Wrapped up childbirth class at noon today! I really enjoyed the class a lot and am glad we went. Most of all because it was at OUR hospital so I could ask questions about procedures there. When you read books, it’s all kind of hypothetical, but this was very relevant to where we will be birthing. We have a hospital tour later in the summer – looking forward to seeing it all for the first time too.

Matt was the dad volunteer to try on 25 pounds of weight – broken down into baby, placenta, uterus, amniotic fluid, blood volume, water weight, fat stores…am I missing anything!? He said it made his back hurt!

Today we practiced pushing. HUGE lesson for me that you push down with your abs and not so much your lower parts, which you want to remain more relaxed to stretch and allow the baby to come out! I felt like I was a better pusher squatting and on all fours than I was on my back, but hard to tell how things might really happen when there’s a pumpkin on its way down…

We also role played a c-section team. It was scary just to practice! So was epidural administration lesson. I know both of these might be out of my control, but I am scared of both way more than I’m scared of contractions, pushing, tearing, fatigue and the other hardships of labor.

We ended with an ideal birth exercise (on the other side of these cards were the opposite situations – which is often all chance what you end up with). Although hopefully the BOY one is right!

I snacked on some string cheese and strawberries around noon and we headed over to Great Harvest after class before we went out to lunch for a debriefing. Location of choice: Beer Run!

Matt and I split a [local] bison burger – delicious!! I think I was craving red meat.

And we both enjoyed salads on the side.

Plus beer for the dad for being such a good sport in class : ) He said he enjoyed it too. Tomorrow – coincidence it’s the same weekend – we have a one-on-one session with our doula, Jen. And then later this summer: classes in baby care and breastfeeding!

Fridays are all about families. Playing with our family of friends and people watching downtown.

And sadly, saying goodbye to Sara and Juan : ( Sara has a few more weeks left, but Juan departs for California on Thursday. It’s always so sad to have friends move on.

We met them downtown along with Hilary for some music and popcorn (thanks to Juan for sharing!)

Carpe Donut’s lemonade was no where to be found, so I had water as my cocktail : (

We stumbled upon lots of friends –

Little T was just lovin’ the music tonight!

I also found Lynsie and baby D playing in the crowd and Matt and I got some practicing in!! He is getting to be so cute and so alert at 6 weeks old!!

Eventually we walked to Beer Run for dinner – Sara and Juan had to say goodbye! We didn’t have the best night of our lives there (service..) but we did share a huge plate of nachos

And I had a few bites of my Verdura Rustica Plate (grilled radicchio, zucchini, portabello, eggplant and tomato with mozzarella over brown rice with a basil sauce!). Delicious, but my stomach was just out.of.room. though!!

Saturday starts soon, so I must drift to sleep to prepare!

One gorgeous city!

Matt and I got dressed up to head out to a Davidson event this evening.

Guess what happened to me when I was crossing a street? A guy leaned out of the passenger side of a car and said “HURRY UP PREGNANT LADY!” [I was not walking slow at all.]

I can’t decide if I found this amusing or rude. Probably a little of both : ) But it was kind of funny to me that a teenager thought I looked pregnant. 6 months tomorrow!

We headed to The Local for drinks and cheese with Cville Davidson alumni.

There was a fun group from the class of ‘06 who we talked to for a while. It was nice to talk to younger alumni since we shared friends, classes and experiences.

I had a cranberry soda and a small platter of cheese + crackers

After chatting till about 8, we headed downtown.

I had had this yellow cereal snack after a long walk + conference call this afternoon, so that plus cheese meant neither of us was terribly hungry.

We discovered that Dierks Bentley was playing at the Pavilion!

Sneak peek of him from behind!

And then we bumped into part of the Great Harvest family!! These guys just ended dinner together. So glad they are friends and they are my friends! We chatted laughed on the mall for a while before Matt and I got hungry enough to break away for dinner.

When brainstorming quick service restaurants, we lightbulbed our way to the The Flat Takeaway Creperie! We’ve been wanting to try it out for nearly two years and our timing has just not been right. When we have been moderately hungry a few times, it’s been closed, or we’ve been too full after dinner. But tonight was our lucky night!!

They have savory..

And of course sweet!

