Tag, I'm It!

It's been a while since I've posted, so when my friend Heather tagged me, I could not resist! Here are my answers to a few questions so that you can get to know the Consors a little better.

8 TV Shows I (We) Watch
1) Thomas the Train Engine - Not by choice, obviously. Noah loves this show and asks for it constantly. I think it's weird, they end the show at odd times. You know how a tv show/movie has a beginning, build-up, climax, and then slow ending? Well Thomas goes straight to the build-up and climax, and then ends right away. You're constantly left saying "That's it?"
2) The Big Bang Theory - We don't get to watch it all the time, but it's on Tivo! We love this show. The nerdy humor is hilarious!
3) The Young and the Restless - I have been watching this for as long as I can remember. And as long as I've watched it, there has only been one Victor Newman.
4) 90210 - Love the old one, love the new one. Love it, love it, love it!
5) Sex and the City - Best show ever, hands down.
6) Seinfeld - Andrew's 'Sex and the City'
7) Anything on Foodtv - They inspire me to be a better cook
8) Anything on HGTV - We live vicariously through people who improve their homes.

8 Restaurants We Like
1) Moby Dick's - Very good kabobs. Very, very good kabobs. Best hummus in town.
2) The Melting Pot - Anna's favorite. Andrew hates this place, he thinks it's a rip-off to have to cook your own food. LOL! And he's always freaked out by everyone's raw meats in the same pot.
3) Maggianos - There's something for everyone at this Italian favorite. We had our rehearsal dinner here and the service was EXCEPTIONAL. We always go here on special occasions.
4) Amphora Greek Diner - They recently updated their menu, but all of our old favorites are still there. I recently tried their falafel - YUMM-O!
5) Michelangelo/San Vito - A Broadlands/Franklin Farm favorite! Great Italian food.
6) Chengs - Best Chinese food in Loudoun County. A close second is Jasmine in Leesburg.
7) Sal's Pizza - We probably should move this up the list. Their pizza is awesome. As close to NY pizza as you can get.
8) Clyde's Willow Creek Farm - How can you not love the fact that such a nice, classy restaurant is within walking distance to your house? Awesome!

8 Things That Happened to me Today
1) Got up at 6:30 AM - that's sleeping in for us!
2) Picked up Noah who spent the night at my parents house. Enjoyed homemade egg rolls. My dad's egg rolls are so good!
3) Daddy accidentally put a present under the tree that wasn't wrapped (duh). Noah found a new Thomas the Train set under the tree, just waiting for him. We played trains today.
4) Enjoyed lunch from Wegman's!
5) Visited our friends, the Yorks, and also hung out with the Singh family. Noah had fun with his friends Don and Abhi.
6) Gave Noah a bath! Usually Daddy gives Noah a bath, but tonight it was Mommy. :)
7) I wish I could say that I came home and found piles of laundry done, folded, and put away, but no such luck.
8) Feel sick, going to bed early.

8 Things I Wish For
1) World Peace
2) End hunger
3) Health and happiness in 2009
4) I wish stupid people would stop having children. And if they do have them, please stop hurting them. For example - Caylee's mom should rot in hell.
5) Job security
6) For Noah to grow up to be a respected member of society, go to college, and get a good job
7) To Win the lottery
8) A long vacation!

8 People I Tag to do this, too!
1) Heather (she already did it)
2) Elena
3) ??
5)??
6) ??
7) ??
8) ??

The Tale of a Boy and his Asthma

Noah had another trip to the ER on Thursday, Sept 25th. :( His cold settled in his chest and his asthma flared up. We took him to the pediatrician on Thursday morning, which he was NOT happy about. He cried when they took his temperature, which led to vomiting in the doctor's office. Not good...Don't want to pay for the doctor's expensive shirt!

Because he was vomiting, and they didn't think he could keep down any medication, they sent us over to Reston Hospital's ER where they inserted an IV and gave him liquids and a steroid to help him breathe. They gave him 2 nebulizer treatments and some oxygen, and was finally able to go home that night.

To learn more about childhood asthma, click out this website:

http://www.aaaai.org/patients/publicedmat/tips/childhoodasthma.stm

Pardon the photos, they were taken with my Blackberry. This one is so sad, check out his hand from the IV. Andrew and I called it his 'paw.'

Resting peacefully, between nebulizer treatments...what an angel.

Noah's Busy Week

Noah has had quite the busy week, starting with a trip to Dutch Wonderland on Saturday! We spent the day in Lancaster, PA and Noah had a wonderful time. Although he didn't seem to like any of the rides that went off the ground, he still managed to have fun!

