Tub O' Good Luck Charms

My mom is known for putting together "exam bags" for my brother and I, and more recently Mike during our exams at the end of every semester.   Being the super creative and thoughtful person that she is, she went above and beyond with the goodies she put together for Mike as he studies for the Bar.  I knew it was going to get demolished quickly, so I took a few quick pictures of it when I dropped it off with him.

Of course, it wasn't really from my mom at all, it was from Milly...

because we all know how thoughtful and NOT self-seeking Milly is

Mike's favorite, very clever 

Taxes had to make an appearance somewhere. 

I didn't get a picture of "Trial Mix", "M.O.reos" "Criminally Tasty" Chocolate Chex Mix, and I'm sure I'm missing a few others.  

Mom, you will be happy to know that the Mediation comic is now gracing the fridge, along with "I expect some tum rubs in return", which is now attached to the picture of Milly that's on the fridge.  I'm guessing that if she could tell us what her mantra in life is, it would be that.  

I know that Mike really enjoyed and appreciated it, and I enjoyed looking at it!  

PS, in case anyone else is counting, only 14 days left!

Mermaid Princess Party

A few weeks ago I went down to Texas to see my "surrogate family" as I generally refer to them.  It was H.R.H. Carolina Grace's 3rd birthday, and a mermaid princess party was in order.  

Mermaid tail, mermaid princess headpiece, lifesize mermaid cardboard cutout

Ta-da'ing for us but a little confused as to why she had to hold the pose for so long

The amazing cake

Castle tent with presents

After making a tiara and getting a mermaid tattoo

Taking a swing at the tiara pinata

And I didn't even get a pic of the Chick-fil-a nug tray!! This party was a blast and all the details made it amazingly cute.  

I didn't take nearly enough pictures, but I had a great time as always in Texas.  I am already planning how I can get back there! 

Graduation!

Last Saturday was a day that I didn't think would actually come: Mike graduated from law school!
It's debatable whether he or I was more excited.

Mike getting his Pro Bono Award! They don't tell people before graduation if they are going to get awards, so it was a big surprise.  It wasn't a surprise to anyone who knows Mike though, because he's put in over 500 hours in the past year to the Community Tax Law Project in Richmond, where he helps low-income taxpayers deal with the IRS (I think...it kind of confuses me...taxes...yuck)

Getting his "diploma"-the real one has yet to surface

I got to hold the "diploma" 

Mariani's

Renaldo's

Action shot of Milly helping with the wrapping paper

Chompin down.  Don't worry, we took it away before she ate the whole thing.

Yayyyy Mr. Mike graduated AND got me a new play toy.  Hopefully I can get it in my mouth and trot off with it.

Going at it.  Intentionally got the briefcase Mike's dad handed down to him in the background.

The diploma was literally a blank piece of paper. Not even a generic fake diploma on it or anything. Juuusttt blank. 

Unfortunately, the only pictures I took of the rest of the day's festivities were these of Milly.  I was mad at myself later so not thinking to keep taking pictures.  We all hung out at Mike's apartment until dinner at Hard Shell, where we were joined by Mike's "Richmond family" the Congdon's.  As always, a good time was had by all.  

Next up....the Bar.  About 70 days to go.  Not really studying for another week though.  

  

5 DAYS, PEOPLE!

until Mike GRADUATES!
Woohoo!

The spiffy graduation gown is steamed and ready to go:

Don't know if you can tell, but when you get a JD (or any doctorate, I think) you get VELVET on your gown. If that's not motivation I don't know what is...

a kind of ghetto look at what's left of "the chain".  You can't see the orange hanging down right outside the frame, or the black that goes over the door (that the gown is hanging on), but it gives you an idea.  

I think the official number is 86 days til the bar.  

Easter Batheez

On Easter morning, I gave Milly a bath.  Usually, as most dogs do, she runs around like crazy after she gets released from her bathroom prison.  She did that for a few minutes like usual, but then she laid down in her bed.  I took advantage of this by trying to dry her off some more with a towel.  I ended up wrapping her up in it, and she actually liked it and fell asleep like that.  Kind of bizarre, but cute as can be.  

