4 years

Happy anniversary to my love. Four years! I'm loving this new chapter of our lives in London. We've faced many ups and downs, especially in this past year, but those moments where it just got to be too much just strengthened us. Life is beautiful, but it has its moments of - "I can't!". I'm so lucky to have someone by my side who loves me unconditionally even during the hard times and who, it turns out, is also one hell of a father. Jackpot. If someone would have told me that after marrying Mark we'd be going on one adventure after another and have a little Henry to tag along with us, I would have married him the moment I met him when I was 20 years old!

cumberland part 2. biking the allegheny trail

isn't it pretty? the bike path runs right next to the steam train track that runs only in the summer. could you imagine riding a bike next to a huge steam train!?

we took the morning to ride the 12 mile roundtrip from cumberland to the first tunnel. hopefully next year sometime (or maybe this summer?) we can ride the entire 150 mile trail that runs from cumberland to pittsburgh. a challenge for sure, but you get to ride through lots of old tunnels and pass coal mines. we're suckers for that over here.

cumberland part 1.

in under 3 hours, you can hop in car and drive from here

to here.

cumberland, md. the end of the C&O canal. picturesque town, straddling the potomac, with church steeples dotting the cityscape. we were definitely there out of season, but it didn't stop us from enjoying cumberland's spoils.

our bed and breakfast

we stayed at the most quaint and lovely bed and breakfast, The Bruce House Inn, located just a few blocks from downtown and surrounded by beautiful historic homes. Pam, the innkeeper, was a sweetheart and made the most delicious breakfasts every morning! puff pastry with strawberries, eggs benedict, yogurt parfaits, french toast with apples, yum! i'm getting hungry just thinking about it.

food in cumberland

we ate at a few places i care to mention (and one sicknasty japanese place i do not care to ever mention again): italian dinner at Restaurant Ottaviani, where i ate half my body weight in bread and olive oil, and custard at The Queen City Creamery - we tried vanilla, butter brickle, chocolate, and chocolate covered cherry, and i'm not exaggerating when i say its the best custard i've ever had. so smooth and creamy and delicious! i ate the other half of my body weight in custard that weekend.

in a town that shuts down pretty early, we had to rearrange our schedules to wake up early for breakfast (8:30am) and go to bed early (around 11 every night). we slept and ate and slept and ate and walked around aimlessly, and then slept and ate some more. it was so relaxing. a great little getaway for the weekend. we can't wait to go back in the fall when the leaves are changing and the steam train is running!

do you have any favorite day trips from DC? i'd love to hear them! we are always looking for excuses to take a break from the city.

back in town.

this weekend was exactly what i needed to rest and refocus. never mind that cumberland, md is full of retirees and we didn't come across anybody younger than 50 (except for the ice cream parlour staff), we tossed our cares aside and mostly slept for 72 hours. we also did a littlebita biking, museuming, eating, and a LOT of custard eating. wowee.

mostly it was just so nice to be celebrating 1 year with my honey. he makes me laugh all the time, his hugs squeeze me so hard i think he'll break my ribs, he brings me hot cups of tea and cold glasses of water without me even asking, he kisses my forehead, he gives me rubbies (not without complaint, but STILL!), he supports my career, he encourages me to find things that i love, he is just my best friend and my love.

from our trip to park city last summer.
he even takes death defying trips down the bobsled track with me!

so much sleepiness.

this is the second week in a row that i've finished meetings and headed home, only to sleep for FIVE HOURS STRAIGHT. yesterday i fell asleep on the couch watching Oprah (Oprah WIN-FREEEEEY) at 4:30, woke up at some undetermined hour to move it to the bed, and slept until my darling husband came home at 10:00 in the PM. i woke up long enough to say hello, eat a crumpet and half a banana with nutella, then slip back into coma until 7am.

i'm so exhausted lately and kind of achy all over, and my brain is just feeling really fluffy. what IS that?

all i want to do is slip away into dreamland. i just have to wait until tomorrow, when we roadtrip to cumberland, md! we found a little B&B in this western maryland town, with plenty of hiking, biking, and ice cream eating available. i'm really looking forward to a relaxing and fun weekend with my husband of nearly 1 year!