We settled on one of each. The first a [local!] Babes in the Wood sausage, spinach, feta and cheddar crepe that was incredibly delicious!!

And the second, Mom’s Apple Pie – apples with cinnamon, sugar and butter. We alternated bites until both were all gone!

So glad we can cross this great little spot off our restaurant to-do list!

I think I walked close to 6-7 miles today, and my legs are ready to rest!

There was so much going on tonight we had a tough time getting to any of it!! Not only was it First Friday Art Gallery Crawl night, but also Fridays After Five (live music at the pavilion) and Second Street’s root top event, Brews with a View!

This afternoon I went to the bakery for some prep for an event tomorrow. I was craving a smoothie (common afternoon occurrence these days..) so I got the fruit, yogurt + tofu smoothie from Cville Coffee.

Mmmmm bread! I also had a bite of Savannah bar and the baby went crazy with kicks!

When we’d wrapped up, Matt and I headed downtown!

The event of the night was Second Street Gallery’s Brews with a View!

Awesome bluegrass and some great rolls provided by some bakery  

We donated spreads too and they were gone so fast! We’ll have to give more next time!

All you can sip! Love how they just put kegs in tubs. So much cooler than a bartender!

He sipped, and we both chewed a Dakota roll

As we headed back up the mall to go to the Pavilion for some music, we bumped into Ellen and Daniel and then Sara + Juan (love small towns!) and ended up joining S+J for dinner at one of our favorite spots – Positively 4th Street. Love their atmosphere and menu full of local foods. We are also now friends with the cool manager Sarah – Hi Sarah!

The four of us shared a chips + queso to start. I had a big handful of those.

And I decided on the [local, organic] Southwest burger for dinner – topped with avocado, jack cheese and roasted pepper.

It was delicious, but I only got halfway through before I was absolutely stuffed! It’s this new stomach I have now…

I had also had some arugula salad that came on the side (I was given the asparagus by accident, so I got both!)

And some of Matt’s French fried taters

We’re tucked back at home, never having made it to the Pavilion’s live music for the night OR any of the open art galleries aside from the Second Street rooftop music. Good thing there’s always next week!

Couldn’t wait for our date tonight all day! Good weather, out to dinner, spring concert!

Things got done before I left – bean salad making for tomorrow night’s picnic

And yeah mom, I finally polished the silver

Pretty now!?

At 6 Matt and I headed downtown for dinner. The song “I love this town” came to mind when I found about 1,000 other people dining al fresco on a Thursday night!

When I walked to the podcast this morning, I was handed a free poem sponsored by our library!

I didn’t get a photo then, but I enjoyed a Shakespeare sonnet and a child’s poem about the blue sky by Anon.

They were still out there this evening so we got some more poems to read at dinner!

This one was particularly appropriate for a nice spring day

And this one pulled out some conversation on its meaning that ultimately led to “analysis of Meeting and Passing” being Googled. I kind of miss English class…

Our dining spot was a new restaurant – The Whiskey Jar! We actually debated if we would like the place as much if it had a more generic name like “Christopher’s” or “Bar On Main” and we decided that the “whiskey” and “jar” absolutely made our dining experience more pleasurable. Names are important!

I’ve been avoiding it because it makes me sad that I can’t partake in the delicious bourbon delights, but I will be back in the fall. First for a Mint Julep, then for a Manhattan then for the local Virginia whiskey flight!

I did get a little creative with my mocktail. They had lemonade on the menu and I asked if they could mix it 50/50 with club soda (sure) and “Could you pretty please throw in some of that minty julep mint?!” – Another sure!

Mine was alllllmost as good as Matt’s real deal – so he does declare!

The Whiskey Jar has a nice menu of bar favorites, Southern specials, salads and local ingredients.

To start we shared a basket of hushpuppies and sweet potato biscuits with a sorghum butter and apple butter. I’m not quiteeee sure what the sorghum butter was, but it tasted awesome! The hushpuppies were a bit too onion-y for me, but I ate them anyways due to my love for thick, sweet cornmeal. The biscuits were such a fun pairing and were especially good with the spreads!

At our podcast today, the producer David was describing the catfish sandwich and said it was mouth wateringly good, so I was drawn to it immediately (I also love me a fish sandwich!) The fish was more herby than blackened, but the sandwich, filled with greens, cucs and green tomatoes, was totally awesome!!!