Here are some sequential shots of Milly/Bug Eyes going from crazy wet dog to slleepppyy pup: 

What? No, please don't touch me with that towel anymore! I'd rather use the carpet and furniture instead!

Ok, I guess this could be ok. I'll give it a try...

Ok. Yep. This is pretttyy niiiicceee.  

Cozy. Cuddly. Sleep. 

Easter Sunday

We didn't get too many pictures of the Easter Parade this year, but we did go again.  It was unusually hot weather, and the pollen was out in full force, plus Milly spent the entire time trying to jump up on us.  I don't think she likes big crowds, despite the fact that she likes meeting people.  I'm guessing it's because the attention isn't all on her.   We were going to enter her in the Pet Easter Bonnet Contest, but someone's mom was a little too lazy to ever getting around to making her one.  Maybe next year...

Milly's New Best Friend

Meet Patrick! I wish he was mine, but no, he is my roommate Courtney's 9 week old Cockapoo! He is a precious lil guy and Milly loves playing with a pup who makes her feel like the bigger, badder pup. I foresee lots of PFC in the future.

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A Little Bit of Grace

This week, I ordered some makeup I needed from Sephora, and in order to get up to the free shipping amount, I ordered some Philosophy "Amazing Grace" shower gel.  (The two important shopping mantras my mom instilled in me: 1-Buy now, you can always return it later. 2-Always buy more actual product to avoid paying shipping (within reason) ) Also, I was running out of shower gel.  

The whole reason people buy Philosophy, in my opinion, is the packaging and the descriptions they put on them.  

When I read this description, I couldn't help but think of two of my favorite Grace's (Lauren and Caolina, both of whom I feel confident are a large percentage of my loyal reading base, and both on Apple products no doubt): 

"Amazing Grace Philosphy: Life is a classroom, we are both student and teacher, each day is a test, and each day we receive a passing or failing grade in one particular subject: grace.  Grace is compassion, gratitude, surrender, faith, forgiveness, good manners, reverence, and the list goes on.  it's something money can't buy and credentials rarely produce. being the smartest, the prettiest, the most talented, the richest, or even the poorest can't help.  Being a humble person can, and being a helpful person can guide you through your days with grace and gratitude."  

So here's a little shout out to all of the Grace's out there, and all of us remembering to keep grace in the forefront of our daily thoughts (as tough as that may be), especially as we approach Easter Weekend.  

Barrister's Ball

After all of the race participants cleared out, and I got a good nap in after all of the watching of the runners, we had to get ready to go to our very last Barrister's Ball (aka Law School Prom).

Barrister's Ball is always great because we get to get dressed up and hang out with friends over a good meal.  It's also a little scary because there are some REALLY interesting people in law school, most of whom are would a little tight, and the combination of this and several open bars breeds some pretty awkward scenes.

We started off at Morton's steakhouse.  Our social butterfly friend, Dave, arranged for a bunch of us to meet up in a private room that had a projector where we could all catch the VCU game.  This game was a huge deal for everyone in Richmond, not to mention the VCU fans.  We even had a bit of a hard time getting downtown, as they blocked off several of the streets as soon as the game started, in anticipation of a potential riots in the event that they won.
Watching the game while things were still going well...

Not too enthralled with their performance toward the end...

Mike and me, Lauren & Blake 

We did in fact continue on to the actual event, but of course by that point I totally forgot to take any pictures.  Whoops.  

We had a great time, and only 34 more days until graduation! Hooray! 

Monument Avenue 10k

Personally, I have no desire whatsoever to ever participate in a marathon.  Apparently, I'm in the minority though, because over 41,000 people participated in the Monument Avenue 10k, a famous Richmond event, this past Saturday.

Since Mike lives along Monument, where the race is run, there's quite a flurry of activity outside on race day.  It all starts at about 4am, when they start loudly towing any cars still parked on the street, and the street sweepers start their incessant passing as they spray water and sweep away any debri.   It's pretty weird seeing Monument Avenue so desolate.