On Wednesday, we took Noah to see The Wiggles at the Patriot Center! He LOVED IT! We didn't think that he would sit through an hour of the show, but he proved us long and lasted almost 90 minutes!

Check out our New Photos!

I finally got a chance to load the pictures from Noah's party! Check them out on the left. :) We also have pictures of him on his tricycle (he hates his helmet).

Imust speak my mind

Would someone please get Don Imus off the air? That tool is a piece of work! Who allows him to get away with this crap? Yes, I believe in free speech, blah blah blah, but enough is enough already! In this day and age, who the hell asks "What color is he?" SO WRONG!!

Imus, if I saw you on the street, I'd spit on you! Freak.

CARRIE AND BIG FOREVER!!!!!!!!

I did it! I saw Sex and the City yesterday. And I'd see it over and over and over and over....you get the point.

Did I love it? YES
Would I see it a million times? YES
Did I stand up and shout "YEAH" when Carrie and Big got married? YES
Should it win an Oscar? YES
Do I want the Chanel bag that Carrie was sporting when she told Samantha she was getting married? YES
Would I leave Andrew for Mr. Big? YES....errr, No, I mean NO!!

3 Years Ago Today...

I married the greatest man in the world!

Happy Anniversary, Andrew. I love you more than you know. :)

AFTER 2 YEARS, WE FINALLY DID IT!

After 2 very long years, Andrew and I took the plunge...

WE WENT TO THE MOVIES!!! (What did you think we were going to say??)

Since Noah was born, we haven't really had a chance to go out to the movies. Every Noah-free moment is spent either 'doing something we can't do while he's around' (eg, housework, moving furniture, cleaning, etc) or sleeping.

Andrew and I both decided it was time to end the cycle, and head out to the movies. What movie did we choose after our 2-year hiatus? Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull! It was great. So maybe it's not Oscar-worthy or a Cannes Film Festival Winner... But my goal is to spend time in the theater, being entertained by a movie that doesn't involve any of the following terms: jumbo loan; mortgage-backed securities; OFHEO. You get the idea.

My goal in seeing a movie is to temporarily suspend my vision of reality and be entertained by what Hollywood has to offer! All of my goals were achieved with this film. It was action-packed, and I totally loved the Indiana Jones theme song (call me cheesy, but you all know you like it, too). I was not bored, nor did I yawn once during this movie. If I were a critic, I'd give it 3.5 out of 5 stars or a "B" - not as good as the others, but definitely entertaining and worth the 2 year wait.

Next up - Sex and the City.

Two movies within 10 days...it's going to be a crazy few days!

The Countdown Has Begun...

Ladies and gentlemen, we are 8 days away from the release of the Sex and the City movie...I repeat, we are 8 days away. This is not a drill. Report to the nearest movie theater in 8 days.

I'm planning to spend this auspicious occasion with my dear friend Ebony! I can't wait...I've already got my Burberry bag packed and ready to go. You have to be fashionable going to the theater, haha! It's filled with:

-A thermos to carry cold cosmos (who wants to drink coke or water while watching those 4 lovely ladies? YOU NEED TO DRINK A COSMOPOLITAN!!)
- Tissues, just in case Big really does leave Carrie at the altar
- Pen and paper, to jot down all of the "OMG, I can't believe they did that" scenes, so Ebony and I know what to discuss while having MORE cosmos after the movie
- My old lady glasses because I'm starting to go blind. Well, not really, but I want to take in EVERY DETAIL!! Patricia Field was the costume designer, need I say more?

I'm not sure what kind of withdrawl I'm going to experience after the movie is over...I may lock myself up in my house for a few days...let the events 'stew.'

Mother Knows Best!

I had a wonderful Mother's Day with my two favorite guys. :) Noah gave mommy a nice card and a wonderful gift, and Daddy made dinner for us all. Yay! Nothing could've been better...

Ok, one thing could've been better...the weather. It's been raining and pouring here for the past few days (today is actually the first day the sun has come out since Friday). Andrew and I spent the better part of last night cleaning out our stairway outside (walk-up basement). The panic set in yesterday afternoon when I heard people at work complaining about how their basements flooded. Lots of people went home early to check on their houses. When I got home yesterday, I ran to the back yard to check to see if our drain pipe was covered with leaves. Sure enough it was covered w/ leaves...and worms, sediment, etc, and about 6 inches of water. It was ALMOST level with the sliding glass door, which would've meant water in the house. Ewwww!!