I also loved the side salad + its dijony dressing

Matt went all Southern on the local chicken with collard greens. GREAT meal!

Our final stop for the night was the Pavilion for the Rodrigo y Gabriela concert! Our friends at the radio station where we advertise hooked us up with tickets yesterday. Thanks Garrett!

R y G have been one of Matt’s favorite bands for a long time, and it took me forever to learn their names. I often would just say ‘Enrique y Iglesias’ and he’d know who I meant

The show was awesome. So much talent under one roof fabric! This was one of those performances where it is nearly impossible not to tap your toes or bob your head to the music!

We actually had to take a while between dinner and the show because “cameras with lenses” were not allowed!! As someone who needs my camera to breathe, this came as a bit of a shock. I had no where to put it but to walk it back home! I thought it was kind of a dumb rule since everyone there was taking photos and videos on phones, and phone photo quality is just about as good as my starter DSLR, but oh well.

When we returned, my mouth celebrated with a wonderful popsicle made from fresh Virginia strawberries by Pantheon! This was the best popsicle I’ve ever had! Seeds, fruit and all.

Tomorrow I’m going to Blue Ridge Dietetics Association meeting, so you might not see me till lunch, although I’m sure I’ll put up a phone post to say good morning : )

I’m such a homebody with a job at home that when I’m gone all day long it’s weird to get reacquainted to my desk! Hi, desk!

We worked on things at the bakery – including our new line of Wild Squirrel nut butters on the shelves!

Mom & Pop sent me on my way for my walk home while they closed up shop. Those darlings.

Somehow, despite not passing me on my walk, Zeb + Matt beat me there via bike + auto! They were already on the porch with this:

That would be the most photogenic beer ever!

Only a few more months till I can partake again, so Baby KERF and I had trail mix and sparkling water instead.

We walked downtown for dinner, and after hyping Zeb up over the Spice-a-ritas at Mono Loco, he decided he had to try one.

Again I got a virgin one with limeade, pickled jalapenos and something spicy. Best virgin cocktail ever!

We took Zeb to Zocalo for dinner, one of our very favorite restaurants!! [Because of THE PEPPER!!!]

We started with bread. Duh. Breadheads.

And shared the cheesy fritters with a spicy plum sauce. Such wonderful foreshadowing to The Pepper!

Plus some mussels

And then I dove in head first!!!! This is my favorite entrée in Cville!

A Chile Relleno stuffed with corn + black beans + cheese, red-tortilla encrusted, served over smoked tomato grits with a sweet buttermilk-cilantro sauce.

Soooooooooooooooooo gooooooddd!!! But since we had filled up on apps and drinks, I could barely eat half!! Matt helped a lot, but I was sad I did not have more room.

He had the salmon over goat cheese Israeli couscous [Elizabeth, it was incredible! I think herbs are involved too. Cilantro?]

Not an inch left inside for dessert.

Wish I had more time to digest before bed, but I might just have to sleep sitting up!

Once you start you can’t stop…

I’m talking about painting trim…not drinking wine or eating buttercream frosting…although the phrase does apply to both!

I broke out some of our house paint to touch up some spots that had been repaired – holes, dings from trying to force our couch into a small door frame. And then I just got carried away. Everything looks so much better now!

Snapple

We picked up our good friend Snakey from the train station at dinnertime. He’s here for a wedding and had the evening to hang out during the rehearsal dinner. We headed downtown for dinner and not 2 seconds after arriving on the downtown mall, Snake yelled “ALBERS!!!” when we totally bumped into two more of their younger fraternity brothers (one just moved here and one is visiting).

3 turned into a fun dinner for 7 at Zocalo, one of my downtown favs!

Snake, Matt and I split a bottle of red [mid pour]

And of course had to get the Corn + Black Bean Relleno pepper. It is INCREDIBLY good!! With a red tortilla chip crust, smoked grits and a killer green sauce that must have cilantro involved. You must go to Zocalo and eat this! 50% of our table ordered it : )

We just drove Snake out to the Clifton Inn and are back and settled for the night at home.

