sssaturday sprints.

-shop-
while stephen braved the long scooter ride down to the south alexandria dmv to *finally* secure his motorcycle license saturday morning, i headed out to leesburg to do some SERIOUS shopping. jk - actually i needed to return a few items, but while i was at the outlets, i just had to look around. and it's a good thing i did. i managed to get out of banana republic with a pencil skirt and super cute red polka dot shell for a mere 83 cents (no joke) thanks to a huge sale, $40 in returns AND a 15% coupon. yipppeeee - i knew stephen couldn't blow his top over that! the purchase would have been historic, but i don't think anything can top the time i scored $90 tweed flats for a penny (i heart dsw). i was feeling so good that i have to admit i did splurge a bit on a smokin' hot pair of paper denim & cloth skinny jeans at saks... hey, saving 70% is still a great deal! fortunately stephen agreed :P

-shower-
after rushing home and changing out, i grabbed my favorite baby shower gift and headed out to vienna to see a long lost (and very pregnant) friend. it's been over 3 years since i have last seen karla after she accepted a job with USAID that took her over to metropolitan cairo. there she met a former egyptian soldier and the predictable played out... first comes love, then comes marriage, then comes ??? in a baby carriage! due to US regs she and her husband had to return to the states for 90 days surrounding the delivery (45 days before and then after) which was great news to all her state-side friends and family! i have to say, she looked amazing - glowing really. unfortunately though i had to leave early after 2 hours and rush home, again, to pick up stephen....

-sarah-
because we had dinner plans in baltimore with our favorite sister! after only being in her digs for 2 weeks now, she was well into being settled and welcoming visitors. so we made the 40 minute drive up 95, looped around the harbor and made our way up to the johns hopkins hospital complex...only after cutting through the ghetto 'hoods that envelop the campus. reminiscent of my penn days? you bet. once sarah jumped in, we headed back down broadway to the harbor for some delish seafood at bo brooks. while sarah and i settled on the legendary maryland crab cakes, stephen tackled 4 large steamed crabs. lucky him, our super resourceful waitress showed him the ropes when it comes to eating these crustaceans... the native baltimore way - no mallet, no knive, just some adventurous fingers needed! i have to say it was quite entertaining, if not exhausting, just watching the process. after dinner we drove around, orienting ourselves to the city and getting lost in federal hill trying to find the strip of so-called yuppie bars. we ended the evening back at jhh at sarah's room in the circa 1970s reed hall - typical residence for many first year med students. uggh. but she did it up right and the tiny space was quite cozy with an a-mazing view of the downtown cityscape to the west. way to go girl.