Since both Andrew and Noah were sick, I had to be the one to save our basement! I put on some boots, old sweat pants, a sweatshirt and a rain coat, and ran bucket after bucket of dirty water up the stairs and out into the yard. In the back of my mind, I remember my mom telling me, when I was 24 years old and wanted to buy a huge townhouse, that "I wasn't ready for homeownership." She was right back then (although it would've been an AWESOME financial investment)...I spent so much time at work, going to grad school, and going out, that I was not ready for a home and all of the responsibility. Even now, Andrew and I are so busy that we usually 'outsource' housework, including cleaning, lawn maintenance, painting, and yes - hanging pictures. :) LOL Too bad I couldn't outsource the removal of dirty water.

When we bought our current house, of course my parents loved it, but my mom said "It's a LOT of work to take care of a single-family home. It's practically a full-time job!" I laughed and said "Oh mom, I'm 32, I can handle a house, a kid, a job, and anything else that comes my way!" LOL Little did I know...

Suffice it to say - MOTHER KNOWS BEST!

Breathe In, Breathe Out...

Last Friday we got a call from Noah's pediatrician, asking us to schedule an appointment. I didn't listen to the whole message, I just figured they wanted us to schedule his 2 year appointment (yes, my baby will be 2 next month)! We listened to the message again, and actually, they wanted us to come in for a follow-up for his asthma.

It's that time of year, folks - allergies, allergies, allergies! For those of you that are blessed without allergies, go out and enjoy the beautiful weather. :) I have been suffering...I can barely water the lawn before I start sneezing and itching like crazy! Luckily Noah has not suffered at all...He's been playing in the yard, and has been around cats and dogs with no symptoms. Please keep your fingers crossed as I take him to the doctor today. I'm sure it's just a routine follow-up, but I'd hate for my baby to have the same allergies that I have. (For those of you that don't know, I STILL get allergy shots every week, and have for at least 15 years now.)

Pet Peeves

My Pet Peeve is waiters/waitresses/food service staff who don't write down what you order. No, you are not "rainman" (even though Anna really is!). You cannot remember that I want spicy mustard, and american cheese on the poppy seed bagel and my lovely wife wants just lettuce and tomato on her sesame seed bagel (Yes, I am talking to you Ashburn Bagel).

This may seem like another instance of berating the poor "wait staff" but....

I WAS the wait staff in my earlier years. I worked at Antonio's Pizzeria in Roslyn, NY for several years until they mysteriously closed one day when I was scheduled to work a shift due to "tax issues". I always wrote down my orders for the great pizza, subs, garlic knots (don't knock em' till you tried them) and pasta. Granted the only reason, I worked there was because the owner's daughters were well let's just say they were pretty darn HOT!

All I am asking is that people take the time to write down an order no matter how many memorization DVD courses they have been through!

AOL Finsys Reunion!

On Saturday, 4/26, Andrew and I had the pleasure of meeting up with old friends!

A few months ago, Rob Johnston and I talked about organizing a reunion of the old Financial Systems gang. The group of us started out around 1995? 1996? It's so long ago I can't remember. Andrew and I joined the team in 1997... We have all been through so much together - many Computron/Axs-One upgrades, Y2K conversion, Euro conversion, customer consolidation, vegetable pants...the list goes on and on. :) Lucky for me, I also got a husband out of my time at AOL. :)

On the left is a slideshow of the happy hour! If you have pictures, please send them to me and I'll add them to the slideshow.

Thanks to everyone who came! It was great seeing you. (And I'm sorry I had to leave early...I had some 'issues.' Hee hee.) I'm going to try to plan something again this fall.

The Day after my Anniversary...

...I'll be spending the day with my second love - Sex and the City!! I could not be more excited about the movie opening on May 30th! I've promised my friend Ebony for over a year now that May 30th is our day - first the movie, then martinis.

There have been many spoilers out there... In addition to Charlotte getting pregnant, Carrie getting stood up, Steve cheating on Miranda, they now have stated this...
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24190119/

Let me just say, if they kill Mr Big, I will walk out of the theater. How can they kill off such a hunk?? Except for Andrew, there is no man hotter on this planet than Chris Noth (hee hee). OMG...HOT!

What's Gonna Work? Teamwork!

Those of you with kids will get the title reference. :)

Thanks to all 6 of you who voted in our poll. Andrew and I were able to come to an agreement on our home improvement project and will hopefully get started in 2 weeks! It was great that we were able to compromise and each come out with something that we wanted (for Andrew, a lower price...for me, planning the work to be done).

Website of the Day

If you are looking to get some good ideas/reviews about places such as I have listed below and much much more in your area try www.yelp.com:

Restaurants
Shopping
Home Contractors
Hotels
Automotive

I highly recommend this website.

