Emerging from the (Work-Induced) Darkness

Yeah, yeah, long time no blog.  Things have been pretty crazy around here, and work has entirely consumed my life.  Seriously.  Meaning that personal emails have gone unanswered, friends have gone unseen, and my relationship with Dan essentially consisted of takeout dinners and nights spent sitting on the couch side-by-side while I read applications.  Because I'm still new to this job, I went hard, perhaps too hard, to finish all of my work on time and make a good impression, but I could do without the negative work-life balance.

This weekend was a celebration of my emerging from the other side of reading still, shockingly, alive.  For the first time in weeks, I did not work at all over the weekend, and that felt like a huge accomplishment.  However, there was something more worth celebrating this weekend: three years ago yesterday, I went on a first date with the guy who would become the love of my life.  I didn't know it that day, as I power-walked to meet him on U St., but he would become the one person because of whom my cheeks constantly hurt from smiling.  I wrote this in my card to him, but, when I was a hopelessly romantic little girl {a quality that I'm proud not to have lost} and I dreamed about the man I would end up with, he {bizarrely} resembled a Disney prince.  That would naturally lead one to believe that such men don't exist.  Well, Dan has far surpassed all of my loftiest expectations.

I can still vividly remember our first date, and the excitement over the beginnings of our relationship.  It hasn't always been an easy journey, and I was briefly faced with the prospect of losing him when he was in the hospital after our race a few years ago, a feeling that I would not wish upon anyone, but he has succeeded in making me radiantly happy since the day I met him.  His calm, even-keeled personality is a perfect balance to my type-A, worry-filled one.  He is kind, thoughtful and smart in ways that amaze me every day.  He places so much value in his relationships with his family and friends, a sentiment that I share.  His quiet confidence is inspiring, and did I mention that he's easy on the eyes?!  I am so proud to be able to call him mine, and he inspires me to be a better person every day.

This year is going to include so much change and so many new adventures, and I can't think of another person that I would rather experience it all with.  He would be mortified if he knew that I blogged about him, but I can't help but gush about him.  Here's to many more!

Two Years :)

Two years ago yesterday, I walked {okay, more like power-walked, because, due to a bus that was behind schedule, I was running uncharacteristically late} into Saloon on U St. for my first date with "some guy".    I looked to my right, and there was the guy that I assumed I was meeting for drinks, tucked away at a little table for two.  Knowing now how obsessive-compulsive I am about being on time, that same guy still gives me grief, two years later, for being a couple of minutes late {in my defense, I did text him to let him know that I would be a little bit late!}. What followed was the best first date that I've ever been on, and, well, you know how it goes. The rest is history.

Little did I know, two years later that same guy would not only be the love of my life, but also my best friend.  Dan has brought innumerable blessings to my life, and I can't really remember what my life was like before I met him.  The mention of his name still brings a smile to my face, and, on the days that I get to see him, I look forward to it all day long.  I can honestly say that I didn't know what true, unconditional love felt like until I met him, and I am so proud to be able to call him my boyfriend.

This year, we celebrated our anniversary by going out to dinner at Acqua al 2, which, as you may remember, I raved about last month after some girlfriends and I went there for a friend's birthday.  Think yummy Italian food at its finest and that is what you get when you dine at Acqua al 2.  We split a delicious burrata appetizer with pomegranate seeds, spaghetti squash and honey {truly the perfect winter dish}, and, for our entrees, I ordered the farfalline alla zucca {bowtie pasta with pumpkin} and Dan opted for the balsamic filet.  So freaking delicious.  I was truly in foodie heaven :)  From there, we metroed to Iron Horse to watch the Georgetown game.  Since I gave up drinking for Lent {mostly in preparation for my race}, I opted for a couple Shirley Temples {I probably shocked the bartender with that request!}, and we watched our Hoyas avoid a trap game loss to Rutgers.  Side note: this upcoming Saturday is the Cuse rematch, and I am beyond excited! I'm thrilled that we'll get to be there!

On Sunday morning, we went to our favorite bagel place, I baked Dan an anniversary dessert {think cookie cake!}, we caught up on Homeland, went for a walk around Roosevelt Island, and had a nice, romantic anniversary dinner at District Taco haha, which suited me just fine :)  My top priority was spending time with him on our anniversary, which I got to do, so, therefore, was one happy gal!

I had gotten Dan a photo book that I put together to include some of my favorite memories from the past two years that I've captured on film {see, he should be THANKFUL that I'm an incurable photog!}, and he gave me the sweetest card, along with a massage gift certificate {BLESS HIM! I will redeem that after the marathon for a deep tissue sports massage!} and a voucher for one home-cooked meal.  Dan does not like to cook, although I doubt he would be half-bad at it if he tried, and, despite his acknowledgement that something easier would have a better chance of actually tasting good, I told him I had confidence in him that he could make me anything and I would like it.  I'll have to do some scheming to see how I can test him...MUAHHHH!

It really was a perfect anniversary weekend, and I can't wait to see what this next year holds for us!  We have some very exciting things in store this year, which I'll fill all of you in on as they come, and I anticipate that we will have grown in our relationship by even larger leaps and bounds by this time next year!

The Perfect Anniversary Weekend

"You're all that I want and more than I deserve.  I love you."  Okay, I have to give credit where credit is due: those were Hallmark's words, not Dan's, but he said that the sentiment conveyed in the anniversary card that he bought me perfectly phrased how he feels.  And I could not agree more with him.  Those two sentences also convey almost exactly everything I tried to in the pages-long note I wrote him about my favorite moments in the first year of our relationship.  Go figure, Hallmark wins for brevity, while still maintaining the sentiment, no less!