It did not stay empty for long though.  The race started at 8:30, and pretty soon the hoards of runners made their way down our side of the road.  

Only 26 minutes after the race begin, the fastest racers were making their way down the other side of the street, about 1 mile away from the finish line (I think?....they were close).  The escort of the police motorcade and the trolley led the way...

Not surprisingly, a Kenyan and an Ethiopian were neck and neck: 

Some other sights from the day: 

                                      

This guy was out starting at about 8am.  Possibly the least effective religious based sign I've ever seen.   I'm sure as soon as the race was over, he resumed his post at the abortion clinic on Grove Ave. where I usually notice the nutsos hanging out.  

I missed the bulk of the race because someone decided it would be a good idea to plan a Junior League volunteering session about two blocks away from the start/finish of the race DURING the race.......yeah. 

There was A LOT of black and gold in support of VCU, as their first run at the Final Four was later that night.

It quite a nuisance to live on the street where this huge event occurs, but also a really cool experience to be in the midst of 40k+ people as they propel themselves 6 miles using their own body strength and energy.  Again, something I do not want to do, but I'm really good at standing on the side of the road/on the porch and watching!

VMFA Visit

My birthday week kicked off last weekend with my parents coming in to town.  After shopping, we met up with Mike to eat and watch the UR game (you know, one of the ones they won BEFORE they got slaughtered).  A grand time was had by all, but unfortunately, I forgot my camera at home.

On Wednesday, I celebrated raucously by staying at work an extra hour late (shockingly, the Virginia Workers' Compensation Commission didn't extend their deadline in light of my birthday) and then rushing to a Junior League meeting.  Luckily, Mike and I both finished out the day about 9pm and though he offered to get some real dinner for me, I requested a trip to McDonald's instead. It was EXACTLY what i wanted. YUM.  We're planning on going on Biggest Losers: Couples Edition in a few seasons.   I think we would be eliminated pretty quickly because I would have a BIG problem with Jillian Michaels telling me what to do, and I think Mike would be a little too eager to do whatever she said.

ANYWAYS:
On Thursday, we actually celebrated by going to dinner and seeing the Picasso exhibit at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, which is conveniently located about a mile away from the apartment.

 The exhibit is on loan from a Paris museum while it is being renovated, and consists of Picasso's private works.  It's a pretty big collection, and was really fun to see.  We met up with another couple, Will and Julia, for some wine and some jazz beforehand at the museum cafe. Sooooo cultural.

Dorkasaurus 1 & Dorkasaurus 2

The museum "closes" at 9pm on Thursdays, but we started going through the exhibit at about 8:30.  We thought we were being pretty cool because the security guard told us we were the last ones to go through, and he was locking the doors behind us as we went through each room towards the end.  While we were in the gift shop, we could tell that people were still going through, and the same guard came back through and told us he was wrong and people were still in there.  Someone was a little too eager to go home.

I'm not sure a Picasso exhibit is where you would want to spend a "night in the museum".  I would not want to see some of those things  come to life.

Milly participated by singing me a rousing "Happy Birthday", trying to lick my cake, and trying to gracefully deal with someone else getting a wee bit of attention. It's a hard knock life pup. 

Happy Birthday Milly!

Saturday was Milly's second birthday! We didn't have a party this year like we did for her first birthday:

Her first birthday would have been pretty hard to top.  But I still tried to do a few things to make the day special:

We started off when some breakfast topped with some honey nut cheerios, one of Milly's favorite human treats. 

Then we went for a walk and sniffed out some squirrels. 

She also spent a little time checking things out from her favorite lookout spot. 

She also got a special birthday pup treat. 

My parents got her a car seat booster so she could have a comfy seat and be able to see out of the window. She didn't want to cooperate taking the picture-I'll have to work on getting a better one. 

Thanks She-She and Mr. Gary!

Unfortunately, Mike was driving back from TN for a mediation competition on her birthday, but they spent lots of quality time together on Sunday, which I think Milly liked better than all of her special birthday treats.  

I have loved having you in my life the last (almost) 2 years Milly.  We look forward to LOTS more birthdays with you.