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!