Hey That’s A Nice Life

It’s the first day of summer. Hurray!

Temperatures above 90 degrees. Humidity. Impossible to find shade. Boo!

This week Don and I found two ways to cool off in the heat.

First, on Don’s birthday we went to Gunpowder Falls State Park in Maryland and rented a couple of tubes, then spent a lazy couple of hours floating down the river.

Don wrote about our trip for WeLoveDC. Here are some shots:

At the end of the week, we took our friend Ciara (who was visiting from Seattle) out to the country to visit a couple of wineries (Chateau O’Brien and FoxMeadows) and to jump into a swimming hole.  The one we visited was Buzzard Rock Hole in the Elizabeth Furnace area of the George Washington National Forest.

I’ve been dreaming of the day when Don and I will have our own little cottage or bungalow to decorate. It’s not outside our reach, but we’re waiting for the stars to align. In the meantime, here’s what I’ve been thinking of the past few days: my office (I doubt Don will let me decorate his).

I love the look of the custom built-in units, but don’t imagine that will be in the cards. I’m going to try to fake that look with the Liatorp line from Ikea. The desk and a couple of the assorted shelves should do the trick.

Today I get to do something for which I have waited a very long time - celebrate the marriage of my friends Chris and Hampton. They have been together since 1997.

Chris is a gifted photographer and took the photos at our wedding. Thankfully, we know a lot of talented photographers and Ed took a great one of Chris and Hampton that day.

When Don and I left Arlington, Va. early in the morning on April 30, 2009  for our wedding festivities, everything was as it always had been. By the time we returned from our mini-moon on May 4, the District of Columbia had announced it would recognize the marriages of same sex couples performed in other states.  We thought that was a pretty great wedding present. Don even asked if we had enough thank you cards to send one to every Council membe (we didn’t).

Then on my brithday this year, DC gave me another awesome gift when it passed its own same sex mariage statute. After the requisite time it takes for Congress to ignore a law passed in DC, same sex marriage was permitted in the District of Columbia.

Chris and Hamp were the 37th couple in line on the fateful day that the first same sex couples were issued marriage licenses. I was in New York for work, but following along on Facebook. It was national news with dozens of reporters and photographers gathered outside.

Here’s a picture of Chris and Hamp emerging from the municipal building with their marriage license and cupcakes.

Two weeks later, on March 17, Chris and Hamp were legally wed in the District of Columbia Superior Court with a couple of close friends to witness (I was in Florida at the time - boo hoo!). Below Jennifer M. and Matthew D. serve as official witnesses to the union.

A larger celebration is to be held today at the H Street Country Club and I am so excited. It’s going to be a wonderful.

Best wishes to Chris and Hamp for a long and happy life.

It’s Mother’s Day. Although this is technically my second year celebrating Mother’s Day with both a mom and a mother-in-law, it’s the first year I have really been able to appreciate it. Last year, we were still recovering from the planning and labor that went into our wedding celebration, we had company (my parents and family friends from Sweden) and I was about to leave for a work trip.

Both my mom, Maggie, and my mother-in-law, Penelope, are wonderful women. I am lucky to have them in my life. Here are my two favorite ladies, along with their terrific husbands.

Larry, Maggie, Penelope and Eric. Two great moms and their two great husbands. I'll probably use the same picture at Father's Day with the caption "Two great dads and their two great wives."

These pretty flowers are quite a different scene from earlier this year.

I started this blog when I was planning our wedding. Last weekend we celebrated our one year anniversary. At an art show. In Richmond. Where it was 98 degrees. While I was a little unhappy with the chilly temps and overcast sky on our wedding day, I had to admit it was a lot better than the heat and humidity this year. 

Here we are posing in our booth on the morning of May 2, 2010 - one year after our lovely wedding.

The traditional gift for a one year anniversary is paper. I made a faux Washington Post cover for Don with the headline ”Virginia Couple Sentenced to 99 to Life,” a nod to the inscriptions on our wedding bands. I also gave him tickets to see Lyle Lovett who wrote the song “She’s No Lady She’s Your Wife” which was the original source of the inscriptions.

Don gave me the beautiful Tina Palmer oil on plaster on canvas painting below.  I love it. A lot.

Also, back in April I finally ordered our wedding album. We used a photo book website, Blurb.com, and I am very pleased with the product.

Don came up to bed shortly after midnight. “It’s Christmas Eve,” he whispered.  And, in fact, I realized with surprise, it felt like Christmas Eve.

In the refrigerator, chocolate chip cookie dough was chilling overnight.  There are an obscene number of packages under the tree and my parents have yet to arrive to add to the collection.  We bundled up the packages for Don’s family and sent them to Miami.  The tree looks especially lovely (I know, I say that every year). There’s eggnog waiting to be consumed this evening and tomorrow. As I type, a gingerbread cake is cooling in the kitchen.  

There is even - shockingly - snow on the ground. Lots of snow on the ground.

Christmas came fast this year and my enthusiasm for it came slow.  But, it’s arrived.  And I’m welcoming it with open arms. 

Happy Christmas.

Shortly after my birthday last year, I wrote about turning 34 (When I was 34, it was a Very Good Year). I was sentimental about it because I was going to get married the year I was 34.  Everything we did for a whole year, I kept telling myself, happened “the year we were engaged.”  I’m a sap, okay?  I’ve grown accustomed to it and so should you.

Even Don has been mildly impacted by this sentimentality.  Shortly after the wedding, he started pointing out things we did for the first time as a married couple.  Like when we got ready for his birthday party he said, “This is the first time we’ve thrown a party at the house since we were married.”  Considering that we’d been married for six weeks at the time (and two of them were spent on our honeymoon in Costa Rica), it wasn’t too surprising.  A few weeks ago when Don’s family visited, we were sure to point out to one another that it was the first time that Mr. & Mrs. Whiteside had visited Mr. & Mrs. Whiteside … and the first Thanksgiving we’d celebrated as a married couple.

So, I was right when I named that post last year.  When I was 34, it was, in fact, a very good year.

But today I turn 35.  A year older than I was when I got married.  Part of me is a little sad.  My 34th year is going to be pretty hard to top.  Then I think about all the great things our future holds, and I couldn’t be more excited to be 35.  As great as 34 was, I have a feeling 35 is going to be even better.

After a house full of Thanksgiving company and our third trip to Dulles, Don and I decided to head a little further out and cut down our Christmas tree in Middleburg, VA.  This is the third year we have cut a fresh tree and we really enjoy it.  Not only are the tree farms usually in pretty areas and a lot of fun, but the trees last a lot longer.

The tree farm we picked this year had a lot of cute animals.

Like donkeys:

 And goats:

And buffalo:

But, the real reason we were there was to cut down a tree.  We ended up getting a fluffy, long needle tree which is a very different style for us.

As we left, the sun was slipping down beyond the mountains.

 See the pictures from the day on Flickr.

Take a look at our new dining room furnture.  Whee!  Storage!