Visiting Family

For President's Day Weekend we went down to Maryland to visit my family. We stayed with my Mom and whenever we do, Andrew and I usually try to make one of the nights a date night. This past Saturday happened to be Valentine's Day which worked out perfectly. We went to the Macaroni Grill, one of my favorite restaurants. We used to go out on dates to the Macaroni Grill and since becoming a navy wife I haven't lived near any. I was glad I made reservations because the wait was pretty long being Valentine's Day. It was nice to be able to talk uninterrupted and our meals were excellent. I had rigatoni in a marsala sauce, so delicious, and Andrew had Tuscan Alfredo. We came home afterwards to put Sydney to bed--parenthood never ends :)--because Sydney had been having trouble falling asleep on her own being in a new place. We had planned to see a movie "Confessions of a Shopaholic" after dinner with my sister Bianca and her boyfriend Hariz but we put it off until Sydney's nap the next day. If you've read the series the movie is nothing at all like the books. Movies never are anyway.
The next day, Sunday, we spent with my Dad and his wife. My Dad is Indian and when the family gets together--my grandmother, aunts, uncles and cousins--I get to eat some of my favorite Indian dishes. This time my family served coconut rice, dal (a dish made with cooked lentils or split peas with onions and cumin. It's kind of like a gravy that you mix with the rice), a spiced yogurt salad (also to go with the rice), chicken curry and chapati bread. I wish I had brought my camera to take pictures of everything. This little weekend getaway was just what we needed after being cooped up in our house from the cold, wet weather. Next time we go down will be in April when we leave Connecticut. Andrew reports to Boston in May so we'll take some time to visit family and friends again.