A luncheon for Leezie

Hard to believe that the next baby in our family will be here in ONE week! To honor the mom-of-two-to-be, we hosted a little luncheon on Sunday. On the menu: tea sandwiches (chicken salad and cucumber/goat cheese/watercress), spinach salad with mushrooms, mandarin oranges, fruit kabobs, spinach dip, and cupcakes (thanks to Sissy for her spring ideas).

Leezie looked GREAT in her swirly-patternered dress and bump. She is still very tiny everywhere except her belly. Even though their not certain whether the little one's a boy or girl, I'm convinced it's the former and even bought blue (and brown) outfits for him. I'm so trained to look for boy stuff that pink things don't even register on my radar screen!

The 'rents came up for the occasion, and, as always, it was great to spend time with them! And they still claim to love Jersey, even though they had to walk through the faux St. Patty's day madness to get back to their hotel!

A future fish?

Nothing like starting 'em young--Mark took Eamon to his very first swimming lesson yesterday. While we can't report any displays of Phelps-like prowess--yet--Eamon did enjoy hanging out in the pool with Dad. Can't wait to see what he "goes" in the 25 y free! Just kidding...

Post-Bath Party!

Aunt Maureen brought Eamon the most adorable towel when she came to visit last week. Getting wrapped up in it each evening is one of the highlights of E's day--he loves to look at himself in the mirror with this big shark face over his head and play with the soft blue terrycloth. The other night he was REALLY having fun (despite being super sick), so I got a few cute pics. Thanks, Maureen, for all of hours of enjoyment!

Our little Irishman

Hoboken celebrates St. Patty early featuring a parade and Jersey's, um, finest displaying debaucherous behavior from 11 a.m. (when the bars open) to 2 a.m. (when the last drunk finally paaassshes out). We braved the crowds to check out the bagpipers and other parade participants, and I couldn't resist dressing E up for the occasion.

San Juan Snaps

Here is a selection of pics from San Juan. The lot of them can be viewed in my online abum. I don't have time to write captions, so just ask if you're wondering what/where something is!

World's Best 10K

Sunny San Juan

Nothing like escaping to a tropical locale in the depths of winter. That's just what I did on Friday when I joined a group of journalists from around the country for a press trip hosted by the San Juan Marriott. Although almost everyone from the group were travel bloggers/writers, I was invited because one of the purposes of us being there was to run the World's Best 10k race. This is a huge (12,000-plus participants) event that runs through the city of Carolina, and over a major bridge and back. The hope was that we'd enjoy the experience of visiting Puerto Rico as well as running the race itself. And enjoy we did!

Our host put together an packed itinerary that included visits to El Yunque rainforest and Old San Juan, as well as some great meals. We had one lunch at the kiosks--a strip of shack-like restaurants along the beach, where I got my first taste of PR specialty mofungo--as well as a swank four-course meal in a beautiful dining room at one of the marriott's restaurants, (there, we were joined by the hotel's director of marketing.)

Throughout the weekend, we were treated like VIP--fruit baskets, cheese plates, champagne and strawberries, or sangria left in my ocean-front room each day. And even at the race, where we were ushered to the front of the pack, leaving the throngs of runners behind. Too bad about 900 of them eventually passed me during those 6.2 miles...let's just say I have a ways to go before I get back into race shape. Still, I had a great time witnessing the festivities and drinking in the party culture that seems to define PR.

After a fun night recovering with room service and champagne by the hot tub with my fellow writers, I became super-stressed about the nor'easter battering the east coast. The weather channel folks had me convinced that there was no way I'd fly. Although the prospect of being stuck on a sunny island (er, archipelago) would usually be quite appetizing, all I could think of was getting home! I missed Eamon and Mark terribly and couldn't help feeling guilty that I was living the life while they were home in the cold (they did have a great weekend with Aunt Maureen). And despite the snow, I got off just fine and
am currently waiting it out in Dulles, so far just 30 minutes delayed for my flight to Newark. Finger's crossed I make it home before dark!

Took some pretty pics, will post soon.