Cinco de Mayo celebration

So, Sat was Cinco de Mayo, making it the perfect excuse (as if we needed one) for dinner at Dos Locos.  Steven & Thad were away in NJ but I managed to rustle up some buddies to join us.

Joey, Glenn, Vic, Mike

Joe P & my handsome husband

Vic, Mike, and a VERY handsome man in the plaid shirt at the table behind ours

Everyone ordered margaritas because, DUH! its Cinco de Mayo.  But oddly 3 of us ordered the same entree and 4 of us ordered variations of quesadillas.  As usual, the food was delicious and the service was terrific.

You'll notice in the photos that we're all wearing red chili pepper necklaces.  I collected them on Cinco de Mayo 3 years ago at Dos Locos and brought them for our group to wear.  As we stood up to leave a table of women said they liked our pepper necklaces and asked where we'd gotten them.  I explained, and then took off my 2 pepper necklaces and gave them to 2 of the women.  Then Spouse offered his, followed by the rest of the guys.  I jokingly said we were 'paying it forward' by giving them the pepper necklaces, and that next year they should wear them but give them away to someone else before they leave.  They loved that idea.

What did YOU do to celebrate Cinco de Mayo?

New Years Eve

As we've done the last couple years, we went to Dos Locos for New Years Eve.  We love the food there, the owners are always so great to us, and you can order off the regular menu rather than having to buy a 'New Years Eve dinner package'.  

We arrived at 9:30 and stayed until about 12:15.  We had a great time!

Spouse & me

Mike, Joe P, and Steven

Joe P, Steven, Marty, John

Yours truly

 

Dos Locos really decorated for the night!

John

Spouse, Marty, Joe Dos, me

Weekend recap

Last Thursday's snow resulted in my office opening 2 hours late on Fri.  This was good as it gave me extra time Fri morning to clear off the cars and shovel a path from the door to the driver's side.  I decided not to shovel the entirety of the driveways since the forecast was for much higher temps which would melt the remaining snow.  That night we went to dinner with Steven& Thad and Joe P.

Sat I worked, and then we met up with our friends Vic & Mike for dinner.  We had a good meal and a fun time together.  After dinner we went to their house to see how they've furnished and decorated it.  The last time we saw it was just a few weeks after they'd moved in.  Their primary home is in VA and this is their beach home which I sold them.

Sun we had breakfast with friends, and then took Marvin & Walter for a nice long walk.  The weather was sunny and the temperature was in the 50s so the majority of the snow had melted.  The boys absolutely loved the long walk!  It has been too cold/windy/snowy to walk them in quite a while.  Afterward we decided to take advantage of the nice weather by cutting back our rose bushes, which then lead to a major pruning of our crepe myrtle trees.  We spent almost 3 hours outside doing yard work, but I didn't mind since it was so mild out.  I had on jeans with a t-shirt and a light hoodie - that's it.  We ended the day by meeting Steven & Thad at the diner and then watching our Sun night TV shows:  Girls, Togetherness, and Looking.

It was a nice weekend!

Holiday weekend recap

On Fri morning, July 4th, tropical storm Arthur blew through the area.  But my office was open 1/2 day, so I had to dash through the puddles to get to work at 9am.  Arthur was pretty much over by 11am, and the office closed for the holiday at 1pm.  Spouse & I had lunch together and picked up some things from the grocery store.  About 4:30 folks began to arrive at our house to watch the Doo Dah parade, have dinner, and then watch the fireworks.   I took Big Ella for a spin to make sure she was running smoothly, then got into the parade line-up.  Steven & Thad, Joe P, Jack & Alisha, Mike, Dan, and Spouse walked over to the parade route together.  The weather was absolutely dreamy and the parade was really fun, as usual.

Big Ella was a big hit, as she always is at this parade.
Afterward we all returned to the house and had dinner.  Spouse grilled chicken in advance which he warmed up and served with tzatziki, hummus, olives, feta, warm pita bread, and Greek salad.  We ate on the screened porch since the weather was so nice.  It was delicious and a nice change from all the burgers and dogs we'd been eating since Memorial Day.  Joe P brought chocolate cake and apple pie for dessert.  After dinner we drove down the street to the public beach and settled in to watch the fireworks.  They were good, but not as good as last year's.

Sat I had to work again, so Spouse went to the beach with Steven & Thad and Joe P.  Late that afternoon we stopped in briefly at our neighbor's open house (they bought the old church on the corner, gutted it, and turned it into a home) so we could see how it turned out.  It was nice but too stark and modern for my taste.  After that we met up with some other neighbors for a little BBQ.  We took my special barbequed baked beans.  We had a nice time and again, the weather was delicious.

Sun I had to work yet again, but we invited Steven & Thad and Joe P over to eat left-overs from Friday's Greek dinner.  Again we enjoyed being on the screened porch since we knew it was the last "nice day" we'd have for a while.  (Today and tomorrow are scheduled to be well into the 90s.)  

So it was a nice holiday weekend of fun, food, and friends despite my having to work all 3 days.

Sunday funday

We started our Sun by going to breakfast with Steven and Joe P at the Crystal restaurant.  The food is good, the service is fast, and everyone goes there so you always run into people you know.  Its probably my favorite thing about Sundays when I don't work.