I'm still kind of walking on air today, even though it's Monday (and also, because of holiday weekends and travel, my first five-day work week in three weeks), because how could I not be after the completely perfect weekend that I had?  I won't bore you with too many details, but the highlights are as follows: on Friday night, we went to Saloon on U St., which is where we went for our first date.  We walked in and both immediately identified the table where we sat a year ago (sadly, there was another couple already seated there, so we had to sit elsewhere).  We rehashed our first date, blunders and all, again, which was a lot of fun.

On Saturday morning, we stopped at Blenhaim Vineyards, Dave Matthews' vineyard, on our way to Charlottesville.  If you are ever in the Charlottesville area, I would highly recommend stopping there, because they have really cheap wine tastings ($5/person), cheap additional glasses of wine ($5/glass), and then you get to keep the glass that you used for the wine tasting.  Their space is really remarkable, a very sturdy A-frame building with beams and high ceilings, and a nice little deck that we were able to sit out on because it was so pleasant outside.  It was so nice to break up our drive and enjoy some delicious wine there.

We stopped off at our ADORABLE B&B (patting myself on the back for yet another great find haha), which came complete with a working fireplace, maybe the part of the room that I was the most excited about :-)  We headed out to the Spanish/tapas restaurant that we had planned to go to for dinner, only to find that, in addition to not accepting reservations, had a wait of 18 parties.  Woof.  We quickly abandoned that idea, and actually had a difficult time selecting a restaurant given the lack of variety (this is when I began to feel guilty about my vegetarianism...but not enough so to eat meat).  We finally settled on a French restaurant called Bizou, which turned out to be delicious.

After dinner, we went back to the B&B, relaxed by the fire, sipped the champagne that my parents had given us, and chatted about how lucky we are (anniversaries definitely bring out feelings like that, even more so than usual- and, for those of you who know me, you'll know that I am never shy about my feelings).  It really was the perfect night, and we both agreed that it was so special that we had gotten to take the time out of our busy lives and celebrate the past year of our relationship. 

On Sunday, we had breakfast at the B&B, and the very sweet proprietor congratulated us again on our anniversary, which we very much appreciated.  Then, we stopped off at UVA and walked around campus for a bit (Dan had never been, and my dad and I went once when I was looking at colleges...7 years ago...yikes, I feel old!).  Then, we drove over to Monticello, which ended up being a great tour, despite the fact that it was freezing on top of the mountain.  TJ sure was a visionary!

I kept saying as we drove home that I didn't want the weekend to end, and, while Dan agreed, he pointed out that part of what has made our trips so special is that they break up real life (yeah, yeah, I guess the novelty of it would wear off eventually haha).  But I think the important thing that I try to keep in mind is that, while our trips and special occasions have been so wonderful and meaningful, every day with Dan has been special.  You know you're lucky when an evening spent at the phone store with your half-asleep boyfriend (yeah, that happened the day after Dan returned to DC after having driven through the night from NJ after Hurricane Irene.  Oh, yes, and his phone also broke, hence the AT&T store) is as wonderful as a weekend away in Charlottesville.  Merely being in his presence is enough to make me smile, so I am very aware of how fortunate I am in that respect.  I couldn't have imagined a better anniversary weekend, and I can't wait to see what this next year of our relationship holds!  I know I had trouble condensing my list of my favorite moments/days from our first year, because there were so many things that I loved!

A Very Special Day

I confess, I just stared at my computer screen for five minutes, trying to figure out how I wanted to write this post.  I have been anticipating March 3 for weeks (okay, maybe months) now, and even though it is almost upon us, I still have difficulty finding the words to describe what I'm feeling right now.

A year ago tomorrow (March 3), I went on a first date with a guy.  I was running slightly late (thanks to my bus) and, when faced with the choice to walk or metro to the bar where we had agreed to meet, I put my trust in my long legs to get me there more quickly.  A 20-minute power walk later, I arrived at Saloon, feeling (and looking, I'm sure!) like a hot mess, and apologized profusely, insisting that I am never late (I know that everyone always says that, but, in my case, it could not be more accurate).  We had a great first date- no, the best first date I've ever been on- complete with easy conversation and lots of laughter, and, at the end of the night, when he kissed me goodbye before scampering off the Metro, I had an inkling that he could be someone special. Somehow, despite some spilled water on my part (I think I was still recovering from my power walk) and the slight (less than 5 minutes) lateness, he still liked me enough to hang out again...thank God!  We were even joking the other day that it is a wonder that we went out again, being that we were both probably miserable from being in the middle of our Lenten deprivation (he gives up all soda and I give up all sweets, a huge sacrifice for both of us!)!

A year later, I have gone on many a date with Dan, but he still manages to bring a smile to my face every day, in a way that no one else can.  When I came back from Texas on Tuesday night, we were reunited in the cafe of the Whole Foods near my apartment, and I thought my face would break from how broadly I was smiling.  I am generally a happy person, but my happiness has shot through the roof since meeting Dan, and for that I am eternally grateful.  Speaking of grateful, the word gratitude is a word that has entered my daily vernacular since we started dating.  I give so much thanks every day for the fact that he came into my life, and I can't imagine my life without him.  I don't want to gush too much, because I know that he reads occasionally (and I don't want to embarrass him!), but he really does make me feel like the luckiest girl in the world :)

I can't wait to celebrate our anniversary this weekend!  Tonight, we're planning on going back to Saloon, the site of our first date.  On Saturday, we're taking a little trip to Charlottesville, where we're staying in an adorable B&B and visiting a winery (Dave Matthews' winery!) and Monticello.  I think it will be the perfect way to commemorate the past 366 (gotta include Leap Day) days, and I'm sure I'll have thoughts and pictures to share when we get home!