Another wedding weekend

We had a great time in Chicago this weekend for Pat & Mary's wedding. One would think it would be a bit exhausting to endure two back-to-back family weddings, but it couldn't have been more fun. Eamon, who has become quite the seasoned traveler, did wonderfully on the plane, and slept thru most of the reception and all of the ceremony. And to think I was worried he'd be the crying baby in the back of the church!

After a couple of days outside the city (where the wedding took place), we ventured into Chicago with Mr. and Mrs. Flynn to check out the sites. Neither of us had ever been there, so it was a good opportunity to explore a little and see what Chi-town's all about. Although we didn't have too much time, we squeezed in the architechtural boat tour (very cool) and got some good ol' deep dish pizza for din. And thanks to Mr. Flynn, we stayed on the 22nd floor of the very swank downtown Renaissance Hotel with sweeping views of the famous Chicago Theatre, Joffrey Ballet, and Lake Michigan.

Lots of pics below!

Finally, wedding pics!

Sorry for the delay in getting these posted...a few faves are below and there are plenty more in my picasa album.

bec's wedding

There are only two words to describe Bec and John's wedding weekend extravaganza, and those would be simply amazing. Perhaps the two most memorable and fun days of my life! From the perfect fall weather to the beautiful surroundings (and host couple!), everything about the event was fabulous. I have a memory card's worth of photos and more details to fill a year's worth of blogs to share, but first I have to rewrite a story that I thought I had finished last week--only to discover that I saved the wrong version and now have to do it all over again. Nothing like getting slapped with reality after a fantastic few days!

Congrats to the happy twosome, who are now on their way to Turks & Caicos for a much deserved vacay!

Belated Birthday Greetings from New Paltz

With the big wedding coming up and a lot of work to get done, I've been a very bad blogger! But thanks to my wonderful mom, who is watching Eamon now, I've been able to sneak in a couple of hour at the local coffee shop in New Paltz to get some work done and yes, blog.

So first things first: Happy happy happy birthday to Mark! He celebrated his big 3-0 on Monday. Poor thing was laid up in bed with a sinus infection all day, so he didn't get to have that much fun (though he was off of work!). But we did have a quick birthday dinner at the Elysian Cafe across the street while my mom looked after E; I knew Mark was really sick when he didn't finish his meal and passed on dessert. Me being the bad wife that I am had NO prezzie for him to open, but he knows that I meant well in my heart. I made a couple of attempts to get him something to no avail. I'm rapidly discovering that Eamon is not a shopper and lets me know it...LOUDLY...whenever we step into a store.

Second, another big birthday shout out to Philip III! The little guy turned two yesterday. He is such a cutie and getting more and more adorable every day--it's crazy how much he resembles his daddy! I can't wait to see him and all of the rest of the fam this weekend. It's going to be so much fun.

Speaking of the weekend, it's time to scoot and tend to whatever wedding details Bec needs to get done. She is on top of it all, of course, but I am here to help, after all!

New Look

I knew it would only be a matter of time before the blogosphere and the scrapbooking industry crossed paths. Afterall, most blogs are simply scrapbooks without the glue and do-dads. And while I tend to take an anti-scrapbooking stance (mostly because I don't have it in me to do all of that arranging, cutting, and pasting), I did have a lot of fun picking out my own background at thecutestblogontheblock.com. I chose this damask print in honor of our similarly-designed fuzzy wallpaper on Mastenbrook Place. While I was at it, I poked around the new blogger options (hence the "bloglist", a cool function that automatically lists your favorite blogs as they're updated) and finally changed the title of this thing. We moved from Christopher Street nearly a year ago...it was about time.

I also got creative with Eamon's blog (fyi: I'm updating it weekly); check it out when you can!

And 7 weeks later, a 7-minute mile.

This morning I made my triumphant return to the NYRR race scene. I write that with great sarcasm as my "triumph" involve a paltry 1.7-miles, which is by far the shortest distance I've ever covered in Central Park. But since I wasn't sure what my legs had in them, I thought I'd do something I could enjoy--and finish--as my fist race back post-baby.

As luck would have it, NYRR was hosting its Norway Run (the aforementioned 1.7-miler) as part of its Norweigian Festival, which also included a half-marathon (so not for me right now!). So Mark, Eamon, and I rose bright and early and scooted to the Park so I could toe the line for the first time in five months. When the gun went off, I quickly realized I should have started up at the front of the group, as I was stuck in the middle with some slow pokes. So I spent the first few minutes weaving and dodging through the crowd until I found some space and picked up the pace. Not wanting to die out there, I kept things conservative but quick enough that I was feeling the burn as I rounded the corner to the finish line. There, I saw my little baby (and my baby daddy), got a huge surge of energy, and flew into the chute.

Based on the pace of my runs of late, I was hoping to dip under 14 minutes. But much to my surprise, I crossed the line at 12:04, which breaks down to 7:05 pace! That put me at 10th out of 215 people in my age group and 35th overall (out of almost 900 women). I know this is really nothing to brag about, but I'm happy about my somewhat quick recovery from having my little nine-pounder. Now I just have to keep that pace up for a 5K!

After the race, we headed down to our old 'hood for a nice little breakfast with Nandita. Keren joined us for a bit and we sat and chatted outside of Grey Dog. Then we spent the rest of the afternoon with the 'rents and Sam (while Leezie was hard at work). It was a quintessential fall-in-New York day, and we could have spent hours and hours outside. Just gorgeous--and lots of fun with the two little ones!

Little Flynn

How cute is this onesie? It's part of a set hand-decorated by Dana K. While anything I'd try to decorate with puffy paint would turn into a globby mess, she obviously has much talent when it comes to the stuff!

I love the look on Eamon's face in the first pic. It's like, "...you talkin' to me?" I think I was singing some silly, made-up song.

I find it hard to resist taking pictures of Eamon on our bed! He gets so happy and comfy there, and the lighting's usually nice in the afternoons. Here are some shots of him--and his many varied expressions--from last week.

The littlest Redskins fan

Sundays around our house is all about football, and Mark and Eamon did a lot of daddy/baby bonding while watching the many, many games via Sunday Ticket on Direct TV. For the 'Skins game, Mark and Eamon donned their burgundy and gold and watched them cruise to a victory over the Cowboys! Maybe E's a good luck charm?

A visit from Aunt Eileen!

We had the pleasure of spending the entire weekend with Eileen, who took some time out of her very busy work and school-packed sked for the visit. After a long bus ride (we know from past visitors that Friday night bus rides out of DC are never speedy trips), she made it here in time to see Eamon before he went to sleep for the night. We packed in some fun with her--breakfast at Turning Point, shopping in Edgewater, a stop at Leezie's to see my mom and Sam before dinner at Dublin--and also stayed in some so she could spend time with E, her main priority! He loved having her here, as did we. Can't wait to see her and all of the Flynn fam again in Chicago in just two weeks!