Blizzard!

Apparently last weekend's snow was just a teaser. This morning I woke up to what I think is actually a blizzard. I can hardly see through the snow across the street!

I hope this poor guy called the airport before heading out with his rolly suitcase...
You can see how windy it is from the angle of his body.

With all this free time I've been able to get a lot of things done including trying this new recipe - a butternut squash, cabbage and tofu sweet and sour stir fry. It was delicious and a lot of fun to eat a purple and orange dinner!

But I'll have to find new pastime before too long because this is how the grocery store looks... I went last night to get eggs, milk, bread, and grapes and found that of that list there was only bread so I got two loaves to make myself feel as if I hadn't wasted the trip... There did seem to be large quantities of brownie mix left; I wonder if it was the kind of mix that requires eggs and milk...

Adventures in the snow

This weekend we got the 20-40 inches of snow they were predicting and had a blast.

On our way to a massive snowball fight with lost of other young(ish) DC residents. This is our street which leads to Dupont Circle.

My bike was not spared the snow...

At the snowball fight. The media said there were about 1,500 people there. Odd that people get more mobilized for a snowball fight than for a protest but it was so much fun!

A video of the excitement. Here there's a guy who mobilized all of us to save up our snowballs and throw them at the people in the middle at the same time.

Then we met up with Nate and little-N.

We did some sledding and at the bottom of the hill found this igloo.

Sohail going in the ingloo.

Inside! It was really beautiful and turned all blue when the light from the entry way was blocked.

Trees
Saturday night Sohail and I saw that this tree which is on our block fell. Today they came and cut it. I didn't really realize how heavy snow is but lots of trees were downed.

Fortunately the tree didn't hit any buildings but did crush two cars.

And we also pushed several cars out of the snow... Now on to the next big storm (arriving tomorrow and Wednesday - 10-20 inches).

The Snowpocolypse is Underway

The weathermen are calling for 24-40 inches of snow... There was no more bottled water or onions (?) at the grocery store. It must be serious. But Sohail and I aren't very serious people and I already ate almost an entire snowball (not intentionally... it was thrown in my mouth...).

Home sweet home.

Snowy Wonderland

The view from our apartment this morning is stunning! Last night I went for a run in the snow which was also beautiful.

sledding

We just got back from sledding. It was the first time in my life I ever went and it was so much fun! I've never laughed so much from pure fun.

After my first run down.

Having fun.

Sohail building a jump. We finally managed to jump it once but mostly we just plowed through it.

So happy!

My snow angel.

Sohail made a buddy this time around.

At the bottom of the hill was a creek... Sohail came close to going for a swim on this one.

Plowing through the jump! (Sorry I can't rotate the video...)

wedding planning in a parallel universe

After living in DC for 5 years I still thought I was in touch with my Southern side (to the extent I ever had one). While I don't say hi to people I don't know on the street (ok, except for the crossing guard this morning...) I still let people turn in front of me in rush hour traffic. But trying to plan a Charleston wedding from DC has led me to realize that I'm now completely out of touch. Here's a conversation I had with a caterer last night:

S – We’d like to change some of the hors d’oeuvres. Do you think we could have the proscuitto wrapped asparagus in the place of the sweet potato biscuits?
C (with southern gay guy accent) – Oh sweetie, I’ve been to lots of weddings and no one likes the proscuitto wrapped asparagus. Why don’t we do some grits and gravy?
S – ummm… what about the caviar canapés?
C – Oh, no! No one likes the caviar canapés. They sound good but I can tell you the pimento cheese finger sandwiches are much better.
S – well… my fiancé’s Persian and I’m French and we’d like to incorporate our cultures into the menu.
C – (long pause as he tries to remember whether France is next to Mexico and figure out why I’m marrying a cat interrupted by a stroke of genius….) Oh! What about a croissant BLT?!

So croissant BLT it is ;-)

And I think we found the perfect cake!

January in DC

After five years living in DC I'm still getting used to the winter but this has definitely been the best one yet. Not only did we have a huge snow but I also got a new coat that's kept me warm allowing me to enjoy being outside. And today it was in the 50s so Sohail and I took a hike. Otherwise we've been having a wonderful time indoors with Deena and Chris' visit, Sohail's parents for dinner, and Sohail's friend Leon from NY this weekend.

Sohail making an amazing paella for his parents.

Great Falls (in Maryland)

Sohail napping on boulder

The Potomac

A little DIY for the apartment

sunset

Christmas in Charleston

Christmas eve with Maman & Derek

Addy wants aperetif

Our first attempt at making a buche de noel.
It's supposed to look like a tree branch and it was delicious.

Cleo breaking in my Dad's new sweater.

All of us on Christmas day.

My Dad opening his gifts.

The dogs chasing squirrels

They really should try to learn to climb trees...

Derek and Maman walking along the battery

Someone's beautiful yard

Downtown

Derek and Addy at Alhambra

A huge oak tree at Alhambra

Christmas in DC

This deer scared me so much I jumped.

I thought it was alive as I came walking around that fat snowman!

I finally won a game of backgammon! Ok - I won one of three which Sohail reminded me was just the battle but not the war but this is the beginning of something good...

How DC looked the day after the snowstorm.

Becase we spent Christmas with our own families this year, Sohail and I had our own celebration at home a few days early. Lucky for us we got a day off work because of the snow which gave us a whole day to celebrate!

It's true. I do!
Sohail loves power tools...