Compass & Coffee Spoons

Christmas Roundup

Christmas in Greensburg was hectic but relaxing at the same time. We did Christmas Eve at Tom's followed by "midnight" mass at 10 pm. Next morning, PRESENTS! I love giving gifts and receiving them. So, incidentally does my brother's dog Sammy. He woke us up at 7 am.

Here he is with his new stuffed hot dog...

And digging into a gift given to him by Erin's dog Ferris...

Opening gifts is exhausting, even for dogs, so he took a break...

And, took some time to enjoy a break by the fire...

Santa was good to Sammy, but was also good to me. Here are a few highlights:

A Fiestaware cannister to store my coffee in, a grill pan/panini press and cookbook, and a pair of amethyst and silver earrings which are already proving to be a favorite. I got many other wonderful things--we went overboard as usual.

Hope everyone had a cozy, happy holiday!

Christmas 2007: Cousins' Dinner

Jennifer started an excellent new tradition last year: getting all of our cousins together for a dinner. It's great to get together separate from our parents, because, well, let's just say, the Jencos are "vocally gifted," and it can often be difficult to get a word in edgewise.

We gathered last night at Woody's, a fine Italian establishment in Versailles, PA (that's pronounced Ver-SAILs, by the way, not to be confused with the French country retreat). I had some gnocchi, which though not in competition with that of my grandpap, was still very good. A few of us induldged in some fine Elmo Pio Chianti and chatted about what's been going on. Here are some  photo highlights!

Cousins (and Alex) tucking into their meal

Lauren giving a glamor pose with Kelly in the background. And, some curious fellow diners behind her.

Leigh, with a fantastic plate of homemade spaghetti & a meatball.

Leigh and Stephanie

Lauren, me, and Jennifer

My bro and Justin

Kevin & Kathryn

Part of the decor. It's been around for years. (Lauren said when she was little, she thought he was "Woody." :) )

All yunz have a Merry Christmas!

Birthday Surprise!

I received a nice surprise in the mail last week...a package! And the great thing about urban living is that my suspense was heightened because I had to go to the post office to pick it up. On the way there, I asked my mom if she sent me something (she often sends little things), and she said no. I could hardly wait as I stood at the counter waiting for the postal worker to look for the package. When it finally got to the counter, I saw that it was from my cousin Leigh! It was a nice bright yellow box with a cute sticker of the Capitol building on it (which Leigh told me she had to implore the people at the post office to NOT cover up with their own "priorty mail" stickers).

I didn't want to open it at the bus stop or on the bus. Good thing, because the bus was really crowded, and I had to stand. That day, I packed my gym clothes in my car so that I could drive straight to the gym. I did open the package once I got to the gym parking lot, and this is what I found!

It was a box of tea-liciousness. A belated (but still very much welcome) birthday gift! A cool glass cup and saucer, a tea measuring spoon, the Book of Tea, and 2 teas. Leigh also included stickers that reminded her of our sticker books as kids...I love stickers even now!!!! I also got a packet of marigold seeds...don't know if my landlord would appreciate me planting those. Maybe I'll put them in a pot. Also note the cute nautical ribbon!

The tea she bought me is from a company I'd never heard of called Tea Gschwendner. They're the "Book of Tea" people which is essentially their catalog of tea with information about all the kinds of tea. The teas I got are spicy--Rooibush Ginger and Green Tea Spicy Orange. I had a pot of the Rooibush Ginger, which was de-li-cious. I haven't tried the other one, but I am sure I will love it, because I always love orange spice tea.

Thanks, Leigh...it was really a treat!

Happy Birthday, America! (A bit Belated)

My mom visited for the July 4 holiday. Quite the occasion here in DC. I had been feeling badly for the past week, but Mom and I managed to take in some of the festivities. We started with the parade, which was a lot of fun.

The day ended with a lovely dinner at my friend Leslie's house. She is such a great hostess. We brought hot dogs, buns, and cantalope, and she made shrimp salad, deviled eggs, and a delicious cherry and blueberry cobbler made from fruit she picked herself!

As you can see, we enjoyed it A LOT. We also enjoyed the view from Leslie's balcony. It gave us a great view of the fireworks. (The photo does not do it justice).

What was even better was the traffic getting back from Leslie's. I drove, and scored a primo parking space a half-block from her building. And, it was a fairly easy drive from her apartment back to mine. Not free from exploding fireworks in the neighborhood, but not as bad as last year either!

This weekend, Mom and I shopped on Saturday in Georgetown. Nothing too crazy, though I did go to Papersource and bought the cutest strawberry stamp, some paste, letter press cards with birthday sentiments for cardmaking, and a bone folder. Can't resist that place!

Today, Mom and I went to church and then to brunch at the Tabard Inn. I wasn't organized enough to make reservations, but we lucked out with seats at the bar. They make their own doughnuts, and they are fantastic! Mom ordered a lovely quiche, and I had a chicken salad (trying to compensate for the doughnuts). Highly recommended!

The brunch more than made up for the HORRIBLE dinner we had Friday night. We decided to go to Trattoria Alberto on 8th Street SE. Big mistake, apparently. I thought it would be one of those "locals" joints, with good simple Italian food. I was wrong. We sat down outside, and got a basket full of stale bread to start off. It just got worse from there. I ordered spaghetti with meat sauce. The sauce was flavorless and the pasta overcooked. I literally did not eat it. I ate two bites. They must be doing something else to make money there, because it can't be from the food, unless they get suckers like me eating there regularly.

All in all, it was a nice visit from Mom!