Thanksgiving

Ahh Thanksgiving... what a GREAT holiday. Football, Food, and Family. What could be better?

The Shaffer Delegation celebrated Thanksgiving in cozy Alamo this year. A downsize from the likes of Aviara or Tahoe, but it was our first holiday in Mom and Dad's new house so that was a milestone!

I did a lot of walking the Res, got ALL my Christmas shopping done (okay, minus Dad!), and spent the majority of the time either watching college football (did you see the UK/Tenn or Stanford/ND games? I think I might have to watch more college games next year).

The highlight, though, was spending with this little guy... the youngest Shaffer- six month old Kyle. Here are two pictures of him eating his FIRST rice cereal. Note he is in a "Thank Heaven for Little Girls" bib. Awesome.




Jono helped Nathan through his FIRST BOWLING GAME EVER!!!!!!



And of course... the Annual Turkey Trot (or big wheel as the case may be). The quote of the weekend came from this walk after my dad stepped in dog poop on the bike trail and spent the next ten minutes trying out various techniques for getting it off such as shuffling through the gravel, a shimmy through the grass, etc. My sister just looks back at him and looks at me and says, "There's nothing worse than poop on the shoe." She's probably right.

Recent Favorites

My most recent read... Loved it :)


Here are some excerpts:

There was a language in the world that everyone understood, a language the boy had used throughout the time that he was trying to improve things at the shop. It was the language of enthusiasm, of things accomplished with love and purpose, and as part of a search for something believed in and desired. Tangier was no longer a strange city, and he felt that, just as he had conquered this place, he could conquer the world.

When you want something, all the universe conspires to help you achieve it.

When someone makes a decision, he is really diving into a strong current that will carry him to places he had never dreamed of when he first made the decision.

Tell your heart that the fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself. And that no heart has ever suffered when it goes in search of its dreams, because every second of the search is a seconds encounter with God and with eternity.

Most recently watched (and enjoyed) movie on a comfortable couch on a rainy Sunday morning with Michael.



A few quotes that make me giggle:

Penny: You know there's something called a nicotine patch.
Kay: I don't need a nicotine patch, Penny. I smoke cigarettes.

Dr. Hilbert: Hell Harold, you could just eat nothing but pancakes if you wanted.
Harold: What is wrong with you? I don't want to eat nothing but pancakes, I want to live! I mean, who in their right mind when given the choice between pancakes and living chooses pancakes!?
Dr. Hilbert: Harold, if you pause to think, you'd realize that that answer is inextricably contingent upon the type of life being led... and, of course, the quality of the pancakes.

Busboys and Poets

If you haven't discovered Busboys and Poets (www.busboysandpoets.com) just up from U St. on 14th, let me assure you that you are WAY behind the times. I can't for the life of me remember who introduced me to the place, but I CAN remember many occasions when it was the perfect place for variety of dinner/brunch get-togethers ranging from Donny G's visit with a few Spring 04 SASers, my brother's visit, brunch with the 'mos, to a post-concert late-ish Sunday night dinner with Sweeting.

Quite simply, Busboys and Poets hit the mark when it opened in the "up and coming" U Street Corridor area in 2005. It's loungey, trendy, artsy, and smart. There's an in-house progressive bookstore to mill around in, poetry slams and open mic nights to frequent, wi-fi and shared tables for laptops, and a great menu to boot.

The menu's price point is dead on and ranges from healthy vegan and vegetarian options to the best (and only) meatloaf I've had in the last well... 23 years. Sweeting and I shared a low table with a lounge chair on one side (mine) and a part of the couch (his). We were weary from concert jumping and jostling so we ordered a semi-well refilled iced tea and diet coke and started with the hummus. The hummus was great- much like Sabra, Liz- and they gave PLENTY of dipping pita slices so as to fully utilize each hummus smear possible. We then split the BBQ chicken panini (and shamefully sprung for the fries instead of the salad) and a chicken/spinach/red onions/mushroom pizza. There's nothing crazy or frilly about the food... it's just good. Although I will say I've had the BBQ Chicken panini twice now and feel I could make a more adventurous selection next time.

In sum, I was glad we ended up at BB&Ps after all (Ben's Chili Bowl was closed). Service fine, food good, atmosphere great, and company fantastic. The relaxed lounge feel allowed for quite a conversation of hypotheticals indeed. Sweeting and I collectively give Busboys and Poets 4 Langstons out of 5 possible Langstons :)

DC*B

Sweeting and I went to the David Crowder Band concert at the 9:30 club last night. Line was literally around the corner and down the street to get in, but Sweeting and I very craftily "went straight and hooked right" when we got in and ended up like three "rows" back from the stage. Luckies! I looooove me some DCB shows- it was Sweetings first time seeing him and he got a good show. Glory of it All, Can you Feel it, Everything Glorious, O Praise Him, Here is Our King, Remedy, Never Ending, Foreverandever, You Never Let Go, There is No One Like You, You Are My Joy, etc. I STILL am itching to hear them play Joyful Noise/I Will not be Silent one of these days though :) Also a bummer- I FORGOT my towel and socks I bought to bring for their towel/socks drive for homeless shelters in the DC area. UGH! I had made a special Target run for that and everything! BLAST. Maybe I'll ask Jon Hassler if he has anyone in mind to give them to...



Best part of the show was definitely when David whipped out his Guitar Heros guitar and literally played Never Ending with it... how do they come up with these things?

My Saturday in a snapshot...

Metro Cooking and Entertaining Show!

Liz and I had a GREAT time at the Metropolitan Cooking and Entertaining Show at the Convention Center on Sunday. First we toodled around and sampled about a thousand dips. Then for Liz's birthday, we went to the "Interactive Cooking Session" with Chef Jason Roberts. He's from Australia and is... very cute.



We learned how to make Peach Sangria, Cream of Cauliflower Soup served over a scallop, crabcakes with aioli, a chicken dish, and orange vanilla rice pudding for dessert. First the Chef demonstrated all of the dishes, then we went to different stations to make one of the dishes ourselves to be served to everyone.

Here's a fun one of "Jas" signing Liz's apron...



After the show we met up with Shane and Carissa at Brennan's house to watch the Indy/Pats game. Too bad the STUPID DirectTV wouldn't work for like 45 minutes and Brennan became best buds with the phone helper guy. We were seriously going to crack skulls. Ended the night the usual Sunday way cuddling with Patrick at Bobby's for DH and B&S while David wastes floor space napping. Bah.

Quote of the night while I was tapping my foot and begrudgingly waiting for B to be ready to leave for Bobby's: "When my arm is around you and I smell like Kenneth Cole instead of Brennan Marshall, you'll be happy."

Surprise! ... or a dialogue with Sweeting

Carrie: I'm going to the store.
Sweeting: Surprise me with a treat.

Carrie's internal dialogue on the way to the store: Don't forget about Sweeting's surprise. Don't forget about Sweeting's surprise.

Re-Enter Carrie

Carrie: Sweeting, look! I got you a surprise!
Note: Not an actual representation of the surprise, but similar in nature

Sweeting: That's not really a treat.
Carrie: Oh... oh... oh.

The next day via email

Carrie: Are you wearing your surprise?
Sweeting: I was but I got beat up by several people in my office who ripped it off of me and tried to feed it to me while calling me vulgar names.
Carrie: Well barf it up and wear it!
Sweeting: I did. But then they ripped it off again and started poking me in the face with it. They got dangerously close to my eye. I could have been blinded. My lip is currently bleeding.

All in all... a GREAT surprise treat from the store if I do say so myself.