I briefly interned at a magazine called Angeleno while Aron and I were living in Los Angeles–it was a great professional experience, but most of all it was a fun distraction from academia and graduate school. I was often tasked with attending Hollywood parties and PR events and writing coverage from the perspective of a guest. Aron and I walked the red carpet behind Danny DeVito and Ryan Seacrest (to the puzzlement of the photographers), gawked at Halle Berry at the post-Emmy Awards HBO bash, and mingled with the Beach Boys at a runway show. Mostly, we stood as close to the kitchen door as possible to catch the first catering trays as they started their circuit around the room. Classy!

I felt like I was reliving a bit of my Los Angeles excitement when I was invited to meet Kelly Ripa and Tom Colicchio at a “Party Ready” event last week. Sponsored by Electrolux, the event–about learning some kitchen tips to be ready for hosting a party at a moment’s notice–was hosted to benefit Ovarian Cancer Research. A great cause, an afternoon with with Kelly Ripa (and her sky-high heels), and lunch prepared by Tom (whose restaurant Craft might be one of my first post-pregnancy date-night requests)–plus a town-car pick-up? Twist my arm.

 

 

Some fellow bloggers and I started with some mocktails (for which I was grateful) before Kelly and Tom made a charcuterie and cheese plate, a dish of broccoli rabe and pasta, roast chicken, and dessert of mascarpone and orange peel. One of my favorite moments was learning that Tom always has mascarpone in his fridge (wow) and–besides eating it on toast with marmalade almost every morning (again, wow)–he often pairs it with fruit for an easy dessert. Each dish was brought over to us, along with a wine pairing that I just stared at longingly, as Kelly made inevitably charming banter, and then we were left to mingle over cookies and snacks from Colicchio’s sandwich shop, ‘Wichcraft. 

Ever the classy one, I stashed some of the cookies in my bag to bring home to Aron.

Despite all the rain this week, spring is still one of my favorite times in New York: everything is growing–including Ashley’s belly. That didn’t stop her from walking up and down the West side parkway with me, though she did have to switch her wedding rings to her pinky fingers when her hands got a bit puffy! But, happily she is doing great! We’re looking forward to celebrating the baby with some friends in the city this weekend, and we’re getting more serious about making space in the apartment for the little one’s arrival.

(P.S. If you’re in the city this weekend, this looks to be awesome!)

We spent a few days in Washington DC this past weekend, and had a great time. En route, we visited with friends in Maryland, and then did a lot of walking in between passing showers. We finally tried the burgers at Five Guys (having mistakenly believed we were at the original location, in Georgetown)–I love the peanuts! (Awfully good, but vote still goes to Shake Shack, which is especially relevant now that the Shack has arrived in DC.) The rain (and a nice hotel room) encouraged us to take it easy, but we went out to celebrate our “second Saturday of May” for the second time in DC; this time, for our fourth wedding anniversary, we went to the Blue Duck Tavern. It really was gorgeous and the food was delicious. I had heard that Barack and Michelle went there for their anniversary–no doubt inspired by the local farm-to-table emphasis–and figured that was a good sign.

On Sunday, the sun broke through the clouds and we spent the day walking around the city. It was warm but we walked from Dupont circle, down through the mall, and over to the Eastern Market and Captiol Hill for lunch. Aron had to attend a Urology conference that evening, and over the next day, but we did fit in one more dinner together at Cork. I’d heard that the wine bar (not an obvious choice for me) had good food–and I’m almost always partial to restaurants with single-word names–but I can’t recommend it. We were visited by some critters (eek, roaches!) and left as quickly as possible. The drive home took us through a crazy, wild storm, but most of the way was clear and lovely. (Although Aron kept making me get out and walk!)