Roaring Twenty

Some time around our engagement, my father offered me some sage and sober words. "It's the struggles that make a marriage," he said. And in the early years of our marriage, when the kids were young and both money and sleep seemed scarce, I thought I understood what he meant. But it wasn't until the Pandemic and all the anxiety and heartbreak that followed, that I truly got it. Because on the days when we felt completely overwhelmed by events that were crushing, Allen and I were able to lean on each other and keep going. And while I wish we hadn't had to experience all that's transpired the past two years, I'm incredibly grateful that Allen has been by my side through it all.

So while there hasn't been a lot to celebrate the past few months (aside from Noa's graduation, my birthday, and a slew of concerts, of course), we figured for our 20th wedding anniversary we should go big and leave home. Mom Mom and Grandpa Don graciously volunteered to watch the kids, and the two of us headed back to the Inn at Little Washington to ring in the third decade of our marriage.

We had planned to get there early to explore the sights of Washington, VA, but a work call and a lot of rain delayed our arrival. Still we were greeted with a lovely tea service and were able to briefly check out the grounds before the skies opened again (and our room was ready). This was the third time we celebrated an anniversary at the Inn and the second time we stayed in the Julia Childs room, which has two balconies, a soaking tub, and a definitive french vibe. 

We dressed for our 8:15 seating and proceeded to order off of competing tasting menus (Allen went with the Gastronaut's and the wine pairing while I opted for the Good Earth and a couple of nice glasses of Sancerre). And while every course was pretty amazing (ok, the Graffiti Eggplant Cutlet Slathered with Black Olive Tapenade was merely good), Allen's clear winner was, a Chartreuse of Savoy Cabbage and Maine Lobster with Caviar Beurre Blanc (so delicious he forgot to capture on film) while mine was the Sweet Bell Pepper Tartare in an Artichoke Bottom with Burrata and Parsley Vinaigrette. 

Feeling completely sated, we headed back to the room and crashed – seven courses will do that to a couple. Without a cat to demand food at the crack of dawn, I slept in, only waking once Allen intervened. We had breakfast at the Inn, packed up, and took in Skyline Drive before returning to the kids and married life in DC, which is a pretty great thing to return to.

(To see all of our pictures, click here.)

WOODMOORstock II

Many of us who lived in Austin in our youth look back on those days fondly with great memories of so many shows, be it the weeks binging on bands at SXSW or just knowing you could always see a great local band at a bar any night of the week. If you're Brad Brown though, you don't just reminisce about the good old day in Austin – you go right ahead and create your own music festival in your neighborhood! WOODMOORstock is now in its second year with 55 bands on 11 stages (with two of those bands featuring the man Brad Brown himself – and one of those a newly formed super group with old Austin friend and guitarist extraordinaire Tony flying in from KC for the big event!) and even got a call out in the Post. Well done Brad!

Moving on Up

A year ago, we were furiously searching to find a middle school that was accepting eighth graders, that we could realistically get a child to each morning without having to quit our jobs and who's philosophy aligned with ours and what our child would respond to. After a lot of emails, phone calls, Zooms and backroom conversations, we found our unicorn, the Sheridan School, and Noa started there this fall.

Noa had to deal with a lot in seventh grade (grief, bullying, Instagram inspired fight club) and by the end of it, they were pretty withdrawn. So it was kind of miraculous how engaged they became at Sheridan: they slept in yurts at mountain campus, starred as Lady Macbeth in the fall play, was a finalist in a city-wide poetry competition, wrote and performed a monologue, debated mandatory voting, performed an original piece for the poetry slam, painted a legacy block, joined student council, played softball, and led a cult of fifth graders (we're note entirely sure how we feel about that last one). And while this year wasn't without it's own trials and tribulations, we got through it, developed new supports and coping skills, and in the end, we were able to celebrate it.

And celebrate they did. There was bowling, and Six Flags, luncheons, a dinner which included a slideshow, speeches about each graduate from the Head of School, musical performances, student speeches from Student Council leadership, and some parental hijinks that Allen and I opted out of. The next morning, Mom Mom and Grandpa Don joined us at Sheridan for the official graduation, which involved the formal march, more speeches (with tears), musical performances, and each graduate being accompanied off the stage by their kindergarten buddy. It was incredibly sweet and a nice way to cap off a year of ups and downs.

Afterwards, there were lots of pictures (and unicorns!) and contact info exchanges followed by one last lunch with their classmates. There was another pool and graduation party later that night, but Noa opted to instead meet up with their Stuart-Hobson friends for a performance of the Spring Musical, Spongebob Squarepants, which was kind of the perfect epilogue to their (and our) middle school experience.

Let the high school years at Burke commence.

(To see all the graduation pictures, click here.)

Fandom at the Opera

Every year, Duke Ellington's Vocal Music Department puts on an Opera Workshop and every year, the Instrumental Music Department accompanies them on some of their pieces. This year Owen and crew performed Verdi's Traviata, Offenbach's Entra'acte et Barcarolle, Menotti's Steal Me, Sweet Thief, and Mozarts Papagena/Papageno from Duke's orchestra pit, where he was only mildly harassed by Nora and Gabriel. Later on we got to harass all three of them for some pictures...

Happy Pride

 

(Artwork courtesy of Noa Fawcett)