Catching up

Reaaaaallly long break from the blog. Sorry, people: A lot has been going on.

Let's start with Memorial Day. We had a great time with Auntie Rachel -- she graciously agreed to watch Rachel while Drew took me out for a fabulous anniversary dinner (our 19th) at Fiola Mare, a fancy restaurant I've been dying to try. It was fabulous -- they kept giving us free things: gazpacho, champagne, little dessert candies and a card written in calligraphy for the occasion. Can't wait to go back.

We saw "Love and Friendship" afterward, which I thought was pretty bad. When we got home, Rachel told us she and little Rachel had watched "Frozen" together.

On Saturday, I was scheduled to attend a picnic for a story I'm working on. It got canceled at the last minute, which was fine because I really would have preferred to spend it with Drew and the two Rachels. So...I got to grill mustard-covered chicken (actually, Drew grilled it and it came out PERFECTLY), make popovers and salad, and then had dessert. It was lovely sitting outside and eating without being bitten to death by bugs or fainting from the heat.

On Sunday morning, Rachel invited Rachel and I to an all-female brunch with a friend of hers, Jamila, who lives in the District. Little Rachel got bored halfway through, so we played Scrabble until I told her that we really had to rejoin our hostess. Jamila was so kind; she gave Rachel some books and a bag of pure vanilla beans. I made it to work just in time for Drew to pick Rachel up (and, we found out later, he unfortunately got a speeding ticket on the way there).