More DC-area Restaurant Reviews

KSB - Herndon, VA (www.ksbcafe.com)
i.e., Kosher Style Bagels
Great New York style bagels, good lunch menu, nice atmosphere
Located in the Fox Mill shopping center
Price = $ (low)

Kennedy Center Terrace Brunch - Washington, DC
(http://www.kennedy-center.org/visitor/restaurant_terrace.cfm)
Good buffet style brunch with extras such as a prime rib carving station, separate dessert room and lots of cold salads
Nice enough to bring out of town relatives but not too nice that you can't bring your 2-year old (even though we didn't this time).
$$-$$$ (moderate-expensive)

Old Friends are the Best!

What a wonderful weekend!
(Picture, L to R: Kelly, Anna, Heather, and Julie)
Saturday started off with breakfast with one of my dearest friends, Heather. We've known each other since high school, and our little group (Amanda, Heather, Julie, Kelly and I) has managed to keep in touch since...well, ok, I won't date us. :) Each one of them was a part of my wedding ceremony, except for Amanda who wasn't able to make it. That's ok! Anyway, we had a wonderful breakfast and got all caught up.

My cousin Marlene also arrived on Saturday from Carlsbad, CA! We had a wonderful dinner with my family and an even better brunch the next day at the Kennedy Center. The views were spectacular and the food was just as good. I still have to upload those pictures, I"ll try to do so tonight. It's always great when we can get together, and luckily, her job brings her to DC at least twice a year. Marlene is like the big sister I never had.

Gift Etiquette

What do you do when you give a gift to someone and they are completely ungrateful??

This recently happened to us. Rather than saying "Wow, thanks for the gift" or "How thoughtful of you to think of us" we got "Hmmm...I'd prefer something else."

My response:

BITE ME!!

It's in the Water

We've recently learned that a handful of our friends (and family members - wink, wink) are pregnant. Tonight, when we met our financial planner, he was so pleased to tell us he and his wife are expecting their second child. This is all such wonderful news! There's nothing more precious than the ultimate gift from God - a baby. Congratulations to you all. I wish you all pain-free pregnancies and short labors.

And now, of course, the pregnancy rant.

A few words of (unsolicited) advice, mostly for new parents, but you seasoned parents out there can nod in agreement...Amanda, Heather, Kelly...

• If you're a neurotic mom like me, pay the subscription to consumerreports.com. It's worth it. I was able to research car seats, strollers, play yards, cribs, etc. The most expensive brands aren't always the best, but in some cases, they are (eg, Britax carseats).
  
• Keep the name, and maybe even the sex, of your baby a secret. Unless of course, you're willing to listen to the crap-ass opinions of your friends and even better - your loved ones. I normally have thick skin but when my hormones were raging out of control, I wanted to stick my foot up everyone's butt when they said "Oh, don't name your baby this" or "You should only use XYZ brand of diaper rash cream."
  
• Raise your child however you want, but for goodness sake, use some freakin common sense. For instance, don't put your baby in a Bumbo seat, and then place the baby and seat on your kitchen counter. And if you do, don't come crying to me when both the baby and seat come tumbling down. Don't shower with your newborn baby, they're very slippery. You know, these are all very common sense things...It doesn't take a college degree to raise a kid! Heck, Britney has 2!!
  
• Yes, I am concerned about the environment, yaddah yaddah - but sorry, I'm not into the whole cloth diaper thing. I clean up crap at work all the time, I don't want to do it all night long, too. Disposables are just fine and Noah's butt is not suffering. :)

Mangino's Pizza - Ashburn, VA

We recently tried a new take out eatery in the Ashburn, VA area. The restaurant was Mangino's Pizza (http://www.manginospizza.com). We had an overall good experience but there were a few minor issues.

1.) People on the phone didn't know anything about the local area (this is understandable due to the newness of the place but they should take the time to know the areas that they are delivering to!)

2.) They only accepted VISA/MC and claimed their AMEX machine "did not work yet" (you may want to resolve these issues BEFORE you open up your store)

What we tried:
We sampled the "Caprese Salad" which was really fresh and delicious as well as the Margherita Pizza which was not New York style but was still good. I would say a step above Domino's but not quite Sal's Pizza (Broadlands, VA).

Overall Ratings (1-10):

Food - 7
Service - 7
Price - $ (low)

We've added pictures!

Check out our little slideshow on the left. I still have more pictures to upload...If you don't see yourself in there, then quit your whining and send us a picture!

