6th Date at the Red Cross

Kevin and I went on our6th date, donated blood together, I almost passed out, he looked like he felt really sorry for me. When we got back home he asked me to be his girlfriend, and then we watched Six Feet Under for the rest of the night. Haha.

Our First Date 2006

On our first date, Kevin and I met at Mudhouse Coffee in downtown Charlottesville. I was 27 and working at legal aid during the summer between my 1L and 2L year. He was 26 and teaching writing at Bridgewater College.

I dressed up to go to the Downtown Mall. I was wearing a black fitted shirt and white jean skirt and white sandals with little heels. Sarah and Donald dropped me off Downtown. Kevin was sitting outside reading the New York Times. Apparently, he does this every Sunday. The first thing I noticed about him was his bushy hair and that he was cute. In that order.

Kevin got me a cappuccino while he sipped a green tea. He tried to impress me with his two-book contract and personal Dave Barry connection (I love Dave Barry). He seemed really funny and smart. I probably shouldn't have told him that I don't believe in happiness.

Mudhouse in 2006- even from the angle at which I approached.

Maybe he thought some ice cream would make me reconsider happiness? After Mudhouse, he suggested we walk over to Chaps for dessert. I was charmed. He drove me home to Ivy Gardens and asked if I'd be interested in another date. I said, "definitely."

 *Spoiler alert: I wrote this post after our engagement.

Ogunquit, Maine 2006

For Jaime's birthday, she wanted to go to the beach. She lives in Massachusetts so off we went to shore of Maine. Ogunquit is a a popular summer resort town in Maine.


Jaime on her birthday!


Town of Ogunquit welcomes me


The beach and the extremely cold ocean


My first lobster roll ever


Gelato at Cafe Prego

Happy birthday, Jaime!

My Parents Visit Cville 2006

My parents visited this weekend. I showed them a little bit of Charlottesville, and they met Sarah and Donald. Though for some reason my mom insists on calling Donald "Dominick." We also decided to wear hats because, as Sarah taught me, everything is more fun that way.

My parents chilling on my couch

Me and Mom

Emerald Isle, NC 2006

I finally finished my first year of law school on Thursday! Sarah had invited me to her family's beach house in North Carolina, so on Saturday morning, we left. Her best friend from high school Rachael came with us too. The first thing we did when we got there was get BBQ sandwiches at one of Sarah's favorite places in the area: the Big Oak Drive In. It was delicious.

Rachael and me in front of Big Oak

New buddies!

Sunday we hung out, relaxed and played in the water a little, but it was chilly!

May 14

May 14

May 14

On Monday, Sarah's brother Jack and his friends from Emory Law arrived at the beach . Which was handy, because Sarah and Rachael made their best attempt to drown... and Jack both noticed and saved them. I thought they were just having fun playing in the waves.

Jack saving Sarah and Rachael

Boys playing baseball

Since we had six people we also had a little Game Night which we spruced up with the addition of wearing hats. Everything is more fun with hats.

Hat time!

Rachael contemplates her next move

Sarah is suspicious of Jack

Covering my cards

The rest of the week was pretty uneventful in a good way and we headed back to Charlottesville Wednesday night. Sarah and I start work soon so we wanted to be back to straighten everything out at home and be relaxed before work starts

 

May 16- More beach baseball

May 16- Beach time

Sarah's happy place

May 17- Rachael and Jack playing in the water

Legal Aid Summer Job 2006

This week, Audra very generously took me to an interview at Legal Aid, and even refused to let me walk back afterward. I finally found a job for the summer! ... Unpaid.

Legal Aid Justice Center

Oh and when I got home I saw a paid position at the same place. Hm.

Audra's 23rd Birthday 2006

For Audra's birthday, some of her friends came in town from California and we decided to meet them in DC and go dancing there. We went to a bunch of bars in Georgetown. General craziness. Ended with brunch at 4 am. Happy birthday, Audra!

Partying in Georgetown

St. Patrick's Day: A Retrospective 2006

Happy St. Patrick's Day! I started seriously celebrating St. Patrick's Day in college, and it soon became one of my favorite holidays. There was some tough going at the beginning. The holiday often fell during my college's spring break, which meant that I celebrated 1999 in London and 2000 in Prague, two places which are not known for their raucous St. Patrick's Day celebrations. Then, in 2001, right before leaving for Spring Break in Miami, my roommate Janice and I were robbed in our dorm room on St. Patrick's Day. I actually walked in on the thief as he was about to get Janice's wallet!

So St. Patrick's Day was off to a rough start, but I persevered, and four years ago, I started engaging in the all-day drinking version of celebrating. More importantly, I started taking pictures of the big day.

Shamrock Street Festival in the Ballston area of Arlington, Virginia, 2002

St. Patrick's Day Bar Crawl in DC (photo at James Mackey's Pub), 2003

The Leprechaun Lap in DC (photo at Sign of the Whale), 2004

Brooke and I took off from work for St. Pat's in D.C.
photo at Lulu's Mardi Gras, 2005

Sadly, this year I'm a first year in law school and studying constantly.

Edisto Island, SC 2006

Spring Break!! We got here late Monday, and it's heaven here. Even though apparently I still have tax homework in heaven.

View of the beach at Edisto Island

Me, happy journal tryouts are over

Sarah

Wally!

Girls' week! Woo!

See what we did here?

Heaven for Sarah requires a hammock.

Also Katy's mom had us over for dinner last night which is so nice. We also met Katy's dad, brother, and future sister-in-law. We had Frogmore Stew, a delicious concoction of  shrimp and corn and potatoes, that I've never heard of before, but is apparently a traditional dish in South Carolina. Katy's mom also left us a lasagna in the beach house freezer. Thank you!!

My 27th Birthday in SC 2006

We spent Spring break at Katy's beach house in South Carolina and were there for my birthdayIt was a treat to spend the day with two buddies Katy and Sarah.

Good morning beach! I'm 27 years old today!

Sarah walking on beach with me

Seagulls kind of attacking us in this one

We played the worlds' meanest and funniest game of Chinese Checkers while hanging out on the beach. We blocked every single triangle and no one could win. Never play this game with attorneys or law students. It's just not worth it.

Worlds' meanest and funniest Chinese Checkers game

We got ready to go out and took the first of many group pictures that evening. I love group pictures!

Sarah, me, and Katy

Dinner at  California Dream Restaurant in Charleston

And I got carded on my 27th birthday! Still look at least 7 years younger!

Me and Sarah with delicious birthday drinks

Pumped gas for the first time! I don't drive and I'm from New Jersey...

We had a lot of relaxing fun, we laughed a lot and hard, and what else could you want on your birthday? Tomorrow we drive back to reality!