Our Weekend With Eddie & Jaithan

We all know how good of an incentive having guests can be for getting house projects done... Well, Eddie & Jaithan coming to visit was the incentive of incentives!!! Dave & I basically agreed that this would be our deadline to "finish" the house. (We have so many more projects to do & we all know you're never really "done" but we did get to most major things.) I can't tell you how good it feels to be "done" (mostly) and to be able to share it with friends who know & understand what kind of hardwork/ creativity / rear-busting it took to get it done. Eddie & Jaithan couldn't have been sweeter when we took them around our house & proudly showed off our (Dave's) handiwork...


We all met about a year ago at the very first flea market tour they did when there less than 10 of us. We hit it off instantly (and I totally frightened Jaithan as he reminded me that within 5 minute of meeting him at the flea market I told him I had a dream we'd met & were friends.. hahaha Can you say low self-monitor???!) and it's just so nice to know such thoughtful, creative, fun people. (you know how great this blogworld is!! :)

Saturday morning I went to the Big DC Flea and got to see the end of Eddie's tour & was wowed again by all the valuable info & tips Eddie shared with the group. It's really developed into a fleamarketing class... where you learn to see things the way Eddie does... you see things for what they could be not for what they are. I also got to see a bunch of the bloggers from the party the night before & here's a pic that the lovely Leila from In the Tweeds sent me of us:

I also got really attached to this beautiful oil painting that I couldn't afford... The pic just doesn't do it justice. Maybe it was pregnancy hormones but I loved it so much that looking at it made me teary! hahaha I love that it's a young mother & baby... One day we'll collect art...


After the flea market we went out to eat with my friends Amy & Greg (the ones who helped so much with our garden/ yard!!) and E & J and their good friend Caroline who was a neighbor at their apartment in the city. Yummy bbq but I have no pics!



Then, we headed into Georgetown to take Caroline to her mother's (gorgeous!!) townhome. On the way we made a stop at one of my favorite thrift stores, UNIQUE in Falls Church and had quite an adventure there that deserves a post of its own one day! When we finally got back to our place, Dave was waiting and did a really casual antipasto of salami, prosciutto, sopressata, peppers, cheeses & apples along with a apple cider & prosecco... (Actually Eddie helped Dave put it together... Jaithan & I SAT. :) Sitting felt so good at this point and it was really sweet of Eddie to handle it. ahhhhh He is such a whiz and in two minutes flat layed it all out perfectly. Should we have even been surprised???



Then we just hung out all night & relaxed & of course had a blast. (You can't not have fun with them.) Since I forgot to take pics the afternoon before (shocker!) I remembered int he morning & here is Dave making some bacon & eggs for breakfast:



And here's some pics of the table... Eddie's pics are so much better so hopefully he will post. He made out super-easy breakfast look like a magazine spread!!! These are my Grandma Maestranzi's "wild clover" china:



Some pretty bread with my dad's knife from his company, Illinois Cutlery Works:



And I had to take a pic of the beautiful little silver ladle they got for me at the silver flea market. When I first arrived at the flea market Eddie asked me what I was looking for and I said a pretty ladle (I only have the big rubber-handled kind) and a little while later he handed me a ladle! They're both just so generous & thoughtful and when we got home Eddie showed me how to polish it with toothpaste! (I don't own silver polish- but after seeing how quickly polishing transformed the ladle, it's something I could get into... )




And here's everyone at the breakfast table... How did that Dole OJ container get on there?!!! oops! ;)





And one last pic before they had to leave for another day of flea marketing... (You can tell it's AM by my eyes-eesh! ;)




We had such a fun weekend & enjoyed a nice relaxing day at home on Sunday. It was even warm enough for Christian to take a romp through the sprinkler:








I can't tell you how great it feels to have had such a fun weekend with awesome friends & to be "done" with our house. (besides little projects) Both Dave & I just have this awesome feeling of accomplishment about the house and have already started to relax & enjoy Fall. (as much as people like us relax ;) thanks to everyone we met for an awesome weekend & of course to Eddie & Jaithan for letting us steal you for a day!

xoxox,

lauren

ps- I'll be posting pics of the house asap. Eddie took some too & his are WAY better so be sure to keep your eyes peeled on his blog!

23 comments:

Jeannine | The Small and Chic Home said...

I've been eagerly waiting for the posts from each of the DC bloggers. Thanks so much for sharing this. What a fun weekend!

Erin {House of Turquoise} said...

Seriously, could you guys have had ANY more fun?! Thanks for sharing all the pics with us!!! Oh and I love that painting too...I could see why it would make you tear up!

Renaissance Grace said...

Hi,
Thanks for popping over to Brympton. Visited most amazing wedding venue today as part of research you would have L.O.V.E.D.it Stapleford park Lincolnshire Uk,
Speak soon I'm In Florida Nov
Susanxx

Megan Lee said...

Oh gosh, after reading this post and seeing your grandma's last name and that your dad has a knife company...I'm wondering if you have a cousin named Chris. If so, that is my husband's best friend and I think I may have met you once.

Anonymous said...

how fun! i loved them when i went on the rose bowl tour with them. what sweet hearts!

Megan Lee said...

No, Chris Maestranzi's friend. I've been to Ernie's place a few times to go out on the lake. I think you were there one time when we stopped in.

Lauren said...

yes i remember!! (I think!! ) are you pete's wife?

Megan Lee said...

No Ryan's wife, Chris' roommate in college.

Megan Lee said...

This is so crazy that I've been following your blog for almost a year now and I've known you the whole time! I always thought your picture looked familiar. :)

Kate Riley said...

Scrumptious breakfast, marvelous company, darling boy, amazing oil painting.... loved it all.

Kate

Pigtown*Design said...

What a fun couple of days! It was such fun meeting you and the other DC bloggers. It killed me not to have my camera! Battery died and I couldn't get another one for the Canon.

Great posts!

LindsB said...

Looks like such a fun weekend with a great group of people! Having them visit is a serious reason to get the house in order, I can see why you wanted to do it so bad :)

Looking forward to see more pics of your house!!

Mimi said...

Looks like you had a terrific weekend...It's so much fun to catch up with friends. Your house looks great by the way! You had me lol about forgetting to take pictures the night before..Hmmmmm...just a little pregnancy symptom?

Rhoda @ Southern Hospitality said...

Oh, how fun! I totally forgot that you did the shopping trip last year too. I did the one in Atlanta earlier this year & would love to meet up with Eddie & Jaithan again. They are so much fun!

What a treat to be able to spend the day with them at your house too. Lucky girl!

Haven and Home said...

Oh sounds like a wonderful weekend, what great company and what a good feeling to be done!

Maria Killam said...

Lauren,
That was so much fun to read! Sounds absolutely fabulous! I'm glad you had such a great weekend!
xo
Maria

Southern Aspirations said...

Oh, love it! Such a fun time!!

Jenn @ Dear Heart said...

Looks like you guys had so much fun. I'm kicking myself for not signing up for the tour. The one time I decide to be thrifty. Gah!

Thomas said...

awesome photos and great descriptions of the weekend with the boys. looks like you had a loads of fun.

paula said...

so much fun!

My daughter was looking at the pics with me and was wondering why KJ (my son) was with you all. They do favor in the water pic.

Jennifer said...

what fun! is that pineapple-orange-banana? my fav! I knew we'd be friends :)

Anonymous said...

It looks like y'all had a blast!!!! What a treat to have them stay over! :)

simply seleta said...

Awww, I loved reading this post!!! It was fun seeing you three [plus hubby, tot and brewing bambino] all reunite.

It's impossible not to love E+J, isn't it?!!?

xoxo
Seleta