Tuesday, August 21, 2012

holden beach 2012

we started this a few weeks ago and then, well, life happened in the meantime, as it often does. so this is all a bit overdue, but we can't let any more time go by without a (drumroll, please)... HOLDEN BEACH RECAP!!

the mcnichol fam has been making the annual pilgrimage to Holden Beach, NC for about 15 years now. the crowd always varies slightly from year to year, but the 2012 installment was especially unique because we had the whole Rosenthal clan along for the ride =).

bryan's folks rented a house around the corner from the Bassett beachfront home and between the two houses there ended up being a grand total of 16 of us (16 at once, anyway. Lisa made 17 but she left before my brothers arrived).

normally i'm someone who has a hard time with change, especially where annual traditions are concerned, but this year's trip was a change in the BEST kind of way.

for one thing, we had enough people for a guys-versus-girls game of beach volley ball, followed by some cornhole...


... skin boarding... (Papa Rosenthal would NOT give up on that thing. it was downright inspirational.)



personal favorite ;-)

crabbing...
(this photo was stolen from Bryan's sister's friend, Kathryn)

one night the girls all made homemade salsa and guacamole...


and then of course there were the good old Holden Beach traditions, like John's 24th birthday (the birthday part is tradition, anyway - the number tends to change every year)...


... post-dinner jam sessions...


... and general, all-around fun and togetherness =)













Vince and his friend, Grant.




John with his girlfriend, Sarah.



Bryan's brother Stephen and his girlfriend, Emily.



toes...



hats!






this magical week went by far too quickly and culminated in a beach photoshoot, courtesy of the brothers Rosenthal:










Saturday, August 18, 2012

30 weeks!

when your husband works all day on a saturday, you feel like you ought to get SOMETHING done. so i figured, why not start with a fun something?

even though we have 2 much more important and interesting blog posts in queue (i'm waiting on photos *ahem*), i don't like to go too long without posting something, and there are always plenty of delicious little everyday items that need their time in the spotlight along with all the big stuff. 

for instance...

speaking of delicious, i have recently re-discovered the magic of cereal. why did i ever stop eating this stuff?? the promise of honey bunches of oats with the morning comics are literally THE thing that got me out of bed every morning for all 4 years of high school. and it's really quite good for you - even the sugary stuff that isn't quite as good for you as the non-sugary stuff has its share of goodness and nutrients packed into each delectable little flake, which this pregnant woman who generally dislikes eating breakfast greatly appreciates.


and now that i've just somehow managed to write an entire paragraph dedicated to cereal, it's time to move on. 

as the title of this post suggests, today marks 30 WEEKS!! that means only 10 more until baby rosenthal explodes onto the scene and changes our universe forever. bry&i bounce back and forth between hopeless excitement and crippling terror, but if you're wondering which of the two usually ends up winning...


... ok, that face could kinda go either way, so i'll just tell you that it's my "hopelessly excited" face.

another fun little fact - did you know you can go and play with puppies for FREE at the petland in fairfax? well, you totally can, and we totally did last weekend.

this little guy tore bryan UP! he had scratches and bite marks all up his arms/legs and was actually bleeding. we'd chosen the beagle pup because, as i wisely observed, he "looked like he needed some exercise." no shoot, sherlock... bryan declined to "exercise" any more puppies after that one.

photos like these are a glaring testament as to why i generally stick to writing. 
in other completely unrelated news, I MADE A COBBLER!!

ALL
BY
MYSELF

if you know me at all, you know why that statement was deserving of caps and multiple exclamation marks (2 looked about right, 3 felt a bit tacky). the glory of this accomplishment is only slightly diminished once you've followed the link to the embarrassingly easy recipe i used. 




in closing, i'd like to say, did you know that this week is restaurant week in the DC area?? don't know what restaurant week is? basically, it means that a bunch of restaurants in the area are doing this:


they're all the same deal too, no matter how pricey or affordable their menus usually are. we're heading to the melting pot in reston tonight with the sheks (!!). we wanted to go to chima brazilian steakhouse in tyson's (and if you've been there, you'll know why, especially considering how much they usually cost), but they were (not surprisingly) booked until 9:15 tonight =/.

ok, this has been fun, but laundry, an unmade bed, and bags of stuff that need to go to goodwill are calling my name (as is, at some point, a shower). have a fantastic weekend, all!