakfast options

So, in conclusion...

I will still be frequenting DD as it is directly on my way to work and I love to eat bagels/cream cheese and donuts and also I really like their basic coffee w/cream and sugar.

IF I want a PSL I will 100% be getting it from SBUX. Same with a Caramel Macchiato or any of their other frou frou drinks. 

I guess it just depends on what you are in the mood for. In my mind, DD and SBUX are not competitors.  They are both good at offering different types of things.

Thanks for taking the time out of your day to read my thoughts on coffee...

~SG

I love it when they snuggle.

Goodbye to Ashley :(

Friday night after work I picked up my friend, Danielle, and we headed off towards the Bay Bridge to Kent Island, MD.  Our good friend, Ashley, who we cheered with on Red Rockers, Kastles, and who recently cheered for the Ravens and Bayhawks, is moving to Arizona :(

We decided to throw her a little shindig at a place called Hemingways, right across the water on the Chesapeake Bay.

Check out the view we had from the bar as the sun set:

When Ash arrived, we had a quick little photo shoot down by the water.

I even got a picture of the Blue Moon!

Our going-away gift for Ash was a scrapbook.  Each person that came to the party brought pictures and other mementos and we sat there at our table cutting and pasting and making a mess.  People were definitely staring.  But hey, how often do you get to scrapbook in a bar??

We're really going to miss her, but we know Ashley will be successful in Arizona.  We wish her all the best!!!!

One last Weagle out, for old times sake!!!!

Hope everyone had a great Labor Day weekend!

~SG

Mike and Jenee: The Little Details

In the attempt to not repeat myself, I actually thought out how I was going to share pictures from this wedding.  Since many of my loyal followers are also friends on Facebook, I didn't want to post the pics over the weekend and then do a boring post Monday morning with all the same pics. 

(Yes, I actually think of these things.)

I decided to leave out the pictures of the decor, details, and theming to use in a blog post.  This wedding was especially well done, and it really does deserve it's own post.

I also included a couple other pics that you may have already seen, just to keep you on your toes.

The wedding was at the Historic Kent Manor Inn on Kent Island, MD.  It is an absoultely beautiful and historical location.  Which I loved.  This was our first B&B experience as well, and we really enjoyed it.  The building is old, so the walls are thin and things such as doorways and hallways are smaller.  But I love that. The downstairs was beautiful- I love the history of a place like this and it was well decorated to reflect the time it was built.  It was a gorgeous location for a wedding and reception.

Before the ceremony.

The theme for the entire wedding was the beautiful blue colors you see below, and the starfish.  It was a beach theme, and the wedding took place outside in front of a gazebo by the waters edge.

A picture of the bride and groom, and a little bit of wedding decor.  The water is directly behind the gazebo.  Reminds me of another wedding I attended ;)

I had to share this picture again because I am just so proud of it:

That's right. It's a post-vow fist bump.

The nametags were attached to starfish and stuck in a sand box. So creative and classy. 

The cake was beautifully done, with starfish and seaweed designs.

The groom's cake was a bucket of crabs. How freaking awesome is this?!?!?!

My place setting at table 5.

The centerpieces were made with empty wine bottles.  The bride and groom worked hard at emptying them for the past several months! ;) 

You can also see the favors in the above picture. They are little light houses with candles in them. They work PERFECTLY with our beach themed master bathroom.  LOVE LOVE LOVE.

Dinner option #1: Crab Cakes

Dinner option #2: Filet

Both dinners were amazing.  Not your typical "wedding food" (although I really haven't been to a wedding yet where I didn't think the food was delicious). 

Messing around with the table number and my nametag.

The ceremony site

Like I said, a beautiful wedding and a really really fun reception.  The inn was completely filled with wedding party and guests, so we partied late into the night.  I managed to spill red wine all over everything, lost my camera in somebody elses room (I later found out it was found in the room where we were doing sorority chants...typical) and Joey and Peyton tried to steal a rowboat but couldn't find the oars (thank goodness).

Congratulations to the beautiful couple!!!

~SG

Same Pic Different Day

So the other night I was talking about Moms that post a zillion pictures of their baby, just laying there making different faces.  Or in some cases the same face.

I was vowing to never be that Mom and my husband just scoffed at me and told me to look at my own blog.

I mean, I guess he has a point....

Cause how many pin pics have you seen that look just like this?

So FINE. Maybe I already am THAT Mom.

But they are just sooooooooo cute!!!

HAPPY FRIDAY!

~SG