Duff at the Corcoran

My good friend Mary sent me an e-mail a few weeks ago telling me that Duff Goldman (master caker and owner of Charm City Cakes) was going to be giving a lecture at The Corcoran (School of Art in Downtown DC). Since he is amazing and I admire his work I decided this would be a good event to attend with Marcia and the business promptly bought tickets.
We showed up early, knowing the event was sold out and we wanted to make sure we got a good seat. It worked and we were the first in the room and got our choice of seats. I chose front row center.
When he came out onto the lecture hall stage it was awesome to have the man standing there in person. He gave a great lecture where he essentially told his story of how he got from graffiti artist getting in trouble with the police to the owner of one of the most successful cake shops in the nation and TV personality on Ace of Cakes.It gave us a lot of hope as he was doing cakes out of his apartment for a while before he was able to buy the place he operates now. He answered lots of questions at the end and I was able to ask one! The only sad thing was that we didn't actually get to meet him and have our picture taken with him. After the lecture, he left the stage and wasn't there for the reception they held afterwards. It was definitely worth the money and time to be there and to fuel my desire to proceed with this business and keep making it work until it is a huge success!

Maiden Play on the new Playground

The playground was finally finished about a week ago and Jasmine had the pleasure of having her friends Marin and Kirsten over for the maiden play on the set. The girls seemed to have a great time playing together and Jasmine was super happy and loved the slide and the swings.
The girls all climbed into the clubhouse for a secret meeting and climbed the rock wall and ran around getting all their energies out! It was fun to watch them and it is nice to have the set in our backyard.
The only thing missing is a bench for the moms to sit on while they watch the kiddies play and also we need to have the frame filled with playground grade mulch. We are also excited that the new grass we had put there has taken root and it growing and green. The whole area is looking great and looks a million times better than it did before!
Let's hope Jasmine stays happy to play on the set and that it lasts a long time!

Apple Festival and other Adventures

On Saturday after Jasmine's ballet class we decided to go for an adventure. Stribling Orchard in Markham VA (in Faquier County) was having an apple festival and we decided it would be super fun to go. We got in the car and drove about an hour before we arrived. When we got there, we noticed it wasn't much of a festival, just some vendors and apples for sale and also an opportunity to go and pick your own apples (which we weren't inclined to do that day). No matter, we had fun looking around, tasting some fun stuff and buying some fresh apples from the tree and other yummy products including peach and apple cider, peach butter, a bag of apples, honey toasted pecans, sugar and cinnamon donut and apple sticks.
Jasmine had fun eating apples and drinking a small bottle of cider and we enjoyed the country atmosphere. She walked around like she owned the place and even had some of the staff cutting up apples for her to eat. We left feeling like there as more to discover so we set out to have some more adventures and have a look around the area.The first thing we found when we left the orchard was a house that was having an Estate sale so we decided why not stop? They had a lot of interesting things and if I were a different kind of person who decorated my house differently, I am sure I would have found a lot of treasures. As it was, we had fun looking around and didn't buy anything.The next stop we made was at another farm where you could pick your own lots of things. We decided to stop and pick some berries. We brought home a basket of raspberries and blackberries that we picked together as a family. I think Jasmine ate more of them than she put in the little basket and sadly, I didn't get any pictures of that part of our adventure. We ended up using the berries Sunday night when Lorne made us Raspberry pancakes for dinner.
We got back in the car with our berries and went driving along some more when we found a neighborhood with a HUGE model house open. Since we love to look at houses, we stopped. It was an 8,000 square foot home on 3.6 acres of land for the bargain price of $1.5 million. We actually thought it was a good deal and we found out it was only 25 minutes away from Dulles airport, meaning, if we had the cash and could afford it, it would be close enough to an airport. Well, we can dream can't we?We started to get a bit hungry so I decided that I wanted to stop at the City Square Cafe on the way home and have some food. We surprised Tia and Tio and arrived at the same time they did. They even had time to sit with us while we ate our food and we had a great time.
All in all, we had an adventuresome day and had fun being together as a family. It really was such a nice day and I enjoyed every minute of it!

First Day of Ballet

I signed Jasmine up for Ballet class about a month and a half ago and made the mistake of telling her. She has been asking about it for the last month and a half and been super excited to go. We told her the night before that she would have class the next day and so on Saturday, Jasmine was up bright and early. I dressed her in her ballet clothes and put her hair in a bun (as is required by the school) and we took some pictures before leaving.She is taking a combination tap and ballet class that is 45 minutes long on Saturday mornings. This past Saturday there were a total of 5 little 3 year olds in the class and a teacher with 3 helpers. We got to the studio early and got her tap shoes on her. She could hardly sit still and kept asking when it was time to go to class. Her teacher, Melissa, came up and introduced herself. She explained that the parents could stay outside and watch but could not go in. Well, this suits Jasmine fine as she is in a "I can do it by myself" mode lately. She even looked at me and said, "Mommy, I will go to class by myself, you stay here."I watched in awe as the teacher taught the girls and she was so animated and patient. Also, I was absolutely amazed at my little girl. Jasmine was so focused and concentrated in class. She didn't act out, didn't speak out of turn, and she did everything the teacher asked her to do. I could tell that she was totally into it and I am so excited. One of the other mothers watching through the window with me said, "I think you may have started something you won't be able to get out of" referring to Jasmine - it was so obvious how much she was into it. Another mother said, "It looks like your daughter has a natural talent." I definitely think we have found Jasmine's passion. She also is loving her violin lessons but the way she is taking to ballet is something I have never seen from my child. Sorry for the picture quality - this was the best I could do through the shaded glass I was standing behind - that si why the pictures have some glare!

First Day of School

Well, it finally came. Jasmine's first day of school for the 2007-2008 school year. This year she is the 5 day 3 program, meaning that she goes to school 5 days a week and is with the 3 year olds! She is getting so big. She was so excited the night before and so she awoke knowing that she would be going to school.
She wore a new outfit that we bought for her and ate her breakfast and then wanted to take some pictures. Daddy was home and he prolonged leaving for Boston so he could be there for her first day and drop her off as a family. It was nice since he wasn't there last year.When we got to school, we waited for her teacher Mrs. Baggette to open the door and then we went in and Jasmine was delighted that the first activity for the day was playing with playdoh. We put her backpack in the cubbie and kissed her goodbye. She didn't even give us a backward glance as we left and I was happy she felt so comfortable being left at school. So here's to another exciting school year!

Epihpany Open House

There was an open house at Epiphany Weekday School (Jasmine's preschool) a few days before school started so that the parents and kids could meet the new teachers and see their new classrooms. We went to McDonalds beforehand with Kelleen and crew and then got to the school before it started. Jasmine was excited to see her new classroom and immediately liked her new teacher. They had folders for the parents to take home so that we knew the rules and policies of the class.Jasmine had a blast running around on the playground and seeing some of her friends that she had been in school with last year. Many of her friends are in her class again this year and that is nice because Jasmine gets very attached to her friends. I had fun talking to the moms that I knew and meeting some new ones. It was a fun evening.

Labor Day

On Labor Day we were invited to an afternoon BBQ at a neighbor's house. It was an event where we got to meet some neighbor's we didn't already know. It was held at Ashley and Chris Russell's house a street over from ours.Kellen and the girls were there and there was food and fun. They had a Moon bounce for the kids and a play set they could play on as well. We didn't gt to stay as long as we would have liked to as Jasmine had her first violin lesson of the school year and we had to get out to Herndon on time!