Weekend Basics

This weekend centered around celebrating Brandon's 18th birthday! I can't believe he's turning 18 — what a proud and mind boggling weekend it's been. Both Brandon and Stephanie stayed with us over the weekend and we had my parents over to help celebrate for dinner.

Mom made a big caramel cake, which everyone wanted a piece of:

Poor Basil.

On the gift front, my parents got him the latest edition of Microsoft Office for his laptop and Mary and I got him a pair of Dr. Dre headphones he'd had his eyes on since before Christmas:

Everything was a big hit — the headphones were promptly passed around:

Never thought I'd see the day that myself or my dad would don a pair of Dr. Dre headphones.

Then Basil took them for a spin (no sound was actually on):

Outside of celebrating Brandon's birthday, we had time to trim back the Liriope (monkey grass) for new spring growth — if you're in the South, here's your reminder it's time to trim it back!

We also finally had a chance to check out Proper Pie — the new pie place up in Church Hill selling New Zealand style savory and sweet pies:

We each ordered something a little different and got to try the mince & cheese, cornish & pasty, thai butternut squash, and chorizo & egg pies:

The space alone was worth the trip — the industrial vibe of Proper Pie reminded us of being in Brooklyn, and the lines for the counter wrapped around the entire space and out the door. Good thing they know what they're doing, as they were slinging pies and orders as fast as people kept coming in. We all agreed we'd need to go back again just to taste the sweet varieties.

On the subject of outings, we also got a chance to take a stroll through Class and Trash, one of our new-to-us favorite Antique/Consignment shops, located in Ashland, VA. You might remember, it's where we snagged our giant industrial metal letter V and arrow.

We didn't leave with anything this go round, but had fun looking around and as usual, found plenty we liked:

Above: library catalog, sap buckets and giant grain trough.

It also snowed pretty steadily throughout Saturday, so we spent some good time around the fireplace, watching movies and catching up with everyone's busy schedules.

P.S. Can we talk about Downton Abbey (don't worry, no spoilers here)? Mary and I have been hooked after power watching the entire 1st season on Netflix before the season 2 premiere. We've been following along each Sunday throughout season 3 and were eager to watch the finale last night. Can we just say this season has been a roller coaster ride? Mary was literally a crying mess after last night's show (OK, I'm man enough to admit it, we both were). It was such a powerful episode that it made us realize how amazing this show and cast of characters really is — sucking us into the storyline the way they have. Without giving away any spoilers for those who haven't watched the finale or those who might still want to start the series from the start, all we can say is it's a show we've both really enjoyed watching together and one we'd highly recommend if you haven't jumped in quite yet.

P.P.S. While on the subject of Downton, just before the finale we caught this quick (but great) interview 60 minutes did with Maggie Smith (she plays Violet). This interview made us love her even more than we did before, if that's even possible — did you know she's never once watched a finished episode of the show? Watch it here.