Oh Maggianos How I love thee....

Brad and I had a triple date last night with our favorite pals, Justin and Insley and Brian and Molly. We all piled into the Yukon XL and headed West to good ol' Short Pump Town Center to partake in the delicious nourishment that Maggianos has to offer. Family Style of course, and we ate like an 18 person family...we got our money's worth, that is for sure. Delicious...and always a blast with such great company. Olivia had a sleep over at YaYa and GaGa's house, she loves the time she spends with them. I am so thankful that she has them here for several months out of the year, she is a lucky girl.

Brad had a "Team Ride" today and spent the morning riding in the mud, needless to say he was stinky and dirty when he got home.

Football Munchies...oh how I love to prepare them and eat them, but its so hard to stay interested when both the Redskins and the Pats are O-U-T. We did have a delicious pot of Chili on Friday night...

We are all looking forward to next weekend. YaYa will celebrate her 65th Birthday on Friday Night, we are planning to have dinner out as a family and toast to her 65 years. Late Friday Night Megs arrives, we can't wait to see her and are so glad that she will be in town for the long weekend to join in all the fun. Saturday Morning Olivia will have her 18 month pictures taken at 9 and then will head off to the Little Gym. Then Saturday afternoon we will head to The Tillars to celebrate Anna's 2nd Birthday, can you believe its already been 2 years? And Sunday April and Megs are throwing me a Baby Girl Brunch, so nice of them and then Sunday Night will be Olivia's Half Birthday Party...

So about the Half Birthday...I am a huge fan of celebrating everything Olivia. A Half Birthday in this house just means cupcakes and likely pizza or lasagna with a few friends and close family, no presents and nothing "party like". When she is older I plan to make half a cake, let her invite a few friends over and have a sleep over and just have a pizza party with a few age appropriate movies. I read about it in Real Simple....or maybe it was Parents, and it was adorable. I just hope she remembers them as special days as she gets older and creates memories for her children.

And speaking of traditions...when the kids get their report cards, there will be no "awards" just family time to celebrate their hard work. I could never understand how parents rationalized paying their children for good grades...we will likely celebrate with a dinner out or a favorite dinner in.

I am going to start a new blogging tradition, I am stealing it from our Card President at work, he always closes out his blog with TV, Movie, Book and Music recommendations and/or reviews, they generally consist of things he has watched, read or listened to throughout the week.

Movie Recommendations:

• Hancock with Will Smith, its out on DVD....and it was FABULOUS. - I give it at 9
• The Great Debaters with Denzel Washington....I have to say, I had very high hopes for this movie and while it was inspiring and I shed a tear or two, it was a bit slow and left me a tad disappointed - I give it a 7

TV:

• Lipstick Jungle - LOVE IT, and I am praying that it won't be cancelled.
• And I am very much looking forward to Friday Night Lights...bring on Mr. Tim Riggins...holla.

Music:

I got nothing...however, I did listen to Michael Buble a lot this week in the car, and I adore him.

Book:

• Second Glance - Jodi Picoult. I can't seem to get into this book, and usually I soar through her books.
• Harvesting The Heart - Jodi Picoult. I finished this book before the Holidays, it was tough to get into, but it turned out to be well worth the time.
• In an Instant - The Bob Woodruff Story - loved it. Highly recommend it.

Have a great week!!!!