On the way home we stopped at both Home Depot and Lowe's to check out their gardening centers.  Neither Spouse nor I really want to spend much time tending to plantings, but we do like an attractive yard, so we try to buy a few new things every year that bloom multiple times in multiple seasons.  Several years ago we bought several rose plants that bloom over and over again from late May to late October.  They only require occasional dead-heading and watering in the heat of the summer.

So yesterday we picked up 4 variegated hostas, the kind with the dark green centers and white rims, along with a few more lavender plants (Spouse loves them for some reason) and went home to plant and water them.  We notice some of the roses had bugs so we dusted the roses to get rid of the bugs.  We also bagged some yard clippings in those heavy paper bags so the City will pick them up next week.  Hopefully next week the guy will come to put down some fresh mulch in the beds for us.

As we were finishing up our yard work I got a text from my cousin Inez, saying she and her husband Steve were in town for a little while with another couple.  They had spent the weekend in Cape May NJ and had just gotten off the ferry, so we washed up and walked into town to meet up with them.  We strolled around window shopping, and eventually stopped for an ice cream cone.  It was a short and unexpected but welcomed surprise!

Later that evening we met up with Vic & Mike for dinner before they headed back to VA.  We used to live in the same neighborhood where they live now, and they also have a place here at the beach.  We tried a new restaurant and really enjoyed our meals.

It was a very nice day with a little bit of productivity and a lot of fun.

RV having fun yet?

Our friends Vic & Mike were in town this weekend.

Spouse & I knew Vic from when we lived in VA.  Mike came along later.

Vic & Mike had a condo here at the beach until last Oct.  They asked me to sell it for them because they didn't like their noisy neighbor.  Now they have an RV so they can spend weekends at the beach again, as well as go other places.

They invited us to dinner and to see their RV.  We had dinner at Saketumi, one of my all time faves.  Then we checked out there RV, which was pretty cool.  Its completely self-sufficient (for a time, that is) and even has a 32" hi-def TV.

I don't think RV'ing is for me, but I think its cool that our friends are trying something new.

Weekend highlights

On Sat I worked all day, and wound up staying late at the office writing an offer for the clients I met that day.  I love it when people are decisive and prepared!  I raced home, changed clothes, picked up Spouse, and headed out to dinner.  We'd made plans with Vic & Mike so I texted them to say we were running late.  We had dinner at Hobos, and eventhough it was rather warm, we ate outside.  We had a great dinner and enjoyed the time with our friends.  Afterward I walked down the street to get ready for my 1st performance of the 2013 season of the Legends show!  I was Elton John, and the audience really seemed to enjoy the show.  After the show when the Legends mingled amongst the  audience, I was approached by this cute young male couple from Atlanta.  They were in town with 1 of the guy's sister and her husband for an engagement party.  They were all so sweet and asked if I would pose with them for a photo, so of course I said yes.  It was a great night!

Sun morning we had breakfast at the Crystal with Steven & Thad, then decided to stop at the Merrell show store on the way home.  Spouse wanted some new flip flops that gave him better support.  "Flip flops that give you support??  They're called shoes" I told him, rather proud of myself for thinking of something so witty on such short notice.  While he tried on supportive flip flops, I spied a deep discount on some very bright shoes.

The price on the box read $110. but the sign on the display read $40.  These happen to be factory seconds, meaning they are not 1st quality.  The sales lady said some were known to 'crack' on the top of the shoe just below the laces.  But I loved the orange, yellow, and green with black trim color combo, and the fact that they were so light-weight, and the fact that they are ventilated, and the fact that they were so comfortable, that I bought them anyway.  Its not like I will wear these shoes every day (or every week for that matter) so I was okay with them being factory seconds.  Being the copycat that he is, Spouse had to get a pair too.  

What do you think?  Do you just love them???

Once back at home, we got ourselves ready for an afternoon at the beach.  It was pretty hot and the breeze was coming off the land rather than the water, which blows pesky biting flies onto the beach, so it wasn't the best day for the beach.  But we enjoyed it anyway, just hanging out with Steven & Thad and seeing several of our other friends there too.  Later than evening we met up with them again for dinner at Tuscan Grill.

Weekend highlights

Sat evening Spouse & I met up with our friends Vic & Mike for dinner.  We ate at Saketumi.

Vic & Mike live in the same city in VA where Spouse & I used to live, and ironically, they live in the same neighborhood too, although they moved there after we'd moved away.  We met Vic when he was with Dawson and lived elsewhere in that town.  Vic & Mike moved into a house just 3 streets over from mine & Spouse's 1st house.

Vic & Mike bought a condo here at the beach about 2 years ago and we've gotten together with them a few times.  They are very nice guys, and they have 2 miniature dachshunds so our conversations over dinner included lots of dog stories.  They had never eaten at Saketumi before so we were happy to introduce them to 1 of our favorite places to eat.

Sun afternoon Kerry & Hugh stopped in for a visit.  They had been to Ocean City to open up their condo for the upcoming rental season, and stopped here before heading home.  The weather was nice so we wound up visiting on the back porch for a while, and then went for a late lunch/early dinner at Pickled Pig Pub.  It was really nice to visit with them, as always.

That evening we went to Steven & Thad's for a small cook-out.  Spouse made potato salad and Steven grilled burgers, Italian sausage, hotdogs, and pork chops on the grill.  Joe P & 1 of the Bobs came too.  We had a tasty dinner and lively conversations.