back issue

a while back, obviously, i visited michie whilst maya was still cooking in the oven. i KNEW it was a little girl, i just KNEW it. i have psychic baby powers, didn't i tell you?



visiting michie and nawaal and seeing d.c. was am absolute blast! nawaal knows an inordinate amount of good restaurants. it was frightening. we even went to dean & deluca for some expensive olive oil, aged gouda and dried guava. divine.

my tea house photos were unfortunately obliterated by a computer virus, but i have found the website here - ching ching cha! (cha means tea in chinese; dim sum is chinese breakfast; and another way of saying that is yum cha, which is to drink tea.)

truly, this place was incredible. this beautiful square room with high ceilings and a skylight. white walls and deep dark wood accents. and expensive. $15 for a pot of tea? oolong, i must say it was divine. in a clay teapot! with a small ceremony/explanation! i loved it. there was a raised dias on one end where nawaal told us how she was once kicked out for laying out in front of the buddha statue. oops! show some, respect! apparently.

first and foremost, d.c. was COLD.



barren trees juxtaposed with michie's baby laden belly. adorable. quaint. fri

we stayed in a cute little hotel (where there was an actual elevator attendant!) with a cute little kitchen area and where i felt up michie's belly after she drank some juice. maya kicked for me!

"was that gas?"
"...are you sure?"

michie's baby shower was quite fun in an upscale d.c., luncheon sort-of-way. rich! people! and the food was delicious. everyone was so sweet and nice. plus, mimosas! you cannot go wrong with mimosas.



the homes were just spectacular.





damn you, glare!



nawaal is much more the temptress than i.



nawaal and sara (pronounced suh-RAH), looking sweet and innocent. or perhaps with a sly grin.

later, we were so lucky to have been able to stay with friends of michie's husband's family - karen and paul! they live in this wonderful sears house which is just so wonderfully quaint and cozy and they have a guest book and treat it like a bed and breakfast. they even have business cards for their "bed and sometimes breakfast", "where your comfort is second only to ours." *laugh* and complete with guestbook.