Our Poll - Would Ya Do It? (Poll is at Bottom of the Page)

To do or not to do, that is the question!

We got a quote for some work we need to have done to the house. It's not going to kill us if we don't get it done, the house isn't falling apart or anything...just something that I (Anna) want to do. It's 3x more than the budget Andrew gave me. So, my question to you is...if you wanted to have something done, and all quotes were above your budget, would you do it? Would you do it, even if it was a one-time 'setup' cost (as I like to call it), and you wouldn't have to spend money to do it again? Oh, and did I mention it will increase the value of your home?

Most of you know me pretty well...I'm pretty darn particular and I'm trying to find a way to compromise, but I just can't find a way. Please tell me - would you spend the money? Not do it? Or, could you care less? LOL!

The Tale of the Girl Scout and her Tongue Lashing

I tell you, this crap only happens to me...

A few weeks ago (well gee, maybe a month or two ago) I decided to support our local girl scout troop by purchasing cookies. On Sunday, the little girl - and quite the mouthy little girl, I might add - rings our doorbell. I answered it and she said "Cookie delivery! I've been trying to get a hold of you for weeks!!"

Anna: "Sorry, we've been on vacation and I've been working a lot."

Mouthy Neighbor Girl: "Oh, my dad thought you were out shopping again."

??? Dude, I shop just as much as the neighbors and lately, all the bags I've taken out of my car have been from the grocery store! Furthermore, who the hell sits in front of the window and watches what their neighbors buy? I have better things to do with my time!!

So, she gives me the cookies, I give her a check, she says the money is going to charity, yaddah yaddah... She even shook my hand to thank me for my business. To lay it on thick, I said "Please tell your Dad I'm sorry we weren't here but I do have a job and we were gone for spring break." (I'm one of the few working moms on my street, so I needed to set this kid straight - I don't have time to wait around for her delivery!)

Mouthy Neighbor Girl: "OK, I'll tell him. He was kinda frustrated with you."

I just laughed. If only her parents knew the words coming out of her mouth!

Disney from Andrew's viewpoint

Considering my last trip to Disney involved my hotel room getting robbed and my hand being embedded with dozens of thorns after a scuffle with my brother Russ, this trip was much better. As Anna pointed out to me Disney seemed much smaller this time than when we were kids. In some ways though it seemed bigger because of how spread out all the parks were though. Some highlights that I can remember: seeing Giraffe's being fed their breakfast and seeing Elena freak out when we saw a whole gaggle of Flamingo's (For those who don't know, Elena is petrified of all birds). I must of course comment on the food. The two sit-down restaurants that we went to were great. The best was the restaurant at the Polynesian Hotel where we had dinner one night. The coconut-pineapple bread was great and they brought out lots of different meats on skewers followed up with a killer bread-pudding dessert. The best casual dining restaurant had to be Wolfgang Puck's Express in Downtown Disney. I found a rare NY item on the menu for breakfast: a bialy (for those who don't know this is a cousin of the bagel that is more like a chewy roll). The bialy was made of pizza dough and it was great!

It was fun to see things through Noah's eyes and there were definitely enough things for an almost 2 year old to do there. He liked the little train in Downtown Disney that had a really small track but he didn't care too much for the more grown-up train that we went on to get us around the Magic Kingdom. Noah also went on "It's a small world" with Papa Cruz which Papa said he loved. I didn't get a chance to go on the ride that I wanted to go on which was: Epcot's Soarin' because the line was 2 hours long but there is always next time...

Year of a Million Dreams

Disney's 'theme' if you will, for 2008, is the "Year of a Million Dreams." Noah accomplished a few of his own wishes and dreams during this trip. He ate sand at the beach, sat in his Easter basket, and enjoyed a whole week with Mommy and Daddy. Noah watched the parade several times while at the Magic Kingdom - and even slept through a parade or two! He never made it to a fireworks show (he was sick part of the time), but that's ok; gives us something to look forward to during our next Disney trip.

Back from Vacay, Starting a Blog

Hello everyone! We are back from sunny Florida. We started off in Jacksonville, visited with Elena, and then Elena came with us to Disney! We had a great time, despite mom and dad catching colds (aka, "Nana and Papa, Bird Flu 2008") and Noah having asthma attacks. While mom and dad hung out in the hotel with Noah, Andrew, Elena and I checked out Epcot and the Magic Kingdom. Note to those of you wanting to go to Disney - DO NOT GO DURING SPRING BREAK!!!! It was so crowded we didn't ride very many rides because the minimum wait at just about everything was at least 60-80 minutes.

Gotta go, my little man is awake! More later...