The running joke around here is that if it’s outside of my ‘circle’, I have a hard time getting there.  My circle being the route between my house and downtown Charlottesville and Edie’s school.  The full circle is maybe, maybe 2 miles.  My world is small, yes?

Wednesday, I drove up to Baltimore for a dear college friend’s surprise 40th birthday party.  By myself.  I get away by myself maybe once a year, it’s not something I get to pull off very often.  Taking a cab from the hotel to the party was quite the adventure – I realize I need more of these. 

Not only did I have 3+ hours in the car alone there AND back, I had a whole hotel room to myself.  And the party was a good time.  It was great to see everyone. I hung out with Andrea all through college.  I can’t remember her not being there to tell you the truth.    Over the years, we’ve fallen in & out of touch, but the last few years have really brought us back together.  She blames facebook.  But I also think our collective life experiences have made us realize, you only get so many friends like that and you really do need to work at keeping them around at a certain point.  She’s one of those friends that even if I don’t talk to for a few years, we can still pick up where we left off.  Sure we’ve changed in some ways, but in the ways that count, we’ve changed in the same direction.  Not only does she have the best laugh, she’s still the coolest chick I know.  And I’m quite honored to still be able to call her one of my best friends.  (Not that I think I ever let her know that before, since you know, I have issues letting the people I love the most know they are indeed that, but, she knows this about me and is good with it, which is one of the many reasons why she is still one of my best friends.)

As if one roadtrip weren’t enough, I drove home Thursday to get up Friday morning and head over to Richmond to see the Picasso show at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts with Edie. 

No, that’s not from the exhibit, I couldn’t take pictures in there, but as we were leaving we got an eyeful of these in the gift shop window and loved it.  The show was great, I even splurged and got the the exhibit catalog for Edie. After the show, we went to lunch at Kuba Kuba and then we wandered around the VCU campus a wee bit, soaking up the atmosphere of their Final Four glory.  Loved seeing the tents set up at gas stations in the city, selling Final Four memorabilia.

I love my small town, but I do love the city too and I really need to get there more often. At the very least, i need to break out of my circle more often than I do.

And now the news you’ve been waiting for….  the winner in our Cozy Noggin giveaway is Kristin.  Congratulations Kristin!  She chose the Abigail fingerless gloves.  Thank you Anne, for suggesting it and helping to promote not only the giveaway, but my little blog here.

And now for my really big news that I’ve been sitting on for oh, 6 weeks now…..I am the new wine columnist at In The Kitchen online magazine!  My first column came out yesterday, under the column name of Beneath the Cork.  I’ve been quietly working on this for the last month or so.  I’m really quite pleased with the results.  I’ve been a fan of Rowena’s magazine since her first edition and never dreamed I could actually write for it someday.  Her monthly meal planner has been a source of inspiration to me.  I had the distinct privilege of meeting Rowena at Leni’s Second Wednesdays last summer.  I ran into Rowena at city market one fine Saturday morning last fall after Leni’s front porch season had ended and we planned a winter version at Rowena’s.  After our first one in February, I realized how much I had treasured my evenings with those two remarkable women.   They are two kindred spirits when it comes to a good many things, but first and foremost, in our attitudes towards food. 

So, that’s been this week around here.  With the usual work,school, soccer and impromptu playdates and dinner parties thrown in of course.  Next up is getting ready for a visit from Pat’s folks, who are coming to visit with Edie during spring break next week.  Some serious cleaning and grocery shopping needs to take place around here, so I suppose I should get going on that…..