Tomorrow I’m going on a really cool blog event that I’ve been wanting to do for years. It involves a farm. Any guesses!?

Fun times at the bakery today

Lots to do! Including a break for a power walk with a new friend!

Followed by a snack of vanilla soy milk with the crumbles of the Cville Cluster bag

Matt and I charged through our list today and worked right through closing. I realized today that my Great Harvest email address had been frozen since JULY 16!!!!!!!!!! SO many missed emails – the horror. I spent the late afternoon responding and apologizing for the delay.

When I came out of the office, this was waiting for me:

Ladies [and gents], the best pumpkin beer ever. Matt snuck it in this afternoon when he ran an errand! Why do I suspect that he really goes out for a beer when he runs errands!? Just kidding – I told him to! He needed a break.

We shared this monster while he was on a call this evening and I twiddled my thumbs

When he hung up, he declared that he was not doing a single dish tonight and we were going out. I tried to protest and mumbled something about budgets and my LOOT app, but he won. We went out.

Our third restaurant (because the first two we tried were closed) was Fry’s Spring Pizza! Love this place.

And love their hummus plate!!

We shared this to start

And then shared a Hot Pepperoni Pizza for dinner

I had two ooey gooey scrumdiddleyumptious slices.

And now the evening is calming down. Matt’s reading in bed and I’m off to join him.

It’s COLD out there folks. Chilly!

At the airport! Thankful I made it safely and on time. I just hope the next leg of my journey goes the same!

Thanks so much to Sabrina, Trig and the Bambino for their hospitality today – I very much enjoyed my homey afternoon!

We joined Gina and Tom for an early dinner at Parc, a French restaurant at Rittenhouse Square, for a final HLS social event. These two couples are not only both glowing with pregnancy excitement, but they are all such wonderful nice people. The gentlemen – such gentlemen! I very much enjoyed lots of baby talk at the table since our time to begin thinking about all this is not too far away. (!).

Bread basket deliciousness. I think I had 2.5 pieces – small ones! – that helped tide me over to my entree salad

I ordered the famous Warm Shrimp Salad with a bright buree blanc, avocado and tomatoes

It was quite scrumptious!

I said an early farewell to my friends and hopped in a cab to ride to the airport.

Macaroon for dessert!

Sitting in the terminal now, blogging and working, waiting for my flight. Hope Virginia is as fun as I left it!

Another week has come to a close, and that’s cause for celebration!!!

Beer while bookkeeping – assurance there are no pennies double counted!!! [Blame boss Matt!]

Soon enough I was dancing pirouettes in my new dress!

It really did remind me of a ballerina -

Five Bamboo sent me this dress and I love it!! It’s heavy, so it hugs in the right places, and also the V-neck is quite flattering. It’s also super soft!! They’re also a sponsor of the HLS this year!!

Soon enough we met Karen downtown for a delicious diner at Fellini’s! Fellini’s always has live music and it’s one of Karen’s favorite. Ours too now that we’ve actually eaten dinner there!

The bartender, who also happened to be the owners’ daughter and super cool, was lovely to get to know. Jo was awesome!!

She served Matt a beer and served me a super sweet Manhattan, which is right up my alley!

We enjoyed some bar talk – only 10 minutes of Great Harvest and we changed the subject to non-business!!!

With dinner had had an AMAZING ZIN recommended by Jo. Seriously, this was the best red wine I’ve had in a restaurant this year. Go find it now! I know we will! It was soooooooo smooth!! Velvety!

We enjoyed some homemade focaccia – made by the owner of Fellini’s himself we learned. As bread snobs we gave it two thumbs up!

And we tried the calamari at Jo’s recommendation: butter, sun-dried tomatoes, kalamata olives and more, it was awesome to taste without fried breading

For dinner I had the portabello salad – complete with cheese and all. The dressing was awesome and the salad was plenty for dinner.

But I still shared the Orecchiette  {“Little Ears” pasta ,Italian sausage and rapini with vodka cream sauce} with Karen

And tried Matt’s ravioli of the day. Both were super rich yet amazing!

We’ve had a heck of a workweek and are SOOOO excited for a day off tomorrow!! Matt is brewing beer and I’m doing absolutely nothing! Except for going to Whole Foods!! FuN!!!

Nite!!